Chapter 6: Suspicions and Slytherins

"Did you hear?"

"A Slytherin!"

"It doesn't make sense…"

"I know!"

"Why would the heir attack one of his own house?"

"Maybe that was the heir and someone caught him!"

"But who?"

Whispers and rumors plagued the Great Hall at breakfast. The Slytherin table was particularly solemn. While the students had not been told anything about the victim officially, a fourth year Slytherin had been unaccounted for the previous night, and thus everyone assumed the worst. Albus absentmindedly poked at his eggs, staring up at the High Table. Headmaster Darcy appeared especially stern. Professor Bones kept glancing worriedly over at Professor Malfoy, whom Neville appeared to be trying to comfort. Malfoy was extremely pale, and she seemed to be refusing to eat any of the food Neville kept offering her.

The whole of the school suddenly silenced and turned to look at the doors to the Great Hall as they suddenly burst open. Five very serious looking wizards strode in, walking extremely quickly, their eyes flashing about the Great Hall as though searching for signs of danger.

"Bloody hell," Albus breathed. "That's my dad!" The head wizard was an older version of Albus, with the same messy black hair, but Harry Potter had a lightening-shaped scar on his forehead. "And Uncle Ron!" Albus added, seeing the redhead to his father's right.

"Why's your dad here?" Aries hissed at him from across the table.

"I don't know," Albus whispered back, making eye contact with Rose. His cousin shook her head in confusion. "He's an Auror. Maybe he's here to look into what happened."

The five wizards went up to Headmaster Darcy and spoke with him briefly before four of them strode solemnly out of the hall. Harry Potter remained behind, and took a position behind the High Table. His eyes momentarily caught Albus' who tried to silently ask what was going on, but his father merely nodded slightly in acknowledgment toward him before beginning to scan the room.

Headmaster Darcy stood. "Attention, please." He need not have wasted his breath. The entire hall was focused on him from the moment he had begun to stand. "Due to the recent death of Mr. Rupert Nott…" A sudden rush of whispers and murmurs interrupted him. "Aurors from the Ministry of Magic have been assigned to uncover the murderer. And I assure you all, the murderer will be found," he said, eyes dropping to the side, as though looking at someone to his left. Albus noticed Alea Malfoy staring determinedly at her plate as he did so. "While we are sure their presence will keep Hogwarts' students safe, I ask that no one travel alone, anywhere on the grounds. Please continue your meal." He sat back down.

The hall suddenly burst into chattering about Rupert Nott, with people interrogating anyone who even vaguely knew him. "That's terrible," Aries said. "Why would someone kill Rupert?"

"Did you know him?" Albus asked.

"Not personally, but I have seen him before. He seemed nice enough. Oddly quiet, but—." Aries paused as she looked up. "What…?"

Albus looked up as well. Professor Malfoy was walking to the doors to the Great Hall, and Harry Potter following close behind. Albus wasn't the only one who saw this. Nearly every eye in the Hall was watching her as she left with the Auror trailing behind.

Aries' mouth had dropped open in horror. "They can't actually think that our mum…" Scorpius nodded, his mouth also open.

Potions class was awkward to say the least. Albus' father closely followed Professor Malfoy around as she monitored the class' progress with the Anima Potion. She was having them make the potion again as a sort of test, to see if they can avoid some of the mistakes they had made the first time. Unfortunately, most of the class was watching her and the Auror shadowing her with interest instead of focusing on their potions.

Harry Potter did not acknowledge his son during the class. Albus understood this. His father would sometimes ignore friends and family during work. But usually he would at least give Albus and his siblings a smile or a nod. Of course, the situation was particularly serious, with there being a murderer on the loose inside Hogwarts. But Albus refused to even entertain the idea that his favorite teacher was responsible. As mysterious and strange as she was, Albus could not believe that Professor Malfoy would ever actually harm anyone, much less kill them.

The class was almost silent, most not daring to even say a word to their partners; instead, they were pointing and nodding to communicate. "All right, everybody should finish up," Professor Malfoy said after what felt like an eternity.

Albus and Scorpius' potion left much to be desired. Scorpius had been extremely nervous and kept getting the wrong ingredients. Albus usually caught him before he could do any serious damage, but their potion was still a dark green instead of teal.

Professor Malfoy wandered the room, Harry Potter in her wake, looking over the potions. She smiled at very few and gave even fewer house points. Even Rose and Erica, currently her favorite students, only received ten house points for their perfect potion. Unsurprisingly, Albus and Scorpius received none. Professor Malfoy did not comment on their potion all at—she hardly even glanced at their potion before moving on to the next table. As she looked at the potions on the next table, Harry Potter finally looked at his son. His green eyes were very concerned.

"If anyone cares to have a rerun of last week," Professor Malfoy said, taking a glass from the air. "You are all welcome to have a drink of Miss Weasley's and Miss Macmillan's potion."

A few students stood, but froze as the Harry Potter spoke. "Is it wise to have the children drinking that?"

"Of course. It's perfectly harmless," Professor Malfoy said without turning toward the Auror.

"Is it?" Harry Potter said, taking a step closer. "Two first year students just made it. Would you drink it?"

Professor Malfoy took a deep breath and turned around. "Yes."

"Well, then?"

Albus had never seen his father look like that before. He was glaring harshly at Professor Malfoy, daring her to drink the potion. Malfoy arched an eyebrow before she scooped a bit of the potion into the glass and drank it. Albus' father seemed to be waiting for something to happen to her. Professor Malfoy smiled and shrugged.

"Well?" Professor Malfoy looked questioningly at Harry. "Aren't you going to speak?" Malfoy was hesitant, and then she opened her mouth.

An eerie sound came from Malfoy's mouth. It was a snake, but she did not sound like Scorpius had. This hiss resonated from the walls of the dungeon room and seemed to come from further back in her throat.

Albus shivered. The potion suddenly didn't seem so fun after hearing the serpent from inside Malfoy. "Parseltongue?" Harry questioned.

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Professor Malfoy shook her head calmly. "No." The potion had worn off. "That was the potion." She shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a snake," she said, her eyes narrowing.

The door to the classroom burst open, and Ron Weasley strode in. His eyes fell momentarily on his daughter before he handed a book to Harry and pointed to the open page. Harry read it silently, with Professor Malfoy and the entire class looking on. Harry Potter closed the book.

"All right," he said quietly. "Get Neville, he doesn't have a class right now."

"He's already outside," Ron Weasley said, leaving the room.

Professor Malfoy studied Harry as he turned back to her. "I assume that Professor Longbottom can watch your students for the last fifteen minutes of class." Malfoy said nothing. "We need to talk to you about something rather urgent."

"You do, do you?" Malfoy said under her breath.

Neville Longbottom entered the room with Rose's father. He went to Professor Malfoy, who put a hand on his shoulder to lead him away from the Aurors. "I need you to collect the following potions from them and…" She had taken Neville a few paces away from the two Aurors as she dropped her voice and whispered, "What's happening?"

"Ron found something in that book and the Aurors have decided to interrogate you," Neville said quietly, but Albus' table was close enough to hear.

"Do you know what they found?" Professor Malfoy asked, glancing at the book in Harry Potter's hands.

Neville shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry."

"Professor Malfoy, if you will come with us," Harry Potter said. Malfoy took a step toward him in compliance, but Neville caught her arm.

"Whatever you do, Alea, don't lie," he whispered urgently. "About anything. They don't need much." Malfoy appeared to understand what he was talking about.

"There shouldn't be a reason to, Neville," Malfoy said quietly. Neville slid his hand down her arm to her hand, squeezing it while giving her an encouraging smile, which Malfoy feebly returned. She was led from the room between the two Aurors.

Professor Longbottom frowned and watched them leave. He looked around the room. "All right, um…do whatever you usually do for the last fifteen minutes of this class."

The class began cleaning their tables. All the Slytherins looked downcast, and, surprisingly, even the Gryffindors appeared nearly as solemn as the gravity of the situation struck.

Aries and Scorpius both did not eat anything at lunch, although Aries made a show of pushing food around her plate, pretending to have been eating. Albus kept looking up at the High Table to the empty chair next to Neville Longbottom. It remained empty for the entire meal, and four of the Aurors, including Albus' father and uncle, were also unaccounted for.

Albus became even more worried when the students returned to the Great Hall for dinner. Professor Malfoy was still gone. Rumors were beginning to spread again like wildfire, some about how Professor Malfoy had been arrested and taken to Azkaban, and others about how Malfoy had fought off the four Aurors and was on the run in the Scottish Highlands. Albus didn't want to believe either of these, but he had a hard time convincing the depressed Scorpius that his mother was not having her soul sucked out by dementors or hiding in a damp cave and eating rats to survive.

"I'm sure mum's fine, Scorpius," Aries said, attempting to consol her brother and herself. "She's probably just…"

"Dead. Or worse," Scorpius said, his face in his arms.

"That's positive thinking for you," Iris said. "I'm sure Professor Malfoy is all right. Wouldn't we be told if she was arrested? They would probably tell us that we wouldn't be having Potions anymore or something…"

Professor Darcy stood. Scorpius moaned.

"Impeccable timing," Iris muttered as Aries wrapped an arm around her brother, who was on the verge of tears.

"Attention students." Once again, there was no need for him to say this, for the students and the teachers were all giving him their undivided attention. "As many of you have noticed, Professor Malfoy is absent from this meal. Let me assure the members of her house that she is fine." The Slytherins were all less than reassured. "However, Professor Malfoy will not be teaching Potions for the next week or so, due to suspicions about her competency to teach."

This statement caused an immediate uproar. The Slytherins all stood as one and began yelling in protest, and they were not the only ones. Many students from other houses were standing as well, mostly from the Gryffindor table. The Gryffindors seemed divided—half of them stood, and the other half attempted to pull the others down. The High Table was much the same way. Some of them stood, most notably Neville and Hagrid, while others pulled them back down. Professor Clearwater knocked over her glass of pumpkin juice as she attempted to pull Professor Bones back to her seat. Albus suspected that this accusation received an even stronger reaction than if the Headmaster had announced that they believed Professor Malfoy was the murderer…then again, in a way, perhaps this was his way of relaying that message.

"Students, students, please…" Professor Darcy said. "SILENCE!" he shouted. The din quieted, but most of the students remained standing. "I am certain that our Potions Master will return to teaching in a few weeks after a precautionary leave of absence." The students began sitting down again, though most of the Slytherin table remained standing. "Now, please enjoy the rest of the feast."

"He expects us to enjoy the feast?" Aries said angrily, slamming her fork onto the table, which she had been holding when she had stood. "He is mental!"

"Everyone knows she's a great teacher," Iris said. "But if they're making something like this up, that means they probably don't have proof that Professor Malfoy did anything."

"But it also means they probably have evidence that she did," Aries said. By what seemed as fast as telepathy, this idea was passed all the way down the Slytherin table.

"Professor Malfoy has been teaching here for years, longer than Headmaster Darcy has been here, and she's popular," Iris said.

"Yeah, I know," said Aries glumly. "I don't see why they think they can get away with this. It's impossible to doubt that she's a great teacher."

Albus looked up at Professor Darcy. Albus thought he looked far too cheerful as he ate his roast chicken.