The Board members glanced at each other for a moment before Silong replied.
"Yes, I don't see why not," he answered slowly. "It may not help you if that's not how it was carried out or another wand was used."
"I know," Hu Yetao replied desolately, "but we don't have another option right now."
Silong nodded and looked to Liao. "Fetch Naixin's wand please."
The little elf instantly disappeared and reappeared next to Naixin, who startled and leaned back against her mother. Hu Yetao crossed his fingers, hoping against hope that this would work. He didn't know what the punishment would be for Naixin if she was found guilty but he didn't care. Even the terrified looks on Naixin and Mengs's faces didn't soften his feelings.
Liao snapped his fingers and a wand shot into his hand from out of the belt loop on Naixin's dressing gown. He disappeared with another loud crack and appeared next to Silong in the blink of an eye.
Silong took the wand and placed it carefully on the black table in front of him. He withdrew his wand and pointed it at Naixin's. "Prior Incantato," he cast quietly, a pale beam of ivory light flowing from the tip of his wand to encompass Naixin's.
Hu Yetao held his breath as one by one the stationary wand regurgitated a visual history of previously cast spells; all the typical student spells were there and Hu Yetao watched as Wingardium Leviosa gave way to Aguamenti and so on until…
Portens Stupefy and then Diffindo, popped out of the wand - seven times in a row.
Silong held up a hand to pause the stream and muttered a few words under his breath.
Hu Yetao watched in surprise as the date of the spell suddenly materialized next to the spell name itself. He frowned and quickly tried to work backward to see if the dates matched. A noticeable hitch in Oscar's breathing had him turning to his mate in a hurry; the hopelessness was gone from Oscar's eyes, replaced by something that made Hu Yetao's stomach leap.
The room was heavy with an expectant silence, nobody was making a sound or even moving, even Mr. Zheng was staring frozen at the floating symbols.
"Miss Naixin, please explain this," Silong finally ordered.
She quailed in fear, shrinking back against her mother, eyes fixed on the floating evidence. "I…"
"It wasn't her."
Hu Yetao gaped in surprise as Meng Zheng took a small step forward, chin lifted, eyes defiant and challenging.
"I did it; I used her wand and injured Kazuma to make it look as though Oscar had done it."
Mrs. Zheng gave a tiny gasp of horror while Hu Yetao sagged in his chair; too weak with relief to feel the boiling anger that he knew he should be feeling. He shared a stunning look with Oscar before turning back to Meng.
"Why would you use your sister's wand?" Yong Dong asked, shocked.
Meng sniffed. "I didn't think anyone would suspect her. I didn't want her involved - truly. I love my little sister."
"I think what we would all like to know is why you organized this attack," Xiu Silong said, still looking amazed by the sudden turn of events.
Meng swallowed and glanced at her mother and father before turning back to the Board members. "My parents selected a mate for me, an Alpha of a traditional family in good standing, but I wasn't very fond of him. He wasn't young and attractive and…" She paused and turned her gaze towards Oscar. "He wasn't Oscar," she said boldly.
Hu Yetao narrowed his eyes as she smiled at his mate, the adoration clear underneath all the bravado. He couldn't believe he'd missed how infatuated Meng had been with his mate. Hu Yetao suddenly remembered Meng snapping at him in the library during their first group study session, and now that he thought about it, she'd been rather rude to him all year.
Meng turned back to Mr. Silong. "But then my intended was killed in the war."
Su Miake frowned, hand still resting atop her pregnant belly. "But Oscar was already promised to your sister…"
"Yes, but if she doesn't become an Omega next year…"
Silong, and the others, suddenly nodded in understanding. "It would have fallen to you to marry Oscar in reparation," he said.
Hu Yetao's brow rose to his hairline. He was feeling distinctly out of his depth; attempting to navigate this complex maze of traditional Pureblood crap.
"Yes, I should have thought of that," Oscar quietly murmured next to him, a slight crease between his brows.
"So then you asked your sister to accuse Oscar of attacking Mr. Kazuma?" Mr. Ying asked, tapping the end of his quill absently against his cheek.
"Yes, I convinced her that Oscar was guilty and she agreed to bring the accusation forward," Meng explained with a rueful glance towards her sister. "She is a much better person than I and I knew her sense of righteous injustice would compel her into doing it without a second thought."
Naixin shook her head, eyes still shining with unshed tears. "How could you Meng?" she whispered, clearly distraught.
Meng's expression became pinched and unhappy, appearing remorseful for the first time that evening. She reached out towards her sister but Meng stepped away and refused to look at her. The entire Zheng family seemed unable to meet Meng's gaze, too embarrassed and stunned to do anything more than stare at the floor in silence.
Xiu Silong cleared his throat. "Now that we have a confession, I believe this inquiry can be dismissed. The Board will meet to discuss the matter in private and another meeting shall be held to determine the punishment for Miss Zheng's deception. Naixin you may return to Hogwarts if you wish but Meng you are hence-forth placed under house-arrest within your family's home until further notice."
Hu Yetao tuned out of the rest of the conversation as his head buzzed with ecstatic joy. He breathed out, suddenly lighter than air; the heavy, world-weary burden he'd been carrying around all week was gone in a flash. He was almost dizzy with the abrupt loss of it. He belatedly realized that Oscar was on his feet and tugging at his arm.
"Come on Taotao, we can go," he said, eyes twinkling with a giddy amusement that Hu Yetao had never before seen in his mate's eyes.
Hu Yetao allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, grinning from ear to ear. He wanted to throw his arms around Oscar and hug him for all he was worth, but he restrained himself as he spotted Oscar's parents walking towards them.
Shui Xian placed a gentle hand on her son's shoulder, gazing at him with warm eyes for a moment before silently beckoning for them to follow her and Xiaocheng, who was back in human form, out the door.
Hu Yetao held fast to his mate's hand, still grinning, as they walked out into the corridor. They didn't speak another word until they had reached the empty entrance foyer. There were two house-elves stationed at the doors but the rest of the clan were still in the meeting room, clearly discussing the matter further amongst themselves.
Hu Yetao nearly jumped when Shui Xian slipped an arm through his, and oddly conspiratorial look on her face.
"Mr. Yetao, now that this messy business is over with-" Oscar rolled his eyes at his mother's dismissive term for his possible execution - "we must hold a party to honor your bonding with Oscar."
"Oh," Hu Yetao replied in surprise, cheeks heating. "Erm… is that a thing? Yeah, sure. That would be… fun."
Oscar snorted and took Hu Yetao's arm, gently pulling him away from his mother. "I think what Hu Yetao means is, yes we would be ever so grateful to you for throwing a party in our honor so that Hu Yetao may meet our family friends and notable acquaintances."
"So it is a thing," Hu Yetao mumbled moodily under his breath.
Oscar laughed, clearly still running on a high from the outcome of the meeting, and Hu Yetao smiled back at him, unable to be upset by anything at that moment. After this past week, Hu Yetao knew facing a party full of Nundu and Purebloods would be easy.