Rita Skeeter
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Rita Skeeter |
| Occupation: | Journalist |
| Relationships: | Rita Skeeter & Hermione Granger; Rita Skeeter & Harry Potter |
| Fandom: | Harry Potter |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Rita Skeeter is a minor character in the Harry Potter series. She is first introduced in The Goblet of Fire.
Canon
Rita Skeeter is a journalist for The Daily Prophet, although she does freelance work later in the series. She is introduced as a journalist interviewing Harry about the Triwizard Tournament. Her questions are pointed, even aggressive and she notably uses a Quick-Quotes Quill that records inflammatory information instead of verbatim quotes. At one point, she drags Harry into a closet for an interview and asks for a word. He gives her the word "Goodbye." However, some of Skeeter's information is accurate and damning. At the end of the novel, Hermione reveals that Skeeter is an unlicensed Animagus - that is, she can turn into a beetle to listen in on people. Harry remembers a beetle being suspiciously persistent after the second task. Hermione captured Skeeter in a jar and blackmailed her with the knowledge of her unlicensed status (a crime worth six months in Azkaban).
In The Order of the Phoenix, Skeeter writes an article for The Quibbler about Harry Potter's account of Voldemort's return to power and murder of Cedric Diggory.
Fandom
Rita Skeeter often features as a supporting character in fanfiction. Stories where she is the main character often make use of journalism as a plot point.
Rita Skeeter is a subject of shipping, but no single pairing is prominent and few even number in the double digits on Archive of Our Own. However, there are a fair amount of rare pair ships featuring Skeeter.
fanonical, a multiple-moderator tumblr blog, has discussed how the canonical descriptions of Rita Skeeter as both mannish and very feminine make her seem like a transmisogynistic caricature.[1] The idea of Rita as trans-coded or a trans caricature has been discussed further by other current and former members of the Harry Potter fandom, especially in regards to the wider discussion on Rowling's transphobia.
Example Fanworks
Fanfiction
- The Scoop of a Lifetime by Soleneus
- Rita Skeeter Strikes by Teddylonglong
- A Game of Fox and Hounds by djinnj. Rita Skeeter/Severus Snape
- Everything Old Is New Again by afterbaedecker. Gilderoy Lockhart/Rita Skeeter
- The Broom Closet And The Bitch by TheIndigoRaven. Harry Potter/Rita Skeeter. Work features underage sex.
Femslash
- Interview with an Emotional Vampire by JMilz. Ginny/Rita for Sing Me a Rare Fest (2021).
- Pretty Little Jewel by lrynt252. Rita/Bellatrix (2018).
Meta/Further Reading
- In defence of Rita Skeeter, Archived version. (Originally published on Pottermore.)
Archives
- Works tagged Rita Skeeter on AO3
- Works featuring Rita Skeeter in Harry Potter (books) on fanfiction.net
Resources
- Rita Skeeter on the Harry Potter Wiki
- Rita Skeeter on The Harry Potter Lexicon
References
- ^ "so here’s the thing.", tumblr post, 2021. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022.