The Potter Twins and the Half-Blood Prince {6}

10. The Secret Riddle

"I wanna watch the world burn, I've got the gasoline," World Burn, Mean Girls the Musical 

Katie was removed to St. Mungos the following day, by which time the news that she was cursed has spread all over the school, though the details are confusing, and nobody other than those of us who were present knows that Katie had not been the intended target. 

"Oh, and Malfoy knows, of course," Harry says to us; we simply continue our new policy of feigning deafness whenever he brings up his 'Draco is a Death Eater' theory. 

I wonder whether Dumbledore has returned from wherever he had been in time for on Monday night's lesson, but having heard no word to the contrary, Harry and I nevertheless present ourselves outside Dumbledore's office at eight o'clock, knock, and are told to enter. There sits Dumbledore, looking unusually tired; his hand is as black and burned as ever, but he smiles as he gestures for Harry and me to sit down. The Pensieve is sitting on the desk again, casting silver specks of light over the ceiling. 

"You have had a busy time while I have been away," Dumbledore says. "I believe you witnessed Katie's accident."

"Yes, sir. How is she?"

"Still very unwell, although she was relatively lucky. She appears to have brushed the necklace with the smallest possible amount of skin: There was a tiny hole in her glove. Had she put it on, had she even held it on her ungloved hand, she would have died, perhaps instantly. Luckily Professor Snape was able to enough to prevent the rapid spread of the curse -"

"Why him?" Harry asks quickly. "Why not Madam Pomfrey?"

"Impertinent," says a soft voice form of the portraits on the wall, and Phineas Black, Sirius' great-great-grandfather, raises his head from his arms. "I would not have permitted a student to question the way Hogwarts operated in my day."

"Yes, thank you, Phineas," Dumbledore says quellingly. "Professor Snape knows much more about the Dark Arts than Madam Pomfrey, Harry. Anyway, the St. Mungos staff are sending me hourly reports, and I am hopeful that Katie will make a full recovery in time."

"Where were you this weekend, sir?" I ask, disregarding a strong feeling that I may be pushing my luck. 

"I would rather not say just now," says Dumbledore. "However, I shall tell you in due time."

"You will?"

"Yes, I expect so," Dumbledore says, withdrawing a fresh bottle of silver memories from inside his robes and uncorking it with a prod of his wand.

"Sir," Harry says tentatively. "We met Mundungus in Hogsmeade."

"Ah yes, I am already aware that Mundungus has been treating Miss Saunter's possessions with light-fingered contempt," says Dumbledore, frowning slightly. "He has gone to ground since you accosted him outside the Three Broomsticks; I rather think he dreads facing me, or Aidan Saunters for that matter. However, rest assured that he will not be making away with any more of Taylor's old possessions."

"Professor," Harry says again after a short pause. "did Professor McGonagall tell you what I told her after Katie got hurt? About Draco Malfoy?"

I roll my eyes, resting my forehead in my hands. 

"She told me of your suspicions, yes."

"And do you -?"

"I shall take all appropriate measures to investigate anyone who might have had a hand in Katie's accident," says Dumbledore. "But what concerns me now, Harry is our lesson."

I give Harry a pointed look, to which he scowls. He looks resentful at this but says no more about Draco. 

"You will remember," Dumbledore says, as he begins pouring the fresh memories into the Pensieve," I am sure, that we left the tale of Lord Voldemort's beginning at the point where the handsome Muggle, Tom Riddle, had abandoned his witch wife, Merope, and returned to his family home in Little Hangleton. Merope was left alone in London, expecting the baby who would one day become Lord Voldemort."