the seven devils [completed]

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓

THE ANATOMY OF NICHOLAS AVERY - THE HITMAN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The Great Hall resembled the gate of Hell; that is the only way Varya could describe the horrified disciples that burst through its doors. There was some raucous, but the solemn silence dominated the room. Headmaster Armando Dippet stood at the teacher table, looking over the sea of wizards and witches with a ghastly face.

Varya sat at the Slytherin table, Elladora, on her side, whereas Ivy had to stand at the front alongside Tom Riddle. The boy's eyes studied the room swiftly, almost as if he were searching for someone, and then they met Varya's. The girl watched his body unwind, and a scowl took over her face. His posture did not indicate that he was furious at her, which was strange. He had invaded her mind earlier and had surely seen something that could implicate her with Dumbledore; perhaps he even saw the pensieve. And as much as Tom Riddle was a stoic sociopath, the revelation of his future should have broken his impassive mask.

Then, he does not know the truth yet, Varya thought, relieved at the notion.

"Students of Hogwarts," the Headmaster began, his voice not carrying its usual quirkiness, "I look across the room, and I can already see many terrified expressions, which leads me to believe that the news has already spread."

Varya glanced around the room, and sure enough, many children seemed to be spooked of what they had heard. A student had been petrified. How? They did not know, but the castle had been a safe space for most of them, Varya included, and now, that idea had been shattered.

"A student has been found petrified, and—" he waved his hand over the crowd, trying to calm down the tsunami of whispers that had started, "—as I was saying, we have unfortunately found Arthur Thompson petrified on the first floor, and although he is still alive, his body is completely frozen. We do not know the cause of this, and we will keep investigating, but for now, one thing is clear— Hogwarts is no longer safe."

The feeling of deja-vu was prominent, and suddenly Varya found herself thrown back into the past, when something similar had happened at Scholomance. A boy had encountered an evil creature, and his fate was tragic— decapitated and impaled on one of the school's crosses. Although Arthur had not been subjected to the same bloody ending, Varya could not help but wonder if whatever had petrified him was also of monstrous origins.

"We will not be closing the school, as there is still a whole semester of magic ahead of you, but we will be asking all students to go back home during the winter break so that we can carry out our investigation without interruption," he continued, earning a few mutters of disapproval. Nobody spoke up, in any case. After all, someone had nearly been murdered.

The thought of not being able to stay at Hogwarts was upsetting to Varya, as the idea of going back to Transylvania was not something she looked forward to. She had no house to go back to, as her guardian probably thought her dead, and the school was off-limits to anyone except the current students. Sure, she could, perhaps, ask them to make an exception, but something was knocking slightly at her brain, almost similar to trepidation, telling her not ever to return.