A/N-If only I owned these characters...I'd be rich!! Filthy rich! AHAHAHA....Moving on...
A quick shout out to Kagome-I'm glad you're lovin' the story!
Don't worry...the death'll be revealed quite soon...within the next 4 or 5 chapters...
Chapter 9: Malfoy and the Policeman
The following morning, all of the students received their class schedules for the year. To Harry, Ron, and Hermione's dismay, they were still enrolled in Snape's Potions class with the Slytherins.
"Wait a second, I thought Snape said he only took the most brilliant students in his upper level classes," Ron said. "Hermione, you're brilliant, but Harry and I, on the other hand…" He raised one eyebrow.
"Well, maybe Dumbledore's pulled a few strings. You know you need Potions to become an Auror, so what does it matter?" replied Hermione, finishing off her last bit of toast.
"More like Snape's pulled a few strings," Harry commented darkly. "He'll miss torturing me too much."
"Probably," snorted Ron.
At that moment, owls flew into the Great Hall and delivered the mail to their owners.
"Oh, good, my Daily Prophet's finally here!" said Hermione joyfully. "It's more than two months late, believe it or not."
"Best tell that Rita Skeeter wench to hurry it up," quipped Ron.
"See, it's the July 1st edition…oh, I've known about this for ages…" Hermione said.
"Let me see," said Harry, taking the paper.
The headline read:
French Minister of Magic Found Dead
After two weeks of searching for Pierre Goulet, the French Minister of Magic, Muggle police found his body in a remote forest outside of Paris early yesterday. Upon this discovery, the proper magical authorities were contacted.
"My sympathies, and those of my department, are extended to the magical community of France and around the world. In light of this loss, I promise to join forces with the wizarding world to find the perpetrator," commented Chief Ben Hamilton, head of the Muggle investigations related to this murder case.
A Memory Charm was placed on all of the lower-ranked Muggle policemen after their testimonies and evidence were secured by the proper magical authorities, as some expressed disbelief and amazement at this strange discovery and demanded psychiatric help immediately.
"We must help our fellow wizarding friends in their time of need," said Cornelius Fudge, British Minister of Magic and close friend of Goulet. "Stay vigilant, for your own safely, and don't open the door to any strangers."
"What an idiot," commented Harry, disgusted. "'Don't open the door to any strangers'…who's supposed to feel safe after that advice from the head of the country's government?"
"Yeah," added Ron. "Hermione, how'd you know about this? Dad never even mentioned it to me."
"My uncle was a Muggle policeman-actually, the chief," she said proudly. "He led the investigation and actually was the one who knew to call the Ministry of Magic to the scene."
"But he's a Muggle!" said Ron, confused. "Enough said."
"Well, he was quite clever…never ruled out the possibility of magic in his life," began Hermione, "and, of course, his favorite niece was the only witch in the family."
"How do you know he won't tell everyone in the Muggle world about us?" questioned Harry.
"Ahhhh…" Hermione sighed and looked down at her hands. "Well, that's not exactly possible anymore."
"Why? Was he one of the people who got a Memory Charm?" continued Harry.
"Ahhh…" Hermione swallowed hard. "He died the next day."
"What? What happened?" yelped Ron.
"Oh, I'll explain later, it's complicated…we've got Potions in a couple minutes, so we'd better get going, right?" She left the table quickly and headed down to the dungeon, leaving Harry and Ron in a confused silence.
"Okay, we're getting to the bottom of this by the end of today," Ron declared.
"Don't push her too much, these things take time," Harry responded, thinking of his own experiences.
The two boys pushed in their chairs and followed Hermione down to the dreary dungeon. They noticed the tables each had four chairs and sat down with Hermione and Neville.
"Snape must really love torturing me," Neville said, his voice quivering with fear, "I never thought I'd make it into his N.E.W.T. class."
"That's what we both thought," said Ron, gesturing at himself and Harry.
"Oh, you guys'll be fine," said Hermione optimistically.
"Yeah, that's because you'll end up helping us through," added Ron.
Hermione considered this. "True."
"Wow, what a surprise," a voice oozed behind the four of them. "Scarhead, Weasley, Mudblood, and the hopeless Squib in an advanced class? Who would have guessed?"
Harry didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.
"Malfoy," he started angrily, "I-"
He was interrupted by another Slytherin.
"Excuse me, but I don't happen to see any Squibs around here," cut in a male voice. "This is a school of magic, isn't it? So you'd have to be a witch or wizard to get in. There's no way the faculty would spend their time teaching a Squib."
The four Gryffindors turned around to see Hunter McEwan standing behind them, his eyes narrowed and sending a stare at Malfoy.
"As for calling someone a Mudblood, especially such a fine lady as she, well," he chuckled sarcastically to himself, "only the lowest class of wizards would sink to that level."
Malfoy gaped in shock. "McEwan-listen," he said congenially, "these-these are people you don't want to be seen with! Stick with me, and you'll go places!"
"Yeah, I'm sure I will," snorted Hunter. "I'm a big boy; I think I can pick my friends for myself. But thanks for the help; although something tells me I won't be needing it."
Malfoy's face was contorted in an expression of pure horror. Then he snarled. "Too bad, McEwan. It's your loss." He, Crabbe, and Goyle left the shocked table and sat down on the other side of the room, glaring angrily at Hunter as they left.
Angry looks weren't the only thing Hunter was receiving. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville stared at him, amazed.
"Wh-wh-what-why'd you do that?" Neville squeaked.
Hunter smiled his perfect white grin. "They were treating you guys horribly; I couldn't just stand by and watch, could I?" Not waiting for an answer, he looked around the room. "Oh, no, the only open seat is next to that blonde git and his two gorillas. Well, talk to you lot later!" He walked over to his seat by Crabbe, who immediately glared at him again.
"Wow," said Ron slowly, totally blown away. "I'm thinking the Sorting Hat made a mistake."
A/N: Okay, review please! I should have my NEW songfic posted within 4 days or so...hopefully tomorrow (as long as I'm not slackin' off). Also, I'm going to start something new, like a shorter fic, so let me know if you want something really dramatic or funny...those are my 2 main ideas as of now. Well...gotta go, so review!!!