Chapter 1: Astraia Scáth: A History

It was cold in the darkness that had been my prison for 6 years, 5 months and 34 days. Where am I you ask? Azkaban Prison. Why you ask? Because, I was found to be guilty of using dark arts. My name is Hermione Granger. I was the sweet innocent little Gryffindor, best friend of Harry Potter. But what they never knew was that I was also a Shadow agent.

What the hell is a Shadow Agent you ask?

I'll tell you, but first let me tell you my story of how I became known as Astraia Scáth, the most powerful, agent for the secret section of the department of mysteries unspeakable. When the unspeakable needed back up or just want something done fast without laws to follow and to fight dirty, they called shadow agents. And I was the most sought after agent.

Let's start at the beginning, when the shadow agents first chose me.

~Knockturn Alley, 1995~

Mom was looking at all the different spell books for sale in the book store.

"Hermione dear, remind me again why we are down here in this dark dank place and not up in that bright lovely book store?"

I was walking the bookshelves of the book store that all dark wizards will go to get books that are no longer sold in stores, or illegal to sell because of their material.

"Because mom, these are not on the school book list. I already got those books sent to the house last month. I need these books if I'm going to help harry fight against the dark lord and his men."

"Yes dear, but…" she held up a book titled "Blood magic: rituals to give you power"

"Must you choose such horrific titles?"

I took the book from her hands. "Mom, if it will make you feel better you can go back up to diagonally just don't mention where I am ok?"

I watched as mom handed me a 500 pound note of muggle money and walked back up to diagonally. I then went about my business of getting material that would help harry against the dark lord.

Personally I don't understand why half the stuff that is labeled Dark Arts is dark. Hell after studying several spells I found that there is no such thing as Dark Arts or Light Arts. It all depends on what you want a spell to do. Your intentions make the spell light or dark. Not the magic itself.

With a flick of my wrist I had the books I wanted fly to the counter where I tapped the bell and a man came out from the back room.

He wore black slacks, a black shirt with black robes and his brown hair was pulled back like most pure-bloods wore their hair if it was long.

As I looked at him he looks like a cross between Professor Snape with his all black ensemble, and Lucius Malfoy with his hair styled like that.

"What do yah want missy?"

I placed 400 gallons on the counter and smirked at him. "I was never here, but if someone did ask you if you saw me you say my name is Astraia Scáth, right?"

The man smirked as he took the money running his green eyes over me.

"Pleasure, doing business with you Madame Scáth."

I then left the store when he called after me.

"Oh and Madame Scáth, should you like to visit my shop, please do."

I closed the door behind me as I walked deeper into the alleyway till I came to a robes store. There I bought 3 sets of robes each with hidden compartments to hold potions, weapons and wands.

I then searched for a wand shop and found one. Walking inside the woman came out of nowhere and found her throat with my wand at it.

Reaching up she lowered it.

"Now, what is Hermione Granger doing in my shop I dare ask myself? Interested in the dark arts are we ?"

I kept my wand pointed at the woman who smirked at me.

"Who are you and how did you know my name?"

I looked around when I turned and with a circle motion I waved my wand in front of the door and watched as it glowed, Red, green and finally, gold.

"Ah, a detention spell tells you who walks through your door. The red spell I'm guessing tells you why they are here in your store, and the last one I am guessing is a privacy wand, I'm right are I not?"

The woman smirked.

"How you ended up in Gryffindor is beyond me child. You may not be a pure-blood or half-blood, but you most defiantly would have done well in Slytherin."

I smirked at the elder woman who had violet eyes. And she had a mark on her right hand right before her thumb.

It was a Black phoenix with an S in the flames from its mouth.

"I told the hat I would be murdered if I was in that house it kept telling me I should go to Slytherin. Never big on being told what I could and could not do then again."

I slowly reached out and traced the mark on the elder woman's hand. "If you don't mind me asking Madame, what is this mark of? I've seen it before in this ally on several others but have found no reference to its origins."

The woman took hold of my hand and spoke in a hushed voice and seriously to me.

"Understand if I tell you the history behind this mark dear child, you will forfeit your life, as you know it is. My dear, there is no such thing as Dark or Light in this world….

"There is only the wielder of knowledge, and it depends on their actions that label them dark or light. So in fact there is only Grey."

The woman smiled at me as with a flick of her wrist the closed sign flipped to be visible in the store window. The drapes slid closed and she pulled me into the back room.

There I followed her over to the fireplace and she pulled me inside and with a handful of floo powder through it down saying our destination.

"Department of Mysteries, Unspeakables."

And with that we were gone in a swirl of green flames that did not hurt us at all.

When we arrived I found myself to be in front of an audience of 40 or more men and woman all wearing Black robes with a white badge of the mark the woman had on her right hand.

A Black haired man with strikes of red peeking out from under his hair that came to his neck. Came forward and I got the impression he was the head of the group.

"Mithlada, What are you doing bringing this girl here?!"

'Somehow her name fits her perfectly.' I thought as she spoke to the man.

"Silas, she asked about the mark."

Silas stopped his rant when he turned his green eyes on me.

"State your name young one?"

"Hermione Astraia Granger, Hogwarts Head girl, best friend to Harry Potter, and for the record I am 25 years old, thank you very much. I may be young but I have seen things that would make even an experience auror cringe."

Silas smirked at me as he held out his hand for me. I took it and gasped when a sudden rush of electricity raced through my right arm and there before my eyes I watched as the mark that Mithlada had appeared on my skin.

Looking up I found everyone to be smiling.

"Now listen you must begin your training, Mithlada, will train you in all you need to know. So from now on seeing as you are a 7th year at Hogwarts you will have to double if not triple your study load. You will need to learn every page of dark arts you can find. We are in all purposes assassins for the ministry of magic, but we don't report to him. We report to ourselves. If you know where a death eater is, take them down. If you get caught we will deny any involvement with you understood?"

I nodded my head and Silas smirked as he summoned robes for me with my badge lying on top. "They will be charmed to show everyone else normal clothing and normal robes in both the muggle and wizard world only when you are on the job will they reveal their true nature."

He handed me a thin book that read "Shadow codex"

"Read it, memorize it, live it, and most of all don't forget it. These rules will save your ass."

I took the book shrunk it with a flick of my wrist causing several of my new family members to gasp and whisper.

Silas smirked.

"Are you sure you're in Gryffindor?"

I looked up at Silas.

"Yes, but the hat said Slytherin would be good for me."

Everyone nodded and Mithlada smirked.

"That's what I told her when she came into my shop."

"Shit mom, I totally forgot. I've got to go."

With a twirl I was dressed in my new robes with my badge pinned to the front over my left breast.

Underneath I wore black skinny jeans, with black ankle boots, a black halter and my hair was now cut short to my neck with streaks of black, and purple in my dark chocolate hair. Around my neck lay a choker of a phoenix with black flames.

Silas smirked.

"Go oh wait."

Reaching into his robes he pulled out a ring of an ancient Celtic detail with a small compartment on the top.

"We can communicate though this. Just open the top and say the member you wish to speak to. Here is a list of our agents. Memorize their names and you will always have a friend."

"Thanks Silas. So what's my mission now?"

"Get good grades keep an eye on the Slytherin children, 35% are death eaters in training and maybe 15% are already death eaters."

I smirked. "Will do captain."

And with that I took the floo network back home where I called mom and told her I had come home feeling sick and that I was home and not to worry. So I went upstairs and began to finish my school homework then drained the knowledge from the "shadow codex" and then proceeded to drain my new books till I had to take a nap from the splitting headache I had acquired from draining 45 books on "Dark Arts".

As I slept off my major migraine one thought raced through my mind.

"Welcome to your new life Astraia Scáth."