The Magical Food God of Hogwarts

Chapter 53 Front Page Headline of the Daily Prophet

The next morning, at the Leaky Cauldron, Lucas, Hannah, and Tom were having breakfast together—the usual cereal, milk, bacon, fried eggs, and bread.

Tonks got up very early today, saying he had to go home for some business. This was thanks to the very successful lesson last night, which allowed him to go to bed early.

Lucas was thinking about whether to make some knife-cut noodles when two owls flew in together. With a "thud," they tossed two copies of the Daily Prophet, still smelling of ink, into Tom's and Lucas's arms respectively. Then, without any hesitation, they pecked off a piece of fried bacon, flapped their wings, and flew away.

Hannah gasped as they all saw Lucas's half-face blinking on the folded newspaper.

"I don't subscribe to the newspaper." Lucas grabbed the newspaper from his arms and unfolded it.

"It must have been Rita Skeeter who sent it to you. After all, you're the person involved. She's really quick; it's in the papers today..." Tom spread out the newspaper with interest. "Wow! Front page headline!"

Hannah immediately moved closer, and Lucas also got a good look at the newspaper.

This is truly a front-page headline, a huge, eye-catching, bold main headline:

Fight the Dark Wizard and Save Gringotts!

The subtitle is: "Eleven-Year-Old Muggle Boy Fights to the Death with Dark Wizard; Ministry of Magic's Timely Rescue Saves Gringotts from a False Alarm."

—Exclusive report by special correspondent Rita Skeeter.

Below the title is a close-up photograph that takes up a large portion of the article. In the photo, Lucas sits on the edge of the bed, his expression serious, his red hair like fire, and his eyes shining brightly. As he looks at the reader, a resolute and strong aura naturally emanates from him.

Lucas marveled.

I don't know from which angle Bozo took the photo, but professionals are professionals; he really elevated my handsomeness to several levels.

A quick glance reveals that the entire article is divided into five sections using subheadings.

The Little Wizard Who Hasn't Yet Enrolled in School

[The Shadow That Suddenly Appeared at Gringotts]

[Stepping forward to save lives, fighting to the death]

[A close call! The Ministry of Magic's Aurors arrive as divine soldiers!]

[The Other Side of a Heroic Youth: A Genius Chef Who Soothes the Soul]

The first four parts portray Lucas as a young hero who has endured hardship since childhood, is resilient and fearless in the face of danger, and bravely fights against the dark wizards to save people when Gringotts is in chaos and adult wizards are fleeing in all directions.

Despite Lucas's wisdom, courage, and ingenious strategies, he ultimately suffered a narrow defeat. At the critical moment, the Aurors from the Ministry of Magic arrived like gods, quickly taking control of the situation and quelling the riot. Gringotts was not robbed of anything, and the wizards injured in the incident received proper medical treatment.

Diagon Alley and Gringotts have returned to normal, and everything is under the control of the Ministry of Magic, so it is absolutely safe.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. Skeeter kept his promise and didn't fabricate his background or go to great lengths to evoke emotion. He simply wrote that Lucas was a Muggle-born orphan, thus highlighting Lucas's strong growth and making the altered character even more moving.

The Gringotts heist wasn't fabricated in an overly far-fetched way. Overall, it downplayed the incident and diverted attention, while also highlighting the Ministry of Magic's timely and effective response, and giving Minister Fudge a hand.

This level of artistic embellishment is acceptable.

However, the entire report didn't mention the real protagonist of the battle, Tonks, but instead treated her as a background character who was saved by Lucas. I wonder if she will be angry about that.

Seriously, didn't Skeeter interview Tonks? Why isn't that mentioned in the report?

After quickly reading through the previous text, he flipped to the last subheading, which was the part he was most interested in.

[The Other Side of a Heroic Youth: A Genius Chef Who Soothes the Soul]

This section contains three animated photos.

One photo shows Lucas in handsome profile, holding a ladle and gazing at the fire from a ceramic pot. Another shows him standing at the cutting board, his chef's knife flashing like a blur of silver as he expertly slices through chicken breast. The largest and most eye-catching photo is of a bowl of crystal-clear chicken soup, with white, chrysanthemum-shaped chicken breast slowly blooming in the broth; one can almost smell its rich, savory aroma through the newspaper.

The accompanying text to these three photos is a very short and simple piece of writing, which hardly seems like it came from Rita Skeeter.

"...When Bozo and I, people who have spent half our lives in the world of fame and fortune, thought that nothing could move us anymore, we drank this bowl of chicken soup."

I can no longer describe its deliciousness with words, because any praise seems so pale in comparison.

It's not just a bowl of chicken soup.

It is the most blissful embrace a weary traveler receives when they finally open the door to their home; it allows one to shed all pretense and defenses, and remember that they were once a child who was loved wholeheartedly.

I sincerely hope that Lucas McGregor will open his restaurant in Diagon Alley soon, bringing this amazing delicious food to everyone and allowing everyone to feel happiness while enjoying the meal.

Lucas put down the newspaper.

Skib wrote very well, but—a little too well!

While Skeeter intended to give readers a preliminary impression of her identity as a chef through this report, paving the way for her future culinary pursuits, her description is too exaggerated. Combined with her usual exaggerated style, readers might just have second thoughts.

"Bang!"

Just as Lucas was pondering this, Hannah suddenly jumped up, knocking the whole table over and making a clattering sound.

Lucas was startled and looked up, only to see the little girl's flushed face flash by, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps. She rushed back upstairs as fast as she could and slammed the door shut behind her.

"What happened?"

Lucas asked in confusion, and Tom opened his mouth and laughed, turning to another page of the newspaper and handing it to him.

Just as Lucas was about to look, there was another sound, and green demonic fire surged from the fireplace. Tonks burst out of the flames like a gust of wind. Her hair shimmered with a dazzling deep red, and her entire face was so red it looked like it was about to bleed.

"Lucas! You'd better explain yourself!" Tonks angrily waved the crumpled copy of the Daily Prophet in his hand. "What's with this report?"

"The report is well-written... Oh, it was a mistake not to mention you; you're the real protagonist in the battle against the dark wizard." Lucas thought he understood. "I'll write to Skit—"

"No mention of me?!" Tonks gritted his teeth and shoved the newspaper into Lucas's arms. "This is what you call not mentioning me? You...you little lecher, you're definitely in cahoots with Skeeter!"

Lucas looked down in confusion and saw that the second page of the newspaper contained a different report.

The Troubles of a Young Hero: Childhood Sweetheart's Waiting, or the Beautiful Senior's Heartfelt Admiration?

Lucas's eyes widened.

Rita Skeeter!!!