Fudge stood grim-faced, staring at the bodies laid out under white cloths nearby.
Hogwarts was not just the only magical school in the UK—it was one of the most prestigious in Europe. That such a vicious attack had occurred so close to it, and that the victims were students—some from well-connected families—was a political nightmare.
Privately, Fudge wished the incident had taken place inside Hogwarts. That way, the Ministry's responsibility would be minimized, and the blame could be shifted more easily to the school. But now, with the location falling under broader magical jurisdiction, the Ministry was directly in the line of fire.
This tragedy could leave a permanent stain on Fudge's career.
At that moment, he spotted Dumbledore and Snape approaching from the castle. He quickly collected himself, pushed aside his political worries, and moved forward to greet them.
"Dumbledore, you're here," he said briskly. "What did the surviving student say about the incident?"
"Mr. Barrett is currently recovering in the Hogwarts hospital wing," Dumbledore replied calmly. "His injuries are serious. According to his account, he and several others had organized a private gathering off-campus when they encountered a group of dark wizards operating in the area. A skirmish broke out. The situation escalated, and it ended in tragedy."
He handed Fudge a rolled parchment. "Mr. Barrett has provided descriptions and names to the best of his recollection. That information is here."
Fudge's eyes lit up as he unrolled the parchment. A violent incident involving students was undeniably bad—but if they could catch the culprits quickly and shape the narrative carefully, the damage could be contained. Perhaps even spun into a triumph of swift justice.
Dumbledore, watching him, didn't need Legilimency to read Fudge's mind. But he said nothing. As long as the Minister didn't stray too far from what was right, Dumbledore had no interest in quarreling.
Besides, he hadn't told Fudge everything.
Back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore had already questioned Barrett thoroughly. The boy hadn't concealed much. He had admitted that he and Dickey had been dabbling in Voldemort worship—and that the dark wizards had appeared because of that, leading to the deadly clash during their meeting.
Taking into account Barrett's involvement with Voldemort worship and the need to protect him, Dumbledore did not tell Fudge the whole truth. At least when it came to protecting students, Dumbledore was still quite competent—even if, in some cases, the students didn't actually need protecting.
Aurors under Fudge's command searched the surrounding mountains and forests in teams, but Marwood and his squad had handled the aftermath far too cleanly. They didn't leave behind any noteworthy clues at all. That was also part of their plan—so long as nothing could be found at the scene, the Ministry would be forced to rely solely on Barrett's testimony.
This way, they would inevitably follow the investigative trail that Marwood had carefully set up under Sean's orders. That path would eventually lead them to two abandoned dark wizards. During the arrest, those two would fiercely resist. The end result would either be their deaths—or their suicides—neatly closing the case.
Dumbledore and Fudge reviewed the incident together. Fudge kept asking what he should do, and Dumbledore gave him his perspective in return.
Snape, on the other hand, had no patience for Fudge's political posturing. He left the two of them behind and began examining the scene himself. Although most ordinary wizards still didn't know that Snape had once been a Death Eater, this fact wasn't news to the Aurors present. So, even though Snape was now a professor of Potions at Hogwarts, the Aurors ignored him entirely.
Of course, Snape couldn't care less about their opinions.
He didn't come to look at corpses—he loved Potions, not forensic work. Besides, the bodies had been burned or otherwise disfigured, and Snape had no interest in making himself suffer by inspecting them further. He glanced once, intending to move on.
But just as he was about to leave, two Ministry of Magic workers were lifting a student's body with magic. One of them, exhausted, lost control of the levitation spell for a moment. The body spun in the air, and the white cloth covering it slipped off.
Snape caught the scene by chance.
At first, he was still sneering inwardly, comparing the Ministry officials' intelligence to that of trolls. But just as he turned his gaze away, he happened to catch a glimpse of the wound on the student's neck.
His expression changed subtly.
Still, he didn't move. He didn't step forward to inspect it further.
Instead, eyes half-lowered, Snape quietly returned to Dumbledore's side—as though he had seen nothing at all.
At this time, Dumbledore had just finished his conversation with Fudge and was preparing to return to Hogwarts to handle the aftermath.
After all, the four deceased were students of Hogwarts. Even if the murders didn't occur within the school grounds and the culprits were dark wizards, Hogwarts still bore a degree of responsibility. As Headmaster, Dumbledore needed to oversee the proper handling of the situation.
Snape said nothing and silently followed Dumbledore back to the castle.
Thanks to the influence of Occlumency, Snape kept his thoughts perfectly guarded. Even someone like Dumbledore could not easily read his mind. As usual, the two went their separate ways after arriving at the castle.
Snape returned to the dungeon, appearing perfectly composed. But instead of heading straight to his office, he made his way to the storage room behind the Potions classroom. He moved toward a cabinet tucked into the far corner, opened it, and began searching.
Before long, he found what he was looking for: an old, worn textbook from his school days.
Snape brushed off a fine layer of dust from the cover and studied it closely. No signs of disturbance—no evidence it had been touched recently.
Satisfied, he tucked the book under his arm and muttered to himself, "It doesn't look like anyone's flipped through it… so my magic shouldn't have circulated beyond this. Was it just my imagination earlier? Or perhaps some other kind of dark magic? The body was burned—it might have just looked similar…"
He paused.
"Maybe I'm overthinking this. Still, I can't leave the book here any longer. I must have stashed it in this cabinet when I was reorganizing last time… I need to find a better place to hide it."