The next morning, he owled Inkwood.
Miss Inkwood,
I'm writing to offer you an exclusive. Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel have agreed to speak publicly about the attack and its aftermath. They would like to do so at the Crucible, at your earliest convenience.
Ashcroft
Her reply came within three hours, delivered by her own owl, which was significantly more enthusiastic than the animal's dignity typically allowed.
When and where. I'll be there.
S.I.
P.S. I've spoken with my editor. If a credible tip arrives at the Prophet suggesting the attack was not an accident, Barnabas will publish it. He's venal, not stupid. New information gives him cover to run a revised story without admitting the first one was bought. I suggest the tip come from an anonymous Ministry source. The tip should be accompanied by enough gold that Barnabas doesn't have to think twice. Whoever bought the original article paid well. You'll need to pay better.
Rowan showed the letter to Nicholas.
"She's telling me to bribe the Prophet to print the truth."
"How much are you going to send?"
Rowan thought about it. Whoever had bought the original article had deep pockets. A pureblood family that could afford to pay Flint once could afford to pay him again, and Flint would know that. The bribe had to be large enough that Flint didn't bother doing the arithmetic.
"Two hundred Galleons."
Nicholas nodded. "Flint needs to feel that reversing the story is more profitable than keeping the original. Two hundred should do it."
Rowan sent two hundred Galleons in a sealed pouch to the Prophet's offices, accompanied by an anonymous letter written in a hand he'd practised specifically for the purpose, describing the attack in enough detail to be credible and attributing the information to "a source within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement who was dissatisfied with the investigation's closure." The letter named no families. The facts were damning enough on their own.
Inkwood arrived the following morning with her notebook and the same photographer from her previous visit. She stopped in the doorway when she saw Nicholas and Perenelle. Her eyes went wide for a half-second before she caught herself, her grip tightening on the notebook. In six years at the Prophet, she had never been in the same room as the Flamels. Nobody had.
"Mr. Flamel. Mrs. Flamel." She extended her hand. "Sophronia Inkwood, Daily Prophet. I cannot overstate what an honour this is."
"Miss Inkwood." Nicholas shook her hand. "Rowan speaks well of you. He says you write what you see."
"I try."
"Then we'll get along."
Perenelle studied Inkwood for a long moment, then sat down at the table and gestured for her to begin.
The interview lasted over an hour. She asked about the attack first, and Nicholas answered directly.
"Five dark wizards attacked the shop on the evening of the fourteenth of August. They used Dark magic, including at least one Unforgivable Curse. A member of Mr. Ashcroft's staff was tortured. The Ministry has characterised this as a magical accident. That characterisation is false."
Inkwood's quill moved fast. "Can you identify the attackers?"
"No," Perenelle said. "They were hooded. But the magic they used and the fact that they targeted a Muggleborn-owned business suggests this was not random."
Inkwood looked up from her notes. "Would either of you be willing to say that on the record? That the Ministry's account is false?"
"We just did," Perenelle said.
The Flamels gave Inkwood everything she needed without saying anything actionable. Verifiable facts from the two most respected alchemists in the world, and not a single name or accusation that could be challenged in print.
Inkwood asked about the rebuilding and the wards. She could feel the goblin work in the walls and said so. Then she asked why the Flamels were here, why they were breaking decades of silence for this.
"Because someone tried to destroy the work of a talented young man who has done nothing wrong," Perenelle said. "And the institutions that should have protected him chose not to. If our voices carry weight, then this is a worthwhile use of them."
Afterward, while the photographer was packing his equipment, Inkwood pulled Rowan aside.
"The tip worked. Barnabas is running a revised article in tomorrow's edition. Two hundred Galleons made him eager." She paused. "He's framing it as 'new evidence suggests the incident at Carkitt Market may have involved criminal activity' rather than admitting he published lies, but it reads as a correction. The dark wizard angle works. Criminals targeting a young inventor is a story that generates sympathy rather than suspicion."
"And the real reason they came?"
"That story requires the Prophet to accuse pureblood families of sponsoring murder, and Barnabas will never run that unless I can prove it." She met his eyes. "Sometimes the second-best story is the one that actually gets published."
The revised Prophet article ran the next morning:
NEW EVIDENCE SUGGESTS CRIMINAL ATTACK ON CARKITT MARKET INVENTOR
By Barnabas Flint, Editor-in-Chief
The Daily Prophet has learned that the incident at Number Four, Carkitt Market, on the evening of August fourteenth, previously reported as a magical accident resulting from experimental products, may in fact have been a deliberate attack by dark wizards.
A source within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, speaking on condition of anonymity, has provided information suggesting that the damage to the premises of Mr. Rowan Ashcroft, the young inventor behind the Crucible and its popular luminaire products, was the result of a coordinated assault by multiple attackers employing Dark magic. The source further indicated that the Department's initial classification of the incident as accidental is currently under review.
A member of Mr. Ashcroft's staff, whose name is being withheld at the family's request, was reportedly subjected to serious Dark magical harm during the incident. The full extent of the injuries is not known, but the Prophet understands they are consistent with exposure to cursed magic of a severity rarely seen outside of organised criminal activity.
Mr. Ashcroft, who readers will recall as the youngest finalist in the history of the International Youth Duelling Championship, has not commented publicly on the revised account. However, the Prophet has confirmed that the premises have since been substantially rebuilt and that Mr. Ashcroft intends to reopen the business before the end of the month.
The Department of Magical Law Enforcement declined to confirm or deny the anonymous source's account, stating only that "all incidents are assessed on the basis of available evidence and that the Department's processes are thorough and impartial."
Anyone with information pertaining to criminal activity on Carkitt Market is encouraged to contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement by owl.
Inkwood's feature on the Flamels ran the day after, occupying the front page:
THE FLAMELS SPEAK: LEGENDARY ALCHEMISTS BREAK SILENCE TO DEFEND YOUNG INVENTOR
By Sophronia Inkwood, Senior Correspondent
In what is believed to be their first public interview in over fifty years, Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel have spoken to the Daily Prophet about the recent attack on the Crucible, the Carkitt Market shop owned by their associate Rowan Ashcroft.
The Flamels, who are widely regarded as the foremost alchemists in the world and whose work has shaped the field for over five centuries, confirmed that the incident was a deliberate assault by dark wizards and contradicted the Ministry's initial assessment.
"The characterisation is incorrect in every particular," Mr. Flamel told this reporter. "This was a coordinated attack by individuals who knew what they were targeting and intended to cause harm."
Mrs. Flamel described the injuries sustained by a member of Mr. Ashcroft's staff as "consistent with exposure to Dark magic of considerable severity" and confirmed that the victim remains under medical care. Neither she nor Mr. Flamel identified the attackers, but both indicated that the targeting of a Muggleborn-owned business was significant.
When asked why the famously private couple had chosen to speak publicly for the first time in decades, Mrs. Flamel was direct. "Because someone tried to destroy the work of a talented young man who has done nothing wrong, and the institutions that should have protected him chose not to. If our voices carry weight, then this is a worthwhile use of them."
The Flamels also spoke favourably about Mr. Ashcroft's luminaire, the permanent magical lighting device that this reporter profiled in these pages earlier this summer (see "Cheaper Than Candles," August 2nd). Mr. Flamel described Mr. Ashcroft's work as "innovative in ways that most practitioners never achieve in a lifetime." Mrs. Flamel called the craftsmanship "comparable to the finest artificing I have encountered in five hundred years of practice."
The Flamels' decision to break their long silence is itself the story. This couple does not lend their names lightly. That they have chosen to lend them here may prove to be the most significant development in this story yet.
The response was immediate. The combination of the Flamels' endorsement and the revised attack narrative shifted public perception overnight. Owls arrived at the shop in quantities that would have overwhelmed Athena, carrying inquiries about luminaires, expressions of sympathy, and offers of assistance from strangers who had been moved by the coverage.
Rowan asked the Flamels to leave on the morning after the article ran. They'd been staying at the Leaky Cauldron for nearly two weeks, and the weight of their absence from their own work was beginning to show.
"The wards are up, the shop is rebuilt, and the coverage is as good as we'll get." He looked at them across the kitchen table, the breakfast dishes between them. "You've done more than I had any right to ask."
"We'll do more if you need it," Perenelle said.
"I know. But I need to do the rest of this myself."
Nicholas looked at him for a long moment. Whatever he saw satisfied him.
"We're a letter away," he said. "Always."
They left that afternoon. The Floo flared green, and the shop felt larger without them and smaller at the same time.
The Ministry investigator arrived two days later, which was twelve days after the attack itself. The timing was not lost on Rowan.