“The Quibbler’s rubbish, everyone knows that!” Yes, we all know that the Quibbler is not exactly a magazine to be believed. Sirius a pop star, Cornelius eating goblin-pies, Crumple Horned Snorkacks; it’s hardly better then the common tabloid! It’s purpose in the story is small and insignificant, to introduce Luna and perhaps for some basic comedy. Right?

Wrong. Just as is true for much of the Wizarding World, The Quibbler is not what is appears to be. It is not all rubbish, despite what Hermione would have us believe. Looking closer at the Quibbler will reveal that there is truth underneath the silliness.

Let’s take the article about Sirius. At first glance this article appears to us just as it did to Harry. Completely idiotic. Sirius, a singing sensation with an alias? And that part, of course is not true. But the article also says that Sirius is innocent, and is infact the first outside source ever to suggest such a thing. And to the Wizarding population, that seems just as crazy as the rest of it, but we know that Sirius IS innocent. Coincidence? Not likely, Rowling isn’t fond of them.

Cornelius is a stupid, bumbling, greedy man, but I doubt he makes a sport of killing Goblins. And yet there is a seed of truth in this article as well. Cornelius is not the fantastic leader he would like the Wizarding World to think. He IS in fact greedy and quite disregarding to what is right. He does hoard gold and doesn't mind stepping on the "little people" (metaphorically speaking). Again the Quibbler discovers some truth.

This theory is not without it’s faults. I don’t know quite what to make of a Cleansweep flying to the moon, or Runes giving people kumquats for ears. However, it’s the articles themselves to watch out for, because they are the ones I believe will play much more of a role in the future.

What kind of role will they play? Well, I believe Rowling put these two articles in to show the clever reader that the Quibbler shouldn't be taken lightly. She used two examples to show us that there is truth inside the mad ideas of the Quibbler. This way, in the future, more important and crucial clues can be given through this un-expected source. Watch for the Quibbler in book six, and don't write off anything it says, until you've searched your brain for what the article could be hinting at. The ideas might seem crazy, but would Sirius’s innocence, if we didn’t know better.

So don’t think of the Quibbler as a tabloid. Think of it as a way to receive clues and hints and truths. Who knows? We may even run into a Crumple-Horned Snorkack or a Nargle by the end of the series.

4/29/04