Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 44: A Very Dark Ritual
McGonagall screamed when she realized what she was seeing.
These were not the remains of an animal, but a person. Not only that, but it was also one of their own students.
Now they finally understood why Hagrid had become so horrified by what he saw.
"Minerva, go back to the castle," Dumbledore said immediately.
"Albus, but…"
"Go back and call Moody. He needs to be here to see this as well. This is more than the school can handle." The tone of the Headmaster left no room for argument.
"Right… the aurors." McGonagall knew she was not going to forget what she saw today. The image was going to be engraved for the rest of her life, as well as that disgusting smell.
She turned around and walked away while Dumbledore returned his attention to the scene.
"This wasn't just a murder…" His eyes moved to what remained of the magical circle.
Without seeing the complete shape, it was impossible to determine the exact purpose it had served. However, one thing he was sure of.
"This was a ritual… an extremely dark one that involved a human sacrifice."
The Ministry of Magic had gone through great lengths to eradicate all magical knowledge that they considered too dangerous since its inception.
Sacrifice rituals were at the top of that priority list.
"Who could have done such a thing?..." Dumbledore wondered. He was not disillusioned enough to believe that all knowledge about such magic was completely eradicated. Also, this person could have obtained an ancient ritual book from a different country.
However, obtaining something like that would be extremely difficult. Some things can't be bought with just money.
"This is much worse than I could have imagined." Dumbledore could only think of one individual who could have such dangerous knowledge about magic. "But why would Voldemort do this?... it makes no sense."
The Dark Lord had just returned to life and regained his power. Why come back to Hogwarts and kill two students who had nothing to do with him?.
The old wizard turned his attention to the robes that were hanging nearby.
He did not want to touch anything until the aurors arrived, so he just got a closer look.
"Slytherin." He spotted the green tie among the clothes. "By the size, it must have been a senior student. Maybe sixth or seventh year."
Dumbledore sighed. Regardless of who this was, it was a sad day to lose a student. Now he had lost two in the last two days.
"I should check the surrounding area… perhaps I can find something that tells me who did this." He walked for a bit.
Hagrid had gone back to the castle with McGonagall, so he was now all alone.
"That was just a warning shot."
Dumbledore got startled when he suddenly heard a voice.
"Who's there?!" He pointed his wand in the direction from which the sound had come, but found nothing...just more trees and plants.
He approached with caution until he found something stuck to the side of a tree.
"What do we have here?" It looked like a small knife embedded in the bark. Symbols were engraved onto its side.
The moment he tapped it with his wand, it became active.
"That was just a warning shot."
It was the same voice again, and now he could tell that it came out of the knife.
"An enchantment with a voice recording…" He was able to read the runes engraved on the metal.
It was a very simple design, and the runes themselves were poorly drawn.
Whoever had done this wasn't very skilled in runework, just enough to make a very basic artifact.
"Did the killer do this?" It seems like the simplest answer.
A voice recording in an enchantment could be used to create a quick distraction if you are trying to ambush someone.
Unfortunately, Dumbledore was not able to recognize the voice. All he could tell was that it belonged to an older boy.
He continued to look for a while but was unable to find anything else. If there had been a fight here, the traces were now gone. Hopefully, what they had was enough to find the culprit.
Five minutes later, Moody arrived accompanied by Tonks, and they got to work.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
That same day, at dinner, the Headmaster was once more prepared for another grim announcement.
"Unfortunately, I have more bad news to offer you tonight. Hogwarts has suffered another unfortunate incident," Dumbledore started with a sad tone. "A seventh-year student from Slytherin called Ignatius Mulciber… has passed away."
They were able to confirm the identity of the victim with ease, thanks to all the remnants that were left behind at the scene.
The Great Hall broke into a mixture of panic and excitement. Two students dying in two days would have that effect.
There was also a lot of confusion because most students present had no idea who Mulciber was. Unlike someone popular like Cho Chang, Mulciber was much less well-known.
And those who knew him were more likely to celebrate rather than cry for his loss.
Dumbledore avoided giving any details about the death, not even mentioning that he was murdered, as this would do nothing but cause even more fear among the student population.
Besides, there was only one week left before everyone was sent back home, so there was no need for this.
The Headmaster turned back to look at the new aurors standing behind him. They had increased the security for the last week, wanting to keep an eye on everything that was going on.
He had also placed all the paintings and ghosts on full alert.
'No one else dies under my watch…' The Headmaster swore to himself that he was going to find whoever did this and make them pay.
A.N: - Remember to comment, vote, and/or leave a review if you have the time. Those things help me a lot and I would really appreciate it.
You can Support me on P@treon if you like and get 20 advanced chapters. You can also find characters images to view for free in Collections/Beneath the Skin Images
-patreon.com/Kriogenix
For donations and commissions, go to ko-fi.com/kriogenix