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Chapter Nine: In which Minerva makes an interesting discovery
- March 4, 1945 –
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After classes that day, Minerva, Arabella, Alastor, and Tom went down to the library together do some research for the project that had just been assigned to them in Defense Against the Dark Arts. The seventh-years were nearing the end of their dark wizards unit, and the project was to write a report on a dark wizard of their choice. The four of them were excited about this project, but only one had decided which wizard to write about: Minerva. It became obvious to her within seconds after receiving the assignment. The other four were not yet sure on theirs.
"This is kind of exciting," Arabella commented as they went into the library. "I think I'm going to like this project."
"It's very exciting," Tom said. "Do you think anyone will do the same one?"
"Have you three decided on who you're going to do yet?" Minerva asked.
"I've been leaning toward Majken Locke," said Arabella. "Longest reign of terror, defeated by Merlin… need I go on?"
"Either Xiang Sae-Yin or Alden Kaluza," Alastor said. "Both of them are fascinating. Tom?"
Tom thought for a moment, then answered. "Indira Nay." All of them except Minerva laughed, and then he said, "No, I'm joking; I think I'll go with Jakaate Lynch. What about you, Min?"
"Erich Rainier," Minerva replied without any hesitation.
"Erich Rainier… Grindelwald?" Arabella asked.
Minerva nodded. "Grindelwald."
"But… won't that be hard?" said Arabella. "Most of the stuff about Grindelwald is just speculation."
"Ari, this is Minerva we're talking about," said Tom. "She won't even try something unless the odds are next to impossible."
Minerva smiled and said, "Yes, I know it'll be hard, but I think it'll be worth it. Has Professor Nay ever mentioned Grindelwald to Slytherin and Ravenclaw? She hasn't to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."
"Never," Alastor said, shaking his head. "Harry Landis, you know, from Ravenclaw, asked about Grindelwald once, and she completely ignored him."
"Maybe it's personal," Arabella suggested. "Do you think she knew someone that was killed by Grindelwald?"
"Well, Dumbledore's sister was killed by Grindelwald, and he's nothing like Nay," Minerva said. "Unless it was her whole family or something – which I doubt, because the only time Grindelwald killed an entire family was in the case of the Rahminis and there were no survivors – I don't see why she wouldn't have put it behind her by now."
"Just forget about her," Tom said. "She's got issues. She's not all right in the head. And she's not worth our time."
They set their book bags down on a table and agreed to meet back there in a few minutes, after they had all found some material to take notes on. Minerva was the first one back; she knew beforehand that most of her information would come from newspaper articles, so she was back at the table with a book containing all the issues of the Daily Prophet from the year 1929. The last to get back was Alastor, who was carrying four books about Alden Kaluza and grumbling about how all the interesting things about Xiang Sae-Yin were written in Chinese.
"Well, Xiang Sae-Yin was a Chinese wizard, Alastor," Minerva pointed out as she flipped through the Daily Prophet anthology, searching for something about Grindelwald. "What did you expect?"
"A translation," Alastor replied, sitting down next to Arabella and across from Tom.
"So, Ari, you decided on Majken Locke for sure?" Minerva asked, glancing up at the girl across from her.
Arabella nodded. "Uh-huh. I'm glad I did, too. She's fascinating. She discovered the Cruciatus Curse! I didn't know that."
"Jakaate Lynch invented A.K." said Tom.
Minerva frowned. She found it somewhat disturbing that Tom could speak of the Killing Curse so casually.
"Alden Kaluza took over most of South America," Alastor commented, opening the book on top of his pile.
Alastor, Tom, and Arabella all looked at Minerva.
It took Minerva a few seconds to realize they expected her to say something about Grindelwald. "Oh!" she said. "Well, Grindelwald was the Minister of Magic." She turned a page in the anthology, and her eyes widened. "Oh, this looks promising: St Mungo's healer murdered. Woman's death suspected to be work of dark wizard."
"Let us know," Arabella said, and they all went back to reading.
A few second later, Minerva gasped. "It can't be…"
"What?" the other three asked in unison, leaning in toward her.
She blinked several times, then looked up at her friends. "I think I've just figured out why Professor Nay hates Grindelwald so much."
"Why?" Tom asked.
"Look at this," Minerva said, turning the large book toward him. "Catherine Nay, found murdered in her home September seventh, 1929. Believed to be the work of Grindelwald."
"I don't see what you're getting at, Minerva," Alastor said. "Catherine Nay is probably a pretty common name."
"Yes," Minerva said, pointing to the end of the article, "but Indira is not."
"So that's it," Tom said. "Grindelwald killed her mother." He looked at the black and white photograph of Catherine Nay above the article. "You know, she doesn't look a thing like Professor Nay."
"You're right; she doesn't," Alastor said, studying the photograph. The shading indicated that Catherine Nay's hair was blonde, her skin was pale, and her eyes were a lighter color, probably blue. She looked nothing like the dark-complexioned, exotic Indira Nay.
"Must take after her father," Arabella suggested.
"That must be it," Minerva concluded. "Still, though, you'd think there'd be some resemblance…"
"Read it out loud," said Tom.
"All right." Minerva cleared her throat and began to read.
ST. MUNGO'S HEALER MURDEREDWoman's Death Suspected to be Work of Dark Wizard
Yesterday, September 7th, the body of Catherine Nay, 42, a well-known St. Mungo's Healer, was found in her home outside of Cambridge. The body was found by Nay's husband, Michael, 40, when he came home from after receiving an owl from St. Mungo's saying that she had not shown up or made contact with them. Michael Nay, an executive at Gringotts Bank, said, "It's not like Catherine to miss work, and she was perfectly healthy when I left. I knew something was wrong the minute I received the owl from St. Mungo's, and Apparated home at once."
What Nay found when he arrived at his home was what remained of his wife's body. According to authorities, Catherine's mutilated, decapitated torso was lying on the floor of the living area. Her head, limbs, and internal organs were scattered throughout the house. "This is clearly the work of an experienced killer," said Alexander Ross, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, "and we believe we know which experienced killer it is: the dark wizard Grindelwald."
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Prophet, Ross explained the reasoning behind this statement. "Serial killers have patterns," said Ross. "When Grindelwald really wants someone dead, like he did in this case, he makes his killings as brutal as possible. Catherine Nay was not just murdered; she was butchered."
Ross also said that this was the second most brutal murder by Grindelwald he'd seen, the first being the slaughter of the Rahmini family four years ago. There is believed to be no connection between the murders. Further investigation will verify whether that is true or not.
Another question Ross and his department are asking themselves is what made Catherine Nay so special to the dark wizard. "Grindelwald doesn't perform violent killings like this randomly," said a spokesperson for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. "He was targeting her. Something about her made him go out of his way and just slaughter her."
Why Catherine Nay? Her husband claims he cannot think of anything that would make her a target, as do close friends of the family. "Grindelwald wanted to kill this woman so bad that he murdered her in her own home, fully aware that there could easily be witnesses," said Ross. "Anton Rahmini exposed Grindelwald, and Grindelwald killed his family. What did Catherine Nay do? Did Grindelwald find her before she could use anything against him? We may never know."
St. Mungo's announced this morning that they plan to erect a memorial fountain in honor of Nay. The current locations of Michael Nay and the couple's daughter, Indira, 11, are to remain undisclosed. For more information on the case, see Page 5.
Minerva finished the article and looked at the others. "Well?"
They were too shocked to speak.
"Why didn't you tell me Grindelwald killed Catherine Nay?" Minerva asked Dumbledore later that night. She had stopped by to say good night an hour earlier. They got to talking and didn't stop; finally, though, she pointed out that she should be on her way, but she wasn't going to leave until she'd asked this question. "Did you know?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, I did know; I didn't think it was my place to tell you, though. You believe that is why Professor Nay hates Grindelwald so much?"
"Yes, but I don't know if that's why she's… like she is," she said. "I mean, forgive me, but Grindelwald killed your sister, and you're… coherent."
"Yes, I know, but Nay's always been like that," he said. "She was at Hogwarts for a week before her mother was killed, and there was almost no change in her personality; she was more depressed than usual for several months, of course, but other than that… I've stopped wondering about her, and you should, too."
Minerva sighed and nodded. "You're probably right. It's just… I get the feeling that there's more to her than what we think. A lot more."
A small smile crossed Dumbledore's lips. "Then you should be talking to the headmaster. He's really the only one she gets along with. I don't know how much he knows about her, but at least they're on speaking terms."
"You're joking, right?" she asked. "I mean, how would I do that? 'Excuse me, Professor Dippet, but I was just wondering… could you please tell me why Professor Nay hates the world?' I could never do that."
Dumbledore thought for a moment, then said, "You couldn't… but I could…"
"Armando? Can I ask you a question?"
Dippet looked up from his paperwork at the man standing in front of his desk. "You can ask," he told the deputy headmaster.
"It concerns… Indira," Dumbledore said.
Dippet stared at Dumbledore for a few moments, blinked, then said, "What about her?"
"You care about her, don't you?"
"In what context?"
"You know what happened to her," Dumbledore said. "She doesn't know you know. You're not helping anyone by keeping it secret, especially her. The rest of the faculty members are concerned, too, but we can't help her if we don't know what it is."
"Nothing personal, Albus, but I don't think anyone can help her, anyway," Dippet replied. "You're right, I do know what happened to her, but that doesn't mean anything. If it was revealed that I knew, all it could do is hurt her."
"You don't know that," Dumbledore said, placing his hand on Dippet's desk and leaning forward.
"Why are you so interested?"
"I'm not trying to steal her from you, if that's what you're getting at."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Dippet said, although he knew exactly what Dumbledore meant.
"Never mind," said Dumbledore. "I'm interested because I don't like the idea of having a complete stranger as my colleague." That was true; he was pressing Dippet for questions not just for Minerva, but for himself, too. He'd always wondered about Indira and what could have possibly happened to make her the way she was.
Dippet sighed, stood up, walked over to Dumbledore, and looked him in the eyes. Dumbledore was the taller of the two, but not by much. "I'm not going to lie to you, Albus," Dippet said. "I know you are a much more powerful wizard than I am. I know you are perfectly capable of entering my mind and finding out for yourself, but I also know that you are too noble to resort to such actions. I know that you could have been headmaster if you applied for the job, but you didn't, so I did, and now I'm here. If you will not heed my word as a friend respecting the wishes of another friend, then you will as a teacher accepting an order from the headmaster. They are Indira's secrets, not mine. I did not choose to discover them; they were revealed to me. What I will tell you, though, is that she has been through an ordeal of unspeakable horror."
The two men stared each other down for a few more seconds, and then Dumbledore spoke. "All right," he said. "You won't tell me. I understand. But do you know who you should tell? Indira."
Dumbledore didn't wait for Dippet to reply. He excused himself and left the headmaster's office. Dippet watched him go, then let out a long sigh. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Dumbledore was right. He wasn't helping anyone by doing this. It was time for the truth to come out. For the last twenty years, he thought he'd been helping Indira by keeping her past a secret, and it did nothing for her. There was only one way to find out if he could help her now.