Disclaimer: I own nothing besides the plot and my original characters.
Dear Diary,
I have succeeded. At last, my hatred can rest in peace because the object of my fury has left this earth. It was a beautiful scheme and it was executed with absolute perfection. Nobody will ever suspect me and therefore I will never be caught.
~~~~
Harry Potter plopped down at the Gryffindor table next to his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It was a bright Sunday morning at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the entire Gryffindor table was still carrying an air of victorious content. The previous day the Gryffindor Quidditch team won an exhausting game against Slytherin, their archrivals. It was the longest game at Hogwarts in a century and it was the most grueling match Harry had ever played.
"How are you feeling?" asked Hermione.
"Much better," Harry replied.
"Well you should," said Ron. "You only went to bed before dinner and slept through the whole night!"
Harry shrugged his shoulders as he took a sip of his orange juice.
Suddenly, Madame Pince, the school librarian, quickly walked through the doors of the Great Hall. There was a deafening silence as everyone saw the panicked expression on her face.
The crowded room remained silent as Madame Pince walked up to Professor Dumbledore, the wise Headmaster of Hogwarts. She whispered something in his ear and his face turned a ghostly white.
"Attention all students and teachers," Dumbledore said quite calmly despite the shocked expression on his face. "Prefects, escort the students to their respective dormitories, and teachers, come with me."
Everyone started chattering all at once, wondering what in the world was going on. No one could recall seeing Dumbledore so upset before. After Hermione, a Gryffindor prefect, lead all of the Gryffindors to their common room, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the students waited apprehensively for any news. Finally, Professor McGonagall came into their common room.
"I am sorry to inform you that I have terrible news," McGonagall said gravely. "Cho Chang has been found dead in the library. She is believed to have died at dusk yesterday during dinner. One of the bookcases fell on top of her. We believe that it was a most unfortunate accident. For those who are unfamiliar with the other students in this school, Miss Chang was Head Girl and both Captain and Seeker for Ravenclaw's Quidditch team. She will be greatly missed."
Everyone sat in denial of what they had just heard as McGonagall left. Sobs filled the room as the realization hit. Cho was a pretty girl with few enemies. Everyone was emotionally crushed by her death. Perhaps the most upset of all the students was Dean Thomas, her boyfriend. Dean was a sixth year Gryffindor like Harry and Ron. The usually tough, unemotional boy was hysterically weeping.
Several hours later, most of the Gryffindors left the common room. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in three oversized armchairs in front of the fire in silence.
"You know, I was wondering," Hermione stated. "How do you accidentally knock over a bookcase?"
"I don't know, beats me," said Ron. "Hey, wouldn't we have heard the bookcase falling at dinner?"
"I'm not sure. The Great Hall is pretty close to the library," Hermione pointed out. "I just think its weird that nobody heard anything."
"Well, maybe it wasn't an accident," Ron suggested. "Maybe she was murdered."
"Yes, that makes sense! They could have used a Silencing Charm to hide the sound of the falling bookcase."
"But who would do something like that?"
"Harry, what do you think?"
Harry had been staring into the fire. The announcement of Cho's death had clearly upset him. He had had a crush on her since the third year.
"I don't know," Harry said, clearly distracted. "Maybe we should go to Dumbledore and tell him what we think."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off to Dumbledore's office. They stopped as the neared the gargoyle guarding the hidden entrance, realizing that they did not know the password.
"Well, now what do we do?" Ron questioned.
"Figure out the password of course!" Hermione pointed out.
"Well, its almost always a sweet," Harry recalled.
"Well, let's get started!" Ron said. "How about…Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans!"
The statue stayed stationary.
"Chocolate Frogs!"
The gargoyle stayed put.
"Sugar Quills!"
"Lollypops!"
"Canary Creams!"
"Fudge!"
"Scrumdiddleyumpcious Bar!"
They continued on like this for over an hour before Harry got it.
"Pumpkin Pie!"
The statue all of a sudden started to twist up, revealing a spiral staircase. All three Gryffindors ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione said loudly. "Professor? Are you there?"
Suddenly they heard a large thump and Dumbledore's head appeared from behind his desk. He muttered something that sounded an awful lot like "Ouch!" and rubbed his head.
"Professor? We'd like to talk to you," said Hermione.
"Yes, that's what I assumed you were here to do," replied the Headmaster.
"We've been thinking about Cho's death," explained Hermione. "It doesn't seem logical for it to have been an accident. We were thinking that someone might have possibly killed her. We think it would be a good idea for you to take another look in the library to find any evidence that may be there."
"That does make a lot of sense. However, your professors and I have already looked at this from every possible angle and we don't think that is what happened. If you three want to take a look in there, that's alright with me. I'll tell Madame Pince to allow you to come in."
"Thank you, Professor. We most definitely will," Harry told him. Harry turned around and walked out of Dumbledore's office while Ron and Hermione followed. "When do you want to take a look at the library?"
"How about tomorrow?" Hermione suggested.
"Yeah, I'm beat!" Ron added.
R and R please!!!! Flames welcome!!!