ACCUSATIONS

Chapter thirteen

Accusations

The following morning, Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric went down to breakfast early, not willing to miss any announcements about a burglary in professor Griffiths's office. They were disappointed when that did not happen. Professor Griffiths was sitting next to Mr Cormac and looked his normal relaxed self, nothing to indicate that his private quarters had been broken into last night, which left them wondering what Mordaunt, Zayne and Trevill had been up to exactly. Since Griffiths didn't seem to be missing anything and they could not tell anyone how they knew someone had broken into his office in the first place, they were forced to let the matter rest. After the fiasco trying to get into the Restricted Section, Cedric had decided to go back to looking in the non-restricted area of the library for books on the Dragon Ring them but Rick didn't hold his breath for something to turn up from that. They'd looked a hundred times already and he was beginning to think they were never going to find anything about that ring.

As November progressed, the weather turned colder and students took to gathering in the warmer places of the castle and tried to avoid the much colder corridors. On a particularly cold day, about a week after their attempt to break into the Restricted Section, Rick had just collected Cedric from the library in time for Transfiguration class when they bumped straight into Garron, the head boy, and his friends on the first floor.

"Watch where you're going, little trouble-maker." Garron teased as he recognized Rick. "I haven't seen you in detention lately so I see you heeded my advice. Good on you." He placed his hand brotherly on Rick's shoulder and just like that, a realization dawned on Rick. Garron wasn't wearing his ring anymore, that gaudy ring that, when he thought about it, had looked suspiciously like the image of a dragon.

"It's you." He uttered, understanding dawning on him.

"Excuse me?" Garron asked, somewhat surprised at Rick's strange statement.

"You have the Dragon Ring, the dark object the Ministry's looking for." Rick explained and he saw a fleeting look of panic on Garron's face before the head boy recovered himself.

"You are mistaken." He replied uncomfortably. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"You wore the ring when we had detention from you." Rick was not deterred for the more he thought about it, the more certain he was.

"I told you, you are mistaken." Garron repeated a little more forcefully. "Now go to your class before I start deducting points."

"Come on, Rick, let's go." Cedric urged him. Realising he wasn't going to get further bickering, Rick complied and allowed Cedric to lead him on the way to class.

"It's Garron." Rick explained to Cedric. "He has the dragon ring, I'm sure of it."

"How can you be so sure?" Cedric asked eagerly.

"I know he has it, I saw him wearing it that night we had detention." Rick explained.

"But that's impossible." Cedric replied. "Doge was murdered later that night, Garron couldn't have had the ring already." Rick shook his head.

"I don't know how it's possible but he has it, I'm sure of it. I have to tell Cormac." He said and turned around to head back to the Great Hall to seek out the ministry official.

"You can't now, we have Transfiguration in a few minutes." Cedric yelled after him but Rick did not hear him. He hurried back to the Entrance Hall, where he knew Cormac would be observing the students leaving the Great Hall after lunch.

"Mr. Cormac?" He addressed the ministry man. Cormac gave Rick a quick once-over but did not look very impressed. "I'm Rick O'Connell, I have some information for you." Cormac turned to look at him, looking a bit more intrigued.

"Proceed."

"I heard you were looking for a dragon ring." Rick said carefully and he saw Cormac's eyebrows rise in surprise.

"Where did you hear that?" The man asked curiously but Rick ignored the question.

"I know who has it." He said quickly. "His name is Garron, he's a seventh year Slytherin. I've seen him wearing the ring." Cormac straightened, looking far more interested now.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you for coming forward with this information, Mr. O'Connell. Now, I suggest you head for class while I take care of this." The ministry man stalked off in the direction of the stairs and Rick, not at all interested in Transfiguration right now, followed him. They did not have to go far, they met Garron at the top of the stairs.

"Mr. Garron, a word please?" Cormac addressed the Head Boy. Garron looked surprised but obliged and allowed Cormac to guide him away from the throng of students trying to get to class. Rick approached as closely as he dared and strained to hear what Cormac was saying.

"Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Cormac?" Garron asked confused.

"Perhaps." Cormac replied. "I have been informed that you are in possession of a rather peculiar ring. Do you mind showing it to me?" He asked.

"A peculiar ring, sir?" Garron replied, looking confused.

"Yes, a ring with the likeness of a dragon." Cormac tried to jog his memory but Garron didn't show any signs of recognition. Rick had to give him credit, he could hide his guilt well.

"No, doesn't ring a bell." He said. "I'm afraid you've been misinformed, sir. Who told you this?" Worried Garron would talk his way out of it, Rick interrupted the conversation.

"I did." He said and he walked up to join Cormac and Garron. He wanted to make sure Garron knew who he was dealing with. The head boy must know that he'd betrayed himself to them the night of their detention. To his pleasure, he saw Garron's eyes widen in anger with a hint of fear.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cormac but this boy is lying. From the first day he got here, he has demonstrated a pathological need for attention, this must be another way of getting it now that he has had enough of detentions." Garron explained calmly to Cormac and Rick felt a rush of anger overwhelm him.

"You're the one who's lying, you twat!" He shouted. "I know you have it." Several students looked up and slowed down to see what was happening. Cormac waved them off but he wasn't very successful.

"And I told you before, you are mistaken." Garron's voice rose now too and the crowd of onlookers swelled.

"Keep your voices down." Cormac hissed.

"I'm sorry, sir but the boy is confused." Garron replied more calmly again. "The only ring I have is this one." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring bearing the image of what was unmistakeably a snake and definitely not the ring Rick had seen him with. "It's my Slytherin ring. All of us seventh years got one to commemorate our final year at Hogwarts."

"Rubbish, that's a different ring." Rick shouted.

"I'm afraid it is not." Garron replied calmly. "I do not make a habit of involving myself in what I can only assume is a nefarious object. I'm hoping for a good position at the Ministry of Magic next year, such business would only jeopardize my chances. I'm sorry this boy has troubled you, Mr. Cormac but I believe he's only trying to incriminate me as pay-back for me giving him detention."

"You big fat liar! Just watch I don't hex you within an inch of your life!" Rick yelled. The murmurs from the large group of students that had gathered in the hall rose. Mr. Cormac looked at them with aggravation.

"What is going on here?" Professor Creedon demanded to know as he shuffled closer. "All that noise."

"O'Connell is accusing me of having a dark object, sir." Garron informed the professor.

"What? Speak up, man." Creedon demanded and Garron repeated his statement, a bit louder this time.

"Dark object? What dark object?" Professor Creedon sounded confused.

"A dragon ring, sir." Garron replied before Cormac could say anything.

"Hogwash!" Creedon exclaimed loudly. "Mr Gordon is head boy and an excellent student. He wouldn't hide something that dangerous, no, no, no." Rick rolled his eyes at the professor's naivety. "Who…who accuses him?"

"I do." Rick answered firmly. "I saw him with the dragon ring."

"I told you, the boy must have mistaken my Slytherin ring for something else." Garron replied impatiently and before Rick could protest, he added, "You're welcome to search my quarters but I assure you, you won't find a dragon ring there."

"We will do no such thing." Professor Creedon interrupted outraged. "Where are we heading if you can't even trust the word of a head boy over that of a young upstart?" He admonished. "In my day, this accusation wouldn't even have been taken seriously." He reproved Cormac, whose eyes flicked to the large crowd they had attracted. He looked increasingly annoyed with the amount of attention they were getting.

"Indeed, that won't be necessary, Mr. Garron." Cormac ground out, forcing a smile.

"You can't believe him!" Rick yelled at Cormac pointing at Garron. "He's lying!"

"Mr. O'Connell, mind yourself." Professor Creedon admonished. "Ten points from Gryffindor."

"But professor, he's lying." He repeated pleadingly. They had to believe him.

"Twenty points!" Was Creedon's angry reply. "I trust that will teach you to respect your elders." The old professor nodded his goodbye and shuffled away.

"My apologies for troubling you, Mr. Garron." Cormac addressed Garron with another forced smile.

"No problem, Mr. Cormac," Garron replied sweetly. "I know you're only doing your job. Know that I'll do mine and will report to you if I find out who does have this ring of yours." Cormac grimaced.

"Your help is most appreciated, Mr. Garron." Rick glared at the head boy as he continued on his way until a heavy weight on his shoulder forced him to turn around and face a livid Cormac.

"The next time you think you have an idea, O'Connell," he hissed. "Do me a favour and get some evidence before you start accusing random people, have everyone know why I'm here and generally waste my time just for a moment in the spotlight." He spat angrily. "Now my chances of finding the dragon ring have decreased even more." He gave Rick a not so gentle nudge towards the stairs and walked away in the opposite direction without another word. Rick could not say anything, too perplexed to produce any sound. The crowd that had gathered watched him with curious eyes and people began to whisper. Rick scowled at them. He could not believe it. For once, he had done the right thing and no one believed him. Stupid Cormac, stupid Creedon, stupid Garron. He would show them!

News travelled fast, however, and by the end of the day, almost every student knew Rick had tried to accuse the head boy of having a dark object. The common room that evening was anything but a nice place to be for Rick. As he'd failed to get to Transfiguration in time, professor Rowlett had deducted another twenty points from Gryffindor house, which only made Rick even more unpopular with his housemates. Only Cedric, Terri and Rigel stuck with him, which Rick really appreciated for they received a fair bit of backlash for doing so. They sat at one of the round tables tucked away in a corner that evening so as not to attract too much attention, trying to do the Transfiguration homework Rowlett had saddled them with that day but they had a hard time concentrating.

"It'll blow over." Rigel said after yet another hateful comment from a fourth year girl.

"I don't need it to blow over, I need to have Garron proven guilty." Rick growled.

"Are you sure you saw Garron wearing the Dragon ring?" Cedric asked unsure.

"Don't you start." Rick warned him.

"Sorry, it's just, how would he have gotten it?" Cedric asked. Rick thought about it.

"The older students went to Hogsmeade, didn't they? Garron could have gotten the ring then." He said.

"But why was Doge killed then if not for the ring?" Terri reasoned. Rick shrugged.

"Merlin knows why," He replied venomously. "Could be a hundred different reasons. Maybe his wife killed him and told the story about the ring to cover it up."

"You have to admit," Cedric said, ignoring Rick's answer. "It's a bit strange for Garron to be wearing the dragon ring for everyone to see. I mean, if he wanted to keep a low profile, he wasn't doing a very good job of it, wearing a dark object like that in public." Rick let that sink in and realized Cedric made sense.

"Maybe he thought he didn't need to?" Terri suggested. "It's not like anyone here would recognize it, we didn't find anything on the ring in the library, even in the restricted section. It's only because Cormac came looking for it we learned about it."

"Exactly." Rigel agreed. "And he's just arrogant enough to think he could get away with it."

"Okay," Cedric conceded. "So if Garron has the ring, why wouldn't he just hand it over to Mr. Cormac then? I mean, It's not like he can be linked to the murder, we all know he couldn't have killed Doge as he was overseeing your detention that night."

"I don't think he wants to hand it over." Rick said. "I think he wants to keep it for himself."

"And do what?" Terri asked.

"I don't know, use it, I suppose for whatever dark purpose he has in mind." Rick shrugged.

"Like what?" Terri asked worriedly.

"I don't know." Rick replied, getting frustrated by questions he did not know the answer to. He knew Garron had the ring. How or why he got it didn't really matter.

"What if he used it already?" Terri wondered.

"No, he couldn't have." Cedric answered. "Dark objects leave behind traces that wouldn't go unnoticed by the professors or Mr. Cormac and if I learned anything from those awful books in the restricted section, dark rituals require ingredients that cannot be found easily. A lot of them even require some form of animalistic or even human sacrifice. We would have known if he had tried to use it."

"So, Garron might just be biding time until he finds all the correct ingredients?" Rick asked.

"Possibly." Cedric replied. Rick mulled that thought over in his head. If that was true, it meant that Garron must have the ring hidden somewhere and it wasn't too late to prove he was right. He was shaken from his thoughts by a clap on his shoulder. It was Crusher, accompanied by his trusty friends Doolan and Hurst.

"Heard you made a rather feeble attempt at taking revenge on Garron today." Crusher chuckled.

"I wasn't trying to take revenge, I was telling the truth." Rick defended himself annoyedly.

"If you say so." Crusher replied with a chuckle.

"Here's a friendly piece of advice." Doolan said. "If you want revenge, try something else than accusing him. Garron's too much of a goody-good to do anything wrong."

"I didn't-"

"Whatever, man." Crusher interrupted his protest. "Good luck." And with that, he and his friends sauntered over to a free table. Rigel, Cedric and Terri gave Rick a sympathetic look.

"It'll blow over." Rigel reminded him.

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