For the Greater Good || Tom Riddle ||

Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Blameless Criminal

The winter holidays were typically the most delightful time of year at Hogwarts. That was not the case toward the end of 1944.

While the festive decorations of holly wreaths and dripping red and green candles lined the hall, the aura that hung over the castle was dismal and dark. German occupation authorities in the Netherlands cut the bread ration to two pounds per person per week, effectively creating a famine that would impact generations to come.  The British frigate Bullen was torpedoed and sunk off Cape Wrath, Scotland by a German submarine. The entire crew was drowned. Iwo Jima, a tiny island off Japan, was brutally attacked by US air raids. It was the heaviest U.S. air raid of the Pacific War.

Death hung in the air, a blameless criminal, but a terror, nonetheless.

Jane and Simon were especially low in their spirits.

They hadn't heard from Gwen in over six months. After the revelation that her brother had been killed by Grindelwald, the pair of Ravenclaws feared the worst. Jane even approached Dippet with her concern on numerous occasions, but the Headmaster was always dismissive, stating that official transfer paperwork had been filed for Miss Gawmdrey to return to Durmstrang for her final year of schooling. Since Norway was occupied by the Axis powers, there had been little communication with the northern school. However, she had been formally unenrolled from Hogwarts and therefore, was no longer a charge of the school.

Jane and Simon knew better.

They even cornered Deputy Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, but the man offered little comfort. He merely stated he was investigating the issue and would let them know if he found anything. It was an endless chase, a source of anxiety and dread, but little could be done. With no address to send an owl, there was little Simon and Jane could do but wait.

However, there was one other person who might have insight on Gwendolyn Gawmdrey's whereabouts. And one day, Jane Thompson had the perfect opportunity to ask.

This is where her confrontational nature proved to be both a blessing and a curse. 

The library was empty as winter break inched closer. The final exams of the term had already come about, and now, students had no use of the extensive number of books the school had to offer. Jane had gone to the library to escape the ceaseless noise of Camila and Ruth, who were unfortunately still her roommates during seventh year, and low and behold, she stumbled upon the Head Boy sitting in a corner, reading.

Tom Marvolo Riddle's seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was not the experience he had fantasized about as a child.

Most of the faculty at Hogwarts scurried around like rats in the hall—quiet and disgustingly pitiful as they whispered to one another in hushed, concerned voices. They lived in constant fear due to the ever-circulating news about the Dark Wizard Grindelwald. Armando Dippet was the worst of the lot as the Ministry had begun to make regular visits to Hogwarts in order to check the safety of the school.

Apparently, there was still some skepticism that the mudblood Ravenclaw girl didn't parish due to an attack from an Acromantula, but rather, a secret attack related to the Alliance. However, there was enough prejudice against half-breeds within the government that the investigation was never formally re-opened, even as the Dark Wizard began to invade pockets of London and the surrounding territory. 

Extra security carried out by a special Ministry taskforce roamed the halls at night and really put a damper on things. The witches and wizards had taken over duties for the Hogwarts prefects, and it took three separate meetings with Dippet to convince him that the Head Boy and Head Girl were responsible enough to make nightly rounds with the Ministry members. Eventually, he gave in.