(Untitled)

[hih_dumbledore]

Week Name/Date/Time: 'She's Bad News'/ Monday, November 20th, 2006 / 9:50AM
Location:  Rm. 14
Open to: EVERYONE
Currently Involving: Rita Skeeter

"Well, that certainly was enlightening!"

The last cry echoed as the door slammed behind the heels of the little red-headed girl.

"Did you get her name? Lemme seeit!" Rita pulled the parchment towards her as the

Comments

[xxhaylynxx]

"Next!"

Glaring defiantly, Haylyn tousled her bright red hair and drew her cloak around her before entering the room. She agreed to do the interview, but that sure as hell didn't mean she didn't support Dumbledore.

She reached out and opened the door, stepping inside and sitting down.

"Hello." She greeted stiffly.

[hih_dumbledore]

Well, if the red-heads weren't coming in in droves this morning!

Rita gave Haylyn one of her most charming smiles. She was, after all, an experience reporter and all reporters could sense when their subjects were anxious or apprehensive... this girl positively stank of it!

"Hello, my dear girl!" she exclaimed, at once replenishing Miss Hawkins' unused teacup with the drink. "And how are we today? Have some tea. Biscuit?" she offered the plate of cookies to Haylyn with a wave of her wand. The vile green quill leapt out of the way so it could pass.

"First of all, I need to know your name, and your age, my dear. Just for the sake of posterity, you know?" she gave a high and false laugh.

"Please, help yourself to any of the food there. Are you excited to be in print?"

[xxhaylynxx]

Haylyn accepted the tea, but declined the biscuits. There was a time to jump up and yell at someone and there was a time to pretend to be friendly and nice to someone you hated.

Haylyn smiled at Skeeter. "My name is Haylyn Day, ma'am. I'm sixteen."

"Oh, yes, I am excited to be in print!" Just wish it wasn't you writing the damn article, Haylyn thought. "I'm actually considering journalism as a future." Haylyn added.

It was true, she was thinking about journalism as a career. But, she would definitely not be a journalist like Skeeter - she would report the truth. Better not to let Skeeter know that, of course.

[hih_dumbledore]

"Oh, are you?" Rita was excellent at feigning interest. As she smiled, she withdrew a small card from her handbag and gave it to the girl seated before her. "There's my card if you ever need an in at the Prophet! You know, I was the one who recommended Gregory Beedle all those years back," she waved her hand airily and gave a laugh, "not going to say how many of course! 'Give this kid a shot,' I told the editor of the Prophet, and well! Look where he is now. Chief Editor himself!"

She gave another airy laugh, her blonde curls bouncing. A lift of her bejeweled spectacles and she was off.

"Sixteen, you say, my girl? So you're a sixth year, hm..." the acid green quill scribbled alongside her as she sipped the tea.

"We'll start with the easy questions first, shall we? What do you think of this switch? Which Headmaster do you prefer and why?"

Maybe not so easy after all!

[xxhaylynxx]

Haylyn smiled graciously at Skeeter, (She ignored the slight gagging the back of her throat) and accepted the card, tucking it into a pocket.

"Well, Ma'am, I'd have to say Headmaster Dumbledore. He is a very big part of this school, as I'm sure you well know. Each Headmaster brings something to the table and I think Hogwarts misses Dumbledore to be honest." Haylyn said sadly.

"Mr. Malfoy," She refused to call him Headmaster, "doesn't understand children and doesn't have a clue what to do as Headmaster!

"Dumbledore was a good Headmaster. He always knew what was going on, and when someone needed advice or someone to talk to. Mr. Malfoy is absolutely clueless as a Headmaster. Some people were simply not made to be a Headmaster or a teacher." Haylyn said coldly.

[hih_dumbledore]

"Now, dear girl," Rita said, smiling at her. Good gracious, not another one? The way the Minister had gone on about the job, she'd expected to be flooded with students who wanted to put their entire faith into him, but this?! Malfoy would not be happy, "you say both headmasters have something to bring to the table-- what exactly is it about Dumbledore that you like so much? Perhaps... perhaps you feel encouraged because he, too, was a Gryffindor? Perhaps you feel a certain kinsmanship, unavailable to you because the Minister himself was in Slytherin?"

Why did all these students like the old coot? Rita herself had never been impressed with the man! Maybe he did defeat the Dark Wizard Grindlewald, but Rita herself had heard various stories on the subject! And as for how he'd dealt thus far with the infiltration of Death Eaters at Hogwarts...

"What skills do you think are necessary to be a Headmaster?" she asked the girl sitting before her, watching her quill record Haylyn's every word.

[xxhaylynxx]

"Oh no!" Haylyn scoffed, "It isn't because he was a Slytherin! That would be silly, considering that if my brother attended Hogwarts then he would've most definitely been a Slytherin - and he's like my best friend!" It was true. Haylyn didn't hate Slytherins, she just hated how some of them acted.

"As I've said Dumbledore always knew when something was going on in the castle. He also knew when you were down about something and he'd invite you to his office for tea and a little chat, that way you'd have someone to talk to. Dumbledore's a good man."

"I think those skills make a good Headmaster, of course. That and someone who actually cares about your opinion and well-being. Mr. Malfoy doesn't, ma'am. No offense meant, of course." Haylyn said defiantly. She sure as hell wasn't going to praise Malfoy - he was a horrid man.

[hih_dumbledore]

"But you said before," she said, glancing down at the parchment before her and pretending to read from it, although she know right well what Haylyn had said-- after so many years interviewing, she practically memorized what her interviewees said, "'Each Headmaster brings something to the table'. What are the traits you think are positive in Headmaster Malfoy?" she asked, because the question simply needed asking.

She listened to Haylyn prattle on about Dumbledore for a couple more moments, before interjecting yet again.

"So, what you're saying, Miss Day," Rita said, smiling to herself as she watched her quill flit across the page, recording (almost) every word Haylyn said, "is that Dumbledore was a good Headmaster because he was personable? He was... intimate with his students?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

She made clear that this was to be a very open-ended question-- Haylyn could interpret as she wanted what exactly Rita was asking-- all the reporter wanted was an answer.

[xxhaylynxx]

"Intimate with his students?" Haylyn smiled at her ever-so-fakely - the woman was an arse.

"Ms.Skeeter," Haylyn said in a faux innocent voice, "You make it sound as if he was molesting students! That's crazy talk, ma'am. The headmaster is a grandfatherly figure to the students."

Haylyn appeared calm and put together outwardly, but in the inside she was cursing and mentally Avada Kedavra'ing the lady in front of her.

[hih_dumbledore]

Rita frowned. She was quickly losing her appeal with this journalist-to-be. Not that she really cared, but Haylyn was starting to bore her. She wanted something juicy! She didn't care if Dumbledore made the students of Hogwarts sandwiches, or read them story books! She wanted to hear something more exciting than this!

Just like the girl before her, Haylyn was starting to be a waste of Rita's time. She glanced down but briefly at the paper in front of her, and read with lightening-quick eyes:

Ms. Day, an admitted Muggleborn student, stated to this reporter that Dumbledore was a regular know-it-all when it came to the lives of his students. "As I've said Dumbledore always knew when something was going on in the castle... he'd invite you to his office," says Day. School officials might want to consider whether Dumbledore's closeness with students was entirely appropriate.So, Rita summoned her brightest, most fake smile she could manage and offered it to the girl, curling the edge of the paper so Haylyn couldn't see