Greengrass raised an eyebrow.
"You think a Weasley is the Heir?"
"No, but I have a feeling she's got something to do with it. Connor was telling me about her acting strangely before he was petrified."
"And I presume you're investigating her without Potter or Weasley knowing?"
"Obviously."
"Interesting. In any case, Kipler, you're dismissed. Let me know of anything you find with your mission."
Kipler bowed again, before Apparating away.
"So you think she's being possessed?"
"Potentially. I don't have any proof, like I said. This is just a hunch based on what Connor said, but it's also the most solid lead for now."
Greengrass nodded.
"That's fair, I suppose."
The two stood there in silence for a bit, before Greengrass spoke again.
"It's a good thing you found out it was a Basilisk when you did."
"A lot of good that discovery did," Blake responded with bitter sarcasm.
"I'm serious, Renshaw. You made the choice to tell Granger too. She's probably the one that did something to ensure the Basilisk didn't kill them."
Blake laughed hollowly.
"Thanks for the pep talk, Greengrass, but let's not kid ourselves. I could've killed the Basilisk by now, but I didn't. And my little brother and one of my friends are lying down on infirmary beds, petrified, because of it."
Greengrass didn't say anything.
"Anyway, I'm going back to the castle. Let me know if Kipler finds anything."
/
Later that week, Dumbledore was suspended from Hogwarts effective immediately, and Hagrid was taken to Azkaban as a precautionary measure.
"Mr Renshaw," McGonagall called out at the end of a Transfiguration lesson. "Please stay behind, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
As Zabini and Tracey gave him questioning looks, Blake made his way back to the front desk. McGonagall waited until everyone had left the room before handing him an envelope.
"Professor Dumbledore asked me to give you this, Mr Renshaw."
Blake uttered his thanks before taking the envelope and tucking it away into his pockets, before turning away to leave.
"And Blake - I'm so sorry, my boy." Blake turned back, and he was almost surprised to see tears welling up in McGonagall's eyes.
"It's alright, Professor," he told her, before leaving the room. Part of him felt guilty for having not even shed a tear for Connor since his petrification. Actually, Blake hadn't really felt much sadness either. It was like he'd felt nothing at all.
But not nothing like 'I don't care'. Nothing as in genuinely nothing. Numb.
But that was for the best. All his attention and energy was focused on one thing.
He opened the letter from Dumbledore.
Dear Blake,
As you've heard by now, I've been suspended from Hogwarts, but the order of affairs remains crucial. However, since I will most likely not be there to guide you, here is some advice for certain scenarios.
Firstly, it remains imperative that you find the Heir before acting on anything. I would like to stress again, if the Heir is not found, and they are still at large, all the muggleborn students, including your brother, will be at risk, Basilisk or not.
However, upon finding who the Heir is, there are a couple of courses of action that you could take. The most simple, of course, would be to gather the Professors, call the Aurors and attack the Chamber and the Heir. There is no doubt that that would be your first idea, correct? But I urge you to reconsider. Involving the Aurors would be a risky venture - many Ministry officials, and even Hogwarts officials, are involved in or on the payroll of those who are less than morally sound (which as you've probably guessed by now is why I was removed as Headmaster). Although I have full faith in my Professors, there is no doubt that the Board would eventually hear about this, and if certain individuals came to know details about the Heir and Chamber, I fear it would not be in our favour.
Therefore, I believe that the best course of action would be to find the Heir, and then gather a group of friends to end this horror as soon as possible - if it is safe, of course. If not, and the Heir is formidable, I'd suggest going to Professor McGonagall and / or Snape for support. They both have instructions from me on what to do in this scenario.
I know that you, with your friends, will be able to find the Heir and end these horrific attacks once and for all.
Regards,
Albus Dumbledore
Blake wondered what the point of this letter even was. He basically just regurgitated what he said before - basically just a reminder to find the Heir and get Harry involved. The only new part is that he said McGonagall or Snape would help.
But Blake had other ideas.
Once I find the Heir, I'll take Harry with me, just so the old man still trusts me to some extent - but I'm not taking any Professors. I want the Basilisk's fangs - both of them. McGonagall and Snape wouldn't let me do that.
And besides, they're not my only support option, Blake thought grimly. I still have two more, if absolutely necessary.
On the way back from McGonagall's office, Blake spotted a familiar face come up to him.
"Hi, Cedric."
"How's it going, Blake?"
"D'you have any news for me?" the younger boy said eagerly.
But Cedric just shook his head.
"I haven't seen or heard anything remotely suspicious from Hufflepuff as of right now, Blake, but I'll keep you posted, alright?"
"Okay then. Thanks, Cedric."
About 5 minutes later, Blake had finally made his way back to his dorm. But when he opened his door, it wasn't Zabini who greeted him.
"What're you doing here?" he asked Greengrass. "Where's Zabini?"
"He's out somewhere with Tracey," she said dismissively. "Anyway, you and I have something far more important to talk about."
Blake's heart rate began to increase rapidly.
"You mean-"
"You were right," she said begrudgingly. "Kipler said that Ginny Weasley had a diary in her possession - one that's engraved with the words 'T.M. Riddle'. And that stands for-"
"Tom Marvolo Riddle," Blake breathed.
Greengrass nodded grimly.
"So, we've got it, right?"
"Yeah," Blake almost growled.
"Ginny Weasley's getting possessed by Tom Marvolo Riddle - and he's the Heir of Slytherin."
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