Harrison noticed as he sat in the Great Hall the following morning that the entirety of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff looked miserable. The first years all looked like they had been up all night crying and the second years didn't look much better. Ron was hovering near his sister and Harrison even saw him force food onto her plate, he was genuinely surprised Ron seemed to care. The boy usually had his head so far up his ass. He looked at the Weasley twins and Percy, the twins were talking in hushed voices and when Fred saw Harrison looking he inclined his head once. Percy looked like he usually did, like he had just been announced ruler supreme over the universe. The staff table was subdued and half of the professors were missing including the heads of house and Dumbledore.
"Amelia Bones has been here since before the sun was even up," Anthony Dolohov informed his fellow Slytherins. "Since I'm head boy I was informed this morning by Professor Snape, apparently she's talking to everyone the first year who opened the chamber came into contact with."
"Do you know who opened it?" Violet asked curiously. Everyone within hearing range looked to Anthony for an answer.
"No," Anthony said with a hint of annoyance. "Professor Snape said that he wasn't allowed to say." Harrison felt a twinge of annoyance, of course Dumbledore wouldn't want anyone to know that it was the daughter of one of his biggest supporters that opened the chamber. Harrison looked up from his porridge when two owls landed in front of him, he untied the morning paper and a letter he knew was from his father. He opened the letter first.
Harrison,
Lucius informed me last evening about the events that transpired at the school yesterday. I am glad that you were able to alter the Weasley girls memories. I have spoken with Bill and Charlie Weasley who had been at the manor for their initiation into my ranks, they know the truth of what happened but have sworn an oath not to speak of it. Charlie has already persuaded one of his friends from Romania to join me so I will soon have another dragon handler working for me, it has given me some ideas but nothing you need to worry about.
Were you able to acquire anything from the Chamber of Secrets? I know you would have sought out the library or Salazar Slytherins study which also contained a large collection of tomes. If you haven't then do so, there are many books down there I have been waiting for decades to read. The backlash from the three deaths caused by the opening of the chamber is as good as we can expect. There is an inquiry being done by Amelia Bones, several of my sources within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement have told me that she was furious to learn about the deaths especially in regards to the Gryffindor boy and her Auror. I can say that I am pleased with how everything turned out, one less Mudblood Gryffindor is nothing to lose sleep over and neither is an Auror loyal to the light or that fool Lockhart.
Be on your guard.
Father
Harrison immediately burnt the note to a crisp and pulled the paper towards him. There wasn't anything he didn't know or assume in his fathers letter. The front page of the morning paper was as expected about the deaths at Hogwarts. There was a large photograph of Amelia Bones standing with Dumbledore in the Ministry of Magic over an article.
Deaths at Hogwarts
By Rita Skeeter
I am sad to report that last night three people lost their lives at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Gilderoy Lockhart, author of numerous best selling books including Magical Me and winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award, decorated Auror Rufus Scrimgeour and first year Muggle-born student Colin Creevey were all found dead by several Hogwarts professors. The cause of their deaths has been ruled classified by the Ministry of Magic by orders of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.
These deaths aren't the first tragedies Hogwarts has seen this year. Second year students Muggle-born Justin Finch-Fletchley and Pure-blood Zacharias Smith were petrified earlier this year. Since those horrible attacks Aurors have been guarding the school in order to keep the children safe. This apparently wasn't enough and three people tragically lost their lives. We don't know how they died or how the students were petrified but what we do know is that there were no marks on their bodies or any sign that this was done by a witch or wizard. This calls into question what exactly could have killed a highly skilled Auror, a member of the Dark Force Defense League and an innocent first year.
An inquiry has been made by the Ministry of Magic and the investigation is being led by Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Amelia Bones. "I am going to do my utmost to get to the bottom of this tragedy and how it occurred on Hogwarts grounds," Amelia said in a press conference last night.
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore is already receiving backlash and the outcry for him to be charged with negligence is high. "The headmasters duty is to protect the students and in that regard Albus Dumbledore has failed greatly," Lucius Malfoy stated this morning. "An emergency meeting of the Board of Governor's was held last night and we have come to the decision that Albus Dumbledore is now on probation, his job as headmaster is on the line until the time the board of governors deems him fit to run the school without supervision. There is no excuse for allowing three people, one of them a young child to die when it could have been prevented. And as of September first a new deputy headmistress will begin at Hogwarts, she will assess not only Albus Dumbledore but the rest of the staff. Last year Albus Dumbledore hired an incompetent professor who ended up leaving with not so much as a goodbye. Who is to know whether or not the other professors are up to standard? And I won't even begin to speak about the trolls that were able to get into Hogwarts last year injuring dozens of students."
"My children attend Hogwarts and I am disgusted at the way the current headmasters runs that once noble institution of learning," Rodolphus Lestrange added as he stood next to long time friend Lucius Malfoy. "My children, godchildren and their friends were almost killed last year on Halloween. If Albus Dumbledore did his job that horrible night last year wouldn't have happened and neither would the atrocity that happened last evening."
"I will do my best as Minister of Magic to ensure that nothing like this happens again at Hogwarts," Cornelius Fudge stated firmly. "After a long discussion with the board of governors I can assure you that next year changes will be coming to Hogwarts."
My dear readers, you all know that I haven't been blessed with a child but if I had been I wouldn't want my children to be frightened that they may become petrified or worse at a place where they're meant to be safe. I will keep you updated as to the progress of the investigation into Hogwarts.
Harrison found it difficult to refrain from grinning like a child on Christmas morning. He would bet all of the money in his fathers vault that whoever this deputy headmistress was that she would be someone on his fathers side, this would only help to serve the Dark Lord's takeover. He looked up at the staff table once more and saw that they all looked worse than they had when he first entered the Great Hall. He looked around at his fellow Slytherins and saw amusement or excitement in their eyes, most likely because like him they knew this would only help the dark side. The Gryffindors went from looking sad to furious, no doubt because they all liked Dumbledore. The Ravenclaws looked much like the Slytherins did and some of the Hufflepuffs looked like they would burst into tears, and one of the first years looked like she was going into shock.
"This is brilliant," Blaise said as he picked up a piece of bacon. "You're fathers are geniuses." He looked between Harrison and Draco.
"I wonder who they're getting to be deputy headmistress?" Tracey mused. "I'm sure it'll be someone approved by Uncle Lucius."
"Of course it will be," Draco said pompously. Harrison stayed silent as his friends began trying to figure out who it would be, the more he thought about the more confused he was as to why his father didn't tell him. He stopped thinking about it after a few minutes, knowing his father he probably had a reason, however pointless the reason for not telling him something so trivial was.
"What are we going to do today?" Jenna asked as she poured syrup onto her plate. Classes were canceled for the day in order for the students to mourn, Harrison thought it was ridiculous but he was glad for a free day.
"We can go down to the lake," Daphne suggested. "The weather is nice."
"We can't leave the castle," Cass sneered. "It's too dangerous until a time the ministry says otherwise." Harrison resisted the urge to snort, even if Ginny was still being possessed none of them would be in any danger.
"Like we're in any danger," Leo said haughtily. "We never were."
"The professors don't know that," Theo pointed out. "Although Dumbledore probably guessed that much." Harrison's lips thinned, yes the old fool probably did guess that much.