Small mercies. He had to hope it was some poor drunkard who had stumbled into the dungeons and knocked his head on the flagstones, someone of no name and no merit – and preferably not another member of staff. There were only so many deaths on his own doorstep that Phineas – and his reputation – could take.
“Crabbe,” he asserted, in a sharp, barely-muttered greeting, when they came upon Sirius’ friend pacing the corridor. Phineas could see the slumped corpse just beyond him – though Crabbe looked just as white as the corpse. Had he had something to do with it? (He could not help but be hopeful that if it was one of the pair at fault, that...)
A first look at the body, in the dimly-lit corridor, proved the man unknown to Phineas too. And hardly well-dressed enough to be anyone important, thank Merlin. Before he focused on that, however – he rounded on the pair of them, scrutinising them for any expression of guilt, and addressing them in a low tone, thick with distaste. “Did you have something to do with this?”
“Crabbe,” he asserted, in a sharp, barely-muttered greeting, when they came upon Sirius’ friend pacing the corridor. Phineas could see the slumped corpse just beyond him – though Crabbe looked just as white as the corpse. Had he had something to do with it? (He could not help but be hopeful that if it was one of the pair at fault, that...)
A first look at the body, in the dimly-lit corridor, proved the man unknown to Phineas too. And hardly well-dressed enough to be anyone important, thank Merlin. Before he focused on that, however – he rounded on the pair of them, scrutinising them for any expression of guilt, and addressing them in a low tone, thick with distaste. “Did you have something to do with this?”
