Chapter 9: Owl Post
Albus blinked. He had been hoping to find a clue that would help him solve this mystery and clear his Head of House of the crimes. But what Moaning Myrtle had just said shook his faith in Professor Malfoy. Basilisks were deadly creatures associated with the Dark Arts. If the Aurors spoke to Myrtle, and if she told them this, Alea Malfoy would surely be sent straight to a high security cell in Azkaban.
"You're lying!" Aries shouted, her voice echoing throughout the bathroom. Myrtle giggled.
"You don't know your own mother's past? Dark it is…" she said with a grin.
Aries was shaking as she shook her head in disbelief. "What…what else is there?" But Myrtle had already dived back into one of the toilets, giggling madly. "She…she had to be lying." Albus quickly came up behind Aries as she swayed slightly on the spot and he was afraid that she would faint. "Mum?" she breathed.
"Come on, Aries," Albus said, finding his throat extremely dry. "Let's head back to the Great Hall." He tried to pull Aries along, but she remained firmly glued to the ground.
"Are you sure you saw them come from this corridor, Headmaster?"
Albus and Aries exchanged a panicked look when they heard Professor Clearwater's voice echoing from the corridor. Albus grabbed Aries' hand and the two dived into one of the stalls, closing and locking the door. They pressed themselves against the back, one on each side of the toilet, as they heard people enter the bathroom.
"Why would Alea come in here?" Professor Clearwater asked.
"Simple, Penelope—the Chamber of Secrets." Albus glanced at Aries as Professor Darcy spoke. "Harry Potter should have a look around. After all, he once entered the Chamber himself."
"I can't believe that Neville would be involved, Headmaster," Clearwater said. "We know they were up here together. But Neville isn't one to get caught up in Dark magic."
"I may need to have a talk with Professor Longbottom…" Headmaster Darcy said quietly. "Isn't there a ghost that lives in here?" he asked suddenly.
Moaning Myrtle popped out of the toilet in between Albus and Aries. Before she could say anything, Albus shook his head and mouthed, "Say nothing."
Myrtle nodded and exited the stall just as Professor Clearwater was saying, "Yes, there is. They call her Moaning Myrtle."
"Looking for me? I'm Moaning Myrtle!" Albus winced slightly. When upset, or even just feigning upset, Myrtle's voice was quite harsh.
"We were wondering if you would be willing to answer some questions about Alea Malfoy," Darcy said.
"And if I'm not?"
Darcy gave a deep sigh. "Myrtle, we really need to know what she was doing up here."
"She wouldn't want me to say," Myrtle protested. "After all, she's not the first to come in here to cry."
"To cry?" Clearwater exclaimed, sounding startled.
"Oops!" Myrtle said, giggling. "You didn't hear that from me." Myrtle reentered the stall and winked at Albus before diving into the toilet.
"Crying?" Darcy muttered.
"Doesn't sound too sinister," Clearwater commented. "It is possible that the Aurors are wrong. If I was being accused of being a murderer, I would probably cry, too."
After a brief silence, Headmaster Darcy suggested that they head back down to the Great Hall. Albus and Aries continued hiding silently in the small stall for a few minutes before Albus ventured a peek out of the crack between the door and the wall of the stall. The bathroom was empty.
"Come on," Albus said. "We should get back before we're missed."
The two entered the Great Hall a few minutes later. To Albus' relief, few people seemed to notice them, for the owl post was just arriving. Albus and Aries slipped into their unoccupied seats across from each other. Althea descended onto Albus' arm and nibbled his finger affectionately.
Albus took off the letter tied to the owl's leg, and Althea flew away. He unrolled the scroll and glanced at the bottom. It was from his parents, again. He had already received a few short letters from them, all of which mostly seemed to dance the fact that Albus had been sorted into Slytherin. He wasn't sure why this was—perhaps his parents thought it was a sensitive topic to him. To be honest, Albus had not been very good at telling his family about his new life. He had only scrawled one short return note at the beginning of one of his Potions lessons a while back. He felt a slight twinge of guilt as he began reading the letter.
Dear Albus,
Your mother and I enjoyed reading your last letter, as brief as it was. Lily was very excited to hear from you. We hope you are still doing well. Your Aunt and Uncle say that Rose has written them many letters saying that she is having a wonderful time, as are you. I'm glad that you are able to find time to spend with your cousin, even being in separate houses.
Albus frowned. This was getting closer to mentioning his house than ever before. His eyes narrowed slightly as he concentrated on the next paragraph.
I am glad that you seem to be enjoying your life at Hogwarts, and that you are making new friends there. I trust your classes are still going well. Rose has written much to her parents about a certain teacher—your Head of House, as a matter of fact. If I understand what your Uncle Ron tells me correctly, you are quite close to Professor Malfoy. Rose wasn't hesitant to inform her parents that she is, too. Apparently Professor Malfoy is very popular at the school.
While I'm glad you are enjoying your life in Slytherin House, I'm afraid this letter is more than a greeting. It is also a warning. Due to certain laws in our society, the Aurors were forced to release a dangerous criminal back to Hogwarts. Alea Malfoy is not to be trusted, Albus. There is more than enough evidence to convict her of murder, but she covers her tracks well. I won't go into the annoying and complicated politics of it all, but the end result was that we were forced to release Malfoy from Azkaban.
My point, Albus, is that she is dangerous, especially if she is sympathetic to Lord Voldemort, as she seems to be. And she is especially dangerous to you. One, because you are my son, and two, because you are in her house which gives her easy access to you.
At this point, Albus felt quite nauseous. Albus turned to the High Table. Neville was speaking animatedly to Alea Malfoy, who appeared much happier than she had been before. She was unrolling a paper, but she wasn't looking at it, for her eyes were trained on Neville's. She suddenly turned away from Neville and straight to Albus.
Albus turned away quickly, holding his letter much closer to his face than necessary. His cheeks became tinged with pink. When he glanced back toward her, she was nodding at whatever Neville was saying as she began skimming the Daily Prophet. Albus dropped his gaze back to the letter.
Those who study the Dark Arts are extremely dangerous, Albus. Please stay away from Malfoy as much as possible, and never allow yourself to be alone with her. Also, avoid eye contact. She may be able to, for lack of a better phrase, "read your mind." Be safe, my son.
We love you, Albus, and we look forward to hearing from you!
Love,
Mum and Dad
Albus continued to stare at the letter, though he had finished reading it. His faith in Professor Malfoy crumbled to dust. As much as he did not want to believe what he read, he could not believe that his father was lying or was wrong.
"Oh, no."
Albus across the table at Aries, who had spoken while reading the Prophet. "What's wrong?" he asked, though he was afraid to hear. He could not take much more serious news today…and breakfast wasn't even over yet.
"There's been another murder," Aries said quietly, suddenly drawing the attention of all those around her. Many Slytherins suddenly began tearing opening their own copies of the paper that they had set aside. "Like the others."
Scorpius leaned over and began reading the front page. "Rodolphus Lestrange," he read allowed. "The former Death Eater, recently released from Azkaban for aiding in the capture of the last of the free Death Eaters, was found in his home yesterday evening. His body was…" Scorpius trailed off as he and his sister both winced. "Ugh…how could they even identify it?" Albus did not ask for those particular details. "Word has It that the murderer left behind mark that bears resemblance to a fire, although this has been unconfirmed, along with the words, 'We are ready.' Suspects: The werewolf Fenrir Greyback, former supporter of You-Know-Who, and…oh, you must be joking!"
"Not your mother," Iris exclaimed incredulously, grabbing the Prophet from Aries.
"I don't believe this…" Aries moaned, putting her head in her hands. She glanced up at Albus, who could not find anything encouraging to say to comfort her. From everything he knew now, he was beginning to believe that Malfoy was a murderer. And he could tell that Aries was beginning to have her own doubts in her mother. "I can't believe…I won't believe that our mother is a killer," she said quietly.
Albus looked up at the High Table once again. Professor Longbottom was reading what appeared to be Professor's Malfoy's copy of the Daily Prophet, his face showing more and more horror as he read. Malfoy had her face in her hands. Professor Bones was reading over Neville's shoulder, also appearing horrified, a hand placed on Alea's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"If they take mum again…" Scorpius said under his breath.
Albus found himself gazing up towards the teacher's table again. Neville had his arm awkwardly around Malfoy. Headmaster Darcy's eyes were watching Malfoy very intently. Alea Malfoy raised her eyes to the Slytherin table, which she moved down the table until she reached where her children sat. She then looked at Albus, who diverted his eyes quickly as he remembered what his father had written.
"A werewolf…" Albus heard Theodore mutter as he read.
Something suddenly clicked. Albus grabbed the Prophet from his roommate quite rudely, but he ignored Theodore's protest as he looked at the pictures of the two suspects. Alea Malfoy's image was avoiding looking directly at him, and her hair was almost completely hiding one eye. But it wasn't Alea's picture that Albus was concerned with.
Fenrir Greyback was snarling at him, pointed teeth showing, even though he was not transformed. His hair was matted and gray, and his piercing eyes seemed to bore into Albus'. But all this mattered little to Albus as he continued to stare at the photograph. Images began collecting and become clearer and clearer in his mind. He had seen the werewolf before, he was sure of it. His eyes widened.
Halloween…the dream…the howling…it wasn't just a Gryffindor after all…and it was not a dream.
