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BS - Chapter 38: A Grave Loss
🕑 Added 2025-07-28 10:49:44 +0000 UTCDisclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
“Dialogue”
‘Thoughts’
-Author notes-
Chapter 38: A Grave Loss
Dumbledore stood on his podium in front of the whole school, looking at them with a sad expression.
“I’m sure many of you were already wondering about the commotion that occurred at the first time of the morning. Aurors had entered the school grounds… two of them are still here, right behind me.”
Everyone at the table started to murmur. They had been exchanging theories about the motives for the Aurors’ visit since someone spotted them entering the castle.
Harry was calmly munching on a piece of bread while looking around the professors’ area in the hall.
His eyes stopped at two particular individuals who were standing a few steps behind the Headmaster.
One was Alastor Moody, who they were all very familiar with already. But Harry’s attention was mostly focused on the other person at his side.
‘It’s her…’ Harry recognized the young female with colorful hair. It was the same one he had met at Azkaban on the night of his resurrection.
He hadn’t expected to see her again so soon.
Dumbledore waited for a moment and then continued speaking.
“This morning… I was warned by one of the ghosts that something terrible had occurred on Hogwarts grounds… a student was found dead. She had apparently jumped from the Astronomy Tower. The name of this student is Cho Chang, a fifth-year student from Ravenclaw.”
The hall exploded in loud murmurs as everyone began to discuss the news with each other.
“Oh my God! Cho Chang is dead?”
“I can’t believe it.”
“She killed herself? That’s so sad…”
“I didn’t know she was depressed.”
“I bet it was because her boyfriend was murdered by a certain someone…”
Everyone seemed to be talking at the same time. And Harry began to receive some attention as well.
‘Apparently, these students like to blame me for everything.’ Harry thought that they always found a way to bring it back to him.
Of course, in this particular situation, they were more right than they could imagine, as Harry had been directly responsible for that girl’s death.
After placing her under the Imperio curse, he had ordered her to hide in a broom closet on the seventh floor until midnight, then go to the Astronomy Tower and jump down.
It had been disappointingly easy to kill a student inside the castle. The Headmaster doesn't seem to have as much control over what happened inside the school as Harry had originally presumed.
“I know we are all very saddened by the news, but…” Dumbledore turned to look at those behind him.
“In cases like these, the Ministry insists on having a full investigation to determine how the...well… The two Aurors behind me are going to speak the names of several students. If your name is mentioned, you will accompany them and answer their questions. That is all for now.”
Moody walked up to the podium with a piece of paper in hand and began to read the names of students. Most of the ones he mentioned were classmates of Cho Chang, as they were trying to determine the motives behind this tragedy.
However, at the end, he called up a name that piqued Harry’s interest.
“And… Luna Lovegood as well,” Moody finished reading his list.
“Very well, that will be all,” Dumbledore spoke. “Those who have been called, I will need you to come to the front and follow the Aurors. The rest of you, finish your breakfast in peace. There will be no classes today.”
Harry felt a tug on his robes— it was Hermione.
“Is this going to be fine?... They called Luna,” she said in a soft whisper.
Harry shook his head. “No need to concern yourself with that.” It wasn’t that he trusted Luna, but he did have complete trust in his slave collar.
Luna would never be able to reveal any of his secrets, even if she wanted to.
Harry glanced at Hermione. The same thing could be said about her.
“Since we have no classes today, prepare the tea set for this afternoon. I will take it to the same place as last time. Oh, and… some of those scones as well, the ones with blueberries.”
“Okay, leave it to me.” Hermione made sure to take note of everything he said.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
“Tonks.” Moody had to shake her shoulder to get her attention.
“Whoa, sorry… I was… my head was somewhere else.”
Tonks had a very bizarre feeling when she was at the Great Hall. It was a foreboding sense of familiarity that made her blood run cold, but no matter how much she glanced around the room, she couldn’t find the culprit.
“Well, bring your head back here. Go call the first girl. I want to get this over with before lunch…” Moody looked very displeased.
“You think this is a waste of time?” Tonks asked.
It was very clear that this was a suicide, but asking some questions to the acquaintances of the victim was the usual protocol to try to determine the motives for what happened.
“A waste of time? Not at all. I just want to speak with the healer who took the body of that girl before it’s too late for tests,” Moody said.
“What do you mean? What tests?” Tonks asked.
“In cases like these, the healer in charge normally would only check for substances in the blood, but not for curses,” Moody explained.
“You think… that she was killed? What makes you think that?” Tonks looked confused. There was no evidence that pointed to foul play.
“Over thirty years of experience in the field is telling me this. But I’m not making any claims yet. I just want to be sure. Call the first girl.” Moody pointed at the door.
Tonks nodded and walked to it, opened it up, and poked her head out, glancing at the five girls who were waiting outside.
“Let’s start with you.” She pointed at a short girl with black messy hair. “Come on in.”
The girl walked inside, looking extremely nervous and not daring to glance at either Moody or Tonks.
“You are…” Moody glanced at his paper. “Marietta Edgecombe, right?”
“Y-yes sir…” the girl responded.
“Were you with Miss Chang yesterday?” Tonks asked.
“Yes, we attended class together, and then we went to one of the resting areas near the Ravenclaw Tower, and…” The girl stopped talking.
“And?…” Tonks urged her to continue.
“I’m sorry, I… I don’t remember well what happened. I think I fell asleep on one of the couches, and when I woke up, Cho was no longer with us.”
“You don’t remember when you fell asleep?” Tonks asked.
The girl shook her head. “I don’t think I was that tired… and Amelia was with me. She also fell asleep.”
Tonks and Moody exchanged a look.
“Go call this Amelia,” Moody said. “Looks like my instincts were correct once more.”
