Chapter 74: The Attack
The moment Helena disappeared, I let out a long breath.
"Draco, you're being childish."
"I know."
I sighed again.
"But she really did hurt me. It wasn't even because she failed to tell me the object she promised was gone. It was because she thought I would refuse to help her. And for that reason, I have absolutely no desire to speak with her."
"You do realize you'll have to talk to her eventually."
"Later rather than sooner."
"Tch."
Penny shook her head.
"By the way, you've stopped meowing."
Penny gave me a slight smile.
"I noticed. But I still wear the ears."
"You do."
I smiled back, then waved a hand.
"Fine, you don't have to meow. It is very endearing, but the joke has run its course."
"Thank you. Though I'll still meow sometimes, when we're alone together, for instance."
She said that last word directly into my ear, and a stampede of shivers ran the length of my body purely because of the way she said it. *Damn it, if I were even slightly older, I'd have...*
"Penny. Don't play with fire."
At that moment, the common room door opened and a crowd of children tumbled in, frightened and agitated in equal measure.
"Draco, something happened!"
Hermione was at my side before the others, already poised to pour it all over me.
"And what might that be?"
"Someone attacked Mr. Filch's cat!"
I blinked.
Inside, I went completely cold.
"No. No, no, no. Not this. Ginny doesn't have the diary. I made sure of that. I've been watching her and she hasn't done anything remotely strange."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Mr. Filch's cat was attacked. He assumed it was the twins at first, but then Dumbledore said the cat had been Petrified and that no student could have done something like that. Filch is still cursing the twins regardless."
"Damn it."
I shook my head.
"It wasn't them."
Ginny stepped up beside me, and in her eyes I saw a plea. She was begging me to believe her.
"You know, I might have pointed to your brothers myself. Their pranks do get out of hand sometimes, and you've seen that."
Ginny gave a reluctant nod.
"But if the Headmaster says no student could have managed this, I'm inclined to believe him."
"Thank you."
The relief in Ginny's voice was palpable. The other students were already looking at her with considerably less suspicion than they had a moment before. It wasn't as though Filch's cat was particularly beloved, nor was Filch himself, but the students of our house had a certain steady regard for the man. And something like this could not simply be ignored. Everyone was waiting for my assessment.
*Interesting.* I hadn't realized how much authority I'd accumulated in this house without quite noticing.
"Right, so the cat was attacked and is now Petrified. Did the Headmaster say anything else?"
"No, he just sent everyone to their rooms. But there was a message on the wall above the cat: 'Enemies of the Heir, beware.'"
I sighed.
This was what came of Helena's silence. Children were now in danger, and I refused to let that happen, which meant I was about to go on an extremely inadvisable walk.
One consolation, at least: a Basilisk is not a stupid creature. It is perfectly capable of making its own decisions. If the cat was Petrified rather than dead, either the order was not to kill, or the Basilisk had chosen to hold back.
But still. Walking into a Basilisk's lair. It would be genuinely difficult to think of a worse plan.
Though an even worse plan would be to report my suspicions to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. They would simply send a squad and destroy the Basilisk, but it had served this castle for centuries and was still serving it. The spiders in Hagrid's care hadn't taken over the Forbidden Forest or mounted raids on the castle largely because every creature out there was afraid of what lived below. Remove that, and the balance collapses.
"Lika!"
With a soft pop, my little house-elf appeared at my side and bowed so deeply her ears nearly touched the floor.
"Lika is here, Professor's assistant."
"Lika, would you please arrange a cup of warm cocoa for every Ravenclaw student, with a few drops of Calming Draught? Check the exact proportions with Madam Pomfrey."
"It will be done!"
She vanished.
"All right. No one leaves. We wait for the cocoa, we drink it, and we go to bed. I expect the Headmaster will sort the situation out, so there's no cause for alarm."
"And if he doesn't?"
One of the seventh-years posed the question.
"Then those of us who are teachers and assistants will help him. Don't worry about that."
The boy nodded.
"As a precaution, however..."
I looked around the room carefully.
"...as Professor Flitwick's assistant and Penny's deputy, I am introducing a rule: no one moves through the castle in groups of fewer than five."
"Do you think there'll be another attack?"
Tracey asked this in a slightly tense voice.
"I don't know. But as someone with a degree of responsibility here, I have to hope for the best and plan for the worst."
At that moment, Lika returned with other house-elves, and they began carrying in trays of cocoa. Students took their cups and drifted away to their rooms.
"Draco, are you planning to spend the night in the armchair?"
"Penny... I just need to think."
"Shall I keep you company?"
There was a faint note of shyness in Penny's voice.
"Well..."
I shrugged.
"...if you'll let me lie with my head in your lap."
"Of course."
She nodded quickly, and I took her at her word. A short while later, we were comfortably arranged, with me lying with my head on her knees, eyes half-closed, Penny's hand moving carefully through my hair.
"Any thoughts?"
She asked this about half an hour after the common room had emptied.
"Plenty of thoughts. None of them fit for polite company."
"I see."
We fell quiet again. I stared at the fire and thought.
The diadem. I needed to find whoever had taken it, or rather, whoever had been taken over by the fragment inside it. He wouldn't walk around the castle wearing it on his head. He'd hide it somewhere. A search of students' belongings?
No. That was absurd. I couldn't manage something like that alone. Though... perhaps I could suggest to Flitwick that he pass information to the Department, a hint that the attack might have been carried out by a student in possession of a certain artifact?
"Draco, will things actually be all right?"
"I think so."
I nodded slowly.
"Or at least as all right as things can be in a dying world."
"Dying?"
"Well, we still haven't identified the dark creatures that attacked us in France last summer. Even our mothers haven't found anything in the library yet. So for now, let's say the world is dying."
"Damn it. You're really not making my life any easier."
Penny shook her head.
"Probably for the best. A simple life breeds complacency. We're better off staying sharp."
"Mm."
The following morning.
"Draco, would you mind coming with me?"
Flitwick caught me at the entrance to the common room as I was returning from the morning training session.
"Of course."
I nodded to the girls as they headed inside, then followed the professor through the corridors until we arrived at the entrance to the Headmaster's office.
"Twix."
The gargoyle stepped aside, and we made our way up to find the others already assembled.
"Mr Black."
"What a gathering."
I kept my expression carefully neutral.
"Might I ask the reason for the invitation?"
"Certainly."
Dumbledore gave a genial nod.
"Mr Black, we would like to understand where you spent yesterday evening. As you may have heard, a rather unpleasant event occurred during the feast, and..."
"I heard."
I nodded.
"When the students came back, I made sure each of them received a cup of cocoa with a few drops of Calming Draught. You can ask the house-elf Lika and Madam Pomfrey. Lika should have consulted her about the exact proportions."
"Very good. I'm glad you were already informed. But you still haven't answered the question."
"It's quite straightforward."
I shrugged.
I was conducting an experiment. I'd accumulated a number of theories I wanted to test, and last night was an ideal opportunity. Miss Clearwater was with me, so she can confirm that I was not wandering the corridors.
"I see."
"Tell us more specifically, boy."
I winced slightly. I had no desire to reveal what I had been doing, but I had even less desire to invite greater suspicion.
"It would be simpler to show you."
"Show us?"
Dumbledore and the other staff looked taken aback.
"Yes. I was not entirely straightforward when I said theories and experiments. What I was actually doing was performing a rather unusual ritual. But since my account clearly hasn't put anyone's mind at rest..."
I shook my head.
"...I see no point in building theories and giving you cause to doubt my honesty."
"And what, exactly, can you show us?"
Snape's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Lika!"
I called the house-elf with a slight thread of magic behind the name, and she appeared at my side at once.
"Do you know of the Room of Requirement?"
"Of course."
She nodded vigorously.
"Good. There is a portrait in that room, the portrait I was working on last night. Could you bring it here?"
"Of course!"
A ripple of confusion passed across the faces of everyone present. When Lika vanished with a pop and then reappeared...
"And what is the meaning of this?"
Rowena looked around with mild puzzlement at whoever happened to fall within her field of view.
"My apologies for disturbing you, but last night, while I was carrying out the ritual to summon the imprint of your consciousness and soul and bind it to the portrait, an incident occurred at the school. I found it simpler to present you in person than to construct a story that would only increase suspicion."
"I see. Would someone hang me on the wall, please, so I can see everyone present?"
The room was thrown into complete disarray. Even the other portraits were staring at the newcomer in open shock and disbelief. But Dumbledore found it within himself to nod, and the portrait was duly placed on the wall beside the other former Headmasters and Headmistresses.
"Miss Ravenclaw?"
Flitwick was the first to recover his voice.
"Yes, that is who I am. And I can confirm that young Mr. Black spent the evening performing the ritual that bound my image to this portrait."
"But that's impossible! Portraits are made when the subject is living!"
"That is true."
I nodded.
"However, Lady Ravenclaw left a profound mark on history, and her daughter remains in the castle, so with the use of certain costly ingredients, summoning an imprint of her personality was only barely possible. Binding that personality to the portrait was considerably more difficult."
"Lady Ravenclaw, I hope you'll forgive me, but I must be certain that this portrait was indeed created last night."
Dumbledore raised his wand. Rowena grimaced slightly but nodded, and Dumbledore began his examination.
------------------------------------------
Chapters on Patreon progress: Currently at;
1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 286
2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 198
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 287
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 126
support me on Patreon for instant access to the 120+ advance chapters: patreon.com/redofic