| “ | You horrible woman! You don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? | „ |
| ~ Hermione Granger calling out Rita's writing style. |
Rita Skeeter is a supporting antagonist of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and a minor antagonist in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. A notorious journalist specializing in slander and defamation, Rita was actually a legitimate criminal (albeit unknown) due to the fact that she was an unregistered Animagus, which is illegal.
Using her animal form of a beetle, she was able to eavesdrop on private conversations without anyone knowing she's there, giving her access to private information that isn't meant to be made public and using that to write her gossip tabloids. Rita has personally expressed she isn't interested in writing the truth, but instead what people were more likely to want to read. Not even those underage are safe from her scandalous reports, writing provocative articles about both Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
In the films, she was portrayed by Miranda Richardson, who also played Queen Elizabeth I, Amy Hardwood, and Queen Asphyxia XIX in the Blackadder franchise, Mab in Merlin, the Queen of Hearts in the 1999 TV film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, Lady Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow, Sybil Birling in An Inspector Calls, Mrs. Tweedy in Chicken Run, and Emily Brent in the 2015 miniseries adaptation of And Then There Were None.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Skeeter was a Pure or Half-Blood Witch born in 1951. At the age of eleven in 1962, Skeeter purchased her wand at Diagon Alley, most likely at Ollivanders and attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she was sorted to an unknown house. At one point, she was interested into joining the Slug Club, composed of selected students by Potion Master Horace Slughorn, who accepted that she attended one of their parties, after Skeeter had spent time currying favour with him. However, one of the members named Bilton Bilmes pranked Slughorn by putting Bulbadox powder in his tea, resulting in ending the meeting early and finishing Sketter's chances of joining for good, making her resentful towards Bilmes.
After leaving Hogwarts, Skeeter trained to become an Animagus and, at some point prior to 1986, she was finally able to transform into a blue beetle at will. Aspiring to be a journalist and an author, she used this ability and the format of the beetle to spy and eavesdrop anyone for her articles.
Career as a reporter/author[]
Early years of career and first success[]
During her early days as an author, Skeeter wrote a biography on Armando Dippet, the Headmaster of Hogwarts under her first years, entitled Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?. Based on all the books Skeeter wrote in the future, it was presumably an very exaggerated and romanticized story. This book turned out to be a best-seller and real success for its negative depiction of Dippet. Skeeter also provided a quote for the critical acclaim for Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp, writing "I've read worse." as a review.
First Wizarding War and between 1981 and 1994[]
At the time of the first rise to power of Lord Voldemort, Skeeter became a journalist and probably covered the war events. After the fall of the Dark Lord in 1981, Skeeter attended the public trials of Ludovic Bagman and Death Eater Igor Karkaroff, the latter who agreed to betray numerous fellow members in exchange of amnesty, but did not revealed any important new name, only people who were already known as Death Eaters, until naming Augustus Rookwood, who worked in the Department of Mysteries of the British Ministry of Magic. In the film version, however, Karkaroff reveals that the son of Bartemius Crouch Senior, who was presiding over the trial as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was also a Death Eater, much to everyone's shock, including Skeeter, who probably used this juicy information to discredit Crouch Snr afterwards.
Between 1981 and 1994, Skeeter continued to work as a gossip reporter, was selected was a guest speaker at Hogwarts during the 1986–1987 school year and returned one year later, particularly interested in uncovering Hogwarts's dark and dangerous secrets in the hopes her book would force Albus Dumbledore, who she had a dislike for, to step down as a Headmaster, but failed to do so. The next year, she traveled to the school again, this time harassing Celestina Warbeck, the famous singer, about information. A few years later, during the summer of 1994, Skeeter covered the International Confederation of Wizards' Conference during which she described Albus Dumbledore as an "obsolete dingbat".
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire[]
1994 Quidditch World Cup[]
| “ | Ministry blunders ... culprits not apprehended ... lax security ... Dark wizards running unchecked ... national disgrace... | „ |
| ~ Skeeter's very biased article on the reappearance of the Dark Mark. |
Following the eruption of Death Eaters in a Muggle camp hosting wizards attending the World Cup and the reappearance of the Dark Mark in the sky (casted by Barty Crouch Jnr), Skeeter wrote an scathing report questioning the handling of the riots by the Ministry, accusing the officials of incompetence over their failure to catch any of the culprits.
The Triwizard Tournament[]
A few time later after the Quidditch World Cup, Rita was given the opportunity to return to Hogwarts to cover the Triwizard Tournament, between Hogwarts, Beauxbatons (the French school of Witchcraft) and Durmstrang (Bulgarian Witchcraft school). Pretending to interview all four champions (instead of three, since Harry was secretly introduced against his will by Barty Crouch Jnr, disguised as Alastor Moody) Rita brought Harry to a broom cupboard and took his "um"s and "er"s to use them as material to make her own quotes where Harry had said them. Her "interview of the contestants" turned out to be a highly falsified story on Harry's life and ambitions, and Rita's first scandalous and biased article during the tournament.
After the first task of the tournament, Dumbledore banned Skeeter from entering Hogwarts castle, giving her the opportunity to use her Animagus skills to her benefit once again.
When digging around, Rita ended up watching a Care of Magical Creatures lesson focused on Blast-Ended Skrewts ending in a catastrophic way. Pretending to be interested in the creatures, she appointed an interview with Rubeus Hagrid, the Half-Giant teacher of the subject and close friend of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Instead, she tried to dig more information on Harry to use in her defamation, but Hagrid refused to answer any of them. Skeeter took revenge by eavesdropping Hagrid's conversation with Olympe Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons and also a Half-Giant, when he partly revealed his origins, in her animagus form. Skeeter was then capable to collect multiple information on Hagrid's childhood and depicted him as a ferocious-looking man who used his authority to terrify his students. This story, having unveiled Hagrid's origins, caused multiple parents frightened by the idea of having a dangerous giant teaching their children. Highly upset of all of this, Hagrid locks himself in his hut and was temporarily replaced by Wilhelmina Grubby-Plank.
Harry, Ron and Hermione then encountered Rita and her camera man at Hogsmeade, who was discussing the possibility of writing an embarrassing story about Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic, using his connections to suspicious goblins. Hermione then insulted her on her writing style, and was in retaliation depicted as a devious but talented witch who used Love Potions to satisfy her "taste for famous wizards". Rita invented a love triangle story, writing that Hermione was toying with the affections of both Harry and Viktor Krum. Although Hermione was more disdainful than upset about these lies, she received heinous mail from people who believed Skeeter's lies. Some of the mail even came with jinxes and curses and even Molly Weasley was upset with Hermione until Harry assured her that all Rita told in this article was false.
Just before the third and last task of the Tournament, Rita (under her Animagus form) witnessed Harry's collapse during his Divination class and falsely depicted him again as "disturbed and dangerous". Just after the end of the third task, however, Rita spied on Harry from the Hospital Wing window after he witnessed the return of Lord Voldemort and the murder of Cedric Diggory. Hermione, who suspected Skeeter of being an animagus, trapped her in a jar imbued with an Unbreakable Charm so she couldn't transform. Hermione was then able to blackmail Rita by threatening her to "keep her quill to herself for a full year", otherwise she would be reported as an illegal Animagus to the Ministry of Magic. Rita had no choice but to comply, suffering from a financial strain as a result.
Interviewing Harry in the Quibbler[]
Although Rita stopped writing since the end of the Triwizard Tournament, all her previous propagandist articles served as a base to a propaganda campaign launched by the Ministry against Harry and Dumbledore, as Cornelius Fudge refuse to believe that Voldemort has returned. Although she didn't appear much, she was referenced on numerous occasions throughout the book.
As the Daily Prophet portrayed Harry as either a delusional boy or an attention-seeking liar, Hermione wanted Harry to freely tell the truth to the people, so she instructed Rita to meet her and Luna Lovegood to the Three Broomstick Inn in Hogsmeade on Valentine's day : as Skeeter laid the foundation for the Prophet's defamation of Harry with her previous biased stories, she would now be the one to set the record straight. Comically, when Harry arrived to the meeting, he thought that Hermione and Rita were "the unlikeliest pair of drinking mates he could ever have imagined".
| “ | Rita: But of course, Little Miss Perfect wouldn't want that story out there, would she? Hermione Granger: As a matter of fact, that's exactly what Little Miss Perfect does want. Rita: You want me to report what he says about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? |
„ |
| ~ Rita and Hermione. |
Rita was then instructed by Hermione to write everything Harry has to say and to not depict him as the rest of the press is. Skeeter then reluctantly agreed after she was told that the interview would be printed in the Quibbler, Luna's father's magazine. However, she was extremely furious when Hermione announced that she would not be paid a penny for this, and since she could still report Rita to the ministry, the ex-reporter grudgingly complied.
This interview turned out to be a success and the Quibbler's best selling issue of the magazine's history. Although Dolores Umbridge banned the article from Hogwarts, it only increased its popularity. It was sold to the Daily Prophet after Voldemort's return became public and the Ministry was forced to admit that Harry and Dumbledore had said the truth for a whole year.
Return to her old habits[]
Skeeter made a brief appearance in the final chapter of The Half-Blood Prince, where she attended the funeral of Albus Dumbledore. Harry was furious to note that had a notebook and her quill ready. This was her only physical appearance.
The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore[]
Rita's being present at Dumbledore's funeral was, perhaps, a signal that she was about to write a biography of the dead Headmaster. Indeed, within four weeks, Skeeter wrote a 900 pages biography entitled The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore. Most of the information she got was obtained from an "interview" with famous elderly historian Bathilda Bagshot, where Skeeter drugged her with Veritaserum to get as much information as possible on the Dumbledore family, focusing on Albus' dead sister Ariana and his relationship with Gellert Grindelwad, who was the nephew of Bathilda. In addition to the interview, Skeeter stole numerous photos and pictures from Bagshot to illustrate the biography. Rita was then interviewed by a fellow Daily Prophet writer, Betty Braithwaite, whom she informed of how much gossip was surrounding the book's release.
As expected, the book depicted the former headmaster in an extremely negative light but was mostly based on truth thanks to the information Skeeter extracted from Bagshot, much to Harry's horror. Just like Armando Dippet: Master or Moron? the book was a huge best-seller and very welcomed by Dumbledore's detractors, in the very middle of the Second Wizarding War. Many Ministry of Magic officials (who was took over by Voldemort) bought the book, including Dolores Umbridge.
For once, Skeeter got at least some of her facts straight, but was wrong on certain important facts, such as Dumbledore was indeed interested in the Dark Arts in his teenage time, but renounced to it after the devastating death of Ariana, in which he never played a role, opposite to what Rita implied in the book.
| “ | Naturally, what could stop Rita [from still reporting]? I imagine she immediately dashed off a biography of Harry after he defeated Voldemort. One quarter truth to three quarters rubbish. | „ |
| ~ J.K Rowling regarding Rita's life after the end of Voldemort's reign. |
Following Voldemort's final defeat and death, Rita published a, once again, highly biased biography on Harry, as well as one about Severus Snape titled Snape: Scoundrel or Saint?. Unfortunately, except for the time during the 2014 Quidditch World Cup in which she became "unaccountably ill" with what some called "a jinx to the solar plexus" inflicted by Ginny Potter when she suggested that her husband was "publicity-hungry", it appear that Rita Skeeter never got punished for her actions and continued to write sensationalist journalism and false stories, thus making her a Karma Houdini.
Personality[]
| “ | I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl, not that it needs it. | „ |
| ~ Rita bragging about her knowledge and insulting Hermione. |
Rita Skeeter is attention hungry and craves fame and notoriety, and doesn't care how she achieves any of this. She has blatantly stated she doesn't care about the truth, instead choosing to write what makes headlines or readers may want to read about more. She twists facts or more often than not ignores them completely when writing her works, or reports them accurately and truthfully if the information is risque and damning, not meant to be seen by the public eye. She doesn't care who her writing harms, what reputations she destroys, or what problems her accusations lead to, and doesn't fear repercussions in the slightest. She can be truly vile, and is greatly disliked by those in the wizarding community who are on the side of truth and justice.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- Draco Malfoy
- Vincent Crabbe †
- Gregory Goyle
- Pansy Parkinson
- Aunt Muriel
- The Daily Prophet
- Witch Weekly
Enemies[]
Triwizard Tournament Champions[]
- Harry Potter
- Cedric Diggory †
- Viktor Krum
- Fleur Delacour
Hogwarts Staff[]
- Albus Dumbledore †
- Minerva McGonagall
- Severus Snape †
- Pomona Sprout
- Rubeus Hagrid
- Poppy Pomfrey
- Sybill Trelawney
Dumbledore's Army[]
Quotes[]
| “ | What a charismatic quartet ! Hello, I'm Rita Skeeter. I write for the Daily Prophet. But, of course, you know that, don't you? It's you we don't know. You're the juicy news. What quirks lurk beneath those rosy cheeks? What mysteries do the muscles mask? Does courage lie beneath those curls? In short, what makes a champion tick? Me, myself and I want to know. Not to mention my ravid readers. So, who's feeling up to sharing? Shall we start with the youngest? Lovely. | „ |
| ~ Rita to Harry Potter, Cedric Diggory, Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour. |
Gallery[]
Images[]
_Promotional_Image.jpg "Rita Skeeter (DH ?) Promotional Image.jpg (349 KB)")
Drafts[]
Trivia[]
- Rita's last name Skeeter means "a mosquito", fitting to how she sucks stories from anyone she comes by. A mosquito is also in insect like the blue beetle.
- Along with James Potter, Sirius Black and Petter Pettigrew, Rita is the fourth known unregistered Animagus.
- She is also the only living one.
- Her biographies are supposedly "one-fourth truth, three-quarters rubish."
