Scrimgeour really did go to find Malfoy, intending to bring him back to the Ministry of Magic for trial—and Professor McGonagall agreed.
Hogwarts didn't have the authority to conduct trials or pass judgment, and even if the person in question had killed a school governor, they still had to be handed over to the Ministry.
But when Scrimgeour arrived at the classroom where Malfoy was being held, accompanied by a large group of Aurors, they were stunned.
The classroom was empty.
Professor Flitwick, who had been guarding Malfoy, lay unconscious on the floor, and Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.
"What's going on!" Scrimgeour shouted in frustration. "Where is he?"
"That's what we'd like to know," said Professor McGonagall, her expression just as grim.
If the person responsible for Dumbledore's death had escaped, Hogwarts would be utterly disgraced.
Professor Sprout hurried over to check on Flitwick, but no matter what she tried, he wouldn't wake.
"Pomona, go fetch Madam Pomfrey," said McGonagall. "Tell her to get here as quickly as possible." She then turned to the portrait hanging on the wall.
"Tell me what happened here."
"Someone broke in, Headmistress," said a witch holding a jar. "He took the student who was in the room."
"Who was it?"
"I don't know," the witch shook her head. "He was wearing a hood and a long black cloak. I couldn't see his face."
A hood. A black cloak...
It was such a classic outfit that everyone's first thought was the same: Death Eaters. And they certainly had a motive.
"They must've slipped in during the funeral!" someone blurted out.
Though the others remained silent, it was clear they shared the same suspicion.
Who else but the Death Eaters would take such a risk to rescue Malfoy?
But then, someone considered another possibility.
"You didn't hide him yourselves, did you?" Scrimgeour asked sharply, clearly doubting that Death Eaters would go to such lengths for Malfoy.
They weren't known for their loyalty.
"What are you implying?" Professor McGonagall looked at him coldly, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Anyone who knew her could tell—she was furious.
"Maybe you wanted to take revenge for Dumbledore yourselves," Scrimgeour said, though he, too, was clearly holding back his anger.
"We were all outside at the funeral," said McGonagall. "No one had the time to sneak back into the castle and move Draco Malfoy. Mr. Scrimgeour, you of all people should know that."
"No—one person wasn't," Scrimgeour said, glancing at the unconscious Flitwick.
As McGonagall had pointed out, everyone else had been out on the grounds. That meant Flitwick had had more than enough time to relocate Malfoy, then stage his own unconsciousness.
A flicker of outrage crossed McGonagall's face. She couldn't accept such baseless accusations being thrown at a Hogwarts professor.
"That's enough, Rufus."
Fortunately, Amelia Bones arrived just in time to diffuse the escalating tension.
"Minister," Scrimgeour said, frowning slightly, though he held his tongue.
"I trust Minerva and Filius. They wouldn't do something like this. It had to be the Death Eaters," said Bones. "And right now, our top priority is to track them down."
"As far as I know, Apparition isn't allowed inside Hogwarts. We've all been outside on the grounds, so they couldn't have escaped. They must still be somewhere in the school."
"I see!" Scrimgeour's eyes lit up. With a tone of forced politeness, he said, "Headmistress McGonagall, I trust you won't mind if we conduct a search of the school?"
"Of course not," McGonagall said with a tight, expressionless smile.
"My apologies, Minerva," Bones added. "We're only trying to help Hogwarts. I'm sure you don't want the one responsible for Dumbledore's death getting away."
McGonagall's eyes flickered slightly.
If that weren't the case, she never would've agreed to let Scrimgeour search the school.
Soon, the Aurors dispersed to search for clues.
Just then, Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey arrived, rushing into the room.
"Oh, what now?" Pomfrey gasped.
When she saw Flitwick lying unconscious on the floor, she instinctively shuddered.
Dumbledore first... and now Flitwick?
"He was attacked," said McGonagall. "See if you can wake him up quickly."
"Wake him... Oh!"
A moment later, Pomfrey realized Flitwick was only unconscious, and let out a sigh of relief before hurrying over.
"Hmm… a well-cast Stunning Spell. Looks like there's a bit of a Full Body-Bind mixed in too..."
She moved swiftly, examining him with practiced precision.
"Waking him won't be difficult... I've got just the potion for this." She waved her wand, levitating Flitwick into the air, ready to take him back to the Headmaster's office for treatment.
"Oh, that reminds me."
Suddenly, Pomfrey paused, as if something had just occurred to her. She scanned the room.
"Where's Professor Snape? Tell him to come and collect those students hogging the beds. This is the Hospital Wing, not the Leaky Cauldron."
McGonagall turned and glanced around—only then did she realize Snape wasn't nearby.
And now that she thought about it, he hadn't been seen since the funeral ended.
Unbelievable... Those Slytherin students are unreliable—and their Head of House is no different.
"I'll let him know." With no sign of Snape, it was all Professor McGonagall could say.
Madam Pomfrey, however, still looked displeased.
In her opinion, Snape ought to come and collect those students immediately. If not, he could at least transfer them to St. Mungo's—anything to stop her from wasting so many potions every day.
"Be sure you tell him," she reminded McGonagall once more, then continued on toward the Hospital Wing with Professor Flitwick floating beside her.
Professor McGonagall paused, considering for a moment, then chose not to follow.
Since Madam Pomfrey had said there was no issue, there was nothing to worry about for now. Finding Malfoy was clearly the more urgent matter.
Besides, with Aurors conducting such an aggressive search, there was a real risk of upsetting the students. To prevent any larger conflict from erupting, it was best to have a familiar professor nearby to keep things in check.
Everyone was on the move, and the entire castle quickly descended into chaos.
Even Kyle's wooden hut wasn't spared.
Situated on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, it was marked for special inspection.
Scrimgeour hadn't come himself, but he'd sent no fewer than three Aurors in his place.
Having received word in advance, Kyle had already opened the door, cloaking the alchemical mist, and signaled his full cooperation.
"You're really going all out for nothing, aren't you?" Kyle stood off to the side with his arms crossed, watching as the Aurors inspected every crack in the walls as if they expected to find someone hiding inside them.
Professor Sprout had come along with the Aurors. The moment she entered, her gaze instinctively went to the wall across from her—only to stop in confusion.
Where was the door?
The wall was spotless—no door, no window, not even a seam.
It didn't take her long to realize Kyle must have made some preparations in advance, but she said nothing. After the way Scrimgeour had behaved earlier, she saw no reason to help the Aurors.
"It's such a tiny place. Isn't everything pretty much in plain sight?" Kyle said casually from the side.
"Besides, I got you a huge chunk of funding, didn't I? Remember? The thirty thousand Galleons from the goblins... With that kind of connection, do you really think I'd go against the Ministry? We're on the same side here."
The Aurors didn't respond. Their expressions remained frosty and distant, but they gradually eased off their search.
Kyle had a point—there really wasn't much to the place. It wasn't worth digging further.
Next, the Aurors moved on to Hagrid's hut.
This time, beyond just looking for Draco Malfoy, they had something else in mind: the giant they'd seen at the funeral. He appeared to be connected to the professor of Care of Magical Creatures.
Professor Sprout went with them again, muttering something under her breath. She was too far away for Kyle to make out the words.
Watching the Aurors disappear into the distance, Kyle turned slightly and murmured, "Professor, was that you?"
There was no answer. It seemed Dumbledore wasn't in the garden.
In truth, Kyle had no idea where he'd gone. After Malfoy had been broken out, Dumbledore had vanished as well. Odds were, he was the one who had taken Malfoy away.
As for where they'd gone... it could be the Room of Requirement. Or maybe The Hog's Head. Either way, they definitely weren't here.
...
The Aurors searched Hogwarts for a full day and night, but found absolutely nothing. It was as if Malfoy had simply vanished into thin air.
Fortunately, Professor Flitwick soon regained consciousness and provided the Ministry of Magic with two crucial pieces of information.
"There were two of them," said Professor Flitwick, his arm wrapped in bandages. "One drew my attention, while the other attacked me from behind."
"You didn't fight back?" Scrimgeour demanded. "As far as I know, you're a dueling champion."
"The second attacker was lying in wait outside. I shouldn't have chased after the first one," Flitwick admitted, his face flushing. "By the time I realized what was happening, I was already unconscious."
"So you didn't see anything?"
"No, I did catch something." Flitwick shook his head. "Just before I passed out, I heard them mention a secret passage."
"A secret passage?"
"One of the hidden tunnels inside the castle," Professor McGonagall explained. "But those were all sealed up years ago."
"They might have reopened one... or found a new one," Flitwick mused. "I'm certain I heard them talking about a secret passage. It sounded like they were planning to use it to smuggle Malfoy out of Hogwarts."
"Damn it, no wonder we couldn't find anything!" Scrimgeour slammed a fist against the wall, earning a sharp glare from Madam Pomfrey.
"Where are these secret passages?" Scrimgeour barked.
"I can have Filch take you," McGonagall replied. "He knows every hidden path in Hogwarts."
Filch was quickly brought in.
What followed was nearly another full day of investigation, but the results were the same—nothing. All the known passages had long since been sealed and were clearly unusable, with no signs of tampering.
Scrimgeour remained convinced there were other, unknown routes, but Filch had already shown him every passage he knew of.
As for the so-called "new" passage Scrimgeour was speculating about—Filch knew nothing of it.
That sent Scrimgeour into a full-blown rage. He nearly tore down the statue of the hunchbacked witch in frustration.
Reluctantly, and facing increasing student resistance due to the Aurors' heavy-handed searches, the Ministry forces finally withdrew from the school.
However, Scrimgeour still left a small Auror unit behind, citing the need to maintain school security.
There were only seven of them, assigned to guard the gates of the school and the castle, and to patrol the castle at night—effectively taking over Filch's job.
Their second task was to continue investigating the so-called secret passage.
Professor McGonagall was aware of this and chose not to object. Considering the dangers Hogwarts now faced, having a team of Aurors to help protect the students was, ultimately, a wise move.
...
"Classes will resume tomorrow."
After the Ministry's departure, Minerva McGonagall issued an official notice as Headmistress, announcing that school life would return to normal. All extracurricular activities—including Quidditch matches—were to be suspended.
There were a few grumbles, but not many. The students understood all too well: Hogwarts was no longer the safe haven it once had been.
In the days that followed, the Death Eaters began to move as well.
Their first tactic was to slander Kyle. They even bribed The Daily Prophet to run several defamatory articles about him.
But it had little effect.
Kyle had remained at Hogwarts the entire time, and both students and professors knew full well that Malfoy had been broken out by the Death Eaters. No one took the articles seriously.
Some of the more perceptive students even came to a conclusion of their own... The Daily Prophet might already be under Death Eater control.
"That's strange..." Ron was flipping through the newspaper, searching for something.
"I can't find Rita Skeeter's name. Normally, isn't she the one who loves writing these smear pieces?"
"You're right," Harry said after a moment's thought.
No wonder the paper had felt like it was missing something—Rita Skeeter hadn't written a word.
Just days ago, she'd been publishing article after article about Dumbledore, not a single one kind. She'd painted him as nothing more than a fraud in disguise.
But now that the focus had turned to Kyle, it was like she'd vanished. Not a single word from her.
"Maybe she doesn't know enough about Kyle," Hermione offered after thinking for a second. She didn't dwell on it and tossed the newspaper onto the table.
"The Daily Prophet is getting less and less reliable. Too bad we don't have other ways of getting information."
"Actually, we kind of do."
At that moment, Neville walked over holding a magazine. "I just found this yesterday. The stuff in here is totally different from what the newspaper says."
"The Quibbler?" Ron made a face. "Only lunatics read that thing."
"No, it's changed," Neville said, a bit awkwardly. "There aren't any Crumple-Horned Snorkacks or other weird creatures anymore. It's all stuff that seems deliberately covered up."
"Oh, he's right..."
While they were talking, Hermione had already flipped open the magazine.
"Look at this—someone spotted a large group of Death Eaters gathering. They might be planning an attack on the Ministry. It seems like they're suddenly getting really active."
"Well, Dumbledore's dead. No one can stop them now," Harry said without thinking.
The common room fell into sudden silence.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to." Harry sighed, then shifted the subject. "I've actually been thinking about leaving school."
"Leaving school?" Hermione looked at him in shock. "Are you out of your mind?"
"On the contrary—I've never been clearer." Harry's voice was steady. "I know Voldemort wants to kill me. Maybe me leaving would actually be better for Hogwarts."
"Oh, come on, don't say the name," Ron muttered with a shiver.
"No… you can't do that," Hermione said, her face going a bit pale.
"Actually, I have another reason."
Harry ignored Ron's dramatics and continued. "You remember the Horcruxes, right?"
"You mean You-Know-Who's secret to coming back from the dead?" Hermione said after a second.
"Exactly," Harry nodded. "It's weird—Dumbledore told me just a few days ago that they've already found and destroyed five."
"That's great, isn't it?"
"But we always thought Voldemort split his soul into seven pieces," Harry said quietly.
"Which means there's still one Horcrux out there. I want to find it."
"And how are you going to do that?" Hermione asked. "Do you even know where it is?"
It was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over Harry's head. The fire in him fizzled out in an instant.
"I... don't know..."
"Forget it, Harry. Even if you did know, there's no way you could go." Ron had come back to his senses and shook his head. "Professor McGonagall just said yesterday that students can leave the school at any time—but only with a parent's permission."
"You think your aunt and uncle are going to come get you?"
Ron's question stunned Harry into silence.
He thought about his aunt and uncle—Muggles who hated magic. They'd probably scream for half an hour just at the sight of a wand. Asking them to come to Hogwarts? Impossible.
Sirius could do it. As his godfather, he could take Harry out legally.
But Harry didn't even need to ask. He knew Sirius would never let him leave school.
"I could use the Invisibility Cloak..."
"You really think that cloak's going to fool the Aurors at the gates?" Hermione said sharply. "They're not Filch, you know."
"I..."
Harry had no reply.
Could he really sneak past Aurors?
Hermione let out a small breath of relief and picked up a thick book from the table.
"Where are you going?" Ron asked.
"Ancient Runes class."
"What?" Ron glanced at the schedule, confused. "But seventh-year Ancient Runes doesn't start for another two hours."
"The fifth-year class is about to start." Hermione sounded a little irritable. "I only just scraped an 'Outstanding' on my O.W.L. in Runes, and there are still loads of things I don't understand. I'm going to sit in."
"What—you mean you're voluntarily taking extra classes?" Ron was stunned. He couldn't wrap his head around Hermione making that kind of decision.
"Learning more is always useful," Hermione said without looking back. "Especially now. The Death Eaters won't go easy on you just because you're a student."
She ducked through the portrait hole and vanished from the common room.
"Actually, she's got a point," Harry said, pulling out a Charms book.
Ron hesitated a moment, then grabbed one too.
They weren't alone. After Dumbledore's funeral, the atmosphere at Hogwarts had shifted—suddenly, everyone seemed far more serious about their studies.
Whether that was a good thing or not, no one could say.