Chapter 12: Investigations

Later that evening, during the weekly story-telling in front of the fire given by various members of Gryffindor, rumours began to circle. At first, none of them seemed coherent, but as the truths were sorted out, if became apparent that five Ravenclaw students had not returned from Hogsmeade that day... Harry resolved to talk to Cho about it at breakfast next morning.
"Yeah, any excuse..." Ron joked, in better spirits than over the previous weeks. Seeing his brothers obviously helped.

As it turned out, Harry didn't need to talk to Cho before he found out what had happened. Dumbledore made a special announcement at breakfast saying that five Ravenclaws had indeed gone missing, and the matter was being handled appropriately. He also urged the entire student body to be on the look-out for any suspicious activity... As soon as he could, Harry found Cho, who seemed very upset by the disappearances.
"Who was it?" Harry asked.
"My two best friends, and the other three are in my dorm room as well."
"Did they say anything suspect before they went out yesterday?" He seemed to want to investigate...
"No, they were normal, just joking about us..." She gave as small smile as she finished her sentence. Harry smiled back. He would probably have investigated anyway, but since it was two of Cho's best friends, then he would make sure he got Hermionie and Ron on the case as well.
"I'll see if I can find out anything about what happened, okay?" He tried to look reassuring. "I'll talk to you after dinner..."
"Okay." She said, looking slightly more comforted.
"See you later..." Harry said as he kissed her cheek and walked back to the Gryffindor common room.

He walked through the portrait of the fat lady and sat down beside Ron at the fire place.
"How is she?" He asked.
"A bit shaken up really..." Harry replied. "Two of the girls that disappeared were her best friends."
"I'm sorry." Ron stated. Harry continued as Hermionie and Marcus appeared and sat.
"Did anyone know what happened?" The three shook their heads.
"The last people to see them were in "The Three Broomsticks" about the same time we left... That means they would have been coming back even later than us." Marcus offered, feeling that it didn't help very much. Harry sighed, then looked up to Ron and Hermionie, who gave him an "oh no, not again" look. Harry spoke.
"Then we hit the books, find out if anything like this has happened before... And if so why..." Ron's head dropped.
"I hate that library..." he said. Marcus, however, seemed to relish the intrigue and he and Hermionie offered to go and look straight away. Harry gratefully accepted, and said that he would talk to some people around the room before meeting up with them in divination class. Ron told them he would go and talk to Hagrid to see if he knew anything that the teachers had been saying... Checking the time until the class, each went to begin the search for clues.

Ron went to Hagrid quickly, since he was certain that he would know something, at least from the teachers. As he reached Hagrid's hut, he noticed that Neville was there again, this time Hagrid seemed to be showing him some small furry creature Ron didn't recognise. He knocked on the door, then entered.
"Hi Neville, Hagrid. What's up?"
"Hi Ron!" Neville was surprisingly the first to speak. "Hagrid was just showing me this Dolmalian Tiershalen."
"It's a harmless house-pet really." Hagrid spoke up. "Thought Neville would like it..."
"It's great!" Neville said. Ron detected more confidence in Neville's voice. Maybe having Hagrid as a friend was letting him lose his shyness.
"Well Neville, come back in a couple of days, it'll have grown about a foot by then." Hagrid offered, while Ron wondered what kind of thing Hagrid might describe as a house-pet, and everyone else might think of as a menace to society. Hagrid always seemed to like those sorts of things. Neville decided that he had some books to collect before divination class, so he made his exit with a smile on his face.
"Well, Ron, what can I do for you?" Hagrid asked, slightly bracing himself for what might come.
"It's just a little thing really..." Ron started. "It's about the girls from Ravenclaw that disappeared yesterday."
"I can't tell you much Ron, you know the teachers are handling it."
"So you know what happened then?" Ron was intent on making more progress than Hermionie, to put her in her place for once.
"Well, sort of... But this is strictly between you and me... Okay?"
"As long as you don't mind me telling Harry and Herm..." Ron stated, thinking it better to be honest with Hagrid at least.
"Okay. The girls didn't disappear, they were kidnapped." Said Hagrid in a whisper. "They were taken by some people dressed as knights... That's what the people who were there say at least."
"Why did they take them?" Ron asked quietly.
"We don't know, and we don't know where they went. Dumbledore thinks he may have a lead, but that's all I know." Hagrid finished, and looked around to check nobody had listened in.
"Thanks Hagrid, you're amazing..." Ron got up and went to the door. Hagrid called after him.
"Ron, don't meddle with the investigation. Dumbledore'll have things sorted out in no time. And get the four of you to come and see me soon... Harry especially."
Ron promised he would, and then sped back to the castle, just making it into the divination class as the lesson was starting.

"What did Hagrid tell you?" Harry asked as the lesson ended and he contemplated how many was it was possible for him to die, and how many of these had been predicted over the course of all of the divination classes.
"For the four of us to go and see him..." Ron told Harry. "He told me..." He pulled Harry to the side of the corridor and checked the coast was clear before explaining what Hagrid had told him. They then went to the library where they found Marcus and Hermionie engrossed in "Hogwarts, Recent History".
"Harry, look at this... The same thing happened just before the time your parents would have been here..." Hermionie announced as he came into ear-shot. She read from the page... "...The kidnapping was later attributed to the Knights of Soctaria, a group of highly trained swordsmen loyal to you-know-who. The reason for the kidnapping was never discovered, but the Knights went into hiding when Harry Potter... Blah, blah, blah... You know the rest of the Harry Potter lives story by now, don't you?"
"It's all I ever hear..." Harry said, intrigued by the findings. "Ron, you said that the kidnappers were dressed as knights when the Ravenclaw girls were taken, right?"
"Yeah, that's what Hagrid told me."
"I think it's time to pay him a visit..." Said Marcus.
"Hold on." Said Hermionie. "This is very circumstantial evidence, and we have potions in five minutes. Hagrid will have to wait."
"But we won't get to see him until Sunday now..." Ron protested, eager to continue their run of findings. The school Quidditch would take up half of Saturday, and then there was the ball...
"It'll have to do. Now we better get to potions, I bet Snape'd take us out of the Quidditch at any opportunity, we better not be late." Harry sounded resigned, but serious as he said this. It was indeed true that Snape had begun hating him again since the team was selected...