10 April 2009

London – With the media focusing on the recent rash of werewolf activity, the case of The People vs. Devlin Matthews has been all but forgotten. For those who can’t remember a scant two months ago, the former Ravenclaw student was charged with slander and possession of illegal substances after he was caught putting Runespoor in the well-respected healer, Moira Randall’s, locker at St. Mungos. Due to his age, this crime was initially kept quiet until the intrepid Rita Skeeter worked her magic and revealed his name, and paternal connections, to our readers earlier this year.

While it seemed like a journalistic victory at the time, we at the Prophet are forced to apologize to Mr. Matthews and the former Headmaster Greyfriar for our slandering of their good names. The youth was due to face his day in court this month, but it would appear, according to a recent Ministry announcement, that Devlin Matthews has been absolved of all crimes. According to our sources, he claims that Jack Spade, the lackey of Theodora Kingstreet that he has been mistaken for, had tricked him into the deed. While we question the validity of this claim, it would seem that the auror corps has enough evidence, or perhaps a lack thereof, to allow the boy his freedom.

All parties have refused comment.