### I have added a poll for my precious readers. It is available on my profile page. Now that the first part of the Trilogy is nearing its end (though there are quite a number of chapters still remaining), I am making certain decisions regarding the 2nd part of the trilogy, which shall deal with Harry's adventures of 4th year. Please vote and of course, review my story! Feel free to PM me with any suggestions for the story. Your reviews and suggestions works wonders for my muse.
Thanks,
Arcturus Peverell.
Dumbledore's Office, Hogwarts.
"Miss Granger! I am disappointed in you."
Albus Dumbledore, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock and Headmaster of Hogwarts sat in front of Hermione Granger in his office room. Surrounding her were his deputy Head McGonagall, Flitwick and Snape. Since 1960, he had been serving as Headmaster of this prestigious institution. Never in his entire career had he felt so disappointed with himself as he felt now. Even Tom Riddle, who grew up to become the fearsome and notorious Lord Voldemort, never committed any kind of atrocities so openly. As for the witches, Bellatrix Lestrange came to mind, and even she was Slytherin enough to commit herself into dark arts before leaving Hogwarts. And for an exemplary Gryffindor student like Miss Granger to do so, was completely incomprehensible.
"Headmaster, it was Ron and Malfoy who began the-"
"And you ended it. Am I right?" Dumbledore countered, his twinkling eyes gone and replaced by silent fury.
"I am completely crestfallen by your deeds, Miss Granger. You were one of the top students of your year, and for you to resort to torturing someone of your year is something completely unacceptable. Yes, Mr. Weasley may be said something worse and provocative to you, but that does not justify your actions. I have decided that you shall serve detention for the coming two months, and you shall openly apologize for your actions to Mr. Weasley."
At Hermione's sudden indignant look, he raised his hand and continued with a stern voice. "I am not finished Miss Granger. I have received letters from your parents, that you had run away from home during the holidays. Your change in countenance, your knowledge of at least one borderline dark curse and your considerable control over your intent over the dark curse casting proves my suspicions correct. I want to know... what did you do during the holidays, Miss Granger?"
"With all due respect Headmaster, I am afraid I have to deny your request," came Hermione's indignant reply. "What I do during my holidays is not your concern."
Albus Dumbledore laid back for a while, and flashed his twinkling blue eyes. With a silent albeit powerful foray, he sent a Legilimency attack towards Hermione's mindscape. Knowing her, it should be very easy to get the information out of her mind. What he did not expect were powerful shields that arose and defended the mindscape from his attack. In fact, his magical foray was completely obliterated from existence by the shields.
Those are not natural shields. What have you been up to Miss Granger?
He blanched as he was suddenly bombarded by a magical intent, only to recognize a moment later, that it was a Legilimency incursion from Hermione. He waited and deciphered the magic, and was surprised that it was a single thought. Hermione Granger had sent him a Legilimency message.
Keep out of my mind, Headmaster!
Albus Dumbledore sat up straight, looking at his student in the eye, whispered sternly.
"We will continue our discussion sometime else. Please leave, Miss Granger."
"If we must." Hermione countered, and stiffly walked out of the room.
"Albus? What is wrong?" Flitwick asked.
"I am afraid Miss Granger has been seduced by the Dark arts. Though how she could get access to the dark tomes, I have no idea. I have my own wards placed on the Restricted section, and she has not yet tripped them. I have no idea, although I will make some calls. Perhaps some of my connections in Diagon Alley had seen her during the holidays."
"That would be better." Minerva commented.
After Minerva and Filius left the office, only Snape remained.
"What are your thoughts, Severus?"
"I cannot comment, Headmaster." Snape commented slowly. "But I have to admit, it is quite a fathomless situation. I personally, never expected this happening."
"Look into the matter. Tell me if there are any advancements."
Severus nodded.
Walking out of the office, Severus thought to himself, about the sudden inconceivable events that were happening. First that anonymous letter leading Pettigrew to Harry's location, then Ron Weasley joining his godson's group of cronies, and now this. Severus hated not knowing, and things were happening completely beyond his knowledge. Somewhere there was a puppet master pulling the strings, and people were acting accordingly. Whoever this person was, it was not the Dark Lord. Lunatic or not, the Dark Lord would not obviously sign off his letter as "You-know-who". It was someone else, and Severus would be damned if he could not figure out who it was.
"Ah! Harry, come in, come in!" Flitwick welcomed Harry into his office.
"Good morning sir! I got your note." Harry replied back as he entered.
"I have some news about the tournament, so thought I should inform you." At Harry's nod, he continued, "The tournament would begin this oncoming July, and we need to travel to the main event at least a day before the tournament is supposed to begin. There are certain forms I need you to fill and certain norms and conditions I need to tell you about, but before all that, tell me about your progress."
"I am ready. Professor." Harry replied confidently.
"Indeed?" Filius countered, impressed with the confidence of his protégé. "Well, in that case, there are certain final touches that you need to arm yourself with. Such techniques will give you an edge in some battles, not that I have any dispute over your dexterity.
"shall we begin then, professor?"
Filius smirked. "Of course."
After what seemed to be a practice session for over an hour, Harry and Flitwick were both panting; said session had taken a lot out of their magical and physical stamina. Serving themselves with water, Harry asked.
"Say professor, would you know anything about what happened to Hermione?"
Filius sat down on the chair, his tiny hands gripping the edges a little more strongly than normal. Squeaking out in an oddly flushed voice, he replied, "Miss Granger had been taken to the Headmaster. She has been given detention and told to publicly apologize to Mr. Weasley. No matter what Mr. Weasley had told Miss Granger, her use of torture on him was not justified. Mr. Weasley, for all his faults, did not deserve that. He could have been seriously injured.
Yes, and that would be so terrible!
No matter what Hermione had done, Harry could not bring himself to support Weasley in this matter. The boy, who was once his best mate, had joined arms with Malfoy, and betrayed them. First Pettigrew, and now Ron. Harry wondered if it was a Grffindorish trait to betray one's own friends. After all, even Godric Gryffindor had not stood by Salazar when it mattered.
"I do not think Hermione took that nicely." He replied.
"No she didn't. I have never seen the Headmaster look so grave. Not even during the blood war, was his face so... solemn. It suddenly felt like the dotty old man had left, and the defeater of Grindelwald had entered the old man's shoes." Filius reminisced.
Hermione must have been into uncharted waters... dark magic surely, but what else? She was holding the curse with a focused intent, even one comparable to him. That was not possible, surely Hermione had not-
Bloody hell! She couldn't have had the awakening ritual done on her, could she?
Harry had read the rituals book cover to cover. There was no ritual that dealt with intent and focus, apart from the Sanguinis ritual. To get the information about them, there were only three tomes that could have provided her that. Salazar, for all his cynicism, was a prodigious scholar of magical history. Three books, the one on rituals by Evolette Eveningshade, a book which had only one copy and that belonged to Harry. The second book was the Secrets of the Darkest Art, and Salazar had mentioned that the school had a copy of the book somewhere in the restricted section, warded against students. And the third, Salazar had completely forbidden him from touching the third tome. Written in human blood on human skin as parchment, the tome was the nastiest creation on earth. There was absolutely no fucking way that Hermione Granger could have had access to Magic moste evile...
"Master!" Harry shouted as he entered the inner chamber.
"What has you in such trepidation, apprentice?"
"I want to know if any copies of the forbidden tome were available to public." Harry answered.
Salazar's countenance drifted into seriousness. "Why do you ask about it?"
"Because I fear that my friend Hermione has performed the Sanguinis ritual on herself. Where do you think a muggleborn would get access to the ritual?" Harry nearly shouted in exasperation.
Salazar sighed. "Yes. The forbidden tome of Magic moste evile has three copies worldwide. Written in human blood on human skin, the single most tome that contains the most atrocious alterations of magic, more than Secrets of the Darkest Art. One of the vilest creations over the centuries."
"You speak of the books as if they are evil. I mean, they are just books, right?" Harry asked.
"You cannot possibly think that after centuries of containing vile magic, the book won't be the slightest polluted by them. You are supposed to be more sensible than that, descendant."
"Understood."
"And you say this girl may have access to one of those copies?"
Harry nodded.
"Let her be. Under no circumstances, are you to come in close contact with the tome or with anyone under direct influence of that tome."
What?
"Hermione is my friend." He argued.
"Some friend she was, to try and potion you." Salazar countered.
"But still-" Harry could not find anything else to refute with.
"You will not. That is a direct order."
Harry nodded. "You know, I never thought I would see the day when you would force me to act against my own beliefs." Harry replied back, disappointment lingering in his voice.
Salazar sighed exasperatedly. "It is for your own good, Harry. You do not know the complete facts yet, but trust me, this is for the best. You cannot help her. Not now. Taking that tome away from her hands will complicate matters, not solve them. Your own magical core at this moment is in a state of flux right now, and I will be damned before I let the essence of that tome pollute you. Hate me if you will, I do not care."
Salazar faded into a mist and disappeared.
"Well... I wasn't expecting that to happen!" Harry said to nobody, standing alone in the Chamber.
The little girl walked up to the girl's bathroom on the second floor. Looking around and finding no one there, she stood in front of the taps and hissed. The taps glowed blue for a second and then, became normal. Her eyes narrowed. She hissed again, this time with a more powerful intent hanging over her command. The taps glowed again, and once again, returned back to normal.
Something was wrong. The taps were not working. The taps should have opened with virtually any Parseltongue command to open. But it was not working. Surely Dumbledore could not have changed the password to something specific. That required a Parseltongue.
Potter. Potter could have done it. But why would Potter care about changing the password of the Chamber? Potter wasn't knowledgeable enough to do that. Had Dumbledore asked him to help him change the password? Could be possible, but it was mere speculation. There was no way Dumbledore could be made to reveal the truth. Knowing him, he might have even obliviated Potter of the fact that the password was changed. A bad course of action. She would have to work without the Chamber's help and domain. It would be difficult, but when had difficulty stopped her from achieving anything? At least she could use the Room of Requirement. Her first pawn was ready. The next would soon follow. And soon, she would be unstoppable.
A day would come when every witch or wizard would fear to speak my name out...
She smirked.