Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived (Collected Original Works)

Responsible Reporting (Dumbledore)

The Dark Lord’s Terrifying Reign

By: Santha Rockeye

Ministry of Magic, UK The Wizarding World was turned upside down yesterday in the early hours of the evening. It was the spell heard round the world, as one more death paved a clear way for the Dark Lord to reign supreme. Cassandra Trelawney was murdered by an ancient spell, the likes of which has not been seen in the recent centuries.

Witches and Wizards around the world are in mourning for one of their own. Cassandra “Cassie” Trelawney, a famed seer, is best known for her predictions about the rise of the Dark Lord Grindewald. Though she made several other predictions surrounding the Dark Lord, none were as infamous as the first.

“He who has been scorned shall seize his place.

As a wave washes away sand, so shall a wave of evil wash away all that is good.

There will be one who can prevent war.

Those who seek to defy the new order shall seek a guide.

Band together. Unite as one. Fight for love.”

The only person present at the time of the attack on Cassandra Trelawney was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. He is best known for his role as Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Along with his recent discovery in alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel, Albus is also well known for discovering 12 uses for dragon’s blood.

There were no eyewitnesses to the heinous crime that has rocked the Wizarding community. There were several bystanders, including Dumbledore’s own students, who were first on the scene.

Christofer, Chadrich, and Chylar, the Sirrom triplets, were the first students on the scene. According to Chadrich, they had finished a Transfiguration lesson with Dumbledore a few hours earlier. They had been practicing Transfiguring certain creatures into harmless Muggle pets. The Sirrom triplets have a certain reputation for being troublemakers. Now, it is most certain, they will have a new reputation. The stigmata of having discovered the crumpled body of Cassandra Trelawney will follow them for years to come.

The triples offered the following interview.

“We were having a pip of a time, Transfiguring Nifflers into ordinary Muggle dogs,” Chylar explained.

“We couldn’t get them to stop chasing shiny objects, though,” Christofer added, shaking his head.

“It’s not simple, you know,” Chadrich retorted. “I saw Chylar shaking the Niffler off his arm, when I heard this sickening crunch.”

“He had caught the Niffler between his arm and the edge of a bookcase, Christofer exclaimed. “We’re still not sure how.”

“We were worried about the Niffler, so were heading to the Gamekeeper’s hut,” Chylar said, trying to justify his actions. “That was when we saw the Dark Lord strutting down the steps of the school.”

“He looked like a bit of an idiot, if you ask me,” Christofer said bitingly.

“No one asked you,” Chadrich snapped. “He made it to the edge of the Forbidden Forrest and Apparated.”

“It felt a bit weird,” Chylar mumbled, “so we petrified the Niffler- we didn’t want to hurt him any further- and then we ran toward the steps.”

“We heard an odd noise, didn’t quite sound human, coming from the closest dungeon classroom.” Chadrich tried to describe the sound accurately. “Chylar and I were, uh, uncomfortable entering the classroom without an Auror. Christofer just blasted his way in.”

“That’s when we found Professor Dumbledore. He was resting against the far wall, holding someone,” Christofer added.

“He didn’t look too happy,” Chylar interrupted.

“You think so?” Christofer replied scathingly. “That was when we noticed that he was holding Cassie.”

“She’d been to our Transfiguration classes before, that’s how we knew who she was,” Chadrich cut in.

“She was bloody amazing, but she was pretty scary during her predictions,” Chylar offered.

“She knew an awful lot about ancient magic, too,” Christofer related.

“They must have been in the middle of some sort of spell, because they had cleared out the classroom. There were a few candles still burning, but most of them had toppled over in the struggle,” Chadrich said softly.

“Dumbledore didn’t respond to us at first,” Chylar whispered. “He was rocking back and forth, holding Cassie. He was singing to her…:

“more like humming, if you ask me,” Chadrich corrected. “He was humming under his breath. I didn’t recognize the tune.”

“It was then that the Aurors appeared,” Christofer muttered. “They shoved us out of the way and hurried Dumbledore away. One of them stayed to take Cassie’s body away. We didn’t see Dumbledore again until Cassie funeral.”

“He wasn’t the same after that,” Chylar whimpered.

The official report from the Ministry of Magic classified the attack on Cassandra Trelawney and Albus Dumbledore as unplanned and unprovoked. They have attempted to garner more details as to the events leading up to the attack, but Albus has indicated that any memories of the day’s events, preceding the attack, were wiped clean by a spell from the Dark Lord.

Several attempts were made to restore the memories, but the Healers ultimately decided that it was doing the patient more harm than good. Albus was released to his brother, Aberforth Dumbledore, who is the bartender at the Hog’s Head Tavern. He gathered Albus from St. Mungo’s in the early hours of the morning. He indicated that he and his brother were not to be disturbed at their home on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Aberforth offered the following statement.

“This is a tragedy. Who cares about the rest of the Wizarding world right now? Albus has lost the love of his life. I will not have you vultures making this any harder on my brother. He didn’t see anything. He doesn’t know anything. He and Cassie weren’t performing any cockamamie ancient magic. What they were doing is their business, which is the reason, I’m sure, that he would like to keep it private. I won’t warn you again. Stay away from our cottage. We will not be entertaining guests any time in the near future.”

One can only speculate as to the events that took place immediately prior to the attack by the Dark Lord Grindewald. The Wizarding world may never know what happened that balmy day when the greatest seer of our time was struck down by an evil most supreme.