Chapter 29 — The Aftermath
The House was in shock. Over the course of the evening, a considerable number of points had found their way into the Ravenclaw hourglass, and while Penny and I had decided not to broadcast where they had come from, Tracy and Padma had no such reservations. By lunch the following day, the entire House knew exactly how we had earned those points. By evening, the whole of Hogwarts knew.
"Mr. Black, the Headmaster wishes to see you."
Flitwick said this the moment I arrived for my lesson, leaving me no choice but to accompany him to the Headmaster's office.
"Do you know why you have been called?"
"I have a fairly good idea..."
I shrugged to make it clear this was no great mystery to me.
"And what would that be?"
"I contacted my mothers and told them about the troll, and they have most likely gone to the D.M.L.E. From there the situation could go one of two ways. On the one hand, Dumbledore may try to bury it, in which case there will only be the Headmaster waiting for us, ready to reproach me for telling anyone. On the other hand, he may not be able to bury it, since the head of the D.M.L.E. has a niece at this school, and I very much doubt she will be pleased to learn that mountain trolls have been wandering the corridors of Hogwarts, in which case we will find a D.M.L.E. representative, possibly Amelia Bones herself, my mothers, and most likely D.M.L.E. investigators."
"I see..."
Flitwick allowed himself a small smile, showing the tips of his teeth.
"Well, whatever awaits us, I want you to know that I am on your side."
"I appreciate that, Master."
I gave Flitwick a grateful nod, and we continued in silence.
"Twix."
I gave a quiet snort at yet another absurd password for the Headmaster's office. The gargoyle standing at the entrance slowly drew aside to let us through, and we went up.
"Albus, I have brought my apprentice."
Flitwick entered first, and when I stepped through after him I found not only Dumbledore waiting but Bella and Amelia Bones as well.
"Excellent... Draco, do sit down. We need to discuss what you communicated to Miss Black, and what has since come to the attention of Madam Bones."
"Indeed."
Amelia gave a nod.
"Your mother, Mr. Black, passed on rather extraordinary information: that a mountain troll was present on the grounds of Hogwarts, and that you killed it."
"That is correct."
I nodded.
"I think it would be simplest to show you my memories directly. It would be more convenient for you as well."
Hmm... let's say I agree...
Amelia nodded.
"...I will take a copy of your memories back to the Department, but for now I would prefer to hear your account of what happened."
"As you wish..."
I shrugged and gave a fairly detailed account of the events of Halloween evening. The story made Bella look at me with undisguised pride, and Madam Bones with a certain measured skepticism, though she did not question my word.
"And how is one to interpret this, Albus?"
Bones was looking steadily at the Headmaster, who gave an easy shrug.
"Amelia, my dear, I made an error, and I failed to notice the moment when Hogwarts's defenses were breached. I freely acknowledge that. But I am only human, and I cannot watch everything at all times. And as it happens, nothing terrible occurred. The troll has been dealt with, the children are safe..."
"Yes, though the girls will have suffered psychological trauma..."
I decided to add my voice.
"...given that the school has no counselor to work with them and ensure that they are all right."
"That is actually a fair point. I shall send a specialist from St. Mungo's. It would do no harm for all those involved in the incident to have a conversation with a qualified professional."
Bones looked at me carefully. I could tell she was waiting for me to protest, since she had effectively just said I too would need to speak to a Healer, but I had no objection whatsoever.
"In the meantime, I would like to ask you a few follow-up questions, Mr. Black."
"Of course, Madam Bones. I am happy to answer anything that helps with the investigation."
"Excellent..."
The witch gave a satisfied nod and produced a small notebook and a quill.
"You mentioned that it took some time to find Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, and yet if I recall correctly, Myrtle's bathroom is not very far from the staircase. Why did the search take so long?"
"That is fairly straightforward. We were first delayed by Peeves. If anyone examines the doors on that floor, they will find traces of Bombarda and Reparo on one of them. He arranged matters so that we would believe someone was being hurt in that classroom."
I gave a crooked smile.
"That Peeves..."
Flitwick grimaced.
"...actually, Mother, I would very much like to learn the Banishing Charm over the summer, in case he ever again decides to put students' lives at risk. I cannot describe his interference in the search as anything else."
"We'll see to it..."
I gave a satisfied nod at Bella's words, then looked back at Madam Bones.
"After that, the girls I was with dug their heels in. They heard soft crying coming from Myrtle's bathroom, but they convinced me it was simply Myrtle herself going over some old grief, not our missing girls. Which is precisely why we walked past that bathroom and came back to it only after checking every other room on the floor."
"I see..."
Bones made several notes.
"And where did the bladed weapon come from?"
"Transfiguration."
I shrugged, pulled my robe off in a single motion, and transfigured it into an axe, then held it out to Madam Bones so she could satisfy herself that it was entirely real.
"Very good. I presume you have an equally ready explanation for your proficiency with it?"
"Naturally."
I gave a nod.
"As a representative of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, I am expected to be competent with steel. A sword is, one might say, a more general-purpose weapon, and I train with it only once a week. An axe, however, is the traditional weapon of the Blacks, and I train with it six days out of seven. I continue that training here at Hogwarts. I go out to the Quidditch pitch every morning for that purpose. Professor Flitwick gave his permission."
"I see... I shall send a specialist to assess your skill level and give their view on whether it is consistent with killing a mountain troll."
"Whatever you think is best."
I gave Madam Bones a nod.
"Good. Now, walk me through exactly how you killed it."
"First, I should note that I intended to face it alone, but the house prefect felt it improper to leave a first-year to manage a troll all by herself, so she joined me. To begin with, she threw a Shrinking Charm; it took her several attempts, but she did hit the club, and the troll simply crushed it in its grip. May I have a sip of water?"
"Of course..."
Dumbledore poured a glass and floated it across to me with a charm. I took a small sip and continued.
"After that I took over. My first strike was to the groin, one of the troll's weakest points. It grabbed itself and dropped to its knees, but as it had been running, the momentum pulled it forward and it went down. I severed the foot, not quite completely, as it turned out."
And it was at that point that you told the girls in the bathroom to run for the staircases?
"Yes. My reasoning was that a troll with a severed foot couldn't move as quickly, and would therefore be unable to catch them anyway. Meanwhile, Penny was pouring hexes at the troll's head and drawing its attention, which gave me the opening I needed to take its head off."
"Very good. And now, a few more questions."
"Before we continue, will there be an investigation into how exactly the troll entered Hogwarts? More specifically, how did it come to be on the third floor?"
"Hmm?"
Several pairs of eyes turned to me with questioning looks.
"It's simply that, as I understood from later conversations, Professor Quirrell initially came running into the Great Hall to report that the troll was in the dungeons. Now, how long would it take an adult, reasonably fit male wizard to get from the dungeons to the Great Hall?"
"Perhaps five minutes?"
Madam Bones looked at me with an uncertain frown.
"Even if it takes slightly longer, the question remains: how did the troll come to be on the third floor? There is no direct route from the dungeons to the third floor wide enough for a troll to pass through. It would have had to use the staircases, and while I have no doubt that a sufficiently intelligent creature like a mountain troll is capable of using stairs..."
I looked carefully around the room.
"...it appeared from the direction of a side corridor, not from the stairs at all. What's more, Professor Flitwick's Patronus reached us at almost exactly the same moment that I heard the troll's footsteps. That seems rather quick."
"That's a fair observation..."
Bones considered this with a thoughtful nod.
"Albus, I would very much like to speak with Professor Quirrell."
"Madam Bones,"
"Yes, Mr. Black, you may go."
"No, that's not what I was going to say."
"Then what?"
"Simply, do you not think that if Quirrell is indeed responsible for all of this, he might not be who he appears to be? It might be worth calling for reinforcements and positioning them around the room under Invisibility Cloaks."
"Mr. Black..."
Dumbledore frowned.
"Your suggestions are excessive. I know Professor Quirrell. He taught Muggle Studies here before, and he is not the sort of person capable of orchestrating something like this."
I simply shrugged at Dumbledore's words and made a small gesture in the sign language Bella had taught me, the sign for readiness and caution. She gave me a small nod to show she understood.
"Then I shall take my leave?"
"You may go, Mr. Black."
I received a nod of dismissal and walked out of the Headmaster's office.
"You conducted yourself admirably in there, Mr. Black."
Flitwick walked beside me, the slight smile on his face making plain that he had thoroughly enjoyed what had unfolded in that room.
"Professor..."
"Yes?"
"Would you consider going back under a Concealment Charm, behind Quirrell? I simply cannot believe this is as straightforward as it appears."
"You know, Mr. Black, I find myself inclined to agree. If you give me your word that you will go directly to the Ravenclaw tower, I shall return to the Headmaster's office."
"You have my word."
I gave a firm nod, and Flitwick immediately cast the charm and dissolved into the air. I made my way to the tower, stepped inside, and settled into a corner of the sofa.
"Why were you called in?"
"They were simply asking questions about the troll and how it was dealt with."
I gave an indifferent shrug.
"And what did you tell them?"
"The truth. I could not have managed without you, so I said exactly how it happened. The conversation is presumably still going on in there, so you may well be called in yourselves for a brief chat. I would strongly advise you not to lie or hedge."
I looked around at Penny, Tracy, Daphne, and Padma, and they all gave understanding nods.
"We won't hedge."
Padma said this with a small smile, clearly amused at getting to use the phrase.
"Hey!"
Penny stared at our Indian housemate with indignation at having her habit parodied.
"That is my thing!"
"Yes, yes, we remember, just as we remember that Draco offered to let you argue for the cat ears as well, and it is looking rather likely that Ravenclaw may acquire a resident cat-girl."
"I am absolutely not going to bet with him again! I've realized by now that it is completely pointless! So I am not falling for his tricks again!"
"If you say so..."
Daphne weighed in with the same skepticism that was visible on all the other girls' faces about Penny's stated intention never to bet with me again. I was more than certain she would try to win it back.
"Even if my stake was no more kisses and no meowing?"
Penny flinched and turned to look at me slowly.
"You absolute snake... what are we betting on?"
"No, no, no..."
I shook my head.
"...we're not making any bet right now. I'm simply letting you know what I could put on the table next time. So you know exactly what you stand to win."
"Understood..."
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