Magical Hogwarts

June 2005

Alyona had slammed the door of the press centre shut behind her. The healer was furious and she was not able to hold her anger back anymore.

It was awful that Polina Vadimovna Raskolnikova had been killed. There was not a single soul at the artistic flying school who didn’t think it was a tragedy, Alyona thought. Nobody here wanted anyone to die, least of all anyone who belonged to the artistic flying school to be murdered.

Afanasiy Kirillovich Ustrashkin, however, was just as insufferable as an adult as he had been as a student. His haughtiness wasn’t what got to her, though, not really. He suspected Aglaya of having committed a murder. It was scandalising to even voice such a ridiculous thought. Alyona had been close to confessing having committed a crime she knew little about just to get Afanasiy shift his focus away from her daughter.

She walked through the flying school, passed her treatment room, still fuming with anger and feeling unable to deal with any sore athletes now, least of all her own daughter. Why didn’t Aglaya get a break for once? Why did she have to go through so much? Afanasiy Kirillovich was the older one of two investigators who were trying to solve the case of Polina Vadimovna and he seemed to take pleasure from voicing silly suspicions. Alyona wondered if it had something to do with the hostility that stemmed from their past at Durmstrang. However, Afanasiy had mentioned the collision of Polina and Aglaya and Alyona had not been able to say anything about her daughter’s reaction back then. She still condemned herself for having gone to Mexico at that time. She would have been needed at home then. It had been selfish and foolish to go away.

It was mostly subconscious that Alyona made her way into Valera’s shop. She had thanked vir countless times for looking after Aglaya when she had failed to be available herself and, once she had been home from her trip, shehad tried to get her daughter fit again, but, truth be told not all of her questions had been answered.

“Valerka,” she said as she stepped into the shop, grateful that no customers were present. “Where are you?” She flicked her wand to lock the door behind her. “Do you happen to have a drink here? I need it.” As she said these words, Alyona realised that she should have been a little more careful. Yet, honestly, who could blame her for wanting a drink when a former schoolmate had just interrogated her, indicating that he thought that her daughter had killed a talentless athlete because of a flying accident that happened in April?

@Valera Tikhomirova

Another happy customer left the shop, this time a delighted nine year old with his very first child-sized artistic flying broom, naturally accompanied by a proud parent who Valera had also subtly persuaded to purchase a selection of other merchandise, from practise clothes to a water bottle with the flying school logo. The child waved until he was out of sight of the shop window, and Valera dutifully waved back, though as soon as ve was alone, vir smile faded.

It had started out as a difficult few weeks, then months, and now it was crawling around to a year and still there was no end in sight to the difficulties vir niece was facing. Really, how anyone could imagine the poor girl could have had anything to do with the mysterious death of Polina Vadimovna was beyond vir. As if Aglaya even had the time to think of something so outlandish. But the investigators seemed so keen on following this line of thought that Valera had once or twice wondered if they had somehow been listening the day of the broom collision. Both ve and Aglaya had said they would cheerfully kill the poor flyer, but nobody would ever imagine that was serious, surely?

Ve glanced at the clock and decided to close the shop a little early. There were no more classes or practise sessions today so it was unlikely they would be losing customers and besides, the excited little boy had made quite a mess as he had been measured for his broom and then tried on different clothes to find the best fit. Valera picked up a discarded sweatshirt and folded it, returning it to the display and adjusting the folds so that the logo was prominent.

Despite distracting virself with work, Valera still jumped slightly when ve heard Alyona's voice. "Over here" ve said, and then straightened up and sighed.

"I take it the interview didn't go well?" ve asked, walking back to the counter and reaching underneath for an unopened half bottle of vodka and a glass. Of course ve didn't drink while the shop was open, but when ve was working on displayed of an evening, sometimes it was nice to relax a little. With a flick of vir wand ve poured a generous measure into the glass.

"Want to talk about it?"

It was a relief that Valera was there and that nobody was around. Alyona approached the counter and a tired smile spread across her face when ve poured her a glass of vodka. It was nice not to be judged by vir.

“Thank you,” Alyona said, reaching for the glass and emptying it at once.

“I don’t understand it. I really don’t.” She looked around and found a chair. She took a seat and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she opened her eyes again and shook her head.

“It’s ridiculous. Who in their right mind would suspect Aglaya out of all people to kill Polina?” She pulled out her wand and summoned the vodka bottle to refill her glass.

“You don’t mind, do you?” She asked, but didn’t expect that Valera would object to her having another drink.

“I wasn’t here when the accident happened and Polina went missing or else, I guess, Afanasiy Kirillovich would have suspected me. Who interrogated you? The younger guy, Viacheslav Nikolaevich, seems at least a little more sensible.”

Valera sighed and leaned against the counter. "You want to know who? Idiots who actually don't have the faintest idea who was really responsible" ve said, a hard edge to vir voice that wasn't usually there. "They need to look like they're doing something, but they have no leads, so they try to make it look like they've got a clue by accusing anyone who is close to the actual situation. The only reason nobody's accused the poor girl's father is because he's so rich they're scared to..." ve let out a snort of derision, picked up the vodka bottle, and poured a second measure for Alyona.

Then, because ve didn't always think entirely logically, ve looked around for a spare glass, completely overlooked the simple option of conjuring one, and took a generous swig out of the bottle.

Ve shook vir head. "Nikolaevich. I don't think his heart was in it, or maybe he hadn't read his briefs closely enough and didn't actually realise I'm a former flyer myself. He seemed under the impression that my sole purpose has always been running this shop and, frankly, I wasn't about to disabuse him of that notion. Anyway, the third time I had to correct him on my pronouns  - don't worry, I was kind, he does seem like a reasonable sort of person - he sort of wilted and seemed embarrassed to ask me anything else..." ve smirked and took another drink.

"What I don't understand is why they think Aglaya would kill her anyway. What could she stand to gain? It's not like the girl was ever going to be able to compete at her level, so it wouldn't offer any sort of benefit..." Valera thought that clearly these investigators didn't know vir niece at all. If there was someone standing between her and a world championship, and she was offered a painless potion for the rival...no, not even then. Aglaya would win on her own merits or not at all, and she hated any insinuation that there had ever been favouritism due to her family.

"Idiots, the lot of them..." ve muttered, clutching the bottle firmly.

Alyona sighed. Valera had a point. The investigators were coming up with wild suspicions mostly because they had no real clues. However, looking for a murderer within the Tikhomirov family was still unthinkable. It was scandalous to consider Aglaya as the culprit even in a moment of confusion and desperation.

“I think they should investigate Raskolnikovs surroundings. I could imagine very well that he has enemies.” The man was rich and successful. Surely he had made more enemies in his life than either of them. Then again, just killing his daughter made no sense. Kidnapping and demanding a ransom would have been more like it.

Alyona felt the comforting warmness of the vodka filling her, but it didn’t really serve to calm her. She was still furious. The conversation with Valera helped her to release some of the pent up feelings she hadn’t been allowed to show in the interrogation, though, and that felt good.

“He’s still young,” Alyona said, “Aglaya’s age or younger. I think he doesn’t have the same experience as Afanasiy Kirillovich who is a total moron whose personality hasn’t changed one bit since school. Sadly he’s become even more unattractive now than he was then.”

Valera spoke about how unreasonable it was to suspect Aglaya anyway as she had nothing to gain and Alyona nodded along.

“Exactly,” she said, holding out her glass for another refill.

“Not a single one of our athletes had to fear competition from Polina. Even the youngest kids are far better than she was. I just wonder who actually had a reason to murder her. She was a nice girl all things considered. It wasn’t her fault that she chased a dream that was not to become true. Her father made her think that with money she can get anything, even success in this sport.”

"That's the part that makes no sense" Valera burst out, banging the bottle on the counter for emphasis. "Anyone who follows Aglayka's career should know that she wouldn't do this! I mean, logically when's she even going to have the time?" ve added, with a bitter laugh "It's like they're not trying at all..."

Ve took another swig of vodka, noticing that a little had slopped out of the bottle and dampened her hand. "If they're worth anything at all they should be investigating everyone" ve said, even knowing that would include Aglaya as well "but you're right, her father's contacts are as likely to throw up a possible lead than sniffing around the school." Ve tipped the bottle and poured another measure for Alyona, noting with a wry smile that the bottle was half-empty already.

"Poor girl..." ve said, unsure for a moment if ve was talking about the murdered Polina or Aglaya "it's almost as if..." No, that was a stupid thought. For a moment Valera had wondered if Aglaya's stalker might have somehow been involved, but that was even more ridiculous than suspecting vir niece of doing the deed. The only people who knew the whole story of the collision were those who where there when it took place; the papers had a fair idea, of course, but most news sources simply spoke of an 'unfortunate collision' and had been told that both girls were only slightly injured. Was it possible that someone had imagined that Polina had tried to sabotage the champion and had...what? Valera shook vir head and had another swig of vodka.

"No, ignore me. I'm imagining things. Anyway, what's the incantation to refill the bottle?" ve asked "I have a feeling we might be needing it soon..."

“They don’t seem to be interested in finding out the truth,” Alyona said and wondered what the truth really was. It was one thing to be certain that Aglaya had nothing to do with Polina’s murder, but it was a fact that the girl was dead and that someone had killed her. As long as the detectives didn’t find that person they were still on the loose and potentially dangerous.

“They really should.” The healer nodded. “I mean, I don’t really believe that the murderer is still in Rybinsk, but what if they are? What if this was just the start?” She felt anxious and lifted her glass to down some more vodka to benumb this rising panic, but her glass was empty again.

“I need to talk to Branimir and Ivo,” she muttered more to herself than anything. “They need to watch out for any strangers and…” her voice trailed off. It was all too much to handle and it seemed like they never really got a break. Aglaya’s bodyguards still got their paychecks and did their job, but it wasn’t like they were constantly around her anymore. They basically only took turns accompanying her when she was going out in public.

“What?” Alyona looked at Valera curiously, as ve broke off mid sentence. “What do you suspect?” Then, as an afterthought, she added, "we could relocate to my treatment room, I have home-distilled vodka there, it's nicely strong."

That was the most worrying part of all this - that the investigators didn't seem to want to investigate. They seemed to have made a decision based on a tiny bit of observation and were trying to make the evidence fit. It was like being investigated by journalists, or one of the trashiest magazines, rather than professionals.

"You'd think her father would want to truth rather than a werewolf-hunt*" Valera said, even as ve wondered if he was so blinded by grief that he didn't care what was done, so long as someone was punished for the death of his beloved daughter. If ve was in that position... no, that was nothing ve intended to think about. Ve took another drink from the rapidly-depleting bottle and shook vir head.

"You think..?" Valera's eyes widened in horror "No. No, this has to have been a one-off. Why would anyone...I mean, if it was a...serial killer -" ve forced the words out quietly, glancing around as if by voicing the possibility it could become real "- why start with a relative unknown?"

There were possibilities of course. It would gain less publicity outside of the artistic flying world if it was someone who wasn't famous. Polina was easier to reach that someone heavily guarded like...

Valera's hand flew to vir mouth. "If the murderer's not in Rybinsk... do you think the children are safe? There's no way someone could get into Durmstrang, is there?" ve asked, eyes wide and staring. It was a selfish thought, but ve was a parent too and had the same instincts as Alyona. Except Anna didn't have any bodyguards, just...oh, it was ridiculous. If there was a killer out there targetting artists, they were hardly going to favour children. Anna would be fine.

"I don't know. Just that...if some fan thought Polina had deliberately sabotaged Aglaya, what if they'd decided to take her out of the situation? It's stupid, though..." It was also unhelpful. Thoughts like that would have the entire school jumping at shadows.

Ve looked again at the bottle in vir hand. "Yes, let's go. Maybe things will make more sense once we're drunk."

[OOC: *I figured witches would have a similar term for 'witch-hunt']

“Well,” Alyona said, looking thoughtful. “He might have his own investigations going on. Maybe he’s glad these idiots are looking into the wrong way. Might be a good diversion and help him to find the actual culprit? I really don’t know.”

Valera’s questions were valid and the healer nodded. Nothing really made sense to her. A serial killer… she didn’t want to go as far. However, who was she to have an opinion on this? She hadn’t deemed it possible that her daughter had a stalker, even less one that would try to kill her. A serial killer was not less believable.

And why would a serial killer start with Polina? Why would anyone stalk Aglaya? Why would anyone try to poison her? Why would anyone kill Polina? Those were all questions along the same lines which Alyona could not find an answer to.

“I’m sure the children are safe,” Alyona said, hearing the fear in Valera’s voice. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure of anything. However, a killer who had found a victim in Rybinsk would hardly travel to Durmstrang and attempt to kill children. The students were probably far safer at Durmstrang than they’d be in Rybinsk during the summer. That thought, however, Alyona decided to keep to herself.

“Do the fans know about this incident, though?” Alyona asked. She hadn’t been present when Polina and Aglaya had collided in the air and she believed that the details of this accident were only known within the flying school and hadn’t travelled as far as to the fans of the sport. However, rumours were a lot like bad weeds, they spread fast and grew tall.

She got to her feet, the prospect of the home distilled vodka giving her some energy to move. “Okay, let’s go. I’m not sure things will make more sense when we’re more drunk, but they might not seem quite so scary anymore.”

[out]

That possibility hadn't occurred to Valera. Ve shook vir head. "I hope he does. If it was me..." and then ve couldn't say any more. Polina might have been a terrible flyer, but she had always been polite and friendly and even if she hadn't, nobody deserved this. Valera couldn't begin to imagine how her father must be feeling. Those sort of thoughts weren't going to help anyone, though, nor was vir sudden panic about whether the children were safe.

"You're right. I know" ve said, though really Valera was just relieved that Alyona had said something reassuring. While the kids were at school, they might not even know the details of what was happening - certainly it wasn't something ve had written to Anna about, though rumours travelled fast and ve was sure they would hear of it soon. But outside of the family, and those who were present the day of the incident...

"I don't pay much attention to the fan magazines, though there's a stand of them over there" ve said, pointing to a small display next to the sports drinking bottles and other branded merchandise "And I doubt anyone would have given an interview about it, unless they decided to say something anonymously..." not that it made much difference. Any fan would have had to make plans, travel to the area, carry out the attack, all without being seen. It seemed far-fetched and Valera knew ve was grasping at straws to find an explanation.

"I don't care about things making sense any more" ve said, even though that wasn't true. "Lead the way. It feels like a good night for getting drunk..."

[out]