Disclaimer: As said before, do not own it

A/N: Thank you for the reviews. I hope you will enjoy this chapter. Had a bit of time between classes to type it up.


Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum.

Chapter 3

Hermione Bates-Baillis

Grey Manor, Cornwall, Present time

"Do not mistake me as a fool!" Iaeptus Ciaran Liath paced in the large office of his ancestor's home. "I know she has discovered it and hid it out of reach for everyone." He snarled at the man sitting in the large chair next to the fire place. "My dearest little sister understands exactly why we are looking for it and will do everything to see us fail. She is, after all…" his tone became condescending and mocking. "… the brightest witch of all time." He snorted at the title. She is not half the witch she needs to be, to block me from fulfilling my destiny…

"But Ciaran…" The blonde man stood abruptly and halted the pacing wizard. "She is out of reach. We should concentrate on finding the other one. The original stone should be far more powerful than whatever the mudblood created."

"She is NO MUDBLOOD." Ciaran roared and forced Lucius to take a step back. "She is of Grey blood. As am I. Even though my twin sister was raised by dirt, you should finally understand that she is far superior to you. She is a threat we need to eliminate before reaching for the original, or she could destroy our plans in the last minute." His wand was slightly raised and his eyes promising torture if Malfoy was to further object. "You failed two times already, when I send you to capture or kill her. And now she is there…" He turned to the fading shadows outside the window manors. It was nearing sunrise. How he hated the light… "…it gives her access to the texts WE need. I am sure he hid the rest there. And she will get help. Help she didn't have before." Lucius shook his head.

"This is madness, Liath…" He almost shocked at the look he got for that remark. "You cannot mean to infiltrate Hogwarts. We do not have the manpower necessary, and without the dark Lord the defences are impenetrable. We will fail."

Ciaran turned with a smirk on his face. "We will not… And I will have my revenge."

Hogwarts, Present time

Jeaine was given quarters near the library. She had told Minerva that she needed to research further to prevent what they… she had discovered. The two documents that she brought were left in the Headmistress care and they planned to meet up in the afternoon to discuss the theory. Hopefully Minerva would help her find a way. Sleep had not come to her that night, something she was grateful for. The nightmares still plagued her, even after so many years away from battle and the last year on the run did not exactly help with the insomnia.

At least it helped her finishing her assignments and degrees ahead of time. Jess had been so jealous. The witch wondered what her former friend was doing now. They met when she stumbled into the Philosophy lecture and knocked Jessica over in the middle of her sentence. The young professor had become her friend and tutor, inviting her to hold lectures after Jeaine had finished as a doctor in philosophy and intercultural communication. Thinking back to her years studying at the Luxemburgish University, a small smile crossed her face. Those were good times she lived in the Muggle World. In the end, something drew her back to the thrill of Magic running through her veins. She had been so foolish to listen to John's encouragement. How could I have known that my quest for knowledge would leed to so much danger? I should have stayed away from magic.

Sighing, the witch turned towards the window, as the sun slowly rose atop the Scottish hills surrounding the magnificent castle. It feels good to be back… here… at home… with her… As the first rays of light danced through her window to playfully touch her tired face, she concentrated on her magic. Slowly her features changed, the colour of her hair became a bit darker and she lost some of her body length. The curvy, much younger woman sitting now at the window opened her golden-brown eyes, filled with tears. How can I tell her that I am really me. When I left I hurt her… and so many others… Maybe I should have stayed away. Danger follows this face… John and Annie, Young Caroline all paid the price which comes when one protects me.

A sob escaped the last member of the Golden Trio, as Hermione once again became Jeaine. I have to protect her at least from my identity. Let her believe all I am is a close friend to the person I once was. Jeaine turned away from the light and a last sentence was caught in the air when she left her rooms to head to the library. "Because I do not know who I really am anymore…"

Minerva too did not rest that night. After Yuuri showed Jeaine to the guest quarters, she quickly immersed herself into her research. Summoning all Transfiguration today and TF News magazines of the last 5 years she browsed through to find a mention of her former pupils researching projects. During the first year she found two articles published by Jeaine Baillis about minor spells used for transforming metal with special properties. Second year did come empty handed; however, reading through the Transfiguration papers of Hermione's third year of studies, she stumbled over a young researcher named Hermione Bates-Baillis. Frowning she cast a researching spell on the remaining magazines. At least two dozen articles popped up under that name. Scanning over each text quickly proved what her mind already figured out. Hermione had published her finding under a new name. Probably to avoid detection… Minerva sank into her office chair, feeling crushed under the feeling of sadness. She was proud of her pupil, no doubt, but it hurt that Hermione had undergone such measures to remain hidden. She knew I would have found her otherwise… Hermione Bates-Baillis…

She shot up in her chair, making the portraits in her office watching her jump slightly. "Baillis?" She rapidly returned to Jeaine's articles. Fixing her emerald eyes on the name beside the titles, she froze. "Why do they share a name?" The question came out in a broken quiet voice. Her gaze jumped from Jeaine Baillis to Hermione Bates-Bailis. They are married… The grief that stabbed her hard forced a sob from her throat. Hermione had married the woman that stood in front of her begging for her help a few hours ago. Tears raced down her cheeks as the realization set in. I lost her… Curling up on the sofa in front of the fire, she let her feelings overwhelm her.

Minerva woke a mere hour later with a pounding headache. Rising slowly, her back ached from the uncomfortable position she had been in, and her eyes felt puffy and raw from crying. Trying to get her feelings together, she returned to her bureau and sat in the office chair. She could not allow her heart to come in the way of the promise she made Hermione's wife. Minerva needed to know what they had discovered. Afterwards there was enough time to sort through her personal matters.

Picking up the thesis book, she let her fingers linger only a second over the author's name before inserting herself in the theory of Descartes and the brightness of Hermione's intellect.

Jeaine was hunched over several old, thick tomes when a rapid pattern of steps reached her ears. Looking up she saw a grey tabby cat racing up the isle of the library where her table was situated. It was the same one she spend so much time on, when studying for her tests so many years ago. Minerva transformed mid-jump, wand drawn, eyes blazing. God, she is beautiful…

"It can not be." Jeaine must have looked as confused as she felt, when the Headmistress clarified: "The theory. It makes no sense. It would negate every law of Transfiguration magic we ever discovered." Conjuring a chair and withdrawing the thesis book from her inner robe pocket, Minerva shook her head. "It is pure foolishness what you have discovered. It is not worth your w… Hermione's name. It simply can not be." Jeaine inhaled sharply.

"Do not belittle m… our findings, Headmistress." The witch stood, conjured a stone and transfigured it into a human with a flick of her wand. Minerva gaped at the sight. "But this is not possible. Transfiguring a stone into a living creature much less a human is not possible." Jeaine's hard gaze landed on Minerva. "I just proved you wrong."

"Explain. I do not understand…" The older witch motioned to the script. "Everything I ever learned is defied by what this says and you did."

"Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum." Jeaine started. "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am. It is the final conclusion of Descartes philosophy when it comes to matters of existence. Hermione studied Philosophy at a Muggle University, and remembered it when she gave a lecture about the subject." Minerva could not identify the look in Jeaine's eyes when she launched into her tale. "In short, Descartes says you can not trust you senses when it comes to the outside world, as they could be easily manipulated. Illusions created by wrong input. Therefore all things outside of you, everything which surrounds you are unclear in their true nature. You never get to the core of the other."

Minerva slowly nodded, not entirely sure to follow. Jeaine noticed: "Example: This rock." She conjured it out of thin air. "If you cannot trust you senses, how can you be sure it is a rock? Because it feels hard? What if your touch is wrong and it is soft? How can you trust the shape and colour? Because you see it? What if your sight was compromised?" Jeaine paused. "Following Descartes reasoning, he sets out to find the one thing he can be absolutely sure of. Because if there is no doubt about something, you have one real thing that you can be sure of its existence. He comes out with the thought that because of his ability to doubt, he can be sure of his ability to think. And his ability to think proves that he, in his essence really is." Minerva nodded. "I could go into more detail, but it Is not really relevant to what that has to do with magic."

Jeaine raised the rock again. "The other thing Descartes deduced was real, was that there is a true nature of the thing outside of us. We just can not see its true form, but a deceived form made up from our senses. In the text we discovered, he talks about the last thing that is real: magic. If magic is in his being, in his existence, then, by deduction, magic must be real too. It flows to everything and gives us the power to derive every possible form from things surrounding the true core of being." Grinning slightly she simplified her conclusion: "Basically he says, you can transform everything you want into everything you can imagine. It doesn't matter, as you will never touch the core of the thing, just its appearance to you. Therefore all laws we knew in transfiguration would be negated." Violet eyes flashed shortly into brown-gold when Jeaine addressed Minerva:

"What do you think?"


A/N: I believe Jeaine is not only asking Minerva. I would love some reviews, especially on the theory. I must say it is fairly complicated to create something new in Rowling's world. Did you like the Hermione/Jeaine reveal? When should Minerva discover it? I have half a mind to let her suffer some more.

Second part of the theory is already in production (in my mind). And it will be revealed why it is so dangerous...

So, let me know what you think!