Thick Smoke

Truth

A few days later and Eliza was having nightmares again. She was thinking so much about the gaps in her information that she ended up searching for clues in her mother's diary. Except notes for every subject and her own ability to use magic without a wand, Ophelia only wrote about stuff regarding her days in Hogwarts. There were gaps in dates, writing nothing during the holidays and summer break. If anything, that diary was just for Hogwarts and most of the notes weren't even written by her but this close friend that helped her through difficult times.

She found one detail during Ophelia's seventh year at Hogwarts. It seemed she had the same excerpt about Morfin Gaunt from the Daily Prophet. She scratched something under it that looked like a serpent and Eliza knew it was Slytherin's.

"So you're mother found out Morfin Gaunt was a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin?"

Eliza nodded. She told them the news first thing in the morning after she found out.

"And why was that so important for her?" Harry asked, he too having something he wanted to share with the rest.

"I think mom was searching for her family. She was raised in the orphanage and all she knew was that her mother died when she gave birth to her. Now, do you remember the article I told you about? The one about the woman who was murdered in the street? I think that was Ophelia's mother."

"But that's impossible. Didn't you say she died before she gave birth?" Hermione asked, keeping her voice low so Seamus and Neville wouldn't hear from across them.

"No. I said it before, she was stunned. The baby got extracted from her and that's when she died. Morfin Gaunt was sentenced during the same year and I think there's a connection between these two."

"But even so, who would do that? It's savage!" Ron exclaimed, feeling much better now that he was out of the hospital.

"Tom. I may be stretching it a bit but you said he disappeared for a long time. What if he did it?" Eliza asked, her eyes widening at the words rushing out her mouth.

"That's unlikely. Voldemort was a young man, working for Borgin and Burkes back then. I don't think it adds up to your mother's age." Hermione said softly, looking at her friend with sympathy.

Eliza bit her lip and looked down at her plate in disappointment. That was right. Her mother was born in 1959 and if she were to be born when the woman died, she had to be born in 1906. That was too early.

During Charms, Harry sat with his two best friends while Eliza decided she wanted to think about her problems alone. She knew one of them will tell her if there was something new. Concentrating was another difficult task and control was sifting through her fingers, literally. She turned the vinegar into oil instead of wine and splashed it all over Dean, who was already sulky as it was. Seamus laughed and patted Eliza fondly.

On the way back to the common room, Harry was lost in his own thoughts while Hermione and Ron filled her in. Besides the whole Horcrux business, everyone looked really happy. Eliza knew Ron and Lavender split up, she could hear Lavender crying last night while Hermione was sleeping peacefully. Also, Seamus informed Eliza after her mishap in Charms that Ginny and Dean split up as well.

For the rest of the time, nothing important happened. Classes were going on nicely and Eliza was hanging more and more with Hermione, searching for clues that would point out any detail about Ophelia's life. She couldn't find anything and the witch murdered by a muggle was making less and less sense.

May came around and everyone was excited for the upcoming match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Harry was hanging around Ginny a lot and she couldn't help pity him. Ron was oblivious to the sparkles between his sister and his best friend and Eliza was sure Harry was having an internal struggle every time he'd look at Ron.