A/N: Thanks to my reviewers!
Summary: Well, the title is pretty self-explanatory. Four students have been killed and a fifth victim lies unconscious. But, who is she? And why were they killed? And, most importantly, whodunit? Harry Potter & Co. investigate and meanwhile, love tries to flourish.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything HarryPotterish, JK Rowling does, and I'm not making any money out of this. The plot and the few original characters are mine, if I want them.
Rating: A high PG-13, I suppose, for swearing, violence and gory scenes.
Pairing: Some RW/HG, but I think that main focus might be DM/HP.
Maybe not yet, but sooner than later, this will be SLASH!!!!! If you don't like it, the "Back" button is there for a reason, so spare me the narrow- minded flames!
Murder in the Hogwarts Express or the Fifth Element, by Dark Fairy.
Chapter 2
The Sorting Ceremony and Welcoming Feast were nothing but a concoction of tears, fits of hysterics, blank looks and much confusion and pain. Harry himself went back to the state of disbelief he had felt in the train, and he couldn't relate the tear-stained faces and grave looks with the muffled sounds and sighs. Only when Dumbledore stood up to declare that the attack was being investigated and that nothing was to be feared from students at Hogwarts, he felt a sobering rage. There was a lot to be feared, indeed no- one could deem they were safe while the attacker wasn't identified, there was no safety in the world while so much blood could be spilled all at once...
"Harry! Harry, come on, we must go!" Hermione looked worriedly at her friend with her red-brimmed eyes; the Gryffindor prefects and McGonagall were hoarding the students to the Tower, but Harry was still sitting at the table, with the intact dinner-plate in front of him and a blank expression on his face.
"I don't want to go up there, Herm, you go on" he replied tiredly; the thought of entering the room where Neville would never snore again, of seeing the empty bed and abandoned trunk, was less than appealing.
"You can't stay here, Harry, Professor McGonagall said we all had to go to bed" whispered Hermione, scandalised; Harry's only answer was to envelop himself in his Invisibility Cloak and disappear into nothingness.
"Miss Granger, are you coming or not?" snapped the Gryffindor Head of House from the door. Hermione walked dutifully behind the teacher, throwing a last backwards glance where her best friend was supposed to be.
Harry wasn't there any longer. He had moved stealthily towards an unguarded door and into a small corridor; quietly he avoided a couple of prefects and a teacher who were guarding the entrances, and he continued his aimless tour of night-time Hogwarts, until he found himself on the corridor leading to the hospital wing. His confused thoughts gave way to one very clear idea: the girl who had been found on the train. He remembered the blood- covered figure, the look Snape had given her, the reference to the unknown spell...
Harry was already standing in front of the door that separated Madam Pomfrey's realm from the school when he realised he couldn't just step in there asking for information. No, information would have to come from another source, and that could be...
Draco Malfoy was standing behind a pillar, engulfed by the heavy shadows and almost invisible now that he had his fair complexion hid under a black cloak. Only the eerie light of his grey eyes alerted Harry of the perfect opportunity for getting one over his archenemy. Then, he remembered a pained look on a pale face, the soft feeling of a silk-clad arm, a clever smile, the reference to the spell. The most Slytherin part of the Boy Who Lived came to light when Malfoy felt a wand on his temple and heard a low voice urging him on.
"Walk quietly towards the Great Hall, or I'll hex you into oblivion" The blond boy complied, quelling an initial surge of panic into hyperawareness, looking for a way to escape. The Slytherin and his kidnapper made their silent way until they reached a open door to a classroom "In there and keep quiet" Draco entered the deserted, moonlit classroom and felt the door closing behind him. It was his perfect opportunity, and he took hold of it by spinning quickly around and hitting his attacker with all his force.
Harry felt the punch before he actually registered Malfoy's movement, and all his renowned Seeker reflexes were of no use as he found himself on the floor, feeling his jaw throb under the intense pain. Malfoy stood disorientated for a moment, confused of having hit someone who wasn't anywhere to be seen, but Harry's grunt gave him the necessary orientation to drop to the floor and yank the Invisibility Cloak off the Gryffindor.
"For goodness' sake, Potter, do you know how stupid you are?" were the first words that Draco could sputter when he saw the lying form of The Boy Who Lived on the floor.
"Not as stupid as you'd like to believe, that's for sure" replied Harry half-heartedly, blushing at the thought of having the roles reversed and being at the mercy of his worst enemy. Malfoy stood up, turning his back to the Gryffindor and trying to vent his frustration, rage, fright and excess adrenaline into a brisk walk.
"Four students have been butchered less than four hours ago by the most skilled killer in magical history, and all Harry Potter can think of doing is walk around on his own, after curfew, trying to get caught! I mean, why were you even sorted into Gryffindor, you should have been sent to St. Mungo's straight away! Are you actually *trying* to look stupid, because I hardly think that you could be that thick naturally!"
"Gee, Malfoy, are you actually concerned about my well-being?" replied Harry, trying to take the spotlight away from his foolhardiness "What is it to you if I get killed or not? You'd probably celebrate it anyway"
"Oh, I cannot believe someone can be so obtuse and still live! You surely are living, talking proof that the Dark Lord is a fraud, because anyone with more than two working neurones could make short work of you!" Malfoy silently prayed that his mention of Voldemort would distract Harry from his outburst of worry. Truth be said, Draco had been so surprised of finding Harry in such a vulnerable position that he had voiced that first words that had come to his head, unaware of their actual meaning.
"Since when...? Are you...? Weren't you...?" Harry stammered, trying ineffectually to express his surprise: had Malfoy just spoken disrespectfully of Voldemort?
"Very coherent and all, Potter," drawled Malfoy, sounding very much like his favourite teacher "but I've got better things to do tonight"
"Like standing in front of the hospital wing all night? What were you trying to do just then, Malfoy?"
"Probably the same thing that you, like the self-imposed suffering hero you are, were trying to do. I'll get a look of that girl or die trying" answered Malfoy, sounding very final. Harry meanwhile tried to look as if that was what he had been intending to do from the beginning. The Slytherin turned to the door and Harry followed him, after picking up his cloak.
"What is the Reuniatos Spell?" asked Harry as they were leaving the empty classroom; Malfoy turned to him with a vaguely amused look.
"Don't tell me that Gryffindor's resident know-it-all hasn't managed to dig it up yet?" Harry frowned and followed Malfoy's graceful strides down the corridor, oblivious that they were past curfew and susceptible of being caught and given detention any minute. "The Reuniatos Spell is a very antique piece of old dark magic" began Draco with an annoying lecturing tone "It is used to reunite, hence the name, in one person the power or characteristics of several others; it has been abandoned of late because, as we've seen, the donors have to be bled to death"
"How do you know all that?" asked Harry, trying to hide his admiration under a veneer of disapproval. "Have you gone to a Death Eaters Summer Camp, or what?" Without warning, Malfoy turned round and slammed Harry into the wall forcefully; for the second time that night, the Boy Who Lived found himself at Draco's mercy.
"Don't *ever* say that again, Potter, do you hear me?" hissed the Slytherin, looking very affronted; the sudden change in demeanour unsettled Harry, while at the same time he couldn't help noticing the bright grey eyes and thick eyelashes.
"Sorry" replied the Gryffindor automatically.
"You bloody well should be" growled Malfoy, dropping Harry's throat and stalking on towards the hospital wing. The dark-haired boy stood for a moment in silence, feeling confusion dancing in his head: why was Malfoy so angry at his mention of Death Eaters? And how come he had made fun of Voldemort? Could it be.? With a jolt, Harry realised that he had lost Malfoy and it was only when he found him standing in front of the hospital wing that the conclusion that had formed inside his head came to light: Malfoy wasn't in the Dark Side any longer. While Harry searched for an appropriate comment, Draco said something that made all unspoken words evaporate.
"How is you jaw, Potter?" Harry looked at him, wondering if he had gone mad, but Malfoy saved him the trouble of asking "I'm not concerned, you twit, but we need to get in the hospital wing somehow. Just follow me, will you?" And with that, Draco took hold of Harry's wrist and made his way into the hospital wing.
"What are you doing here? It's only the first day back!" shrieked Madam Pomfrey indignantly when she saw the two boys entering the room.
"It's his jaw" replied Malfoy offhandedly, while searching for the girl in the small hospital wing. One bed, surrounded by red curtains, caught his attention.
"What happened to it?" inquired the matron, while she examined the angry bruise forming on Harry's face.
"Erm... I...you see..." Harry searched in vain for a good excuse that didn't involve Malfoy hitting him, but the Slytherin saved him the trouble.
"We had a fight and I hit him" said Draco with a beatific smile. The nurse expressed her disapproval with a frown and a tsk-tsk, but Harry discovered that in the hospital wing, like in Potions, Slytherins had preference, and even more when said Slytherin was called Malfoy. Finally, Harry's jaw returned to its normal size and colour, and Madam Pomfrey authorised them to leave, which they did, although as soon as they were out of the door they went back in, covered with the cloak.
Invisibility was a sensation Draco wasn't familiar with; he felt very unsure as they walked in front of Madam Pomfrey, knowing her gaze would pass right through them, and he gripped Harry's arm, partly to reassure himself and partly to avenge his crumpled silk shirt from the train. Harry didn't reply, although he felt greatly surprised when Draco's long fingers wrapped themselves around his arm in altogether new, and not so unpleasant, feeling.
Slowly and warily they went round the covered bed, away from where the Hogwarts matron was sitting and made their way quietly inside the realm enclosed by the curtains. Harry didn't want to look at the figure on the bed, memories of blood and gore too recent, but he didn't fancy looking foolish for the third time that night, in front of Malfoy no less.
On his side, Draco was feeling less than sure himself. He wanted to avenge the death of his cousin, and he was well aware that his father would be asking for information as soon as he could send an encrypted owl, but if it wasn't because he could handle *anything* Potter could, he would have bolted out of the hospital wing faster than you could say "potion".
There was nothing to be afraid of, though. The unconscious figure on the bed was a sixteen year-old girl, with dark hair, pale skin, miraculously long eyelashes (//Like Malfoy's// thought Harry vaguely), and thin, pale lips. There was no obvious magic surging through her, no evident clue as to who had put her on the train, nothing but an ill child.
"Disappointing as it may be, I think this is not getting us anywhere" concluded Draco in a whisper after a few minutes of careful examination.
"Let's go, then" proposed Harry, turning slowly towards the door.
"Wait, you fool!" hissed the Slytherin, crushing Harry's wrist into a death grip and backing into the closest wall "Someone's coming!"
Indeed, the curtains were drawn back and Dumbledore's colourful figure was seen standing in the path to the door. He wasn't alone, either: Snape and the DADA teacher were also there, all looking worriedly at the lying figure.
"What are we going to do, Headmaster?" asked Snape, completely ignoring Grimm.
"I don't know, Severus" replied the old man heavily "The Ministry is in complete disarray and they have left this in our hands. Madame Pince insists there is no reference to this spell in the library, and the references we've managed to collect are all contradictory and uncertain"
"The Reuniatos spell is highly complicated and its effects might vary depending upon the sources and the time of year..." Ethan Grimm trailed off under Snape's hateful glare, and then picked up again "We don't even know if she'll wake up, or what she'll remember if she does, or if she even will show any changes"
"What could the spell do to her, Ethan?" asked Dumbledore, not taking the eyes off the girl. The DADA teacher took various rolls of parchment out of his cloak and started leafing though them.
"It might give this girl the memories of the dead students, like one case in the 12th century... or it might send her into a non-waking coma... there's a case in which the victim splintered into as many donors as he had had... maybe receive the best skills from the students..."
"We must remember what young Mr Malfoy told us" interrupted Snap in his silkiest voice, while said Mr Malfoy backed even further into the wall, pulling Harry with him "The choosing of Heirs for this.. sacrifice cannot be a coincidence. Whoever did this is trying to create a champion who can have all the qualities of the four houses. It seems like it's trying to play for our side"
"It wasn't Voldemort, then" mused Dumbledore, stroking his white long beard "but someone who is against him... someone quite powerful, with a extensive knowledge of Dark Magic and no qualms about sacrificing human lives" Malfoy became even paler, noticed Harry with a certain worry, and he shook his blonde head once or twice as if trying to dispel a worrying thought.
"A Hogwarts Champion... why did they chose this girl, whoever she is? You would have thought they would try to get someone like Harry Potter for this." Said Grimm. Now to was Harry's turn to shrink and pull the cloak closer.
"It's not only a champion" replied a misty, veiled-over voice from the doorway. Professor Trelawny glided from the door, squinting at the bright light "My dears, you have forgotten what houses are made of. Elements, my dears, elements. The reunion of four elements create a fifth, more powerful than the rest and often represented by blood..." Even Snape looked impressed at this, and Harry spotted a certain twinkling in Dumbledore's eyes, between worry and sadness. //Maybe it's time for another pay rise// though Harry.
"So, here's the Fifth element, ready for us to use. What will come out of this?" asked the Headmaster with a sigh; the teachers moved over to where Madam Pomfrey had the medicines she had been administering to the girl, and Draco and Harry took the chance to walk quietly to the door and out of the hospital wing. They only stopped in the Great Hall, where Malfoy took off the Invisibility Cloak and bolted towards the Slytherin dungeons without so much as a backward glance, leaving a confused Harry on his way to Gryffindor Tower to inform the rest of the Dream Team.
----------------- A/N: If you don't feel like reviewing, I'm not going to pester you, do as you like.
Summary: Well, the title is pretty self-explanatory. Four students have been killed and a fifth victim lies unconscious. But, who is she? And why were they killed? And, most importantly, whodunit? Harry Potter & Co. investigate and meanwhile, love tries to flourish.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything HarryPotterish, JK Rowling does, and I'm not making any money out of this. The plot and the few original characters are mine, if I want them.
Rating: A high PG-13, I suppose, for swearing, violence and gory scenes.
Pairing: Some RW/HG, but I think that main focus might be DM/HP.
Maybe not yet, but sooner than later, this will be SLASH!!!!! If you don't like it, the "Back" button is there for a reason, so spare me the narrow- minded flames!
Murder in the Hogwarts Express or the Fifth Element, by Dark Fairy.
Chapter 2
The Sorting Ceremony and Welcoming Feast were nothing but a concoction of tears, fits of hysterics, blank looks and much confusion and pain. Harry himself went back to the state of disbelief he had felt in the train, and he couldn't relate the tear-stained faces and grave looks with the muffled sounds and sighs. Only when Dumbledore stood up to declare that the attack was being investigated and that nothing was to be feared from students at Hogwarts, he felt a sobering rage. There was a lot to be feared, indeed no- one could deem they were safe while the attacker wasn't identified, there was no safety in the world while so much blood could be spilled all at once...
"Harry! Harry, come on, we must go!" Hermione looked worriedly at her friend with her red-brimmed eyes; the Gryffindor prefects and McGonagall were hoarding the students to the Tower, but Harry was still sitting at the table, with the intact dinner-plate in front of him and a blank expression on his face.
"I don't want to go up there, Herm, you go on" he replied tiredly; the thought of entering the room where Neville would never snore again, of seeing the empty bed and abandoned trunk, was less than appealing.
"You can't stay here, Harry, Professor McGonagall said we all had to go to bed" whispered Hermione, scandalised; Harry's only answer was to envelop himself in his Invisibility Cloak and disappear into nothingness.
"Miss Granger, are you coming or not?" snapped the Gryffindor Head of House from the door. Hermione walked dutifully behind the teacher, throwing a last backwards glance where her best friend was supposed to be.
Harry wasn't there any longer. He had moved stealthily towards an unguarded door and into a small corridor; quietly he avoided a couple of prefects and a teacher who were guarding the entrances, and he continued his aimless tour of night-time Hogwarts, until he found himself on the corridor leading to the hospital wing. His confused thoughts gave way to one very clear idea: the girl who had been found on the train. He remembered the blood- covered figure, the look Snape had given her, the reference to the unknown spell...
Harry was already standing in front of the door that separated Madam Pomfrey's realm from the school when he realised he couldn't just step in there asking for information. No, information would have to come from another source, and that could be...
Draco Malfoy was standing behind a pillar, engulfed by the heavy shadows and almost invisible now that he had his fair complexion hid under a black cloak. Only the eerie light of his grey eyes alerted Harry of the perfect opportunity for getting one over his archenemy. Then, he remembered a pained look on a pale face, the soft feeling of a silk-clad arm, a clever smile, the reference to the spell. The most Slytherin part of the Boy Who Lived came to light when Malfoy felt a wand on his temple and heard a low voice urging him on.
"Walk quietly towards the Great Hall, or I'll hex you into oblivion" The blond boy complied, quelling an initial surge of panic into hyperawareness, looking for a way to escape. The Slytherin and his kidnapper made their silent way until they reached a open door to a classroom "In there and keep quiet" Draco entered the deserted, moonlit classroom and felt the door closing behind him. It was his perfect opportunity, and he took hold of it by spinning quickly around and hitting his attacker with all his force.
Harry felt the punch before he actually registered Malfoy's movement, and all his renowned Seeker reflexes were of no use as he found himself on the floor, feeling his jaw throb under the intense pain. Malfoy stood disorientated for a moment, confused of having hit someone who wasn't anywhere to be seen, but Harry's grunt gave him the necessary orientation to drop to the floor and yank the Invisibility Cloak off the Gryffindor.
"For goodness' sake, Potter, do you know how stupid you are?" were the first words that Draco could sputter when he saw the lying form of The Boy Who Lived on the floor.
"Not as stupid as you'd like to believe, that's for sure" replied Harry half-heartedly, blushing at the thought of having the roles reversed and being at the mercy of his worst enemy. Malfoy stood up, turning his back to the Gryffindor and trying to vent his frustration, rage, fright and excess adrenaline into a brisk walk.
"Four students have been butchered less than four hours ago by the most skilled killer in magical history, and all Harry Potter can think of doing is walk around on his own, after curfew, trying to get caught! I mean, why were you even sorted into Gryffindor, you should have been sent to St. Mungo's straight away! Are you actually *trying* to look stupid, because I hardly think that you could be that thick naturally!"
"Gee, Malfoy, are you actually concerned about my well-being?" replied Harry, trying to take the spotlight away from his foolhardiness "What is it to you if I get killed or not? You'd probably celebrate it anyway"
"Oh, I cannot believe someone can be so obtuse and still live! You surely are living, talking proof that the Dark Lord is a fraud, because anyone with more than two working neurones could make short work of you!" Malfoy silently prayed that his mention of Voldemort would distract Harry from his outburst of worry. Truth be said, Draco had been so surprised of finding Harry in such a vulnerable position that he had voiced that first words that had come to his head, unaware of their actual meaning.
"Since when...? Are you...? Weren't you...?" Harry stammered, trying ineffectually to express his surprise: had Malfoy just spoken disrespectfully of Voldemort?
"Very coherent and all, Potter," drawled Malfoy, sounding very much like his favourite teacher "but I've got better things to do tonight"
"Like standing in front of the hospital wing all night? What were you trying to do just then, Malfoy?"
"Probably the same thing that you, like the self-imposed suffering hero you are, were trying to do. I'll get a look of that girl or die trying" answered Malfoy, sounding very final. Harry meanwhile tried to look as if that was what he had been intending to do from the beginning. The Slytherin turned to the door and Harry followed him, after picking up his cloak.
"What is the Reuniatos Spell?" asked Harry as they were leaving the empty classroom; Malfoy turned to him with a vaguely amused look.
"Don't tell me that Gryffindor's resident know-it-all hasn't managed to dig it up yet?" Harry frowned and followed Malfoy's graceful strides down the corridor, oblivious that they were past curfew and susceptible of being caught and given detention any minute. "The Reuniatos Spell is a very antique piece of old dark magic" began Draco with an annoying lecturing tone "It is used to reunite, hence the name, in one person the power or characteristics of several others; it has been abandoned of late because, as we've seen, the donors have to be bled to death"
"How do you know all that?" asked Harry, trying to hide his admiration under a veneer of disapproval. "Have you gone to a Death Eaters Summer Camp, or what?" Without warning, Malfoy turned round and slammed Harry into the wall forcefully; for the second time that night, the Boy Who Lived found himself at Draco's mercy.
"Don't *ever* say that again, Potter, do you hear me?" hissed the Slytherin, looking very affronted; the sudden change in demeanour unsettled Harry, while at the same time he couldn't help noticing the bright grey eyes and thick eyelashes.
"Sorry" replied the Gryffindor automatically.
"You bloody well should be" growled Malfoy, dropping Harry's throat and stalking on towards the hospital wing. The dark-haired boy stood for a moment in silence, feeling confusion dancing in his head: why was Malfoy so angry at his mention of Death Eaters? And how come he had made fun of Voldemort? Could it be.? With a jolt, Harry realised that he had lost Malfoy and it was only when he found him standing in front of the hospital wing that the conclusion that had formed inside his head came to light: Malfoy wasn't in the Dark Side any longer. While Harry searched for an appropriate comment, Draco said something that made all unspoken words evaporate.
"How is you jaw, Potter?" Harry looked at him, wondering if he had gone mad, but Malfoy saved him the trouble of asking "I'm not concerned, you twit, but we need to get in the hospital wing somehow. Just follow me, will you?" And with that, Draco took hold of Harry's wrist and made his way into the hospital wing.
"What are you doing here? It's only the first day back!" shrieked Madam Pomfrey indignantly when she saw the two boys entering the room.
"It's his jaw" replied Malfoy offhandedly, while searching for the girl in the small hospital wing. One bed, surrounded by red curtains, caught his attention.
"What happened to it?" inquired the matron, while she examined the angry bruise forming on Harry's face.
"Erm... I...you see..." Harry searched in vain for a good excuse that didn't involve Malfoy hitting him, but the Slytherin saved him the trouble.
"We had a fight and I hit him" said Draco with a beatific smile. The nurse expressed her disapproval with a frown and a tsk-tsk, but Harry discovered that in the hospital wing, like in Potions, Slytherins had preference, and even more when said Slytherin was called Malfoy. Finally, Harry's jaw returned to its normal size and colour, and Madam Pomfrey authorised them to leave, which they did, although as soon as they were out of the door they went back in, covered with the cloak.
Invisibility was a sensation Draco wasn't familiar with; he felt very unsure as they walked in front of Madam Pomfrey, knowing her gaze would pass right through them, and he gripped Harry's arm, partly to reassure himself and partly to avenge his crumpled silk shirt from the train. Harry didn't reply, although he felt greatly surprised when Draco's long fingers wrapped themselves around his arm in altogether new, and not so unpleasant, feeling.
Slowly and warily they went round the covered bed, away from where the Hogwarts matron was sitting and made their way quietly inside the realm enclosed by the curtains. Harry didn't want to look at the figure on the bed, memories of blood and gore too recent, but he didn't fancy looking foolish for the third time that night, in front of Malfoy no less.
On his side, Draco was feeling less than sure himself. He wanted to avenge the death of his cousin, and he was well aware that his father would be asking for information as soon as he could send an encrypted owl, but if it wasn't because he could handle *anything* Potter could, he would have bolted out of the hospital wing faster than you could say "potion".
There was nothing to be afraid of, though. The unconscious figure on the bed was a sixteen year-old girl, with dark hair, pale skin, miraculously long eyelashes (//Like Malfoy's// thought Harry vaguely), and thin, pale lips. There was no obvious magic surging through her, no evident clue as to who had put her on the train, nothing but an ill child.
"Disappointing as it may be, I think this is not getting us anywhere" concluded Draco in a whisper after a few minutes of careful examination.
"Let's go, then" proposed Harry, turning slowly towards the door.
"Wait, you fool!" hissed the Slytherin, crushing Harry's wrist into a death grip and backing into the closest wall "Someone's coming!"
Indeed, the curtains were drawn back and Dumbledore's colourful figure was seen standing in the path to the door. He wasn't alone, either: Snape and the DADA teacher were also there, all looking worriedly at the lying figure.
"What are we going to do, Headmaster?" asked Snape, completely ignoring Grimm.
"I don't know, Severus" replied the old man heavily "The Ministry is in complete disarray and they have left this in our hands. Madame Pince insists there is no reference to this spell in the library, and the references we've managed to collect are all contradictory and uncertain"
"The Reuniatos spell is highly complicated and its effects might vary depending upon the sources and the time of year..." Ethan Grimm trailed off under Snape's hateful glare, and then picked up again "We don't even know if she'll wake up, or what she'll remember if she does, or if she even will show any changes"
"What could the spell do to her, Ethan?" asked Dumbledore, not taking the eyes off the girl. The DADA teacher took various rolls of parchment out of his cloak and started leafing though them.
"It might give this girl the memories of the dead students, like one case in the 12th century... or it might send her into a non-waking coma... there's a case in which the victim splintered into as many donors as he had had... maybe receive the best skills from the students..."
"We must remember what young Mr Malfoy told us" interrupted Snap in his silkiest voice, while said Mr Malfoy backed even further into the wall, pulling Harry with him "The choosing of Heirs for this.. sacrifice cannot be a coincidence. Whoever did this is trying to create a champion who can have all the qualities of the four houses. It seems like it's trying to play for our side"
"It wasn't Voldemort, then" mused Dumbledore, stroking his white long beard "but someone who is against him... someone quite powerful, with a extensive knowledge of Dark Magic and no qualms about sacrificing human lives" Malfoy became even paler, noticed Harry with a certain worry, and he shook his blonde head once or twice as if trying to dispel a worrying thought.
"A Hogwarts Champion... why did they chose this girl, whoever she is? You would have thought they would try to get someone like Harry Potter for this." Said Grimm. Now to was Harry's turn to shrink and pull the cloak closer.
"It's not only a champion" replied a misty, veiled-over voice from the doorway. Professor Trelawny glided from the door, squinting at the bright light "My dears, you have forgotten what houses are made of. Elements, my dears, elements. The reunion of four elements create a fifth, more powerful than the rest and often represented by blood..." Even Snape looked impressed at this, and Harry spotted a certain twinkling in Dumbledore's eyes, between worry and sadness. //Maybe it's time for another pay rise// though Harry.
"So, here's the Fifth element, ready for us to use. What will come out of this?" asked the Headmaster with a sigh; the teachers moved over to where Madam Pomfrey had the medicines she had been administering to the girl, and Draco and Harry took the chance to walk quietly to the door and out of the hospital wing. They only stopped in the Great Hall, where Malfoy took off the Invisibility Cloak and bolted towards the Slytherin dungeons without so much as a backward glance, leaving a confused Harry on his way to Gryffindor Tower to inform the rest of the Dream Team.
----------------- A/N: If you don't feel like reviewing, I'm not going to pester you, do as you like.
