All their roaring questions were silenced after hearing the name of the student in question. Most knew Harry because of his excellence in magical theory, but those who knew more about him fell into a state of shock. Even though Noah, Ariel, and Seraphina heard what happened, they still couldn't believe it. Oscar's reaction was the same as the others', stunned and disheartened, but Eleanor's attention was solely focused on Nathan's expression.
To her, she feared witnessing him have a mental breakdown; instead, she saw nothing. The redness of his eyes was already a sign of his reaction.
She thought to herself, [Did he already know?]
"After finding out what had happened, all I can give is my condolences. But rest assured that alongside the Magus Sovereign, we will apprehend the group responsible for this and put an end to them. This is a promise that I make to you all as Headmaster. Unfortunately, that will be all for now. We have contacted all your guardians to come get you, so that you all stay here while waiting for them to arrive."
She then left with Captain Cedric, leaving the distressed students with Oscar, Eleanor, and the rest of the student council. Noah and the others try to pull themselves together as Nathan dismissed himself from the group.
"Where are you going?" asked Seraphina. Nathan responded with a raspy-like voice, "I-I have to go do something." Fog began to cloud his mind as he stares at his blood-soaked hands and memories of Harry smiling the day before with his proclamation of seeing Nathan as an older sibling. He mindlessly walked to Headmaster Celestia and Captain Cedric but was halted by Imperial Guards who were accompanying the two figures. Headmaster Celestia turned and assured them of seeing him as no harm with Captain Cedric giving them a simple nod in agreeance.
She grasped his shoulder and asked what's the matter.
"Did you call over Harry's parents to come here?"
"Yes, but I instructed them to head over to my office first to break the news to them gently, you know." She replied.
"Can I be there when you tell them?"
Celestia and Cedric were both taken aback after hearing his request.
"No. I'm not allowing it. You just went through hell trying to hold your own against that guy; you lost Harry, and his blood is all over your shirt. Wait for your mom to get here, clean yourself up, and rest. We can talk about all of this tomorrow or when you're better because you're clearly not in your right mind."
Captain Cedric interjects himself into their conversation and asks Nathan, "Why do you want to be there that badly? You could spare yourself the pain of hearing their cries, so why?"
Nathan once again gazed at his bloodied nails and took a deep breath before responding to the Captain's question.
"I honestly don't know, to be honest. My heart still aches like crazy after all this. I hate myself for not being able to get him out of there, but… I'd hate myself even more if I were not there to at least share my condolences in that moment. Not in the future but right now."
After hearing this, Captain Cedric calmed Celestia and let him join. But before coming with them, she instructed Nathan on at least washing his hands.
Time flew by until finally Harry's parents arrived at the partly demolished school. Their fears began to pile up after seeing parents hurriedly rushing over to hug their distressed children. His father kept a reassuring expression on his wife that everything would be alright, "It's going to be fine, Edith, I'm sure that he was with them during all of this, so they kept him close until we get him," he said. "Thank you, Phillip," she replied. He gave her hope, but behind that warm face, his heart started to tighten with worry about why they called them to the Headmaster's office when they could've collected Harry like the others.
The moment they opened the door, they were introduced to a cold breath of air occupying the room. With Headmaster Celestia, Captain Cedric, 4 Imperial Guards, and Nathan, who sat next to the Captain. All were present. Edith's legs began to tremble as she couldn't bear what news they would give to them after they asked Phillip to close the door behind them. Phillip helped calm his wife with Celestia offering them water in hopes of toning down their nerves.
She started addressing them accordingly after they took their seats.
"As you've both seen before you got here, the academy suffered a terrorist-like attack from people of unknown origin. Their attack began 4 hours ago with an explosion on the top floor of the building beside here. Students of that building evacuated to the assembly point with teachers and security fending off the group in question. With the help of Prof. Nowell and the other faculty members, we were able to apprehend some of them…"
She kept addressing them on the events that happened today, but Edith paid no attention to what she was saying. Her head was leaning forward with her face staring at the ground. All she thought about was where Harry could be, but her voice couldn't cooperate. Her thoughts on Harry started to get louder and louder with each nervous breath she took until finally a whisper came out of her mouth. "Where is my son…"
Everyone in the room heard her voice but not what she said, so Celestia asked her to repeat what was on her mind. She said it again repeatedly, but with no volume in it, until she asked her again, when finally, she let out a deafening cry in her final attempt.
"WHERE IS MY SON?!"
The whole room went quiet after her loud outburst. Phillip held her hand to calm her down and said, "With all due respect, Headmaster Celestia and Captain Cedric, we didn't come here to get an explanation on what happened here. We came here because we got word sent out to come to your office regarding our child. We've been here for almost an hour and still nothing on Harry, so please tell us, where is our son?" Phillip exclaimed with a heavy heart.
The echoes of the pleading parents rang throughout the room as Nathan felt as if his heart nearly came out of his throat like a leaping frog. A moment he dreaded has finally come. He stood up and walked towards both parents with his hand fiddling with something.
"Mr and Mrs Reed…" His address fell short as he gazed upon a man holding his tearful wife. This scene conjured up something inside him. Fear for not his sake, but for the reaction he'll witness before his eyes. He took a deep breath as he clenched on the object he was fiddling with the whole time during the meeting. He brought the hand towards Edith's and she opened hers in response. The object he was holding fell into the watery palm that wiped her tears. It was the bracelet that belonged to Harry. No words were spoken among him and them, but they all knew the meaning.
Her heart sank like a ship as she broke down into even heavier tears. Phillip held onto his wife even more, even with his sadness lying deep inside his shattered heart. Others in the office were forced to watch this heartbreaking moment, but one guard looked away in order to maintain his composure. Captain Cedric and Headmaster Celestia, being already experienced in these types of situations, still find them so difficult to deal with. Cedric's attention was unintentionally directed to Nathan. To his surprise, Nathan showed no physical reaction to this whatsoever. But just as he was analyzing him, he pardoned himself from the room in a hurry. Celestia rushed over to him in fear of what she thinks he will do once he gets out.
"Nathan, I get it. You've done well today, so I beg you, don't go and do what I think you're going to do."
Nathan raised his lowered head and showed her the condition of his other hand. It was bleeding from how hard he clenched his fists.
"Please… can I go?" His eyes looked as if they were about to break down in tears. She let him leave, and right as he closed the door, he walked through the halls. The cries of Harry's parents haunted him on his way. A mixture of Edith's cries and Harry's laughs harmonized into a gothic symphony that led him to where he was headed. Moments of mental anguish through empty halls ended with him in the bathroom. He washed his hands in the basin, and blood started flowing down with Harry's blood that was on his hands. This image caused him to vigorously wash both hands in frustration. Continuous attempts couldn't wash away the blood he kept seeing.
Something that Prof. Nowell said came to mind.
[One slip up and a family loses a loved one, a life is gone.]
After remembering this, he collapsed to the floor and cried.