Chapter Ten: The Teachers' Library
The arrived at the stone gargoyles with an unplanned visit to Professor McGonagall's office. They whispered the same password that they used last night and were granted easy access. They walked up the steps and knocked politely at the door. They received a silence at first but then they heard a noise behind the door signaling that someone was in there.
"Professor?" Hermione knocked again, hoping that whoever was in there didn't think her obnoxious for her second knock. She was just about ready to knock a third time when the door was no longer there and before her stood a statuesque man with a long white beard.
"Anxious are we?" He said kindly and invited them into his room. "I take it you are here to ask how to use the teachers' library?"
"Yes, Professor." Hermione answered as Harry continued with a seemingly stony silence.
"Well, it is quite simple. The entrance is across from the student library. All you have to do is say the password 'peppermint pixie' to the lovely tapestry of Bianca the Beautiful." Hermione scoffed slightly. "Yes, quite a lovely title it is, Hermione."
"Profes-"
"Call me Albus. I am no longer a professor." He smiled genially.
"Yeah. More like 'no longer alive' to most people." Dumbledore kindly ignored what Harry had just said.
"You will find many different books. Some very extraordinary books that Mr. Riddle himself wishes he would have known about before thinking he was going further than any other in the path to immortality." Dumbledore continued, almost reading Hermione's mind.
"You seem to be catching up, there, Professor." Harry said bitterly. "It's not everyday you come back from the dead."
"Harry, you can also call me Albus." Hermione admired the absolute resilience against all of Harry's cruelty. "Yes, I believe it was quite possibly one of the reasons behind why Tom wanted to be a teacher," Dumbledore switched topics quickly, "And because of the libraries' content, I did not allow Severus a password. It changes regularly, just to warn you. Bianca changes the password after each exit. As soon as you step out of the library it changes and you will no longer know it."
"How big is this library, Profe-Albus?" Hermione questioned awkwardly.
"It's the biggest in the entire wizarding world. It was established by Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin themselves and very few know of it. Tom Riddle came upon it one night when he saw Professor Binns stepping into it."
"How do you know?" Hermione asked.
"I came upon the memory when investigating into Tom's past. I was talking with Professor Binns when he mentioned it. Tom wanted to know the password to get in and how thankful I was to hear that Professor Binns was unable to tell him. The founders established the password rule. If you come to the headmistress or I, we will be able to tell you two."
"Okay."
"Off you go. I am sure you have plenty to research." He smiled and offered them both lemon drops, but both declined. "Tell me if you get any leads."
Hermione stood and Harry was already standing ready to leave as soon as possible.
"Albus?"
"Yes Hermione?"
"How far can you talk to someone through the mind?"
"Harry has unlocked the ability for you?" She nodded. "When inside Hogwarts walls, it only works inside Hogwarts walls. Anywhere else and it works at any distance. It's a very powerful ability and I am happy to see you were able to unlock it. Not many people can. Be careful with your thoughts, they can be intercepted." Hermione instantly thought of when Harry thought the words 'Love You', before he went to sleep and Albus smiled all-knowingly.
"Could we use thoughts to ask you for the password to the teachers' library?"
"Yes and no. It is not always wise to disrupt people."
"How about scheduled disruptions?" Harry was anxious to get out of Dumbledore's office and was tugging unconsciously at Hermione's sleeve.
"How about tomorrow at eleven?"
"Thank you."
"Off you go."
Harry and Hermione walked out of the room silently and headed down to the portrait across from the entrance to the library.
The student's library was, of course, empty. Who would want to spend summer stuck in a library? Harry and Hermione kept a look out just in case. They worried that maybe it would be important that they kept the library a secret.
"Hermione, we haven't told Ron and Ginny about us becoming teachers yet." Harry said, randomly.
"I know. I want it to be a surprise." Hermione whispered the password and stepped into the large room. Harry looked forward and the mischievously smiling Hermione and followed her in.
"They will think us a joke and you know it." He stated matter-of-factly, but Hermione wasn't listening. She was too busy 'oo-ing' and 'ahh-ing' to say anything.
"Harry, this place is huge!" She muttered quietly.
"And... it's filled with books that aren't in the library and that you haven't ever seen. How are we ever supposed to find anything here?" He sat down at the large dark wooden table.
"I can only assume that it has some sort of system." She looked around questioningly, as though awaiting a card file to pop out of the wall.
"I am not seeing anything, Mione." Hermione smiled at her nick-name without even knowing it. She walked around the table and when she was at the opposite end from Harry, she gasped.
"What is it?" Harry sat up straighter in his chair and when she didn't answer, decided to walk over to where she was standing.
"It's just like a muggle search-engine!" She took out her wand and tapped the top of it. "I wonder how exactly to use it?"
"Are you sure that is what it is?" Harry looked at the large wooden box indifferently and rubbed his chin, "Yeah, I highly doubt this is like a computer." And as though the walls could hear exactly what Hermione and Harry were saying, the portrait above the wooden box, came to life.
"What is it you are looking for?" He asked robotically and Harry jumped about a foot of the ground.
"Still not used to that." He said as he stared at the animated picture. It reminded him very much of Mrs. Black.
"Uhm... We are looking for a book about immortality." Hermione decided quickly and waited for the box to do something.
"Well, you have to activate it, silly girl. I thought this was a teachers' library." Hermione huffed in annoyance.
"Well, what do you do to activate it?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips.
"Say the incantation 'Searcious' and tap the top, while thinking of your subject." He scratched his forehead and blew his nose. "I tell you, the teachers are getting worse and worse. I am sick of this job."
Harry sniggered and Hermione glared at him. She thought of the subject 'immortality' and said the word 'Searcious'. In matter of seconds the dusty wooden box's lid had flipped open and revealed the exact location of where she could find the books. She looked at Harry with an 'I told you so' look and he only smiled knowing that she was, in fact, always right.
"Now that we know how to find books, everything will be simple." Hermione smiled and skipped cheerfully through the long shelves of books.
"Yeah. Nothing simpler than comprehending ancient books about immortality. What I wonder is why you didn't search Horcruxes."
"Aren't they the same; Horcruxes create immortality do they not?" Harry thought about it as she slid a ladder over to climb up to the eleventh rack and grab the first book.
"Not really, Mione. Horcruxes give you another mortal life. Even if Voldemort had eighty Horcruxes, they could still be destroyed and he could still die, whereas, if you were immortal, you could never die." Hermione slowly climbed down the ladder, presumably thinking about what Harry had just said.
"I suppose you are right, but isn't V-Voldemort right in saying that he has gone the closest to becoming immortal?"
"Not according to Dumbledore. Remember what he said about Voldemort wanting to get into the library and how happy he was that he didn't. There has to be a way around the Horcruxes." They both walked back to the table and Hermione opened the book and laid it on the table.
"Well, if there was a way, how come Dumbledore hasn't found it yet?" Harry stared at Hermione for what seemed like hours, trying to figure out her riddle.
"I... I don't know." He finally whispered in defeat.
"I don't either, Harry, but we better get a start on it." She began to read through the book and Harry began to watch her intently. "Do you need help finding the other books? You are acting a tad bit like Victor." Harry snapped out of it and stood from the table and walked over to the box. He tapped the box, said the spell, and a variety of books were located for him.
He spent the next two minutes searching for the right isle and climbing the ladder to the thirty-second shelf. He plopped himself beside Hermione, not before looking at her once more, and began to read.