"And where a Longbottom goes, a Potter will be there at his side," said Harry, holding his right hand out.
Neville reached out with his own right hand and they warrior-gripped each other's forearms just as the two girls walked back in.
"How much did you hear?" asked Neville.
"Almost all of it," said Susan.
"Where do we start?" asked Hannah. "The scene of the crime," said Harry. "We know what happened. Now we're going to go and see where it happened. There's something about the body positioning of the victims that I think contains the answer, or part of the answer, to this. I'm hoping the scene of the crime will give up more information."
"I know where it happened," coughed Neville. "I was one of the first people on the scene."
"Alright," said Harry. "Let's go and have a butcher's."
The other three didn't understand the term but knew what he meant. They were about to leave when Harry said, "Wait one, please."
He walked back to Daphne, leaned over the bed and gently kissed her on her cool lips. "I love you," he whispered. After a moment, he straightened and walked over to Tracey. He kissed her on the forehead and said, "We'll be back when we can."
Then moved to Hermione and did the same.
Straightening up from Hermione he said, "Alright. Now I'm ready."
The four left the infirmary to begin their investigations.
Neville led them directly to the spot. He indicated where they were standing and what else he saw.
With a frown, Harry stood and bent over a little like he saw Hermione's frozen pose and asked, "Here, like this, Nev?"
"Almost," said Neville.
Susan suddenly fished a small mirror out of her pocket and stepped forward offering it to Harry. "Here," she said. "Hermione was holding this when she was found."
Harry accepted the mirror and gratefully said, "Thank you." Then he bent back over and tried to hold the mirror like he remembered her hand positioned.
"Like this?" he asked.
Neville moved to stand where it looked like Daphne was standing. He even placed his hand in the middle of Harry's back.
"Yeah, that's about it," replied Neville.
Harry stared at the mirror and found, if he angled it just slightly from where it was, he could see straight down the middle of the cross corridor.
"Damn!" he said. "That's what she was doing."
"What?" asked Hannah. "Hang on a sec," he replied. "Nev. From where you think Daphne was standing, look at the mirror in my hand and tell me what you see."
Neville moved slightly and, after a moment, said, "I can see down the other corridor."
"Good," said Harry. "Now move to where you think Tracey was standing, and do the same thing."
Neville moved to Harry's other side and stood as if he was leaning against him a little. A few moments later, he said, "I can see down the corridor from here, too."
"Alright; ladies, if you wouldn't mind, head down the corridor until I tell you to stop, please," he asked them.
Both girls jogged down the corridor until Harry barked, "Stop!" Looking in the mirror he said, "Can you move to your left a couple steps?"
The girls moved as requested.
"Good," called Harry. "Alright. How much of either of us can you see?"
Susan called back, "Just your hand with the mirror and the top of your head. We can't see Neville at all!"
"Good," he called back before straightening up and stepping forward. "Alright. Come back. Thank you."
The girls came back and Harry was standing there with a frown.
"What are you thinking?" asked Susan. She understood a scene re-enactment when she saw one; or, in this case, participated in one. She'd helped her aunt out with such a couple of times when it dealt with something around a small child. "Whatever it is causing this, it isn't something coming in contact with the victims," said Harry. "And it's not a cast spell, else it would never have hit Daphne or Tracey."
"Unless it hit the mirror first," said Susan.
"A spell hitting the mirror would not have hit all three at the same time," muttered Harry. "Which is clearly what happened here. Something affected all three, together. Their combined - frozen poses tell us that."
"I'm going to need to take a look at the other victims," said Harry. "I hope there will be something about them that gives us more information we can work with."
"After dinner, Harry," said Susan. "It's getting late and we need to eat."
With a sigh, Harry nodded and said, "You're right." As the four walked into the Great Hall the student body fell silent. Some whispered to their friends and others alongside them. Neville led them to the Gryffindor table and the Gryffindor Quidditch team motioned them over, especially the Weasley twins, who made room for them.
Harry sat at the bench next to Alicia Spinnet who, surprisingly, lifted her arm and gave him a hug with it.
Harry sighed and said, "Thank you. I don't know how I'm going to handle these three weeks until the Mandrake Draught is brewed and administered."
Slowly, the noise around the hall increased. Susan, sitting on the other side of him, was trying to push him to eat and, reluctantly, he was loading his plate.
He looked up at the head table and noticed Dumbledore wasn't there. "Where's Dumbledore?" he asked Alicia.
"Rumour has it he was sacked late this afternoon," replied Alicia. "And Hagrid's been sent to Azkaban for opening the Chamber of Secrets again."
"Oh, for crying out loud," said Harry, getting loud, himself. "Are all witches and wizards in this godforsaken world stupid?"
Harry slammed his cutlery down and stood up. The Hall went quiet again.
"Here we go," muttered Neville.
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