Author's Note: All Harry Potter based characters belong to J. K. Rowling. But I own all the original characters.

Chapter Five

Matching the Clues

Dumbledore looked at the list the trio had found. He frowned a little.

"Have you found any connections to these unfortunate victims?" he asked the trio.

"That's what we're trying to find," said Hermione.

"Can I have a look at that list for a moment?" Snape asked.

Dumbledore gave Snape the list.

"One thing is for certain," said Harry, "Everyone who died had a mirror very close to their bodies."

"Doesn't explain how those bodies wound up in Professor Snape's bathroom," said a Hufflepuff girl.

"Have you found anything about that?" asked Dumbledore to the trio.

"What I figured just occurred to be, I completely forgot about it until we started researching," Harry spoke; this was interesting, as it is normally Hermione who is like this. "I remember hearing that Mary is able to pull her victims inside the mirror, where they disappear for life. But I don't think this is the case here.

"Snape, did you see Mary at all on the night before you found the bodies?"

"I did, Potter, yes," said Snape, looking up from the list.

"How come she didn't try and harm you?" Harry asked.

"Because I spoke the words you're supposed to speak when you see her in your mirror. You say muggle children enjoy these thrill games, what they don't know is that they have to say Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary, leave my mirrored soul tonight twice," Snape explained.

"Is it possible that, even though you said the words to get rid of her, that she could have all ready placed the bodies on your ceiling and you didn't see them? You caught her leaving the scene?" Harry questioned Snape.

Snape went into quiet thought. He didn't think about that idea.

"It is possible," he said slowly.

He back at the list, then he seemed to have seen something.

"Granger, where is the list of the four victims?"

"Five now," said Hermione, pulling out the notes and gave the correct one to Snape. "I added Filch to the list."

"What did you find?" asked Malfoy.

Snape looked at the list again.

"Did you know Parkinson's middle name?" he asked Malfoy.

"It was Mariel," said Malfoy.

"Did anyone know Miss White's full name?"

"Ann Marie," said a Ravenclaw girl.

"What have you figured out, Severus?" asked McGonagall.

"Each of these victims had the name Mary in them," said Snape.

"But what about the victims who were male?" Hermione asked, her brows furrowing a little.

"Seamus's mother's name was Maureen," said Dumbledore. "Filch's mother was named Mariam."

"That explains the reason why they call it Bloody Mary," Ron muttered.

"But this is strange, the victims were all between ages eight and eighteen, that was until Filch was attacked," said Hermione.

"As I said, she's getting bolder," said Harry. "This Mary, whoever she is, getting more brutal by the looks of what happened to Filch."

"Is this the only list you found?" Snape asked.

"It is," said Hermione.

"Something tells me there were victims before this," said Snape.

Dumbledore was listening to all of this. "No need to try and find it," he said.

"Why?" asked Hermione.

"Because I have just figured out who Mary is," said Dumbledore with a quiet sigh. "Let's just say I was foolish to not take this seriously. First of all, yes, her name was Mary. Mary Worthington, she was a student at Hogwarts."

"The Slytherin girl?" McGonagall asked.

"You knew her?" asked Ron.

"She was a year below me," said McGonagall.

"Then you would remember who she hung around with," said Dumbledore.

McGonagall didn't speak any further.

"Who was this Mary Worthington?" asked Harry, curious to know.

Dumbledore sighed. "She was the lover of the one and only Tom Riddle."

Harry's eyes widened; "You're telling me that …"

Dumbledore nodded.

"But how did she, well …?" Ron wanted to ask, but seemed to be stuck in trying to say it.

But people knew what he was asking.

"She was found lying in a pool of blood in a bathroom. Next to her body was a note," said Dumbledore, reaching into his robes and pulled out a very old piece of parchment. He set it on the table. On the parchment were the words 'I am Bloody Mary, I will haunt you in your reflections, I will punish you forever … Tom Riddle.'

"If she's after Tom Riddle, why is she attacking students that aren't him?" asked Hermione.

"One thing all these victims have in common, besides their names, is that they're all half-blood," said Dumbledore. "Seamus had a muggle father."

"I take it your husband was a muggle," Snape said to McGonagall.

"He was," said McGonagall, nodding.

"But Filch is a squib," said a Ravenclaw.

"Was a squib," Fred corrected the boy.

"I take it that Mary wasn't a fan of half-bloods," said Harry, oh so much better about this whole connection.

"Parkinson was a half-blood!" Malfoy cried out in shock.

"You didn't know?" Ron responded. "Not surprised though."

"What's that supposed to mean, Weasley?" Malfoy spat.

"It's obvious, you and your love of being nothing but pure in blood," said Ron.

"Hang on," said Harry. "You're saying half-blood? Tom Riddle was half-blood, or is, now that he's back … just under a different name."

"The Dark Lord is half-blood?" Malfoy was even more stunned.

"I found out in the second year," said Harry. "Doesn't matter how, but is it possible that she found out about Tom Riddle and tried to get rid of him?"

"It is very likely," said Dumbledore. "Mary was into finding someone who was very pure in blood. It is possible she found out about Tom Riddle, only I think Tom was rather violent when she tried to break off their relationship.

"There are many stories to how she died, but I believe now that she is now able to roam freely, without being summoned."

"But what about the muggle kids who dare to call for her?" Hermione asked.

"Mary seems to be more concentrating on the school," said Dumbledore. "This Mary is anyway."

"Great, I'm not going to be able to get any sleep now that she's walking around," said Ron.

"Stay in groups," said Dumbledore. "I believe us staff members should do the same."

No-one objected to this at all.

"How can we get rid of Mary?" Hermione asked.

"That is yet to be found," said Dumbledore.

"That doesn't give much confidence," Ron muttered to his friends.

"We best try and find out how we can get rid of Mary," said George.

"I will inform Madam Pince that I have given you all permission to use the restricted section of the library. I think we all better try and find out how to rid Mary from these walls," said Dumbledore. "For the time being, I want everyone to stay in their common rooms. Though I would ask the Hufflepuff to move into the Ravenclaw common room, just to be on the safer side."

There were no objections what's so ever. Everyone left to go to their common rooms.