"So you mean to say that Colin Creevey walked toward the third-floor girls' bathroom in a daze with a black diary in hand?" Dumbledore asked to make sure.
"Yes."
"And then he spoke a language that seemed a lot like snakes hissing in front of the sinks and they opened up?"
"That sounds about right."
"And then instead of calling a teacher, you went to investigate by yourself?" the Headmaster raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"Headmaster, do not say it like that," Sol felt a bit offended, "If I didn't go there alone which in hindsight sounds like a bad idea, then he might've ended up reviving Tom Riddle. Then it seems I made the perfect choice!"
"No, I meant nothing of the sort," Dumbledore assured him. "Speaking of Tom Riddle, you said that he seemed to have materialized over this black diary?" The Headmaster took out a tattered black diary. It had a hole from front to back.
"Yes."
"And you seem to know who Tom Riddle?"
"Isn't that You-Know-Who's original name?" Sol asked.
Sss!
Fudge took in a cold breath. His face became paler and paler as sweat beads popped up on his forehead. Fidgetting, he asked, "Mr. Balor, are you sure about that?"
"I mean," Sol thought about it and gave an answer, "He himself said it. So, I am pretty sure. Something about finishing Salazar Slytherin's noble work."
"I see..."
"Excuse me!" Mr. Creevey interrupted and in doing so made the others stare at him. Under the pressure of stares, he swallowed his saliva and built up the courage to ask, "Who is this 'You-Know-Who?' and why is he relevant in the cause of my son's death?"
Sol forced a smile at him, "Mr. Creevey," the addressed turned to look at him, "You-Know-Who is not the person's real name-"
"I know that," Mr. Creevey murmured.
"...-we have to address him as such because his name has a curse on it."
"Is he some sort of a demon?" Mrs. Creevey asked.
"History has labeled him worse than a demon," Dumbledore answered calmly.
"T-That means..."
"He has caused numerous deaths in his crusade to eradicate half-blooded and muggle-born wizards and witches. He was also the cause of the Second Wizarding War."
"Do you mean to say that our Colin was involved with someone like that?" Mr. Colin spoke, the fury in his voice was evident.
"It pains me to say so," Dumbledore replied.
"Impossible!" Mrs. Creevey cried out.
"My son is dead! And you people are framing-" Mr. Creevey started to yell angrily was stopped by Sol.
"Mr. Creevey," Sol called out in a soothing yet authoritative tone. "Please do not jump to conclusions."
"Then, explain!"
"I agree!" Mrs. Creevey joined in, "Our Colin was a sweet boy. He couldn't harm a fly not to mention colluding with a- with a- mass murderer!"
"Mrs. Creevey, did you feel Colin suddenly changed one day?" Sol asked calmly.
"I-I..." Mrs. Creevey couldn't answer straight away. She and Mr. Creevey sunk into their thoughts.
Seeing the unresponsive, Sol asked another question, "Has Colin suffered any sort of major injuries any time from the past year?"
"Y-Yes, he hit his head on the side of the dining table last year."
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
"When was this?"
"August of last year..."
"And then he started to exhibit changes completely different from his personality."
"Yes," Mr. Creevey affirmed in a low voice.
"Then, I am sorry to say Colin was probably put under the Imperius Curse then and there," Sol revealed the 'truth' to them.
"Impossible! We would see that, wouldn't we?!" Mr. Creevey denied the claim vehemently. Beside him, Mrs. Creevey nodded furiously, "Besides, something like mind control is impossible, right?" Though at first, it sounded as if she was stating a fact, the latter half sounded like a question.
"Headmaster here can explain that better to you," Sol handed the proverbial mic to Dumbledore. And he took it and started to explain the Imperius Curse.
After the explanation, Mrs. Creevey broke down crying. Whereas Mr. Creevey still tried to deny it, "Impossi...ble..." though it was plenty apparent that he had broken down as well. Sol, the Headmaster, and Minister Fudge looked at the grieving parents with sympathetic eyes.
As they cried, Sol spoke up, "It isn't all bad-" the two looked at him, "-at least he died trying to kill a 60-foot long snake!"
"W-What?" Mrs. Creevey asked again to make sure that she hadn't heard wrong.
"I'm sorry but I will have to ask Minister Fudge to escort you two outside so that we can get the whole story and give you a better explanation as to what happened." Dumbledore shot Fudge a look and Fudge nodded.
"I agree! So, if you'd please follow me," Under Fudge's urging Mr. and Mrs. Creevey left the Infirmary. After they were gone, Dumbledore looked at Sol, "Accurate deduction, Mr. Balor."
"Thank you-"
"But where does this diary come in?"
"I took it from Ginny," Sol admitted.
"Young Mrs. Weasley?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, "Did you perhaps see where she got it from?"
"I did."
"And...?"
"I would like to answer but I doubt you'd believe me."
"What reason might-"
"Lucius Malfoy!"
Dumbledore paused though there was no change in his expression. Yet the pause told all that his expression didn't. After a while, he spoke, "I see..." He then looked at Sol, "This seems to be bigger than I thought. Considering Lucius' position in the Wizarding World, this is a very heavy accusation. Do you have some evidence?"
"I mean- I have no problems if you want my memories. Since I saw him put it in Ginny's cauldron."
"I see. But how did it get into Mr. Creevey's hands?"
"I don't know," Sol shook his head. "I didn't keep that diary with me and it is could be that he took it from my drawer."
"Didn't you know this was Voldemort's diary?"
"Not a clue."
"Then why did you-"
"If a shady guy puts a black diary into your friend's cauldron, do you just sit there and let it happen?"
"Point taken." Silence descended the room as both Dumbledore and Sol fell into their thoughts.
After a while, Dumbledore spoke, "The people from the Ministry will be coming over during Easter holidays to thoroughly investigate the appearance of a Basilisk."
"What! That late?! That's almost three months away. Then what will the students do meanwhile? There is a Basilisk loose in the castle!" Sol's voice became more agitated the more he went on.
"Calm down, Mr. Balor," Dumbledore raised his hands to calm him down, "During this time, the teachers will be out carrying patrols and are responsible for the students' safety."
"But-" Sol opened his mouth and closed them. He did this several times, wanting to ask a question but not knowing how to go about it. In the end, he swallowed his words and nodded his head, "Understood..."
"Well then, Mr. Balor, I will take my leave! I wish you a speedy recovery! Oh yes, we will be talking about Gryffindor's sword later." Saying that Dumbledore opened the door and left, passing by Hagrid who was coming in. After a light greeting, Hagrid rushed to Sol's side. Although they were conversing with one another, Sol's mind was in a completely different place.
That was a real gamble on my part, which thankfully paid off. I mean I wasn't sure about it and only drew inferences from the minimal data I had. Now that I think about it, maybe I shouldn't weigh an integral part of my plan on a gamble.
Of course, what he was talking about was how he made the others believe Colin was under the effects of the Imperius curse. Although it seemed easy, it only would've worked under certain conditions:
1) Colin being possessed by a reincarnator recently and not from birth. Had he been a reincarnator from birth, Sol's plan would've fallen apart. Of course, there were some clues. Like, if Colin was a reincarnator from birth, then why didn't he influence the events of last year? The Philosopher's Stone was valuable no matter how you look at it. Someone like Sol was greedy for it, so why wasn't Colin? And he had to known about those events since he was someone who knew the works this world was based on.
2) And by the first condition, if Colin did reincarnate later in his life, then there was something that caused the original soul to leave the body. Very rarely does a soul inhabit a body when the original soul is still there. And since this was a Parallel Story World, Sol guessed that something must've happened for the original soul to leave the body. Of course, this was discounting the fact that there was a chance for the invading soul to consume/absorb the original soul and vice versa. But then that also begs the question, why didn't he act normal if he had Colin's memories? This could also be chalked up to the reincarnator being very stupid. But there were still a lot of 'what ifs' and loose ends, so ultimately, Sol decided to take a leap here.
3) And it also fell down to the fact that Colin's parents were muggles and had no knowledge of magic. Even if they did, they were in no state to cool down and think. Which made it much easier to feed them false information. Although, it is a bit tragic to not even know how your son died, at least they can find solace in the fact that his death had some use to Sol. Well, that's if they knew about it.
All in all, the gamble paid off, and Sol-
"Then I'll be off. Hope you get well soon!"
"Huh, what?" Sol only saw Hagrid leaving through the Infirmary door.
"Oh, okay I guess he's gone!" Sol exhaled and went down to lay on the bed. But before he could do that, his eyes shifted towards the bedside table, which had a large brown object on it.
"Is this my retribution?" Sol looked at Hagrid's extra-large homemade rock cake and lamented.
"...Fuck!"