Huffily Puffily || Golden Trio

Investigation || xxxiii

Over the next few days, the entire school was still abuzz with the writing on the wall. Lucy didn't know what she was more enamored by— the world inside Riddle's diary, or the mystery happening within Hogwarts walls.

Everyone around her was certainly concerned with the latter. Once she saw the writing for herself, she had to admit it was unnerving. It looked like it had been written in blood. She wondered who would do such a thing, and how had they gotten away with it? Riddle was never out of the diary when she passed it, so she always forgot to ask him what he thought.

Ginny in particular was angry about the situation. She was a fierce animal lover, and the thought of a cat being harmed made her temper flare. Hermione was more worried than anything; she spent her time reading in the library, even more so than usual. Even Harry was on edge— although that had more to do with his involvement than anything else.

He told her everything from the beginning. The entire deathday party, to the mysterious voice, to finding Mrs. Norris at the scene of the crime. Lucy sat back in her seat as he told her, pursing her lips. Riddle was inside the diary, but she was sure he had been listening intently.

"It sounds to me, Harry," she began, pausing for dramatic effect. "...That you were the one who petrified poor Mrs. Norris. Shame on you, Harry!"

"What!" Harry complained, shoving her arm with a scowl. "After I defended you to Snape, too..."

"No doubt to shift the focus!"

Of course, she didn't really think Harry was involved in any way. She was curious about the voice, since Ron and Hermione hadn't heard it. She wished she was there to witness everything, too; it was odd not being involved in their adventures.

"I don't know what the fuss is about, personally," Ron snorted, turning a page in his textbook. They were all at the library doing their homework, and he was trying desperately to finish his History of Magic assignment. "Whoever did it, we should be thanking them— hopefully they've got time to petrify Filch next."

"That's horrible, Ron," Hermione scolded.

"Yeah, Ron," Lucy agreed. "You couldn't have volunteered Snape instead? Shame on you."

That sentiment only grew the next day, when Harry was held back after Potions. Ron told her this as they and Hermione worked on more homework, and it only made Lucy want to hex the man. She was still technically on her 'good kid' kick, but she was getting more tired of that as the days stretched on— what was the point of behaving when Dumbledore still thought she was up to something?

Harry joined them at last, looking sort of confused. He looked at Lucy. "Why did Justin Finch-Fletchley just sprint away from me?" he asked.

"Ooooh.." Lucy pursed her lips.

Right— her year was a bit divided at the moment. Justin and Ernie suspected Harry had something to do with Mrs. Norris getting petrified. They hadn't outright said it to Lucy because they knew she'd bite their heads off for it, but it was certainly implied.

"Dunno why you care," Ron muttered, measuring his essay. "I always thought he was a bit of an idiot. All that junk about Lockhart being so great--"

Lucy scowled at him. Just because Justin was being a git didn't mean he was stupid all the time. He was just nervous; he was a muggleborn, and Malfoy made it clear that 'enemies of the heir' meant he was included in the target demographic.

"All the copies of Hogwarts, a History have been taken out," Hermione said irritably, sitting between Ron and Lucy. "And there's a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."