Chapter Three: Classes and Murder
"Elll... Ellieeee" A sing-song voice said beside her.
"Mmm... whaa? Five more minutes..." Ellie responded, burying her face in her pillow.
"Ellie..." the voice sighed, and then continued, "I suppose I'll have no choice then."
Ellie barely registered what was happening before a warm body hugged and started tickling her.
"Haha... stop... Hahaha...okay I'm awake, I'm awake!" Ellie squealed, then began to return the favor.
The epicest tickling fight ensued.
Red faces, heavy breaths, and smiles later, the two ruffled girls started to get ready for the day.
Luna with her mismatched socks (it was a grey day) and a single willow leaf earring, and Ellie with her own willow leaf earring ("It's to let the Fluttery Flyflies know we don't mean them any harm" Luna had said in that adorable way of hers).
To both of their dismay, they had to cover their odd outfits (Luna with a bright yellow glittering dress, and Ellie with a deep purple top with a white right sleeve and a multicolored skirt) with their dull black school robes.
They held hands in front of the floor-ceiling window on the wall (transfigured, then enchanted with runes to make the change permanent, like they did with all of their dorm-room furniture), and Ellie frowned slightly.
"I don't really like this," she muttered before giving Luna a smile and wink in their reflection, "Mummy did say to have fun, didn't she?"
"Of course she did, silly. There'd be little point being here otherwise," Luna responded to Ellie's gesture with a warm smile.
"Well then," Ellie began before waving her hand, "that should do it, no?"
Their reflections stood the proud wearers of robes that shifted in hues of blue like daylight shimmering under the ocean.
Luna gave Ellie a blinding smile, "that's really pretty" she said while running her fingers over the now rippling fabric.
Ellie reciprocated the smile before waving her hand again.
Luna felt a coolness envelop her before inspecting herself, noticing nothing change. Their robes were still beautiful and color-shifty.
Responding to the silent question, Ellie replied, "Mummy also told us not to get caught. It's a strong notice-me-not-charm overlaid with the design charms I used. Anyone but us will only see school robes. Well, maybe some professors will notice, but that's part of the fun so I think mummy will forgive -"
Ellie didn't get to finish before arms wrapped around her neck and she was silenced by a powerful kiss.
Dazed, Ellie barely mumbled some words, "w-what was that for… not that I'm complaining…"
Luna's eyes shone with joy, "I really, really like you Ellie."
Ellie blushed at the direct attack before replying, "I really like you too Luna."
They were about to leave their bedroom before Ellie paused, as if remembering something.
She waved her hand and two intricately carved sticks appeared.
"This one's yours" She said before handing over the one that had love hearts and fairies carved at its base. Something like the carving of vines twisted about its length. In all, it was an odd, pretty thing.
Luna giggled after inspecting the stick, and then placed it behind her ear. Ellie paused before doing the same. It was a rather 'fun' look, she admitted.
They both arrived in the Ravenclaw common room holding hands, and Ellie blinked at the gathering of first years.
"Why're all of you just sitting around? It's breakfast, you know," She said before skipping to the exit with Luna in tow, making their way to the great hall. Both had no troubles navigating the stairs and corridors thanks to their impeccable memory courtesy of their Occlumency.
They did not register the speechlessness and indignation of their classmates and two prefects as they did so.
Luna fiddled with her pudding as usual, and Ellie neatly ate her bacon and eggs as usual. Before they finished eating, two sheets of parchment floated in front of them.
"Here are your schedules, girls," Flitwick said, then paused, "impressive charms-work. Did your mother do that, Ms Lovegood?"
"Oh no Professor, Ellie did it for us this morning," Luna replied absently as she tried to balance a leek on her caramel pudding.
Professor Flitwick blinked, then turned to Ellie who was wiping her mouth with a serviette.
"Ms Weasley? Is that true?" He asked with a touch of disbelief.
"Hm? Oh yes, Professor. I reckon Luna will be able to do it in a few months too. She's quite talented at charms."
Flitwick blinked, trying to process the new information, then whispered, "I'd like to see the two of you in my office after classes today."
"And we'd like to be there Professor Flitwick," Luna responded for the both of them, having managed to accomplish her self-appointed task with the leek.
Flitwick nodded, then continued on, passing schedules to the rest of the Ravenclaws.
After Luna finished playing with her pudding and her breakfast, Ellie grabbed her hand and walked with her over to the Gryffindor table.
"Hey Gin, congratulations on getting Gryffindor. I know you were stressed about it. If you asked me though, you would have done pretty good in Slytherin too," Ellie said as she sat down beside her twin.
Ginny spluttered for a moment before finding her voice, "S-Slytherin? W-what makes you say that?"
Ellie gave her a look, "You know Gin, the rest of the family probably doesn't know you as well as I do. You're my favorite sibling you know."
Ginny's eyes darted around. Fred and George pretended not to listen to their conversation, Ron was staring at Ginny with wide eyes, Percy was engaged in a conversation with a Ravenclaw girl, and the rest of the table were preoccupied.
Ginny lowered her voice to a whisper, "The hat said the same thing... you wouldn't have minded if I was sorted in Slytherin?" She asked timidly.
Ellie scoffed, "Of course not. If anything, I'd have been proud. I mean, I'm proud of you anyway, but maybe it's a good thing you weren't sorted there. The house as it is now is nothing like how it used to be. Merlin knows how many of them I'd have to dispose of before they treated you right."
Ginny giggled at what she thought of as a joke and looked at her sister with adoration, "Thanks Ellie, that means a lot to me. I'm happy you were sorted where you belong too. I don't think anyone in our family had any doubt you would be in Ravenclaw. You too Luna."
"Thank you Ginny. Sharing a room with your sister has been quite the nice arrangement," Luna said with no little amount of mischief lacing her innocent tone.
Ginny looked at her blond friend oddly before nodding, the snickers of Fred and George playing in the background.
"Ickle Luna -"
"-and ickle Ellie -"
"- sharing a room -"
"Anything we should know sister dearest?" they asked mirthfully as they both got up and surrounded her, arms over shoulders..
Ellie shifted her glance between each of the elder twins speculatively. As much as they were mischief-makers, they were also trustworthy. So she slowly nodded and said carefully, "just don't tell mother, or Ron, or Percy. Ginny and Bill are okay though. I'm not sure about Charlie."
The eyes of the elder Weasley twins widened as they gaped.
"Careful boys, or you'll catch flies," Ellie said with a wink before extricating herself from their hold, grabbing Luna's hand and making their way to their first classes. The last thing she heard was Ginny's voice, "tell me what?"
BANG!
A black cape fluttered behind a scowling figure, and the potions classroom became pindrop silent.
'Hmm... Maybe I'll add that charm to our robes tomorrow. It looks like a self-created one but it shouldn't be too difficult to reverse-engineer,' Ellie thought absently.
"There will be no foolish wand-waving in this class..." Professor Snape gave an intimidating speech that Ellie and Luna both tuned out.
Luna was following something invisible with her eyes, and Ellie was already mentally working on the fluttery-robe charm.
Snape noticed their inattention and snapped.
"Weasley!" He called, and Ellie focused, "Yes, sir?"
Snape narrowed his eyes, "Give me the names of potions that use lacewing flies as a base ingredient."
Ellie responded absently even as she worked on her spell crafting behind her Occlumency shields, "Polyjuice potion, Wiggenwald potion, a variant of the Wolfsbane potion published a few months ago by master Agado, the High-freeze potion, the Glitter-cosmetic potion, the..." Ellie continued to list, paying no heed to the professor's expression nor the expressions and thoughts of her classmates.
She continued going, oblivious to them all, and by the time she listed twenty potions, Snape called, "Enough!"
Ellie paused, and focused, having completely finished her fluttery-robe charm. She only needed to test it but she was pretty confident about it. It was a rather simple charm, after all.
"Sir?" She asked with a tilted head, unsure why Professor Snape was looking at her like she was an erumpent in an enclosure.
"... 10 points... to Ravenclaw..." He said slowly.
Ellie nodded with an innocent smile, and Luna regained her focus in the class. Whatever had held her attention seemingly having vanished.
"You know Professor, badgering your students won't bring back the dead. The Illusory Impling that follows you around is getting rather tired of it," Luna spoke calmly in the silence that followed with no regard for propriety.
Snape's eyes widened before they narrowed and he scowled fiercely, "Get. Out."
Ellie frowned, "that's not very nice Professor. She's only trying to help -"
"Both of you. Out! 50 points from Ravenclaw, and detention with me tonight."
Luna and Ellie looked at each other, perplexed, before they shrugged, gathered their things, and left the classroom amidst the snickers and ridicule of their classmates.
"So what do we do now?" Ellie asked as they wandered the desolate corridors.
"Follow me," Luna said with some excitement as she interlaced her fingers with Ellie's.
Ellie smiled as they wandered the Hogwarts corridors, Luna seemingly following something only she could see.
The blue-eyed redhead ooh'd and ahh'd as she properly observed the castle with no one around.
Finally, they reached a large tapestry depicting a man attempting to teach trolls how to dance. They both giggled at the picture before Luna let go of her hold on Ellie and hopped up and down across the portrait as the girl hummed a song. Ellie shook her head in amusement and fondness at the sight.
An ornate door appeared where the tapestry was and Ellie simply sighed in exasperation. Of course Luna would be able to find secrets to a millennia old enchanted castle on her first day. It was just one of those Luna things she had come to love and accept.
They entered the door and looked around the room with some awe and excitement.
"What's with all of this?" Ellie asked her witch.
The room was rather large. A running track encircled a green field. In the center of the field was what looked like a dueling strip with a mannequin waiting at one end. At the edges of the room were a few bookcases. Ellie walked over to one such bookcase and read the titles.
'Foundations of Magic', 'A Witch's guide to magical excellence', 'foundational transfiguration', 'foundational charms', 'A Mastery of Runes'...
She made her way to another bookshelf and read the titles; 'How to fight', 'Training the body - advance your magical abilities', 'Speed and Lethality'...
"I asked the room to give us what we need to become better witches. I suppose it's telling us to read these books," Luna said as she sat down on a sofa that promptly appeared behind her after grabbing on of the books.
Ellie watched her in fascination before doing the same.
"So this room gives us what we need?" Ellie asked, "This is incredible magic. Let's make one at our home once we figure it out."
As Ellie thought about it, she did indeed admit that she had no idea how to fight efficiently with magic. She was perhaps the most impressive witch in terms of sheer magical ability, but that did not translate to being able to utilize magic well in a confrontation. She hadn't even considered magical confrontation before, but she now realized she was rather foolish not to have thought about them. The magical world was a dangerous place after all, and she could only thank the room for making her realize her shortcomings before the worst could happen.
Luna leaned into her shoulder shyly and nodded, "at our home..." she whispered.
During their Transfiguration class, both Ellie and Luna managed their transformations - Ellie had managed to do this particular one wandlessly since she was six years old. Therefore, she took to playing around by transfiguring the matchstick into an ornate needle, into a snake, into a hamster, into a piece of parchment. Each flick of her stick changed the object, and Ellie increased the speed of her transfigurations, curious about her current limits now that she was using a magical focus.
Unfortunately, in her extremely focused state, she did not realize the class was silent and staring at her again, and Professor McGonagall was standing behind her with ill-concealed awe.
"Ms. Weasley?" She called out.
Ellie had just finished transfiguring a small Welsh Green. She rather liked it so she began animating it with some charms when the professor's voice called her.
She turned her head even as she waved her stick over the small dragon like a child caught with their hand in a cookie jar. The dragon quietly transformed back into the ornate needle.
"Yes professor? Here, I made the matchstick into a needle!" She said with utmost seriousness as she presented her needle, concealing her emotions behind her Occlumency shields.
The professor took it absently before regaining her wits, "Yes... tell me Ms. Weasley..." the professor trailed off, thinking about how to phrase her question, "How did you manage to become so advanced with Transfiguration? You demonstrated inanimate to animate, inorganic to organic, organic to organic, animate to inanimate... nearly everything required by a NEWT examiner... and silently at that."
Ellie gazed deeply into her professor's eyes and said with a straight face and heavy demeanor, "It's because I love magic professor, and we all know that love is the most powerful magic of them all."
The professor stood frozen for a good ten seconds before she rebooted and gave a response, "... I see. 50 points to Ravenclaw..." she said before sitting down behind her desk at the front of the class, inspecting Ellie's needle as if it were made of diamond.
"I think the professor was impressed with you El, I saw the Cheering Grumblies dance," Luna told her.
"Thanks for letting me know Lu, you're a treasure," Ellie turned to her and said warmly.
By the time lunch rolled around, the Hogwarts rumour mill was already hard at work, regaling the story of two odd Ravenclaws, and the monstrous existence that was Ellie Weasley. Hogwarts had suffered the Weasleys for over a decade, and though Bill and Percy (and to those who really paid attention, Fred and George) were seen as the most talented among them, nothing compared to what the students had witnessed during their first potions and transfiguration classes.
As Ellie and Luna sat down at the Ravenclaw table for their lunch, blissfully ignorant, they heard the sound of trumpets being blown before an announcement was made by two familiar voices.
"Hogwarts, behold -"
"- our magical prodigy -"
A drum roll.
"ELLIE WEASLEY!"
More trumpets.
Ellie paused before rolling her eyes and continued to fix her plate.
"I think they're proud of you El," Luna said.
Ellie sighed and nodded with a hint of resentment, "I think you're right, it's the only thing that makes sense. Unless they also wanted to embarrass me..."
"It's just their way of showing affection, I wouldn't mind it too much. They're quite fond of you, you know."
Ellie smiled, "Thanks Lu. You're just like an adorable Clouding Comfry"
Luna blushed to her ear tips and tried her best to hide her face by staring down at her empty plate, "Y-you say the most embarrassing things..."
The rest of the Ravenclaw table observed them with a mix of jealousy and confusion. The professors at the head table also observed them carefully, particularly Ellie.
"What was that about, Professor McGonagall?" Dumbledore turned to his deputy with a twinkle in his eye.
Snape scoffed, "The Weasley twins don't need a reason to be loud, headmaster."
McGonagall was still in a daze before she registered Dumbledore's words.
"Right, well... they aren't lying. In fact, I think they are underselling Ms. Weasley's abilities..."
"Oh? How so? You had their classes just before lunch, correct?" Dumbledore asked with a hint of a smile.
McGonagall whispered, "She's incredible Albus, I've never seen anything like it. Even you were not so impressive at her age..."
Flitwick chimed in, "Apparently it was Ms. Weasley who charmed both of their robes today. Rather exquisite charms-work I must say."
Dumbledore's attention snapped to the diminutive professor at that declaration. He had, of course, noticed the charms work on their robes and simply let it be, as it was a rather beautiful piece of magic. He had thought Pandora was the one to have cast those charms, but if it was actually cast by the Weasley...
"That is rather impressive," Dumbledore acknowledged with a nod. It seemed he would have to make a visit to Molly and Arthur.
Snape furrowed his brows at that. He hadn't noticed any charms on either girl's robes. Granted, he did not pay close attention to them, especially after they had riled him up in the morning. Internally, he had been going through that rather odd and perceptive interaction ever since, only paying minimal attention to the classes he had since. But for the enchantments to be concealed so thoroughly that even he did not notice them at a glance spoke to impressive magical power and ability.
A small corner of the potion master's mind compared the girl to Lily, but even his childhood friend would never have been expected to list twenty different potions with a common base ingredient as flawlessly as the Weasley girl did in her first year. Snape shook his head, concealing his thoughts about the two girls in an obscure corner of his mind, locking the memory of them away so he wouldn't have to think about it.
Hermione Granger took pride in her academic achievements, having come first of her year last year, even with all the adventures she had with Harry and Ron. She heard the whispers of the first-year Gryffindors who were regaling what transpired in the Transfiguration class they shared with the Ravenclaws.
Hermione rolled her eyes at the absurdity of it all even as she kept an ear open all around her. The elder Weasley twins talked about how gifted their sister Ellie was, and even Ginny nodded along as though whatever magic her sister did was an everyday occurrence. She wanted not to believe any of it, because that would mean she was inadequate, and her identity as the smartest would be in jeopardy. She thought, in a moment of rare self-reflection, that made her rather prideful. Perhaps that was one of the reasons the hat sorted her in Gryffindor? Many people had told her she should have been in Ravenclaw, but clearly the hat and herself disagreed with that assessment.
"They lost fifty points in potions, and earned fifty in transfiguration. A Ravenclaw first year told me that the house is quite confused by them, but the two of them don't seem to have a care in the world."
"I heard she listed over a dozen potions about something in the class, and Snape actually awarded her points! Snape never awards other houses with points. Shame they got kicked out straight after..."
Hermione's gaze shifted to the two Ravenclaw first years, and indeed, they seemed to be in their own little bubble, playing and laughing and... blushing? That was interesting, but soon her attention returned to her newest friend.
"Ginny... is your sister really..." She trailed off, not really knowing how to ask the question without seeming offensive.
Ginny turned to her and nodded, "I know you're smart Hermione, but don't bother competing with Ellie, she's... different. She's always been different. She mastered all seven years of Hogwarts work when she was five years old, and I even saw her cast some things wandlessly when we were little. It wasn't accidental magic. She's always been incredibly impressive; sometimes I wonder whether she fits in with us at all."
Hermione took a moment to process all of that before returning to her meal, not really knowing what to think. Her mind wanted to dismiss Ginny's claims as impossible, but something told her it would be unwise to do so.
"Me," Lockhart said with a smile, and instantly, Luna was on edge. She and Ellie were sitting at the furthest corner away from the front of the class even as the Ravenclaw girls in the class sighed and swooned. The Slytherins seemed more stoic and skeptical, but none of that entered her mind.
"Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class..." The man prevaricated with confidence.
Luna interlaced her fingers with Ellie and squeezed to grab her attention.
"El," she whispered, "something is wrong with him."
Ellie's gaze sharpened in the way it did whenever she perceived a threat to any of her loved ones. Luna knew that the reason for that sharpness now in her gaze was because Luna was uncomfortable. Anything that upset her was sure to set Ellie off on a warpath.
It was something so incredibly endearing and dangerous at the same time, and Luna couldn't help but have her heart skip a beat seeing Ellie like that.
El's eyes narrowed as her ring finger twitched, and Luna felt an invisible bubble cover the two of them.
'A notice-me-not charm... an overpowered one, for sure' she thought.
El's penetrating gaze found Lockhart's eyes, and she dove. Luna could perform Legilimency too, but her passive Legilimency was nowhere near enough to fully penetrate and explore a mind like El could.
As the seconds passed, and as Lockhart continued without a care in the world, not realizing he was having his entire mind laid bare before the redhead, El squeezed Luna's hand with a bit more force.
At that moment, Luna knew that her instincts were correct.
Half of the class passed, most of it in silence with the class occupied by some kind of written quiz, and Ellie was still diving inside Lockhart's mind. As each second passed, El's aura became more dangerous, barely being contained by the strongest Occlumency shields Luna had ever seen.
'It's worse than I thought...' Luna whispered to herself nervously.
Finally, El retreated from the man's mind, and her face became unreadable - a sign the girl was employing her Occlumency to maximal effect.
The class continued, all acting and role-playing something of insignificance. And only after the last of the students left the classroom once the show was over, and the man had retreated to his office beyond the balcony, did Ellie loosen her shields a little.
"Lu..." El whispered with fire on her breath and venom in her fangs, "I know who we're going to kill."
Luna's eyes widened slightly before she squeezed El's hand in assurance and sent a pulse through her ring.
I trust you. I love you.
Luna saw El taken aback by the sentiment before tears began to well up in the redhead's oceanic eyes. She quickly rubbed them away with her free hand and a sniff before sending Luna a pulse.
I'm scared. I love you.
Luna pulled the vulnerable girl into her arms and stroked her hair gently even as her own emotions started to bubble over upon feeling the raw panic El had sent her, "It's okay El, I'll be there with you, no matter what. You wouldn't be so sure about this if it wasn't important. You're okay. We're okay. Shh..."
It took a few moments before both of them regained composure and Luna saw El's eyes harden in determination. The redhead removed the stick from behind her ear, holding it in a soft but efficient grip and nodded.
They knew there were no more DADA classes for the day and Lockhart was still in his office and there was still time yet before dinner, so Ellie cast all the wards she could around the classroom, silencing and blinding all the portraits, enclosing the room so nothing could get in or out.
Luna went about carving runes quickly about the classroom to isolate the room from the Hogwarts wards for a few minutes. She was only able to do this due to her sensitivity of magic and her ability with runes that already almost rivaled her mother.
Once they were done, they nodded to each other, and El cast a powerful disillusionment, silencing, and scent removing charm about them.
They walked up the stairs, hand-in-hand. When Ellie made it to the door of the office, she simply tapped it with a finger, silently reducing it to dust. Before the man inside could register what happened, El cast a silent stunner that raced from the end of her stick.
Gilderoy Lockhart felt a cold breeze against his skin. He barely registered what was happening before he was hit by a large stream of ice-cold water. He shivered, his head hurt and his sight was slightly blurry.
"Get up," a child's voice said. He was familiar with the voices of children, particularly when he...
"Finish that thought and this will be far more painful for you," the child said.
As his vision cleared he noticed two things. Firstly, he was tied up on his chair not wearing a thing besides his underwear, and secondly, he couldn't see anyone in his office.
Before he could think on it further, he heard an ominous whisper.
"Imperio"
Lockhart felt blissful and calm unlike anything he ever felt before.
"Store the memories of all of your crimes and criminal intentions in the flasks," a voice said.
Something told Lockhart that was the best idea he ever heard. He eagerly complied and set about the task.
"I'm done" he announced with a feeling of accomplishment.
"Good, now I have a few minutes to take my emotions out on you."
Lockhart escaped his daze and became horrified when he recalled exactly what he had done. He immediately tried moving to destroy the flasks. They would end him! He'd get the dementor's kiss, or else a lifetime sentence in Azkaban! He couldn't -
"CRUCIO!"
Gilderoy Lockhart almost blanked out from the pain.
He did not realize it was only a taste of what was to come.
Gilderoy Lockhart spent the last few minutes of his life in hell.
Beaten, broken, scarred, castrated, and incoherent. That was all that was left of the famous bestseller.
Cold oceanic eyes peered into his soul before calling their final judgement.
"Avada Kedavra."
Green light and Lockhart was free from his pain.
If only death was such a lenient entity...
Ellie's concealment and disillusionment charm broke as her composure frayed after she cast the killing spell. Luna's arms were wrapped tightly around her, giving her soft assurances.
"You're okay, shh... you did the best you could..."
"Lu..." Ellie said between vomit and tears, "He was going to... Ginny... you... me... all of us."
Luna was not too surprised by the declaration. She suspected something similar judging by the vitriol with which El had cast her spells just moments prior. She sighed in relief at the fact she managed to get her own curses in on the man. Perhaps they weren't as vicious as Ellie's but they were something. In any case, it was Ellie who had to see into that man's mind, and right now she was definitely not okay.
"You did the right thing El..."
"It's not about that. I gave him as much pain as I could and I don't regret it..." Ellie heaved as she tried her best to reclaim her emotional control, "But... what... what if we didn't catch him? What if he took us by surprise? I would be helpless to do anything if I were stunned... what if something happened to you or Gin...?"
Ellie panicked as she threw up again, unsuccessful at regaining her control. Her magic flared all about the room, destroying everything in its wake but the girl by her side.
"Shh... you're okay, we're okay. Just be more ready next time. There's no way we could have known. It's okay..." Luna assured her witch even as she herself started to feel sick upon thinking of all the implications. But she remained strong for her fire. El needed her now more than ever. Luna realized that though Ellie was incredibly powerful and determined, she was also unexpectedly fragile. That fragility only existed when the people close to her were put in harm's way. It only made her love Ellie more, and it made her want to hold the incredible redhead in her arms and never let her go.
They stayed like that for a while before Ellie managed to reclaim some of her control. She reeled in her magic, absently vanished her sick on the stone floor, and made her way to the floo after reapplying all the concealment charms.
"Minister for Magic, Amelia Bones' Office," she called as she threw in the powder and made the connection.
She turned to Luna before gently taking her hand and guiding the both of them outside the classroom, disabling all of the wards and erasing all the rune work in mere seconds.
They left the classroom as Madam Bones entered the office along with the DMLE head Rufus Scrimgeour and his Aurors.
Amelia sighed as she processed another pile of paperwork. Ever since she was elected minister, she thought she could finally fix some of the glaring faults of the ministry that she was hyper-aware of due to her previous post as the head of the DMLE.
She did not know at the time how much of a mess the previous administration had made of the ministry. It took her a good three years to finally begin making some headway. The first thing she did when she cleared up all that administrative mess was to increase the Auror funds even as Lucius Malfoy and Thaddeus Nott attempted to dissuade her from such 'drastic and unnecessary' action.
She scoffed at the thought. She wasn't unaware of their previous affiliation as Death Eaters, but she was in nowhere near a stable enough position to reopen that can of worms.
She rubbed the bridge of her nose to soothe her headache and take a moment for herself before the floo in her office lit up in a green fire.
She turned her gaze towards it in confusion, and saw where the connection was coming from.
Hogwarts?
She was particularly sensitive about news coming from Hogwarts, not only because her niece Susan was there, but also because of the events that occurred there last year. If she had enough political clout at the time, she definitely would have sanctioned Dumbledore for his negligence. Honestly, she thought, what was the man thinking placing a Cerberus of all things within the walls of the castle? That, and the troll, and the story of what happened that year that she heard from her niece made her increasingly skeptical about the intentions and motivations of the so-called 'Leader of The Light'.
All of it was a huge headache. She simply did not have the time or capability to be stretched in so many different directions at once.
Dumbledore. Death Eaters. DMLE budget. St. Mungo's Infrastructure. Wizengamot sessions...
She reminisced about the days when life was so much simpler and a lot less stressful. She knew her climb to the top of the ministry began when a small girl entered her office to unravel one of the greatest scandals in Wizengamot history.
Her eyes traveled back to the still open floo connection. There was only silence on the other side, but if a connection was made, it was either a prank, or something serious. Dumbledore would not involve the ministry in Hogwarts affairs otherwise.
She sighed as she made her way over to the floo and stuck her head in.
The moment she saw what was on the other side, she retreated and called in all the available Aurors along with the new DMLE head.
Dear Mummy,
The thing you saw before happened. We took care of it.
I feel sick.
Miss you,
- El
PS: Could you give the both of us something to protect us? I've been overconfident.
The Aurors turned away from the gruesome sight the moment they laid eyes upon the DADA office.
Amelia grimly sent a Patronus to Dumbledore.
"What the fuck is going on in your school? Get down here to your DADA office. We need to talk."
"Boss, there's no magical trace," one of the Aurors, Shacklebolt, called out.
"Hey boss, take a look here! They're vials, and I think there're memories in 'em," Nymphadora called out.
Immediately, the others carefully made their way around the corpse and casted diagnostic charms on the memories.
"They're genuine," Scrimgeour said grimly.
They turned to the sight of the mutilated body.
On its forehead, the word 'RAPIST' was carved with some dreadful looking cutting curses. Torso, legs, back. There was barely an inch of skin that was unmarked, and each region had different names written on them. The man's balls were crushed and sliced off, blood having pooled beneath the body. The frozen expression of agony told a grim story about the man's death.
Merlin, Amelia thought to herself, it's like the Dark Lord himself had a personal vendetta against the man. She had never seen the state of a corpse this way except that it was left by that monster. She shelved that thought as Dumbledore and McGonagall stormed in.
The moment they did so, they both froze, and the deputy headmistress turned away, heaving.
Immediately, Dumbledore began casting around the room, looking for anything that may clue him in on the culprit of the tragedy that lay before him.
Minutes later he gave up.
"Dumbledore, do you have your Penseive? There's some evidence we need to review," Amelia said harshly.
Upon depositing every memory they had found into Dumbledore's Pensieve, they each dipped their finger inside the clear liquid.
Half an hour later, the young Aurors threw up inside Dumbledore's office, and McGonagall fared no better.
Amelia and Scrimgeour wore grim countenances, Flitwick growled, his teeth showing. Snape remained impassive, but his complexion paled. Sprout fainted from shock.
"You..." Amelia whispered dangerously as she directed her gaze at the old man whose gaze hardened like the man who had defeated Grindelwald, "hired this sick fuck as a professor?"
The only thing running through Amelia's mind was Susan, and how her niece dodged a Killing Curse, and she was inwardly incredibly thankful that the unnamed murderer dealt with the man on the first day of school.
She really had no pity for Lockhart.
Had they waited any longer...
Amelia shook her morbid thoughts away.
"This is your responsibility and this is due to your hiring process and negligence. There's nothing you can do or say to get yourself out of this. You're under arrest for child endangerment and gross negligence as the Headmaster of Hogwarts. You will be tried and sentenced in a full Wizengamot session. Until then, you'll be taken to a Ministry holding cell to await your trial."
The headmaster's face was blank even as he was brought away to the ministry.
"In his absence, Minerva McGonagall shall claim the position of temporary headmistress. I suggest you cancel classes for the week."
The entourage disappeared through the floo in the headmaster's office.
Fawkes trilled a sad melody.
Dear Sweetie,
I'm sorry to hear that. You can come home with Luna.
We'll be waiting.
Kisses,
- Mummy
PS: Wear the amulets I've sent with this letter. They're inscribed with personalized intent wards. In hopes to keep you both safe.
Ellie and Luna were meandering quietly about the halls of Hogwarts. It wasn't yet dinner, and they did not want to go back to their room in Ravenclaw tower. Luna understood and simply remained the silent pillar for Ellie.
Their interlaced fingers and the way they sporadically sent each other magical pulses were the only form of communication they engaged in.
They were interrupted from their silent walk by two rambunctious magical signatures that made their presence known on either side of them.
"Can ickle Ellie -"
"- and ickle Luna -"
"Spare some of their time?"
Ellie sighed in what seemed to be defeat, and silently nodded.
Her elder brothers guided the two girls in a nearby empty classroom.
"Gred, Forge, what do you need?" Ellie asked tiredly, with only a hint of amusement coloring her tone.
The twin brothers glanced at each other before sitting down.
"Is it true, then? You're dating Luna?" Fred asked with an uncharacteristic warmth and gentleness to his tone.
Ellie silently nodded as Luna scooted closer to her.
George let out a breath, "We won't tell anyone. Mum'll go spare, we know. Just... be careful, alright?"
"We don't mind it because you're our little sister, but anyone else..." Fred continued.
"We just think it best to keep it to yourselves for now. Girls like you two..." George began.
"Are seen as a lot worse than muggleborns by most," Fred finished seriously.
Ellie gave them both a wan smile, "Thanks you two... for being you," she got up and enveloped them both in a hug.
"I've been really scared of our family because of it. The rest of them will know sooner or later..." Ellie admitted quietly within the embrace.
"Even if they will, we'll be right by you," Fred whispered.
"That's right," George confirmed.
Ellie smiled properly for the first time since she committed her first murder.
Luna's eyes became watery at the sight. Her El had people on her side besides just the Lovegoods.
In the comfortable silence that followed, Ellie spoke up, "Say, would you two happen to know a way to get out of Hogwarts grounds undetected?"
The twins grinned at each other with something like satisfaction and pride.
"Why we never thought that -"
"Our ickle Ellie -"
"Was secretly a troublemaker."
"For the next week, all classes will be canceled," Professor McGonagall announced at dinner.
It came as a shock to the student population. Rumors spread like Fiendfyre, each one more outlandish than the last. It would only be a day before they, and Magical Britain, would realize what happened at Hogwarts.
AN: Hope you're enjoying. Don't forget to review to let me know what you guys think!