Chapter 186: Ripples! Part-1
{Great Hall, Hogwarts}
{7th Nov 1991}
{Rigel’s POV}
I cut meticulously into the piece of chicken. The food at Hogwarts wasn’t the most varied. Dinner always consisted of a helping of mashed potatoes, some varieties of chicken and other meat that I don’t like that much, a couple of boiled veggies and stew, and a variety of desserts. The quality, though, was always consistent, so it’s not like I have that much to complain about.
As I dug into my meal, my eyes remained fixed on the two empty spots on the teacher’s table. Quirrell, surprise, surprise, was nowhere to be seen for the past week. The rumor mill is going crazy over the possibilities of what happened, as the two missing Slytherin were also quickly identified.
’The most ridiculous one was that Millicent Bulstrode has cast a powerful and illegal love spell on both Marcus and Quirrell to satisfy her kinky desires, and they fled the country to hide.’ I suppressed a scoff at that one. The pureblood families, though, know what had happened. The Bulstrode and Flint families have demanded ridiculous compensation from both Hogwarts and the Dumbledore family.
Just today, it was rumored that the board had fired Dumbledore from his position as headmaster of Hogwarts and that a new headmaster would be chosen to replace him. Professor McGonagall easily took over managing the smaller things, as she had been doing the actual job for years now.
"You sure it will be today?" I asked, turning to Daphne. She has been the primary source of my information regarding the coup that was unfolding.
"Yes, the board met earlier today, and a candidate will be decided soon. Though mother didn’t have the information of who that could be, as we don’t have a vote in the meeting." She whispered back from my side. She replied. Our earlier spat was now a thing of the past; she hadn’t tried anything intimate after that argument, and thankfully, she hadn’t started ignoring me; we had simply reverted to the past before the day when she asked me to the ball.
’Is it a good thing or a bad thing?’ I thought, a little conflicted on that front.
~Ting Ting Ting~
The clear sound rang through the Great Hall. I could feel the wave of mana emanating from the head table where Professor McGonagall stood, a glass in her hand as she tapped it with her wand.
’Is that a sonorous charm or something else? The color of the charm is a bit different.’
"As you may have noticed, a few of the students have been...MISSING for the past week." She spoke; her voice was stern and firm, the forcefulness of the end of her statement suppressing the wave of whispers that threatened to overwhelm her momentum.
"Miss Millicent Bulstrode and Mr Marcus Flint have unfortunately passed away..." She continued before pausing, this time letting the rest of the houses exclaim their astonishment at that news. I looked on as some of the Ravenclaws were unaffected, though the grim look on their face told me that they likely knew about it. It was quite easy to see who was pureblood and who had an in with the primary Class I.
’Though it can’t be a definitive mark...’ I corrected as I looked at Harry and Ron, who were looking at each other, their mouth hanging open, before they furiously started talking about what it could mean.
"...Along with that, Professor Dumbledore fought and defeated Quirinus Quirrell when he tried to steal a magical artifact from Hogwarts. It is believed that he is responsible for the untimely demise of the two students..." She powered through the conversation that broke out regarding the fate of the professor, while most of the people close to me seemed interested in what kind of artifact the scared ex-professor was trying to steal.
"Professor Dumbledore tried to save Miss Blustrode and Mr Flint but was unable to counter the dark magic as it was too late. He also found clues about the organization, which was Quirinus Quirrell, who attempted to breach into Hogwarts and dared to harm his students. He left earlier today to search for and deal with this criminal organization."
’Huh... is that how they are going to spin this? I wonder if it is Minerva trying to preserve Dumbledore’s reputation in most Muggleborn or Half-bloods’ minds or if Dumbledore instructed her on what to say. It seems to work, though only the rumor mill could tell the final result.’
"With the Professor not being able to attend to his duties as the Headmaster of Hogwarts, the Governors have decided to appoint an interim Headmistress to take care of the castle." She finished before she waved to the door.
’Hmmm, demeaning the next headmistress to the role of just caretaker of the castl-’ I stopped, my thought remaining frozen as I saw who walked through the door. Her steps were assured as she walked through the large ornate gates. Her silvery-green dress flowed along, the long flaps behind floating just above the ground. With each step, her exposed cleavage jiggled ever so slightly and perfectly that I could only assume it was the result of a spell.
Her sharp, icy blue eyes met mine for a moment before I saw a brief smirk break through her face. I watched, along with many others, mesmerized as the platinum-blonde hair matriarch of the Noble House of Malfoy walked toward the head table.
’...Well, I wasn’t expecting that.’ I thought. I turned to Daphne, and the blonde was silent as well; the muted surprise that her mana conveyed, though, was comforting.
"Didn’t expect that, huh?" I asked.
"...No." She replied. I realized that there was no follow-up coming from her, so I turned back toward the head table, where Narcissa stood beside McGonagall with a polite smile that screamed that it was fake.
...
’Well, this will be fun.’
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AN: 50+ Chapters ahead on P.atreon!