Chapter Nineteen: The Investigation Continues
Over the next few days, all anyone in the school talked about was the body found in the haunted house. The seventh years who had designed the house had all been questioned by the investigating Aurors, but they were firm in denying to have ever seen the body.
Erin found herself bombarded with questions as well, but from students from all four houses. It became common knowledge that Erin had found and spotted the body. Some rumors went as far as saying that Erin had had to duel the body, which had miraculously come back to life, escape a room of zombies, and battle off vampire bats just to exit the house in one piece.
And of course, the whole school wondered who the killer was.
"I overheard Dippet and the Aurors talking," Rose whispered to Erin during a particularly arduous Herbology class that involved a snapping daffodil. "They were telling him that the body had been tortured before he was killed."
"Tortured?" Albus repeated, horrified.
"Yeah, the body apparently went through phases of incredible cold and incredible heat…."
"It must have been someone really powerful," Albus said as they walked to Transfiguration class, "to get through all the enchantments around Hogwarts and put the body there."
"Or the person's already in Hogwarts," Nick muttered darkly. "I wouldn't put it past Ender, or even Baddock, they seem fowl enough."
"I wonder what was the purpose, though," Erin wondered thoughtfully, "of putting the body in the haunted house? Its almost like the killer wanted it to be found…"
They settled themselves into their seats as Professor McGonagall entered the room. "We'll be continuing with out lesson with the matchsticks," she said. "Come pick one from the box and we'll get started."
The quiet room slowly filled with a buzz as students murmured the incantation or rather, used the noise to cover their own conversation.
"Do you think the Aurors will catch whoever did it?" Albus whispered, waving his wand in a fake attempt as Professor McGonagall swept by.
"Probably," Nick said, "they're crawling all over the school. They're bound to find something. I heard," he added in an undertone, "that they searched Baddock's office, you know, because he teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"That's silly, though," Erin said gruffly. "Baddock's been here for three years. Now Ender's only working his first year here… clearly that should raise suspicions."
"Yeah, Mum and Dad are worried," Albus said. "They're been writing every day now to make sure I'm okay. And Dad warned me to stay out of it…" Albus grinned, "like I'm going to catch the killer or something."
"Really!" Professor McGongall cried. She was staring at the class with a shocked expression. "I've never before seen a class less focused on their studies."
"But Professor," piqued a small Hufflepuff girl.
"Quiet, Ms. Creevey," Professor McGonagall snapped. "I understand you've all been affected by that horrible even on Halloween night. However, that is no reason to neglect your schoolwork! Professor Dippet and the Aurors are fully capable of handling the investigation and finding the culprit. Mark my words, by December this even will be nearly forgotten. Now I suggest you all once more turn your attention to the matchsticks on your desks, seeing as Ms. Lyths and Ms. Zabini have been the only ones to successfully transform them into needles thus far."
With a sigh of consent, the class turned back to the spell they were supposed to be performing. Charlie turned to face Erin. "Find any more dead bodies lately?" she mouthed.
"What?" Erin hissed back.
Charlie's eyes darkened. "You're a freak, Erin Lyths," she said, just loud enough for the students sitting around her to turn and stare. "No one else knew it was a dead body. You're weird, Erin." She turned her back to Erin and Erin felt a wave of fury crash over her.
It was all too bright and too cheery. The room was painted white, with alternating circles in flowers that ranged from yellow to red, contrasting to the bleak, gray hallways from which the girl had just emerged. The carpeted floor, too, was a sickening, neon green.
The girl clutched at the folds of her dress, already miserable.
"Now children, be nice!" a smiling woman called out into the room filled with children. Some of them paused to look up and stare curiously at the girl. "Everybody, this is Erin Lyths," the woman said, giving the girl a nudge forward. The woman was wearing too much lipstick, making her smile seem more hostile than it should have.
"Why does she have a bird on her shoulder?" a little boy pointed out. The woman's smile faded as she took in the falcon. "It's weird," a girl next to the boy drawled, and the boy nodded. "It's her pet," she said to the room, but she whispered in Erin's ear, "Sweetie, I'm going to take the animal, okay? It's filthy. You can't bring it in here."
As her hand reached out toward the falcon, the girl emitted a horrible shriek. The woman immediately withdrew her hand. "No, no, no!" the girl screamed, stomping her feet and clutching at the bird. "Leave me alone!"
"What did she say, Matron?" the woman nervously asked a large, beefy woman that had just arrived behind them. The large woman bent down to the girl's height and in a voice that was none too friendly said, "What is it, Erin?"
"I-don't-want-to-be-here," the girl said angrily, glaring at the woman. "I want to go home!"
"Stop hissing," the large woman said, giving her a sharp smack in the face. The falcon cawed angrily, and the girl felt her face grow hot. The beefy woman stood. "Call me when she wants to speak to us properly," she said to the lipsticked woman, who nodded.
The large woman spat. "What a weird child," she said.
The little boy in the room perked up his head. "That's what I said!"