Chapter 5-The Menacing Darkness
As Hermione thought with disgust that she was no better than Malfoy for being jealous, Malfoy and his cronies were discussing ways to retaliate against Harry, Hermione, Ron and the rest of that bunch that called themselves Dumbledore's Army. They were now the laughing stock of the school, albeit quietly. Their fathers had been incarcerated in Azkaban and the public outcry against the Death Eaters was definitely a form of humiliation that the rich wizarding families had not experienced in a number of years. Their talk included continued ridicule of the mudblood, Granger. As fate would have it, this was the last conversation the three of them would have together.
Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy left Slytherin for a little time away from their house mates. As they turned the corner, a blinding flash of green light knocked them off their feet. Unable to move, a dark shadow spread throughout the corridor and enveloped them. Crabbe could see the shadow moving directly for Malfoy and he yelled to alert him. "Malfoy, look out. Too late Malfoy suffered a crushing blow to the head and toppled over backwards. Before he realized what was happening two more shadows appeared. He and Goyle were now the targets. Only this time an unpleasant and threatening voice said, "The sins of the fathers shall...." Crabbe died before hearing the end of that statement. Goyle was now weeping for mercy as he saw the horrific puddle of blood that pooled at the base of what just seconds before had been Crabbe's head. Another blinding flash took Goyle down to his knees again and mercifully left him unconscious, deaf and mute. He had recognized the attackers. He was left alive as a warning and a witness to finally get Harry Potter out in the open.
Malfoy was being dragged down the corridor when a loud, "CRACK!" could be heard throughout the Slytherin House. Pansy Parkinson was the first one into the corridor. She screamed, "What the bloody hell! Ahhhhhh!" She leaned over ready to be sick at the sight of Crabbe's crushed skull and the blood. She managed to avoid that misfortune and call out loud enough that more Slytherins came running out. To everyone's distress, they all began screaming and running around hither and yon. The chaos had tracked blood around the corridor as Pansy tried to revive Goyle. Goyle was lying there with a death-like stare but his chest was rapidly rising and falling so she knew he was in shock. She passed her hand back and forth over Goyle's face. From over her shoulder she heard Snape's voice, "Parkinson, step back from Goyle." He immediately surveyed the area and forced his students back into their end of the castle.
Snape sent two of his student's to fetch Filch and Dumbledore. He looked at the condition of Crabbe's corpse and he realized immediately that whoever had done this had done it with great prejudice. Goyle was moving a little but Snape motioned for him to remain still. He hurried down the next corridor and found his office open. Several lethal potions and others that would cause great agony had been taken. He found another half empty as though the intruder had been interrupted. It was a potion that freed the inhibitions of the taker. It would allow someone to do what they normally would not with no memory of the action. It was called "uninhibitionus exuberus." It was sometimes used for mental patients as a truth serum.
Upon hearing the news, Dumbledore called for Hagrid and Professor McGonagall. He had Professor McGonagall send word to the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge and to the Auror office. He needed to have an investigation started immediately. He arrived at the scene with great horror and sadness on his face. While he did not like the politics of the richest wizarding families who were largely Slytherins, he was in no way prejudicial to any of his students. He truly felt the pain and fatigue of old-age at that very moment. Death on Hogwarts' grounds was not a good omen for anyone.
Snape informed Dumbledore of the missing potions, herbs, and other materials. There had been far more. This was the most heinous crime ever at Hogwarts. Dumbledore asked the next obvious question "Is every one of your students accounted for?"
Snape turned to Pansy Parkinson the prefect and looked for Malfoy. When Parkinson said that Malfoy was no where to be found, this event took another odd twist. It had not occurred to anyone that a kidnapping could also have taken place. Certainly Malfoy would have been with these two. The search for Malfoy had begun. Goyle was taken to the care of Madame Pomfrey.
Filch had been sent to every corridor and wing to ensure the students were in their assigned houses. He passed Harry as Harry sat in the vestibule with the invisibility cloak over him. He had no reason to suspect trouble and had no idea why Filch was roaming around.