Chapter 54: Chapter 54. Dingy Dark Inns

Even after lucking out and getting to sit so close to Professor Fodel Drumwind, I could barely pick out what was said.

All I needed was a couple of keywords though and I slipped out of the inn before my luck ran out and I got heckled.

Plus, it was time up. If I wanted to meet up with the rest I had to leave now.

It was best that I did because a shady figure had started in my direction, I slipped out of Hog's Head just as silently as I got in.

Finding my way back was a piece of cake and I got back before Jason and the Beaters did, bumping into Blair and Tanner who were standing a little too close to each other and then jumped backwards when I showed up.

I remembered to do the transfiguration on my robes, forgetting was one way to rat myself out.

"Don't just pop out of nowhere like that, Audric!" Blair scolded me, a hand over her heart.

"Wait, where are the others?" Tanner was the first to notice that I had shown up all alone.

"They should be back anytime so… there they are!" I pointed at them, avoiding the question.

Blair looked up at the sky with a frown, the snowflakes were falling rapidly now. "There's no time to hang around Hogsmeade anymore, we should return to the school."

The journey back to Hogwarts was sufficiently quieter than the trip to Hogsmeade had been. It was already late afternoon even though it wasn't easy to tell in the snowing Village of Hogsmeade.

The exhaustion of the day was finally kicking in, we hadn't given ourselves a chance to rest after the match.

We were dead on our feet by the time we returned to Hogwarts but I couldn't rest, I had to report my findings to Headmistress McGonagall.

It might just be that Professor Drumwind was a spy put into Hogwarts after they got rid of Professor Esme but I heard mentions of Azkaban. Professor Drumwind might have also had a hand in the attacks.

There was still a couple of hours before dinner, the rest of the team had been so exhausted to pay any attention to me leaving again as soon as we got to the dorms.

Now, where would I find Headmistress McGonagall? Her office would be my best bet.

On my way there I bumped into Nira who blinked owlishly at me as I helped steady her.

"Audric?"

"Sorry about that." I apologized quickly, already continuing on my way only to stop.

Nira was the Headgirl's best friend, right? If anyone could accurately guess where the Headmistress probably was, it would be Alfreda.

"Hey, know where the Headmistress is?"

Nira furrowed her brows cutely, caught off guard by my questioning. "Uh, um… t-the Headmistress?" She adjusted her glasses with a small hand. "I think, I think Freda said she retired to her office to deal with some paperwork."

I was on the right track after all.

"Thanks." I bowed slightly to her, leaving too quickly to notice her face burn up.

I picked up the pace, feeling a sense of urgency as I hurried down the corridors.

Accessing the Headmaster's Tower required a password, I didn't know it.

It had to be that the one time that I desperately needed Headmistress McGonagall's presence that she was holed up in her office.

I had to get to the third floor and then go up the circular moving stone case, I didn't know the password to the Headmaster's Tower so at best I would be stuck in front of the statue of the Gargoyle.

I didn't get that far though because, on the second floor, I ran into the most unfortunate person I could.

Professor Fodel Drumwind.

"Audric was it?" He struck up a conversation with me as soon as he caught sight of me. "I've been meaning to have a few words with you." He said languidly like he had said it to ten students already today. "Your play on the Quidditch pitch was spectacular by the way, have you ever considered playing professionally?"

I gave all the right answers to his questions, praying that he moved right on.

Just before he left, he flicked something off my robes. "You had a little something on your robes, I reckon it's a snowflake…" He pointed out in an eerily strange tone before striding off.

I didn't hesitate after he left continuing my journey only to run into Headmistress McGonagall on the third floor.

"I suppose you're looking for me?"

I didn't even stop to think about how she had known. There was only one logical explanation though, Nira had gone looking for Alfreda.

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I looked around furtively, wary about saying anything.

"I suppose you'll be visiting my office again." She sighed long-sufferingly, gesturing for me to follow her.

I did so meekly, I knew I had useful and tangible information to give the Headmistress but I couldn't help but put myself in her shoes.

She had probably been interrupted from her paperwork to come to attend to me.

I really hoped that the information that I gathered proved to be worthwhile.

"What is it this time, Audric?" She asked with nonexistent patience.

I sat when she asked me to, not having the heart to refuse.

"I was in Hogsmeade less than half an hour ago and while I was there I ran into Professor Fodel Drumwind."

When I said his name, Headmistress McGonagall immediately straightened up, her eyes sharp behind her spectacles.

"And?" She prompted impatiently.

"I followed him, he headed into Hog's Head."

This time, Headmistress McGonagall didn't bat an eye about the fact that I had tailed a Professor again.

"He met up with someone at the Hog's Head Inn but it was a little hard to tell who as they were both shrouded in capes. I did hear enough to ascertain that Professor Drumwind is a spy." I narrated in a steady voice.

"There's a ploy to cause another attack so that it coincides with a breakout from Azkaban." 

Headmistress McGonagall's eyes widened in the same way mine had when I first strung together the bits of information.

It made me want to go back to the editions of The Daily Prophet that I had in my possession.

Had there really been breakouts from Azkaban coinciding with attacks from Hogwarts in order to use the school as a cover story?

If it was, it was wicked smart and it worked a little too well.

They would have had a hard time controlling the fallout from the last attack because the 'perpetrator' was supposed to have been stripped of her position. 

Headmistress McGonagall shot to her feet.

"They must have had someone working inside The Daily Prophet as well because I am in the habit of perusing every single paragraph in the newspapers and not once has breakouts from Azkaban been mentioned."

"Thank you, you should rest up now, you have done wonderful work as always."

I expected Headmistress McGonagall to dismiss me, hoped for it even because I was bone-deep tired.

The final piece was now in place though.

The aim of the attacks.

They had been to hide escapes from Azkaban, the Ministry of Magic no doubt eager to keep it under wraps to preserve the peace.

It would add up if the only prisoners escaping were few and non-lethal.

In such cases, it would be more profitable to silently hunt down the escapees and return them back to Azkaban than to make a fuss about it that could very well backfire.

The public was quite volatile and there was no predicting how they would react.

Fortunately, I didn't run into anyone worrisome on my way back to the Slytherin dungeons. 

Well, except for every single person that wanted to say congratulations and shake my hand.

My reputation was the best it had ever been but it came with consequences like everyone wanting to shake my hand or steal a piece of my precious time.

I cleaned up magically because I didn't have any energy left to go through the trouble of a shower.

I was fast asleep before my head even touched my pillows.

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