𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂 || 𝐒𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖

Chapter Ten: What a little birdie told me

Chapter Ten 

Matty sat in the library, reading a book on transfiguration and taking notes. Professor Weasley had recommended the book to her, so she had found some time to settle down and read it for a while.

While her eyes trailed along the words printed on the paper, she heard footsteps behind her. When she glanced up, Grace Pinch-Smedley was now sitting on the seat in front of her. Matty's heart almost jumped out of her chest, not noticing that Grace had sat down until now.

"Oh! Grace! You scared me." Matty said, startled.

"Sorry about that," Grace said. "But I have some news you might want to hear. All rumors, of course, but I've gotten this all from a very reliable source." She followed up with, not wasting a single moment.

Matty furrowed her brows. "Rumors about what?"

"Those three deaths in Azkaban," Grace replied. "And regarding a certain former Gryffindor Headboy."

How Grace came to obtain these so-called rumors, Matty had no idea, but she perked up a bit when Grace said that last part. At this point she'd take any answers she could get about this situation. Grace looked down at Matty's notebook in her lap. "By the way, it's a lot so you might want to take notes."

Matty nodded and quickly flipped to a blank page of her notebook, pen at the ready.

"My cousin is a journalist for the Daily Prophet and recently he went to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the Ministry to get some answers." Grace began. "At first, they turned him away but once he told them what family he was from, they were more willing to talk."

Matty recalled Grace flaunting her surname a few times before but never knew why her family was seemingly so famous. But in the back of her mind, she was wondering how much trouble those Aurors he talked to were in because they gave him alleged information.

"He pressed for answers and he's what allegedly happened, based on what they told him." She spoke. "There was a prisoner in Azkaban—Leona Oswald. She was found guilty of the murders of several people—including her parents. And on top of that? Burning her entire home village down, which is where most of the murders came from."

Matty's brows rose in surprise. Several murders and arson? Definitely sounded like someone who would be locked up in a place like Azkaban.

"Almost two months ago, she became the prime suspect of two other murders that had happened before she was imprisoned years ago. So, it was planned for her to be escorted out of Azkaban and to the court for trial. While being escorted out, two other prisoners attacked them. Both ended up dead at the hands of the Aurors escorting Leona out, reportedly because the prisoners were out for blood."

This had gone in a much different direction than Matty had anticipated. Perhaps becoming an Auror wasn't the most ideal thing in the world. And weren't those deaths to be investigated? Wouldn't Leona have to be a witness to what she saw? "But neither of those prisoners was Apollo. So how did his death come about?" Matty questioned.

"I'm getting to that part," Grace said flatly, wanting to explain the rest of her story first. "Anyway, knowing that there was a third death, my cousin pressed for more answers. No clear answers were given—purely because they don't truly know what happened, I think. But they did tell me that Apollo was dead when they showed up. Only one other Auror had entered Azkaban earlier that day and he's under investigation at the moment. All they know is that Apollo has talked with Leona before but that's about it."

This news was particularly shocking. Apollo was reportedly already dead before the other two. But this Leona figured sounded more than just some criminal. The detail of speaking to Apollo—even if it was currently only rumors—made Matty suspect that maybe she had something to do with it.