TBAY: Lucius/Rita. A bit of OoPy speculation.

[Kirstini]

No: HPFGUIDX 56209


There's a bit of a breeze blowing outside The Royal George. A rather 
foreboding breeze, shaking the trees a bit and making bay residents 
turn up their coat collars.
Inside the pub, however, it's rather cosy, as Avery, who had been 
staring morbidly at a point in the wall and rocking back and forth, 
has just lit a small fire in the middle of his table.

Eileen is holding forth.
"Hermione isn't the only one who's got Rita Skeeter's
number. I mean, would you be much afraid of Hermione?"

"I most certainly wouldn't!" cries Cindy. 

"I wouldn't tangle with Lucius Malfoy, though," says
Eileen. 

There is a long pause. 

"Guess who now knows that Rita's an animagus, as soon
as Draco rushes home to tell everything..."

Kirstini looks up from the bar, where she has been building a house 
of beer mats.
"Now, this Lucius Malfoy thing. I'm not sure
" she says 
slowly. "Actually, I'm a little dry. George, would you be so kind as 
to mix me up a long vodka? And whatever everyone else is having, of 
course."
George eyes the Captain warily. 
"On my head be it. I promise." says Kirstini, smiling sweetly.
Captain Cindy stiffens. "Sailor! You aren't *flirting* with George, 
are you?"
"Not a bit of it Cap'n!" Kirstini attempts a clumsy salute, and 
knocks over her beer mat house. "Oh, blast. Right. Lucius Malfoy. 
Now, I don't buy the Hermione/blackmail thing either, because I 
think there's something Hermione hasn't considered. Rita saw Sirius 
transform. She's got them in a double bind. Anyway
" (a pause as she 
whips out a small pocket canon imprinted with the words "A Tourist's 
Guide To Theory Bay", and tries to hide the title with her hand as 
she flips through it).
"Ah yes. The official line on the Draco /Rita thing is as 
follows: "[The Slytherins] wouldn't care that she was doing 
something illegal, as long as they were giving her horrible 
stuff
"(GoF, UK edition, p613)
 So, it seems to me that there are a few main lines of thought to 
follow on this one. Firstly, will Lucius really care that Rita 
Skeeter is an unregistered animagus? He only bothers about wizarding 
laws when there's something in it for him. Draco doesn't know what 
she heard when hiding on the windowsill, and therefore the only 
possible use that Lucius could find for Rita was in blackmailing her 
into poisoning her readers' minds for the good of the Dark side. So 
the next thing to think about is Rita's potential for evil."
Captain Cindy produces her Virtue meter print out, and bangs it down 
on the bar, knocking over Kirstini's resurrected beer mat house.
"Rita Skeeter was just doing her job," she slurs firmly.
"She got a bit of a kick out of it, though, didn't she?" observes 
Eileen. "Evil. I'm telling you." She folds her arms disapprovingly.
"Did you know you can make a Drambuie glass suction on to your hand 
if you set it on fire?" says Kirstini, dreamily. "Then you suck the 
fumes from under your hand. They taste all
malty
"
"Sailor!" snaps the Captain. "Focus!"
"Right. Rita's potential for evil. If I could refer my esteemed 
colleagues to the above quotation. It would appear, by the use of 
the word "illegal", that judgement is being passed on Rita Skeeter. 
Sirius and James, who are in a similar state to Rita vis. the nature 
of their transgression, are always referred to as "unregistered" 
animagus. Not "illegal". There's a world of difference in the 
implications of those two words. However, Rita is morally in the 
same league as a character like Lockhart. She's primarily a comic 
character with a nasty side to her. A bit vindictive
"
"And disturbed
" interjects Cindy, snorting wildly. Something about 
her expression causes George to murmur "I'm OUT of Kahlua."
"A bit vindictive, but not *evil*" says Kirstini. "Right. Now the 
good stuff. Rita is being blackmailed not to write anything horrible 
about anyone for a whole year. She's trying to find a way of 
breaking the story. Lucius is going to have to approach her. I 
believe you know my son, something like that. I don't think, what 
with the return of Voldemort and all she's going to be top priority 
on his list, but let's say he does anyway. IT HAS NEVER BEEN PROVEN 
THAT HE IS A DEATHEATER. She may have her suspicions, but she can't 
come straight out and say them. He doesn't know about all this info 
that she has. How, therefore, do we get to the point where she 
reveals to him what she knows, and he makes her keep quiet? I think 
the narrative would require the scene where this comes about to be 
first-hand rather than reported ipso facto – it's going to be a long 
negotiation, and you can't just paraphrase all that. This would have 
to be a private meeting, one that can't be accidentally overheard 
from the wrong chimney in Knockturn Alley, i.e. – a scene that isn't 
witnessed by Harry. JKR doesn't really go in for them. It can't be 
Lucius that keeps her quiet – and yet, she HAS to be kept quiet. 
Because of Lucius, and all the other D.E's. Sure, somebody's got to 
break the news that Voldemort's back and Sirius is innocent, but 
think about all the other stuff she knows. She isn't likely to sit 
tight on anything. Former Death Eater on Hogwarts Staff? That'll go 
down well. Hogwarts Potions master Severus Snape has been seen 
revealing his Dark Mark to the Minister of Magic. The DE's then know 
that Snape's willing to out himself – and them. He's toast. Too 
quick. No. She *has* to be kept quiet. Otherwise we get to a boy 
lying in a flowerbed halfway through the summer, and since we last 
saw him, Rita has opened her mouth and told all to the world. It 
doesn't work. I just don't see *how* to shut her up!" She finishes 
her drink, and looks up. "You are right, though Cap'n. She 
definitely Bangs."
Kirstini clambers off the bar and perches on a stool, rubbing her 
head. Eileen and Derranimer look a little annoyed that they had to 
put up with all that for a non-conclusion, so Kirstini buys them 
both another drink, and smiles winningly. Cindy grins smugly, 
through her hiccups. The brief silence is broken as George, carrying 
a soda siphon, vaults over the bar to the corner of the pub, where 
Avery has just set fire to the hem of his robe.

_____________________________________________________________________
Kirstini