The Bombarda spell that shot out of her wand rocked the very foundations of the crumbling castle. It was the last icon of the Light and everything they fought for, the last to fall to them. The Ministry had been incredibly simple with their bumbling idiots and mindless fools. That take over had been done slowly, carefully, to prevent panic or anyone getting suspicious.
It also meant that it had taken incredible amounts of patience, and had been relatively bloodless. There were a few deaths of the most deserving people (a pink toad came to mind almost immediately), but the majority had survived unscathed and Hermione was certain that they didn't even know about the change of leadership.
They would know after today. Hogwarts had been hiding the last of the Light's resistance, the ones that had been too scared to come into the open and fight like the Gryffindors they were supposed to be. The fools that believed that they would win simply by postponing the inevitable.
Time wouldn't help them. It only made the situation more unbearable, it only stripped them of their last remaining shreds of hope, and that had been the very reason she hadn't attacked Hogwarts until now. Whatever hope they had held onto had been crushed when they realised how easily their wards were destroyed. Their expressions had been the best things she had seen since knowing she had magic and learning that she was better than all those imbeciles that dared mock her.
She had promised herself that she would get back at them, at all of them, for every tear they had made her shed. There were a few that she had thought up … special punishments for. Those that had thought her a weak and easy target when she had been younger, and the one that had set her on this path. Not that she wasn't grateful for being enlightened that the world was a cold, dark place.
And it all started with the quivering ginger boy that was currently staring at her fearfully.
…xXx…
She's a bloody menace. No wonder she has no friends!
The words rang through her head as her eyes grew hot with gathering tears. Hogwarts was supposed to be different. She was supposed to be accepted her, not teased for her love of knowledge – anyone should be grateful for being able to perform it anyway! She had read about squibs, and there was no reason for them being born squibs! Any of the purebloods at Hogwarts could have been born a squib, and they would have been looked down upon like she was for not having magical parents!
The door to the bathroom slammed open, and Hermione ignored it, thinking that it was another upset girl. The splintering of wood and the low growl moments later, however, caught her attention. That definitely didn't sound like a girl to her! Or even human for that matter!
The heavy thumping footsteps were what she noticed afterwards, something she had obviously ignored while wallowing in her self-pity. Risking a glance under the door of the stall she was in, confirmed her suspicions of the non-human creature, a troll by the smell of it.
Screaming would only draw the troll's attention to her, she knew, but supressing it was a lot harder than it sounded when all Hermione could feel was the fear that raced through her body. She didn't think she knew enough magic to fend off a troll, even with all her extra reading.
Cursing Ronald Weasley in her mind for putting her in a situation that could very well kill her, she scrambled to the stall furthest away from the door. Trolls were supposedly known for their stupidity, and the likelihood of it finding her if she tried her best to hide were incredibly low while she thought of a way to escape.
She wished that she could think up a spell or charm she had read about that could help, but her mind was blank with fear. All the knowledge she had painstakingly gained in the last two months was of no use if she couldn't actually remember any of it when she needed it.
Her hands were shaking as she made up her mind, scrambling back to the stall closest to the door as she shakily levitated a random book that she had shrunk on her person (as much as she hated to sacrifice one of her own books for something like this, she much preferred her life) and allowed it to clatter on the floor. She held her breath, hoping that the book had drawn the troll's attention.
The slow thump to the other side of the bathrooms was both relieving, and terrifying as Hermione slowly edged the stall door open. The bathroom door was broken beyond repair, which meant that Hermione didn't have to open it and risk the troll's attention.
The troll's head turned, and a large hand came up to scratch its head, and she took that time to dash out the door. She didn't stop running until she saw the group of professors coming towards her.
"Troll!" she gasped, eyes wide as she could still feel her body trembling from the experience.
…xXx…
"Ronald Weasley," she said softly, watching as the boy trembled in a manner that was reminiscent to her reaction to the troll so many years ago.
She could almost hear Draco's snickering somewhere behind her. She would be snickering herself if she didn't hold as much distaste and hatred for the boy as she did. It was only because of him that they were here in the first place, that her desire for knowledge had grown into something more, something the rest of the Gryffindors had never been able to keep up with.
"The Weasel's wet himself already," Theo snickered, causing another bout of laughter to echo through their group. "Do you think we can keep him for amusement?"
"With the risk of the constant stench of his urine?" Pansy asked, her nose wrinkling at the thought.
"Why not play with him here, then?" Hermione asked, her eyes dark with amusement. "I doubt that they're going to put up much resistance. Their wards are already down, and they look so pathetic standing there, trying to protect their precious castle."
She had thought, when she first arrived at Hogwarts, that it could be like a second home. It hadn't been, and it never would be. Not while there were judgemental fools within the castle's walls.
The destruction of Hogwarts was something she had been dreaming of for years. After everything that had been done to her, it was only right, and the only way for her to be satisfied was seeing Hogwarts set alight.
Written for Go Fish: Hermione Granger
Written for Wigtown Wanderers Practice Round: cliché of a light character turned dark
Prompts: devastation; bombarda; "We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right" – Nelson Mandela
Note: the quote took a much darker turn than expected O_O