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Template:HP character Rita Skeeter is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. The character is introduced in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as a reporter for the Daily Prophet and a correspondent for the Witch Weekly, who specialises in yellow journalism.

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 satire on such journalists in the real world.

As a reporter who fabricated information in order to write an appealing story, she was an antagonist to Harry and his friends throughout Goblet of Fire.

Rita Skeeter was played by Miranda Richardson in the film version of the fourth novel, released in 2005.

She has been voted as the most hated benign character in the books by fans, coming out ahead of Gilderoy Lockhart.

History

Rita Skeeter's attempts to create controversy are first seen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and include instances that occurred before Harry returned to Hogwarts for his fourth year. When Rita wrote about the Dark Mark appearing at the Quidditch World Cup, she said that there were rumours that several bodies had been removed from the forest an hour after the attack; Arthur Weasley commented that this report would likely create those rumours, even if they hadn't existed before. She also reported on Ludo Bagman's trial many years previous to when the story takes place, which Harry witnessed in Dumbledore's Pensieve. Dumbledore also mentions that she referred to him as an "obsolete dingbat" in a piece about the International Confederation of Wizards, while Bill Weasley recalls that she called him "a long-haired pillock" after an interview with all the Gringotts curse breakers.

Role in the series

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry first encounters Rita when she interviews the Triwizard Tournament 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 Cedric Diggory (the other Hogwarts 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.

Rita then interviews Hagrid, 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, Dumbledore bans her from Hogwarts.

Animagus form

Rita Skeeter is an unregistered Animagus, capable of transforming into a beetle to spy on unsuspecting victims for her stories. During the Yule Ball, she overhears Hagrid telling Madame Maxime that he is half-giant. Skeeter prints a story about it and includes Malfoy's hippogriff 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.

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.

When Skeeter encounters Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Hogsmeade, 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 Harry Potter and Viktor Krum. The article prompts more ridicule towards Harry by Hogwarts students.

Rita's last defaming article states that Harry is "disturbed and dangerous," and uses comments from Draco Malfoy and his Slytherin cronies (who are aware Skeeter uses her animagus form to gain information). Skeeter also reports that Harry knows Parseltongue (the ability to speak with serpents) and about the pain from his scar that was inflicted by Lord Voldemort.

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.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Hermione blackmails Skeeter to interview Harry about Lord Voldemort returning and to submit the story to The Quibbler. Otherwise she will inform the Ministry that Rita is an unregistered Animagus.

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; Dolores Umbridge, 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.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

At the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, much to Harry's fury, Rita is spotted in attendance at Dumbledore's funeral, clutching a notebook. Her role in the book is minor.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Although Rita does not make a physical appearance in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows she is referenced on numerous occasions throughout the novel, generally in a negative light, in relation to her unauthorised biography of Dumbledore 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 yellow journalism 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.

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.

Character background

J. K. Rowling considered putting Rita, who was then called Bridget, in the first book 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 (see Weasley family). J. K. Rowling Also mentioned that she wanted Harry to experience the "pain of fame" at a later date, rather than straight away.

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.

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".

Name

"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.

Portrayal in the film

In the Goblet of Fire film, she was played by Miranda Richardson. In the film she had a column entitled Me, Myself & I, which was not mentioned in the book.

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.

References

1. http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2001/1201-bbc-hpandme.htm
2. http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=3
3. http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2001/1201-bbc-hpandme.htm
4. http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/1998/0798-eveningstandard-johnson.htm

• Fictional reporters
• Fictional shapeshifters
• Harry Potter witches