Hi everybody! This chapter is a little more lighthearted, so I hope you enjoy!
(Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.)
Chapter 14:
Not-Living Proof
"He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years."
"Professor McGonagall!" a voice cried from the hallway.
McGonagall sighed.
"Alright, who's out there?" she yelled back. "Because whoever you are, I'm tempted to take sixty points from your House. You're the sixth person to be out at night, and I'm sick of -"
She turned around to see Molly, standing meekly in the doorway.
"And what are you doing here?" McGonagall said. "I told you to head straight to your tower - do you want me to give you two detentions?"
"No, ma'am," Molly said. "But there's something I need to show you."
"And what on earth could that be?"
"Proof that Jonah's innocent," Molly replied. McGonagall almost sighed in relief - it wasn't another problem to tack onto the growing list that was forming that night.
"Molly, I told you what happened. Jonah killed Madison and Opa. End of story."
She went to sit back down at her desk, but Molly continued to press.
"That part I'm not arguing with," she said. "The part that I'm denying is that he did it of his own accord - and I have living, breathing proof that I'm right - well, not living and breathing, but as close as you can be."
"What do you mean?" McGonagall asked. "There's nobody that we know of who witnessed her death -"
"Oh, but there is," Molly said. She turned to something outside the door.
"Come on out," she said.
"I'm coming, I'm coming…" another female voice said. "Just let me fix my hair."
Molly laughed. "It doesn't matter! Just come out!"
"Fine," the voice said. A second later, the girl appeared in the doorway.
McGonagall's eyes widened.
"As I live and breathe...it's...it's Madison!" she cried. "But how is that possible?"
Madison smiled. "I'm a ghost - obviously."
"Well...I guess...we must have an eyewitness account…"
"My point exactly," Molly replied. "Madison, did Jonah kill you of his own accord?"
Madison shook her head firmly. "Quirrell cast the Imperius Curse on Jonah, forcing him to kill me and Opa."
McGonagall looked even more flustered.
"Wait...Quirrell? Why would he cast an Unforgivable?"
"He's partnered with Voldemort," Madison responded. "He tried to defeat Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest but failed, deciding to ally with him. Voldemort is currently on the back of Quirrell's head, trying to find the Sorcerer's Stone -"
"Philosopher's," Molly said, remembering her conversation with Hermione a few months back.
"Right," Madison said. "He's trying to find the Philosopher's Stone, create the Elixir of Life, drink it, and gain his own immortal body."
"And how do you know all this?" McGonagall asked.
"I saw it in -"
"In a mirror," Molly finished. (She didn't want McGonagall to find out that they were from the future.) "She saw Quirrell with his turban off, talking with Voldemort about finding the Stone."
Madison's eyes widened; without Molly realizing, she had just figured out exactly what Madison was doing when she was killed.
"And...then he saw you?"
"Exactly," Madison replied. "Jonah was there, too - and he took advantage."
"But what about solid, factual proof?" McGonagall said. "You're a ghost - I can't make sure your story is real - ghosts can't drink Veritaserum."
"What's that?" Molly asked.
"Not important," Madison replied. "The point is, there is solid, factual proof - I had Stella's camera on me when I saw Quirrell and Voldemort, and just before they saw me, I took a picture of them. If we can find that camera, we have proof!"
And all of a sudden, something clicked in Molly's mind.
"Was it...was it small, and black...about this big?" she asked, holding her hands up in about the size of a camera.
Madison nodded.
Molly's eyes widened. "I know who has the camera!"
"Who?" McGonagall asked.
"Jonah!" Molly said. "I found the camera in Quirrell's room, next to your body - and I gave it to him just before break ended. I think he still has it!"
"Then let's go ask him!" Madison said. She and Molly turned to leave, but McGonagall quickly swooped in and blocked their way.
"Now, I understand your motives, but it's the middle of the night," McGonagall said. "We can't have another student up at night."
Molly sighed. "Yes, Professor," she said, beginning to walk back to her room. Suddenly, she had an idea.
"Professor?" Molly asked.
"Yes, Miss Evans?" McGonagall said.
"Can I help with Jonah's questioning tomorrow?" she asked.
McGonagall smiled. "Why, certainly," she said. "I'll wait for you to arrive."
Molly smiled back. "That sounds wonderful."
She turned and left for her dorm.
Molly woke up fairly early the next morning, yawning profusely. She knew there was something important that day, but she couldn't remember what.
Then her conversation with Madison and Professor McGonagall came flooding back.
Almost immediately, Molly jumped out of her bed, got dressed in her uniform, and brushed her hair. Mackenzie, in the bed beside Molly's, finally started to wake up, just before Molly left the room.
"What...are you...doing?" Mackenzie yawned.
"No time to talk!" Molly said, sprinting around the room. "Got a bit of a day today!"
"Please don't sing that song from Frozen," Mackenzie said.
"I won't!" Molly called as she ran out of the room and down the spiral staircase. She flung the Fat Lady's portrait open and bounded toward the dungeons, nearly knocking over Beatrix and Ava, who were going to the library.
Finally, Molly arrived at the Slytherin dorms, McGonagall waiting outside with Madison.
"What took you so long?" Madison joked.
"The fact that alarm clocks don't work here," Molly responded. "I'm still amazed you were able to get a picture with that camera."
"It worked for Colin Creevey," Madison said.
"I'm sorry...who?" Molly asked.
"Never mind," Madison said. "Now let's get interrogating!"
"Do you know the password, Professor?" Molly asked.
McGonagall nodded. "Callidus!" she cried.
Instantly, the door opened.
"Come on in," she said, and Molly stepped into the room. Madison floated in after her.
"Jonah!" Molly cried. "I need to talk to you…"
"Coming!" Jonah's voice said, from the direction of the boys' dormitories. After a few seconds, he burst out of the dorms, his hair windblown.
"Hey, Madison," he said, gesturing to the ghost floating next to Molly. "So, what'd I miss - wait, MADISON?"
"I think you just answered your own question," Molly said. "We need the camera."
"Oh, so Madison's back, with an eyewitness story, but you need MY camera?" he said.
"Ghosts can't drink...uh, Variasarum or something like that. The point is, we need physical proof," Molly said.
"Be right back," Jonah said grudgingly. "And by the way, it's Ver-i-ta-ser-um."
He rushed back to the dorms. A few minutes later, he came back with a small black box in his hand - the camera, Molly thought.
"Happy now?" he said, handing Molly the camera.
"We'll see," Molly said, turning on the camera. "Now where's the review button?"
"Right there," Madison said, her silvery-blue finger pointing towards a silver, square-shaped button. Molly clicked it - and almost instantaneously, a picture of Quirrell and Voldemort appeared on the screen.
"There you have it," Molly said, handing the camera to McGonagall. "Indisputable proof."
McGonagall took the camera and looked at the picture. It didn't seem to be a hoax...and if Dumbledore's theory about Voldemort was true…
"Jonah Mullins," McGonagall said. "I officially declare you to be innocent of the crime of murdering Madison. You are no longer on probation."
Jonah gasped. "Really?" he said.
McGonagall nodded. "I was wrong to misjudge you - and I can't imagine how much agony it's been for you to be shunned by such a large portion of the student population. I'm sorry."
Jonah smirked - his version of saying "Thank you."
"Not a problem," he said. "I kinda liked being alone."
Molly rolled her eyes. "No, you didn't," she said.
He shrugged. "True," he admitted. "But that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is making sure the school population knows that I'm innocent."
"But don't tell them about Quirrell," Madison said. "That'll just make Voldemort angrier - and besides, I have a feeling Quirrell'll be gone before any of us know it."
"Are you sure about that?" McGonagall asked. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is very dangerous, and if he stays in the school any longer -"
"He'll be struck down by fate," Madison said. "We got this."
McGonagall sighed. "Alright," she said. "We got this."
She turned to Molly.
"Unfortunately, I must keep the points taken from Gryffindor House - as truthful as you were, you were up after hours, and I can't make excuses for any student."
"Yes, ma'am," Molly said. She'd had a feeling that this was coming.
"But," McGonagall continued, "in honor of your tenacity in proving that Jonah was innocent and your courage in helping to expose the person - or, should I say, people - responsible, I will take away your detention."
Molly's eyes lit up.
"Really?" she asked.
McGonagall smiled and nodded.
"Thank you so much!" Molly said, hugging McGonagall and running out of the Slytherin common room. "Come on, you guys! We need to tell Professor Dumbledore!"
Jonah, Madison, and Professor McGonagall followed behind her.
They stopped at a large statue of a gargoyle.
"What's this?" Molly asked.
"The entrance to Dumbledore's office," Jonah said. "McGonagall, the password…"
"Chocolate frogs!" McGonagall cried, and the gargoyle leapt to the side, revealing a circular staircase.
"Whoa," Molly said.
"Come on!" Madison said, floating up the stairs. As quickly as she could, Molly followed.
"Professor Dumbledore!" she cried. "I have to speak...with you…"
Her voice trailed off as she opened the door at the top of the stairs, and the majesty of Dumbledore's office opened itself up to her. The room was entirely circular, with silver, eccentric-looking devices all around the room. One blew a puff of white mist directly into her face, and for a second, Molly couldn't see anything but the mist surrounding her. Then it disappeared, giving Molly a chance to look at the portraits around the room. None of them looked familiar - well, except for one, which had the stern eyes of Draco Malfoy - but it was, without a doubt, not the boy himself, but an ancestor. On a large, wooden desk facing Molly, an old, brown hat lay - the Sorting Hat, Molly thought. Just above the desk was a balcony, with a large window that reminded Molly of the observatory where Astronomy class was held. A large, golden telescope was pointing outside - and, with one eye up to the small end of the telescope, was Professor Dumbledore, his hair matching the color of his robes.
He turned. "Hello, Miss Evans," he said. "Mr. Mullins, Ms. McGonagall - it's a pleasure to see all of you."
His eyes focused on Madison.
"And is this what you came for?" he said, beginning to walk down a set of stairs. "Well, Madison Clark - it's a pleasure to see you again."
"Hello, Professor," Madison said respectfully. "How are you?"
"Very well, thank you," Dumbledore replied. "People don't often ask me that anymore. And I am doing even better now that I see that you're here!"
Madison smiled.
"Thank you, Professor," she said. "We have something that we need to tell you."
"And what might that be?" Dumbledore said.
"Jonah's innocent," Madison said. "And we have proof."
Molly held up the camera, which Dumbledore took.
"Very interesting," he said. Molly carefully turned it on for him and pressed the review button. Instantly, the picture of Quirrell and Voldemort appeared on the screen.
"Quirrell cast the Imperius Curse on Jonah and forced him to kill Opa and me," Madison said. "Opa's in the girls' bathroom right now - she thought it would be best for her to stay behind."
"I see," Dumbledore said. "So it's Quirrell's fault, then?"
Madison nodded. "But you can't tell anyone - it'll only make Voldemort madder and more bloodthirsty."
McGonagall cringed when she heard Voldemort's name, but before she could say anything about it, Dumbledore put up a hand.
"Minerva," he said. "Remember our conversation ten years ago."
McGonagall closed her mouth and took a step back.
"The point is," Jonah said, "I'm innocent - I never killed Madison, and this is proof. Now we need to let the school know that."
Dumbledore nodded. "How about at lunch today?" he said.
"Sounds good," Molly said. "Can I make the speech?"
Dumbledore smiled. "Of course you can," he said.
Molly smiled back.
"Now come on!" she said, heading towards the staircase. "We've got a speech to make!"
She ran down the staircase. A few seconds later, she came back up.
"I've always wanted to do this," she said, sitting on the railing and sliding down the rest of the way.
"Finally, they're opening up the gates!" she sang as she slid down.
Thanks for reading! Here's the behind-the-magic fun facts for this chapter.
1) The camera finally paid off! I knew that the picture would be important in some way, and I actually wasn't sure what it was going to be for until I got to this chapter.
2) Mackenzie's inspiration isn't the biggest Frozen fan in the world, so I thought it would be funny to give her that line. And I've actually never slid down a railing, but if I could, I'd totally be singing "For the First Time in Forever." (Speaking of which, have any of you seen Olaf's Frozen Adventure? I've seen it three times - twice with Coco and once on ABC - and I can't get the songs out of my head.)
3) Yes, the Draco Malfoy-looking painting is Phineas Nigellus Black. I thought it would be cool to have Molly see him a little prematurely compared to Harry.
4) Dumbledore's theory, just in case it's hard to figure it out (that's totally my fault, by the way), is that Voldemort didn't completely die when Harry "killed" him.
5) Because the timeline must be kept as intact as possible, Molly's fifty points lost will be the substitute for Neville's. One of the cool things for me was changing the series ever so slightly without altering the timeline to the point where we get into Act III of Cursed Child levels of crazy. (Yes, I like Cursed Child. Sue me. Stella's inspiration doesn't, so you'll get some snarkiness about it later on.)
Feel free to review, but please no negative reviews or cursing. (And please, NOTHING POLITICAL!) Thanks!