Rita - Luna and the Qubbler?Prank and various responsibilities

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 169671

Alla:
> 
> NO, but the argument that had Rita been printing lies that Harry and
Co would like, **they* would have supported her sounds like an
accusation to me. It was your argument, was it not? Sorry if it was
not. I mean, we are entitled to make any accusations against
characters, so I see nothing wrong with it, but yeah, I would like
some canon that Harry would have supported the reporter printing 
something like Rita Skeeter.
> 
> Magpie:
> No, it wasn't. I think that's far too extreme to suggest that, for
instance, if Rita Skeeter printed an article that Snape...I"m trying
to think of some horrible libelous thing that Snape hasn't done, and
yet everything I come up with is something Harry seems to think he
has--lol! <snip> Or, for instance, if a reporter printed a story that
made Snape responsible for getting Sirius killed. I don't think Harry
would have the same problems with that, though I he might have some
twinges of it's not being exactly true. The point was about the nature
of truth and our own povs taking precedent and seeming more true, not
that Harry supports deliberate smear campaigns in the press. <snip>

Carol responds:

Suppose that Rita had reported something about Snape that was true,
but with the intent to hurt or discredit him? Suppose, for example,
that when she stated that Dumbledore had hired a werewolf, a
delusional ex-Auror, and a half-giant (all true, but slanted to
discredit Dumbledore and hurt Hagrid), she had added the ex-DE, Snape.
Wouldn't Harry and his friends have been happy to see Snape's past
exposed  and all the parents writing to Dumbledore demanding Snape's
resignation? (Well, maybe Hermione wouldn't, but Ron and Snape hate him.)

Rita doesn't care who she hurts with her slant on the truth; Harry can
be "a right little hero" or the victim of a two-timing girlfriend or a
delusional and possibly violent attention seeker for all she cares as
long as she has a story. If anyone else is important encough to write
about, she'll find a slant to interest the readers: equal opportunity
slander, so to speak. I'm sure she was quite delighted to discredit
the influential Lucius Malfoy by naming him as a Death Eater in the
graveyard. Of course, she'd much rather have published the story in
the Daily Prophet, where it had more chance of being believed than in
the Quibbler, along with stories about Crumple-horned Snorkacks.

Carol, who realizes that Hermione's desire for vengeance on Rita
Skeeter had as much to do with the envelope full of Bubotuber Pus as
with the article itself but still wishes she weren't so vindictive
(isn't that *Snape's* main fault?)



Carol, who thinks that the only reason Rita *didn't* include Snape's
name must be that Karkaroff's hearing was closed to the public and the
press and she just didn't know