England, Devon.

Along the River Otter, a relatively secluded area of hills and rivers.

In the British government's archives, this area contains a total of three villages: Saint Mary, Otterton, and Saint Catchpool.

However, in the wizarding reports of the British Ministry of Magic, there is also a newly formed magical residential area—Quibble Village, built around the headquarters of the "The Quibbler" joint magazine publishing house. According to the latest figures, there are nearly a hundred magical families here.

And the "household registration" of the Weasley and Diggory families, who originally lived nearby, has finally been changed from the description of "edge of Muggle village."

At half past five in the morning, Rita Skeeter woke up completely with a start.

She felt as if she had returned to the dim helplessness she had experienced in that suffocating web months ago.

Rita lay motionless in the employee dormitory assigned by Destiny Group.

Slowly, the task she had to complete today began to flicker repeatedly in every cell of her brain.

No matter how much she wanted to sink back into sleep, those increasingly clear fears and confusions always snatched her back in the next second.

She couldn't stand it anymore.

Rita jumped out of bed and groped for her glasses.

An unknown house-elf had already ironed her clothes for today.

This bright green professional suit, scheduled for release in a few months, used to be the style Rita was most looking forward to getting.

But when it appeared in front of her at an utterly incredible speed, the anticipation in her heart rapidly turned into trepidation in a few seconds.

Within Destiny Group and the Foundation, there is no concept of value for Galleons. The meaning of Galleons in the organization is no different from potatoes, gravel, or fresh water. It is just a nearly unlimited resource that everyone can apply for as needed during the task completion process.

When Rita visited the Gringotts vault in her second month of employment, her values ​​completely collapsed.

She abandoned her original jewel-encrusted glasses and replaced them with a light brown pair that better suited her face shape.

Because only in this way did Rita Skeeter feel like herself, and not some secret agent of a dark organization carrying out a mission.

Rita Skeeter washed up simply, dressed neatly, and carefully crossed the room to the staircase platform outside the door—she was not the only one in the employee dormitory; there were two other witches in training at the same time, but Rita felt that they were more like her supervisors.

She tiptoed down the stairs, past the rooms of the other two witches, and came to the living room below.

She hoped she could calm down and think carefully. If she wasn't mistaken, perhaps this was her only chance to escape.

However, Rita's hope was obviously in vain—she wasn't the only one who woke up early today.

As she walked to the door, she happened to hear a low murmur of voices coming from behind the door.

She pushed the door open and saw Mr. "Hanged Man," Mr. "Hermit," the goblin Douglas, and the young witch named Tonks who was in the same class as her, all sitting at the long table, as if waiting for her. Everyone was dressed neatly, except for Mr. "Hermit," who was wearing a slightly mismatched yellow and white-trimmed dressing gown—this was not surprising; Rita Skeeter rarely saw him wearing clothes properly.

Noticing Rita walking into the room, Xenophilius Lovegood breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stood up.

"Let's have breakfast first." He said, drawing his wand and hurrying towards the stove.

"Morn—morn—morning, Rita."

Tonks yawned. She was a newly hired Auror at the Ministry of Magic and a new star of the Foundation in the same class as Rita.

But the most special thing is that she is also a natural Metamorphmagus—as long as Tonks wants, she can change her face shape and hair color at will.

Of course, Rita wasn't envious because she herself was also an Animagus, and a rare insect type.

This morning, Tonks' hair was golden yellow, with curls.

"Did you sleep well, Rita—today you are the protagonist."

"Very well." Rita tried to appear relaxed.

"I didn't—didn't—didn't sleep all night."

Tonks said, yawning again, shivering all over.

"You sit down first. My mission is to be responsible for your safety from last night until you wake up today. Now that you're awake, I can finally go rest... Honestly, this is more tiring than my work at the Ministry... I told you a long time ago that you couldn't defect anyway..."

She babbled, dragging out a chair, and knocked over a chair next to it.

"Miss Tonks, sometimes, you don't have to say things if it's not necessary—"

The goblin Douglas coughed lightly, saying with a subtle expression.

"If these words are heard by others, or spread out, then the 'Black Robe Monitors' will not only eliminate the impact but also investigate your responsibility afterwards—besides, if I remember correctly, the emotion you showed when accepting the task should have been happiness?"

"Of course, I'm happy. It's an easy task for nothing. Only a fool would refuse."

Tonks said carelessly, patting Rita Skeeter's shoulder.

"When your mission is over, we'll come back and share the rewards. Anyway, I earned a C-level mission just by staying up all night."

For this Ravenclaw graduate, Tonks still has some respect in her heart.

After all, the other party is a self-taught Animagus master, and still of an insect type, which has almost never appeared in history.

This is different from the gift she received from her family's bloodline. Even though they are both "Foundation New Stars" of this year, Rita Skeeter mostly goes on more dangerous and difficult field missions.

If there are no accidents, she should be able to advance to B-level after Rita successfully returns this time.

The tasks involving the personal participation of the "Major Arcana," one would know how important these magical events are.

Even guarding the night can get a C-level mission reward. One can imagine how high the mission level in Rita Skeeter's "personal settlement panel" will be as a core participant. Tonks dreams of participating quickly instead of always doing miscellaneous training.

"Uh, well...if everything goes smoothly..."

Rita Skeeter glanced at the familiar young witch next to her and sighed helplessly.

Compared to this child who only graduated last year, Rita, who has been struggling in the magical society for more than ten years, knows very well what "cost" means.

As a "recruited" person, the difficulty of her promotion path is much more difficult than these pure little white flowers—in addition to not being able to refuse any tasks, the more important principle is that her freedom is almost permanently restricted unless she can be promoted to the middle level.

And promotion to the middle level means that she needs to submit a pledge of sufficient weight.

For example, as the bridgehead for overturning the Ministry of Magic and the fatal bait that lures the Ministry of Magic into the trap.

This is a bold gamble that puts the identity of a formal "Major Arcana" member in the light world at stake. If she counterattacks, or if the mission fails, perhaps the huge Foundation can try to rescue the "Hanged Man," but she will definitely die without a burial place.

In other words...

For her future freedom...

She must personally play the first note to bury the Ministry of Magic today.

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Hooray!

Double update for Qixi Festival! Double update!

Even if it's a 2k double update, it's still a double update!