Chapter 260: 256) Heroines of Hogwarts: Part 1...
'Thus was born the first meeting: a simple tea party that would end up marking the lives of a group of brave, kind, wise, ambitious... and, of course, beautiful girls... very beautiful...'
"Aren't you exaggerating?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms as she listened to Lavender read aloud what she was writing. "And you should write the book after we solve the mystery, not before."
"I'm just jotting down the details so I don't forget them," Lavender justified herself, continuing to write.
"Well, setting that aside... what do we do now?" Cho asked, looking at the others with the same lost expression reflected on her face. Everyone had agreed to be part of the group and solve the mystery, but so far, they had no idea where to start. They had been rambling for several minutes while Lavender focused more on her "future masterpiece" than the case.
"Should we ask Red?" Susan suggested, breaking the awkward silence.
"We can't depend on him for everything," Hermione replied firmly, earning nods from several girls. They not only wanted to be independent but also desired to prove they could solve this on their own.
"But... what if it's just a suggestion?" Padma added.
"I... may have already done it," Penelope confessed, raising her hand with an apologetic expression. In truth, she hadn't sought advice, but someone had sent her a [message] with certain directions. "I told Red what was happening..."
"What did he say?" Pansy asked with interest, while the other girls stared at her intently. Some seemed annoyed, but others relieved.
"He said we're right and that we shouldn't ignore the danger. He also mentioned he has a lot on his plate: his personal matters and the expectations the professors have for him as Hogwarts' representative in the trip to Castelobruxo." Penelope explained everything calmly, though her gaze shifted toward Hannah, fearing she might feel overshadowed by that comment.
"Don't look at me like that," Hannah responded with a carefree smile. "Neville and I know that Red is the real center of attention. He's talented, and everyone expects him to be the one to bring glory to Hogwarts. We just have to be good enough not to look like idiots. It doesn't bother me."
The others nodded, understanding the situation. No one could deny that Red had skills that made him stand out, and to represent the school at another academy, he was the logical choice.
"So, what else did he say?" Tracey asked impatiently.
"He said he thinks we should handle it ourselves. That he trusts we can do it and that we should see it as some kind of test," Penelope continued.
"Yes!" Tracey exclaimed, excited.
"But he also said we need to pass his exams and learn the Patronus Charm, or his punishment still stands," she clarified, slightly dampening Tracey's initial excitement.
"Oh..." Tracey muttered, disappointed. "Why can't we skip the exams ? He's our friend; he shouldn't give us extra work," she added, stomping the floor in frustration.
"He also told me that while he supports us, he doesn't want us to put ourselves in danger. So we need to be careful," Penelope went on, earning the others' approval. "And that we can use any non-dangerous method we come up with. He'll cover for us."
"That's... somewhat reassuring," Parvati commented.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Penelope added with a slight blush. "He also said something else... That he had something that could 'have Dumbledore hanging by the balls.' So we shouldn't worry too much, but if possible, we shouldn't force him to use it. He'd rather save that opportunity for later. He asked us not to kill anyone or do anything that would bring harsher punishments than detention, points reduction, or calling our parents."
Silence fell over the group. They all processed those words, with a mix of relief and bewilderment. What could Red have to threaten the headmaster like that? That question lingered in their minds.
Even so, they felt a renewed sense of confidence. Red might be many things, but they all knew he was trustworthy. With that support, the group decided to move forward with their investigation.
They headed to one of the rooms in the hideout: the kitchen. Mainly because some of them hadn't been satisfied with the cookies from the party. While eating, they began debating their next step in the case.
"We should go to the crime scene and investigate. There's bound to be a spell that can help us track down the culprit," Parvati proposed, pointing to the piece of paper on the table that said "crime scene."
"That would be too late for that," Padma objected.
"Besides, those spells usually detect magical traces. If what was written on the wall was done manually and without magic, that lead would already be cold... unless we find out special paint or something similar was used," Hermione added, crossing her arms as she pondered.
"We could investigate Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris," Penelope suggested, "but we'd have to be discreet. We need a way to get into the infirmary without being discovered."
"Someone could fake being injured and spend the night there. When Madam Pomfrey falls asleep, we investigate," Cho proposed seriously.
"That seems possible," Hannah nodded.
"But who would volunteer to get hurt?" Susan asked, looking at the others.
Silence filled the room as everyone avoided making eye contact, clearly not wanting to get hurt for real. Then, to everyone's surprise, someone broke the tension.
"I will do it," said Pansy, stepping forward with determination. Her voice conveyed confidence, though internally she knew this was part of the test Red had set for them. She wanted to prove her worth and claim some credit. "But I'll need help. Something serious enough to let me spend the night there, but not something that will get me into real trouble. Granger, Padma, Penelope… you're the smartest. Can you think of something?"
"I think I can find a solution," Padma replied, nodding.
"Also, before you do it, we should teach you the Disillusionment Charm and one to mute sounds," Penelope suggested. "There will probably be other people in the infirmary. It's better if you're not detected while investigating. We don't want to be caught halfway."
"She's right," said Hermione, thoughtful as she touched her chin. "But that will take some time."
"Then, while you work on that, the rest of us should figure out what else to do," Tracey proposed.
"We could investigate potential suspects," added Millicent, breaking her usual silence with a firm voice. Her eyes drifted slightly toward Pansy.
"Lockhart," said Hannah without hesitation, at the same time as several others mentioned him.
"Maybe he's like Quirrell last year, acting like an idiot to throw us off," theorized Tracey with some enthusiasm.
"No, he's too stupid to fake something like that," Cho disagreed, and several nodded, including Hermione, who, despite wanting to argue, recalled Red's warnings about her attitude toward Lockhart.
"Even so, we should investigate him. He's the only new person in the castle this year. It's a good starting point," argued Daphne, writing "Lockhart - suspect" on one of the papers on the table.
"We also can't rule out students. The heir might be among them, possibly among the purebloods," Hermione said cautiously. "I don't mean anything against you," she clarified, looking at the Slytherin girls, "I just think it's a possibility."
"I won't deny it," Tracey admitted. "There are some real idiots in our house."
"But we can't ignore that there are purebloods in other houses too," Pansy added, trying to soften the accusation toward Slytherin.
"Maybe it's not even a pureblood, and this is all to mislead us," Hannah interjected, causing all of them to sigh as the list of possibilities grew longer.
"We can't keep going like this. We need to organize our ideas," Penelope said, seeing how the group's focus was fading. "Even if it seems too obvious, we should start with Slytherin. The heir is supposed to be a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. True, with so many wizarding marriages, anyone could be, but someone with such strict ideals should be where those ideals are most evident."
"Fine…" Pansy grumbled, reluctantly accepting it. Though she couldn't deny her house's reputation, she knew it was a logical starting point.
"I propose each group makes a list of the purebloods in their respective houses. Then we'll work from there and investigate one by one," Penelope suggested decisively.
"But how do we investigate without getting caught? It's not like we can just go up to them and say, 'Hey, are you the Heir of Slytherin?' That would be stupid, and we'd be caught immediately," Lavender said, lifting her head from the book she was writing in.
"Yeah, that wouldn't work," Pansy agreed, exchanging glances with Lavender and Daphne. "But we don't have many options. Our group isn't exactly everyone's favorite, and we can't just change our identities for this investigation."
"If we were Metamorphmagi or experts in Transfiguration, we could change our appearance at will, and this would be much easier. But neither of those is possible," Daphne grumbled. Then, raising her voice in frustration, she added, "I wish we could disguise ourselves to talk to others without getting into trouble!"
"I… think it's possible," Hermione said cautiously.
"Do you have an idea, Hermione?" Pansy asked, excited, making all the girls look at her attentively.
"Well… I know a way to change someone's appearance temporarily."
"What is it?" Lavender asked, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.
"The Polyjuice Potion. Snape mentioned it in one of his classes. It lets you take on someone else's appearance for a while," Hermione explained.
"That's brilliant! With that, we could take the appearance of someone close to the suspect and get information without them realizing it. You're a genius, Hermione!" Lavender said, making Hermione blush.
"But it's hard to make and takes time," Hermione clarified, dampening the excitement slightly.
"Still, I think it's worth it," Penelope said. "Even if we make it, with so many suspects, it would never last for all of them. Someone would notice if we used it too much. I think while we prepare the potion, we should narrow down the list of suspects. That way, when it's ready, we can use it on the right person."
"That makes sense," Daphne admitted.
The plan was taking shape, and the girls seemed determined. Inevitably, Hermione ended up in charge of preparing the potion, as she was the one who suggested it. They only needed to get the book Moste Potente Potions to start, which would be easy. Hermione was already planning how to ask a certain red-haired boyfriend for help.
Thus ended the first meeting, with each girl taking on clear roles and tasks to accomplish. Everything seemed to be heading toward a brilliant plan.
...
Meanwhile, in another room, Red was flipping through Lavender's notes, who was standing beside him, nearly trembling with excitement as she awaited his opinion.
'Thus was born the first meeting: a simple tea party that would end up marking the lives of a group of brave, kind, wise, ambitious... and, of course, beautiful girls... very beautiful... It was hard to contain the incredible sexual tension in the air; the girls looked at each other as if they wanted to devour one another, and, if not for the circumstances, this tea party would surely have turned into one of the most impressive lesbian orgies in history…'
'…Lieutenant General Clearwater delivered the wise words of the Supreme Emperor Red, but something was wrong. She felt uncomfortable and embarrassed, surely because of the enormous dildo she had hidden in her pussy… trying to hide the depravity and excitement she felt on the verge of being discovered…'
'…Then, the current principal concubine, Granger, suggested that the Polyjuice Potion was the best option, though she hesitated. What no one knew was that she had mastered the potion so well because she planned to take her boyfriend's form to seduce all his women and subdue them to her will, becoming the new matriarch of the family… Perhaps even screwing her boyfriend and turning him into a sexual slave alongside the others, who, deceived, could not resist her schemes and the pleasure…'
Red slammed the notes shut, breathing deeply as his right eye twitched alarmingly.
"Well? What do you think?" Lavender asked, cheeks flushed as she clutched her dress with both hands, rubbing herself slightly against the fabric.
Red looked at her with a mix of disbelief and resignation. "Lav… I think I'm going to remove your chastity. By Morgana, you need to masturbate. Daily. This isn't normal. Your brain is frying from all the pent-up heat."
Lavender blinked, genuinely confused. "You didn't like it? I thought I perfectly captured the essence of the meeting…"
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