SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP

SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP
Newspaper article information
Author	Rita Skeeter
Newspaper	The Daily Prophet
Accompanying photographs	A twinkling black-and-white photograph of the Dark Mark appearing over the Quidditch World Cup Campsite
Subject	The riot at the 1994 Quidditch World Cup

"Ministry blunders...culprits not apprehended...lax security...Dark wizards running unchecked...national disgrace.... Who wrote this? Ah...of course...Rita Skeeter."

— Arthur Weasley skimming over this article.

SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP was an article posted in the Daily Prophet, written by Rita Skeeter. It covered the riot at the 1994 Quidditch World Cup. In Skeeter's traditional style, the piece was highly sensational, blaming how the affair was handled on the British Ministry of Magic and claiming that they could have handled security better. The article even went so far as to claim that there were rumours of bodies being removed from the campsite's forest, when no such rumours existed before the publishing of the article.

Upon seeing the article, Molly Weasley began to worry heavily, becoming convinced that one of her family members may have died at the hands of the Death Eaters. After assuring his wife that they were all okay, and that no one had died, Arthur Weasley read the article himself. Noting that he was indirectly mentioned as having given a statement that no one was hurt, he immediately got dressed and headed to the Ministry to do any damage control that would be necessary.

Partial transcript

"[…] Ministry blunders […] culprits not apprehended […] lax security […] Dark wizards running unchecked […] national disgrace […]"

If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the wood expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry official emerged some time after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any more information. Wherever this statement will be enough to quash the rumours that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later remains to be seen.

Behind the scenes

• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, this headline is shortened to "Terror at the Quidditch World Cup". It is only seen at a glance, on an issue of the Daily Prophet being read by Hermione Granger during the train ride to Hogwarts, and no connection to Skeeter is ever made (although the cover of the paper also includes a reference to a article by her: "Skeeter: how I saw it!", on page 3).

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)