Chapter 82: Parted

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"I wonder if she did see the attacker, though?" said Dean, looking sadly at Hermione's rigid face. "Because if he sneaked up on them all, no one will ever know…"

Before Harry could reply, footsteps rang from outside the Hospital wing. They turned to see Professor McGonagall walk in, somehow looking even more distressed and shaken than she had been when she had left them. "Mr. Thomas. Mr. Potter. I will escort you back to your respective towers," she said heavily.

"Did the stunt go alright Professor? Is Professor Lockhart fine? Is everything alright?" Dean asked.

Her face wilted, "Unfortunately not Mr. Thomas. It failed. Professor Lockhart was able to float down for a few moments, before he plummeted down."

"But the net caught him right? He's safe?" Harry asked, his stomach dropping. McGonagall's tone did not bode well.

"The net's enchantement had failed," she grimly said, "and it didn't slow him down as much as it needed to.

Professor Lockhart suffered from serious bone injuries and internal injuries, and is in a serious condition right now. He was just portkeyed him over to St Mungo's Hospital to start his treatment and hopefully, will soon recover."

Ping!

Quest Failure!

Keep Lockhart alive and awesome-looking until the end of January!

Failure,

Possible death amongst the Hogwarts students!

'Oh no. Oh no no,' Harry thought as he read through the window and paled. 'This was bad. This was very bad. How could this have even happened?! He had made sure that the net was enchanted.'

"Take a couple of more minutes with Miss Granger," McGonagall said, unaware of Harry's internal turmoil, "I need to talk to Madam Pomfrey before we head back."

As Dean watched McGonagall head off deeper into the Hospital wing, Harry rested his head in his palms, his mind running through the hundred worst-case scenarios that this could lead to. Suddenly, something caught his sight through the corner of his eye.

Hermione's right hand.

It lay clenched on top of her blankets, and bending closer, he saw that a piece of paper was scrunched inside her fist.

Checking to make sure that Dean wasn't looking, Harry quickly used his strength to pry open her vice grip on the paper, only managing to tell that it was some sort of newspaper cut-out before he subtly dropped it into his inventory.

Dean, who was still trying to catch sight of whatever McGonagall was talking about with Madam Pomfrey, saw none of it, and Harry decided that he'd tell him the next day.

Professor McGonagall returned moments later, and escorted them back to their respective towers.

That night, feeling slightly sickened from all the mindless gossip and discussion that had pervaded all throughout the tower, Harry had shut himself up in his bedcurtains after making sure that all his dorm mates were asleep and pulled out the piece of paper that he had found in Hermione's hand to peruse.

It was a news article, dated 19 June 1943. Harry was pretty sure that this particular cut-out was from the library archives newspapers, which made it all the more shocking that Hermione was willing to tear one off.

The paper was fully riddled with underlines and notes in Hermione's handwriting. Harry started reading it.

HOGWARTS MURDERER CAUGHT

The notorious culprit behind the Hogwarts petrifactions ( last time opening ) and the murder of Myrtle Warren ( Moaning Myrtle? ) has finally been caught red handed, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today, writes Special Correspondent Mira Thakur.

Since both the culprit and his capturer are both underage, the officials have refused to reveal their names and have provided us with only the following statement, "The culprit has been expulsed ( check expulsion list of 1943? ) from the school and will definitely be held responsible for his actions."

What caused those petrifactions in the first place, was not something that was clear. However, various anonymous sources in the school witnessed a massive spider escaping the castle on the day of the culprit's capture, which has led to few speculations about some venomous variations of giant spiders ( Acromantula? Marshweaver? ) being the cause in question. These are, however, simple speculation, and should not be taken as fact.

Due to the valiant efforts of Potions Master Barnabus Belby, the petrified students will soon be able to reawaken from their months long slumber. We here at the Daily Prophet wish them and Hogwarts school the very best for their recovery.

And underneath the article, in an almost unreadable shaky script, was the final note that Hermione had made.

( Large spider the Beast of Slytherin? Heir can control spiders?… Imperius?… Harry? )

And suddenly, with a sharp stab of hurt, Harry remembered the time he had told her that he could get spiders to listen to him, and immediately realized what all these notes meant.

Hermione had believed, or at least suspected in part, that he was the Heir of Slytherin.

It was a logical conclusion that she had come to, Harry told himself, by following some very clear evidence. She had even considered other possible options, like the Imperius Curse. But he couldn't stop the hurt that seemed to worm itself into his heart.

Harry dropped the piece of paper into his Inventory, and parted his curtains to step out into the quiet sleeping dorm.

He made his way over the window and sat down on the sill, looking out over the grounds of Hogwarts and trying not to think of anything. An hour and a half he sat there, looking at the moon slowly make its way across the sky, before a commotion in the grounds suddenly grabbed his attention.

Harry squinted to see what was going on, but couldn't really make out anything other than a few figures heading out of Hagrid's hut.

A small black figure was springing around the figures, barking up a storm. That told him that it was Fang the boarhound… whose loud barks had grabbed his attention in the first place.

Frowning, Harry quickly ran over to his trunk, out of which he pulled out his Astronomy telescope. He carried over the telescope and placed it on the sill before looking through it to see what was going on.

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