Chapter Fourteen
"A not so Happy Christmas'
Later that afternoon, everyone was sitting tensely around the den. They talked of getting a Quidditch match going out in the backyard, but Mrs. Weasley wouldn't allow anyone to go outside. Suddenly, Errol came swooping through a window and crashed into Charlie who had fallen asleep in the squishy chair and was snoring loudly. He woke up with a start and cursed at the owl. He pulled the parchment from Errol's grip and handed it to Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, dear, it's the Daily Prophet, it's a special edition." She said quietly. She sat down on the couch and read the front page. She sputtered a bit and then tears started forming in her eyes. "This is dreadful," she said and she laid the paper down and went to the kitchen. Ron, Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and Ron grabbed the newspaper. They read: Death at Hogwarts This morning, at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry a boy was found dead in his dormitory. The boy, a first year, was staying at Hogwarts during the holiday because his parents had recently been dealt with by Voldemort and the death eaters. Algin Malfoy of the Malfoy Family had been tortured by the cruciatus curse until he had lost his mind and was sent to St. Mungo's. His wife, Bethany was killed by the killing curse that same night. Minerva McGonagall, who was not available for comments, found their young son, Patrick, early this morning. Apparently, the boy performed the killing curse on himself by using a mirror. His grief was too much for the lad to handle. A suicide note was pinned to the boy's school robes and his wand was still gripped in his hand. After performing Prior Incantato to the boy's wand to see which was the last spell he performed, it was confirmed that Avada Kedavra was the last spell he had used. Sources still don't know whether the boy had really committed suicide, or if this is the work of dark witches or wizards whose identities are unknown. "Blimey," Ron said staring down at the article. "Do you reckon that little kid committed suicide?" Harry shrugged his shoulders. He had never heard of a first year performing the killing curse before, he thought it was too advanced. But if you did it to yourself, maybe you didn't have to be that advanced. Harry didn't know what to think. "You know what I reckon?" Ron said. "I think Draco did it. He hated Patrick, you all saw the way he acted toward him! Didn't you?" "Ron, Draco wasn't even at school, he went home for the holiday." Hermione said quietly. "Besides, if it wasn't suicide then someone would have to have known the password to the Gryffindor Tower." They all sat silently, they couldn't believe what had happened. Harry wondered that if his own parents had been killed after he had turned eleven, if he would have been so distraught that he would have killed himself too. "I know one thing," Harry looked up at them. "Voldemort has to be stopped." After the first day of the New Year, all the kids began packing their trunks to head back to Hogwarts. Mr. Weasley had gotten four ministry cars this time to accommodate the large amount of people who would be returning to school. When they reached Kings Cross Station, Mrs. Weasley gave everyone hugs, even Katie and Alicia, and Mr. Weasley gave all of his children hugs and shook hands with everyone else. The kids pushed their trolleys onto platform nine and three quarters and they loaded their trunks onto the Hogwarts express. It was a quiet ride back to Hogwarts, Ron and Harry played chess the entire time and Hermione was studying her new book. Cho and Ginny were talking civilly but Harry felt that they didn't approve of each other very much. After they had dressed into their Hogwarts robes, it wasn't much longer until they reached Hogsmeade. They took the horseless carriages back up to the castle and made their way into the Great Hall for the beginning of term feast. Harry looked up at all of the black banners that were hanging from the walls and ceiling the entire Hall was dressed in black, just as they had been when Cedric died. Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Harry saw Dumbledore raise his goblet to him, and Harry nodded. "It is with immense grief that I start tonight's feast. As most of you have probably heard from your parents or read in the Daily Prophet, that one of our numbers has died over the winter break. Tonight we will pay our respects to the memory of Patrick Malfoy." Dumbledore said. Harry and Ron looked over at Draco Malfoy. Malfoy had bent down and said something to Crabbe and Goyle then they all began to laugh. "He's bloody laughing! I'd bet anything that he had something to do with it," Ron whispered. "That evil no good nothing. What a lousy piece of sh- ," "Ron!" Hermione scolded. Then they looked up once again to Dumbledore. "Let us all raise our goblets and observe a moment of silence for young Patrick Malfoy." They all raised their goblets. Hermione pointed out that Susan Baker, the little first year girl that Patrick hung out with mostly, was sobbing into her robes. Another first year girl had her arm around her and was comforting her. Everyone, following Dumbledore's lead, sipped from their goblets, and set them down. "Let the feast begin," Dumbledore said sadly and he waved his hands and all the platters filled with food. Late that night, Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat around the fire in the Gryffindor common room. "Honestly, don't you think it's a bit shady that Malfoy is sitting there laughing at the death of his little cousin?" Ron said. "I still think he had something to do with it. His family is evil, the whole lot of them." He shook his head and stared into the fire. "Ron, Harry?" Hermione started. "Do you reckon the Malfoys did have anything to do with Patrick's death? I mean I know I said they couldn't have before, but I mean what if?" She looked really sad. Ron put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "Well.we could make another batch of Polyjuice Potion." Harry started. Ron and Hermione looked up at him. In their second year they had made some Polyjuice Potion and it had given Harry and Ron the appearance of being Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, and they had interrogated Malfoy undercover as his two friends to see if Draco was the heir of Slytherin. "That would be pretty risky, Harry. Snape has already warned you about getting into his personal supply, and we would have to get in there to get all of the ingredients for the potion." Hermione said. "Well, maybe, we could get a note from Professor McGonagall for the ingredients." Ron said. Hermione shook her head. "That would pretty much give us away, Ron. Boomslang skin is a necessary ingredient, and it is almost always used when one is using semi-dark magic." Hermione told him. "Well.Hagrid is a Hogwarts teacher! He could get the boomslang skin for us and then we could make the potion." Ron said. Hermione shook her head again. "Ron, Hagrid isn't that thick, and besides he might get into trouble if he helped us do something like that." She looked up at Harry. "Are you all right, Harry? You seem quiet." "I'm just thinking. Just thinking how much I'd like to catch Malfoy in the act." He said scowling. "Harry, you aren't thinking of going to get the boomslang skin yourself are you? You heard what Snape told you, he said that he would give you that truth potion and I'd bet anything you would be expelled." Hermione told him. "It's too bad Gilderoy Lockhart isn't still here, he'd be thick enough to get that ingredient for us." Ron snorted. Hermione gave him a dirty look. Though she didn't like to admit it, she fancied Lockhart. "Hang on," Harry said and he got up and ran to his dorm. He returned a few minutes later with his potions book. He sat back down and flipped through the index. "Here it is! Veritaserum - the truth potion! If it's in our text book, that must mean that it is all right to make on our own, right?" Harry flipped to the page that the truth potion was on. "But, Harry, that potion is controlled by very strict ministry guidelines. We could still get into a lot of trouble. We could even be.expelled." Hermione whispered. "Then why is it printed right in our text books, Hermione?" Ron asked smartly. "Just because a potion is printed in our text books does not make it okay to use on another person. I mean, look in our defense against the dark arts text book, it gives us a detailed description of how to place a petrification curse on someone, but that doesn't mean we are allowed to use it on anyone." Hermione told him sternly. "Then tell me, Hermione," Ron huffed, "why did you place the petrification curse on Neville in our first year here?" "Ron! You know very well that we had to do that to get to the third floor and stop Professor Quirrel." She frowned. Ron smiled. Harry thought Ron really must enjoy giving Hermione such a hard time. "If only there were some way," Harry interrupted. "Just some way to get away with using the truth potion on Malfoy." He thought out loud as he read the potion ingredients list. Ron walked around behind Harry and read the list over Harry's shoulder. "I know what we could do!" Ron shouted and then he blushed, realizing how loud he was. His voice went back to a whisper as the three of them leaned in close. "Somehow we will have to distract Crabbe and Goyle, and then we'll have Malfoy all alone. We will have to surprise him." Ron looked menacing. "I'll tackle the prat, and Harry, you'll administer the three drops of truth potion, right? And then I'll keep sitting on him while he prattles off every dirty little secret he has, and then once he's done.we'll erase his memory. It's all very simple!" Ron smiled at Hermione and Harry who looked at him with their mouths open as if they didn't believe it would work. "Well," Ron said losing his temper, "it's worth a try!" Harry looked back down at his book. They did have all the necessary ingredients to make the truth potion. Harry looked back up at Ron and said, "All right. We'll give it a try."
Later that afternoon, everyone was sitting tensely around the den. They talked of getting a Quidditch match going out in the backyard, but Mrs. Weasley wouldn't allow anyone to go outside. Suddenly, Errol came swooping through a window and crashed into Charlie who had fallen asleep in the squishy chair and was snoring loudly. He woke up with a start and cursed at the owl. He pulled the parchment from Errol's grip and handed it to Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, dear, it's the Daily Prophet, it's a special edition." She said quietly. She sat down on the couch and read the front page. She sputtered a bit and then tears started forming in her eyes. "This is dreadful," she said and she laid the paper down and went to the kitchen. Ron, Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and Ron grabbed the newspaper. They read: Death at Hogwarts This morning, at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry a boy was found dead in his dormitory. The boy, a first year, was staying at Hogwarts during the holiday because his parents had recently been dealt with by Voldemort and the death eaters. Algin Malfoy of the Malfoy Family had been tortured by the cruciatus curse until he had lost his mind and was sent to St. Mungo's. His wife, Bethany was killed by the killing curse that same night. Minerva McGonagall, who was not available for comments, found their young son, Patrick, early this morning. Apparently, the boy performed the killing curse on himself by using a mirror. His grief was too much for the lad to handle. A suicide note was pinned to the boy's school robes and his wand was still gripped in his hand. After performing Prior Incantato to the boy's wand to see which was the last spell he performed, it was confirmed that Avada Kedavra was the last spell he had used. Sources still don't know whether the boy had really committed suicide, or if this is the work of dark witches or wizards whose identities are unknown. "Blimey," Ron said staring down at the article. "Do you reckon that little kid committed suicide?" Harry shrugged his shoulders. He had never heard of a first year performing the killing curse before, he thought it was too advanced. But if you did it to yourself, maybe you didn't have to be that advanced. Harry didn't know what to think. "You know what I reckon?" Ron said. "I think Draco did it. He hated Patrick, you all saw the way he acted toward him! Didn't you?" "Ron, Draco wasn't even at school, he went home for the holiday." Hermione said quietly. "Besides, if it wasn't suicide then someone would have to have known the password to the Gryffindor Tower." They all sat silently, they couldn't believe what had happened. Harry wondered that if his own parents had been killed after he had turned eleven, if he would have been so distraught that he would have killed himself too. "I know one thing," Harry looked up at them. "Voldemort has to be stopped." After the first day of the New Year, all the kids began packing their trunks to head back to Hogwarts. Mr. Weasley had gotten four ministry cars this time to accommodate the large amount of people who would be returning to school. When they reached Kings Cross Station, Mrs. Weasley gave everyone hugs, even Katie and Alicia, and Mr. Weasley gave all of his children hugs and shook hands with everyone else. The kids pushed their trolleys onto platform nine and three quarters and they loaded their trunks onto the Hogwarts express. It was a quiet ride back to Hogwarts, Ron and Harry played chess the entire time and Hermione was studying her new book. Cho and Ginny were talking civilly but Harry felt that they didn't approve of each other very much. After they had dressed into their Hogwarts robes, it wasn't much longer until they reached Hogsmeade. They took the horseless carriages back up to the castle and made their way into the Great Hall for the beginning of term feast. Harry looked up at all of the black banners that were hanging from the walls and ceiling the entire Hall was dressed in black, just as they had been when Cedric died. Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Harry saw Dumbledore raise his goblet to him, and Harry nodded. "It is with immense grief that I start tonight's feast. As most of you have probably heard from your parents or read in the Daily Prophet, that one of our numbers has died over the winter break. Tonight we will pay our respects to the memory of Patrick Malfoy." Dumbledore said. Harry and Ron looked over at Draco Malfoy. Malfoy had bent down and said something to Crabbe and Goyle then they all began to laugh. "He's bloody laughing! I'd bet anything that he had something to do with it," Ron whispered. "That evil no good nothing. What a lousy piece of sh- ," "Ron!" Hermione scolded. Then they looked up once again to Dumbledore. "Let us all raise our goblets and observe a moment of silence for young Patrick Malfoy." They all raised their goblets. Hermione pointed out that Susan Baker, the little first year girl that Patrick hung out with mostly, was sobbing into her robes. Another first year girl had her arm around her and was comforting her. Everyone, following Dumbledore's lead, sipped from their goblets, and set them down. "Let the feast begin," Dumbledore said sadly and he waved his hands and all the platters filled with food. Late that night, Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat around the fire in the Gryffindor common room. "Honestly, don't you think it's a bit shady that Malfoy is sitting there laughing at the death of his little cousin?" Ron said. "I still think he had something to do with it. His family is evil, the whole lot of them." He shook his head and stared into the fire. "Ron, Harry?" Hermione started. "Do you reckon the Malfoys did have anything to do with Patrick's death? I mean I know I said they couldn't have before, but I mean what if?" She looked really sad. Ron put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "Well.we could make another batch of Polyjuice Potion." Harry started. Ron and Hermione looked up at him. In their second year they had made some Polyjuice Potion and it had given Harry and Ron the appearance of being Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, and they had interrogated Malfoy undercover as his two friends to see if Draco was the heir of Slytherin. "That would be pretty risky, Harry. Snape has already warned you about getting into his personal supply, and we would have to get in there to get all of the ingredients for the potion." Hermione said. "Well, maybe, we could get a note from Professor McGonagall for the ingredients." Ron said. Hermione shook her head. "That would pretty much give us away, Ron. Boomslang skin is a necessary ingredient, and it is almost always used when one is using semi-dark magic." Hermione told him. "Well.Hagrid is a Hogwarts teacher! He could get the boomslang skin for us and then we could make the potion." Ron said. Hermione shook her head again. "Ron, Hagrid isn't that thick, and besides he might get into trouble if he helped us do something like that." She looked up at Harry. "Are you all right, Harry? You seem quiet." "I'm just thinking. Just thinking how much I'd like to catch Malfoy in the act." He said scowling. "Harry, you aren't thinking of going to get the boomslang skin yourself are you? You heard what Snape told you, he said that he would give you that truth potion and I'd bet anything you would be expelled." Hermione told him. "It's too bad Gilderoy Lockhart isn't still here, he'd be thick enough to get that ingredient for us." Ron snorted. Hermione gave him a dirty look. Though she didn't like to admit it, she fancied Lockhart. "Hang on," Harry said and he got up and ran to his dorm. He returned a few minutes later with his potions book. He sat back down and flipped through the index. "Here it is! Veritaserum - the truth potion! If it's in our text book, that must mean that it is all right to make on our own, right?" Harry flipped to the page that the truth potion was on. "But, Harry, that potion is controlled by very strict ministry guidelines. We could still get into a lot of trouble. We could even be.expelled." Hermione whispered. "Then why is it printed right in our text books, Hermione?" Ron asked smartly. "Just because a potion is printed in our text books does not make it okay to use on another person. I mean, look in our defense against the dark arts text book, it gives us a detailed description of how to place a petrification curse on someone, but that doesn't mean we are allowed to use it on anyone." Hermione told him sternly. "Then tell me, Hermione," Ron huffed, "why did you place the petrification curse on Neville in our first year here?" "Ron! You know very well that we had to do that to get to the third floor and stop Professor Quirrel." She frowned. Ron smiled. Harry thought Ron really must enjoy giving Hermione such a hard time. "If only there were some way," Harry interrupted. "Just some way to get away with using the truth potion on Malfoy." He thought out loud as he read the potion ingredients list. Ron walked around behind Harry and read the list over Harry's shoulder. "I know what we could do!" Ron shouted and then he blushed, realizing how loud he was. His voice went back to a whisper as the three of them leaned in close. "Somehow we will have to distract Crabbe and Goyle, and then we'll have Malfoy all alone. We will have to surprise him." Ron looked menacing. "I'll tackle the prat, and Harry, you'll administer the three drops of truth potion, right? And then I'll keep sitting on him while he prattles off every dirty little secret he has, and then once he's done.we'll erase his memory. It's all very simple!" Ron smiled at Hermione and Harry who looked at him with their mouths open as if they didn't believe it would work. "Well," Ron said losing his temper, "it's worth a try!" Harry looked back down at his book. They did have all the necessary ingredients to make the truth potion. Harry looked back up at Ron and said, "All right. We'll give it a try."