Gideon Drake and the Fire Within (Harry Potter Sequel/Spinoff)

Chapter Fifty: The Home Stretch

Later that day, Gideon, Alex and Talia were escorted from the Hospital Wing to the head's office by Professor Long. She informed them that classes had been cancelled for the day before uttering the gargoyle's password to let them up, 'Spattergroit.'

They found Professor Dandridge waiting for them with Professor Maxwell, Jonathan Grimsby, and a very slim woman with a short haircut, who turned out to be Talia's mother.

The next hour was spent going over everything the three of them had investigated, learned, and done in relation to the fires, including a blow-by-blow of their encounter with the Demon. Talia's mother seemed horrified while Mr Grimsby spent a lot of the time shaking his head with his eyes closed.

'You do understand, don't you, that the staff were conducting our own investigation into the fires?' said Professor Dandridge sternly. 'Had we not been delayed by the late discovery of a key piece of information, found only in a library book that went missing from the Restricted Section until—'

'I had a note, Professor,' Alex interjected guiltily, 'from, err, Professor Trelawney.'

'Not the same teacher who made this prophecy?' Mrs Dinescu asked incredulously.

'Most teachers know better...' the headmistress stated wearily. 'Be that as it may, permission is given only to access restricted books, not to remove them from the library!'

'Alex!' Mr Grimsby chided.

'I must ask, why none of you came forward with your information?' Professor Dandridge asked.

'We were—I was—stupid, Professor. I'd become mistrustful and I let that cloud my judgement,' Gideon confessed.

'No, Gideon, me and Alex are just as much to blame,' Talia insisted. 'We could have said something, but we convinced ourselves that for Ruby's sake, the best thing to do was use what we knew to identify the culprit, in case they got away. Personally, I also wanted to clear Gideon of suspicion once and for all.'

'We never intended to confront Professor Blanchard,' Alex insisted. 'And we never imagined what would happen! But we thought a teacher might be involved, so we didn't know who to tell, especially since they were using ritual magi—'

Gideon cleared his throat pointedly at this point, not keen for Alex to reveal that they had foolishly suspected the headmistress herself.

'Yes, well, the fact of the matter is you broke a number of school rules and put yourselves in grave danger!' the headmistress scolded. Then, she sat back in her chair and sighed, 'However, had you not delayed the Demon until the teachers arrived, there is no telling what would have happened to the school, the students, or indeed the world beyond Hogwarts, should it have escaped. As such, I can't bring myself to punish you. I will leave that to your guardians if they so wish.'

Gideon, Alex and Talia exchanged looks of amazement and relief. Then, Gideon remembered, 'Can we ask, what about Professor Binns?'

'I'm afraid we can't be sure about the reasons for Professor Binns's exorcism,' the head concluded. 'We can't say with any certainty that Professor Blanchard was responsible, but it does seem likely. I would contend that given Professor Binns's habit of walking through walls, he may have happened upon something he wasn't supposed to see. Perhaps he ran into Professor Blanchard while patrolling and thought nothing of it? Professor Blanchard, however, may have considered any witnesses a risk to his plan. Alas, I'm afraid we may never know for sure.'

After a pause, Professor Maxwell said, 'Regarding the prophecy. It will need to be reviewed by the Ministry. In the meantime, I recommend its contents remain private, as well as everything else discussed here today.'