If you want to read by 20+ Chapters from here you can visit my Patre-on.
[P] [A] [T] [R] [E] [O] [N]
[email protected]/Makimafic
••••••
"Okay. What the bloody hell do we do know?" Asked Morag, twirling some strands of her red hair around her finger.
"Language!" Chided Hermione.
"That doesn't mean she hasn't a point." Alexandra remarked, raising her head over the Charms essay she had just passed the last half-hour on.
"Of course, she has. One adult, one cat and two children petrified, and none of the teachers have the least idea who's responsible in the first place." Enounced Hermione. "I think it's time we change our strategy and properly investigate."
Hermione, Morag, Nigel and Alexandra were once more assembled in the room formerly belonging to the decades-defunct Fan-Club of the Tutshill Tornados. The tables and the chairs had been repaired, the dust thrown out of the room and most of the rusty wardrobes moved into another abandoned piece. The old-fashioned banners had been given to other Quidditch fanatics, replaced by new ones where two eagles and two lions were quartered to form a single banner. The windows had been cleaned and repaired, giving an excellent view on the frozen Black Lake. It was beginning to be a comfortable place for the headquarters of their group for sure. Although with the last events how many months they would be able to use it remained an excellent question.
"The problem," said Morag while massaging her forehead, "is that the situation hasn't changed that much from before the Quidditch match. We have still no idea how the attacker petrified Colin Creevey and Riley Frazer. We have no idea how much time he needs to plan an attack."
"It's true, but I think we can make certain assumptions." Replied Alexandra. "First, I think we can all agree the culprit is targeting people who according to the purity of blood ideology have no place at Hogwarts: squibs, Muggle-borns and students having insufficient magical ancestry."
It was no great feat of logic. Colin Creevey and Riley Frazer had been two of the most high-profile Muggle-borns in first-year, due to their unfortunate tendency to annoy everyone with their flash-stunning photos. Any person espousing the blood ideology would have put them at the top of his or her target list.
"Agreed." Hermione said vehemently. The librarian-in-chief of their group had become even more distrustful of any ideology sprouting blood-purity of late. And her Ravenclaw friends didn't blame her at all.
"Secondly, the attacker is taking great care to petrify his victims at places where no portrait, no door guardian or anything which could give the alert is present." Alexandra passed her left hand in her black hair. "Given the circumstances, it implies the person who is behind all this has an excellent knowledge of the castle and its security system."
"Yes, and the third point?"
"Whoever and however it is done, the attacks are terrifyingly quick." Affirmed Alexandra in a tone where no sarcasm or irony was present. "In both cases when the alarms sounded, there was a Professor present less than five minutes near the victims. And there was no evidence save the victims on the crime scene."
"Sure," Morag's visage was showing an expression best qualified as dubitative. "But beating Filch and Mrs Norris isn't exactly difficult if you know a bit of offensive magic. Creevey and Frazer were first-years, so they weren't exactly difficult to defeat either. An advanced first-year who knows a few curses could have neutralised them in short order."
The black-haired young witch wanted to open her mouth and contradicted her fellow Ravenclaw but found that she couldn't. The two Gryffindors had constantly their cameras around their necks or in position of photographing something. It would hardly require a Duellist Master to squash them. So far as the Potter Heiress knew, there was nothing which indicated the two Lions had even tried to grab their wands.
Mrs Norris was a cat, the main defence the animal had was the litany of detentions any attacker would receive after the caretaker threatened them with torture sessions. Last and least, certifiable rumours had confirmed Filch was indeed a squib. A simple Petrificus Totalus was able to petrify him for hours; and no, Alexandra really didn't want to know how the Weasley Twins had made this discovery.
"So we are back to phase one?" Asked rhetorically Nigel with a glum face...
Alexandra was forced to nod positively. With most of the Professors fleeing in the other direction when anyone asked something which might be related to the Chamber of Secrets - Binns was the exception, as the ghost still refused its existence with all the strength of his ghostly spirit - any breakthrough was nearly impossible to accomplish.
"Yes...and no." Affirmed Morag pensively. "I may have obtained a few clues from the gossips."
"Do tell!" Ordered Hermione immediately, confirming unwillingly the bushy-haired girl had much in common with Lavender Brown the Gossips' Queen than she wanted to admit.
"Professor Sprout intends to use a good part of the Mandrake leaves to cure the petrifaction of Frazer and the others."
"I knew that." Huffed Hermione, apparently disappointed to have learnt nothing new to indulge her curiosity.
"Ah, but did you know this year Professor Sprout bought a lot of no less than fifty mandrakes? Unlike the other years where she bought one or two per semester at most?"
Alexandra suddenly became pale and she wasn't the only one. Nigel's visage had also become livid. Only Hermione was fixing Morag with what seemed to be incomprehension.
"I don't understand..."
"What Morag seems to imply," Said Alexandra in a dark tone. "Is that the powers-that-be at Hogwarts knew that for one reason or another they would need a lot of Mandrakes this year. In other words that they knew the attacks were going to happen beforehand."
"That's insane!" Exclaimed Hermione.
"So is Hogwarts in general." Sighed Alexandra. "I suppose you have reliable sources to support this...extravagant theory?" She asked directly to Morag.