Teenage Detective

Chapter 7: Repairing Mistakes

The death of Jamie Wescott did not cause any worries or panic amongst the students of Hogwarts. Instead, rumours lay on top of the real truth. Over half of the school population believed it was plain and clear suicide, but of course to some it was murder.

Harry obviously thought it was murder. You cannot 'Wingardium Leviosa' yourself to perform suicide from twenty feet height. And those Harry told didn't seem to care.

And to make the situation worse it served only to satisfy Phillips more. He received absurd praises from someone's death. He even concluded off that all the murders were fatal suicide, which caused some protest form a lot of parties in the Wizarding World.

Meanwhile, Harry was working hard to find anything in the Dark Arts that used the Longevity Leaf as a part of the ingredients. He and Dennis spent that all day in the library. The young Creevey's mind was on that mostly, but he was annoyed too at the fact of what Harry and Hermione were doing before the discovery of Jamie's death.

While Harry was in the library, Hermione was dealing with the aftermath of talking with him. She was having a hard time knowing the whole truth and to make matters worse, she talked to Ginny about it. She did not expect the Weasley temper flare out of her.

"I can't believe it," Ginny exploded, the whole common room watching her. "I knew something was definitely sneaky about that broom. Why did I believed him?"

"Believe what?" Draco asked as soon as he entered the common room and sat down beside her.

Hermione saw the blonde Slytherin and an answer for Ginny's question popped in her head. The youngest Weasley sibling told her boyfriend all about her late brother's act. Draco was impressed.

"Well Ron had some sneaky Slytherin in him," he commented, but got death glares form the two girls. He quickly said, "Why that rotten son-of-a-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll hex you," Ginny said viciously. Draco instantly turned timid. Hermione loved to see this two, they always made her laugh with their romantic antics. She told the couple of what Harry told her. When she got to the part where Ron begged Harry for the broom, they were not surprised but instead astonished. "Because of me, he lent the broom to Ron… and thus causing all of us to think Hufflepuffs are bad. It's my fault," the bushy haired admitted sadly.

"No, it's not your fault!" Ginny protested heavily. "It's Ron's and he used you as an excuse to trick Harry and make him believe that you were unhappy."

"But why would Harry believe such a lame excuse," said Hermione.

"Maybe there something more to it than you know," Ginny quipped, exchanging knowing looks with Draco.

Hermione caught the couple's gaze and she knew then that something was hidden between them. She shrugged the thoughts as she needed to go for a meeting with McGonagall. As she left, she told the couple not to tell anyone and keep it a secret.

Hermione and Ginny were mad indeed with what Ron did, but there was no use getting angry with someone who had already passed away. The two girls felt a bit ashamed of how close their relationship with Ron was, but they could never forget the good times they shared with the boy before Voldemort's demise.

The Head Girl now felt a heavy burden on her after the talk with Harry. What burden she has, she did not know but one thing she knew now…. She must take care of it…. And then maybe… just maybe… she and Harry could be together.

Hermione walked along the quiet stony corridors to McGonagall's office. She was on the seventh floor, when she heard noises coming from the direction of the classrooms. With her wand ready by her side, she went to investigate. She crept slowly into a corner and the noise became audible enough. It was apparent there were two… no… three people talking. She could hear an insult being thrown in and knew the voice immediately. She moved briskly and into a narrow corridor. She halted and found Harry, Dennis and surprisingly, Zacharias Smith.

"Damn you, Potter, go back to your room and be a good boy and shut up!" Zacharias growled.

"What's your problem, Smith!" Dennis growled back just as menacingly as he could.

"Mind your own business."

"You shut up, shorty. I'm talking to girlfriend stealer over there," spat Zacharias, pointing his strain fingers at Harry, who was behind Dennis in the dim lit corridor. Harry was unfazed by the menacing glare from Zacharias. He was calm and quiet through this ordeal.

"I did not steal Susan away from you, she's just a friend," said Harry defensively.

"Bullshit! I saw you two all lovey-dovey with each other around the lake that day, and you both weeping over trash," Zacharias accused at Harry but the raven haired narrowed his eyes.

"Now do you admit you love her?" Zacharias gazed at Harry with possessed eyes.

"Yes," Harry answered. Dennis looked shocked at Harry. The blonde was about to laugh but Harry was not finish. "As a friend only." Zacharias' throat hitched at the answer.

"What do you want, Smith? Susan is just an important friend to me and every minute I spend with her was a gift I appreciate more than my Firebolt… so stop assuming and accusing something when you don't know the whole story." Harry spoke like an inspiring person, making the Hufflepuff seething with anger.

All of a sudden, large grey bricks, size of a cat dropped from the ceiling and plummeting down on Harry.

"Harry! Look out!" Dennis warned him but Harry did not have time to react as the bricks were about to hit him.

Luckily Hermione ran towards Harry seeing the bricks falling down on Harry. She pushed and dragged him out of the bricks way, falling down together, safely away from danger. The bricks crashed down with a loud crunch, turning into big chunks of rocks.

She quickly rose to her feet and pulled out her wand. "Stop whatever you're doing, Smith," warned Hermione, pointing her wand at the Hufflepuff.

Zacharias stared figuratively at the three Gryffindors, especially Harry, who was down on the floor. He looked at the raven haired young man with disgust. "So a new girlfriend, Potter?"

Hermione was about to retort but Zacharias talked on. "You just go get a new girl after Susan. Looks like you stole another one… just like you stole mine," he leered.

"I did not steal anyone!' Harry pointed out harshly. "Susan is not my girlfriend and neither is Hermione. I did not steal Susan from you and that's final." Harry was clearly exasperated with the Hufflepuff. Hermione's heart felt uneasy however at what Harry just said.

Zacharias just mockingly laughed at him.

"Like that's true," he spoke oddly creepy. Harry was taken aback by this behaviour. "It was your fault you know… she's dead because of you. She was looking for you… and got herself in the Astronomy Tower… and the next thing… she was dead…she was dead because of you… you should have been there instead of her!"

With that Zacharias turned and disappeared into the shadows. Hermione was too into the blonde's words, that she was slow to notice he was gone.

"Come back you coward," Dennis yelled. He was about to go after Zacharias when Harry put a hand to his shoulder to halt.

"Let me go, Harry. I could-" Dennis stopped mid-sentence when he felt Harry's trembling hands. He turned around and indeed, it was shaking terribly but Harry's face still showed calmness.

Hermione was worried. "Harry," she said.

He turned to her and spoke. "Thank you, Hermione," he said honestly, then turned to Dennis. "C'mon let's go." He pushed his shaking hands into his jeans pockets.

Hermione stared anxiously as Harry was avoiding looking at her. She needed to do something as he was about to walk away with Dennis. "Harry," she called him, one hand still holding her wand, while the other close to her chest.

Harry stopped with his back to her. She asked a dreaded question that was on her mind. "You… and Susan… as in Susan Bones?"

Harry turned partially back toward Hermione, but not looking at her, his face darkened by shadows. "No," Harry answered quietly and walked off with Dennis following behind.

The uneasy feeling was still fluttering in her heat, but then replaced by anxiousness when she remembered that she was late for Professor McGonagall.

When everyone else was asleep, Harry Potter was still awake, checking on materials that he kept in his late godfather's silver metal suitcase. His eye skimmed through every note he made. Then one last time, he read the article that his younger accomplice found. He chuckled to himself and put everything back in the suitcase. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"All mysteries have been solved."

The next morning, breakfast was usual for everyone save Hermione. She was a tad miserable plus she did not have enough sleep after her unforgettable meeting with a fuming McGonagall. She admitted what she did these last few days were great as she got to talk with her former bestfriend, but consequences were abound, and she got scolded for the lack of interest in her Head Girl's duties. But on the bright side of things, she learned the dark side of her life and must now figure something out to overcome it.

Her Gryffindor housemates watched her with curiosity and pity. Why would they not? Not everyday Hermione did odd things, especially in the Great Hall, twirling a curly lock in her hair, playing with the food, and sighing now and then. From everyone's point of view, she looked like a girl who just lost her crush to someone else.

She did this till Ginny shook her out of stupor. "Hermione… Hermione!" Ginny shook her by the shoulders.

"What?" Hermione finally noticed she was zoning out, and stared at her friends with a blush. "Sorry – got a lot of things in my mind right now," she said truthfully.

She then ate her breakfast. "A lot of things like… a certain someone?" Lavender asked teasingly.

"Yeah… something like that," she said absentmindedly.

The girls giggled. "So is Harry that good?" Parvati asked.

"Stop it girls!" Ginny growled softly, making the girls turned silent. Hermione ignored Parvati's question, as her eyes settled on three people who were just few feet away from her.

"Excuse me, girls. I got a mistake to be corrected and a burden to relieve," she told them, making everyone look at her puzzled, even Ginny did not know what she meant. They watched her stand up from her seat and make her way to Dennis and two Hufflepuffs.

Hermione walked haughtily, feeling an surge of courage in her, to Ernie and Hannah. She needed to do the right thing and straight everything out.

"Hey you two," she said in a commanding voice, she did not realise she was rudely interrupting a conversation.

The two Hufflepuff prefects turned around, they knew whose voice belonged to. "What is it, Hermione? Need someone to fill in your duties while your dawdling away," Hannah mocked. She felt hurt by the comment and Ernie's comment made it more hurtful.

"Stalking Harry again I suppose, terrible friends he once had… not to mention bunch of foolish people," Ernie said without a care.

She supposed she deserve their nasty comments, after what she did to them since the start of school term. But she was not going to fall, she was going to stand her ground and regain her dignity. With watchful eyes of almost everyone in the Great Hall, she did something that would shock not just her friends, peers and teachers but also her pride, her reputation and herself.

She closed her eyes tightly, almost like grimacing, and bent forward, hands to her chest, bowed before the two Hufflepuffs. Of course, reactions were tremulous around the big hall. Hannah and Ernie were flabbergasted, Dennis looked on raising his brows, Ginny and Draco gaped while some others gasped. The professors had a different reaction, wondering what was going on at the end of the hall. McGonagall and Sprout were ready for anything while Dumbledore had a huge smile on his face as he watched the display of unity before him.

"I'm sorry," she said heartedly and repeated it three times so everyone in the hall could hear it. "I'm sorry for the unjustified treatment I did to you two and the whole Hufflepuff house. I'm sorry for calling you undeserved bad names and never once listening to your opinions during prefect's meeting. I'm sorry for calling you guys, losers. I'm sorry for what my late b… friend did to your late friend, Susan Bones that lead to this whole mess. I'm sorry for not caring and give condolences to two of your housemates. I'm sorry especially for Susan. I'm sorry for Harry too. Please – please forgive me," she huff all the words briskly, though Hannah and Ernie might not get all of it.

She still in bowing position, she only stood straight if they responded, hopefully they did… and they did.

"We forgive you," said Hannah, with a smile. Hermione stood straight quickly and wore a bright grin on her face. "Really?" she said delightedly. Hannah and Ernie smiled at her.

"Only if you admit you were foolish," said Ernie, which Hermione answered back with a simple nod. She then engulfed the two prefects with a hug. They were taken by surprised, but none the less hugged her back. Dennis stared at them, smirking happily at the display. They were unaware of others watching them. The three houses that despised Hufflepuffs were shocked to see the Head Girl apologising and hugging two of them. They were aggravated but they also did not know the whole story. Dumbledore and the professors certainly gave their approval to such unity. McGonagall was the most glad of them all; she was impressed with her student.

Hermione let both of them go, and wiped a single tear that was flowing down her cheek unknowingly.

"It must been hard for you two to receive such undeserving insults," she said thoughtfully. "I'm sorry again for that."

"No more apologising, Hermione," said Ernie. "We too felt the same as you, back in second year." Hermione remembered how they crudely acted towards Harry.

"Let's just say we do deserve some of the insults," said Hannah, trying not to make Hermione feel bad. On the other hand, Ravenclaws felt bad that their role model did something they could not put themselves to do. Slytherins were displeased while Gryffindors were in a confusing state. All of the three houses did not know if they should follow her example or not.

But things just got interesting as the arrogant blonde Phillips, the formidable Auror Shacklebolt and few Aurors entered the Great Hall in an unceremonious manner.

"Morning everyone," Phillips greeted everyone airily, even though he did not look at anyone specific at all. Dumbledore looked at the Auror with no emotion shown on his face. The snobby Auror just barged into the Great Hall like he owned the world.

Everyone gazed at him with utter loathing, for keeping them inside the castle when a raving murderer was on the loose. Kingsley was silent the whole time, but his face etched gloominess to it.

"Sorry to interrupt everyone's breakfast. I'm sure you don't mind if I make a few announcements." He was wrong, everyone did mind.

"What business do you have here, Mr. Phillips, without contacting me?" Dumbledore demanded though not harsh spoken.

"I'm sorry Headmaster, I am just telling everyone that I have great news," he said cheerily, not to mention a bit arrogant. "I know who is the real murderer!"

Gasps were heard as people bean whispering one to another. The Headmaster thought that this was another misjudgement made by the arrogant Auror. "Are you sure you know who the real murderer is?" Dumbledore asked sceptically.

Phillips grinned, an unusual one. "Of course I'm sure," he answered confidently.

Hermione could not believe what she was hearing. From what she heard from people, this Phillips guy could not figure out where the sun sets. Now, Phillips claimed he knew the murderer. She was hoping it was Harry who solved it.

How absolutely true she was, if she only knew.

"I require all the seventh year students from all houses to be in the Headmaster's office this instant," he arrogantly instructed everyone to do what he just ordered. He then strutted off the Great Hall, with a gloomy Kingsley and the Aurors.

The seventh years were frantic at being called upon. None the less, all of them felt dreadful going to Dumbledore's office. The Headmaster himself accompanied the group, along with McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick. They did not know what to expect.

Hermione examined the group, as she walked with them, for anyone who was absent. Her heart turned heavily anxious as she could not find Harry. She immediately reported to the Headmaster. "Professor – professor, Harry's not here," she told Dumbledore.

Hearing her Dumbledore looked back at the group and examined by his own. Indeed, Harry was missing from the group. "Has anyone seen Mr. Potter today?" he asked, and there were few nods. "We only saw him this morning… in his bed," said Dean. Neville and Seamus nodded together. "I see," was all he said.

"Sir… Can I go and look for him?" Hermione volunteered in an almost pleading voice.

"That won't be necessary, Ms. Granger," said Dumbeldore. He noticed how wildly worried her eyes shown. He leaned in close to the brunette. "I think Harry is up to something so let's play along for awhile shall we?"

Hermione looked up and saw the twinkle in that grey blue eyes. She smiled and nodded. Harry must have been there already. Since Kingsley is there, Harry would appear out of nowhere. How true her thoughts were.

Dennis was hiding between Hannah and Ernie, if anyone bother to notice him.

Dumbledore and the seventh year students arrived at the office, where the unsatisfying sight of Phillips leaning on a book rack, smirking at Dumbledore with snootiness. "Morning everyone," he said, a sickly sweet pleasantness in his voice.

To no one's surprise, Snape was there, along with a batch of vials containing potions of different colours on Dumbledore's desk. Tension was mounting as all the seventh years directed their hateful glares at Phillips. "Everyone, scatter around my office and find a comfortable spot for yourself. Mr. Phillips had better have a very good explanation." The Headmaster sent a wink at Phillips, which the blonde returned with an odd smile.

Hermione stood near the window, along with Parvati and Lavender. Draco made himself comfortable leaning against the wall, near the window. Ernie and Hannah stood on opposite ends of a couch, that was not suppose to be there, while trying to hide Dennis who was behind it.

Dumbledore sat on his chair, behind the desk, surveying everyone in the room. Phillips and Kingsley changed their position to the fireplace. Half of the Aurors stood guard outside and the other half were inside the office.

"Now that everyone is cosy, let us begin-" Dumbeldore was cut off when the door was forcefully pushed open.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" snarled a blonde haired man. The students gasped when they saw the fuming man, who unmistakably was…

Phillips.

Everyone looked back and forth with their heads and eyes, between Phillips standing on the threshold and the one near the fireplace.

Hermione was no less sane as everyone till her brain clicked. "Could that be?"

Phillips, flushed with uncontrollable anger, laid his eyes upon the other Phillips, who was calm and collected. "I got a message from my people here that supposedly I came to Hogwarts and told everyone I figured out who the bloody murderer is, when I don't know who the bloody hell the murderer is, though I intend to find out but right now. AND WHO THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU?" he spat the last word at the other Phillips. The students were disgusted by the saliva that was dripping from his mouth. Everyone knew that this was the real Phillips.

The impostor smirked and walked to the centre of the room.

"Is this an attempt to ruin my reputation?" Phillips scowled menacingly.

"Will you be quiet, you moronic weasel!" the other Phillips yelled, in a different voice. Phillips shut his mouth quickly and turned timid; it was like he was hit by a spell.

Then Dumbledore spoke, "If you're not Phillips, would you mind show your true self and kindly enough tell all of us here in this room, what purpose you have in this school?"

"Certainly sir," said the impostor as he stood still and everything was silent, no one moved and did anything. Their attention turned to only the man in the centre of the room. Nothing happened till the blonde hair of the impostor change to a raven haired and the body grew from thin as a stick, to lean and built. The face change form gaunt to a familiar and manly yet boyish face of…

"Harry!" Hermione squealed with delight.

"Morning everyone," he greeted with a small bow.