Figures in a room, four black-robed, one white-robed, their attention drawn by the cold lifeless clay that had once been Igor Karkaroff.

The dungeon space normally reserved for the Potions classroom was serving a different, more sinister purpose this evening. Hermione Granger thanked Merlin she had remembered to put Anti-Nausea Charms on herself, Neville and Harry before coming down from Gryffindor tower; Karkaroff's body was under several powerful Preservation Spells, and had been for weeks, but even the best spell couldn't undo the fact that several days had elapsed between his death and the time his bloated body was found next to a Muggle motorway.

She darted a quick glance over at Lucy Stellanova. Lucy's face was nearly as white as her robes, but her expression was impassive. Does anything shock this woman? thought Hermione, studying her in the glow of the light globes that floated directly over the table bearing Karkaroff's mortal remains. Harry and Neville, likewise, were pale, but not unmanned by the sight, as she half-expected them to be. It was rather unnerving.

A low, familiar voice suddenly compelled her attention; she had to force herself not to start.

"Normally, autopsies, both magical and mundane, are handled by the Ministry's Forensics Division," Professor Snape explained in his usual didactic manner. "But, for security reasons, it has been decided that a special examination be held before the body is officially released to the Forensics personnel. In fact," he said, his silken voice taking on a touch of the old classroom sharpness, "the Forensics staff has not been, and will not be, told of this examination."

He whirled around in a swift arc, eyes taking in those of the other persons in the room, making certain that they understood what he meant without having to be told. They did.

"Professor Dumbledore has asked me to select a handful of persons from among my students who I felt would have the right combination of intelligence and mental toughness. You may allow yourselves to feel honored that I have chosen you, though --" here he allowed himself a particularly thin smile "-- you may decide, before we are finished tonight, that the honor is one you could have done without."

"In addition, he has asked Miss Stellanova here to observe and participate, as part of her Auror studies." He inclined his head towards Lucy in the briefest of motions, and she responded in kind, stiff and formal. "I trust that none of you will embarrass the school, or me, by doing something stupid in front of her. Are you all ready to proceed?"

"Yes, sir," Hermione, Neville and Harry said together, in a solemn chorus; Lucy merely nodded.

"Very well, then. We shall proceed." Snape waved a hand at what used to be the headmaster of Durmstrang. "We shall start with you, Miss Granger. What tales can Igor Karkaroff's remains tell us?"

Hermione, Anti-Nausea Charm notwithstanding, had to fight to keep her stomach from rebelling. "He died in extreme agony."

"What makes you say that, Miss Granger? Certainly not the rictus sardonicus, the famed "Smile of Death" -- that is a natural result of the ravages suffered by dead flesh."

"No, sir," replied Hermione, her own face free of any rictus, sardonic or not. "His hands, however, have gouges in them that occurred while he was still alive, for they bled -- gouges that match the size and shape of his own fingernails. Only someone in excruciating pain, or undergoing a seizure of some sort -- which in itself would be painful -- would mark himself in that way."

"I see. Very good, Miss Granger, you are correct, Igor Karkaroff would not have done that had he not been in great pain. Now, can any of you tell me what caused his agony?"

"Yes, sir." Neville had spoken. "The Cruciatus Curse."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Your evidence, Mr. Longbottom?"

"His muscles were tensed when he died, and his back is arched. This kind of overall tension is achieved only through seizures or Cruciatus, which, from what I gather, creates a kind of seizure within the victim's body."

"And how can you tell that this was not a non-Cruciatus-related seizure?"

Neville's reply was quick, calm and precise; he had no need of the reassurance of Hermione's surreptitous hand-squeezes, though he acknowledged them with return squeezes of his own. "The only known natural events to cause both great pain and muscle tensings of this sort would be stroke or heart attack. However, both of those events almost always occur with some sort of physical warning weeks or months beforehand, such as clubbed and bluish extremities and burst bloodvessels on the surface of the skin. Such evidence is not present with this body. In addition, his skin has goosefleshed to a considerable extent, and remained so even after death; this is a side effect of prolonged exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. This, taken together with the decedent's activities when alive --" Neville was here gracefully alluding to Karkaroff's history, first as a Death Eater, then as someone who who betray his fellow Death Eaters not out of conscience, but simply to save his own skin " -- make a strong contraindication of natural death."

Snape nodded, his greasy black hair gleaming faintly in the glow of the overhead globes. "Very good, Mr. Longbottom. So," he said, his sharp gaze sweeping over his listeners, "we now know two things: that he died in agony, and the agony was almost certainly caused by a Cruciatus Curse. From this we could, if we wished, make a supposition as to his likely killer or killers, but that will have to wait for the nonce. We must first gather more data." He glanced over towards a metal tray, barely visible in the shadows away from the globes, floating at about Snape's waist height.

"Accio," he whispered, and the tray, covered with various implements, mundane and magical, floated to the autopsy table. Snape dextrously picked up a largish scalpel.

"Now," he said in a low voice, "we will begin to gather that data."

===============

The actual autopsy was mercifully brief, but quite informative. Professor Snape, using the scalpel with a speed and efficiency which would have brought a pleased smile to the face of Hannibal Lecter, soon had Karkaroff's corpse totally opened and his viscera removed for display.

Examination of Karkaroff's internal organs showed symptoms that were consistent with the known effects of Crucio. Harry spotted the peculiar discoloration of the spinal cord, which had become exposed as a result of several fractures of the spinal column, and Lucy noticed that those fractures had sharp, jagged edges and no encrustations of new bone mass. This indicated that the fractures had not had time to heal, but had occurred immediately before death as a result of the extreme muscular contortions resulting from prolonged exposure to a Cruciatus Curse.

There were other, more subtle signs, signs that were duly noted by all present, and soon Professor Snape, who was recording the information with an autoquill, had filled several sheets of parchment.

At length he looked round the table, and his gaze, while less sarcastic, was no less sharp.

"Tonight we have discovered some information about the Cruciatus Curse that I doubt even the Dark Lord himself knows," he said quietly. "This information will prove useful to those researchers working on a way to thwart it. You may congratulate yourselves on a job well done. But," and a bit of the old sharpness came back into his voice, "none of you are to discuss what you have found tonight with anyone save Professor Dumbledore, Dr. Reader and me. Is that understood?"

Everyone nodded quietly.

===========

After bidding Professor Snape a professionally civil good-night, Lucy walked to Gryffindor tower with Harry, Hermione and Neville.

"I take it he's always like that?" Lucy said once they were well away from the dungeons.

"Actually, he was on his best behavior tonight," Harry averred. "Partly because of the seriousness of the matter, but also partly because of your presence."

"And you're supposed to survive seven years of that? That sounds like Crucio in itself."

"It used to be," acknowledged Neville. "But not anymore." He smiled up at Lucy, who, along with Dr. Reader, had worked over the summer to strengthen him to the point where even Snape's worst behavior couldn't faze him.

They walked onwards. Lucy's eyes widened at the sight of her first moving staircases, but other than that, they made their way to Gryffindor tower without incident.

They had nearly reached the Fat Lady's portrait when they were intercepted by a panting Professor McGonagall, her face pale with shock.

"Hermione -- everyone -- come with me to Dumbledore's office, now!" she gasped. "There's something to tell you."