Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 314: Death or Alive
"Triwizard Tournament?" Lyra tilted her head to one side.
"A tournament? That sounds cool!" Ginny appeared to be excited about it.
"I think I read about that one…" Hermione was trying hard to remember.
"Wasn't it banned after some students died?"
"Wait, seriously?" Lavender asked.
"The Triwizard Tournament is an old tradition. A competition between champions from three different schools who will face three difficult tests to determine which one is the best," Dumbledore explained.
"Three schools?... Does this mean?" Parvati said.
"Are we getting visitors from other schools?!" Lyra exclaimed.
"Boys?!" Lavender perked up.
The Headmaster waited for a bit before continuing.
"In one week, we will receive students from two very prestigious schools into our walls… those will be Beauxbatons and Durmstrang!"
Once the last announcement concluded, the Headmaster finally allowed the feast to begin.
Most of the students were in great spirits after learning about the tournament and the foreign students coming to Hogwarts. But even this was not enough to lift the spirits of many students from Hufflepuff.
It wasn't until very recently, before the start of the classes, that it was finally revealed in the newspaper.
The deaths of Amelia Bones and her niece, Susan Bones, were confirmed on the second page of the Daily Prophet.
The circumstances of their deaths had been skimmed over and were said to have been an unfortunate accident. It did not go into details, other than that it was caused by the partial collapse of their family manor.
Susan had been a very beloved figure in Hufflepuff House, so many of the students were still in shock from her sudden death.
Harry glanced over at the other side of the Great Hall.
The Slytherin table was also devoid of laughs and smiles, but of course, this was for a different reason. They didn't care for a dead Hufflepuff.
Several of their students were missing, much like Blaise Zabini.
The older Slytherins knew better about what was going on out there. But even the youngest ones could feel the tension in the air, and that made them very uneasy.
Most of their parents were now on Voldemort's side, and those who weren't would soon have to make a decision, as was the case with Daphne and Tracey.
A war had already begun, even though most people didn't know about it yet. The members of that house were the closest ones to people who knew what was truly going on behind the scenes.
Harry's eyes landed on an empty chair next to Daphne, serving as a reminder of something he had to do.
'I need to tell her about it…'
Daphne had not brought up the matter of Pansy's absence, but he knew she was very much worried.
After the day of the Quidditch finals and learning about Rookwood and his conversation with the Headmaster, Harry felt the need to check a few things.
There was one sure way to find out if someone was alive or dead, and that was to call upon their soul, something that only he could do.
Calling the name of a living person would have no effect whatsoever, so when he said the name Pansy Parkinson and her spirit manifested in front of him… he learned of her death.
He wanted to understand more about the circumstances surrounding her demise, but much like what happened with Rookwood, her soul appeared to be extremely damaged and could not remain in the mortal realm long enough to reveal any useful information.
Harry then repeated the process with her mother… it was the same.
And then, he tried with Minister Parkinson… the man was dead too.
Which meant two things. That the person ruling the Ministry of Magic was an impostor and that the one responsible for the death of Lord Rookwood was likely the same one who killed the Parkinson family.
Or at least they used the same method.
Lord Greengrass, the Headmaster, and his father James had all mentioned noticing a sudden change of attitude in the Minister.
'That must have been at the point when he was killed and replaced by something else,' Harry concluded.
The only way to know for sure what was happening was to check on him personally. This was unfortunately impossible for the Minister. He was too well protected.
But if the same thing happened to both of them… Rookwood could have the same answers.
There was a slim chance that this could be a simple case of an impostor using Polyjuice Potion or some human transfiguration.
However, the damaged souls told Harry that something much more sinister had befallen those people… especially when Voldemort was involved in this matter.
'It would be just like him to find a way to, not only kill, but also destroy the souls of those he hates.'
"Harry… you have barely touched your plate." Lyra leaned closer to him.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
Harry looked down at his plate. It was true that he had barely touched it. He had too many things in his head at the moment.
"It's nothing… I'm just not feeling very hungry."
His sister stared at him for a moment before shrugging and going back to her meal. After all, she didn't think it could be something serious.
Harry had time to take a few bites of his food before the end of the feast.
The Headmaster ushered them all to their respective house common rooms, and the prefects made sure they all got there.
Harry followed along and went to his room, but he had no plans of resting that night.
"Tempus…" It was almost midnight, and his housemates were fast asleep, like the rest of the castle.
"Time to go."
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