Draco, who had previously looked thoroughly annoyed, immediately panicked when Hermione suddenly burst into tears, flailing as he spoke in a frantic tone:
"Hey—hey! Hermione, what are you doing?!"
Just then, Harry—also searching for Hermione and Ron—had followed the sound of sobbing and arrived on the scene. Seeing Hermione crying in Draco's arms, he looked at Draco strangely and asked:
"Draco, what did you do to Hermione?"
Draco hurriedly defended himself.
"I didn't do anything! She wasn't even looking where she was going and ran straight into me! I barely said two words and she just started crying! I swear, I didn't do anything!"
Hearing the exchange, Hermione managed to suppress her sobs enough to speak. She gathered her thoughts and, still hiccuping between words, explained everything that had just happened to Harry and Draco.
As they listened to her story, both boys' eyes widened in disbelief. Draco exclaimed in shock:
"Ron? Seriously? I never thought he had it in him!"
Hermione was quick to defend Ron:
"No, it's not like that. Ron didn't do it of his own will—he told me someone had tricked him from the shadows!"
Harry cut in urgently:
"This isn't the time to discuss that!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Harry drew his wand and ran off in the direction Hermione had come from. Draco hesitated a moment, then followed close behind.
However, when Harry and Draco, guided by Hermione, reached the place where it all happened, they were stunned to find Ron and Luna had vanished.
"Where are they? Where did they go?"
Harry glanced around anxiously, finding no trace of them, and turned to Hermione in worry.
"I don't know!" Hermione replied, equally at a loss. "They were just here! I saw them right here just now! I don't know what happened after that, or where they could've gone!"
Draco, scanning the area as he spoke, asked:
"So what do we do now? Report Ron?"
Harry and Hermione both fell silent. A few moments later, Hermione's eyes lit up as she suddenly remembered something.
"I know! I know who we should go to! Wentworth! Before Ron told me to leave, he told me to find Wentworth! He stole that diary from Wentworth—Wentworth must know what to do!"
Harry and Draco exchanged a glance, then, without further hesitation, the three of them sprinted toward the Hufflepuff common room.
"You're looking for Wentworth? Sorry, he's not in the common room right now. He hasn't been back since Cassandra was attacked."
Cedric shrugged helplessly as he spoke to the trio, who were visibly anxious.
Hermione, growing increasingly desperate, asked:
"Do you know where he went? We really need to speak with him—it's urgent!"
Just then, a voice spoke up behind them:
"I believe Wentworth is still in Professor Dumbledore's office."
The group turned to find Kirk walking up from somewhere out of sight.
Seeing him return, Cedric asked quickly:
"How did it go?"
Kirk shook his head and, without bothering to conceal the conversation from Hermione and the others, explained:
"The Gryffindor girl who first discovered Cassandra really is innocent. I've checked—she doesn't have the diary."
Hearing this, Hermione exchanged looks with Harry and Draco. After a brief pause, she stepped forward and said:
"Kirk, I think I might know where the diary is."
She quickly summarized everything that had just happened, recounting it for both Kirk and Cedric. But before she could even finish, both Kirk and Cedric's expressions turned grim. Cedric asked urgently:
"Wait—you said Luna? As in Luna Lovegood, the first-year from Ravenclaw?"
Hermione nodded at once.
At that, Cedric and Kirk exchanged a pained smile.
"Well, this really is turning into a matter of life and death now," Cedric muttered.
Kirk nodded solemnly, then turned to the others.
"Enough talking. Let's not waste time—we're going to find Wentworth."
As the President of the Hogwarts Student Council, Kirk had some privileges. Under his lead, they made their way quickly to the entrance of the Headmaster's office—only to find the door surprisingly open.
Cedric called out cautiously:
"Headmaster Dumbledore? Are you in there?"
A moment later, Wentworth's head peeked out from the office. Seeing the crowd outside, he looked startled and asked:
"What are you all doing here?"
Kirk stepped forward quickly and asked in a low voice:
"Wentworth, is Headmaster Dumbledore inside?"
Wentworth shook his head and explained:
"No. The Ministry sent people over. After all that's been happening at Hogwarts, the Ministry won't stay out of it. Just now, Headmaster Dumbledore left with Fudge and the others—they've gone to find Hagrid."
Everyone looked surprised at this, and Harry blurted out:
"What does Hagrid have to do with this?"
Wentworth gave Harry a look, then replied flatly:
"Because Hagrid has a history. When he was at Hogwarts, something like this happened before. A girl died—her name was Myrtle. Back then, everyone believed Hagrid was the culprit. Of course, Dumbledore didn't think so, which is why, after expelling him under pressure, he still gave Hagrid the job as gamekeeper."
He sighed, then added:
"Poor Hagrid. Looks like he's off to Azkaban for a while."
"No! Hagrid didn't do it!" Hermione cried out, stepping forward.
Wentworth raised his hands in resignation.
"I know he didn't. But until we find the real culprit, he's still the main suspect."
Hermione hesitated, then—no longer willing to protect Ron—finally admitted:
"I know who it is. Or rather, I think I know. Like Hagrid, he may have just been manipulated by the real culprit."
Wentworth looked at Hermione, bewildered by her distress. Seeing this, Draco stepped forward, gently placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder to steady her, then recounted what had happened to Wentworth.
After a moment of silence, Wentworth finally spoke in a low voice:
"So... where's Luna now?"
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