WE MUST TAKE ACTION[NEVILLE, HARRY, WALTON]

[Deleted]

He had been awake already despite how it late was at night, however that did not mean the Headmaster was in his office or anywhere near it at the time a silver toad found him. He had been leaving a third floor corridor after just visiting his private chamber hidden from all the teachers and students. The message the silver toad spoke brought dreaded fear to his face: ”Red sparks over the forbidden forest”. He started making it quickly down the stairs his wand in his hand his pace gaining speed as he went, for an old man he moved at a remarkably fast pace. Fear is what was driving him, fear of another murder in the forest. Fear of someone discovering his and Vincent’s secret that was in the forest, or even fear that his record as Headmaster might have another horrible blemish on it. I must find the killer fast, or my plans are going to be ruined thought Burt as he made his way into the grounds towards the forest. He was hoping that Vincent would not be anywhere near the area and was hoping he was still not in the forest. The fool better have never ventured out tonight thought Burt he pushed the thoughts back as he entered the forest. He looked above and saw sparks hovering above as a singal to where they were, and he could install tell as he approached that protection charms were up around the area now. The man is a threat to me, but takes precautions well he thought of his Deputy Neville Longbottonm.

He secretly loathed the man cause of his fear that he would try to take Burt’s position from him. However when he approached he saw the man with Walton Grey, his ever so curious Professor and of course the famous Harry Potter already present along with Elodie Wood, the seventh year Gryfindor and Headgirl. Just by them was the body of a student, and Burt’s face went pale like he saw his life go before him. The gruesome way of his body was a wand sticking out of him; it had been rammed into him. Another student was dead, another blemish on the record of Burt Wick Reynolds. He opened his mouth to speak but, he could not catch his breath gasping for air for a couple seconds before he finally, gained his composure again. ”Harry…I want the Minister to double the Auror protection now or I as Headmaster will be forced to take matters in my hand. Get her to the hospital wing, have someone with her as well. Everyone meet me back at my office”spoke Burt his voice was calm but firm. His eyes looked once more to all of them and then back to the body of the younger student, before looking back to the ground and making his way back to the grounds to the castle. ”Murder at the school, alert the board at once..We must move now” he spoke softly under his mouth to his wand as he approached the castle. Then his phoenix patrons sprouted from his wand and swore off into the night sky to the house of Avyanna Rose. He made his way up the stairs as he quickened his pace to his office, before finally moving past the guard statue and opening the door into his office.

Pacing around for a few seconds, his hands started to shake and he made his way over to one of the cabinet grabbing a small vial of a clear liquid in it and dumped it all down his throat. Seeing the body of a young student so tortured before being killed, had brought up the memories of his daughter being tortured and killed so long ago. This changes everything…I have to move much faster…the killer must be found now thought Reynolds as he stood behind his desk awaiting the arrival of the three men he loathed and each of them posed a risk to his grand plan. This is my school….I am the Headmaster...not them I control everything here thought Burt trying to reassure himself of the power he held, for once the man felt a real threat to his entire grand plan and the power he currently held. However; he had many moves left in his game of chess, his mind whirling at top speed trying to figure out the next moves he could do to ensure his protection. ”Our school is under attack…steps must be taken, I expect you few know what to do”said Burt as he moved into the center of the room looking at the remaining previous Headmaster’s in their portraits. They were all awake and had been watching him quietly; after he spoke a few of them disappeared to visit their other respective portraits. Steps were already in place for a second killing...I just wish it never happened thought Burt as he heard footsteps approaching his office door he flicked his wand for it to open and walked over behind his desk once more.

840 WORDS

@superluigi64, @potter, @waltongrey

He's about to crap himself

THANK YOU MALIA TATE FROM ADOXOGRAPHY

[Deleted]

He had been on his way out of the Ministry when he saw Neville’s patronus coming towards him. The message did not bring good news to him. What he heard made him pissed off even more. He quickly left the Ministry to only appear near the gates to the school, which so happened to open as he approached. Sometimes it was good that the school could tell when something was wrong and when the right people had arrived it let them in without hesitation. Upon entering the forest many memories of his own flashed before his eyes. He had been in here so many times, his first year he served detention with Hagrid, second year it they ran into Aragog and his family, third year well it was to save Sirius, fourth year he found the body of Barty Crouch Sr., fifth year seeing Gwarp and also Umbridge being carried off by the herd of centaurs, etc. So many times and yet here he was once again.

As he neared the clearing he noticed that both Neville and Walton were already there with Elodie Wood the head girl and also the daughter of his good friends Oliver and Katie Wood. His heart went out to the girl since she is the one who had found the body of the poor student. It was rather gruesome but he had seen many things happen in his time that he wasn’t even phased by it. And finally after silence of them checking the area and also the body to determine how the child was killed Brut decided to show up. ”Harry…I want the Minister to double the Auror protection now or I as Headmaster will be forced to take matters in my hand. Get her to the hospital wing, have someone with her as well. Everyone meet me back at my office” Really as if he didn’t know that he would need to station extra people here he would be calling an emergency meeting of the Order as soon as they were done here. Harry cast his patronus and sent it off to several members of the Order to come and take up the immediate responsibility of guard duty. Just then a Husky appeared after Burt had left and transformed into Rob Hudson. “Rob take the girl to the hospital wing and stay with her until further instructions are given.” That was he had to say as Rob quickly took the girl from Neville’s arms back up to the castle and to the Hospital Wing. “Let’s get going can’t have the fool, I mean Headmaster to his own devices.” With that Harry turned and went up to the castle and made his way up to Burt’s office, which in Harry’s opinion the man shouldn’t even have.

Once he walked into the office and said “I have several aurors now patrolling and guarding the school as well, not just those few that I sent before.” He wasn’t going to tell the man that these aurors just so happened to be in the Order as well for there was no need too. They had already taken care of the body as it now lay in an unused classroom guarded by a couple of people. “I am sure you already know this but we will have to up the security here as well in Hogsmeade which I have already taken care of and got the minister’s approval for. So if anything more happens send word to the aurors there as well and they will come to help. Unless they are otherwise engaged.” The old fool seemed to Harry like he was planning on doing something and probably thought of this death not only as a hard and sad loss but also a threat to keeping the position of Headmaster. Harry knew all too well that the man would take any steps necessary to keep control. Harry heard other footsteps coming, Most likely Walton’s since the man had taken care of the body. And plus Neville hadn’t been that far behind him and was currently standing in the office as well.

@burt @waltongrey @superluigi64

[Deleted]

He was still holding Elodie tightly when they began to arrive. Walton was first, followed in short order by Harry. The two Aurors checked the body and the immediate area, but did so in silence, out of what Neville believed was respect for the student in his arms having dealt with enough already. Reynolds arrived minutes later, and the sight of the dead student drained the blood from his face. If politics weren’t getting so mired into doing what they all needed to be doing, Neville would have immediately assumed the man was in shock over what happened. Now, though…now he couldn’t afford to believe the best in people. Harry didn’t trust Reynolds, and Neville could hardly remember a time when Harry’s instincts had failed him. So he would follow his friend’s lead here. Burt recovered quickly enough, immediately ordering Harry to provide further Ministry protection, as though Harry wasn’t already planning that. Anything to assert his authority. The Chosen One chose to ignore it, as Rob ran up in his animagus form and Harry ordered him to take Elodie to the hospital wing. Neville opened his mouth to protest, but paused before saying nothing. He was not the Head of House right now. Much as he wanted to make sure Elodie was alright, Harry needed him here, needed him to help corroborate or refute anything Burt might say. So he quietly moved Elodie over to Rob. “Rob’s going to take you to the hospital wing, okay? I’ll come check on you later. Right now I have to help find out who did this.”

He caught up with the Head Auror quickly, falling in stride beside him as they made their way up to the castle, past the gargoyle and up the escalating stairs. Dumbledore’s office. He’d been here in his fifth year, Dumbledore had called him up personally to tell him about Bellatrix’s escape. He’d been here in his seventh year too, when the office was Snape’s, trying to steal the Sword of Gryffindor. And he’d been here as an adult, when it was McGonagall’s office, accepting the position of Herbology professor. Of course, Burt had had him up here a few times, particularly in his first year as headmaster, when Neville new the ins and outs of the job better than he did. Reynolds was already behind the great desk, but his show of authority worked about as well on Harry as it ever had, which was to say, not at all. Neville listened to his old friend lay out the basics of the security increase that was certainly going to come through, but that would take care of itself for the present. “It’s a group.”

Brown eyes, not soft and bright like normal, but hard and fiery, looked over at his two bosses. “All the Ministry killings last week? I knew a lot of those people. Hell, I taught some of them to fight. No one wizard would have been able to kill that many of them that quickly. This is a group effort, maybe a Death Eater resurgence. We never were able to capture them all. And they’ve got at least one person on the grounds. The hidden passages from outside the castle are all barred, and just in case someone found a way past, I’ve set up Sensor Wards in each one.” The Wards were tied by enchantment to a set of scrolls, where they recorded the date and time that they were tripped, plus if the intruder was human or nonhuman. The only thing that could get through his wards undetected were mobile plants, and that was most certainly not the cause of death in this case. “I think Grey’s right. Much as I hate to believe it, our killer is most likely a student.”

@waltongrey @burt @potter

[Deleted]

As was a usual thing for Walton when he had something on his mind, for example the uneasy feeling that he had been having all day, he was at the top of the Astronomy Tower watching the stars. When he had woken up this morning he the uneasy feeling that something bad or terrible was going to happen today of all days. He had been watching the stars and thinking to himself when he saw out of the corner of his eye red sparks come shooting up out of the trees in the Forbidden Forest. Walton turned around and pulled his wand out at the same time, as he raced through the door and down the steps that led to the lower levels of the castle. He had seen red sparks many times before since it was the universal signal of a wizard or witch calling for help. After a short period of time moving through the shadows of the school he finally arrived in the Forest and made his way as quickly as possible towards the spot where he had seen the sparks appear.

Upon entering the clearing he already saw Harry and Neville and also Elodie, one of the students in his house. He felt for the poor girl and he knew that both he and Neville would be taking the time to sit down and talk with her and help her through this experience of finding a dead body of a fellow student. Walton began taking in the whole area and analyzing what had happened. He could see a set of footprints on the ground that belonged to the dead boy, and then another set that belonged to someone who had slightly smaller feet, which gave him the indication that whoever had killed the boy was another student. But the question was who was it, and why had they done this?

As Elodie was taken away and the old man had told them all to come to his office, Walton quickly covered the dead body with a white sheet that he had conjured out of the nothing. He then levitated the body towards the school after he had cast a disillusionment charm on it so as not to raise panic in anyone who was out and about. As the group reached the castle Walton led the body into an unused classroom and placed wards around it, and then he had contacted John and Selliah to come and take turns guarding the room, so no one would find the body and spread panic.

Reaching the old man’s office that he didn’t deserve to be in, Walton could hear the voices of both Harry and Neville. “I think Grey’s right. Much as I hate to believe it, our killer is most likely a student.” He heard that when he stepped into the office. “After tonight I can safely say that my theory about it being a student is solid. Now we just need to find out who it is.” Walton knew all about the extra security that Harry was talking about and also the security measures Neville had taken care of. He had already made sure that both Sasha and Samira were stationed here or nearby, i.e. Hogsmeade. But now they had important matters to discuss.

@burt @potter @superluigi64

[Deleted]

As he stood behind his desk he saw Harry and Neville both enter without Walton, who he was sure the man was off taking precautions he needed to do so. He nodded at what Harry said about that extra Aurors had been added to the castle now including over at Hogsmeade and to send word to them if something else happens. Nothing else shall happen, not if I can stop it thought Burt his hands trembled just slightly, his eyes moved down as Neville started talking just staring at his hands as his second in command spoke. He was trying to control his hands from shaking at all but they did so, until finally he put them on his desk and they stopped and looked up at the two men in front of them, how much they had seen of his hands starting to tremble or how he reacted to it, he was not sure at all and it bothered him very much so. What is happening herethought Burt, his mind was starting to race on how his potion did not work, and instantly the image of his daughter just played in his head. He was worried a breakdown was about to happen again.

”Thank you Harry I am glad to know that, I’ll ensure extra protection is added to the school as well in other ways. I agree with you Neville that this has to be a group effort and former death eaters behind these other killings would make sense, and yes there is no way someone got on these grounds without us knowing” spoke Burt his voice was calm but, an edge was very clear in his tone he was worried not just about his future, his power, but his current state of mind right now. The view of that student who had been killed, had truly shaken the old man in a way back to when he discovered his daughter’s body. ”So young…” muttered Burt and his blue eyes moved up at once as he heard Walton’s voice reaffirming that his theory was correct. He resisted the eye roll he wanted to give at the arrival of his upmost Mr. I must ask questions all the time, Professor Walton Grey. However; his eyes did turn where his potion cabinet was, and his eyes almost grew wide in horror. He forgot to unlock it, it was opened ajar and the empty vial just recently used laid on the cabinet. Your losing your touch old man the voice played in his head.

He turned his attention back to the three men in his office, and tried not to worry about his unlocked cabinet, this was his office and they would have no right snooping through his office at all. However; he had a feeling Walton would find a way to throw some questions in the mix of this conversation. ”I would agree that our killer is a student, do any of your students from your classes seem to stand out as a suspect in any way? I think it’s safe to assume we may need to bring more professors into this theory other than just head of houses, unless one of you has done that already?” spoke Burt as he turned around to see an owl scratching at his window. Moving towards the window he opened it and took the letter from the owl and closed his window once more, he opened it and examined the letter closely.

Good news came with the letter, his position was safe for now the Board of Governors had crafted a carefully worded statement to give insisting their support of Reynolds despite the recent killing, however he knew public opinion would surely turn against his favor which could not afford. He sat down at his desk and put the letter away in one his drawers, his mood was much calmer now knowing that one backup plan had succeeded in working. His eyes glanced up at the empty portraits on the wall, Albus had left after he took the office, Snape was present watching them so intently, others were either asleep or missing because they left with Albus or left on their current tasks he had convinced them on doing. Do not fail me now you fools thought Burt his eyes went back to Neville, his second in command as much as he hated to give any more power or anything to give his competitor a leg up, he needed too. ”Neville, do you have any ideas of figuring out which student may be the killer, and any other security measures you think should be taken?” asked Burt, he did so as he saw a second in command as someone to advise him as well.

791 WORDS

@potter @superluigi64 @waltongrey

SHORT NOTES

THANK YOU MALIA TATE FROM ADOXOGRAPHY