DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter
John had always loved Christmas, it was arguably his favourite time of year. It was a shame that Isaac and Octavia were both spending Christmas with their families, leaving John with pretty much no one to talk to. The only first year Gryffindor that stayed for the holidays was Mathias Holly, who mostly seemed to keep to himself.
John walked through the halls when he saw someone he had hoped had went home for Christmas, Celestia Nightshade.
"Hello Hawthorne."
"Hello Celestia, I thought you would have wanted to spend Christmas with your family."
"Nah, I'd much rather spend my Christmas in a giant castle than a small house in London."
"Shame, you could have bothered your parents for the holidays rather than me."
Almost without thinking, Celestia pulled out her want and pointed it between John's eyes.
"Don't you ever talk about my parents."
The sound of a barking dog interrupted them.
"Sawyer?"
The dog charged at them, he seemed distressed.
"What is it, boy?"
Sawyer grabbed John's robes with his mouth and tried to drag him away. John and Celestia shared a look of confusion before following Sawyer to the Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom. The door was wide open, John stepped inside and turned towards the dog.
"Is there something here, boy?" asked John.
"Hawthorne, he's a dog, he can't understand you."
John went to respond, but he stopped when he felt something drip onto his face. John wiped the liquid off with his finger and looked, it was a red liquid, blood.
"Um, where did that blood come from?" asked Celestia.
John looked up and the site made his skin turn pale, Professor Cassowary's dead body, pinned to the wall above the door by the horns of the skull of the dragon that hanged from the classroom ceiling. Time seemed to slow down, a drop of Professor Cassowary's blood only took 2 seconds to drip to the floor, but to John, it felt like minutes, he could feel his heart almost stop beating. There was silence for about 20 seconds, before Celestia let out a loud scream.
Later, John and Celestia were sat on a bench outside the DADA classroom while the Professors looked investigated the crime scene. They shared no words, they didn't know what to say to each other, they just heard parts of what the Professors were saying to each other. After what felt like an eternity, the door opened and out stepped Professor McGonagall.
"I can not begin to wonder what you two are going through after walking in on that, I saw many die in the Battle of Hogwarts, but that scene in that room is something else." Said Professor McGonagall
The kids said nothing in response.
"If either of you have any ideas of who may have done this, I would advise you to speak up."
Celestia didn't speak, she didn't even look towards McGonagall. John couldn't speak either.
McGonagall kept shifting her gaze between Celestia and John when Professor Firethorn came out.
"Professor, it's missing."
"What? What's missing?" asked McGonagall.
"The mask, it's not here."
McGonagall looked towards the students.
"Onyx, please escort Miss Nightshade to the Slytherin Common Room."
"Yes, Professor."
The Head of Slytherin escorted Celestia away.
"Mr. Hawthorne, I would like you to come with me."
McGonagall led John away from the DADA room. They eventually reached a corridor on the second floor and faced a gargoyle.
"Parkin's Pincer!" said McGonagall.
The gargoyle moved, revealing a staircase. McGonagall escorted John up the stairs, past a door with a griffin knocker, into the Headmistress's office. McGonagall took a seat at her desk.
"I've noticed that you have been very interested in Rudas for the past few months, now you believe that he has committed a murder on Hogwarts grounds."
John was too scared to speak.
"There is more than just coincidence that the mask has now gone missing."
"What mask?"
"I recall telling you that Rudas wore a mask made from the broken remains of the masks of Voldemort's Death Eaters, it was found and kept on Hogwarts Grounds."
John's eyes went wide as he realised what McGonagall was saying.
"Professor, do you mean…"
"Yes, that mask was hidden in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, now a few months after you ask about him, his mask goes missing and a professor has been murdered, that is more than just a coincidence."
John couldn't respond, he was having trouble processing the situation.
"Mr. Hawthorne, there is more to you asking about Rudas, and I want the truth."
"Well…"
John took the journal from his robes.
"…I wasn't being honest when I said how I heard about Rudas, I found out about him when I around this journal hidden in the library, I believe Rudas might be after the Chest of Dreams."
McGonagall took the journal and looked through it.
"I am very disappointed, you should have reported this book as soon as you found it, and then you lied about a dangerous dark wizard, 70 points will be taken from Gryffindor and this book will be confiscated."
McGonagall set the journal on her desk and escorted John back to the Gryffindor Common Room. John sat in the couch, facing the fireplace, when Hecate came and jumped into his lap.
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