55 Beaten Pig

"What is this?"

The four of them had arrived at Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom at a leisurely pace. In one of the stalls was a pale skinned blond boy who was trembling. His eyes were shut and he would mutter from time to time in a hollow manner.

"What did you do to him," gasped Hermione in horror. "You didn't break his mind did you... that might get you expelled!"

Arth rolled his eyes.

"It's nothing to fret about. It's just a bit of chloroform and a couple Confundus charms... and maybe a tad bit of hallucinatory potions."

Ron stared at Arth with mixed feelings of awe and fright.

"I would hate to be on the bad side of you... what is chloroform?"

"A muggle chemical that causes one to black out. I don't advise using it. It's performance isn't satisfactory."

"Where did you even get that?"

"Oh I just carry a vial of it with me wherever I go. Old habits."

"Old habits?" Hermione shrilled. "Old habits from what?"

"You know, stuff."

Harry knelt down in front of Malfoy and waved his hands a couple of times in front of his face.

"How will we interrogate him when he is unconscious? Do we need to wake him up?"

Arth smiled.

"No need for that. Just ask him a question and he'll mumble the answer right out." Arth gave a weird smile. "I drugged him with a truth potion. Not as effective as Veritaserum but good enough to do its job."

Arth checked his pendant which had transformed into a stop watch.

"However, I reckon the truth potion will wear off in about five minutes. You better start asking."

Harry poked Malfoy in the cheek once before coughing once to clear his throat.

"Are you the Heir of Slytherin?"

There was a few seconds of silence before Malfoy mumbled his answer.

"...I'm not."

"Do you know who the Heir of Slytherin is?"

"...no."

Harry frowned and gave a worried glance at the rest of them.

"...we were wrong, Malfoy is innocent."

"Then who can the Heir be?" Said Hermione with a worried look. "We need to know who the Heir is in order to be able to stop him from hurting anybody else..."

Arth sighed.

"Ask him if he has any relation to the Heir of Slytherin."

"Why, it's just going to give us the same answer."

"It won't, trust me."

"Fine," Harry turned to face Malfoy once more.

"Do you have any relation with the Heir of Slytherin?"

However, the answer Harry was expecting didn't come out.

"...Yes."

"What do you mean by yes?"

"... I have relation... with the heir."

Harry, Ron, And Hermione froze in shock. Arth decided it was best for him to take the reigns now.

"How So?"

"... my father told me... the chamber of secrets... would open this year."

"Are you saying that your father already knew that this was going to happen?"

"...yes."

Arth smirked.

"Bingo, suspect has been comprehended. Last question, do you have a house elf?"

"...yes."

Harry widened his eyes.

"You can't be serious-"

"Do you," Arth ignored Harry and continued to ask questions, "Malfoy, happen to have a house elf named Dobby?"

"...yes."

"Is there any clue that can help us find the Heir?"

"...no."

Hermione sighed.

"So all we did was confirm that Malfoy and his father had a part in this entire fiasco."

"Pretty important if you ask me," said Ron while shrugging his shoulders.

"At least we have a lead."

Arth frowned.

"No, Hermione is right. This was a waste of time."

"What do you mean Arth? We know that Malfoy is involved in the attacks. We just need to turn him in."

Arth sighed.

"Didn't you hear him? He said he wasn't the Heir of Slytherin, it won't do anything if we lock him up. The real attacker is still somewhere in this school."

"How are we going to find them?"

"That's the problem." Answered Hermione with a grim look. "Even malfoy has no idea on who it is. We might as well think it's anyone other than us five."

"So were back to square one?"

"Yep."

Ron groaned.

"This detective business is killing me. Why can't it be as simple as one two three?"

"Because this ain't some novel Ron. It's reality." Snapped Arth.

He took a glance at his clock pendant.

"Malfoy should be up in about three... two... one."

Malfoy gave a slight shiver as his eyelids started to flutter as if they were about to open.

"What do we do with him? I mean we can't just let him go? He would become suspicious of us."

Arth shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't cast another memory spell on him, or else he will lose some brain cells."

"We can't just leave him alone? What if he tells on the teacher?" Said Hermione with a worried glance.

"...There is a way to erase his memory." Said Arth with a tiny bit of excitement.

"How?"

"We do it the old fashioned way. Beat him until he forgets."

There was silent in the bathroom as everyone stared at Arth like he was a monster.

"What? It works, it's efficient too. It can be used as a very effective stress reliever too."

Harry gave a wry smile.

"I should've known."

"Yep, messing with Arth is akin to bloody suicide."

Argh rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you don't want to hit him a couple times. Trust me, it'll be fun... plus-" Arth had a mischievous look in his eyes. "The victim's body will naturally remember the beating when his mind does not."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll understand soon enough."

Hermione looked a bit hesitant.

"What if Malfoy starts to scream?"

Arth furrowed his brows.

"Myrtle."

"Yes?"

A girl flowed out of a sink and quickly hovered around Arth.

"What do you need me for?"

"Can you do me a favor and cry as loud as you can?"

Myrtle's expression went dark.

"Another person who wants to see me in misery? I thought you were better than this-"

Arth gave his most innocent and charming smile possible and put on his lying face.

"I just think that you are pretty cute when you cry..."

There was silence for a few seconds until Myrtle gave a loud wail.

"WHY COULDN'T I BE BORN IN THIS TIME PERIOD INSTEAD OF BEING A GHOST! ITS SO UNFAIR!"

With that, she went outside of the bathroom wailing at the top of her lungs.

Over her wails, were the barely discernible sounds of a pig being beaten to death.