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Patil and Finnigan were going to go on that trip. They were talking a tonne about it last week, anyways. I can talk to them when we get together on Wednesday, and see if they have anything to add to the official story.

Oh, Ron.

How very awful.

Molly, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny.

My deepest condolences.

I'm on sentry duty tonight, otherwise I'd ask Fred and George if they want a dog by their feet for the next day or two.

Whatever Bill Weasley told you--it probably wasn't an accident, was it?

Oh, no.

Oh how very dreadful.

Mrs Weasley, please let me know if you want me to come over to be with you, especially you and Ginny. Today's too soon, but tomorrow I would be very willing.

No, love. It most certainly was not. I very much hope that will be the end of it.

And you're right to think to ask if they'd want company -- we all have our own ways of mourning, and the best we can do is sort out what the people we love need from us, and try to provide it. Once you do have the chance, I'm sure they'd appreciate knowing you're thinking of them.

I'm sorry. I was one of the council members that Mulciber invited to Snowdonia but I never responded to his invitation. I decided to go train with Auror Crouch, instead.

I don't know if I could have done anything without blowing my cover, though.

My heart goes out to Ginny.

She wasn't happy with the family decision to not take any extreme measures for Percy, and we'd had a few meetings about what else she could do.

And to have her see

Oh, Merlin. I feel utterly wretched.

I miss Arthur. I can't bear to think of how he'd feel about all of this, but I miss him so very much.

you're right. not much you could've done, except provide us with some clearer answers.

let us know what crouch has to say about it.

yeah. miss him too.

Right. We've had the official visit by a representative from Snowdonia, accompanied by an MLE Enforcer.

The official story is that they were hunting Muggles, and well, 'accidents will happen, Mr Weasley.' Of course, when Snowdonia's clientele hunt Muggles, the Muggles are armed with their own crude weapons, because otherwise, what would be the sport in that?

According to multiple witnesses, Percy lost his nerve at the crucial moment and was killed by a Muggle, who was immediately dispatched in turn by somebody else in the hunting party, someone with the proper Protectorate attitudes. This was all determined over the course of multiple interviews held by the MLE this afternoon. 'We realise this is most embarrassing, but don't worry, we assure you that we won't let your brother's shameful secret become public knowledge.'

Merlin.

The body will probably be released Monday.

I'm so sorry. Ron, Ginny, is there anything I can do?

I'm glad you weren't there, so you weren't faced with that choice.

Because it wouldn't have been worth blowing your cover for him.

I'm sorry to say it, because he was my brother, but it's the truth.

Seamus Finnigan wrote to me. He was an eyewitness to Percy's death, and I think it disturbed him a lot. I think I better write down exactly what he told me, but I'll leave it up to you both what to tell the Weasleys. It's...it's pretty awful.

So Seamus told me that he went to Snowdonia to hunt, but he was cagey and asked if I knew what was hunted there. I played stupid and guessed Sphinxes or Hypogryffs. He said no, they were hunting muggles. This is what he said:

They arm the muggles with knives because otherwise there'd be no sport in it at all. I rather thought -- honestly there's very little sport in it even WITH knives, except for the tracking. The tracking's quite challenging, because Snowdonia's enormous.

We'd all met up for lunch. Lana Sandoval was there as well, and Ned Pennifold and a few others. After lunch we split up for a while and Percy, well, he found the muggle he'd been tracking and she was a ginger. Looked a bit like Ginny, actually, only older. And Percy just froze.

He crossed something out there; I can't quite make it out. Then he continued:

The muggle saw her chance and brought the knife down before I realised -- you know if I'd been a bit faster I could have got her. Maybe. The thing is, she was so close to Percy I could have hit him, instead. But also I thought, 'what's he waiting for?' -- his wand was in his hand, Nev! Even if he was too squeamish to kill her he could've petrified her or some such. I thought he was going to act, and then it was too late.

Then he crossed something else out. Maybe he started to describe exactly what it looked like but decided it was too gory.

I said it sounded weird, because Percy Weasley always had fast reflexes. He was a champion dueler at the school, y'know? He said that maybe he just hadn't been practising lately.

I asked if anyone else was there. He wrote:

A couple of others saw it happen from a distance, like I did, but no one was right there with him. Cadmus Mulciber was the one who killed the muggle. He was furious. Embarrassed. You don't want to invite someone on a hunt and then have them taken out by the creature you're hunting, you know?

So that's what I was able to get from him. I'll leave it up to you as to what to tell the Weasleys. Don't know if it would help Mrs Weasley or just hurt her more, and I reckon you know her better and are the best ones to decide.

I mean. The part about the woman who looked like Ginny...that was bloody cruel.

I've been assuming since we heard that this was a set-up of some kind, the sort of 'accident' that swiftly gets arranged once someone's made the sort of wide range of homicidal enemies that Percy acquired for himself.

Arranging for red-haired muggle prey would be easy enough, but possibly insufficient, especially given that the muggles are armed with knives against wands. It's possible the hesitation had some outside assistance, though.

I'm not sure we'd want to suggest that to Molly, however. If anything...it might comfort her to believe that Percy would have balked at murder for sport.

Mrs Weasley, I am so sorry. Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny - yeah. Merlin.

The odd thing is, he was hunting with Cadmus Mulciber. His sponsor to the Council. Who else was along, Neville, did Finnigan mention?

Well, he mentioned that Lana Sandoval and Ned Pennifold were along on the hunt. And that he was close enough to see what happened, but that no one was right there with him. He said there were 'a couple others' who saw it from a distance, but he didn't say who they were. I didn't think I should press too hard for further details, because I was afraid he would wonder why.

He was quite clear that it was Cadmus Mulciber who killed the muggle.

Wait, what? The hesitation had...outside assistance?

You're talking Imperius?

I dunno. At least it didn't seem to occur to Seamus...or if it did, he didn't mention it to me. He did seem really puzzled why Percy didn't act, though.

No wonder, though, if the woman looked like Ginny.

Ugh. How horrible.

Yes, Imperius. Though there are any number of other spells that could freeze someone into place for a few seconds.

The muggle with the knife might've had a magical assist, as well. Hard to know.

Perhaps Mulciber thought Percy was too much of a liability.

no parent should have to bury their child.

it's my worst fear. and I reckon I'm not alone in that.

we've got a long way to go, and a rough road to get there, but I swear, molly, we'll work damn hard to make sure as many of us pull through this thing as we can.

I don't want to say this in front of everyone, but -

I wouldn't have blown my cover for him.

I'm only sorry that he made all the wrong choices, when all along he had a loving and supportive family who could have shown him the right way of things.

I will. I've asked Lana, too.

That shows you have your head on straight. Much more than Percy ever did.

I'm glad, because you'll need it.

And you've made the right choices, despite your family. I have a lot of respect for that. And for you. Draco, Harry, and Pansy, too.

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