Author's Notes: Hey guys! Here is another chapter of Crucible and I must apologize a little that it took a while (not as long as my other fics). I was just trying to find a beta reader and unfortunately for me, there was none I could find. It is through this reason that I wish ask someone from you, dear readers, could beta read this fic. I need assistance in probably spelling or grammar but more importantly is on the artistic aspect of the story. Some one to suggest what are possible plot holes, portrayal of the characters, dialogues and the likes. That is I would request kind readers and thank you for taking the time to read this part of the story. Please enjoy this introductory chapter of the Hogwarts arc and if possible, review if you can.
6 years of Harry Potter's stay in Hogwarts, there was not a single year that he is not involved to all the troubles that occurred. The 7th year, though he only stayed for a little while, brought the most damages. It seems that fate is not cutting him some slack as another trouble happened though there is a difference. His closest friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, would not be joining him to tackle this case. Instead, the one joining him today would be Daphne Greengrass. A woman that is a complete stranger to Harry.
"Why is it that trouble happens in Hogwarts whenever I go there?" Harry asked himself.
He is now currently in the little village of Hogsmeade. As a matter of fact, he is currently inside the Three Broomsticks, the most famous pub around the place. He is just sitting on a chair owned by the establishment; waiting for someone from Hogwarts to pick them up.
"He's here." Daphne said as she stood up from her chair while looking at the main door of the inn. A familiar large, shaggy haired, bearded man entered the establishment.
"'Arry!" Hagrid said loudly or bellowed according to some people inside the pub.
"Hagrid! It's so nice to meet you." Harry said as Hagrid hugged him.
"So, yeh an Auror now, eh 'Arry. C'mon! we best get going." Hagrid said as Harry and Daphne followed him outside of the pub.
Outside, a Thestral-drawn carriage is waiting for them. Hagrid took the coach seat while Harry and Daphne took the passenger seat. "'E'yah!" Hagrid shouted as the carriage started moving towards Hogwarts.
"Mister Hagrid. I am Auror Greengrass of the Homicide and Serious Crime Division. Would you mind if I ask a few questions." Daphne asked Hagrid
"What about?" Hagrid asked back as he turned his head towards his passengers.
"The homicide. The office said that a student died, is this true?" she asked further while taking out her notepad and quick-quote quill.
"Oh yes. Bad deed this murderin' was." the half-giant said
"Hagrid, what made you so sure it was a murder?" Harry asked
"Well, Madam Pomfrey said it was. You know me 'Arry. I know nuthin' about healin' stuff but Madam Pomfrey knows them best." Hagrid answered
"I take it that she already did preliminary examination of the deceased." Daphne said as Hagrid looked at her with confusion.
"Preliminary what now?" Hagrid asked
"She just means that Madam Pomfrey already did some studies at the dearly departed student." Harry clarified to his dear friend to which he just nodded.
"Mister Hagrid, how well do you know the deceased." Daphne asked again as the carriage is getting closer to the castle.
"Not much ma'am. He used to take my classes but after his fifth year, no more. What I can tell you is that he is a Slytherin. A quiet bunch, those ones are now but I s'pose it was better than what they were when ye'r still there 'Arry." Hagrid explained and then looked at Harry "How is 'Ermione and Ron these days 'Arry? Last I heard from them was last week and that's from their letters." the half-giant asked Harry.
"They are fine. In fact, we are all Aurors now. Me and Hermione just graduated from Auror Training and Ron took Shackebolt's offer of becoming an Auror without the training. Last I heard, Ron was in organized crime and Hermione was in the ESC." Harry told his friend
"The what?!" Hagrid replied loudly
"It is a division that mainly employs very studious people, professor." Daphne answered for Harry's sake.
"Well, 'Ermione is a very bright girl so that job suits her just fine. Please ma'am, don't call me professor or mister. Just call me Hagrid." the half-giant requested
"Will do but please don't call me ma'am. Makes me feel old. Just call me Ms. Greengrass or anything like that." Daphne said
"If you say so." Hagrid said with a smile
"Welcome back to Hogwarts Mr. Potter. It is a pleasure to have you here." the headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, said to Harry as she shook his hands.
"Likewise, Headmistress." Harry replied as McGonagall looked at Daphne.
"Forgive my manners. I am Minerva McGonagall, headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and you would be?" McGonagall said towards her
"Daphne Greengrass of the Auror Office: Homicide and Serious Crime Division. It seems you are already acquainted with my partner." Daphne said while showing to the headmistress her badge.
"Daphne Greengrass...Oh my! I honestly did not expected you to become an auror." McGonagall said as Daphne raised her hand after putting her badge back to her pocket.
"It is quite alright. Most of my former colleagues and acquaintances would never expect it either. If you may, who was the victim?" she replied
"Oh yes, his name would be Benedict Rockwell. A 7th year and was part of the Slytherin House. He was the Head Boy for this year and an excellent student. It is such a tragedy that he has to die when he has such a great future ahead of him." the Headmistress said as she walked while both Harry and Daphne followed.
"Ben!? I knew that kid. So he became the Head Boy? Never expected that. He is a shy one the last time I met him." Daphne said as they continued to walk
"You knew the victim?" Harry asked her
"Every Slytherin knew each other. Especially when the other houses treats us like were villains. If you are from the rich ones, we would be acquainted before even stepping on this institution. We always had each others' backs. However, we are not close. Like I said, he is a shy one." Daphne answered
"I agree with your statement Ms. Greengrass. The treatment against the Slytherin House just became worse after the second war. It is quite a headache. The cases of slander, harassment and bullying is extremely problematic but I never expected MURDER to be added to it." McGonagall exclaimed as they are now nearing the Hospital Wing.
The moment they entered the Hospital Wing. They saw the resident Healer of Hogwarts, Poppy Pomfrey, along with a man they do not recognize beside a long table were the body lay. The unidentified man wears stone grey robes over his button-up shirt with a matching color of trousers and chestnut coloured pair of suede winklepickers. A white linen blanket covered the victim's body, signifying that Benedict "Ben" Rockwell has indeed passed on.
"I presume this would be the victim." Daphne said as she approach the table.
"Yes." the man beside the table said.
"Ms. Pomfrey, what made you convinced that this was a murder?" Daphne questioned the Healer
"Well" Pomfrey said as she grabbed blanket and revealed the corpse." These bruises and wounds he got would suggest he was fighting someone or somebody before he was thrown out of the Astronomy Tower from the top. That already rules out suicide and lessen the chance of it to be a simple accident. Please don't mind that I at the very least returned his body to its original shape. I just can't have him here in his broken state. You know with all the blood and protruding bones" the healer explained as she used a nonverbal charm to make the bruises from the corpse light up in a orange-like hue.
"The estimated time of death would be around?" Daphne asked
" 11:30 to 12 noon." the healer answered as Daphne took a closer look at the body.
While studying the victim; she said "Cause of death would be skull, spinal and rib fractures causing excessive bleeding and multiple organ failure and also..." she said as she took a closer look at the victim's hands. "..he was thrown out of the tower physically." she finished
The last statement got the attention of the occupants of Hospital Wing. The man besides her said "What in the bloody hell makes you say that?"
"You would be?" Daphne asked back
"Nathaniel Westwick, Head of Slytherin House and Potion Master. Now answer my question" He said
"Alright, Mr. Westwick. Look at his fingernails. There are traces of skin and blood under the eponychium which would simply suggest that he managed to scratch the perpetrator's bare skin as he was probably grabbing anything he can hold unto to save his dear life." Daphne said as she raised the deceased's hands to her audience
"You are right and with a Polyjuice potion, we can identify who was the perpetrator." Harry said
"Then it would be a shame that we do not have a stock of Polyjuice Potion here." Nathaniel said to Harry.
"Harry, can you check the Astronomy Tower and find out if you can shed more light to this crime before we start accusing someone." Daphne said as Harry nodded. Daphne then turned towards Ms. McGonagall and said "Headmistress, can you please gather everyone in the Great Hall."
"What for?" McGongall asked her
"To inform them of what happen. We must not let the students speculate about what happened. The longer they speculate, the more ridiculous it gets and thus more problematic on your part madam. We should already satiate their curiosity to show that you are already taking care of the situation." Daphne replied as the Headmistress just nodded
"Alright, they will gathered there within an hour." McGonagall said as Madam Pomfrey took out a vial and began scraping of the skin and blood under the victim's fingernails and putting it inside the vial for evidence.
"I will gather my house at once headmistress." Nathaniel said towards the Headmistress to which she just nodded
"Thank you Nathaniel" she muttered
"Alright, it seemingly looks like nothing happened." Harry said as he just arrived at the top floor of the Astronomy tower, tallest structure in the castle. He looked over the railings and then said "That is a long way down."
Harry then drew out his wand and then said "Vestigium Revelio" as a uncountable amount of footprints suddenly revealed themselves by glowing in a reddish hue. "Okay, that was expected" commented by Harry as his charm revealed every single footprint.
"Vestigium Revelio hora undecim de antemeridies" Harry cast as he specified the time to narrow down the footprints. Most of the glowing footprints faded as only six sets remained glowing on the floor. The five sets were grouped together and facing the only one pair of footprints. This particular one is quite close to the railings.
"That would be the victim's and..." Harry said as he written it down in his notepad. He then looked towards the other five "they would be the murderers or at least one of them is." he further stated
Harry noticed something regarding the five footprints. He approached it slowly and carefully for a closer look at one of the five.
"Female. One of the five is female and..." Harry said to himself as he took a closer look at the rest of the five and compared it the victim's.
"They are all students" Harry said grimly as he does not like his own conclusion. Students murdering other student. That is just so wrong. Sure, the teasing, insults, or even bullying is harsh but killing is just taking it to a whole new level. 'No' Harry thought 'It has to be deeper than just bullying' he finished as he looked at the set of footprints. Another wave from his wand and the footprints started moving like playing what had happened during that time.
'That would do for now' Harry thought as he continued to watch.
"Two were injured?" Daphne asked Harry to clarify his statement. They are currently in one of the rooms near the Great Hall which they will be using as a temporary field office only for the duration of the investigation. Honestly, the room is quite big for just two people. Harry is guessing that they might get more to cover more ground but it was not his call to make, that falls on the shoulders of his partner. Moving on, the staff has been accommodating them with supplies they can spare. They provided them a spare board to aid them in their investigation as well as a desk and chair to use with a complimentary parchments and quills. On the board, details regarding the incident was written. Information like a timeline of events, background about victim, possible suspects and the likes. Harry continued writing on one side of the board and that is the one regarding the suspects.
Harry just nodded and then said "Yes, the victim managed to blast one of the suspects towards one of the post while the other tackled the victim and that must be when the victim managed to scratch him."
"So we are not only looking for someone that has scratch marks but also someone with backaches and bruises caused by the impact of the spell on his frontside." Daphne stated as Harry shook his head.
"It is not that simple. Whoever they were, they tried to cover their tracks. I mean, the post where one of the suspects collided unto was repaired. It is safer to assume that whatever injuries the suspects had were healed by one among them." Harry said
Daphne just smirked at Harry's statement. 'Strange...' Harry thought 'She must have thought of a plan'
"It is good then Harry." Daphne said as Harry looked at her wide-eyed.
"What do you mean 'good'? They were trying to cover their tracks! By principle, that means they are harder to apprehend." Harry exclaimed at his partner
"It is because they tried. As of now, they are feeling safe, assured, and a little confident that they cannot be caught. This is the moment where we can catch them off-guard. Victory can make you weak, Potter. They will be completely shocked after we got one of the suspects that the rest would panic, making them easier to notice." Daphne clarified to Harry.
"Good theory but it just got one problem of catching...oh! The skin and blood. Having that means one of them is as good as identified." Harry stated to which Daphne just nodded
Daphne then spoke and said "You said that the five were all students and one of them is female. How did you came up with such at conclusion?" Daphne asked
Harry answered "The shoeprints. It is all because of the shoeprints."
The statement piqued the female Auror's curiosity and then asked "What about the shoe prints?"
"All of the students are wearing almost identical uniforms except the linings and the patches. However, all of their shoes are the same. For the male's, the tip would be rounded unlike what I have seen from the Head of the Slytherin House; that one is narrow tipped." He explained as she was listening intently
"A good observation but how did you came up with the other one being female?" Daphne inquired
"Heels. It was a form of heels but not one of those tall and narrowed heel-type." Harry answered
Daphne just sighed and said "Stilettos, those were your tall and narrowed heel-type but that was not the shoe of the POI. However, it was a form of heels though not as tall as stilettos. You certain it was a female student?"
Harry just nodded at the question and then said "Definitely, all of the Hogwarts Staff were preoccupied with most conducting their classes or preoccupied. Also, Madam Sinistra, the Astronomy professor, was with Madam Pince in the library."
It was on that statement that Daphne closed her eyes and started breathing very slowly like she was meditating. Harry find this extremely peculiar and more so when she started murmuring incoherent words.
"The uniform did not change since we were studying here, am I right?" She said suddenly
Harry was startled but easily recovered his composure and said "Well...uh...yes. The uniform did not changed since I was last studying here."
Daphne then closed her eyes and began saying to no one "A female student but deviates a little from the norm but why?..."
"Deviates from the norm? What do you mean?" he asked
"There is a uniform but the female chose to adjust it. Probably thinking the uniform was quite bland for her taste... That's it!" Daphne said as Harry was startled by her outburst.
"What is it?" he asked
"You know about male student's shoes while I know the female ones. You know that students tend to make their uniform look different regardless of how miniscule or how apparent the changes were. For the male students, you loosen your tie, roll your sleeves, or remove the cardigan or sweater. The female students tend to do the same." Daphne explained to which Harry is a little lost. Seriously, why are they talking about fashion now?
"Ok, but how is this related to the case?" Harry asked with concern to which Daphne stared directly to Harry.
"It is because I was profiling one of our suspects. The female one. She practically stands out." Daphne answered
Harry is just plainly perplexed at the statement and then said "That is great but I am not sure that you can effectively profile someone with just the shoeprint."
Daphne just smirked at Harry's statement and responded "Of course not. However, any information we can get from our suspects gives us all the advantage we need. I am already suspecting that the girl is a sort of a Queen B and one of the male suspects is her boyfriend."
"Seriously? And what is a 'Queen B'?" Harry just stared back at her with one of his eyebrows raised
"It was an American muggle term referring to a female student that acts like a leader of some sorts in a school setting or just plianly want to be popular. They crave attention and expect others to obey their whim. Hence, they are often described as a bitch. Pansy Parkinson is a great example of this stereotype." Daphne said
"Alright, so a Queen B is a 'Queen Bitch'? I suppose that is what you are saying." Harry said
She just smiled at that statement and said "I couldn't say it better myself."
Harry just nodded but then said "So what makes you conclude that the female suspect is a Queen B with just a shoe print?"
"Well, I remembered Pansy. Most students tend to just remove an article of clothing from the uniform like the robes, neckties, or the sweaters and also they just supplement the uniform with necklaces, rings, and other accessories. Draco himself only did what I just said. However, there are a few female students that would be daring to replace a part of their school attire. It was a female favourite to always replace the shoes. I remembered that Pansy practically had a different pair of shoes prepared for each day." Daphne answered as Harry is trying to remember Pansy's appearance. In Harry's case, he remembered her foul attitude more rather than her appearance.
"Bloody hell, a different pair shoes per day?! That is quite overboard." Harry exclaimed.
Daphne just inclined closer to her partner with an excited look on her face and then said "Exactly."
And Harry's response was "Huh?!"