Chapter 321: News Spreads, The Aftermath
Within an hour of the Christmas feast breaking up, the story was out.
The departure had been ragged. The great families left early, in no need of lingering outside the manor to trade pleasantries; the ones who stayed late were the lesser and middling houses.
And then a fight broke out inside.
Walls came down, rubble flew, an explosion, firelight.
A few people glimpsed the scene within. A boy in a dark dress robe stood in the middle of the ruin, and across from him stood Bellatrix Lestrange, the air between them buckling.
Then the Fiendfyre came out, and no one dared stay another moment.
What they'd seen was fact. What they hadn't seen filled in the rest.
What happened after the cursed fire, how the banquet hall ended, whether Bella lived or died, whether the Black boy walked out or was carried out, none of it they knew.
But not knowing did nothing to slow the telling.