Harry Potter does not belong to me (such a shame).
For who is interested in knowing:
1) My inspiration in the Dark Elf Tzeentch besides Norse mythology, was a story by the writer Sebastián Herrera, a Mexican author, his book entitled "Ogros, Gigantes, Trolls y otros seres Fantásticos y Mitológicos" ("Ogres, Giants, Trolls and other Fantastic and Mythological beings".
The Tale "La Balada del Elfo Triste" (The Ballad of the Sad Elf) where the elf Meldarion falls in love with a petrified elf princess on the mountain, Princess Limbairedhiel who had been bewitched by a wizard from the dark age named Olaf after she had rejected him, turning her into stone.
In love Meldarion decides to stay with her in the mountain.
One night Meldarion stayed next to her, the spell had been temporarily broken, giving the princess enough time after declaring the reciprocity of her love for him, explains to Meldarion the spell would not break until someone took her place while she find the Dark Wizard and say the name of the person she loved.
He accepted, becoming Stone instead, but she didn't come back.
The princess had forgotten him on her way down the mountain, all her memories about him were erased. The wizard Olaf had imposed it as well.
So, my character Tzeentch, who ended up turned into stone in the same way, to then be rescued by Hermione. And he decided to spend the rest of his life, paying for the life debt.
2) The Title of this chapter: "The Hanged Man" also refers to a Tarot Card, known as "The Traitor" often associated with the destruction of the self, letting go of wordly attachments and viewing things from a different perspective.
Also, shares the name with The Muggle Pub in Little Hangleton where residents flocked there to gossip about the murdered of the entire Riddle family.
Thanks for reading and I hope this chapter also likes you.
The Prelude of an Obscure Time
Chapter 4: The Hanged Man
Level 1, Ministry of Magic, Whitehall, London
Harry sighed as he closed Kingsley's office, the minister was in a bad mood, after capturing Avery the case had stalled, today was the fourth day he and his team of Aurors were questioning Avery, but he still refused to mutter a single word worthwhile. To make matters worse, from the day of his fight with Hermione, she refused to talk more than two syllables and almost didn't leave her room, with the excuse that she was looking for something important in the books she had in her suitcase.
He did not believe in her words, after all, how many books could she bring in that suitcase?
"What Kingsley told you?" Ron said approaching him suddenly, Harry looked at him, Ron was eating a slice of cake, or at least what was left of it
"He wanted to know where Hermione was and why we had not managed to make Avery confess anything" Harry answered
"Did you tell him Hermione was locked in her room and the git of Avery just kept mocking us?" Ron took his wand, casting a spell to clean himself
"I just talked about Avery, I don't think Kingsley would like to hear how I managed to scare Hermione into getting stuck inside her room," he muttered reluctantly.
"Who do you say is stuck in her room?" Someone asked next to them
They both started "Hermione" Harry looked at her surprised
"I told you I was looking for something important, I was not wasting my time," Hermione said to Harry in a stern voice.
He lowered his distressed look "I-I did not want to" he tried to justify himself
"It doesn't matter" she cut him
Ron could see the tension between them "So ... Where is Tzeentch?" He tried to lighten the situation
"I sent him to do something important" She replied shrugging
"I see" Ron, looked at her suspiciously
It was suspicious that the elf who was always attached to her would have left like that.
Arranging the button on her white long-sleeved shirt "I'm going to interrogate Avery," she said suddenly, attracting interest from them
"Why you?" Ron asked "We've already tried it but the berk is just not going to talk" she looked at her as if she was a nutter
"I have my ways" She smiled at him, something that made Ron tremble with a little fear, Hermione had always been a partially terrifying witch "I'll take Cadogan's Pony"
Ron rolled his eyes "Of course, as if we had just wasted time with him" he said sarcastic
Hermione raised an eyebrow "I'm not saying that Ronald" then she noticed a stain on Ron's sleeve, taking out her wand muttered a spell to clean it up "I'm saying that Avery will talk to me because he loses his temper just by looking at me, in case it got out of your mind, he hates me" she pointed, giving Harry a quick look, waiting for him to fight with her too "Something will slip from his mouth"
"Aye" Harry nodded
She smiled at him, almost grateful for his support, "Then I'm leaving" turning on her Stafford boots "You shouldn't eat during working hours if you do not know how to do a simple cleaning spell Ron" was the last thing she said before leaving them there
"She has really become more know-it-all as the years go by" Ron shook his head "Here, Dawlish asked me to give you this" he put some papers in Harry's hands "John Dawlish?" Harry narrowed his eyes. What did that old Auror have to give him? He leafed through the papers in his hands. And he blinked to see that it was Hermione's personal background.
What was Dawlish doing with this?
"Didn't he tell you why these were for me?" He asked Ron
Ron looked at him confused. "He said Kingsley asked him to give them to you after you forgot them in his office" A strange but believable story if it was not because Kingsley had sent for him with Zabini and he had not said anything about these papers. "Why, is there something wrong?" Ron held up the first sheet of paper just to see Hermione's face and some information of Hermione written there "Is this Hermione's?" Ron was surprised, as he opened them with more confidence. The most outstanding thing was the photography and the personal stamp of M.A.C.U.S.A. covering half of the sheet.
Harry nodded, closing the papers again "But we can't see them here, this is something Kingsley had kept confidential, only you and I were authorized to see them apart from him"
Ron frowned. "Then why would he give them to Dawlish?" Harry raised both eyebrows and Ron understood the gesture "Are you saying... that Dawlish took them without authorization?"
"Exactly" Harry agreed
"But, why would Dawlish want them?" He still didn't understand
"Ron..." Harry sighed, trying to be a little more patient with his clueless friend "Dawlish is probably an informer of the Death Eaters"
Ron was horrified "Blimey! That couldn't be good for us or Hermione"
Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his comment "Where is Dawlish now?"
"He went home, he gave me the papers and said he would go home, his hours ended today"
Harry sighed again "We can't find out anything about him for today, we still have to stay here to know what Hermione talked to Avery"
"What about seeing those papers?" Ron proposed, pointing to them
"It seems like a good idea" Harry nodded, being honest with himself, curiosity was killing him "But it must be in a place where nobody sees us"
"The Aurors office was empty, everyone went back to the scenes of the crimes on Hermione's orders; we can go there"
"Let's go then"
They advanced, no more than a couple of steps before Zabini called them, in front of them, running to catch up with them, trying to get some air back. "Granger says it's time to leave" was Zabini's only sentence, before run to the same place where he came "Quick, we do not have much time!"
Harry and Ron looked at each other confused before running to the same place as Zabini.
.
Twenty Minutes Before, Level Two of the Ministry of Magic, Auror Headquarters, London
Hermione entered the interrogation cell, Avery was sitting in one of the two desk chairs. This room reminded her of M.A.C.U.S.A. A dark room with four clean walls without windows and a desk with a seat for two. She looked at Avery who didn't look up, his eyes seemed to carefully examine his hands in his lap; she took a seat in front of him "Were you waiting for me?" She asked with Irony
Avery then raised his gaze to laugh in her face "You are so cheeked, Mudblood" he tried to move his hands behind his back with another vain attempt to break the cuffs that restricted his magic
"Deliverance Dane" Hermione rolled her eyes "Why do not you just tell me what I need to know and we end up seeing each other's faces?" She asked tired of hearing the same pathetic insults of the Death Eaters
He snorted "Do you think I'll tell you something disgusting Mudblood?" then he added "Besides, "What makes you think I did not do all this? You deserve it for the death of my father, carry in your weak mind the death of those bleeders"
"We are talking about creating Inferi here, to reanimate even a body needs intelligence and power, and you are not exactly an intelligent or powerful Death Eater" She couldn't help but smile at the look of anger he directed at her, but she needed to push him further so he would break. "Which is not a surprise for someone who chose a cave full of creatures to take advantage and appear thinking you could kill me"
And it worked, he got up angry from the chair, only to be brought back to his place by the bewitched chair he was sitting "What did you expect? A Mudblood like you didn't deserve anything better, or did you expect to die in a sacred place like Riddle Manor?" He scoffed
She waited, and she heard him writhe in pain as a thin stream of fire like a red-hot wire began to burn his hands and part of his arm
Hermione cocked her head "Riddle Manor?" She almost patted her shoulder to herself for such a good job "Could not you find a more original place to hide?" She asked
Again the sensation of burning grew up to his shoulders, where the weaving of the unbreakable vow could be seen more clearly. Then, something in the attitude in him changed, his terrible and sadistic sense of humour went away while his look became serious almost involuntarily, his face was sweating. Hermione supposed that enduring pain was not very good for him "He thinks you're the threat, I don't know why he's taking so much trouble with something like you but, he's waiting for you to go to Little Hangleton" The suffering finally disappeared then. He lowered his head, tired and aching
Hermione shook her head, probably the person who wanted her to go to Little Hangleton had not trusted Avery to be able to give that message of his own free will. Even so, an unbreakable vow was bit rich to do just that, even for a Death Eater "If you were going to tell me anyway, you should not let the unbreakable vote begin its course"
He frowned though he did not look up, humbled by her pity "Shut it and get out, I don't want to see your nasty face anymore near me again unless you're dead"
Hermione stood up "Have a good life in Azkaban, Avery" and she left the interrogation cell. Not waiting for him to produce any more words
Out to her surprise, only Zabini was waiting for her, leaning on the second floor railing "Where is Harry and Ron?" Was the first thing she asked
"Probably codswallop"
"Can you please go find them?" She rolled her eyes at the veracity of Zabini's words "I'll go for a couple of things and I'll see you in Auror's office"
Zabini straightened "Of course, boss, I'll bring that pair of nutters as fast as I can"
"Thank you." She nodded and looked Zabini as he ran down the hall "Who would thought Zabini could be so childish?" She shook her head
She walked to the Aurors office, stopping in her cubicle. She put on her trenchcoat again, the one she had left on the back of the chair when she had just arrived at the ministry, then after muttering a spell on her briefcase it opened "Accio ring" she said with her hand on it. It would take a long time to find her ring because of the Undetectable Extension Charm she had placed on the briefcase as well. Checking the pockets of her trenchcoat, she tried to see nothing was missing her not because someone had taken something from her things because it was impossible with the curses she had placed on it, but because she sometimes moved her things and forgot where they were.
Something started to move in the right pocket of her trenchcoat, she opened it slightly with her hand, looking inside "Isos, what are you doing here?" she asked confused. She remembered leaving it in her suitcase this morning, the little puppy came out of hiding, playing around with the papers from her desk. "Tzeentch" she closed her eyes as she sighed. Tzeentch had probably put it there after she had sent him to Iceland this morning, probably for her safety "He can be so overprotective sometimes" she rolled her eyes
The door opened and Zabini came through the door "We are here" he said panting and seconds later, behind him came Harry and Ron
"Blimey Hermione! Why so hurry?" Ron complained, taking a bit of the air he had lost from running too much
"I talked to Avery" Hermione crossed her arms
"So?" Harry encouraged her to continue as he sat in a cubicle next to her, trying to rest
"Probably nothing like us" Ron smiled
"He did it" she replied, surprising two of the three men in front of her
"Really?" Was Harry
"He had no choice" she sighed "He had an unbreakable vow to fulfil"
Zabini narrowed his eyes "An unbreakable vow just to deliver a message? Is not that too much?"
"Innit" she raised an eyebrow "Apparently my mysterious fan expects me to go to Little Hangleton, thinks that I am a threat and hopes to get rid of me in that place" she confessed calmly
"Little Hangleton, why there?" Ron asked confused
"Riddle Manor" Harry answered seriously
"Exactly" Hermione smiled at Harry's insight
"Oh" Ron understood then "So ... you want to go there because a Death Eater told you to go?" He asked her as if even the single question was too stupid to consider
"I'll go to Little Hangleton" she sentenced
"Hermione" Harry tried to reply, without making her defensive "You said yourself they want to kill you"
"Mercy Lewis Harry" She rolled her eyes, frustrated by his logic "What Death Eater is not trying to kill us? Not just me "she pointed out to them too
"But they think you are the threat" was Zabini
"Not you too Zabini" she massaged her temples "Okay, apparently you do not understand what's going on here" she sighed "Avery was caught in an unbreakable vow"
"So ..." Zabini indicated with a wave of his hand for her to continue
"So to make that kind of magical binding contract must be issued between two parts and a third to act as a witness. Which points out that Avery was one of those two people, which leaves us..." She raised both of her eyebrows at the three of them, hoping a little Arithmancy would stay in their little narrow minds
"Those who are in Little Hangleton are two Death Eaters," Harry pointed out.
Hermione nodded "Now, an Inferi is a very difficult creature to reanimate. It takes a very powerful wizard for them to feed off the magical energy, something impossible to do from any Death Eater that I know, so they are only using what was already there, that's why they have not changed places to kill wizards"
Harry crossed his arms, looking at nothing in particular as he thought of her words "They are remnants of the army that Voldemort created and they are only using them for their purposes"
"But, if they are not their masters, they could not dominate them then they would probably end up dead too and it would not do much good, without Voldemort the Inferi will eventually die, it's just a lazy killing that would not lead them to gain anything" Zabini cut their theory
"Not if their sole purpose was to guide me to them" Hermione shook her head "Probably they just left or made the wizards come to the place, then the Inferi would do all the work"
Ron frowned. "Why you?"
She sighed "Before being part of M.A.C.U.S.A. I used to travel to different places to learn or search for some artefact that would get my attention. My first trip was to China, a small province where I read were a couple of amulets of my interest" She looked at them, her story seemed to be called to their curiosity "After two months of searching I realized I was being followed by a Death Eater, Rodolphus Lestrange"
"Rodolphus Lestrange?" Ron blinked.
"I attacked him and when my spell hit his chest he fell to a cliff" She explained
"Is he dead?" Harry asked.
She smiled with Irony "No, down there was a lot of water and when I looked down, Greyback was pulling him out of the water, they disappeared later"
"So the killers we're looking for are Rodolphus Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback," Zabini said.
"Probably not two since his brother Rabastan is also a fugitive," Harry commented
"So what is the plan now?" Ron raised an eyebrow, expecting another stubborn comment from Hermione.
"We'll go to Little Hangleton of course" She answered
"All of us?" Ron asked again
"Yes" she crossed her arms "Unless you want to stay?"
"I will go" Ron said decided
She smiled "Okay, Isos will go with us too" pointed to the dog who was still breaking some of the papers on her desk
"Blimey Hermione! Why your bloody dog will go with us?" Ron asked disgusted
The little puppy stopped breaking the papers, almost as if he had heard and understood what Ron had said, he looked at him growling "You should be a little kinder to him, Ronald since he will be our last chance if something goes wrong"
"What kind of magic animal is it? I had never seen any similar one, looks like a black Pygmy Puff" Zabini approached the puppy but immediately tried to put a hand on him a small explosion of fire came out of the muzzle, Zabini stepped back in surprise, shaking his hand to put out the fire in his sleeve
Hermione took the puppy in her hands "I'm sorry, Isos is always very cautious with strangers who try to touch him, he didn't try to hurt you, just scare you a little" the puppy then appeared on her shoulder, playing with some curly strands of her hair "He is an illegally created hybrid I rescued on Iceland, something I thought you knew" she raised an eyebrow at Zabini
"I found out about the problem of the Ban on Experimental Breeding in Iceland, I also knew you had a strange pet that could disappear" He checked his hand and as she had said, there was no harm, it was just a warning fire "I did not know It could do this too"
"Well, from what I saw in that man's house" she turned her head to her left shoulder, Isos looked at her and licked her cheek "Some creatures he used to create Isos could be a Pukwudgie, Komainu, Crup, Pygmy Puff, Demiguise and Black Shuck" She looked at the perplexed face of Ron and Zabini, Harry seemed just a little lost with her description
"What the hell was he trying to do? A creature like that…" Ron shook his head while an unpleasant chill ran through him.
"Probably nothing good," Hermione agreed. "Luckily I rescued Isos being a puppy before he started training him. It also helped a lot that Isos took only the skills but not the behaviour of the most dangerous creatures or it would have been impossible to tame"
"What is a Pukwudgie?" Harry asked confused, he had never heard anyone name that creature
"It's an American creature." It was Ron, probably answering Harry's silent question about why he had never heard of it.
Zabini placed a hand on his chin, thinking and speaking aloud "The Pukwudgies are short, gray and big-eared creatures. One could say they are a relative a little distant with the European goblin, they are independent; they enjoy hunting with their poisonous arrows and playing tricks on humans. Think they should not help humankind so they are not too fond of wizards or muggles. They are exceptionally dangerous and secret to themselves" he sighed, crossing his arms "Granger is right, it was good the hairball will not take out its behaviour"
"What about the Black Shuck?" Harry asked again
"It's like a Grim but it can make thunderstorms" was the simple explanation of Ron
Hermione smiled at the correctness of the answer, Ron could sometimes surprise her "Komainu?" Harry asked again
"Honestly Harry" Hermione rolled her eyes "Don't you know anything about magic creatures?"
Harry ran a hand behind his neck, embarrassed "Not really"
Hermione sighed, taking her briefcase and placing it over her shoulder "We must leave before nightfall, take your belongings" She ordered, looking at Zabini and Ron who immediately obeyed her, going to their cubicles they took their trenchcoats. Harry blinked, confused, waiting for her to answer his question "Harry, are you ready to go?" Hermione pulled him out of his thoughts as she grabbed Isos and put it inside the pocket of her trenchcoat
"Ah ... yeah" he took his wand from his desk, putting it in his pants holster
She looked for something in the inside pocket of her trenchcoat
"Without Tzeentch here we must leave the ministry the old way" Ron lamented
"Not exactly," said Hermione, taking out a small dark blue sphere
"What is that?" Zabini raised an eyebrow. The strange sphere seemed to be surrounded by constellations
"A Celestial Globe" replied Hermione. Closing her eyes, she murmured a spell in what Zabini supposed was ancient Nordic, then the sphere was surrounded by a golden magic trail "Hold hands" she took Harry's while her other hand was taking the globe. Once she saw Ron and Blaze finally holding hands "Finna" she murmured, and they disappeared from the office.
.
Riddle Manor, Little Hangleton, England, Great Britain
Harry looked at the house in front of him once they appeared, letting go of Hermione's hand. Gone was the beautiful manor house surrounded by a wide expanse of green and velvety grass he had seen in Dumbledore Pensieve. Now, with some of its windows with boards, missing tiles in the roof and ivy spread beyond control that almost reached his face, the abandoned and unoccupied house was still a great terror in magical London.
Hermione took her wand from its holster "Appare Vestigium" She walked a couple of steps in a straight line, her wand was illuminated in a golden colour, leaving traces of magical activity, magical traces and marks of footprints in the area. On the right side of the Manor.
She stuck her wand on the floor, showing then a magical silhouette of a tall, thin wizard "Rodolphus Lestrange" said Zabini arriving next to her
"Yes" she watched as behind him another wizard smiled sadistic while he casting a spell
"Rabastan Lestrange" Harry said now from the other side of Zabini, the dark mark formed up in the sky in a golden tone by the spell of Hermione, seconds later, the trail disappeared, the sky slightly dark again and without any skull on it.
She took her wand that was still standing on the floor "Come on" she walked to the right side of the manor, where the magic trail had appeared.
On that side, a stone wall was visible in the Little Hangleton valley county. Turning back to the road, Hermione's footsteps slowed when her eyes caught a glimpse of a strange glow on the floor, but with all the ivy blocking most of her sight it was hard to say "It's already night" Ron stepped forward
"It will be harder to be here in this darkness" Zabini agreed passed by her side
"Is everything all right, Hermione?" Harry stood next to her, raising an eyebrow.
She narrowed her eyes "There is something strange on the floor, look" she pointed with her hand to the place where it was still shining slightly
"I can't see anything, what is it?" Harry lowered his gaze
Hermione sighed, of course he could not tell if it was a Magical trail or not, after all, she had specialized in this for all these years. "I think…" Her answer was cut with a loud noise, followed by another one almost at the same time. She looked sideways "Where are Ron and Zabini?"
"I don't know" Harry tried to look for them too. But when he took a step forward, he disappeared too.
Then she understood, pointing her wand to the ground "Revelio" the bedazzling hex disappeared, showing a high rope that reached her knees crossing the path "A portkey" she shook her head. Without having another choice, she also walked forward to be transported to the same place as them.
Her feet touched the ground. But the feeling of traveling in Portkey was always downright unpleasant for her, causing slight nausea, she winced. An unexpected spell attacked her, but she blocked it with her wand easily "You've become more skilful since the last time we saw each other, Mudblood" Rodolphus Lestrange said walking towards her, his wand pointing at her "Unfortunately, you have no chance here" at the sides of him appeared Rabastan Lestrange holding Ron while his wand pointed at his throat and on the other side, Fenrir Greyback had Harry in the same way
"Where is Zabini?" She asked
Rodolphus rolled his eyes "That blood traitor, behind you" and she did it, without caring to turn her back on the Death Eaters in front of her. She frowned at Blaze's poor condition, his face and clothes covered with blood, fortunately he was still alive, and the tremor in his body, the repercussion of the cruciatus curse was proof of that. "Drop that crap and look at me!" Rodolphus yelled. She did it and he smiled pleased "I want to see your nasty face when you die in my hands"
"What makes you think I will die?" She asked seriously
"You're so cheeked" He laughed "Crucio" the spell came out of his wand, but a blue shield in front of her stopped the impact. Everyone seemed dazed since it was not possible to avoid the Cruciatus Curse with a Shield Charm
"AH!" Rabastan shouted, releasing Ron who quickly pulled away from him. Everyone turned to see him while he took her arm, where a part was missing "Something has bitten me!" Turning his wand behind him, he could not see anything
"There's something there, I can smell it!" Greyback shouted
Then another attack, a pair of claws hit Rabastan's chest and blood flowed as a growl was heard.
Harry also freed himself from Fenrir, going to Hermione's side while dodged a spell from Fenrir towards him "Accio Wand" he said, his hand pointed at Greyback's clothes, summoning it in his hand and then pointing at the werewolf
"Confringo" cast the spell Rodolphus after his brother but only blew a gravestone, the beast would not seem to be anywhere
"Get out of there, Ron!" Hermione shouted, but a claw hit him on his shoulder too, breaking his trenchcoat. Immediately he adjusted himself from the strong blow he ran in front of Zabini "Accio Wand" Rabastan hardly noticed the wand was taken from his clothes since the strange creature attacked him again, knocking him down
"What is that?" Harry asked worriedly.
"A Hidebehind, a nocturnal beast that lives in the woods. It can change its shape, allowing it to hide behind almost any object. His prey of choice are humans" Hermione explained quickly "Isos!" she called it stretching her hand in front of her, the puppy came out of hiding showing up in her hand "I need you to track it" she ordered
The dog then appeared on a gravestone near the screams, howling at the wizards who were still trying to drive away the beast, Dark fuzz came out of its muzzle and the beast ceased to be invisible.
A tall thin bear with silver hair appeared in front of them, growling louder as he bit Rabastan's leg. "AGH!" He complained again in pain, seeing now the beast pointed at him with his wand, but with a claw he threw it a few meters away.
"Avada Kedavra" Rodolphus shouted, while the green flash of the murderous curse hit the Hidebehind, killing it. He turned to Hermione while Isos returned to her shoulder. He watched as she, and Potter pointed him together with their wands "Just a little longer Mudblood, we will see each other again" with his wand the three disappeared
Harry lowered his wand and sighed. Glancing sideways at the strange dead beast while Hermione ran to where Zabini was unconscious "Vulnera Sanentur, Vulnera Sanentur, Vulnera Sanentur…" heard her recite behind him. Harry approached the beast, finding part of a hand he assumed was from Rabastan Lestrange. Feeling a bit of nausea he stopped looking, returning to where Hermione and Ron were. The open wounds on Zabini's body were now closed, he frowned as Hermione gently stroked Zabini's face but let it fall when he saw as her hand travelled around the huge burn that covered much of his face disappeared.
"Where will we be?" Ron said looking around, the whole place was full of gravestones
The Little Hangleton graveyard "replied Harry
"How do you know?" Ron asked again
"Voldemort brought me here after the Triwizard Tournament" It was impossible to forget for Harry this place where Voldemort had used his blood to take a new body and where Cedric had died too
"Oh" Ron nodded "How's Zabini?" He asked looking at Hermione
"He's better now" Hermione responded, administering him a potion that was in her briefcase. "I needed to make him stop bleeding or appearing out of here could kill him"
"Can we leave then?" Harry asked.
"Yes," said Hermione, keeping the empty vial in her pocket "Although not to the ministry, it would be best to take Zabini to Grimmauld Place, I still need to finish healing him" She took out the celestial globe and making it shine again he took Harry's hand
"It's becoming a habit for me to take Zabini's hand" said Ron ironically taking the hand of the unconscious Blaze and then Harry's
"Yes, I start to believe that Zabini likes you too much" Hermione scoffed
"Blimey, Hermione!" Ron rolled his eyes as his friends laughed at him
"Finna" said Hermione and the four disappeared
.
Grimmauld Place, Islington, London, England
Harry and Ron waited in the living room while Hermione healed Zabini who already awake and resting in the guest room, he was already better, his broken pride was the only thing in which Hermione had not been able to help him.
They heard the doorbell ring, something that made them frown in surprise since Grimmauld Place was a protected place with a Fidelius Charm. Harry got up to the door with his wand in hand "Who is it?" He asked in a hard voice but nobody answered him.
He then opened the door, his wand pointed at the face of the person in front of him. "Malfoy?" He narrowed his eyes, bewildered to see him standing outside his house
"Potter" was the simple answer of Draco Malfoy. Standing in a black suit and as neat and arrogant as Harry remembered him
"What are you doing in my house?" He asked annoyed
"I do not know it myself" Malfoy snorted "The portkey they sent me brought me to this place" taking from his breast pocket an earring, an earring Harry had seen in Hermione the first day she arrived in London
Harry snatched the earring from his hand. "What are you doing with this? Who sent it to you?" Harry questioned him again, looking at the object carefully, checking that it belonged to Hermione.
"None of your business, Potter, I'm looking for-" he could not finish his words since Harry suddenly put his wand on Malfoy's cheek
"Give me a good reason to hex Malfoy, I've been looking for just one excuse to do it all these years," Harry said through his teeth.
"Harry, get away from him!" Hermione chided behind him, down the stairs with Zabini
"Oh, the drama" smiled Blaze
"Why?" Harry asked confused.
"He's here for me, I gave him the portkey" Hermione crossed her arms
"Why?" Harry asked again, as if he did not understand what Hermione was talking about.
"He is part of my research team, I had talked with you a week ago that they would come to help me with the case" she explained.
"Is he part of your research team?" Was the silly question Harry asked again
"Not too smart, innit, Potter?" Malfoy scoffed
"Please keep quiet" she rolled her eyes at the blond, looking at Harry who seemed about to lose his temper "Draco works with me at M.A.C.U.S.A."
"And what is he doing here then? He must have come to the magic ministry, not here" Ron appeared with them also
"You've never had manners, Weasley" Draco huffed "But I'm not here for you, I came for Hermione, I have already prepared an apartment with two rooms for us" he said looking at Hermione
"What?!" Ron looked scandalized, that bizarre thought of Hermione and Malfoy living under the same roof
"Is that true, Hermione?" Harry frowned, crossing his arms to her.
"Well ..." she sighed
"The cat is among the pixies now, Granger" Blaze marvelled at seeing the always-organized Hermione Granger with a dilemma
What was she going to do now? Blaze waited to hear her reply.
.
.
.
The cat's among the pixies: The Wizarding equivalent of "the cat's among the pigeons" i.e. trouble has broken out.
Take Cadogan's Pony: To make the best of a bad situations.
Finna: Old Norse word meaning, Find, discover
Codswallop: Term for nonsense
Mercy Lewis: An American Wizarding exclamation (WFT)
Deliverance Dane: An American Wizarding exclamation.
Pygmy Puff: A miniature Puffskein, bred by Fred and George Weasley and sold at their shop Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Pygmy Puffs resemble little fluffy balls that roll around, squeak and come in various shades of pink and purple.
Pukwudgie: Exceptionally dangerous and secret creatures, they consider themselves in debt to those who save them, however much they dislike it. They also declare themselves bound to them until they have returned the favor. They also have their own magic. They can be very loyal and protective of the things they love. Their magical abilities include the disappearance and reappearance, the partial or complete transformation in a porcupine or puma, and the creation of fire.
Crup: Resembled a Jack Russell Terrier, except that a crup had a forked tail. They were clearly wizard-bred dogs since they were extremely loyal to wizards, and ferocious toward Muggles. Crups were great scavengers, eating everything from gnomes to old tyres.
Demiguise: It resembles a cross between a sloth and an ape with large, black eyes and long, silky hair. A peaceful, herbivorous creature that can make itself invisible and have precognitive sight so that the only way to catch them is to do something completely unpredictable.
I added these two creatures of my own mind with inspirational characteristics of other mythologies and Folklore:
Black Shuck: A ghostly black dog recorded as an omen of death, essentially a nocturnal spectrum. In general it is supposed physically bigger than a dog and often has large and bright eyes. It is often associated with thunderstorms and road crossings.
Komainu: Often called lion-dogs. Big Lion-like creatures both guarding and destined to ward off evil spirits and repel dark magic.
.
.
Thank you for reading one more chapter of this story, and thanks for the comments you have left; Jem and padfootsnuffles.
-Raitsuki141-