Chapter 47: Chapter 47. Public Opinion
I stood across from the downed Troll, clutching my injured hand.
"Episkey." I chanted in a quiet voice, feeling my hand heat up and then become very cold. The pain eased as the temperature of my arm returned to normal.
I entrapped the troll to be thorough, using the mending charm to fix the hallway. I should have done that with the classroom wall in the dungeons.
I used the healing charm again on my head just to be safe, there could still be Trolls wandering around.
I ran into Professor Lambert when I continued my journey.
"Why are you out of your dormitory?" He stopped me to ask. "Or never mind that now, have you run into any Trolls?"
"There was a Troll in the dungeons, which was defeated, another in the Viaduct Entrance which was also defeated. A fake on the first floor, another fake and a real one on the second floor, and another one in the hallway behind me." I counted off.
Professor Faringray looked pleasantly surprised by this. "So all the Trolls have been defeated?"
"Only the ones I came across, sir."
He mused. "There was a concentration of Trolls in the Astronomy Tower and all of the staff hurried there to give their assistance, they have all been dealt with but I best continue my search for more."
I listened intently, I would have to go back to the dungeons after checking up on Weston to get the Transfigured Troll.
"I suppose the castle is safe once more but you should retire to your dormitory for all intents and purposes." He added kindly.
"Yes sir." I lied through my teeth, knowing that the last place I would be going was back to the dorms.
I waited till he left before continuing my journey. Professor Faringray's account explained why all the teachers were nowhere to be found on the lower level of the castle after the attack began.
I made my way to the Hospital wing and found Roxana waiting outside.
"Is Witter okay?" I asked quietly.
"I think so, Hazel is staying with him and I doubt Madam Pomfrey would let us in as well…"
"He's fine." Hazel's voice alerted us to her presence.
"He is?" Roxana repeated just to be sure.
"Yeah, Madam Pomfrey says he just needs to sleep it off and we shouldn't bother him." She sighed, all the color drained out of her face.
"You should get checked up." She directed at me.
"Don't worry I'm fine."
Roxana had been looking me over this entire time for any trace of an injury. "And the Troll."
"Defeated, we're to return to our dorms for now."
"Yeah…" Hazel trailed off, looking down the hall behind us. "I'll be on my way now."
Roxana and I watched her leave with concern, hopefully, when Witter was fully recovered, she would bounce back to her usual self.
I left for the dungeons after leaving Roxana, noting that pretty much all of the damage done had been fixed.
Same with the broken classroom wall down in the dungeons, whoever was behind it was quite thorough with their work.
I also found out that the Trolls were being gathered out in front of Hagrid's Cabin so I grabbed the old and dusty transfigured book and headed in that direction.
It was mostly because I wanted to do a little snooping around.
I didn't get the chance to though because as soon as I turned the Troll in I was sent back to my dorms where I was a sitting duck till dinner.
At dinner, I stood up from where I was sitting beside Blair and Tanner to go find Avery.
She rolled her eyes when she saw me, making no protest when I plopped right beside her.
"Did the Headmistress tell you to watch over me?" She raised a brow.
"You're awfully testy for a kid, you know?"
She scoffed, turning to her plate to resume eating. "I'm not divulging any information as you can see."
"So you don't mind me sitting beside you for the rest of dinner?"
She shrugged. "Suit yourself."
"Did your drafts ever make it to publication?" I asked after a short spell of silence.
Avery shot me a dark look. "Why do you care?"
I leaned back slightly and decided to go for honesty. "I just think that you're not the only one supplying The Daily Prophet information."
Avery hesitated at this. "I knew that already, whoever it is is doing a horrible job too." She jabbed her fork into the slice of roasted duck on her plate. "It's why I started giving out information as well, hoping that if I sent a more accurate depiction, it would fix the biased manner that the newspaper showed the incidents to the public."
She stopped jabbing into her food, her short hair barely hiding her troubled expression. "I didn't mean to cause any harm." Her lower lip wobbled.
"Hey, it's fine." I hesitantly patted her shoulders. "If anything, I think you received those instructions to throw us off the actual person behind it."
She turned to stare at me with wide eyes, tear drops threatening to fall down her eyes.
The loud rustling of owls interrupted her response, making both of us look up.
It was a surprise to see Paper owls as they only delivered papers in the morning unless there was a special occasion.
We shared a look just as identical rolls of paper dropped on the table in front of us.
"You don't think…" Avery trailed off, scrambling to unfurl the newspaper.
There it was bright as day, the front paper covered the Troll incident.
We both stared blankly at the papers, conversation bubbling throughout the hallway.
I hadn't been expecting a special edition to be put out just to cover the Troll attack.
Clearly, Avery had no hand in it, there was no way she would have gotten the information out plus I sat beside her throughout dinner.
Besides, I already knew that Avery wasn't the only mole giving out information to The Daily Prophet.
Tuesday morning's paper came with a piece of follow-up information, there were protests concerning the attacks and the incriminated Professor.
Blair peeked over my shoulder, biting into a scone. "It's starting to get really messy."
Headmistress McGonagall's appearance during breakfast sparked up whispered conversation.
It was another rainy morning, the floating candles flickering gently.
"Attention students!" Her crisp voice cut through the hall, silencing whispered conversations immediately.
"It is unfortunate the attacks which have recently plagued our prestigious school and I want to applaud the students for giving their assistance in handling each one." She began solemnly when the hall went silent. "I however have some bad news, Professor Esme Bronagh will no longer be with us, her replacement will be conveyed at a later time. Thank you."
The Great Hall was once again thrown into chaos as Headmistress McGonagall swept out of the hall with Professor Flitwick walking behind her.
I shared a look with Tanner and Blair.
"Professor Esme is gone?" He raised a brow.
"It would seem like it." I mused.
The backlash from the Troll incident must have been so great that Headmistress McGonagall was forced to do something about it.
She hinted that this would happen soon.
Was this the entire aim of the attacks? To get rid of Professor Esme? It made no sense.
I had Herbology first thing that morning and the class was with Gryffindor, Hazel immediately came towards me as soon as she saw me.
Weston was still resting up at the Hospital Wing even though he had fully recovered. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be releasing him till lunch.
"We know one of their goals is to get rid of Professor Esme." Hazel said lightly, looking and sounding much better than she was yesterday.
"Knowing their goals doesn't count if we find out after it happens."
"I know, I know…" She shook her head.
"Silence class, please." Professor Pomona Sprout chided, cutting short the rest of our conversation.
From the Greenhouse, I had Professor Faringray's class next so I planned to meet up after lunch with Hazel and Witter.
I still had a hard time believing that Professor Esme had truly gotten fired. She wasn't my favorite teacher but if she was innocent I didn't want her taking the fall for someone else.
Would there be another attack after this? That would be unlikely if they were truly trying to make Professor Esme take the fall for it.
///Author's Note///
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