Voices (HP Fanfic)

Chapter 13: The Secret Riddle

"Love yourself. It is important to stay positive because beauty comes from the inside out." - Jenn Proske

Chapter 13: The Secret Riddle

Third Person POV:

Katie was removed to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries the following day, by which time the news that she had been cursed had spread all over the school, though the details were confused and nobody other than Penelope, Padma, Marcus, Luna, Marietta, Cho, and Leanne seemed to know that Katie herself had not been the intended target.

"Oh, and Malfoy knows, of course," Marcus said to the five of them.

Penelope had wondered whether Dumbledore would return from wherever he had been in time for Monday night's lesson, but having had no word to the contrary, she presented herself outside Dumbledore's office at eight o'clock, knocked, and was told to enter. There sat Dumbledore looking unusually tired; his hand was as black and burned as ever, but he smiled when he gestured to Penelope. Harry was already seated. The Pensieve was sitting on the desk again, casting silvery specks of light over the ceiling.

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

"Yes, sir. How is she?" Penelope asked.

"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 in her ungloved hand, she would have died, perhaps instantly. Luckily Professor Snape was able to do enough to prevent a rapid spread of the curse —"

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

"Impertinent," said a soft voice from one of the portraits on the wall, and Phineas Nigellus Black, Sirius's great-great-grandfather, raised his head from his arms where he had appeared to be sleeping. "I would not have permitted a student to question the way Hogwarts operated in my day."

"Yes, thank you, Phineas," Dumbledore said quellingly. "Professor Snape knows much more about the Dark Arts than Madam Pomfrey, Harry. Anyway, the St. Mungo's 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?" Penelope asked, disregarding a strong feeling that she might be pushing her luck, a feeling apparently shared by Phineas Nigellus, who hissed softly.

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

"You will?" Harry said, startled.

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

"Sir," Harry said tentatively, "I met Mundungus in Hogsmeade."

"Ah yes, I am already aware that Mundungus has been treating your inheritance with light-fingered contempt," Dumbledore said, frowning a little. "He has gone to ground since you accosted him outside the Three Broomsticks; I rather think he dreads facing me. However, rest assured that he will not be making away with any more of Sirius's old possessions."

"That mangy old half-blood has been stealing Black heirlooms?" Phineas Nigellus said, incensed; and he stalked out of his frame, undoubtedly to visit his portrait in number twelve, Grimmauld Place.

"Professor," Penelope said, after a short pause, "did Professor McGonagall tell you what I told her after Katie got hurt? About Draco Malfoy?"