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#REDIRECT ] |
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{{HP character| |
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image= ]<br /><small>] as Rita Skeeter in '']''| |
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{{R from fictional character|Harry Potter}} |
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{{R to section}} |
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name=Rita Skeeter| |
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{{R with Wikidata item|Q3416772}} |
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gender=]| |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Skeeter, Rita}} |
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eyes=Unknown (blue in the film)| |
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house= | |
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blood= | |
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allegiance= | |
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patronus=| |
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animagus = ] | |
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portrayer=]| |
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appearance='']'' |
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'''Rita Skeeter''' is a ] in the '']'' book series written by ]. The character is introduced in '']'' as a ] for the '']'' and a correspondent for the ''Witch Weekly'', who specialises in ]. |
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{{Authority control}} |
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Armed with such magical devices as the Quick-Quotes Quill which automatically misquotes an interviewee even while he or she speaks, the character is clearly intended as ] on such journalists in the real world. |
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As a reporter who fabricated information in order to write an appealing story, she was an antagonist to ] and his friends throughout ''Goblet of Fire''. |
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Rita Skeeter was played by ] in ], released in ]. |
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She has been voted as the most hated benign character in the books by fans, coming out ahead of ]. |
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==History== |
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Rita Skeeter's attempts to create controversy are first seen in '']'' and include instances that occurred before Harry returned to Hogwarts for his fourth year. When Rita wrote about the ] appearing at the ], she said that there were rumours that several bodies had been removed from the forest an hour after the attack; ] commented that this report would likely create those rumours, even if they hadn't existed before. She also reported on ]'s trial many years previous to when the story takes place, which Harry witnessed in Dumbledore's ]. Dumbledore also mentions that she referred to him as an "obsolete dingbat" in a piece about the International Confederation of Wizards, while ] recalls that she called him "a long-haired pillock" after an interview with all the ] curse breakers. |
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==Role in the series== |
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===''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire''=== |
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Harry first encounters Rita when she interviews the ] contestants for an article in ''The Daily Prophet.'' She ushers Harry into a broom cupboard, her Quick-Quotes Quill misquoting him as he speaks. The article turns out to be mostly about Harry. A picture of his face takes up the front page, and she has fabricated Harry's answers to her interview questions. The two foreign Triwizard champions' names are misspelled and do not appear until the end of the article, and ] (the other ] champion) is not mentioned at all. Harry endures much ridicule for her story. At some point in the interview, Dumbledore barges in and the interview ends there. |
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Rita then interviews ], but rather than talking to him about his creatures, which he had been led to believe she would be interested in, she asks for information about Harry. Hagrid commented after the interview that she seemed disappointed when he said that he had never had to reprimand Harry. Not long afterwards, ] bans her from Hogwarts. |
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====Animagus form==== |
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Rita Skeeter is an unregistered ], capable of transforming into a ] to spy on unsuspecting victims for her stories. During the Yule Ball, she overhears Hagrid telling ] that he is half-giant. Skeeter prints a story about it and includes ]'s ] incident, during which Draco was "wounded." In the article, Hagrid is portrayed as dangerous, prompting letters from parents concerned over having a "ferocious" giant teach their children. Afterwards, Hagrid becomes severely depressed and tries to resign; however, Dumbledore refuses to accept his resignation and persuades him to remain. |
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During the situations where Rita overhears information, the book subtly makes reference to her presence, during the second task Viktor Krum mentions Hermione has a water beetle in her hair and during the talk between Madam Maxime and Hagrid, Harry notices a beetle on a nearby statue. |
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When Skeeter encounters Harry, ], and ] in ], Hermione insults her. Skeeter then writes a nasty story about Hermione, making her out to be an ugly but conniving witch who uses illegal love potions to "satisfy her taste for celebrity wizards," including ] and ]. The article prompts more ridicule towards Harry by Hogwarts students. |
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Rita's last defaming article states that Harry is "disturbed and dangerous," and uses comments from ] and his Slytherin cronies (who are aware Skeeter uses her animagus form to gain information). Skeeter also reports that Harry knows ] (the ability to speak with ]) and about the pain from his scar that was inflicted by ]. |
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Hermione discovers just how Skeeter spies on others and forces her to "keep her quill to herself for a full year." Otherwise, she will report her to the authorities as an unregistered (and illegal) Animagus. |
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===''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix''=== |
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Hermione blackmails Skeeter to interview Harry about ] returning and to submit the story to '']''. Otherwise she will inform the Ministry that Rita is an unregistered Animagus. |
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Until the article is published, few believed Voldemort had arisen because Harry and Dumbledore have been heavily smeared in ''The Daily Prophet''. The article gains support for Harry; ], a Ministry employee sent to Hogwarts as the new High Inquisitor, bans the magazine. But the attempt backfires, and the story quickly spreads throughout the school. |
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Rowling has stated in an interview in the origonal draft of the book, after being relised from the jar hermione kept her in she confesses to ron the she indeed had been a death eater in her previous years. |
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===''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince''=== |
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At the end of '']'', much to Harry's fury, Rita is spotted in attendance at Dumbledore's funeral, clutching a notebook. Her role in the book is minor. |
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===''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''=== |
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Although Rita does not make a physical appearance in '']'' she is referenced on numerous occasions throughout the novel, generally in a negative light, in relation to her unauthorised biography of ] entitled ''The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore''. The book depicts the former headmaster in an extremely negative light and throughout Harry struggles to determine whether Rita's words are rooted in any truth. By the end of the novel it is revealed that there is indeed a great deal of truth regarding Albus and his youth, although it is clear that Rita has used her trusty ] techniques to include an equal amount of lies and speculation in her novel. It is reported that the reporter took just four weeks after Dumbledore's death to write and publish the book. She is described as "warmer and softer than her famously ferocious columns suggest" which may be a cover-up or an altogether lie. |
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There is also an apparent continuity error regarding Rita Skeeter in the seventh book. Though it is implied in Goblet of Fire that her Quick Quotes Quill is illicit, or at least highly unethical, she brags about it in an article in the Daily Prophet in book seven. |
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==Character background== |
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J. K. Rowling considered putting Rita, who was then called Bridget, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for the scene where Harry enters The Leaky Cauldron on his way to Diagon Alley. Rowling cut the character and decided to move her to the fourth book. She said part of the reason for this was to fill the role of a character named Mafalda who was cut out . J. K. Rowling Also mentioned that she wanted Harry to experience the "pain of fame" at a later date, rather than straight away. |
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However, Rowling notes she was reluctant to write the character when the time came, fearing people would believe it to be a response to her own fame. However, she did write the character and has noted that meeting with real journalists did make it more fun. |
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It has long been rumoured that the character of Rita was based on that of London-based journalist Syrie Johnson who wrote a long and gushing piece on J.K. Rowling for the Evening Standard in 1998 with the very Skeeterish title: "From Cafe Girl To Hit Writer". |
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==Name== |
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"Skeeter" is a slang term for mosquito, which correlates to her annoying personality, her "blood-sucking" journalistic style and possibly also her Animagus insect form. |
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==Portrayal in the film== |
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In the ''Goblet of Fire'' film, she was played by Miranda Richardson. In the film she had a ] entitled ''Me, Myself & I'', which was not mentioned in the book. |
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In the film, the size of her role is dramatically reduced, her status as an illegal Animagus is not revealed and, unlike in the book, she is not shown to overtly lie in her news reports. Also, the book implies that she frequently creates stories in order to defame people who have been unkind to her, but there is no such implication in the film. It is apparent that the character in the film is merely intended as a slice of comic relief, juxtaposed with more serious subplots. |
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==References== |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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{{Harry Potter characters}} |
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