A/N: Thanks for reading, everyone. I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. (Hey, I gotta have a few evil moments!) Yeah, Dippet died, poor guy. That made me sad, but in the immortal words of Lord Capulet (from 'Romeo and Juliet'), "We were born to die." Also, Aeryn, you are right: Ozymandias, the middle name I picked for Dumbledore, IS a poem. It was written by Percy Shelley in 1817. I had to analyze it in AP English, and it stuck in my head. Good poem, by the way. But anyway, here is Chapter Nine of 'Obsessions'. Bwa ha ha...

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CHAPTER NINE: AFTERMATH

~~~

Albus Dumbledore awoke with a start. Something, although he didn't know exactly what, seemed wrong. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until he figured out what it was, so he decided to investigate. He got out of bed, slipped a day robe on over his nightclothes, and went out into the castle.

The first person Dumbledore saw wasn't really a person at all - it was Peeves the poltergeist, painting a target on the chest of a suit of armor. Seeing Peeves at work annoyed Dumbledore, but he knew something as little as that wouldn't wake him from his sleep. There was something else... something more...

Peeves saw Dumbledore and dropped his paintbrush. "Professor Dumbledore!" he exclaimed. "Erm... this isn't what it looks like, really."

"I'll hear your excuses later, Peeves," Dumbledore replied. "Something's wrong, and I need to know what."

Peeves shrugged. "Haven't seen a thing," he said, and zoomed away.

Dumbledore watched the poltergeist fly off, sighed, and continued on his way. Like everyone else in the castle, he didn't care for Peeves much, but there was little that could be done about it. Peeves never caused any real harm, but all the mischief he created was more than enough for many, especially Apollyon Pringle, to wish for his eviction.

Dumbledore rounded a corner, and he saw someone walking toward him from the other end of the hall - a very anxious-looking Minerva McGonagall. She gasped when she saw him and hurried over. "Albus, something's wrong," she said. "I... I think someone's been murdered."

That was news indeed. "Why do you say that?" he asked.

She told him about receiving the package with the human heart inside just minutes ago. "And there was a note, too," she said. "It said, 'He wanted you to have this'."

A horrified look crossed Dumbledore's face. "Armando..." He grabbed her hand and began running toward the headmaster's chambers, pulling her along with him. "Hurry!"

~~~

Outside the door to Dippet's bedchambers, Dumbledore and Minerva saw a body lying on the ground. For a moment, they thought it was Dippet, but upon closer examination, they saw that it was Tom Riddle. Dumbledore knelt down to Riddle's body and pressed his fingers to the young Auror's neck to check for a pulse. "He's been stunned," he realized. He pulled his wand out, pointed it at Riddle, and said, "Ennervate."

Riddle opened his eyes. They had a look of desperation in them. "Professor Dumbledore!" he almost shouted, and struggled to sit up. His body was stiff from being stunned, so he wasn't very successful. "Someone's trying to attack Professor Dippet! I tried to stop him, but-"

"I understand, Mr. Riddle," Dumbledore said, and stood up. He opened the door, and froze.

The room was covered in blood. Broken and overturned furniture suggested a violent struggle that ended in death for the mutilated corpse lying in the middle of the room. The bloody, torn-up body had been completely gutted. Internal organs lay strewn all over the place; Dumbledore could recognize pieces of lung, intestine, stomach, and liver. There were two things he did not see, though; the head and the heart. The rib cage had been spread apart, and the muscles and blood vessels that held the heart in place were ripped. Someone had obviously torn it out of the body, and judging from the massive amounts of blood in the area, it had taken place when the person was still alive. The other thing missing from the corpse was the head. A bloody stump of a neck extended from the body, and the head appeared to have been removed where the spine connected to the skull. Even without the head and the body mutilated beyond recognition, Dumbledore instantly knew who the murdered person was: Armando Dippet.

For almost a full minute, none of them could move, breathe, or even think. Finally, Dumbledore broke the silence. "Riddle," he said softly, but firmly, "go to the Ministry of Magic. Now."

Riddle nodded, turned around, and ran in the direction of the Great Hall.

Dumbledore turned to Minerva. She was struggling to maintain composure. "Get Quinn," he instructed. "I'll wake up the rest of the faculty, and we'll meet in the staff room in ten minutes."

She nodded. She didn't trust her voice.

Dumbledore reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly. "We'll find out who did this," he assured her. "I promise."

Tears fought their way past her attempt to keep them at bay and slid down her cheeks. She didn't want to let him know just how scared she was, but it was no use. "Someone killed Armando," she said. "They tried to kill him before, but they were unsuccessful. Now they've done it. Who's next, Albus?"

"I will die before I let any harm come to you."

"Don't worry about me. I don't matter. I'm worried about you, about Quinn, and the students... what can we do?"

He didn't have an answer. "I don't know," he said, "but we'll think of something. Come on, let's get the others."

~~~

On their way to wake up Quinn Grindelwald, they saw the Charms instructor running toward them from the direction of his bedchambers with a frantic look on his face. In his hands, he held a box of medium size. "Albus! Minerva!" he said. "There's been a murder! Armando..."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, we know. Someone sent Minerva his heart."

"Someone sent me his head," Grindelwald said, and held out the box. "Where's Riddle?"

"Albus told him to go to the Ministry of Magic," Minerva answered. "He was stunned when we found him."

Grindelwald sighed heavily. "Who could have done this? Do you think it was connected to the first attack?"

"Probably," Dumbledore said. "Was that man ever identified?"

"Yes; as Hector McGale, a freelance assassin," Grindelwald answered. "Someone hired him to kill Armando, and when that didn't work, someone must have tried again."

"But why Armando?" asked Minerva. She was starting to break down again. "What made him a target?"

"He was the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," said Grindelwald. "Only the Minister of Magic is in a higher position of authority, and even that's arguable."

Dumbledore took the box from Grindelwald and glanced inside. It was indeed Armando Dippet's head; or what was left of it, anyway. Both eyes had been removed, and grey brain tissue oozed out from where the cranium was split open. It was not a pretty sight. He closed the box and gave it back to Grindelwald, and then told Minerva she did not want to see it.

~~~

About fifteen minutes later, the Hogwarts faculty, along with the Head Boy and Head Girl (Bartemius Crouch and Tracy Keller, both from Gryffindor house), were assembled in the staff room to hear the news. "I'm sure you've all heard the news by new," Grindelwald said in a tired, heavy voice. "Our headmaster, Armando Dippet, has been murdered. We don't know who did it or why, but we will find out."

"What's to be done?" Natalie Cypher meekly inquired.

Grindelwald glanced at Dumbledore before giving his answer. "As deputy headmaster, it is my duty to take over as the school's head," he said. "Rachel?"

Rachel Revueltas looked at him.

"You are next in line after me," he reminded the Arithmancy instructor (and head of Ravenclaw house). "If you choose to accept it, the position of deputy headmistress is yours. Should anything happen to me, you will become the head of the school, and I believe Professor Dumbledore is next in succession."

She nodded. "Yes, that's correct, and yes, I accept."

"Thank you. We'll need a new Charms instructor." He looked at Jennifer Hensley, who taught three Potions classes and two Herbology classes. "I'm sure Professor Cypher and Professor Larios wouldn't mind taking on their full class loads if you moved on to Charms, Jennifer."

Professor Hensley nodded in acknowledgement.

The last thing position that needed to be replaced was the head of Slytherin house, and that went to Geoffrey Poe, the Astronomy instructor. "Tomorrow morning, I will go to the Ministry of Magic and provide them with further information surrounding the incident," Grindelwald said. "I promise you all that this murder will not go unpunished. We will find who killed Armando, and we will make them suffer as we have."

~~~

When Tobias Hawkins heard that Dippet had been murdered, he nearly went through the roof. He wanted to shut down the school until the killer was found, but Grindelwald persuaded him to keep it open. Extra security measures would be taken to protect the staff and students. Students weren't allowed to wander through the castle and grounds at night, but now, faculty members were forbidden to go anywhere alone after hours as well. Hawkins assigned each staff member a partner, and the teachers were required to know where their partner was at all times. Minerva, Dumbledore, and Grindelwald found themselves assigned to Natalie Cypher, Warrick Larios, and Geoffrey Poe, respectively.

The Minister of Magic was most concerned about Grindelwald. Dippet had no enemies that they were aware of, so it was likely that whoever killed him attacked the position and not the person. Now that Grindelwald was headmaster, Hawkins was sure he would be next. "You need protection, Quinn," Hawkins told the new headmaster the day after Dippet's murder. "What if this person comes after you?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine, Tobias," Grindelwald replied.

"That's what Armando said, and he's dead."

"Armando and I are completely different people."

"True, but you are now in the same position. I won't take a chance, Quinn. There's too much going on, what with the Muggle war and all... How about some bodyguards? I'll keep Riddle with you, and I'll demand that McCarthy send Moody to-"

"That won't be necessary," Grindelwald interrupted.

"You're not being reasonable. Armando was sure nothing was going to happen to him, and yet he was killed."

"You can't just take remove all your best Aurors from active duty to protect one man."

"When that man is the headmaster of Hogwarts, I can."

"Why waste the time and energy? We've got two of the Ministry's three best Aurors at Hogwarts right now."

"Two?" Hawkins repeated. "I count one."

"Tom Riddle," said Grindelwald.

"He was the one."

"Oh. Then the other is Minerva McGonagall."

"McGonagall is a teacher now, not an Auror."

"So? She's still a damned good Auror."

Hawkins sighed. "Tell you what, Quinn. What say that you keep Riddle around Hogwarts as head of security, and I change your faculty partner from Poe to McGonagall?"

Grindelwald held back a smile. The whole point of this conversation was to lead the Minister of Magic to that decision, and he had succeeded. Perhaps he could plant another thought in Hawkins's head while he was at it. "If you think that is our best option, then I have no objections," he said, "but I know someone who might."

Hawkins stiffened. "Who?"

"Albus Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore?" Hawkins repeated. "Why would Dumbledore be against it?"

"He's in love with Minerva, and that almost destroyed his friendship with Armando," Grindelwald answered. "Did Armando tell you that he and Minerva were romantically involved?"

"Not that I remember." Hawkins blinked and scratched his head. "But she's so young. Both of them have to be at least four times her age."

"Albus is ninety, and Armando was eighty-four," Grindelwald said, "but that's only about middle-aged for a wizard, you know, and besides, when you love someone, you don't care about things like that."

"I never knew you were such a romantic, Quinn."

"It comes and goes."

"Out of curiosity, how old are you?"

"How old are YOU, Tobias?"

"Seventy-six."

"I'm forty-two."

Hawkins smiled slightly and began drumming his fingers against his thigh. "Okay, then. I'll reassign Poe to Cypher and McGonagall to you."

"Thank you. I hope Albus doesn't mind."

"You seem quite concerned that he will," Hawkins observed.

"There's no telling with him," Grindelwald said with a sigh. "His... obsession with Minerva is almost unhealthy, I think. He was devastated when she chose another man." He rubbed his eyes with his fingers and said, "I hope no one thinks it was him that killed Armando."

Hawkins almost couldn't believe he just heard that. He'd never even considered Dumbledore as a suspect in the murder, but in light of what Grindelwald said, it didn't seem completely beyond the realm of possibility. People had done crazy things in the name of love in the past, but Dumbledore didn't seem like the type that would be driven insane by this strongest of emotions. Maybe they should take him in for questioning, just to be sure...