Snape said nothing on their journey to Dumbledore's office, instead choosing to maintain a 3 foot distance ahead of him the entire time, so Blake couldn't see his face.
I mean, realistically, they probably know it's me - who else could it have been? But I made sure there were no ghosts, or portraits around from when I Disillusioned and Muffliato'd myself, to when I actually did it. They could've seen me follow Crabbe and Goyle, but they've no proof that I actually did anything.
"Wait here," Snape said tersely, as he entered the room. Blake tried to make out the hushed voices, but, of course, he couldn't hear anything. It seemed he wasn't the only one that valued privacy. Suddenly, the door opened.
"Enter," Dumbledore's voice said, and the Slytherin boy noted the lack of the usual warmth in the man's voice. Blake entered, and no one in the room seemed pleased at at all - Dumbledore and Snape wore stony faces, while Crabbe and Goyle looked positively terrified.
"Mr Renshaw," Dumbledore began, his expression and voice neutral. Uh oh, Blake thought sarcastically. 'Mr Renshaw'? Not Blake? I'm so screwed!
"It appears that Mr Crabbe and Goyle were Confunded earlier today, prior to the incident that just took place in the Great Hall. Would you happen to know anything about that?"
Blake feigned confusion as well as he could without bursting into laughter.
"No, Professor! I don't know anything about this!" he said convincingly (he hoped).
"Is that so, Renshaw?" Snape asked, his eyes boring into Blake's. Occlumency, the boy reminded himself. He was becoming increasingly convinced Snape was indeed a Legilimens, and searched the Potions Master's face for any sign that he'd tried it. There was none.
"I spoke to the ghosts and portraits in the corridors. The ones near the Great Hall seemed to think that they'd seen you leave the Great Hall at breakfast early, right after Crabbe and Goyle. Then, it appeared that you'd vanished from Hogwarts - not a single ghost or portrait saw you after that, Renshaw. Isn't that fascinating? Where did you go?" he asked in a low, snivelly tone.
"I'm not sure what to tell you, sir," Blake responded, meeting Snape's gaze unflinchingly. "I went back to my room to check if I'd lost something personal. Then I came back. If the ghosts or portraits didn't see me-"
"Perhaps you used a Disillusionment charm?" Snape interrupted smoothly. "It, along with the Muffliato spell, seem to be your specialties, do they not?"
"I didn't, sir," Blake said shortly. "You've no proof I did anything like that."
"Is that so?" Dumbledore asked, staring at Blake. Occlumency, Occlumency. "So, you deny Confunding Mr Crabbe and Mr Goyle, Mr Renshaw?"
"Of course, Professor."
"Then you wouldn't mind if we asked you to take some Veritaserum to prove it?"
"Isn't the use of Veritaserum forbidden on students in Hogwarts, Professor?"
"That it is," Dumbledore said, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "But I'm sure you'll agree that sometimes, it is necessary to bend the rules."
Perfect.
"I do," Blake responded. "I'll do it." Snape scowled as he produced a glass bottle of what looked just like water - Veritaserum.
Blake reached out and took it calmly, before opening it and drinking slowly. All eyes on the room were trained on him, and when he set the bottle down, Snape inspected it carefully, before nodding at Dumbledore.
"Mr Renshaw, did you Confund Mr Crabbe and Mr Goyle?"
"No."
"Were you involved in the Confunding of Mr Crabbe and Mr Goyle?"
"No."
"Do you know anything about the Confunding of Mr Crabbe and Mr Goyle?"
"No."
Dumbledore and Snape stared at him once more, while Crabbe and Goyle continued to look down at the ground.
"I see," Dumbledore said, sighing.
"Headmaster," Snape said quickly, "There is still that other possibility…"
"I doubt that will be fruitful, Severus," Dumbledore said, "But very well. Your wand, if you please, Mr Renshaw."
Remember you're still meant to be under the effects of Veritaserum. Blake handed Dumbledore his wand.
"I'm sure you're aware of what the spell Prior Incantato does?"
"Yes."
"And this is your wand?"
"Yes."
"Very well - this is your last chance to tell us anything about this incident, Mr Renshaw." Dumbledore looked at him with finality.
"I don't know anything," Blake responded.
Dumbledore was silent for a moment, before raising his wand.
"Prior Incantato!"
A shadow emerged from his wand, and Blake immediately recognised it as the last spell he casted - Waddiwasi. Dumbledore continued to chant the spell, cycling through all the previous spells Blake had cast in order.
Prior Incantato - a spell that shows a shadow of the last spell cast by a wand, but it doesn't show the caster. It can be used multiple times to show the wand's entire spell history.
The 5 in that room must've been there for at least 30 minutes before Dumbledore kept doing the spell - by now, he was doing it wordlessly. Blake tried not to let his envy show. I need to get to wordless and then wandless magic soon.
Finally, Blake's wand stopped showing any spells, and Dumbledore wordlessly handed the wand back. Veritaserum would've worn off by now.
"Just out of curiosity, sir, how do you know Crabbe and Goyle were even Confunded?"
Blake looked at Dumbledore and Snape both, and the latter scowled.
"That's none of your-"
"It's alright, Severus. Actually, Mr Renshaw, we don't know for sure - it's just a high possibility of it."
"And you suspected me? Now that you know I'm innocent, doesn't that mean they weren't Confunded?"
The implication of what he was saying was obvious - if I didn't do it, that means they did it themselves, and they need to be punished.
"We don't know for sure that you're innocent, Renshaw," Snape said dangerously. "You could've easily used Deletrius to delete your spell history by stealing someone else's wand, and also made the antidote to Veritaserum and taken it before you came here, because you knew you would be a suspect."
Bang on, Snape, Blake mentally applauded. But if I didn't want you to know that I did it, you wouldn't know.
"I would never do that, sir," Blake returned, feigning shock, before turning to Dumbledore.
"Am I free to leave now, Headmaster?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, you are, Blake."
Blake smiled at both of them. "Perfect, thank you!"
He hurried out of the room, and to his next lesson with the biggest grin on his face. All eyes in the room turned to him, but he managed to hide his smiling face at the last second.
"Renshaw," McGonagall greeted him, her face looking conflicted between admiration and disappointment. "You're late. Sit down quickly."
He apologised, before sitting down next to a gawking Charlotte, and buried his head in his arms, unable to control his grin. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle weren't seen again that day.
Everything went exactly as planned.
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