Daily Prophet

Daily Prophet
Founded	1883 or earlier
Genre	Wizarding daily news
Book information
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Last appearance	Quidditch Through the Ages

The Daily Prophet is a wizarding newspaper which appears throughout in the Harry Potter book series. They focus on the latest news and developments in the wizarding world on a daily basis.

About

The Daily Prophet is the most popular wizarding newspaper in Britain. To buy a copy, the price is five Knuts and can be delivered by a pre-arranged owl.

The Daily Prophet has an annual Grand Prize Galleon Draw that awards an entry seven-hundred Galleons.

History

The Daily Prophet first appears when Rubeus Hagrid reads it at the Hut-on-the-Rock in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the morning after he told Harry Potter that he was a wizard. The newspaper was delivered by an owl who would not leave until Hagrid paid five Knuts for it. The next month, Hagrid kept a cutting of an article reporting the latest into a Gringotts break-in that occurred in Vault 713. This was right after he collected the Philosopher's Stone from there on behalf of its owner.

The following summer, a photographer for the Daily Prophet attended Gilderoy Lockhart's book signing in Flourish and Blotts. Lockhart was loving the attention and when he saw Harry in the bookshop, he grabbed him and got the photographer to take a picture of them and told Harry that together they could make the front page. After a fight broke out between Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy, Lockhart asked the photographer if he could work it into the newspaper report for the added publicity.

The next summer, Hermione Granger saw an advert in the Daily Prophet for Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish. She ordered the product via owl to gift Harry for his birthday. She was a subscriber to the newspaper and had it delivered every day. The newspaper also reported on Arthur's win in the Grand Prize Galleon Draw and what he was planning to spend the prize money on. The photograph included in the newspaper of his family in Eygpt instigated Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban when he recognised Peter Pettigrew in his rat Animagus form on Ronald Weasley's shoulder. Fudge had given Black the newspaper during an inspection of Azkaban.

Over the next year, the Daily Prophet kept reporting updates on the hunt for Sirius Black who had escaped Azkaban and evaded capture. Stan Shunpike was reading about it on the Knight Bus where Harry recognised Black from the Muggle news. Arthur Weasley also read the newspaper for updates on both the days he stayed in the Leaky Cauldron. Cornelius Fudge kept lying to the newspaper that they were close to catching him. The following June, he was ecstatic when Black was finally caught at Hogwarts and looked forward to telling the Daily Prophet. He was devastated when Black escaped his recapture and went back on the run and knew the Daily Prophet was going to have a field day. If they also discovered Hippogriff Buckbeak had escaped execution, he thought they'd make him out to be a laughing-stock.

Known articles

Title	Publication date	Notes
Bring Back Our Baskets!	12 February 1883	An article about protesting that occurred against the introduction of scoring hoops to Quidditch, which replaced scoring baskets. Includes a quote from a representative of the Department of Magical Games and Sports about the hoops having a standard, fairer size. The representative was then attacked when scoring baskets were thrown at him. A fan gave a quote about how he used to play games with scoring baskets when he was a child.
Our Chasers Aren't Cheating!	22 June 1884	After the Department of Magical Games and Sports introduced a new Quidditch rule to prevent stooging, the newspaper printed an article about the fans who protested by throwing Quaffles at a representative's head while threatening the Minister for Magic. A young boy gave a quote that he liked watching the Keeper get "flattened" and he didn't want to go and watch Quidditch anymore.
Unknown	August or September 1991	Reports that Gringotts has recently been broken into by someone trying to rob a high-security vault. (This is later discovered to have been Quirinus Quirrell and Voldemort in Vault 713 where the Philosopher's Stone had previously been kept).
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST	September 1991	Reports the latest on the investigation into the break-in at Gringotts that happened on 31st August, and that the suspect was a Dark witch or wizard unknown. Includes a quote from a goblin employee that they were not going to reveal what was in there and to "keep your noses out if you know what's good for you.
INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC	September 1992	A report on an inquiry into Arthur Weasley who was fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car, the Ford Anglia. Lucius Malfoy called for Arthur's resignation from the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Reporters hounded the Weasleys at the Burrow until Molly Weasley threatened to set the family ghoul on them.
MINISTRY OF MAGIC EMPLOYEE SCOOPS GRAND PRIZE	July 1993	An article on the winner of the Daily Prophet's latest Grand Prize Galleon Draw, Arthur Weasley, who says he is planning to spend it on a summer holiday to Eygpt. There was a photograph of the Weasleys' waving in front of a pyramid. Sirius Black received a copy of this edition which instigated his Azkaban escape when he recognised Peter Pettigrew in the photograph.
BLACK STILL AT LARGE	August 1993	Reported that Sirius Black is still on the run after escaping Azkaban, with a comment from the Minister for Magic telling the wizarding community that they were doing everything they could to recapture him. Fudge was being criticised by the International Federation of Warlocks. There was also a photograph of Black.
Unknown	September 1993	An update on the search for Sirius Black who had still not been recaptured.
	October 1993	Reported that Black had been spotted not far from Hogwarts Castle by a Muggle who phoned the telephone hot line.
	January 1994	Informed readers that the Ministry had given Dementors permission to use the Kiss on Sirius Black if they found him.
	August 1994	An article was published by Rita Skeeter stating that the Ministry was wasting their time on discussing cauldron thickness when they should have been focusing on getting rid of vampires.
SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP		Covered the Death Eaters' attack on the campsites used for spectators of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup. Had a twinking black-and-white photograph of the Dark Mark casted over treetops. The article alleged that Ministry blunders and lax security was responsible for the Dark wizards running amok and escaping capture. Despite nobody being hurt, the article suggests that bodies had been discovered. Written by Rita Skeeter.