Albus Dumbledore
Four students.
Four students had been petrified since the beginning of the school year, attacked by Salazar's final gift to Hogwarts, the elusive basilisk nesting somewhere under the school. More than a month had passed since the first attack, and Albus was no closer to catching the person responsible than he was in October.
In fact, it was even worse than fifty years ago, because back then he at least had a clear suspect, even if in the end he couldn't prove that Tom Riddle was responsible for the attacks. This time, however, the culprit could have been anyone in the school.
As far as Albus knew, Tom Riddle left no descendants behind, more interested in accumulating power and fighting "impurity" than in any actual noble activities. It was possible, however, that he had sired an offspring with one of his followers during the war, but his subsequent demise and mass arrests among his followers led to the child being abandoned and placed in some orphanage to grow up as a muggle-born, unaware of his true heritage. This would be quite ironic, given Tom's own history.
However, even if something so unlikely were to happen, would the child really renounce pure-blood ideals and instead fight for muggle-born rights? Tom, despite his upbringing in a muggle orphanage, still chose to follow the ways of Salazar without hesitation, obsessed with his magical heritage. Would his child really be any different?
Albus didn't know, but determined to investigate the matter thoroughly, he discreetly prepared a list of orphaned students currently attending Hogwarts, hoping to narrow down the list of suspects at least a little. He was unable to find anything noteworthy, however, suggesting that either he was missing some crucial information or something far more sinister was taking place at Hogwarts.
It was also quite worrisome that, if Miss Parkinson and Miss Bulstrode were right, the Heir was not acting alone. He had at least one accomplice with whom they were carrying out attacks using what appeared to be a polyjuice potion. While it solved the mystery of the stolen ingredients that Severus had reported to him, it was very disturbing that the heir was using a disguise to approach their victims. It was quite an insidious and sadistic method, which increased the likelihood that the perpetrator was somehow connected to Tom.
He had much more pressing matters to deal with, however, such as a very angry Lucius Malfoy in his office.
His failure to catch the perpetrator, while quite understandable given the circumstances, made Albus' position quite uncomfortable, as people began to doubt that he would be able to stop the threat facing the school. The most vocal in these concerns was Lucius Malfoy, father of the recently petrified Draco, who was currently in Albus' office, trying to convey how displeased he was with recent events. Behind him was Cornelius Fudge, the newly appointed Minister of Magic, who had so far remained silent, content to let Lucius vent.
"This is unacceptable!" yelled Lucius, looking at Albus with eyes full of rage. His usual dignity was gone, replaced by a burning outrage. Albus couldn't really blame the man, as his son had been petrified just two nights before, though he hoped he would be a little more understanding " "You've had over a month to stop the attacks, and yet you've accomplished nothing! Because of your incompetence, my son was petrified!"
"Lucius, I assure you that we are doing everything in our power to catch the culprit," replied Albus calmly, undeterred by Malfoy's outburst. Having dealt with Gellert and Tom, the hostile nobleman was not enough to intimidate him. However, this did not mean that his accusations were entirely unfounded. Albus himself was quite ashamed of the current situation. He continued, hoping to reassure Lucius a little "I promise you we will catch the person responsible, but we need a little more time. It's quite difficult to narrow down the suspects, as based on the Heir's messages, it could be any of the muggle- or half-blood students, we also can't completely rule out that it wasn't a pure-blood student with a grudge"
"You've had enough time, Dumbledore! You're wasting your time doing nothing while those redheaded mongrels have petrified my son!" shouted Lucius, increasingly agitated. Both Albus and Cornelius looked at him in shock, unsure if they had heard Lucius correctly.
"…What?" Albus asked, nonplussed. What was he talking about?
"It was that flea-ridden house of Weasley! Driven by their envy and irrational hatred, they attacked my son! They did it just to hurt me!" exclaimed Lucius, looking at Albus with wide eyes, at this point abandoning all reason and simply hurling accusations.
"I think that's a rather heavy accusation, Lucius. Maybe..." began Cornelius uncertainly, finally joining the conversation. He most likely saw that the situation was heading in the wrong direction, so he attempted to stop it from escalating. Albus was grateful to him for doing so, although he wished Cornelius would have participated in the conversation from the very beginning. Before he was able to finish his sentence, however, Cornelius was stopped by the intense look Lucius sent him.
"I demand that you question the Weasley whelps who attend this school! Then you will see!" Lucius shouted, spitting out every word. Apparently, he took his son's petrification even worse than expected. Albus and Cornelius looked into each other's eyes, having a silent conversation. After a few seconds and several pointed looks from Albus' direction, Cornelius coughed into his palm.
"It seems that things have gotten a little intense. I think it would be for the best if me and Lucius leave for today and come back when everyone has calmed down," he said, ignoring Lucius' heated glare. He then turned to Albus "I'm sure you'll take Lucius' suggestion into consideration, won't you, Albus? Just to be thorough"
"Of course, I will conduct an in-depth investigation into the Weasley family," Albus declared, giving them both a slight nod. He hadn't actually planned to do so, since it was a completely baseless accusation, but it would probably be best not to antagonize Lucius even further, given his obvious instability.
"Did you hear that, Lucius? Albus will do his best to verify your theory. He'll probably be very busy doing that, so we shouldn't take up any more of his time" said Cornelius, gently nudging Lucius towards the office's door. Lucius didn't struggle against Cornelius' efforts, apparently not even registering them due to the sheer rage and fevered delusion he was experiencing.
"They are using a dark artifact! They have petrified my son with it! They must be stopped!" Lucius shouted, an exhaustion audible in his voice. He probably hadn't slept since he heard about his son's petrification.
"Of course they did," Cornelius agreed, slowly leading Lucius down the stairs and letting him out to wait in the corridor. After that, he returned to Albus, giving him a tired look "Sorry about that. I didn't expect Lucius to be so... passionate about this matter"
His face then hardened, giving Albus a serious look.
"Still, he wasn't wrong. Things are looking bad, Albus. Four pure-blooded students petrified in a month? People are not taking it well. They are already starting to question your ability to run this school. With current events and all those whispers about your suspicious activities during the global wizarding world... you have to do something, or this will not end well" Cornelius said, giving Albus a regretful look. While the situation was grave, it was rather heartwarming to see that Cornelius was still his friend, despite his new responsibilities and worries.
"I know, Cornelius. I will find the culprit, I promise you," Albus said. After throwing him a long, searching look, Cornelius nodded, satisfied. They talked for a few more minutes, but eventually Cornelius left to attend to Lucius, leaving Albus alone with his thoughts.
The new heir of Slytherin, their unknown followers and the polyjuice potion. It was all connected, though he had no idea how. He had a feeling that some very important piece of this puzzle was missing and...
Wait a minute.
What suspicious activities during the global wizarding war?