character name: Rita Skeeter age & birthday: 33, june 5th. Geminis sun, geminis moon, Taurus rising. pronouns: she/her blood status: half blood occupation: journalist for the Daily Prophet faceclaim: Margot Robbie
PERSONALITY TRAITS:
positive traits: resourceful, creative, skilled, ambitious negative traits: manipulative, liar, selfish, untrustworthy
I. childhood and hogwarts years:
Rita Skeeter had been a very much wanted child. Her mother had fertility issues and she and her father tried so hard until she came. With her bright blue eyes, cute dimples and blonde hair, Rita charmed every single person that she crossed path with. She was a cute girl, always spoiled by everyone and the apple of her parents’ eyes.
Her family was a typical middle class family, they had all that they needed but not more than that, which was something that made Rita slightly suspicious. In her eyes, her father’s job as a muggle prosecutor (as a muggleborn, he decided to work in the muggle community rather than in the wizarding world) should pay more than he brought home. Her mother was a seamstress in Madam Malkin’s shop, and everyone knew that didn’t pay well.
That stopped mattering the second she set foot in the Hogwarts’ express. Rita was excited, her parents told her everything about Hogwarts and she couldn’t wait to walk those halls. She was marveled by the castle and the floating candles, all the uniforms looked so beautiful and she couldn’t wait to wear hers.
Rita Skeeter was a hatstall. The sorting hat took almost fifteen minutes to decide. There was plenty of ambition and a hunger to prove herself, so Slytherin would’ve been a great house for her. But there was something about how her mind worked and her thirst for knowledge that got her into the Ravenclaw house. She was excited, the blue went lovely with her skin and it matched her eyes.
Life in Hogwarts was… not exactly what she thought it would be. Most classes were boring as hell. With the exception of charms and Transfiguration, Rita made absolutely no effort, just the bare minimum to pass. She would rather spend her time flirting with boys and becoming a social butterfly.
One could often see her hanging out with the popular guys, just sitting on their laps and laughing as they all spilled their secrets to her. She was charming – and some might even call her nosy, but they were just jealous, or so she says – always batting her eyelashes and pouting to get what she wanted.
II. during the first wizarding war:
Tw: death
Rita was not interested in becoming a healer nor working as an auror. Those conventional jobs didn’t suit her right. Instead, she decided to become a journalist. She was good at writing and she knew how to obtain information.
She didn’t join the Order nor the Death Eaters, but she did cover the war. She didn’t agree with Voldemort, but Albus Dumbledore seemed just as shady. Besides, she had good sources on both sides, it was better to remain neutral. Both Death Eaters and Order members were pissed with her, which was a sign that she was doing a good job.
Surprisingly, Rita took her job seriously and she liked the idea of speaking the truth (or more like her truth). Not only that, but she also enjoyed being influential. It was challenging at first, in a male dominated field, Rita had to work three times harder than any mediocre man for her work to be taken seriously. In spite of her rocky and slow start, she began to gain popularity. With her unique point of views, good information and elegant prose; she quickly gained more readers.
But things couldn’t possibly be that easy, right? One night, after meeting one of her sources, Rita was heading back home when she saw a man that looked just like a father come out of a town house. There was a woman (that was not her mother) and two teenagers who were hugging him and calling him ‘dad’. That was the first time in her life that Rita felt properly humiliated. Did her mother know that? After a week of investigation, Rita discovered that her father had a double life. All those nights he said he was working late, he was actually with his other family.
Some might call her callous and cruel, but she sent all her evidence to a muggle newspaper and let the press take him down. She never felt any remorse, not even when her mother died a year later, unable to recover from it.
III. where are they now?:
When Voldemort was defeated, Rita hit a wall. She had specialized in covering the war and now there was no more war to cover. Sure, it was the aftermath, but that wouldn’t last forever. So Rita realized that she would have to branch out her content.
She started easy, with profiles and interviews, but they weren’t as successful as her coverage of the war. In a desperate attempt to make things more interesting, she began to add some “colorful details” to her articles. The more “details” she added, the more readers she gained.
The end justifies the means, right? Rita Skeeter is now back and she writes about everyone and everything. She’s not afraid to tackle any topic. Currently, she’s one of the most popular authors in the Prophet, plus, she also published her first book, which was an immediate best seller: “Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?”
ANYTHING ELSE
Rita Skeeter is an unregistered animagus, a beetle.
