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BS - Chapter 49: The Discovery
🕑 Added 2025-08-11 11:00:54 +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 49: The Discovery
Minerva McGonagall was having a pleasant night of sleep when she was suddenly startled awake by a voice shouting at her.
“Professor! Professor! You have to wake up!”
She almost jumped out of bed and rushed outside her small bedroom into her office.
The painting that she always had hanging over her desk depicted a peaceful meadow with trees and a river. She had always found it soothing to look at while she did her paperwork.
But now there was someone standing in the middle of that peaceful meadow, an old man with long white hair and a generous beard, dressed in fancy blue-colored robes, shouting at her for attention.
“Professor!”
“Headmaster Dippet? What is going on?” McGonagall became alarmed. She knew that the living paintings would only come to her if it was something of utmost importance, much less this particular one, which belonged to the previous Headmaster of Hogwarts, before Dumbledore took charge over twenty years ago.
His painting was supposed to be inside the Headmaster’s office, and McGonagall had never seen him leaving it before.
“I believe something terrible has occurred to the current Headmaster. All the paintings inside the office have been destroyed, and we can’t see anything,” former Headmaster Armando Dippet informed her.
McGonagall felt a shiver run down her back. 'Have we not suffered enough tragedies already?'
She could only think of the worst possible scenarios. 'Please, not Albus…'
The professor went back to her room and took hold of her wand. “Expecto Patronum!” A small tabby cat flew out and passed through the wall.
“Mister Dippet, have the paintings alert as many of the professors as you can. Send them all to the Headmaster’s office. I’m going there first,” she spoke to the painting, which reluctantly took the orders.
It was fortunate that Alastor Moody and Tonks were currently staying inside the school, in some of the guest rooms, so McGonagall sent them a message before getting dressed in a hurry and leaving her office.
“Tempus.” She glanced at the glowing numbers before her. It was already past eleven P.M. Everyone in the castle should have been long asleep by now.
The professor arrived at the last floor and continued walking as fast as she could to Dumbledore’s office, keeping an eye on her surroundings and searching for anything out of place.
However, other than the eerie silence filling the halls, nothing seemed off.
“Pear Drops.” She spoke the password to the statue, and it opened up.
McGonagall held her wand firmly in her hand as she slowly climbed the set of stairs.
The silence was filling her with trepidation.
She found the door to the office slightly open, so she pushed it just enough to see inside.
The professor let out a loud gasp when she saw the state of the room.
There were pieces of Dumbledore’s desk scattered all over the place, as well as a variety of objects that the Headmaster usually kept well organized.
“Fawkes?” Her eyes went to one side. A large block of ice captured her attention, and inside it, the phoenix was still trapped.
“What happened her—”
It was then that she saw him. Albus Dumbledore was lying on the floor of his office, his back resting against the back wall, eyes closed.
“No…” McGonagall muttered under her breath before rushing to his side. “Albus!” She put her hands on his face and was startled by how cold his skin felt to the touch.
“This can’t be happening… You can’t be dead… not you.” Tears formed in her eyes.
She checked his pulse but found none. “Albus, please…”
The professor didn’t know what to do next, so she remained there, kneeling beside the corpse of the Headmaster until more people arrived at the office.
With loud steps, Alastor Moody entered, followed by his partner, Tonks.
“What is going on? That old painting could not explain it prop—” Moody stopped mid-sentence when he saw McGonagall.
“Merlin!” Tonks exclaimed and brought her hands to cover her mouth.
“Albus… is he?” Moody approached, both eyes focused on the Headmaster.
McGonagall was crying by now. She just nodded.
Moody’s magical eye started moving quickly, scanning the room. It immediately found Fawkes. “They froze the phoenix.”
“Who could have done something like this? Isn’t Dumbledore the most powerful wizard in the country? He defeated Grindelwald!” Tonks almost shouted. She had grown up hearing stories about how incredible this wizard was—the best one since Merlin, her mother used to say.
Now she could not believe someone had ended his life. “You think this has something to do with… You-Know-Who?”
Moody glared at her. She was not supposed to talk about that outside their secret meetings. She was lucky McGonagall was also part of the Order. “Let’s not jump to conclusions yet.”
“Right… should we call fo—” Before Tonks could finish, they heard numerous steps getting closer.
The paintings had alerted all Hogwarts personnel, and they were all coming toward the office.
The first ones to enter were Professor Flitwick and Severus Snape, who hadn’t even been sleeping at the time.
“Severus, you are back.” McGonagall looked at the new arrivals. She had not seen the Potions Master for an entire week after he left to join the Dark Lord.
“I just came back tonight and… oh no…” His dark eyes fell on the figure of the Headmaster. “Is he?…”
“Dead. Yes,” Moody responded. “Although I should say murdered.”
“The Headmaster has been murdered?!” Flitwick exclaimed.
“Yes, and this is now a crime scene. I’m going to need everyone to wait outside,” Moody said.
