Stigma | Jikook + Harry Potter AU

Chapter 7: Tutelage

It was the start of a new day, a fresh morning and the four long tables inside the grand hall were fully loaded with a delicious feast of breakfast delicacy. Yet the foreboding presence hanging in the air of the grand dining hall unsettled every Hogwart's student to the core, their piled high plates of food momentarily forgotten. The eerie chill of something brooding unpleasantly created an anxious rift even between the professors who normally enjoyed their breakfast basked in the grand hall's joyous atmosphere, but were now looking a bit grey and worn in their wrinkles. There was absolutely nothing joyous about the bleak silence resonating thickly inside the grand hall, anything but, especially when all eyes were drawn to Professor Dumbledore who stood before his podium with a grim expression.

"Students of Hogwarts... it has been brought to my attention that we've lost yet another student overnight." Professor Dumbledore's grave voice echoed against the walls of the hall solemnly. A series of gasps and panicked murmures rose into the air. Someone had been taken again? What about the still missing girls? The agitation stirred within the students died down when the Headmaster merely raised a hand to silence them all.

However, at the Slytherin table, shushed voices continued. "What brainless girl got herself captured this time I wonder?" Jungkook whispered to Yoongi who was sitting beside him. The mint haired pureblood looked disinterested altogether with the news. After the first girl disappeared from wandering the halls at night alone, one would assume common sense would kick in with these other girls but no. Bold, silly witches.

"Don't know and I truly don't care." the Slytherin captain grumbled back because honestly, the constant warnings made by their professors are there for a reason; to be taken serious and not lightly.

Jungkook decided to tune out the Headmaster like his unconcerned hyung right when Dumbledore continued, a heavy weight behind his words that smacked Jungkook in the chest.

"Although the victims have all been witches, last night we lost a wizard, Park Jimin, a Hufflepuff."

At the Gryffindor table, Seokjin considerably paled. Jihyun emitted a choked broken 'What?' and slammed up from her seat, eyes wide and scared. Her jerky movement knocked over her neighbor's goblet, the liquid contents staining the tablecloth but the mess was ignored. The girl was only a few seats down from Seokjin who stood up and rushed over to her before she toppled over in her tremors at the news of her missing brother. Seokjin coaxed Jihyun back into her seat and followed suit, his body numb. Dumbledore sent them a sympathetic glance and continued on about how Jimin disappeared without a trace just like the previous girls and how already he had people out on the search.

Namjoon and Taehyung also stood up from their seats but didn't move toward the Gryffindor table although the elder Ravenclaw yearned to with the way Seokjin shot him lost, worried glances. Jimin? Their Jimin was gone? It felt like the world turned itself upside down inside of their guts, straining and dizzying enough to make them sick.

Hoseok had tears welling up in his eyes at the Hufflepuff table and he wasn't alone, either. Jimin was a ray of sunshine in their House to even those not in their inner circle. His sweet, kind smile and natural selfless demeanor. On top of it all, Jimin was a Hufflepuff and the Hufflepuff house were more than just a house, they were a family. And they just lost a very wonderful family member.

Yet... three wizards at the Slytherin table look as if they've just lost the Quidditch World Cup. The stricken expression carved in Jackson's face was raw as he stared across the table at Yoongi and Jungkook. Yoongi had been in mid sip when Professor Dumbledore announced Jimin's name and spat his morning juice back out instantly. His grip on the goblet tightened to the point until his pale hand resembled stark white. And Jungkook...