"Where's Ginny?" demanded Pansy, her eyes scanning the room.
The group exchanged knowing glances – a collective eyebrow raise echoed silently. They were all gathered at the front of the classroom, perched on desks, with Auror Robards nonchalantly leaning against a professor's desk. There was an bigger-than-usual pensive next to him.
"Wasn't she panicking thirty minutes ago?" murmured Hermione, her curiosity evident.
"That's Pansy Parkinson for you," Daphne replied, a hint of amusement in her voice.
Auror Robards observed them closely, his eyes sharp and discerning.
Harry noticed the absence of every other Auror and couldn't help but ask, "There's quite a lot of us. Won't you interview us separately?"
Robards grinned, a twinkle in his eye. He strolled around the desk and took a seat. "No need," he said confidently, "I've heard a lot about you guys in my interviews."
"I don't care what that Rita Skeeter is saying. I did not help the Death Eaters," Draco immediately stood up to defend himself.
"I'm not Rita Skeeter interviewing student ; I'm an Auror investigating students. Sit down, Malfoy," Robards ordered, and Draco reluctantly took his seat. "They're saying you lot helped a lot. The third years have a name for your little group that's starting to catch on – 'The Unpredictables.'"
"Lame," coughed Theo.
"Super lame," echoed Seamus.
"I kinda like it," Blaise chimed in, a delighted expression on his face.
"I hate it," deadpanned Daphne, her disapproval clear.
"I have a question!" Jason's left hand shot up eagerly.
"It's not a lesson, but go ahead, kid," responded the Auror, acknowledging him.
"Why are me and Neville here? We weren't at the Hogsmeade attack," Jason inquired, a hint of confusion in his voice.
Auror Robards sighed, the levity disappearing from his tone. "You aren't here just to answer questions about the attack. You're also here to answer questions about Ginny Weasley."
The group exchanged puzzled glances.
"What do you mean?" Harry cried out. The rest immediately followed suit, each shouting out a protest.
Robards spoke above them, "I understand your confusion! There's an easier way to explain all this," he stood and walked over to the Pensieve, "You're a close-knit group that seems to know each other's secrets. All I need is your permissions, and we'll dive into each of your perspectives of the attack."
The silence in the room became palpable.
"Can't you just interview us with questions?" Hermione asked, her voice shaky. Harry shot her a confused look.
"Hermione, you were with me and Draco for the majority of the attack," he pointed out.
Hermione hesitated, her expression conflicted. "I just don't want to relive it."
"The reason I'm offering this option to you is because me and my Aurors have inteviewed about 70 students. Most of the stories are corresponing. Most of them mentioning those of you who were present at the attack as key players. I want to see it from your perpectives,"
"What if we say no?" asked Draco.
"Then I'll go to Ministry to get warrants that will allow me wheteher you say yes or no,"
silence.
Hermione, torn between the importance of the investigation and her own apprehensions, finally spoke, "What guarantees do we have that our memories won't be mishandled or used against us?"
Robards nodded, acknowledging the valid concern. "I assure you, the Ministry takes the privacy and security of memories very seriously. Only authorized personnel will view the memories, and they'll be used solely for the purpose of this investigation."
Sue, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "Isn't there another way? We can answer your questions, tell you everything we remember. We don't need to dive into our memories."
Robards met her gaze, his expression stern but understanding. "I appreciate your willingness to cooperate, but memories can be elusive, and details can be forgotten or misremembered. The Pensieve ensures accuracy and completeness."
The room remained silent for a moment, the weight of the decision hanging in the air. Robards waited patiently, understanding the difficulty of the situation.
"I'll do it," Harry finally said, breaking the silence. "If it helps catch those responsible, I'll do it."
"Me too," sighed Tracey.
He turned to the rest of the group, his gaze steady. "I understand this is not an easy decision,"
There was a collective exchange of hesitant glances, each member of the group grappling with the idea of revisiting the traumatic events and for two, some secrets.
Hannah spoke up, her voice firm, "I'll do it too."
Blaise, after a moment of contemplation, nodded in agreement. "Count me in."
Seamus, looking resolute, added, "Let's just get it over with."
Hermione, though visibly uneasy, nodded. "Fine, I'll do it."
The group, one by one, expressed their reluctant agreement, understanding the gravity of the situation and the necessity of their cooperation. Robards collected their permissions, each person giving a subtle nod or a spoken affirmation.
"Okay I need everyone to gather round the pensive," Robards instructed as he spelled the Pensieve in the center of the room.
The group hesitantly gathered around, eyeing the magical basin with a mixture of curiosity and anxiety.
"Now, I'll need each of you to concentrate on the memory of the attack in Hogsmeade," Robards explained. "Picture the events clearly in your mind, and once your memory is clear, we'll proceed."
He looked at them one by one, gauging their readiness. The room held a heavy silence as the group closed their eyes, focusing on the memories they were about to share.
After a moment, Robards began the process of extracting memories from each member execpt from Jason and Neville, a bright blue light coming from everyone's head into the basin. Once he was done, he instructed them once more.
"Thank you all for your cooperation," Robards said, a sense of appreciation in his tone. "I'll do my best to make this as smooth a process as possible. Harry. I need you to count down from three. Everyone else when Harry reaches one, dip your heads in the pensive,"
Harry took a deep breath. Then started.
"Three,""
"Auror Robards you didn't really answer my question," Jason bought up again.
"What question?"
Pansy whipped her head to Draco.
"Two,"
"Draco, I'm so sorry," Pansy whispered, Draco looked at her confused, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you,"
"Why are me and Neville here?"
"One,"
Their heads were already in the water, and they registered what Robards said too late.
"So you can understand, without a doubt, why Ginny has to leave this school,"
The transition from the classroom to the Pensieve realm was instantaneous. The group found themselves standing in the midst of the chaotic events of the Hogsmeade attack.
Hermione immediatly turned to Harry, her head still reeling from what Robards had told them. Harry seemed to trying to say something to her but no sound was coming out of his throat,"
"Ahh right, you'll only be able to hear me at the moment," Robards stated.
Draco rolled his eyes. Hermione wasn't exactly confident in her lip reading skills (see: Seting fire to Snape's robes in first year thinking that he was casting a spell on Harry, when he was in fact doing a counter spell), but she was sure he said, "So now you tell us, you absolute moron,"
"Let's see," Robards mumbled, his wand emitting a soft, pulsating blue light as he deftly navigated through the collective memories of the students. The Three Broomsticks lingered in the background as he observed the girls dispersing after leaving. Pensive Daphne and Luna emerged as guiding lights for the fleeing third and fourth years, aligning seamlessly with the students' testimonies. In the tapestry of recollections, Pensive Theo's unconventional blend of song and hexes echoed. He watched Theo's powerful hex on his own father. Turning his gaze to the present Theo, he noted the simmering intensity in the young wizard's eyes.
"Nice job, Theodore," Robards commended, the air tinged with a mix of approval and concern.
Returning to the tapestry of memories, he scrutinized each frame. Theo, Tracey, Blaise, Seamus, Sue, and Dean emerged as the valiant defenders who chose to stand their ground against the Death Eaters, while Draco and Harry rushed to aid Hermione.
Hold on, he thought, a thread of uncertainty weaving through his mind. There's someone missing.
Pausing the memory, he surveyed the scene. Puzzlement etched across the faces of the onlooking group, except for one lone girl at the back. Tears welled up in her eyes, and confusion painted the rest.
Robards strode purposefully, leading the group in tow. As he continued his search, a realization dawned upon him. There it was, the elusive incident that only three students had spoken of. Finally, he found what he was looking for—Pansy Parkinson, flanked by three trembling third years, her eyes widened in terror, fixated on something unseen in the distance.
He unpaused the memory.
"-you need to get out of here. Now!" Pansy screeched, helping one of the thrid years up.
"Go! And don't look back," she told them. they obeyed running off.
"Is that my Pansy? Playing the hero?" a deep voice sounded, mockingly. Daphne and Tracey froze recognising the voice.
"Quite different from the vapid little girl I last saw,"
Now that voice was familliar among all of them.
"Lucious Malfoy," hissed Robards mentally taken notes. This hadn't been witnessed by anyone, "I'll presume that the other one is Percival Parkinson?" His presumtion was answered almost immeditly. The two men took off their masks. Hermione let out a silent gasp. This was her first time ever seeing Pansy's father. He was the splitting image of Pansy, only with more male features.
Draco looked at Present Pansy, with slight hurt. Why didn't she tell me about this?
Pensive Pansy was visibly distressed but holding her ground, faced the elder Malfoy.
"What do you want, Lucius?" she demanded, a steely edge to her voice.
"Lucious? Once upon a time you said my name with only the utmost respect," mocked Lucious.
Pansy clenched her jaw, her wand gripped tightly in her hand.
"I knew I should've sent her to another school," sneered Percival, "Now she's nothing but Mudblood lover,"
"We should've known better than to expect anything from a stupid little girl, who cared nothing about her own reflection," Lucius sneered.
Percival, echoing the sentiment, added, "You've brought disgrace to the family name."
Tracey watched the scene unfold, her hands covering her mouth as tears fell down her face.
"I wish I had a son," hissed the elder Parkinson, his wand pointed at Pansy. A bright light hit Pansy and she fell to the ground wiith a cry, her head hitting a rock.
That's where that cut came from, Draco realized.
Pensive Pansy looked dazed as smoke and fire began spreading over to them.
Ginny's fire spread this much? thought Harry exchanged a concerned glance with Draco, who seemed to be still processing what he was seeing.
Percival then kicked Pansy's face, breaking her nose. Gasps sounded out from the group. Robards looked grim.
"You worthless girl," Percival hissed, "I should kill you right here,"
Pansy despite the blood rushing down her mouth, looked up at him, "Kill me then, you bastard,"
Robard let out a smirk.
Percival swelled with anger, "You insolent-"
He didn't finish his sentence because Pansy had retrived her wand and let out spell she had only heard from stories at him.
"SECTUMSEMPRA!"
Hermione's hands flew too her mouth. Harry's eyes widened. Draco stiffened. the group watched in stunned silence as the spell hit Percival Parkinson.
The elder Parkinson staggered back, blood pouring from the wounds inflicted by the curse.
Seamus couldn't hide his shock. "Bloody hell, I didn't see that coming," he muttered under his breath, even though he knew no once could hear him.
Present Pansy, watching her past self, didn't show any remorse. Instead, a defiant glare replaced the fear in her eyes.
Lucius Malfoy shot a spell at Pensive Pansy as she stood up. She dodged and ran into a deeper part of the alley to hide. The group followed her, watching as Pansy slunk down the wall.
"Episkey," she murmured, pointing her wand at her nose. Once it was healed, she became vaguely aware of the smoke that was approaching her.
"Whatever," she muttered, ready for her death.
"Miss Parkinson? What do you think you're doing?"
"Dying."
"Well, we can't have that, can we?"
Pansy looked up to see Professor McGonagall looking at her bemusedly as Aurors began to arrive and cast Extinguishing Spells behind her.
"Thank fu-"
Robards paused the memory. He walked back through the students, leaving the alleyway, and ended up with Harry, Hermione, Draco carrying an unconscious Ginny, and Dumbledore.
"This is what I want you all to see."
Harry, Draco, and Hermione exchanged bewildered glances. Robards led them around the buildings that had been badly burnt.
He pointed to another alley.
"Walk down there."
The group looked at him curiously and made their way down. They spotted a wall, signaling a dead end. But as they got closer, they saw what Robards wanted them to see.
Sue vomited, and Hannah looked away.
There were three badly burnt bodies. None of them were Death Eaters.
Ginny's fire had killed three innocent wizards.
