Immortal, 1
The Beginning
It took six long, backbreaking years of training to become certified and able to work alone as an Unspeakable in the Time Department. In the beginning, her days consisted of interval training; curse breaking in the morning, lunch, history and time binding spells in the early afternoon, and hands on training until the end of her workday. In her spare time she was encouraged to study ancient runes and practice meditation. During her orientation, Hermione had furrowed her brow at this prospect and asked her director, Saul, what meditation had to do with her job description.
"I find that those who are constantly caught up in the mechanics of time tend to need a very strong mind, devoid of distractions and stress. Meditation is key," he explained, and left it at that.
The job was more of a lifestyle than a profession and Hermione relished in the control it provided her. She basked in organization and her every move was meticulously planned and outlined. This career path helped her balance her desire for control and her desire for excitement. Harry claimed she was too wound up and needed to take a long vacation.
'Who can take a vacation from time?' She mused.
Predictably, Harry and Ron were working as Aurors, though they were scarcely allowed to be partners on missions. Harold Bogsby, the head of magical law enforcement, had issued a mandatory participation in mock missions for each new trainee. The boys had a lengthy history with one another which gained them some points, for they could often anticipate the other's next move. However, they ultimately lost their partnership privileges after their fighting styles were deemed incompatible. Harry often encouraged Ron, but it was obvious that Harry was simply a natural. Ron regularly struggled with speed and creativity under pressure. Luckily, he was beginning to see some improvement in his mock mission tests and written examinations. Naturally, being a war hero didn't hurt his chances for a promotion, either.
The trio saw each other at gatherings on most Sundays. Their lives, while still full of excitement, proceeded in a fairly expected way. Harry and Ginny were expecting their first child, and Ginny was ready to pop at eight months. She could often be found yelling at one of her many brothers for poking her belly or suggesting cringe-worthy names for her unborn child. Sneaking chocolates around midnight was her newest hobby.
Nearly every Sunday, Ron took it upon himself to interrogate Hermione about her job.
"Ronald, for the last time, my goings on at the ministry are strictly confidential," Hermione said for the 149th time.
"My goings on," he mocked. "It's not like I'm gonna tell anyone." She merely huffed and changed the subject.
The truth of the matter was, she couldn't tell him. Any of them. She had signed a magical contract; some eighteen foot parchment that could be summarized as:
Do not inform anyone of anything related to what you do. This applies to any time for any reason. In the event that your life, in some way, depends on revealing classified information, you are encouraged to maintain your silence."
It caused a bit of strain on her current relationships, and it made it difficult for her to make new friends.
3:05 PM, Monday
Hermione rifled through one of her storage shelves to see what she would like to bring with her to the next field trip to a 'time site'. So far she had packed Peruvian darkness powder, one small silver cauldron, a basic potions pack, and a Mortal Danger portkey (M.D.P.). Activating an M.D.P. immediately sent the agent directly to Saul's office. Simultaneously, a patronus is sent to St. Mungo's to alert them of a critical situation.
After packing the most obvious items, Hermione called for the small and metallic creature that currently inhabited her office. She named the enigmatic beastie Dorian. Dorian had been carefully extracted from an Egyptian crypt six months previously. He had the strangest ability to freeze time and space within a certain radius. After disturbing the locals for quite some time, Hermione had been called in to confiscate the creature . He was a fascinating thing to examine, when she not busy with field missions, and when he was not being shy.
Dorian could sometimes be quite charming, for a creature who did not speak any identifiable language. He would beep and blip and chirp at her, waving his tiny robotic arms around dramatically. Contrarily, he could also be a real pain in the arse. He was quite enamored with Hermione and often bothered her when she was knee deep in paperwork. Once, she had ignored him for so long that he upended a large stack of files she had perched on the edge of her desk. She cursed at him as he fled the scene of the crime.
That was months ago, though, and today he could hopefully be of some real use. She asked him to quietly sit with the rest of her equipment whilst she sped towards the exit. She needed to look something up quickly in the Ministry's library on basement level five.
3:38 PM
Half an hour later, Hermione was leaving the library and walking back to the lift so that she could finish packing in her office. On her way out of the library, however, she ran into Luna Lovegood.
"Hello Hermione, pleasant day today," Luna said dreamily.
"Yes, but I'm on a tight schedule today. I'm just about to head out. Are you going to the Weasley's on Sunday?" Hermione implored, already walking past her.
"Yes, or I'll send my sweet Diggle in my stead," the wispy girl called out and floated off towards the library. Hermione shook her head whimsically, smiling. Luna claimed that 'Diggle' was the true name of her hare patronus.
Luna took a position at the Department of Mysteries at the same time Hermione did, six and a half years ago. Though, the only thing Hermione knew of the girl's position was that she worked in the Brain Room. One time though, temporarily forgetting the ban on classified information, Luna offhandedly mentioned that the brains were actually quite nice, once you got to know them.
Similarly, Luna only knew that Hermione was an employee in the Time Room. Regardless of knowing little about each other's career specifics, Luna's easy-going attitude made her impossible to not get along with, and she often accompanied Hermione to the Burrow on Sunday afternoons.
As the lift opened from the fifth floor, Hermione's mused grin turned to a heavy frown.
"Malfoy," she muttered, instantly annoyed. The brat hasn't aged a day, she thought self-consciously.
"Granger," the blonde man replied. Know it all.
The lift descended in awkward silence.
She had heard through the grape vine that Malfoy Jr. worked as an Obliviator on level three. Somehow, his family had managed to evade heavy judicial punishment after the war, primarily due to their pusillanimous actions. Heavily fined by the Wizengamot instead, the only Malfoy heir had been forced to sink to the rest of the world's level and get a job.
The Malfoy's dirty laundry was a common point of conversation for many witches and wizards, and the Daily Prophet felt little shame in airing it. Only Narcissa still resided in the opulent manor, yet she remained isolated by the steady stream of bad press. Further adding to her woes, Lucius had died quite suddenly only six months after the war ended. The official cause of death was listed as a heart attack, though many assumed depression, wrought by social exile, had pushed him to commit suicide.
The elevator chimed and, fortunately, the blonde exited on the next floor without a word.
Hermione wasted no more time thinking of the shortcomings of the Malfoy regime, and focused instead on remembering all the things she wanted to bring along to her impending field excursion.
6:59 PM
Hermione Granger focused on the slip of paper that she held in her hand. It showed the top page of her current mission details:
Guardian Number: 712
Field Mission: To investigate and contain the source of a time-disturbance. A local Ministry contact confirms that numerous muggles have come into contact with the object(s). Though no deaths have been confirmed, several missing person's cases in the area remain unsolved. Known affectations of contact include amnesia, ataxia, disorientation, drowsiness, dysphoria, light-headedness and pruritis.
Guardian 712 is to approach a Ministry contact for a full debriefing at 1900 hrs.
Location: Latitude 37.1833 degrees S; longitude 67.3667 degrees W, Argentina
Contact: Auqui Unknown/Sur
Extra Materials provided:
Language Mints: Quechuan
Self-sustaining Field Tent
Evidence bags
Dehydrated meat strips
An M.D. portkey will be provided by request only
Expected Length of Time on Site: Unknown
Muggles in area; discretion is advised.
Additional reading materials provided: see attached.
As her watch chirped 7 o'clock, she focused on the coordinates listed on the paper and disapparated with a small pop.
7:00 PM
She reappeared on the edge of a lush jungle. The smell of campfire reached her nose and she breathed in the soothing scent. Moments later, a man could be seen walking towards her. He was dark-skinned, relatively short and he wore the traditional clothing seen in this region.
Hermione reached inside her draw-purse and pulled out her language mints. She popped one in her mouth and smiled when her contact finally reached her.
"Good evening," Hermione said, bowing. She had not unexpectedly done a fair amount of research on the old tribes who still spoke Quechua. The man bowed low in return.
"The whole village has gathered for your arrival," he said in a surprisingly deep voice. "Before we meet the others, I want to formally thank your department for sending a representative. I am Auqui. My village lies just beyond those trees there. Were you informed that everyone here is magic-less by birth, besides myself? The others do not know the full extent of my abilities, so I ask that you maintain open ignorance of the subject.
"You will meet my grandmother, who 'runs the show' as they say. Although the village is wary of foreigners, they have agreed to allow your visit due to the severity of the circumstances. The situation we greet you with is very disconcerting. My cousin Jarib has gone missing, and despite our continued searches and night patrols, he has yet to be found.
"Many odd things have been happening in the past few months. As the village healer, I have seen many ailments, but the most perplexing is the recent bout of disorientation some of the villagers have been presenting. We've found them forgetting even the most basic things about themselves; their name, where they've been for days, or even being ignorant that any time has passed at all. Sometimes their memories come back to them after a stretch of time, but many have to be retaught basic skills. The affliction appears to be random and without knowing the exact cause…," he trailed off, gravely.
Hermione nodded. "First, I will listen to personal accounts from everyone, and then I will need to ask them some questions. Before I continue, however, I need you to sign this magical contract," Hermione stated primly, pulling out a stack of parchments from her draw purse and handing it over to her contact.
"Basically it boils down to; you let me do my job and answer all my questions to the best of your ability. Also I need your permission to remove any people and property deemed hazardous by our department."
He signed it in a flourish and handed it back to her.
"Follow me," Auqui said.
Hermione glanced at the rising full moon and trailed after him. After a short walk, the village came into view.
Several structures were erected in a semicircle, surrounding a fire pit which already held a crackling fire. Every person in the village's head snapped up at the sound of their arrival. Most of the faces appeared stoic and uneasy, although a few smiled apprehensively.
Hermione swirled the mint around in her mouth before saying, "Greetings."
Two younger men helped an old woman to her feet. Hermione quickly understood that this woman was in charge. She wore thick, dyed purple garments from head to toe, despite the humid heat. Her ears were heavily pierced and gauged. Another piercing hung heavily from the center of her nose.
"You may enter," the woman spoke. "We have great appreciation for your visit."
Hermione entered the area surrounding the fire.
"Thank you for welcoming me into your home," Hermione said warmly in flawless Quechua, taking a vacant seat on a stump.
"So, I assume that Auqui has filled you in on some of the unusual circumstances that have been occurring?" the elder asked.
"I have been briefly introduced, but I would like to hear your theories on what might be going on, if you don't mind," Hermione said, pulling out her Ministry notebook and a self-inking quill from her bag. She also retrieved another language mint and popped it in her mouth.
"It's the Devil, himself!" One woman cried from the far side of the fire. She looked visibly upset and clutched her shawl tightly around her.
"Oh hush, Mayta," the man beside her scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"It is! He has taken those who have given into temptation!" Mayta exclaimed.
Auqui threw his hands up, "Jarib would not have yielded to any sort of Devil, I assure you. He has wandered into some trap!"
There was much murmuring, most people clearly agreeing with his statement, while still others shook their head in dismay. Finally the muttering died down. A small girl, only about eight or nine years old, spoke up then. "Grandmother told me a God lived in the forest," she said shyly, glancing at Hermione.
"Go on, it's alright," Hermione encouraged.
"Well, she said he is very, very old. He probably has a really long beard! He lives inside a dark cave in the jungle. He is the God of Time, and that is why people get lost and forget what day it is when they get near him. Grandmother said he even created the moon and the stars to keep him company through his endless nights," the girl said, using her best mysterious voice.
Hermione looked around at the other villagers, unsurprised to see several more nodding in agreement. The tale had surely been told a myriad of times over many generations. In these old settlements it was not uncommon for superstition to run rampant, but her line of work found it was also common to find some degree of truth in the tales.
Auqui, who had taken a seat next to Hermione at some point during the discussion, leaned over to speak quietly in her ear.
"Personally, I believe it was some powerful, dark wizard who cast protective charms around an area in the forest many moons ago. He probably was trying to protect many valuable treasures. You are not the first to come to see what this is all about. Many treasure seekers have tried and failed. Some have even ended up in St. Mungo's to be sure, although I am unaware of their fates," he whispered.
Hermione nodded. That was what her mind had been leading her towards as well. She also believed it could have been some kind of dark magical object that had been abandoned or hidden in the jungle by someone who did not want it to be found. It was hard to say with such vague descriptions. This was her job, however, and it sounded like she had dealt with more complicated cases than this.
"Besides Jarib, are there any others of you who have gone missing and are not accounted for?" Hermione asked the group.
"My cousin Caiya has been missing for three harvests. We had her death ceremony last month, though we never recovered her body," a young man stated.
Several people listed missing family members and missing neighbors. Others described family members who were "just not the same", after returning from a visit to the jungle for supplies.
Hermione wrote all of their statements down in her Ministry notebook, and made a few other notes of her own. She was unsure what Auqui had told the rest of the villagers about what exactly she did. Why do they think I'm writing down all their statements? She had found that giving out the least amount of information about her profession, the better, but still she was curious to know their thought processes.
"How far out do you venture into the jungle on a regular basis? Do you travel in groups?" Hermione asked the group.
A man she had not heard from yet spoke, "Usually only about a mile or two. We try not to abuse the natural state of the jungle, if possible. We look for fallen limbs and trees and make a habit of replanting as we go, to maintain the habitat. But, with all the disappearances lately, we have been cutting into our winter stores because people are afraid to go in."
Hermione jotted a few more things down and then nodded at everyone.
"Okay, well that about sums it up. Thank you for all of your statements. I hope you will rest easy tonight, as I am going to try to figure out what this mess is all about. If luck is on my side, your family and friends will be recovered on this journey. At the very least I hope to have some new information for you about what tragedy has befallen this place. If there are no other questions or concerns, I will be leaving to set up camp over in the valley nearby. I will be going into the jungle tomorrow to conduct some experiments," Hermione explained, adjusting her bag to her shoulder. "So, if there are no other comments, I ask that you do not disturb me once I have set up camp, because I will be meditating."
For all their story telling and talkativeness before, no one spoke up now. After a while, the elder woman gestured to several strong looking men who immediately helped her to stand, with the aid of an engraved cane. She turned to Hermione and bowed.
"Once again, we thank you for investigating this. If you should need anything at all from the camp, I am sure Auqui will be able to oblige you," the woman said, and then nodded in the direction of her dwelling. The two men began walking along side the woman as she made her way to back to her home.
Hermione said her goodbyes to the rest of the encampment, nodded to Auqui, and then headed back to the clearing where she first apparated to.
3:00 AM, Tuesday
Hermione was roused from her quilt by an unknown source. Half-asleep, she reached for her notebook to record being awoken from a deep slumber. After almost a year of being in the field, she had acknowledged that even the smallest things ought to be written down so that she could evaluate the events later for important information. Ron might call this obsessive.
She unzipped her field tent and peered outside. Millions of stars greeted her from the heavens. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though, and she could hear many nocturnal animals making noises from their dwellings inside the jungle. Still, at the urging of her instincts, she emerged from her tent and zipped it back into place. She stood completely still for a moment, willing the cause of her abrupt awakening to materialize.
Nothing immediately came to her attention, but still, she was intrigued. Something very subtle tickled her senses, coaxing her to take a few steps away from her camp site.
Perhaps a little exploring wouldn't hurt.
Hermione turned to unzip her field tent.
"Dorian, would you mind coming along?" Hermione implored quietly into the tent.
She heard a series of beeps and shuffling as Dorian moved around. Suddenly, a loud ripping noise came from the opposite side of the tent.
"Dorian! What in Merlin's beard are you doing?" Hermione scolded.
In his haste to comply, the small creature had burst through the side of the tent, like some sentient bulldozer. He let out a low tone and then scuttled madly into the clearing. He twisted his animatronic body around in a few circles, examining his surroundings. Finally, he turned back to Hermione, as if awaiting her instructions.
Exasperated, Hermione threw her hands up in the air and whispered expletives under her breath.
Sighing, she reached through the ripped part of her tent and grabbed her draw-purse from within. She then whispered a quick 'reparo' and watched as the fabric stitched itself together once more. She cast a glare to Dorian, but he was off examining a large rock some distance away. She shrank her bag and put it in her pocket, a habit she had grown used to so that she would only have to worry about her wand arm, should something unexpected happen. Dorian, of course, could take care of himself.
Hermione glanced up anew at the bright, full moon and speculated if it was this that had awoken her. It was a well known fact in the magical world that each of the different phases of the moon held a variety of different magical properties. A full moon and a lunar eclipse were the most powerful phases and, most would argue, the most dangerous.
If nothing showed itself tonight, she told herself, then there would be no harm in trying again tomorrow night when the moon began to wane.
"Come along, Dorian," Hermione said, taking strides towards the dark jungle.
As she entered the tree line, Hermione cast a night-vision charm on her eyes. It was best to avoid using a lumos spell in the jungle, as there were many nocturnal beasts lurking within. There was also a high probability that some magical beings hid inside as well, shrouded in darkness. The magical creatures knew that they would only remain undisturbed if they roamed at night, away from the neighboring muggles prying eyes.
Hermione walked the perimeter of the forest for about a mile, only stopping once she had passed the village. Dorian scuttled by her side, his body spinning on its axis when he thought he had detected something interesting.
Not unexpectedly, nothing of interest was found on the perimeter. It was ominously quiet, though, as if the thousands of creature that lurked within the jungle were watching her with bated breath. She shook off the uneasy feeling and gripped her wand tightly.
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P.S. I have recently updated the first 6 chapters to fix spelling errors and strange phrasing. 11/23/15