Hermione Granger and the Quest for the Binding Stones

Part 1

Down under

Chapter 5

Seamus Apparated to the facility first, and then located the least visible arrival point. When he returned he told Lavender where they were Apparating to. As had become their habit, Lavender took the children, and Seamus took Ron and Hermione. Moments later they were walking up the front path to the Royal Freemasons Monash Gardens Village.

Hermione knew the feel of the place. Her grandmother on her mother's side lived in just such a home. When it became apparent that she could no longer care for herself fully, and that her memory was failing, her mother and uncle had worked with NHS and got her placed. It was an elder care facility much like the one they were entering. The woman at the reception desk smiled pleasantly as they approached.

"Welcome to Monash Gardens, how can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm Harriet Underhill," Hermione said, while Lavender silently confunded the woman. "As it says in your notes I'm here to see Mrs. Williams."

"Oh…Oh, yes, I see," The woman said in a faraway voice. "Room three twelve, in the memory care unit. Down the hall to your left, there's a security door. The combo's four one two one."

"Thank you," Hermione said with a smile. She and Lavender ushered the small mob down the hall and through the security door. The memory care unit had its own desk with a nurse at a monitoring station. She looked up from the screens that displayed views throughout the ward and smiled at Hermione and then positively beamed at the children.

"Hello, can I help you?" she asked.

"We're here to see Carla Williams. I understand she's in room three twelve," Hermione said. "We're distant relatives, and I'm researching our grand aunt, Orla."

"Oh! Oh how wonderful!" the woman said. "Carla has so few visitors, and I'm so happy you brought your children. The residents love it when there're kids around." She looked at her screens. "Let's see, I saw her out and about … ah, there she is." She looked up. "Through the common area of the ward just down the hall, and then out into the garden. We have a fenced area that our residents can enjoy but not get out of. She's at a table under one of the gum trees. Do you need me to show you?"

Lavender smiled. "I think we'll find her just fine, thanks."

"It smells just like the place where nana Caldwell is." Hugo observed quietly as they walked through the common area of the memory care unit. Hermione nodded. She and her mother had visited many in their search for the best facility for her grandmother, and they all smelled the same, disinfectant and age.

The outer garden area was very nice. Red paving bricks were arranged in a spiral pattern forming a large patio fifty feet in diameter. Tables, chairs, and benches were scattered around the patio and under the trees bordering it. On one bench a woman sat and scattered seeds for the birds at her feet. She did every movement exactly the same way, dip her hand in the paper bag in her lap, bring her arm across her body, and then sweep it out in a long arc. Again and again she repeated the motion. She stopped as Hermione and the rest approached.

"Mrs. Williams?" Hermione asked.

She just stared for a moment, and then she looked at Hugo and smiled. "What a lovely young man. What's your name?"

"Hugo," he said.

"My husband has a friend named Hugo, he should…" she looked around with a slightly distressed expression. "He was just here… I…" Then she started to cry.

Hermione and Lavender were on either side of her on the bench in an instant. "What's the matter, Carla, we didn't mean to upset you," Hermione said, concerned.

"Oh, I'm just such an old idiot. Can't remember anything," she said through her tears. "Charles has been gone… years. I don't even know how many." She hung her head and tears fell on Hermione's hand.

Hermione looked up into her husband's eyes, pleading. Ron nodded and turned to Seamus. "It's been a while, do you mind?"

While Lavender stood and surveyed the patio and windows surrounding it Seamus looked in his friend's face and nodded back. He swiftly drew his wand, and as he quickly swept tip around Mrs. Williams head he said, "Cognis Maxima," and then his wand was gone again.

"I know what you are," Mrs. Williams said in a clear voice, staring at Seamus.

"What do you think we are, Carla?' Hermione asked.

"You're like Aunt Orla," she said, and then she laughed. "Old bird never thought anyone knew, but I caught her out when I was ten. Saw her with a stick like yours." She looked at Seamus and then back to Hermione. "She did things, things no one else could do. From then on I'd sneak up on her when I visited. Saw her make the laundry hang itself, the beds make themselves, spoons stirring pots, and she could talk to snakes too."

That got everyone's attention. "She was a parselmouth," Lavender whispered.

"My uncle used to be able to do that," Hugo said.

"Did he," she said with a smile, and then she tuned back to Seamus. "How long will it last?" she asked near tears again.

"A few hours," he said. "Hermione here has a few, well more 'n a few questions about your aunt."

She smiled and took his hand. "Thank you, thank you so much," she said and turned to Hermione. "What do you want to know?'

"Well we were going to try to slyly find a way to ask you if she was a witch," Hermione said with a chuckle.

"Is that what she was?" Carla said in a tone of understanding. She looked at Rose. "Practically radiates off you little girl. All of you witches then?"

"I'm a wizard," Hugo said .

"Ah girls are witches, boys are wizards is it?" she smiled at Hugo. "In my lap, boy. Haven't had a sprog in my lap for a long time. You sit here and let you mam ask me what she wants."

As Hugo carefully climbed into Carla's lap Hermione sat in a chair that Ron moved from one of the nearby tables for her, and then he and Seamus got chairs for themselves and Rose while Lavender stood guard. They all clustered around Carla as Hermione began. "We're here to ask about the Fairies Tree," she said, and then paused and struggled to ask the question she really wanted to. Fortunately Carla beat her to it.

"You're her, you're the Fairy Queen." She nodded to herself. "You are, and the rest of you?" Carla asked, and looked around at her audience. "Where's the redhead, and you're not the blonde, are you?' she asked Lavender.

She chuckled. "No, that would be our friend, Luna." Lavender took Carla's hand. "The redhead is our friend, and Ron here's sister, Ginny."

"Huh, suppose I should tell you the story, then," Carla said, and she snuggled Hugo deeper in her lap.

Donna Marquises looked out of her office window. A whole family of strangers was clustered around Carla Williams. As director of the facility it was her job to know every resident and look out for them. The woman, who was obviously the leader of the little group, asked Carla a question and the elderly woman had hung her head to cry. Donna was about to rise from her seat and investigate when the blonde woman accompanying the odd little group turned from them and swept her eyes around the yard and building. Donna felt a wave of dizziness pass through her and when she looked back out her window Carla was smiling and speaking animatedly with her visitors. She shook off her confusion and went back to her paperwork.

Carla Williams took a deep contented breath. She hadn't told her aunt's story of the tree for years, mostly because she would forget where in the story she was in mid telling. One last time, she thought.

"Long ago, when the earth was young, Merry Mac came to 'Stralia. He sang the stones across the plains, he charmed the animals to be his friends, and he left us the dingoes and the gnomes. Merry Mac was a traveler, always looking at the horizon, always looking for the next great adventure. He travelled north, south, east, and west. He walked the whole of the land from Top End to The Blue Mountains, from The Darling Downs to Gingin. Three centuries he walked the land and still he was restless, so from Uluru he left for parts unknown."

"But before he left he told The Dreamers that they would see the coming of the fairies, for the Fairy Queen would be on a mission to save the gnomes. 'She will be strong, powerful, and kind,' he told them. 'And you will know the one to free the gnomes by her hair that is the color of the mud of the Murrumbidgee and as twisted as the path of the great snake, Myndie.' Merry Mac went on to describe her sisters. 'On her right hand the queen will have her fire sister, who will be known by her red hair, on her left she will have her animal sister, who will be known by her yellow hair. The three will lead the nine, all being talented in dadirri, and they will, with their six sisters, break the bonds."

"Merry Mac departed from Uluru, and he left the gnomes to serve the Koori Dreamers saying, 'care for them, hold them dear and teach them right from wrong, for they are ignorant and need guidance.' And so Merry Mac left the land and The Dreamers waited. They cared for the gnomes and taught them they ways of the bush. In the fullness of time the gnomes became fast friends of the people, though the people never knew, for the Dreamers kept them secret. Homes and hunting grounds were kept safe from the fires and the winds, fishing boats were returned from the sea amid the tempest, and herds kept safe from the dingo by their hand."

Carla opened her eyes and looked at Hermione. "Aunt Orla told me that story a hundred times at least. I always thought it was just a tale, but now… She said other things too. She said the Fairy queen would have children, a boy and a girl." She looked at Rose and Hugo. "That would be you two, wouldn't it?" She didn't wait for an answer. "I always thought she was a bit tetched, but she knew… She said you'd have one sister that could talk to the dingoes, and one that would be, well, very hard on anyone stupid enough to challenge you."

Hermione looked at Lavender. "You and Cho." She looked back at Carla. "I'm going to tell you some rather important things that I really shouldn't but I'm certain you'll keep them secret."

"Won't have a choice, will I," Carla said with a sarcastic laugh. "Three hours and I won't remember you were here."

Ron took her hand. "The charm actually never fully wears off as strong as Shay here casts it. You'll remember us, and you'll remember more about everything else, but like Hermione said, you'll keep our secret, I know you will." He chuckled. "Because no one would believe you anyway, and they'd probably think you were really losing it!"

Carla laughed as well. "True." She looked at Lavender. "Talk to the pups, do you?"

"I'm a werewolf, Mrs. Williams, it's part of the package," Lavender told her.

Carla nodded. "You're on the tree too, you know."

Hermione and Lavender looked at her puzzled.

"Twice, the face at the bottom isn't a bear," she said. "Don't have bears here. Aunt Orla always called her the dingo queen. We never knew why. Then there's the mother in the roots. That's you too."

Seamus chuckled. "Aye, well she's right. Dogs do obey you, me love."

"Woof," Lavender said snidely, and Carla laughed.

"There's a story about every figure on the tree," Carla said. "Bet you'd like to know them."

"As much as you want to tell us," Hermione said.

Carla smiled at Rose. "The gnome, Elias, was lost in the bush," she began. "For many days he had wandered, looking for a dreamer, but none lived in that area of the outback. Only the people lived there, and he, as all the gnomes are, was forbidden from going among them. He was hungry and alone, but Merry Mac had left the gnomes friends among the creatures of the bush.

"The great queen of the eagles, Kiah, was hunting when she saw Elias weeping at the banks of the Myponga. She swooped from out of the sky and perched on a fallen boo'kerrkin."

"'Child of the earth, why are you sad,' she asked."

"Elais looked up from his tears in the river and saw Kiah, and he knew she was good. 'My dreamer has entered the full dreaming,' he said. 'I went with her into the bush, and when she passed into the Big Dream I laid her spent shell on the pyre as she wished, but now I am alone and have no dreamer to serve.'"

"Kiah looked upon Elias and felt sad for him. 'I will bear you to wherever you wish, good gnome. It will be my honor to help one so faithful to his dreamer,' Kiah said.

"Elais saw her and knew hope. 'I thank you, but I know not where to go,' he told Kiah."

"Kiah looked at him kindly. 'I have traveled far over the land, and I have seen many villages with many dreamers. Come, good gnome, and we shall find you another dreamer.' And so Kiah took Elias in her talons and gently carried him into the sky. Seven days they traveled until at last Kiah came to a village she knew held dreamers. 'Here I shall leave you, good gnome, but should you ever find yourself lost again, you have but to tell the bush and the bush will tell me.'"

"Thus was formed the strong bond between the gnomes and the eagles. For even to this day they will aid the gnomes, and the gnomes for their part will faithfully aid the eagles should they find one in need."

Carla turned to Rose. "Ya like that one?" she asked, and Rose nodded, smiling. "Kiah and Elias are the eagle and the gnome at the top of the tree."

She looked down at Hugo. "Here's one for you, sonny boy. There was a time when the Ngarradan, the bats, forgot how to fly. They had been among lords of the sky, and as graceful as any bird. One day it came to pass that Albo and his dreamer were on a walkabout, and they came to a great cave. When they entered they found it populated with Ngarradan but none flew. Albo's dreamer spoke with the Ngarradan and found that they had taken to walking as the fruit of the trees fell in abundance in their forest home."

"'You have forgotten your true selves,' Albo's dreamer told the Ngarradan, and he performed a great magik upon Albo, granting him wings. 'Teach these to fly again, my faithful one,' Albo's dreamer told him."

"And so Albo took to the sky, but he was new to wings, and he flew dips and weaves, fliting and diving. The Ngarradan followed him and learned his way of flight, and so this why, to this day, the Ngarradan fly so unlike birds."

Carla turned to Lavender. "The Dingo Queen was once a dreamer like the rest, but her destiny was formed in the mists of the past. For on the Great Island That Was the Dingo Queen was born those many long years ago, and through her numerous lives she was tempered. The Dingo Queen's highest duty is to the children of the Fairy Queen and her sisters." She looked at the child in her lap and the girl sitting next to her. "There're others besides these two?'

Lavender nodded. "Three more."

Carla smiled and chuckled. "Of course there are. The Dingo Queen can be woman or not as she chooses, and woe will befall any who willfully inspire her to anger. For, though she is the kindest of aunts, she is the fiercest defender of her charges. And so she looks out from the base of the tree, guarding against danger, and she cuddles three of her charges with their owls in the niche."

"Orla was a sear," Lavender said. "I have some experience with that." She looked into the distance. "Wonder what she meant by all that Great Island That Was business?"

"Got no idea," Carla said and closed her eyes. "One more. The owl and the kookaburra had never met before Merry Mac came to the land. He brought to the land three Ngugug. The white faced the Brown and the Red and from those three arose all the Ngugug of the land. One night, Ulca, king of the Ngugug, was hunting when he heard the cries of lord Gugubarra, for whom his family was named. Olca alit on the branch of a Koombahla, and he asked Gugubarra 'why are you sad, my brother?'"

"Gugubarra looked at Olca and was afraid, for the Ngugug are, but for the eagles, masters of the sky. 'Forgive me, great Ngugug, I did not mean to disturb you with my troubles."

"And Olca answered, 'I am not disturbed but concerned for my sky fellow. What is troubling you, friend Gugubarra?"

"Gugubarra looked to Olca and answered, "My family is lost, and I have no way to find them. I call but they do not answer."

"Olca understood Gugubarra's trouble, and told his new friend, 'I, lord of the Ngugug, make you this promise; we will find your family and bring you together.' Then lord Olca called to his brethren in the night. 'Seek the family of Gugubarra,' he told them. 'Make their place known to me.'"

"For three nights Gugubarra slept in Olca's tree and for three days Gugubarra kept watch while Olca slept. On the forth evening a whiteface appeared. 'Gugubarra's family has been found, 'the whiteface told them, and Gugubarra and Olca took wing to follow the whiteface."

"On the banks of the Wallongong Gugubarra and his family were reunited. Gugubarra pledged his undying loyalty to Olca, and Olca said to him, 'Make a home in my tree. There you will be safe from harm in the night as I will be safe in the day. We will be friends and more, Gugubarra.'"

"From then on the Ngugug shared their trees with Gugubarra's family and, they have been fast friends since."

Carla opened her eyes and looked at Hermione. "Did that help?" she asked.

Hermione smiled. "Immensely," she said, and took the old woman's hand. "Did she have any friends, acquaintances that we might find relatives of?" she asked.

"Only a few blackfellas that I ever saw, aunt Orla was a loaner. Never married, I never even saw her with a man. She'd go into Alice Springs now and again, but she lived in her shack in the bush her whole life."

"And where might that be, if you don't mind?" Seamus asked.

"I'd have to take you there," Carla said. "Couldn't show you on a map to save me." She looked a little sad. "They'd never let me out though."

Hermione smiled and Lavender chuckled. "Mrs. Williams," Lavender said. "Perhaps you may have underestimated our abilities. Let me help you get into some traveling clothes."