Ch. 40 - Square One
It was scarcely more than a week later, a snowy Monday evening, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat firmly ensconced at a study table in the dark recesses of the library. Bitter weather, a quarter-term lull in the homework, and Harry's fifth vision - with the sense that time was somehow running out - had all coincided with Hermione to drag the three of them to spend the past week deep in the stacks.
While Harry and Ron slowly read the smaller tomes, mostly lower-year books with plain, easily-read handwriting or printing, Hermione had tackled the rest - a far larger portion of the library's contents. Some had required translation charms. Others were illustrated beautifully, their writing so ornate that it was barely legible. A couple had been old and obviously cheap, with poorly-charmed ink faded to near invisibility. One notable horror had two pages' worth of writing over every page, one set of lettering perpendicular to the other.
Hermione had dived into them all, her face a mask of terrible control as she flipped rapidly and carefully through each volume. Harry and Ron had asked only once how she was managing to actually read the pages, with them in such constant motion.
And I am never, ever doing that again! Harry swore, half-hiding behind his copy of Beastly Potions: A Beginner's Grimoire at the memory. Aunt Petunia's got nothing on Hermione at that-time-of-month.
He blinked as something occured to him. I hope it was that, and not some personality quirk we haven't run into before. PMS is only once-a-month.
Suddenly, Hermione slammed her book shut, letting her head fall forward onto her arms. "Done," she muttered.
"Done with what?" Ron asked.
Her voice muffled by her position, Hermione tiredly said, "I have looked through every. Single. Book in this library. Except the restricted ones-"
"You've read every book?" Ron repeated, incredulous.
Hermione's scowl was audible. "I said I've looked at them, not read them. Pass me that parchment; it's time to see if I've gotten anything."
She hasn't been reading them... then what's she been doing all these months? Harry wondered, pushing a scroll over to her.
It bumped her elbow, and she pulled herself upright. Her eyes were bright with an odd sort of glee. "Watch this," she said, almost smugly, as she unrolled the parchment and smoothed it flat. "If I get to the end of the page, put another one in front of me, and don't let me go past five pages, okay?"
"Hermione... what are you-?" Harry's mouth snapped shut, as a shaft of pale light burst from Hermione's right palm. It solidified into a glowing quill, and she began to scribble over the blank parchment.
She hadn't dipped into an inkwell, but black lines began to cover the paper. A jot here, a scribble there, a few dashes and lines; Harry suddenly realized that it was writing, line after line of writing, none of it in Hermione's own hand. In fact, few lines were in the same hand at all!
A elaborate, gothic print took two lines. A spidery script took another. Cramped, badly-blotted letters; a block print; a flowing print with the Elizabethan F-shaped style of S's... all methodically filled the page, and all had the same phrase within the line, sentence, or paragraph. Harry leaned in, peering closer as Hermione continued to write, her face slack and eyes blank.
The blood of a unicorn is not used.
...tis a cursed half-life ye shall have, should ye drink of the lifeblood of a unicorn...
The unicorn's horn, blood, and hair all have highly magical qualities.
... spiced, charmed silver, and served hot, the beverage nicknamed unicorn-blood is popular among rebellious young hags...
"Hermione, what are you doing?" Ron asked.
...six of the pure unicorne slain, their bloode taken for purposes unknowne, afore we caught thee Darke wizard...
No answer.
...if human blood is unavailable, vampires prefer unicorn blood to any other animal's...
.. unicorn's blood is only used in Dark magic...
...unicorn blood is not used...
"Hermione?"
...half-life...
...not used...
...cursed...
...not used...
Harry tore his gaze away from the parchment. "Hermione?" he asked as well, waving a hand before her face. No reaction; her eyes didn't flicker, the pupils didn't dilate. Just like a doll's, just like Imperius, just like- Harry grabbed her shoulder, yanking her around. "Hermione!"
The glowing quill popped like a bubble, and she jerked. "Wha-?"
"Thank Merlin!" Ron blurted. "You weren't answering or anything."
"Of course I wasn't responding!" Hermione said, jerking loose in exasperation. "I was in a trance."
"A trance?" Ron asked. "What for?"
Hermione tapped the parchment. "My core magic. I can copy any page I've ever seen, but I have to be in a meditative trance to do so and you guys broke it!"
Harry and Ron looked sheepishly at each other. "Um... oops?"
Hermione sighed. "All right, listen, because I'm only going to tell you this once." No you won't, Harry thought. You always tell us as many times as it takes to 'pound it into our bloody thick skulls'. "I looked at - but did not read - every single book in this library, except the restricted ones and the ones I've already read. Now, I am going to go into a meditative trance and do my core magic, focused on the phrase 'unicorn blood'. In this trance, I will write down all the information about unicorn blood mentioned in this library. And you two are to make sure I don't do more than five-" she paused and glanced at the parchment "- no, four and a half pages, because I'm not strong enough to do more than that yet. Okay?"
They nodded dumbly. What was there to really say to that?
She bent over the parchment again, the quill reappearing in her hand, and began to scribble in unnerving silence.
Harry and Ron watched for all of five seconds, before Ron muttered, "Wonder why she needs to be in a trance? I don't."
Like I would have any idea? Harry thought. "Dunno." Genkai's all but ignored the problem of my untestable core magic since September.
"You know," Ron mused, "our core magics seem really weird. How's writing supposed to fight demons?"
Harry shrugged distractedly. Stupid long-way-around is either a load of bull or is longer than I thought...
"Or playing chess, for that matter?" Ron continued. "I mean, Minamino's whip-thing, I can see how that works, but how d'you think he thought of it?"
... or she's got it in for me. Which wasn't all that impossible, considering the rest of his Defense professors.
Ron switched Hermione's full parchment for a blank one. "If anything, I would think he'd've gone for a sword made from a branch, or poison or something. There's a scary thought, huh?"
"Yeah. Scary." Okay. I'm doing well in weapons class, according to Hiei, and he said I can bring my knife on Friday... that's good. I've got a killer Patronus... I wonder if there's a way to modify it to work on stuff besides Dementors? Still the best Seeker in a century... what's that take? No fear of heights, obviously, and agility and good eyesight - why the heck do I need glasses, then? What else does being Seeker take...?
"Bloody hell!" Ron snapped, jolting Harry out of his thoughts. "There's nothing here!"
Harry blinked at Ron, who was staring at one of Hermione's parchments. "What?"
"Nothing!" Ron repeated. "They all say unicorn blood isn't used, or is only for Dark magic, but they don't say what sort of Dark magic."
"What?" After all these weeks, they had nothing?! Harry grabbed the parchment Ron was holding out to him, and began scanning the lines. "Not used, dark magic, cursed life, dark wizard, not used, not used..."
Next to him, Hermione paused most of the way down her fourth page. Her magic quill vanished, and she sagged in her chair.
"Hermione?" Harry and Ron chorused. Had she done too much?
"'M fine," she answered, waving them off. "I finished... it's a bit disorienting. How much do we have?"
"Um... three and two-thirds of a page," Harry answered, glancing quickly at the last sheet. "But we haven't found anything."
"Nothing?" Hermione asked, incredulous. The boys shook their heads. "We're back to square one, then?"
"Yup."
"Dammit!" she muttered.
"Hermione!"
"What? I can be upset too!"
Harry scuffed a toe on the floor under the table, and tried to mutter a reason why she couldn't, but he couldn't come up with any reason except "because". She glared at him, daring him to say it, then at Ron. When neither were quite stupid enough to do so, she sat back in her chair and visibly shook off her annoyance.
"Well, then," she said decisively. "It's time for Plan B."
Ron blinked. "What's Plan B?"
"I'll let you know once I think of it."
-0-0-0
Wednesday dawned, and the breakfast din carried a strange note of anticipation. It was February 14th, and very few people carried lingering trauma from Lockhart's celebration 3 years ago.
Harry Potter, unfortunately, was one of those people who did. He poked at his kippers listlessly, strangely ill with the yearly hope that he wouldn't get another Valentine like the infamous "his eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad's".
Hoots echoed through the rafters, and all eyes looked up to see night-silent owls soaring into the Hall. Most carried pink or white envelopes - wizards only used red envelopes for Howlers - though a few carried distinctive heart-shaped boxes. They began to swoop down and land on the tables, scattering plates and cups everywhere.
Five... nine... ten... twelve... Harry absently counted as he stuffed the cards away in his schoolbag, burying them under his homework. Why are there so bloody many this year?
An owl landed on Hermione's plate, but it only carried the morning paper. She unfolded it and began reading, ignoring the ruckus.
"Ahhh!" Kuwabara yelled happily. "I got chocolates from Yukina-chan!"
"Shut u-" Hiei's voice cut off sharply. Harry glanced up just in time to see an owl drop a frilly, red, heart-shaped box on the smaller boy's plate, next to a second heart-shaped box and a small, square, gold one. Hiei stared at them as if he expected them to spontaneously combust in his face.
-0-0-0
Blaise tapped Kurama's arm. "Hey, a couple of owls just dropped off Valentines for Jaganshi."
Kurama made a soft sound of agreement around a mouthful of eggs. He'd noticed.
"Are either of them yours?"
Of course not, Kurama thought. Only girls give things on Valentine's. He scoffed and took a drink of tea to wash down the eggs.
"Aren't you jealous?" Blaise pressed.
"Nope."
-0-0-0
"Looks like someone has an admirer!" Yuusuke laughed, elbowing Hiei.
Kuwabara pulled himself away from his delight over Yukina's gift to stare at Hiei in shock. "Who the heck would give Valentine chocolate to the shrimp?!"
Hiei shook his head in mute confusion, his mouth starting to curl in a sneer.
"Let's find out," Yuusuke said cheerfully, leaning in to uncover the flap on the tags. "From... Yukina," the gold one, "Lavender, and Parvati." He slapped a hand on Hiei's shoulder and crowed, "Way to go, man! It's the Seer thing, right? Bit of hero worship going on?"
Hiei put Yukina's gift into a pocket of his robe, and unfolded a napkin. "Yuusuke?" he asked flatly, taking the lid off the first box. "Shut up." Yuusuke promptly let go, smirking, as Hiei poured the contents of both heart-shaped boxes into the napkin, folded it, and slipped it into a different pocket.
"Um, Hiei...?" Kuwabara asked warily, as Hiei piled the empty boxes onto his plate and rolled up his left sleeve. "What are-?"
Hiei set his hand on top of the boxes, and they promptly burst into flame.
Harry - and every Gryffindor within five feet - promptly shrieked and shoved away. Harry fell on his back, scrabbling off the bench and yanking Hermione (and her paper) with him.
-0-0-0
The sudden ruckus across the Hall caught the attention of every Slytherin at breakfast. Half of them stood, trying to see. Draco allowed Crabbe - the tallest of his lackeys - a moment to look, then asked, "Well?"
"Fire at the Gryffindor table," Crabbe answered, grinning. "Looks like... it's in front of Jaganshi. But he's just sitting there."
Draco blinked. "Just what?"
Crabbe leaned forward intently, squinting, then nodded to himself. "He's sitting with his hand in the fire." Draco didn't have time to do more than suck in a shocked breath, before Crabbe added, "Doesn't look like it's bothering him a bit."
Fire... his hand... isn't bothering...?
Draco and Pansy rounded as one on Kurama, sitting a few seats down. "Alright, Minamino, talk!"
-0-0-0
Hermione and Harry untangled themselves and scrambled up, just as the teachers arrived.
"Hydrosis!" (McGonagall)
"Exstinguo!" (Hermione)
"Aqua Misceo!" (Sinistra)
"Irrigata!" (Sprout)
Four different streams of water poured over Hiei and his burning hand. The boy ducked instinctively, furiously, and the fire roared higher in defiance.
"Jaganshi, put that out! Now!" Genkai yelled.
Surprisingly, this worked better than all four spells - Hiei shot her a sour glare, and deliberately lifted his hand from the ashes. The fire flickered and died, leaving only embers smoldering on his plate.
-0-0-0
Minamino smiled at Draco and Pansy; a secretive, Mona-Lisa half-smile. "Why?" he asked, not bothering to pretend he didn't know what they were asking.
"He's got fire magic, doesn't he?" Pansy asked. "He's making the fire!"
Brilliant, Pansy, Draco thought, not entirely sure if he was being sarcastic or not.
"Well... aa..." Kurama rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It's not as if he's keeping it hidden."
Draco barely kept from rolling his eyes. Not anymore, he's not. "So why's it been kept a secret all these months?" he asked dryly.
A shrug. "He hasn't had reason to use it."
Not fair! Gryffindors aren't supposed to be discreet! He opened his mouth to protest, but Blaise beat him to it.
"Damn. Fire magic, huh?" the boy asked. Kurama, Draco, and Pansy turned tired looks on him. "And you're plant magic... you're either completely incompatible, or perfect counterparts."
"Would you get off that idea already?" Kurama asked.
"I'm just saying..."
-0-0-0-
Slowly, Hiei turned on the four spellcasters, dripping wet. I. Hate. Water, he thought, starting to growl.
"Um... it's only water, man," Yuusuke said, not touching Hiei. "They were trying to help."
Genkai hopped up to stand on the bench across from Hiei, leaning across the table. "Next time," she said curtly, shocking Hiei into silence, "don't be so spectacular. Trash bins exist for a reason." Hiei intensified his glare, not fazing her a bit. "Don't give me that. You could have provoked a panic."
McGonagall stepped in. "Which is," she added sternly, "exactly why I am giving you detention, and taking twenty points."
Like I care about points? Hiei scowled and opened his mouth to say so, only to choke on the first word as Yuusuke poked him in the shoulder.
"Shounen ningen, Hiei," he said. Human teenager. He had to play human. Nevermind that twit girls were giving him random, creepy presents. And nevermind that he knew Kurama was laughing his tails off in his mind, and would never, ever let him live this down.
I can't wait until this fucking mission is OVER.
-0-0-0
Once the ashes had been swept from Hiei's general vicinity, and the students had all nervously retaken their seats, breakfast proceeded as most breakfasts at Hogwarts did... until a lone, large owl arrived late, nearly at the end of breakfast. It dropped one letter in front of Kurama (and stole a piece of bacon), then soared across the room and dropped another before Kuwabara.
Kuwabara picked up his idly, glanced at the front, and flung himself violently away from it, falling off the bench. "Aneki!" he yelped.
Yuusuke twisted to look at him. "Your sister wrote?" he asked, his eyes gleaming impishly as he took in Kuwabara's overly horrified expression. "Well, then, let's see!"
He deftly plucked the letter from Kuwabara's hands, leaping onto the table as Kuwabara jumped up in pursuit. Yuusuke landed with one foot between the juice pitcher and the bowl of eggs, and the other firmly planted on Kuwabara's head, pinning Kuwabara's face to the table. As Kuwabara thrashed under his foot, trying (and failing) to reach the letter, Yuusuke ripped it open and began to read.
"'Kazu, you idiot.' Nice sister ya got there. 'Happy Valentine's', blah blah blah, 'write home more often you twit', uh huh, some stuff about your grades - what a pain - 'tell Yuusuke he-' WHAT?!" Yuusuke froze, his eyes widening, and he turned to shout at Kuwabara. "HEY! Where the hell does your sister get off saying I owe her ten bottles of sake?! And who said she could introduce MY MOM to CHUU?!"
Kuwabara snorted into the table. "Sounds like a match made in heaven."
"IT IS NOT!"
Hiei glanced up. "Chuu wouldn't touch your mother," he said flatly. "He's not suicidal." A pause. "Move your foot or give me the juice."
Yuusuke blinked down at him, then at the table he was standing on. "Er... ehehehe..." he laughed sheepishly, climbing down. Kuwabara swiped his letter back.
"Teme!"
Fortunately for the Gryffindor table, students, House points, and everyone's patience, the end-of-breakfast bell rang, cutting off the brewing scuffle. Students throughout the hall hurriedly scooped up bags and stuffed the last bites of food in their mouths, with those nearest the two Tantei moving slightly more quickly than everybody else.
As students began scurrying out the doors, on their way to class, one paused. Hermione leaned across the table and jabbed Kuwabara in the arm.
"Better get going now, you'll be late!" she warned. Her eyes flicked between the two. "And if you lose us any more points I will hex you myself."
That said, she threw her schoolbag over her shoulder, pivoted on her heel, and left.