Concurrent Existences

Chapter 25: Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Nothing, nothing, but oafs, idiots and fools.

Mindlessly following honeyed words to your doom.

Alas, dear brother, the fault is not your own.

I only wish I did not have to do this alone.

Nothing is for free. Nothing is given out of generosity. Everything has a price. Everything is only borrowed...

... And it is time to collect what is due.

They will pay.

Hermione was grateful that she actually had a good nights rest even with what happened just last night and with Bella groping her breasts in her sleep. There was still no escaping class and it was only Thursday.

She still wasn't sure how everything was going to come out, especially when there were so many variables that could change in a blink of an eye. The cards are in the hands of the Head Auror right now, all the cards that Hermione could play would only be retaliation until she had more information. She would also have to spend this weekend away from Hogwarts to be able to properly have a funeral for her parents

There was one thing Hermione knew she had to do immediately though. Last night had took a lot out of her and it wasn't her magic that was drained. She felt her focus continually deteriorate after she had dealt with the Death Eaters. Now that she was well rested, she would be able to check Bellatrix's diagnostics.

"Bella." Hermione called, but realized that there would be no waking the witch this early. Instead Hermione decided to do the magical diagnostic while the dark witch slept, there wouldn't be a difference anyway. It was still a bit weird that Bella had only started sleeping longer than usual upon their arrival to Hogwarts. During the time spent in the Shrieking Shack, she slept long, but not this long.

Hermione focused and began to weave the diagnostic spells to crosscheck for anything that could be magically ailing Bellatrix. The complicated spell fusion of Bellatrix with the remnants of the Time-Turner and the Resurrection stone could have multiple complications, but after checking for magical ailments thrice, there was nothing. Her best guess would be that Bellatrix's body is still getting used to the fusion spell.

"Luv, you alright?" Bellatrix sounded a bit groggy, but at least the witch was starting to wake up.

"You're asking me that question? You're the one that almost had the fainting spell. I ran my diagnostic spells on you and there isn't anything wrong with the spell weave on you. Bella, truthfully, how do you feel?" If the dark witch still felt bad, Hermione would most likely bring her to Madam Pomfrey and if that didn't yield any results maybe a muggle doctor no matter how much the smaller witch would protest.

"I'm fine. I was probably just under the weather with all this crap happening. It hasn't even been a month since we got back and shite keeps hitting the fans!" Both witches began to laugh a little until Bellatrix sat up, took Hermione's hands into her own and locked gazes with her.

"Luv, we need to talk about yesterday." The seriousness in Bellatrix's eyes told Hermione that there was no dodging this particular conversation. There wasn't any way they could just push this aside.

"Okay, we have around thirty minutes before we have to actually get moving." Hermione was actually thinking of just skipping class.

"All in all, yesterday night, you were hot as fuck being all badass witch on them, but are you still fine with what you did to those idiots? I could care less about all of them, but what you did to them and to weasel boy was probably worse than what I would have done. Sure, they would cry and piss themselves as I torture them then maybe kill them off since the world doesn't need more garbage, but you actually maimed them." Bellatrix just wanted to know how the muggleborn was feeling about it all. If Hermione was feeling guilt over this then she would have to nip it in the bud. Airing things out with your lover is the best way to solve everything, hiding things or dismissing them will just cause everything to be pent up.

"Surprisingly, yes. The only reason I aimed to stun them in the first place was because I've been so used to doing that before. I may have learned a multitude of spells, but it's been a habit to capture, not maim or kill. Another reason that I hesitated was because... of my parents. I know that I've changed after the time limbo and there's no denying I've been slightly unhinged."

"Slightly? You made bloody explosive bunnies!" Bellatrix interrupted only to be poked in her side.

"Slightly. Once they died, I just felt there wasn't anything holding me back anymore. I won't hesitate killing a person if they actually deserve it, but these people don't deserve it. The Death Eaters raped, killed and tortured during their lifetime and what they took from me, my parents, are something that cannot ever be replaced. I may have gone overboard with Ron, but he did try to rape me."

"Luv, you do know I've killed and tortured more than all of those Death Eaters right? Never rape, I came close to doing that to you on the floor though. You can argue that I was under a multitude of compulsion spells, but can't we argue the same for the other Death Eaters?" If Bellatrix added all seven of those Death Eaters, she'd still probably have a higher kill and torture count. Bellatrix wasn't sure why she even kept wagging her tongue, it should be wagging elsewhere.

"Well, I'm a hypocrite and I love you, so end of that discussion." Hermione knew she was a hypocrite, but didn't care. Love makes people blind, but love for Hermione just gave her clear sight of what she had to protect.

"What about your parents?" There was not dodging this particular question either. Bellatrix wanted to resolve whatever they could resolve quickly, since she knew that the world was plotting against them

"I've put a preservation spell and transported them using my bag." Apparating or teleporting them out couldn't be done at the time unless she moved a couple of meters away from the house, so the next best thing was to preserve and hide them. Hermione was surprised that the Aurors hadn't been more persuasive in getting them to the Ministry since there was at least one Death Eater dead, but if two dead muggles were added to the list, they might already be at the Ministry right now.

"... You put your dead parents in your handbag. That is creepy as fuck." Bellatrix felt way better than after they returned last night and needed to catch up on some fun. Besides, the discussion they were having was depressing and Bellatrix didn't want to have another second of it. There was only so much discussion Bellatrix Black could handle.

"I had limited options! I'm not really sure who we can really trust now. It seems as if everyone we see has tampered memories or has lingering compulsion spells that affect them. We can't just use Legilimency and mind probe every single person. We don't even know if Harry's boss and if Dumbledore are one and the same or if they're collaborating with each other. I wish we knew how in Merlin's name Dumbledore and this Head Auror managed this wide scale-" A thought just came to Hermione's head, she wasn't sure why she hadn't thought of it before.

"Luv?"

"The diary! Remember how I was placed into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw? And how the compulsion spell was put on me?" Hermione's mind began to unfold how Dumbledore created this wide scale thing. It was just so subtly simple, she couldn't believe she missed it

"Yeah? The diary said that Dumbledore cast something on it to change your house, but it only worked for a limited duration. Didn't Dumbledore just cast the compulsion on you?" How was the compulsion spell cast? She never remembered it being cast on her either. Maybe that's where the tampered memories came into play?

"Think, Bella. Wouldn't you use a conduit or some kind of catalyst for it? Casting the compulsion spells over and over would be too inefficient. Modifying it would be a simple trick, but to cast it so many times one by one? Too inefficient."

Bellatrix thought back to the cloudy memories she had. She knew of one particular instance where the compulsion spell could have been cast. Bellatrix's eyes widened as she realized what Hermione was trying to say.

"The Dark Mark. We always knew that it was connected to the Dark Lord and had a way of influencing people. Many of us just turned fanatical after taking the mark and that was probably the catalyst for compulsion spells."

"Yes, but the Dark Mark would only alter what was already there. I researched your Dark Mark and studied it for when I had to transfer the enchantment onto the battle doll. Think what most of us have in common and what Dumbledore could have used." The Dark Mark was used to modify and change the compulsion spells to Voldemort's liking, but it wasn't the base spell.

"It's the hat. It's the bloody fucking hat! That's what all of us have in common! We were all students of this fucking school!" The revelation was staggering, but a lot of things began to click. Most people were from Hogwarts, and the few that weren't could be easily targeted by Albus Dumbledore if he needed to. Any Death Eaters that weren't part of Hogwarts would just have Voldemort take extra time to place the base of the compulsion spell then his Dark Mark.

"Dumbledore had a hard time changing the hat's decision for schools, like he did with me because he was interfering with the core enchantment of the hat. Although, putting an enchantment on the hat to place the basis for all the compulsion spells on every single student wouldn't have interfered with the hat's original purpose. Almost all the Death Eaters, nearly the whole Order even Voldemort were all students under Dumbledore once. We can't even tell how deep this all goes. If it wasn't for his death, we might have all been still playing to his tune..." It was just so glaringly obvious now that she thought about it. It was just the simplest way to put the basic compulsion spells on every single student and if Dumbledore needed something specific, he would just manipulate and reconfigure the spell personally since it was his own design.

"But, the old man isn't dead though? It seems as if the compulsion spells he created only started to dissipate for you and not for anyone else."

"He did die and I think the compulsion spells did break or least weakened, but then they were reinforced when he resurrected. Only a few of the more powerful wizards and witches were probably not affected by the reinforcement, but at the same time never really noticed it." The facts were all checking out.

Dumbledore was a manipulative evil bastard. Check.

"Like teacher, like student. The old man didn't fake his death, but he has a fucking Horcrux!" Bellatrix was starting to get pissed. Dealing with a Horcrux was just plain annoying. The dark witch could probably create a few dozen of that crap, but she never did. Splitting her soul? Fuck that.

"It's highly possible he has a Horcrux. And if I am thinking correctly, I have even more bad news."

"No, I already know what you're thinking and you're probably right. The Dark Lord had Nagini as his lovable pet and Horcrux and the stupid old man must have done the exact same thing. How in Morgana's bloody name do we kill a fire fucking chicken?!" The snake was easy enough to kill. Just blast it with magic or cut the head off like what that nerd boy did. But, Dumbledore apparently went the extra mile and used a mythical creature.

"Fawkes. It's highly probable that Dumbledore made a Phoenix into a Horcrux. Since the Phoenix is immortal, well, Dumbledore won't die either." If the Phoenix died, it would burn itself into ashes and rise again, even if they killed it when it resurrected, it would just do so again.

Bellatrix began moving towards Hermione and suddenly started playing with Hermione's brown hair. Before any protest, Bellatrix attached herself to the brunette's neck and began slowly nipping trying to distract Hermione from the discussion. "Bella..." Hermione groaned, if they started this now, they would be late to class. "There's..." Bellatrix bit down harder only to make Hermione mewl while still sitting upright. "... no time." Hermione's eyes began to flutter and slowly close relishing the feel of Bellatrix's lips on her neck and hand toying with her hair.

"We have ten minutes! We can deal with all this on the weekend!" The hat, the phoenix and so much other dumb shite, Bellatrix's brain didn't want to work overtime anymore and decided she needed a break. Something to calm the nerves a bit. Talking stops now!

Sex break!

Bellatrix swiftly maneuvered to pin Hermione down on the bed and continued nipping her muggleborn on the neck. Hermione moaned as pleasure began to cloud her thoughts. The muggleborn was trying to say something to stop Bellatrix, but the dark witch immediately shoved a few fingers for Hermione to suck on. Can't have the witch try to dissuade her for something as petty as school.

"Shush. We only have ten minutes left, so shush." Hermione couldn't protest as Bellatrix's fingers were plundering her mouth while the other hand began to slowly go south while sliding her fingers slowly. The thoughts on the Phoenix and the hat immediately forgotten as oh so nimble fingers were getting so close to her-

"Hermione?" A voice came from beyond the door along with a few knocks.

Hermione groaned while pushing the smaller girl off and began fixing her nightly robes. The smaller girl started muttering profanities and went under the covers slightly pissed for being cuntblocked.

"The door's open, Luna."

The door opened and in came Luna accompanied by Helena Ravenclaw. The two witches stopped as soon as they got in and noticed all the mythical creatures floating around.

"Ah. I'm sorry for interrupting you Hermione, but this is important." Helena saw the Silixies and knew what the two girls were about to engage in, but this could not wait.

"It's alright, Helena. I'm sure there has been some news about the incident yesterday." It was time to see what sort of shitstorm last night had caused. Getting dragged to the Ministry wouldn't be good at this time.

"All three of you have no class today because of yesterdays incident. The Aurors are requesting your presence at the Ministry for debriefing and the investigation as to what had occurred. So far, Minerva has been able to rebuff them, but eventually she will have to give in to at least giving them a statement." Helena stopped talking and focused her full gaze on Hermione. "All the spells both of you used could all be classified as forbidden. I saw the lingering effects of the mind spells, the Cruciatus curse, dark magics and even this." A long intricate dagger was floating in front of Helena, the exact same dagger that Bellatrix had tossed toward Ron.

Bellatrix burst out of the covers at the sound of "no class" and was quick enough not to let anyone have a peek at her goodies since she had slept naked. Yes, she had goodies. They were there. They were growing! "Hey! That's mine!" Bellatrix's face scrunched up as soon as she saw Hermione facepalm. "Ooops." Bellatrix still actually needed to procure her original dagger to remove the scar off of Hermione.

"I would like to believe I'm on your side Hermione, but you'll have to be truthful with me." Helena's gaze shifted to her side where Luna was looking, the blonde immediately shifted her gaze. "I can also sense some type of dark magic inside Luna that wasn't there several days ago. Please explain everything to me before I have to consult with Minerva about all this. I know there are deeper reasons for all this, but I believe in you and Miss Crescent over there since Luna does as well." The ghost stopped her speech since there wasn't much else to say. The reasons the young witches had would give her direction on how she had to act. The ghost lowered the dagger to one of the tables and waited for a response.

Hermione sighed. There was no way out of this. She had already deemed the ghost trustworthy, but wanted to prolong having to explain the whole truth to someone else. The brunette knew that Helena Ravenclaw was open minded to spells and everything since the ghost lived for centuries and had also a fondness for Luna. Well, another ally wouldn't hurt.

This was way too much. The second Wizarding War was already confusing enough, but all this new information? It took a few hours to explain everything and it was almost lunch.

Mother, I wish you were still here. The Ravenclaw Matriarch wise words and cunning wit would be of such use right now.

"So, Hermione is technically over forty years old. Isabella Crescent is actually Bellatrix. Luna has a Dementor inside her. Dumbledore is evil. Ron is a git. The hat is putting mild mind control on all the students. The Head Auror is orchestrating everything. I think I need a drink." Helena really wished she could get a drink and get drunk or go back ignoring everything for the next few centuries again.

"What you did with the Death Eaters and Ron, I will not comment on for it is up to you how you deal your justice out. Merlin knows I've yet to deal mine out." Thoughts laced with hatred for the Bloody Baron briefly crossed her mind.

Hermione had done her best to explain all the important parts, but not revealing everything since that would take days. She could have excluded the part about the time limbo and Bellatrix, but decided to come clean and explain it. At least she was sure that the ghost had no compulsion spells.

"Unfortunately, everything is true. I can assure you that Bella-"

"No need for extra explanations, Hermione. I can see the change in the creatures surrounding Bellatrix and I know she has changed, at least a bit. I would have been able to recognize Bellatrix right away if she still had all the other foul creatures following her." Darlixels were still following Bellatrix, but the amount was a lot less than before. The other creatures of darkness and death that used to follow the dark witch weren't present anymore, that's why Helena couldn't tell.

"I will do my best to delay the investigation and Minerva, but the best I can buy all three of you would be the weekend. Oh, classes are cancelled tomorrow due to some extended repairs, so there will actually be a school trip to Hogsmeade regardless of what year you're in." Helena bid farewell to the two witches and waves Luna goodbye. The ghost needed to digest all this new information more.

"Looney, you should try to give it a slap instead of just staring at it!" Bellatrix laughed as she caught Luna staring at the rear of the retreating ghost.

Luna gave the comment some thought and just got an idea. She'd have to talk to Volana later.

"It's lunch! I'm fucking hungry!" For the first time, Bellatrix was actually the one dragging both Luna and Hermione towards the Great Hall for lunch. The dark witch usually moved like a zombie half the time, but not today.

The three witches took their usual seats and Ginny was already there in front of them. The girls exchanged greetings aside from Bellatrix who already began grabbing the food on the table to eat. The dark witch actually growled when someone was reaching for a steak pie in front of her.

"Hermione, I heard what happened with Ron." Ginny said with a look of indecision on her face.

"I'm sorry, Ginny, but-"

Ginny shook her head. "I know it wasn't the Death Eaters that did whatever it was to Ron. It's all been hush-hush, but I know Ron's magical core was drained. If there's a way, Hermione, please reverse whatever it is that drained his magic." Ginny pleaded for her brother. She knew that Ron was an arse and had been a git, but he was still her brother.

"I'll try, Ginny. I'll see what I can find out." Hermione sighed and nodded towards the redheaded girl. Neither voiced out Hermione's direct involvement in turning Ron into a Squib, but Ginny knew that Hermione had a hand in it.

Ginny couldn't blame Hermione, but still hoped to Merlin that her brother could be redeemed.

"This fuckin cake is delicious!"

"I think I liked her better when she was asleep." Ginny deadpanned trying to lighten up the mood they created.

"What did you say, ginger?!" Bits and pieces of the cake flung towards Ginny and the redhead couldn't dodge them all. The shock didn't last long when a gooey piece dripped off her nose.

"Gross! What the hell, you midget!" Ginny was about to grab and toss a pie at Bellatrix, but Hermione quickly prevented the food fight from happening.

"Bella." Bellatrix made a face, showed Hermione that half chewed cake in her mouth, pouted and continued eating her cake. "So, Ginny, anything new?" Hermione waved her wand and casted a Scourgify to clean Ginny off.

"Well, I heard Professor Grindhook cancelled class later this afternoon again. We also have a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow! I tried inviting Harry over, but he said that he was busy with work." Ginny pouted as well, she had not seen her boyfriend in over a week now, so much for having a boyfriend.

"I thought construction was all finished?"

"Apparently, there is still a part of Hogwarts that needs to be reinforced. It's only for a day though. Everyone, along with the professors were all recommended to vacate for a while. I think absolutely everyone is going to Hogsmeade since there's going to be some sort of super big party and since everyone in Hogwarts is allowed to go, it'll be big. Want to hang out tomorrow?" Ginny still had her Quidditch friends, but her friendship with Hermione and Luna would always come first.

"Sure." Hermione smiled and the girls continued small talk until Ginny had to go to what was left of her afternoon classes.

Merlin knows I could use a breather. Both her and Bella did have the rest of the day off, she'd need to have some stress relief with her Bella soon.

...as soon as she stopped gorging on the cake.

Thursday morning and Harry already had another appointment with the Head Auror. The work of an Auror is never really done. He really had to pay his girlfriend a visit.

"So, Harry, are you ready for your next assignment? It might last a few days, but it shouldn't last longer than a week." In all truth, it might be done in a day or two.

"Yes, sir." Harry nodded. "Although, I'm a bit surprised that you'll be regulating me for guard duty at Hogwarts. Are there any other Death Eater cells?" The Head Auror had requested Harry Potter and a few other Aurors to guard Hogwarts for the next few days and Harry really needed to get more information. He was happy that he would be able to stay at Hogwarts for more than just an hourly visit, but the circumstances allowing it weren't good at all. Ginny would be happy that he'd be able to at least spend some time with her now.

"You have read the reports, Harry. We already assume that there are no more active Death Eaters left. Your presence at Hogwarts will have a dual purpose. One, ensure the safety of the students at Hogwarts because there will be a large celebration at Hogsmeade. Two, your true mission, is to apprehend Miss Granger and Miss Crescent for questioning." The boy would have objections, but petty minds are easy to twist. If only the boy could show more intelligence than just impulsiveness, well, one can't get everything.

"But, sir. You can't truly believe that Hermione inflicted the damage on the Death Eaters, I mean, Ron had the same damage inflicted to his magical core! There must be another explanation! I've also seen Isabella Crescent, she may have a hostile look to her, but she's only fifteen, I doubt either of them could inflict that type of damage!" Harry didn't know how people could suspect Hermione and a fifteen year old for dealing a type of damage that no one in the Wizarding world has seen. An ability to destroy magical cores to reduce a person into a Squib? Preposterous.

Preposterous, but it just happened.

"Harry, do not let personal feelings cloud your judgment. This is precisely the reason why I'm sending you to Hogwarts to apprehend them when you can. I, myself, believe that the two girls are innocent, but may have been witness to whatever plagued the Death Eaters and Ron. We need to get to the bottom of this, and we need them to continue our investigation. We will not assume anything unless we have true evidence supporting them as being suspects." Truly amazing how a bit of word play could make a person do whatever it is you will. Pitting Potter against the witches would be entertaining, and he would get the motivation needed. The results didn't really matter, if anyone got caught up and died, well, all the better.

"One last question, why was I told that Ron had failed his Auror trials?"

"Classified, Auror Potter."

"Understood. I'll be apparating and beginning my rounds at Hogwarts along with the rest of my Auror team." It did make sense, the only ones that knew about what happened at the muggle house was Hermione and Sirius' daughter. Of course, he knew they were innocent and the best way to prove it would be to bring them to the Ministry and get their stories. Maybe then they would be able to continue the investigation and find the true culprits. Hermione should be easy enough to talk to and persuade. The Black and Crescent scion however, Harry was not thrilled to deal with. The girl seemed to have a personality too akin to her mother.

Harry stood up and bade his boss farewell as he exited to relay the orders to his squad.

This was just too easy. The magical world barely had a semblance of an army left. Humans killing humans, humans wiping out non-humans, races discriminating against other races and now the leftovers are all killing each other.

Brilliant, just brilliant.

There was one tiny threat right now though. The last two goblin rebellions occurred during the eighteenth century, around 1752, the one before that in the seventeenth century, 1612. The subspecies did reproduce fairly quickly and haven't rebelled recently meaning the goblins should have a significant amount of strength hidden. The goblins never did forget.

Making the suggestion that Gringotts fund the Hogwarts repairs would bear fruit soon.

"Entertain me more, greatest witches of their age." The eternal chessboard of pawns cancelling out each other gets tiring from time to time, but queens moving across the board, that's another thing all together.

For some reason, It was always the witches that got in the way, very surprising and amusing. Procure? The thought hadn't even occurred since her.

Maybe a confrontation soon? I do feel the urge to gloat. The Head Auror extended an arm to grab a drink of water, but the glass slipped and shattered on the floor.

"So, there is a limit after all."

Darlixels - Tiny Shadow Beings, these gather around beings that have dark thoughts and use dark magics.

Scourgify - Cleaning charm

Silixies - Sex Pixies

AN: I kind of glazed over explaining everything to Helena since it would just be too much rehashing of some knowledge. Helena is very open minded to magic and everything else making it easy to talk to her when she's not emoting about something. Stumbling upon the mess in Hermione's house made not explaining things to her be impossible. This chapter is most for added knowledge, more like a prelude to the next arc.

Another small reveal on how the compulsion spells were applied and how Dumbledore is alive. Dumbledore's Army does sound a lot more sinister now, doesn't it? The plot is probably guessable by now, but hopefully I can keep it shrouded a bit longer.

Poll is still up on my profile on what to write next if interested! Any story I write will always be gray/dark-ish with humor.

Reviews and comments are always enjoyed and appreciated! :) Please do, if you have the time.