On Halloween, Lucius Malfoy stormed into the castle with his wife, Narcissa, at his side.
Throughout the ordeal, Narcissa wiped at her tears again and again. Her once-elegant face had turned pale and drawn, her eyes swollen and red like ripe peaches. Though she tried to muffle her cries behind one trembling hand, her sobs still broke through her fingers.
Lucius didn't try to stop her display—or perhaps, at this point, he simply didn't have the heart to care. His face was stiff as carved marble, his clenched jaw so tight that his teeth audibly ground together.
Before long, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall arrived, hurrying to meet them after receiving the news.
"I'm deeply sorry to tell you this, Lucius," Dumbledore said, his voice heavy with guilt. "I—"
"Don't give me your empty apologies, Albus Dumbledore!" Lucius snapped, his eyes blazing with fury. "I want to know how my son died."
The letter Hogwarts had sent to him had contained no explanation of Draco Malfoy's cause of death.
Dumbledore was silent for a long moment before finally speaking, his tone quiet and measured. "It was a troll. He was killed by a troll."
"A troll? How could it be a troll?!" Narcissa cried, her voice breaking. "Then where is his body?!"
"...There's nothing left," Dumbledore replied softly.
"No!" Narcissa screamed, her cry echoing through the hall as she nearly fainted from despair. Lucius caught her just in time, holding her up.
But Narcissa didn't seem to notice or care. She struck his chest with her fists, her voice shaking with rage and grief. "I told you! I told you we should've sent Draco to Durmstrang! At least there, he wouldn't have been killed by a troll!"
Lucius endured her blows without flinching, his face taut with pain as he turned his fury toward Dumbledore. "This is absurd!"
His voice rose sharply, his eyes burning with anger. "This is Hogwarts! You expect me to believe a troll managed to enter the castle? What are you professors and your Headmaster even doing? Where has all the funding we provide gone?"
Dumbledore and McGonagall exchanged a helpless glance before Dumbledore sighed. "Let's continue this in my office, Lucius. We should talk in private."
He cast a quick look around the corridor. "Discussing it here isn't appropriate."
Lucius, though furious, still hadn't lost his self-control. After a moment, he gave a cold snort and followed Dumbledore toward the Headmaster's office.
As they disappeared down the corridor, the students—who had been holding their breath under Lucius's intimidating presence—finally began to whisper among themselves.
Leonard stood with a small group of Hufflepuffs nearby, listening quietly.
It was the familiar group of first-years: Ernie, Justin, Susan, and Hannah.
"I can't believe it was really Draco Malfoy who died," Justin murmured. "And those two cronies of his... what were they thinking, leaving the group like that?"
"There's no point talking about it now," Ernie sighed. "They're gone. Saying more just sounds like mocking the dead. What worries me is Hogwarts. Do you think they'll close the school over this?"
"No way... right? If they did, what would we even do?" Susan asked softly, looking shaken.
"What do you think, Leonard?" Ernie turned to him. "Will Hogwarts be affected?"
Leonard nodded calmly. "There'll definitely be an impact..."
"No way! You mean Hogwarts might actually close?" Susan exclaimed.
"I wasn't finished yet," Leonard said, rolling his eyes. "There'll definitely be an impact, but it'll mostly affect future admissions—and only among well-off pure-blood families."
"Why's that?" Justin asked.
"Ernie should be able to guess. If you didn't go to Hogwarts, where would you go?" Leonard asked.
Ernie nodded. "Actually, my family has some connections at Beauxbatons. I could probably transfer there."
"Beauxbatons?" Justin blinked in confusion.
"It's a wizarding school in France," Ernie explained.
"So that means only pure-blood families with the means could send their kids elsewhere, and the rest of us would have no choice but to stay here," Justin said as realization dawned.
"Exactly. Wizarding schools don't send acceptance letters across borders," Leonard shrugged. "So you don't have to worry about Hogwarts shutting down."
"But what about Draco Malfoy?" Hannah asked.
"Once they find the one responsible, everything will settle down," Leonard replied.
"The troll?" Susan asked.
"The troll was just a tool. What really matters is the person who let it into Hogwarts," Leonard said firmly.
"The person who let it in? Who could do something so awful?" Hannah said angrily.
"I'm not sure," Leonard replied, careful not to sound like he knew too much. "But we can take a few guesses."
"Snape?"
"Professor Sprout?"
"It can't be Dumbledore, right?"
"Could it be Quirrell?" Ernie guessed, then laughed at himself. "No way. He's such a coward."
Leonard said nothing, quietly listening to their discussion.
Then Justin suddenly seemed to remember something. "Still, with Malfoy gone, things must be easier for Leonard. No one's going to keep picking on him anymore."
He hadn't meant anything by it, but Leonard caught the implication immediately.
His feud with Draco Malfoy was well-known throughout the school. If Lucius Malfoy heard about this, would he blame Leonard?
No—he needed to steer the rumor in another direction.
He thought for a moment, then sighed. "I never expected him to be so reckless. I should've seen it coming back when I saved him."
His expression darkened with regret. "I should've warned him."
"This isn't your fault," Hannah said gently. "Malfoy brought this on himself. You did the right thing. Honestly, if it were me, I wouldn't have bothered to save him in the first place."
"Yeah, that guy's mouth was way too nasty," Justin added.
"But still... a life's a life," Leonard said with a weary sigh. "Forget it—you guys keep talking. I'm heading back."
He turned and walked away, leaving behind only a solitary silhouette.
The others exchanged uneasy glances.
"Do you think Leonard's okay?" Ernie asked.
"I don't know... but it seems like Malfoy's death really hit him hard," Justin said quietly.
"Leonard's just too kind," Hannah murmured. "He probably blames himself for not warning Malfoy not to be so impulsive."
"What does that have to do with him? With Malfoy's personality, he wouldn't have listened anyway," Susan said, her voice low.
Ernie rubbed his chin in thought. "What he needs right now is some comfort. Someone who can really cheer him up."
"Should we go talk to him?" Justin asked instinctively.
"Please, you?" Ernie snorted. "What he needs is a softer touch. I'm going to Ravenclaw to find Patil."
...
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