Chapter 7
Monday morning was not off to an auspicious start, Hermione mused as she hurried down the corridor. She had awoken with the familiar pounding in the head, repeated the usual mantra, and forced herself out of her comfortable dorm and down to breakfast. There, in the Great Hall, it was loud and bright as usual, only adding to her constant irritation. After managing to keep down some toast and gulp down multiple cups of coffee, she had rushed over to a double period of Transfiguration. In her state, not even one of her favorite subjects could interest her. Hermione was feeling bored of schoolwork; memorizing textbooks, waving her wand and repeating some words until she mastered a spell, or writing some monotonous essays. Even the subjects she once threw herself into, with creativity and interest, were losing their appeal.
After Transfiguration was a disastrous double Herbology that Professor Sprout held in Greenhouse 7. Apparently she overestimated the skill of her eighth years, as no one, not even Neville, was able to handle the massive vines that resembled giant versions of Venus Fly Traps. They had torn at their robes and nearly strangled Ron, who hadn't forgotten being strangled in the Department of Mysteries, and started damaging their own vines before Professor Sprout finally intervened and managed to get the massive plants under control. The eighth years spent the rest of block cleaning up the mess in the greenhouse before trudging back to lunch, dirty, robes a mess, and wearied.
And so Hermione, hurrying down the corridor, stopped by her room to clean up before lunch. By the time she took a seat at Gryffindor table, Ginny was already there. Hermione felt a not-so-unpleasant little jolt at seeing the redhead, but quickly squashed any reactions down. As she mechanically put food in her mouth without an appetite, Hermione tried not to revert to staring at Ginny. Unfortunately, she failed pretty quickly. She felt her eyes drawn back to the Ginny's face, seemingly moving on their own accord without her realizing it. Hermione watched her interact easily with her numerous surrounding friends, always smiling and occasionally laughing. Every time she heard Ginny's laughter, which easily cut through any irritating surrounding noise, Hermione's attention was drawn straight back to the redhead. As she watched, and continually saw Ginny talking to other people, a little feeling started to form. It started so slowly Hermione didn't realize it, until she noticed flashes of jealousy as she watched Ginny. Groaning inwards at herself, Hermione thought, "Great. First I can't stop looking at her, now I'm feeling jealous just because she has friends and talks to them?" Exasperated with herself, Hermione left lunch early, leaving the hardly touched food behind her.
Hermione went straight back to her dorm to freshen up after the disastrous day she'd been having. Once she was satisfied she cleaned up properly, and took the time to organize her homework, she hurried off to the library. She strode directly to the section she needed, and pulled books off the shelves almost frantically. Her research was becoming more and more difficult, but she was relentless. The brunette devoured her way through ancient writings, sometimes having to cross the entire library to find the sections she needed. All too quickly her time ran out, and she was forced to reluctantly put her books away and headed towards the potions dungeons.
Professor Slughorn may be a competent teacher, and much nicer than a certain hook-nosed, greasy man, but he simply wasn't as skilled as Snape, reflected Hermione. As much as she disliked the double agent when he was their teacher, he was a true Potions Master. Snape had possessed a skill and natural talent in potions that remained unrivaled. As for his unpleasant methods of teaching, Hermione certainly was pushed to her limit, trying to impress him. She knew now it was hopeless, that Snape didn't care for know-it-alls, but she certainly did learn effectively. Hermione herself would never understand or innovate in the art of potions making, but she had a feeling Slughorn wasn't much better. Hermione focused on her current brewing. The eighth years were tasked with the Draught of Living Death, incidentally the same potion Slughorn first asked them to brew. Without the help from the Half-Blood Prince – another role Snape had in their education – Harry and Ron were hopeless. Hermione angrily shushed them, trying to ignore their skewed attempts in order to focus on her own. She was determined to brew it correctly this time.
Once outside of the Potions rooms and away from toxic fumes, Hermione allowed herself to breathe deeply. She needed to get back to the first floor and to the dueling chambers for Defense. "With Ginny," she added in her thoughts before she could stop herself. Exasperated with herself again, she just kept walking across the main hallway and through the winding maze of corridors, until she found the crowd and the familiar doors. Hermione's curiosity was growing. It seemed Professor Orcus was going to make them wait like the last class. Finally, the exact second the bell would be ringing, the heavy granite doors swung open to reveal Professor Orcus. He stood tall in the center of the arena, wearing the same odd robes with gold lettering that Hermione still couldn't identify. They were familiar, though. She made another mental note to investigate the mysterious professor. As the crowd moved in, Hermione spotted the majority of Dumbledore's Army. They had grouped together on the benches, and Harry and Ernie had seen her enter. Inwardly preparing herself, she went to join the group.
"Hey, Hermione. You seem to be getting used to being late," Harry teased, referring to the increasing number of times she started showing up at the last minute.
Giving him a mock glare, Hermione retorted, "That might be so, but I'm not actually late this time. Besides, you were in Potions with me. I stayed behind to talk to Slughorn."
Harry looked like he was about to respond, but Professor Orcus began to speak. In the same quiet but carrying tones he spoke in the first class, he said, "You are, no doubt, wondering what the year's syllabus will be. Although I introduced free form dueling in the last class, your abilities are far from this. Your dismal foundation in this subject forces us to go back to the beginning: magical theory. This will not be comprehensive, as magical theory is enough to be its own subject. In this class, we will study the forms of light and dark magic, the varying skill levels required to cast a spell, and categories of jinxes, hexes, curses, and more. You will learn how to defend, to counterattack, and when. You will learn what separates an average wizard from a skilled, deadly wizard. You will learn why duels between powerful wizards are so difficult."
Professor Orcus had been pacing around the arena, following the circle of the center arena. He looked up at the students sitting on the benches elevated above him. "This will take a great deal of studying and reading, which I do not expect the majority of you to enjoy. Therefore, while you study the theory behind the art, we will be simultaneously practicing the practical portion. Yes, this means we will be using our wands."
At this, the murmurs became more excited, but Professor Orcus was quick to quiet the whispers, "You seem to be forgetting we have six neglected years to catch up on. Indeed, we will be starting from the beginning. Here, in this chamber, you are all effectively first years."
Looking around the circular chamber, Hermione could see the faces of her classmates. None of them looked very happy at the last statement. Most looked confused or slightly disappointed, including members of the D.A. Some, like Zacharias and Terry, looked affronted and insulted. As for Hermione, she could feel her curiosity growing once more. While the D.A. and the war had given them some practical training, Professor Orcus was right. They knew a tiny number of protective and offensive spells, and nothing of the proper foundation. Quite frankly, compared to fighters like aurors, the former Death Eaters, and the greats like Dumbledore, they were still children. Hermione's excitement was growing.
After letting his words sink in, Professor Orcus continued, "Now, open up your textbooks and follow along as I speak."
His lecture started from the beginning – the very beginning – as Professor Orcus had said. He spoke of the way a wizard or witch's magic developed within themselves, and how a wand was basically a conduit that channels magic and makes it easier to cast spells. Professor Orcus then briefly described magical properties in things other than wizards; plants, animals, even types of rocks, and more. They could all be utilized by a wizard in many subjects. Finally, he began to dive into the defense against the dark arts. He started by describing the difference between dark and light spells, and that many things could be seen as both. "There is no black and white in magic," he said. Professor Orcus then explained different classifications of spells. They could be classified based on the effects, the intent, or how they interacted with one another. Some spells would have no effect on each other; that was why wizard's battles were so dangerous. You had to be able to understand what your opponent was doing in order to effectively counteract their attack. Then he spoke of nonverbal and wandless magic, the two things Snape had started to teach them in their sixth year. Magic was not actually tied to forming specific sounds or audible syllables; saying it out loud only focused the magic. The same went for wandless magic. Wands did not give any power, they only helped to focus the wizard's power into a spell. Therefore, it was not strictly necessary to either speak or have a wand to perform magic, although the vast majority did rely on both.
After a slight pause, in which Hermione's thoughts raced ahead, Professor Orcus said, "Books away, wands out. Come down to the arena."
A large commotion started after that, as everyone rushed to make their way down the stone steps. Most of the D.A. looked excited at the change.
"We still have half the double period left. We will be working on," Professor Orcus paused, "nonverbal magic."
Hermione had been consciously keeping her face blank, but she was certain that now the surprise must have been showing. By the look of their faces, her other classmates agreed.
Professor Orcus actually looked amused now. "Yes, I did say you were all first years. That was in knowledge, though, not experience. In experience, some of you," his gaze lingered on the D.A., "are far beyond your years. You will simply be disarming each other, something a first year could do, but you will be practicing it nonverbally. Partner up and go."
Hermione and Anthony Goldstein instantly glanced at each other; they had learned from the D.A. that they made good dueling partners. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Ginny. She forced herself not to look back at the redhead.
There was plenty of room in the cavernous chamber, even on the floor arena, giving each pair room to spread out. Hermione stood facing Anthony, focusing herself. She could tell he was doing the same. She willed herself not to be distracted by the knowledge he was attempting to disarm her at the same time. Hermione recalled what Professor Orcus had said; saying the incantation out loud did not make the magic work, it only focused the witch's intent. Back in Snape's class, she didn't know this, and tried focusing on the sound of the word in her head. This time, though, she knew better. She envisioned everything she knew about disarming: expelliarmus, the quick downward flick of the wand, and the opponent's wand flying out of their hand. Then, a second later, she transferred it from her head into the motion.
Anthony's wand flew out his hand with a force Hermione had never been able to manage before. It jerked out of his hand and flew straight into her free hand in an instant. Hermione stood there, stunned at her own work, and Anthony looked equally shocked. Professor Orcus, who had been on the other side of the room observing the group of Slytherins, was the first to recover. He promptly strode over to Hermione and Anthony, commanding the attention of the entire class. His voice was as cold and smooth as ever.
"As you may have observed from Miss Granger's successful attempt, nonverbal magic is much more efficient, powerful, and effective than its spoken counterpart. This is partly due to the level of mastery required to successfully cast a spell nonverbally. In addition, nonverbal magic gives no cues to the opponent, hence the surprise of Mr. Goldstein."
Professor Orcus gave Hermione one final glance with his cold, grey eyes before he swept away. His voice carried back, "Class dismissed."
After managing to avoid the rest of the D.A. after class, Hermione went back to her dorm before dinner. She wasn't quite hungry, and needed to get started on her homework. She organized the piles of homework – which were literally piles stacked on her desk – before attacking several essays she knew she could finish with little effort. Allowing her mind to stray a bit from the goblin wars she was writing about, Hermione reflected on the last Defense lesson.
Professor Orcus – Hermione remembered the mental note she made to investigate why he was familiar – was, by far, the most effective Defense teacher she had ever been taught by. His seamless transition from lecture to the practical use instantly made sense to her in that lesson. And, again, Professor Orcus was right about needing a proper foundation before being able to get to higher level magic. After all, powerful wizards, both light and dark, obviously didn't get to their skill level by playing around with a couple of spells. It took years of work, but they would only have one. Hermione only hoped they would hurry. They had gotten through the war on sheer luck. Even remembering the battle in the Department of Mysteries, she knew they would have been dead if the Death Eaters weren't distracted.
And then it clicked in Hermione's head. Thinking about the Department of Mysteries reminded her of the Unspeakables, and of an old Prophet report she found while researching notable wizards in her search for R.A.B. Octavius Orcus had graduated top of his class from Hogwarts and went into the auror program. He was one of the few of his decade to make it through, and served for several years before he vanished. Records disappeared, photos were gone, and it was as if he didn't exist. After the end of the first war, though, he showed back up as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries. It was likely he had been an Unspeakable the whole time, but it was too dangerous to make it official yet.
Checking the time, Hermione realized she would have to report to the school board's amphitheater later that night. As an eighth year, she would be taking the reports from the prefects. Rubbing her eyes, she put away her books and headed to eat a quick dinner first.
If she hadn't been in a bad mood already, Hermione certainly was now. After a dinner in the much too loud Great Hall, in which she tried avoiding as much conversation as possible, Hermione had to get to the amphitheater. She and the honorary eighth years basically had the same authority as prefects, but also had to take reports from prefects. This particular day, Hermione would be taking reports from the Gryffindor fifth years.
Upon entering the room, on her left, several Hufflepuffs were lounging in front of the elevated stage. She saw some Ravenclaws on the far end of the room as well. She spotted the two Gryffindors in front of her on the couches. Sitting down across from them, she waited for them to speak.
The girl started, obviously nervous. Hermione tried not to be annoyed by that. It was, after all, the girl's first report after her first several days of being a prefect. The report was basically standard; the same things Hermione remembered from her fifth year. She patrolled the corridors when she was assigned, docked points from misbehaving students, and monitored the commons. The boy's report was the same. However, before they were finished, the girl took a sealed envelope out of her bag.
Handing it to Hermione, she said timidly, "One of the Slytherin eighth years asked me to give this to you."
Mildly curious, Hermione broke the seal of the parchment and began to read. Her eyes skimmed the elegant handwriting, frowning as she realized the purpose of the letter. She skipped down to the bottom to read the identity of the sender: Draco Malfoy. Returning to the contents of the letter, she finished reading, thoroughly unimpressed by this point.
Hermione lifted her eyes to the fifth year prefects, giving the boy a cool gaze. "I've just received an interesting report from Draco Malfoy of a confrontation you were involved in. Care to describe in your own words what happened?" she said, her voice clipped.
The boy clearly hadn't expected this. His eyes went wide, and he began stammered excuses.
Hermione cut him off impatiently, "Or maybe you can't. You clearly did not listen to Draco's beginning speech. The remaining Slytherins are not synonymous with Death Eaters. You have no excuse for picking fights." She paused, glaring at the boy. She continued with a hard voice, "Or are you so immature you truly believe you're superior to them? That makes you no better than pureblood fanatics."
The boy looked like he was going to begin arguing, but Hermione started again before he could. "Twenty points from Gryffindor. Yes, twenty. You're lucky Draco left this to me. You're also incredibly lucky it wasn't a teacher who caught you; you would surely have been given detention for your bigotry. Dismissed," she finished in an icy voice.
The boy left with a pale face. The girl lingered for a moment, staring at Hermione with wonder, before she got up as well. Hermione didn't look behind to the door, instead remaining on her seat. Something needed to be done in regard to the Slytherins, she thought.
"You sounded rather bothered," came a familiar voice.
Hermione stiffened, recognizing that voice instantly. She stood and turned around to face Ginny, who had apparently heard her lecture. "The boy deserved it. He's a prefect; he should know better and set a proper example."
Raising an eyebrow, Ginny replied, "I didn't say he didn't deserve it, just that you sounded particularly bothered."
Once again feeling exasperated, Hermione sighed. "Oh, really? I thought it was obvious that I'm overjoyed right now," she retorted sarcastically. Hermione started to walk to the door, exhausted and in need of her dorm at the moment.
As she walked past Ginny, the younger girl said softly, "You never actually said you weren't bothered. Talk to me."
The redhead's words felt like a blow to the chest, but Hermione continued on her way out the door without responding or looking back.
A/N: There was some more obsession for your amusement, more mystery with Professor Orcus, a bit of mystery involving our Slytherins, and more drama with Hermione and Ginny. As a recap of my updated profile, I won't be able to update as frequently as I started, but I am still writing as much as possible. I preferred to sit and write when I have a chunk of time, but this chapter was written in shorter intervals, so I was able to make it over twice as long as my normal chapters.
