[Harry Potter] A Bloody Riddle

Disclaimer: As I'm not a blonde, rich, talented Englishwoman, I'm afraid this isn't mine. Harry Potter™ and all related characters belong to JK Rowling. I just borrowed them for a bit of fun.

A BLOODY RIDDLE

Chapter One

The shiny and hot summer morning contrasted heavily with the mood of each and every pupil of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, for this was a sad day. A very sad day. The day on which the greatest hope of Light had been buried forever.

Trapped in a crowded, yet tiny railway station, Harry Potter was no exception to the rule. He was in a very foul mood indeed, a mix of the sadness and the despair that overwhelmed them all, and he was positively suffocating under the merciless sun. He wondered if things could get much worse from there.

He imagined he wouldn't be very comfortable inside the train, anyway. Due to the large number of deserters, the student population had been reduced to only one hundred and fifteen students, and the number of carriages had been shortened to five, despites the numerous complaints.

The security measures weren't helping anyone either. Standing at every door into the Hogwarts Express was an Auror, holding a list of the people who should go into each carriage. Why they bothered, no one knew. Perhaps it was because they feared someone would go missing, or perhaps it was because they wanted to know exactly who had boarded the train, to make sure there would be no foul surprises whilst the journey to London occurred, for the Minister of Magic couldn't allow his precious Aurors to ride with the students for fear of leaving himself vulnerable to an attack.

Finally, among the crowd of students, Harry heard his name being called:

"Potter, Harry James, section four!" shouted the all too familiar voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt. Harry immediately proceeded to push past the mass of heads and shoulders around him in order to reach the carriage in question as soon as humanly possible. His task was, of course, made heavily difficult by the simple fact that there were too many people in the station for everyone to keep their toes untouched and, therefore, a lot of complaints ensued.

Once inside, he started looking for a friendly compartment, hoping that he would be able to find at least one of his friends. Honestly, who had come up with the brilliant idea of directing the students to random compartments? Considering his luck, he would probably end up sharing a compartment with some groupies or something. Or worse, a bunch of pure-blood supremacists – he did not feel like having a fight at the moment.

Sighing, he finally found an empty compartment and started praying his ride companions would not be as bad as he dreaded. However, his hopes were shattered when none other than Colin Creevey entered the compartment, his cheeks flushing and his eyes lighting up with undisguised happiness at the sight of his hero.

"Oh, hullo, Harry!" he exclaimed. "Here, I was hoping you'd let me get a signed photo, just you this time…" he trailed off at the icy glare Harry shot him and fell silent at once, taking a seat at the opposite end of the compartment and adopting a solemn posture fitting for a funeral.

Harry's luck was not to be improved with the passing time. Joining Colin came Ernie Macmillan and his inseparable rumoured-to-be-girlfriend Susan Bones, a third-year girl he learned was called Orla Quirke and, surprise of the surprises, Vincent Crabbe, in a murderous mood that didn't make him any more appealing to talk to than usual.

The witch who usually sold sweets was now making sure that everyone was settled and no compartment held more than six passengers before the inter-carriage doors were closed and the train sped off for London.

Harry looked out of the window and sighed. This was going to be a tough journey.

XoX

Ginny Weasley couldn't believe her luck. The fates had to be having a seriously loud laugh about her at that moment.

The last week of the school year had been like hell for the youngest Weasley. First Bill's injury, then Dumbledore's death, and now she and Harry had parted too. The only thing that could possibly make her week worse was being trapped in a train compartment with Romilda Vane, Michael Corner and Blaise Zabini at once. Which she incidentally was.

The train hadn't even started moving yet and she was already being nagged to death by the stupid Vane groupie, who was extremely satisfied to hear about Harry being "single" again and seemed to take a sort of sadistic pleasure out of seeing Ginny sad.

"Now, I never thought it would last, to be honest about it… Harry is just not the kind of guy to be trapped with an uninteresting, poor girl for long. He needs to be challenged," she was saying, an eager expression on her face. Ginny's blood boiled, but she didn't do anything, pretending she hadn't heard what the younger girl had said. Unfortunately, while Vane was disgruntled that her commentary had seemingly had no effect on Ginny, her mood lightened up considerably when Michael Corner rushed to come to what he supposed was his former girlfriend's help.

"Well, and who do you suggest he should be with, Romilda? You?" he asked in an impertinent tone.

Romilda smirked. "I'm not arrogant, Mike; one can't choose who one falls for… but if they have someone to open their eyes… well, let's just say Harry doesn't know what he's missing – yet," she stressed the last word to give emphasis to her hope that Harry would "open his eyes" soon enough. Ginny couldn't keep from rolling her eyes in exasperation. Zabini smiled broadly at the perspective of a good fight. Meanwhile, Corner struck back.

"And you'll be the one to do it, Vane? Come on, I thought you were more intelligent than that," he spat. "How would you approach him in the first place?"

Romilda's smile widened as she got up and opened her trunk, revealing a shiny silver cloak Ginny recognised at once. Harry's Invisibility Cloak. "I think giving him his cloak back is a good excuse, don't you?"

"You slutty thief!" Ginny roared, standing. "Give me that!"

Still smirking, Zabini stood up himself. "Are you so desperate to find an excuse to see Potty that you need a stupid cloak, Weasel? Perhaps you think giving it to him will make him want you back?" The disdainful words had barely escaped his mouth and he was on the ground, screaming as his bogeys started attacking his face. Ginny then turned to Vane. Forgetting her wand, she punched her in the face, throwing the other girl off balance. Romilda stared.

"You great-!" she screamed and threw herself at Ginny, sending them both towards the floor. The cloak lay forgotten on the floor. Meanwhile, the other two occupants of the compartment, Natalie McDougal and Mariah Montgomery, were speechless.

XoX

"Mr Potter, please… Mr Potter!"

Harry awoke from his slumber to see the plump witch usually in charge of the sweets trolley leaning over him, calling him out of his deep sleep. Barely suppressing a yawn, he took a moment to look at her more intently. She looked fatter than usual, but what worried him was her expression of… was it fear?

"What happened?" he demanded, straightening up and steeling himself for whatever she had come here to tell him. The witch, however, looked at him nervously.

"Mr Potter, would you mind coming with me outside?"

Harry eyed her with grim curiosity. Her expression was not a good sign. What did she want from him? His compartment mates' expressions didn't bode well either.

Nevertheless, he stood up and followed her out of the door and into the corridor. Outside, she motioned him to the toilets, at the front of the carriage. Harry just stared at her, speechless. What the hell do you want me in the toilet for, woman?

Seeming to realise his thoughts, the witch looked startled, a small blush appearing on her face, and settled for the corridor instead, casting a Silencing charm around them.

"Mr Potter, I need to ask you a favour." Harry eyed her suspiciously and waited for the rest to come. "A passenger of this train has been found…" she cringed visibly, "…dead… in one of the compartments."

Harry's eyes wanted to bulge out of their sockets, causing him to feel no small amount of pain.

"The thing is… I don't know why he was here in the first place," the witch added hesitantly.

Harry recovered his voice. "Who was it? Who was the student?"

She frowned at him. "That's the thing… I'm not so sure it was a student… Come with me, please." And, taking out her wand and muttering something unrecognizable as she tapped the door, she opened it and motioned for him to follow her into the third carriage.

XoX

Harry was greeted by the sight of complete pandemonium. Romilda Vane was teasing a little crying girl, trying to push her into one of the front compartments against her will and that of what had to be Mariah Montgomery, with her dark blue hair, who was presently trying to both prevent Romilda from doing whatever she was attempting to do and keep Michael Corner and Gregory Goyle from fighting each other. Against the wall, Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe were whispering urgently, while trying to avoid looking into the furthest compartment on the left side. Harry could have sworn Cho had made a loud gurgling noise when their eyes met, but he soon dismissed the thought. His eyes came, then, to rest on Ginny, who seemed to be putting all her efforts into keeping her face straight and not vomiting – whether it was from the sick stuff Pansy was yelling at her or from something she might have seen, he could not tell.

Meanwhile, the witch had stopped to take in the havoc that had begun when she had left the place, not more than ten minutes ago. Brandishing her wand once more, she sent sparks of several colours into the air and made a loud noise that distracted everyone from their activities. Most people looked around for the source, realising Harry was there for the first time, but before they could even speak the witch ordered them to their compartments and darkened the windows in order to prevent curious students from looking at what was bound to be an unpleasant sight. She then beckoned Harry to follow her and entered the furthest compartment.

Harry's first reaction was shock. He certainly hadn't been expecting to see blood at all, mind you the large quantity of it present in that compartment. The figure lay on the floor by the window, and the bloody distorted shape on the wall made it clear the victim had collapsed against it before falling to the floor. But that wasn't all.

With all the courage he could muster, Harry reached for the corpse (the witch hissed and turned her back on him with an affected yelp) and turned it over. What he saw almost made him throw up. There were slashes all over it, to the point where gender wasn't recognizable, forget the identity of the victim. There was something curious, though. A portion of its bare left arm remained untouched. Leaning in and trying his best to hold his composure at both the sight in front of his eyes and the reek of blood, Harry gasped. There was a form there, a form Harry was bound to recognise at once: the Dark Mark.

Harry looked up at the witch. "So that's why you said you weren't certain it was a student…" he muttered, standing up. He frowned. "Why was there only one person in this compartment? I thought there had to be six," he mused, looking at her. He was liking this less and less with every passing moment and he could sense her discomfort when he looked at her.

"I don't know…" she said with an unconvincing frown of perplexity at the bloodstained wall. "In fact−" She looked at him. "I don't remember checking this compartment at all."

Harry sighed. "How did you know this was a Death Eater?" he demanded. "And why in Merlin's name did you call me? I can't do anything about it! The guy's dead!"

The witch cringed at the verbal attack. "Mr Potter, I thought it would be best to call you just because you're the person in here that has dealt most with Death Eaters… In fact, I was hoping you could try and find out who did this… the monster who did this…" And she looked at him with something akin to fierceness, which surprised Harry more even than the fact that a Death Eater had been found dead in a train full of students. Could it possibly be that this woman knew the murdered Death Eater?

"Do you know this person?" he asked brutally. She winced.

"No… no, I don't! I mean, even if I did, how would I be able to recognise him in this… state…?" Her voice faltered and Harry shot her a glare. Oh, I wish I was a Legilimens now…

Harry eyed her suspiciously. "You sure?"

"Yes, sir, yes. I don't know who he is, I swear… Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go back…" She indicated the door. With an irritated wave, Harry dismissed her. Turning to take the sight in front of him, he reconsidered. A trip to the toilet didn't seem such a bad idea, after all.

Oh, isto lembra-me um livro da Agatha Christie, "Crime no Expresso do Oriente". Um homem também morto, múltiplas facadas, num comboio e ninguém sabe quem ele verdadeiramente era! Será que nos vais revelar tudo no comboio ou teremos de esperar até chegarmos a Londres para sabermos?
Mas a localização de espaço e tempo que nos deste é boa! Logo após a morte de Dumbledore, quando tudo está um pandemónio e as desconfianças estão mais acesas... Estou curiosa!

Olá Fox*. Esta fic foi uma resposta a um desafio da Sink Into Your Eyes (2006), com a premissa "Murder on the Hogwarts Express", exactamente baseado no "Crime no Expresso do Oriente", que é um livro que eu adoro. Como está visto, não podia resistir!

Disclaimer: As I’m not a blonde, rich, talented Englishwoman, I’m afraid this isn’t mine. Harry Potter™ and all related characters belong to JK Rowling. I just borrowed them for a bit of fun.

A BLOODY RIDDLE

Chapter Two

Ginny was feeling very indisposed indeed. She had been pushed into the left front compartment by that stupid Vane brat, only to find a corpse lying there and a sickening amount of blood spread around the place. She wondered how she had made it without throwing up for so long.

With a sigh, she opened the toilet door just in time to have a very sick-looking Harry push past her and empty his stomach just like she had done. She watched him with the tiniest smile on her lips. The great Harry Potter, acting like a normal person for everyone to see. How many journalists would kill to witness a scene like this. A disgusting scene, but at least she now had someone to draw strength from, if only for a short while.

Harry finally flushed the toilet and turned around to find Ginny smiling and watching him dreamily. “One would think this kind of scene would be disgusting, but if you manage to smile, perhaps we should meet in a stinky toilet more often,” he teased her. She looked around, startled, and then blushed furiously.

“Sorry…” she said weakly, averting her eyes to the floor. Bloody hell, Ginny, why are you behaving like a silly twelve-year-old? Judging by the hint of a playful shine in his eyes, Harry was thinking just the same. The rest of his face betrayed his worry, though. “What is it, Harry? Is it the murder?” she demanded.

“What else?” he replied. “I’ve been put in charge of the situation by that witch, you know? And I haven’t got a clue who did it – my best guess is that it was her, but there’s nothing to prove it, is there?” He rubbed his temples and sighed. “Did you see anything useful?”

Ginny shook her head. “Nope, sorry. I was a bit… busy,” she answered, her cheeks colouring brilliantly. Harry narrowed his eyes.

“Busy…?” he asked, seemingly dreading the answer.

Ginny, suddenly understanding how it must have sounded to Harry, hurried to clarify the meaning. “Oh, not that! I’m not seeing anyone, Harry!” She eyed him sadly, drawing a deep breath. “I got into a fight with Romilda Vane,” she explained.

For a moment, Ginny saw Harry make an expression of relief, before hastily recomposing himself and eyeing her curiously. “Fight? With Romilda? Why?”

Ginny blushed even more. “Well, she heard we’d, you know, split, and she decided she wanted to have a go at you now…” Ginny was now staring at the floor, looking miserable. Harry just gaped.

“Well, that only shows she’s even more stubborn than I ever thought she would be!” Harry spluttered. “Not that it matters – she’s not getting me, not now, not ever! I thought you, of all people, would know that, Ginny!”

Ginny stared at him, wide-eyed with shock at the anger behind Harry’s words. He sounded as though he didn’t feel flattered at all by Vane’s interest! She had thought Harry would be glad another girl had become interested in him – it might help him to get over her. If he was indeed in any need to get over her, she thought angrily, for in the end hadn’t he been the one to break up with her? Would he even have been able to do that had he felt strongly for her? Ginny was beginning to doubt Harry had ever been in love with her the way he had said he was. Who knows, he might even fall in love with the new girl. Vane might not be on the cover of a witch beauty magazine, but she was certainly easy on the eye, if you went by appearance alone and forgot how much of a spoilt brat she was. But then came those reactions she could only associate with jealousy whenever Harry saw Ginny with other guys. Ginny couldn’t interpret his actions. They made no sense to her. Well, not much, at least. In truth, what happened in Harry’s life was his call, and she knew she needed to distance herself from him in the romantic sense or she would end up hurt by all the angst he tended to put himself through. She knew, in her mind at least, that her ex-boyfriend was free to do what he wanted. But in a way, she was grateful Harry didn’t seem to be attracted by Romilda Vane, as she knew that, for all her beauty charms, Vane would only end up damaging Harry more. She shook the thought from her head. This should not be why they were holding that conversation in the first place.

“So, what are you planning to do now?” she demanded.

XoX

When Harry had dashed into the toilet to try to placate his nausea, he couldn’t possibly imagine he would find his ex-girlfriend there, facing that exact same problem. He found himself amused and a little relieved that Ginny seemed to react so well to his presence since their parting was still so fresh, but he certainly wasn’t complaining about that. That was probably why, in spite of the circumstances, he found himself flirting with her. Ginny, however, had always given the impression of being able to see right through him, voicing his worries spot on. The murder. Too bad she hadn’t seen anything of use – at least he would have a reliable witness to count on. And then, when Romilda Vane had been mentioned, Ginny’s demeanour changed perceptibly. First she had acted as though the thought of him being with Romilda Vane was perfectly normal and did not revolt her in the slightest, something he did not believe even for a second. And then, just as he was trying to make sense of what was going on in her head, she had gone and reminded him that they had a murder to solve. To tell the truth, he had no idea how to proceed, so the most logical solution was to ask for help. “Any suggestions?”

Ginny frowned for a moment. “Well, I suppose you should begin by eliminating those who are not suspect. I, for one, can’t see one of the youngest pupils doing something like this – can you?”

“I don’t think so, no,” Harry answered. “But the fact remains that those pupils might not be kids at all – for all that we know, one of them could have been replaced by an adult at some point!” He grunted. “How are we supposed to sort this out, Ginny?” he asked, feeling a bit disconcerted. Why would someone provided with rational thought put him in charge of a bloody investigation?

Ginny’s frown was even more accentuated. “Now, two things, Harry…” He eyed her in surprise. “First, I’m glad you said ‘we’ are supposed to sort this out, but don’t forget I could be the murderer for all that you know…”

“A bit improbable, Miss Detective!” Harry smirked.

“Still, it’s possible, Harry. And second, there’s no way a student could be under Polyjuice potion or something. You know, that’s what that yellow thing they almost shoved down our throats as we left school was for – it would detect Polyjuice in an instant, make a reaction or something, I heard Dad talking about it last Christmas - apparently, that was a recent invention. And the list of names the Aurors had was the same that McGonagall composed when we took it – only the people whom she saw take the potion were added. So no one was let into the train without having taken that first. The Order told you, didn’t they?” At Harry’s nod, she continued. “Also, the whole train is equipped against Metamorphmagi and Animagi, I believe Tonks set the alarm off to test it…”

“And the spell detectors would have detected any kind of glamour charm or something else made to change your appearance,” Harry concluded. “Good. At least we don’t have to worry about that.”

However, as he said this, a sudden idea crossed his mind. “But then…” He looked at Ginny, baffled. “But then how did the Death Eater get in the train?”

Ginny stared at Harry with wide eyes, her mouth opening and closing as if she, too, could not find an explanation for that strange fact.

“Oh, can’t we get Hermione or something, for Heaven’s sake?! She’d have this sorted out in a moment, brains like hers!” Harry exploded. Ginny’s eyebrow shot up.

“Well, that’s just a matter of asking that plump witch out there, isn’t it? You wait there,” she said, gesturing him to the toilet seat. “I’ll be back in a jiffy…”

Indeed, it seemed like barely a second had passed before she was back in the toilet, closing the door behind her and leaving them to share an uncomfortably small space for two people once again.

“Sorry. The witch says she doesn’t want people back and forth in the train. She herself is staying in this carriage, so that she doesn’t attract the attention of the other students - distressed as she is, I think that would be a fairly possible thing to happen. She’s in the next toilet.” Ginny sighed. “So, what do we do now?”

Harry thought about it for a moment. “Well… I guess we should make an inventory of the suspects, what say you?”

Ginny nodded. “Well, this time, I do appreciate the fact that I had to argue a bit before I could find a seat in this carriage. I was one of the last ones to get in, so… let’s see…” She paused, trying to clear her thoughts. “In my compartment there was Vane, me, Zabini, Michael Corner, Claire… no, Mariah…”

XoX

Had someone told Ginny such a task would take up so little time, she would not dare believe them, but the truth was that ten minutes, some questions and some conjured paper, ink and quills later, they stood with a list in front of them:

Front, left: MURDERED DEATH EATER.

Front, right: Romilda Vane, Ginny Weasley, Natalie McDougal, Mariah Montgomery, Blaise Zabini, Michael Corner.

Back, left: Justin Finch-Fletchley, Anne Clearwater, Morag McDougal, Cormac McLaggen, Liam Bateson, Leanne Bateson.

Back, right: Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecombe.

“Who would have thought? So many different people thrown together into a situation like this!” Harry mused. “So, my guess is that we can eliminate… let’s see…” He scanned the list. “Natalie, Anne, Liam, and… that’s it? Everyone else is a suspect?” he asked with a sigh.

Ginny scanned the list herself. “I’m afraid so. Those are the only ones who don’t know powerful spells yet, they can cause no real harm to anyone.” She looked up at him. “How does it feel to be talking to a suspect?”

Harry frowned. “Now, you know I didn’t want to include you as a suspect, Ginny. But you said it yourself, you could be the murderer!” He winked at her before looking at the paper again. “Maybe I should owl someone… Tonks will certainly want to hear about this, I bet. I’ll just tell her I’m trying to help in here, and send her a copy of this.” He waved the paper. “What do you think?”

“Excellent idea. I don’t think there’ll be time for her to answer, though, but she will tell the other Aurors, I bet, so that they can carry on with the investigation.” Ginny nodded and helped him jot down something to send Tonks.

Some minutes later, a grudgingly-brought-by-the-witch Hedwig was on her way to London with a message for Tonks. Harry turned to face Ginny. “Do you think we should inspect the compartment again? We need to find something to help us, after all.” She nodded. Taking a deep, calming breath, Harry walked out of the toilet, and, as if steeling himself for what he was going to see, closed his eyes for a brief moment and opened the door to the left front compartment, Ginny on his heels.

The scenario remained untouched, the walls, the bloody mass on the floor, everything. Visibly trying to control himself and not retch, Harry crouched down next to the body, probably trying to spot something that might help them. Ginny herself was much more preoccupied with how little was left of her lunch for her to throw up, so she was not very attentive to what Harry might or not be doing. It wasn’t long until she lost the battle to stay quiet and let him work.

“I can’t take this anymore!” she exclaimed. “I’m casting a refreshing spell on the air, Harry!”

“No, don’t do that!” Harry yelped. “We don’t know how to protect the scene, for all we know the magic might contaminate it. We have to leave things exactly as we found them. Go outside if you start feeling too queasy. Sorry.” He looked at her apologetically for a moment before turning his attention back to the corpse.

Scanning the body, Harry suddenly gasped and pointed out a form that did not seem to belong with it. He immediately took a handkerchief out of his pocket and proceeded to pick it up from the floor cautiously.

“Gin, I found the guy’s wand,” he whispered, looking over. Ginny’s eyes widened with surprise, though she herself could not tell if it was from the fact that he had picked up the wand despite all that blood or the fact that it had been found. Judging from the increase in her ill-disposition, she would bet on the first one.

Finally, after almost a minute, the girl thought it safe to open her mouth. “What are you planning to do with that? Ollivander hasn’t been seen in months, so there’s no way you can contact him. What use can it be then?” she mused, more to herself than to Harry.

Harry shrugged. “Just thought we might try and see the last spells this bloke did; it might help us find out how he got into the train, I reckon.”

Ginny looked at him for a moment before making her reply. “Well, what are you waiting for, then? Just do it!”

Harry walked away from the corpse, taking his wand out of his back pocket as he did so. Closing the compartment door after they had exited it and standing next to a now eager Ginny, he put the two wand tips together.

“Priori Incantatem!”

Ginny looked at him. “So you’re going to check all his spells…?” He nodded and then shushed her as the ghosts of the victim’s spells started coming out of the wand.

Five minutes later, both of them were back inside the compartment, the wand was back in the exact place where it had been found and Harry was staring at Ginny, seemingly lost in thought. Ginny, on the other hand, was extremely disgruntled. “Honestly, how’s it possible that this guy managed to get into the train without using anything to give himself away?!” she practically barked, turning to face her partner. “Harry? HARRY!”

Harry jumped slightly and blinked at her. “Sorry, it’s just that…” he fell silent again, obviously pondering a new alternative.

Ginny, however, was way too impatient to be left in the dark like that. “It’s just what, Harry?”

Harry bit his lip. “Ginny… there is no spell in there he could have used to get in here, right?” She nodded, exasperated. “Then the only way he could have entered the train was if someone let him in, yeah?”

Ginny’s mouth hung open. “Do you mean this guy bribed an Auror to let him in? Or worse, that Auror didn’t need bribery at all?!” she spat out, shocked.

Harry looked thoughtful. “Well, I wasn’t thinking about that. You see, I’ve just realised that the Aurors might have left a hole in the security. Look, I’ll be right back, OK?” And, with that, he ran out of the compartment.

Ah, como também gosto do livro, associei logo a ideia! Vais dar-lhe um final parecido? Me want's to know!
Seria interessante se um dos Aurors fosse mesmo o vilão, tendo em conta que ele já enviou a coruja com as notícias para Londres!