This article is about the newspaper. For the Diagon Alley shop, see The Daily Prophet.
The Daily Prophet is the wizarding newspaper which is published daily. It is a reputable source of news, although it is possible the Ministry of Magic censors some content.
The Daily Prophet is the daily wizarding newspaper. Delivery (by owl) costs five Knuts.
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There is only one wizarding newspaper in Britain, discounting such small circulation publications such as The Quibbler. The Daily Prophet, whose headquarters are in Diagon Alley, is delivered by owl on a daily basis to nearly every wizarding household in Britain. Payment is effected by placing coins in the pouch tied to the paper-owl's leg. Occasionally (when something particularly interesting or exciting happens, such as the illegal flight of a Ford Anglia the length of Britain) an Evening Prophet edition will be rushed out.
The Prophet is not an entirely unbiased source of news, and sometimes displays unfortunately sensationalist tendency best epitomised by star reporter Rita Skeeter. Ostensibly an independent news source, it has more than once been influenced by the Ministry (or ruling power) of the day to hush up certain stories. A clue to its overriding motivation may be found in its name, 'prophet' being a homonym of 'profit' (although I was also taken with the idea of a wizarding newspaper claiming foreknowledge of news to come.)
Wizardkind tends not to require alternative political flavours in its news coverage (which is not to say, however, that the Prophet does not have a political agenda). As a small, outsider and occasionally beleaguered community, wizards are, by and large, interested in the same kinds of stories: the Quidditch League results, whether anyone is in trouble for infractions of the International Statute of Secrecy, what irritating legislation the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office has come up with now, and when the next Celestina Warbeck/Weird Sisters concert will take place.
It seems likely that wizards will continue to favour old-fashioned newsprint, even while the Muggle world resorts increasingly to the internet. If Muggle newspapers had moving photographs, their circulation might be similarly buoyant.
It was the front-page article in the Daily Prophet on the Weasley family's prize win that prompted Sirius Black to escape from Azkaban. The picture the newspaper showed of the family showed Scabbers on Ron's shoulder. Black recognised him immediately. The picture caption said that Ron would be going back to Hogwarts, 'He's at Hogwarts' being something that Black was overheard to mutter in his sleep for days afterwards.
The day after the Quidditch World Cup the front page of the Daily Prophet is taken up with the headline 'SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP', with a twinkling, black-and-white photograph of the Dark Mark hovering over the tree-tops underneath.
The article written by Rita Skeeter blames the Ministry of Magic for the events at the World Cup, and criticises them for having lax security. The article mentions the statement given by Arthur Weasley, who had impressed that nobody had been hurt, but the article is sceptical about how true this is; Skeeter suggests that there are rumours that several bodies were removed from the woods.
The Daily Prophet runs an article by Rita Skeeter after the events at Alastor Moody's house. Skeeter criticises Arthur Weasley for involving the Ministry of Magic in such an undignified and potentially embarassing scene
The Daily Prophet runs Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament on the front page, continued on pages two, six and seven. The front page is taken up by a picture of Harry, and there is little mention of the other three champions.