Daughter of Black

Chapter 7- The Daily Prophet Article

The whole school was on edge, except V. She was too busy trying to figure out a way to let Adrian down easy and get revenge on Nina Dickens. No one messes with a Slytherin and gets away with it. Everyone moved around in groups and rarely went out, which was something that V made sure to take advantage of.

Thankfully, nothing had happened between V and Adrian since Hallowe'en but that was probably just Adrian giving her some space as a lot had just happened to her.

It was a Saturday and Christmas was nearing fast. Christmas wasn't all that merry for her on a usual basis, back in the orphanage all the children would grab onto all the delicious roast before V could even lay a finger on anything and the only present that they got was a candy cane as that was all that Miss Atterberry could afford. Remus, who felt deep pity for her gave her books that explained the magical world to muggleborns as she was certainly raised like one.

At Hogwarts she would normally have no friends to spend Christmas with as they tended to go home over the Christmas holidays and she'd spend the whole festive season studying. The bright side of Christmas at Hogwarts for her was having the castle and common room virtually to herself.

V made her way to the library but for different reasons then usual today, she wanted to find some information on her mother as Remus refused to be anything but brief about this mysterious woman.

V walked into the oddly quiet library and started looking for information on Marlene McKinnon. She was aware of the cautious stares that she received from the few students in the library but she wasn't going to let that prevent her from doing what she originally wanted to do.

Eventually, as she looked through some old files, she found an old Daily Prophet's clipping with the title 'McKinnon Family Murder.' Immediately she felt the color drain from her face. No wonder Remus refused to get into details but V was too curious to put down the article so she began to read it.

The magical community has been disturbed by yet another mass murder, but this time it's the entire McKinnon family. There is no doubt that it was done by the Dark Lord himself judging by the brutality of it all and his recent threats to towards the family's daughter, Marlene McKinnon. The bodies were found all mangled throughout the family's home in Godric's Hollow the morning after Valentine's Day indicating that the Dark Lord won't even show mercy on a day that symbolizes love.

The father, Oscar McKinnon was found first at the doorstep with no injuries found on his body but was quite obviously struck with the death curse. Then Darina McKinnon was found in the kitchen clutching onto her 2 youngest children, Samuel and Eden who are ages 12 and 7. They were in the same state as Oscar. One of the investigators stated that the want of the protection of Darina's children was still quite clear in her lifeless eyes, bringing regret to the Auror's who could have prevented the dreadful event.

The last member to be found was Marlene, who was supposedly meant to be looking after her 2 year old daughter, Vindemiatrix Black but thankfully, the 2 year old was not present at the crime scene. Marlene was found sprawled across their staircase as if she had been pushed down the stairs. This seemed to cause a fracture in her skull and internal bleeding around the brain. She had the phrase 'Quixotic Creature' indented (presumably by a slashing curse) just above her chest with red rose petals sprawled across the steps around her. Many are confused for why the Dark Lord may commit an act like that but they are certain that he didn't do it as an act of love.

On Valentine's Day evening, a few hours before the tragic incident, Marlene had supposedly handed her daughter to her partner Sirius Black and disappeared without an explanation. Investigators suggest that she knew that something like this was going to happen hence why she did so but are baffled for why she went to her family home.