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[alt_frank]

Minerva, Poppy, I know you lot are probably up to your ears in it

but Al is pretty insistent that we get an update.

and I am too.

what happened to Dennis? what can you tell us?

Comments

[alt_poppy]

I'm afraid it's all true. Dennis was murdered sometime last night, it would seem, and that dreadful boy, Moebius Ollivander, became our latest victim of petrification.

There are few clues for any of us to follow: neither boy was physically touched, and we've had nothing but null results with any of the tests any of us knows for determining whether magic has been used on a body. And, of course, MLE can't send anyone to investigate.

There was a message on the wall, again: 'Enemies will be found and fall' it said, I believe. There's been no end of conversation about what this might mean. It was written in blood as with the other attacks, but not the blood of either child. I believe Minerva was going to check with Professor Brutka, and I haven't heard whether he or Dawlish have been able to confirm a source amongst the castle's creatures.

If the pair of you Aurors have any thoughts about what more we could look for or test, I suspect Minerva would be very glad to hear from you.

[alt_frank]

damn.

I'll tell her.

and colin.

I don't have any answers right now, but I'll work on it. he deserves as much.

[alt_frank]

merlin, he was just a little kid, you know?

tore me up inside when we didn't get to him in time to bring him to Moddey Dhoo with his brother, where he should have been. we saw him when he was just born, even held him for a little, but his mum wanted to wait a little longer.

instead he gets passed off to a spoiled brat who treats him like a goddamn pet.

it's not right.

we should have taken him right then and there sentimentality be damned.

[alt_hermione]

I don't know.

I feel sorry that Dennis is dead, but I don't feel sad, not the way I did when Terry got petrified.

I don't know. So I suppose - I mean I can't be as mad as you. Maybe I could if I had known him when he was a baby. Only I can't imagine Dennis as a baby. It seems like he was always sort of dumb and making trouble and acting like a house-elf.

[alt_kingsley]

Dorcas and I have been wracking our brains, but we can't think of any spell that would cause long-term petrification like that. And I really don't know of any spell that affects the victim differently depending on their blood status. So as to why Dennis was killed and the Olivander boy was petrified, I'm afraid we don't have a clue. We've checked our miniaturised library of auror-training textbooks, too.

Dorcas remembered that the Hogwarts library has some books in the Restricted section which you might try: take a look at Speed and Silence: Effective Defensive Spells for Combat Situations by Featherstone and When Seconds Count: Hexes, Counters and Jinxes for the Professional Auror, by Haisley. Both have extensive lists of pretty obscure spells in the glossaries. Maybe you'll find something there.

[alt_poppy]

Thank you, Kingsley. I will speak to Irma about those volumes straightaway.

[alt_frank]

it's more what he could of been than what he was.

if he was given a chance.

because I know colin, he's a good kid, he's smart and quick to pick up on things, and inventive as hell. it's a fucking tragedy is what it is, all around, no mistake. because Dennis never got to show his potential, and if it's anything like his brother's, he'd have made a fine wizard.

sorry hermione.

anyroad, Al and me take a lot on, Al most of all I think, and this is part of it. it's our fault he didn't end up where he ought to, and now he's dead, we'll never be able to fix it. by all rights, you and Terry and should be right here with us too, and by Merlin you'd make one hell of a student. and that's something else we can't go back and change. doesn't make it any easier, though.

you keep that chin up, kid.

[alt_frank]

if he wasn't touched and there wasn't any obvious magical trace that probably means a passive cursed object that paralyzes you if you touch it or something rather than a spell. Dennis could have touched it too long, or gotten too much of it at once or something, which killed him. cursed stuff leaves a slightly different sort of trace -- bill would be better at that than I would. but it'd be tricky to sort out what the object actually was to begin with -- you might narrow it down, but it's hard to tell from a trace, which makes it difficult to use location spells. and it's next to impossible to tell who used it to begin with based on a simple trace cause it wasn't the caster that did the magic, it was the object.

maybe the person had to use special gloves so they wouldn't be cursed too. I'd bet they have a special place to store it too -- heavily protected.

[alt_poppy]

Thank you, Frank. I believe that Minerva has asked Dawlish to oversee a thorough investigation, including a search of student and staff possessions and accommodations if he deems that necessary. I feel certain they discussed the possibility you raise here; I know that Minerva feels it's a strong theory.

[alt_mcgonagall]

Quite a clever thought, Frank.

I've had to ask Dawlish to look into things, as Poppy said - he isn't my first choice for an investigator, but I can hardly do it myself and choosing him seems to please the Board of Governors and the Death Eaters well enough, and I have no reason to believe he won't do his best, such as it is.