Hi everyone!
This chapter is a bit shorter and the next one will probably be too. I could've merged them together but I didn't want one chapter to be too long.
Anyway, I hope you will love it too!
Paralyzed in the little corridor leading to the cells, Jack could only watch as Hermione screamed in agony, though he couldn't understand why. The knife hasn't hurt her! Or maybe she was devastated by the death of the little creature. Whatever the reason was, something was wrong! She was shaking violently and screaming like she was being tortured, then it all stopped abruptly. She got up slowly and turned a dark red gaze towards him. Never in his life had the young wizard saw anything like that.
"What are you?" He spat, taking out his wand.
Hermione didn't answer, just looked at him with a blank expression.
"Bombarda Maxima!" He yelled.
Raising her left hand quickly in front of her, she blocked the spell easily.
Eyes wide in shock, the wizard couldn't believe his eyes. Without wand or incantation, she deflected his spell. She was out of control, he needed to stop her now!
"Avada Kedavra!"
His smile grew wide. This unforgivable curse was unstoppable, as soon as it touches its target, this latter dies. Just before the curse reaches her, Hermione vanished into blue flames.
Panicked, Jack looked everywhere around him. The corridor was empty.
Hermione emerged behind his back from the same blue flames. Sensing her presence, Jack turned around but was too slow as Hermione grabbed him by the throat and lifted him in the air, her powers making her ten times stronger. Squirming in her grip, all coherent thoughts left his mind as the air left his lungs.
"Please!" He begged.
Tilting her head, she had an empty look in her eyes. Before he realized, she snapped his neck in one swift movement before throwing his body away. Staring at her hands, she couldn't help but growl. She wasn't satisfied. He was just a pawn, useless and too easy to eliminate. His death didn't change her situation. If she wanted to be free, she needed more powers. Knowing where she could find more powers, she vanished into her blue flames.
She appeared in one of the corridors of Hogwarts, one she knew by heart.
"I knew you'd come here. After all, you were my favourite student," McGonagall said behind her.
Without turning, Hermione replied. "You knew me, a long time ago."
"Yet you're still the same."
A sly smile on her face, Hermione turned towards her former teacher. "Not anymore!"
A hand over her heart, McGonagall looked at her with wide eyes. "What happened to you?"
"I grew up. And I am tired of letting someone else dictate my life. I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."
A melancholic smile grew on McGonagall's face. "William Ernest Henley. Your favourite poet." She paused, glancing at the door behind Hermione. "You know I can't let you go in there."
"I'm not asking for permission."
"I knew you'd say that," she replied, lifting her hand. Soon after, all of Hermione's former teachers entered the corridor with a few students.
"Looks like the Ministry is expending the number of its pawns."
"I don't want to hurt you, but you need help."
Bending her head on the side, she sent her a quizzical look. "If that was true, you'd help me destroy the Ministry, not try to stop me!"
"By stopping you we are helping you. That anger is gonna destroy you, just like it did to Tom."
Frowning at that, the little group could feel Hermione's anger growing as well as her powers. "Do not compare me to him!"
Taking their wands out, the teachers and their students got ready for the battle. The teachers were looking at the young witch with a mix of determination and sadness in their eyes, while their student looked terrified. Hermione's pupils were barely visible, hidden behind a dark red cloak, symbol of the burning anger that consumed her.
The silence was so thick, so intense that a young Gryffindor launched the first attack with a spell Hermione redirected against a Slytherin. Right after, teachers and students launched spells, but the young woman used her newfound powers to dodge them with grace or deflect them. Sometimes, she vanished into blue flames to appear behind someone and, with one punch, sending them flying in the air.
After a minute, Hermione got tired. She appeared in front of someone and grabbed him by the throat.
"Stop! Or I snap his neck!" Hermione yelled.
Everyone in the corridor froze in shock. They knew she was ready to fight for her life, but never had they really imagined she would actually kill someone.
"Mrs. Granger!" Yelled McGonagall.
"Stop fighting me or I won't hold back anymore." She tightened her grip on the Ravenclaw's throat to prove her point.
"But how many people will die if I let you walk that door?"
"I don't know, but one thing's for sure if you stand in my way, you will die too. Think hard professor, you're no match for me!"
Frozen, the new headmistress looked at her colleagues and young students lying on the floor, hurt or unconscious. Fortunately, no one was dead. They were supposed to stop Hermione from having access to the dark arts grimoire, but even they couldn't stop her. They could fight a lethal battle against her, but she knew they would lose. Putting her wand down, she silently gave up. Her colleagues and student mirrored her action.
Hermione waited a few more seconds before letting go of the Ravenclaw. She turned toward the door and raised a right hand, sending a shockwave that made the door explode. She walked into the library with firm steps, knowing exactly where to find the restricted area. Once she arrived in front of the locked entrance, she put her hand on the wooden door and focused. Every student stupid enough to try to open this door ended up in the hospital wing, underestimating the powerful force field protecting it.
The door illuminated itself, reacting to the sudden attack. Hermione flinched under the force of the barrier but held on. Jaw clenched, she growled under the pressure. The more it resisted, the angrier she became. With one last push, she destroyed the barrier in a loud explosion, making her fly backwards against a shelf.
Getting up slowly, Hermione had to gather all her will to keep on moving. Using a small amount of her power, she chose some books and moved them onto a table. With a flick of her hand, she opened them. Taking a deep breath, she buried her hands inside the open books, letting their magic words making their way across her skin, up to her eyes. As the last lines disappeared in her eyes, they darkened even more and became dark black.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"Is this a sick game to you?!" Remus yelled, still on his knees. "Let us go!"
Sophia looked at him, a stern expression on her face.
"It can be seen as a game, one where you established the rules." She paused and smiled to herself. "But I didn't see you complain when you handed us that newspaper."
Ioan smirked at the comment, remembering all too well how confident and disrespectful they were at the time.
"This isn't a game!" Remus yelled. "My Ministry is in danger and you keep us here because we hurt your feelings? How selfish!"
"You better watch what you say Lupin!" Ioan replied. "Your Ministry started this when he forced a marriage on a woman who'd rather kill herself with cyanide than comply."
Harry and Ron suddenly looked down, remembering all too well when Ginny stole Hermione's cyanide seed. Their heart stopped at that moment, realizing they had been close to losing their best friend.
"I'm just a messenger. I obey the orders."
"And that's why you're staying here. You can't even think for yourself."
"Please." Remus pleaded, eyes closed.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Ioan glared at the man. "Can't believe they sent you after her. You're on your knees and already begging for your freedom, how pathetic! Even when her whole country was against her, Hermione never begged."
"Take them away!" Sophia demanded.
The Bulgarian wizards were about to take their prisoners when a red-haired man apparated in front of them and fell on his knees. His face was covered in blood, but his wounds seemed superficial.
"Dad!" Ron cried. "What happened?"
Ioan and Sophia looked at the man who they considered as an enemy but decided to help him and tend to his wounds.
"Hermione happened!" Arthur simply replied.
The name got everyone to freeze in shock, fearing to admit that she did that to the man.
"Can you be clearer?" Ioan asked.
Arthur got lost in the memories of what just happened, remembering Hermione, the explosions and that hatred he saw in her eyes.
"Arthur! What happened?" Remus asked.
"She destroyed everything." He replied in a low voice, visibly still in shock. "A part of me wants nothing more than to believe it wasn't Hermione who did this, but I can't…"
"What are you talking about?" Sophia asked.
"I looked in her eyes and didn't recognize her. There was so much hatred in her eyes, and it's all because of us."
"I hope you're happy with the results!" Sophia spat.
Arthur, still deep in thoughts, didn't reply, just mumbled. "There was something wrong about her."
While Ioan and Sophia shook their heads, thinking he was just dumbfounded by the fact a young witch destroyed a whole Ministry by herself, Viktor, immensely worried about her, kneeled in front of the man.
"Something's wrong." He repeated.
"Arthur! Focus! What was wrong with Mina?"
The patriarch of the Weasley family looked up, a terrified expression on his face. "She was too powerful!"
Taking his remark as an insult about the young woman, Sophia was quick to defend her. "She has more power than you imagine, Mr. Weasley."
Shaking his head vigorously, Arthur answered. "No, you don't understand! Her magic is powerful, but there was something about it… Darkness! Too much to be caused by anger alone."
This time, the whole Krum family listened carefully.
"Where did you take her?" Viktor asked Remus.
The Auror hesitated before answering. "To Hogwarts!"
Eyes wide, Sophia freed the Aurors one by one, mumbling curses under her breath. "Take us there! Now!"
Reluctantly, Remus, Harry, Ron, Tonks and Arthur took the hand of a Krum family before apparating to Hogwarts. They landed in the library.
"Why are we here?" Viktor asked.
His mom was about to reply but Remus was quicker. "If your mother's hunch is correct, then it all started here."
"What started here?" Viktor asked.
Sophia told her son to wait and hope that she was wrong while they kept on searching through the library. After a few good minutes, they all saw debris at the end at the back of the library and a big hole in a wall. The small wooden pieces proved to everyone that a door previously stood there. On the other side was a small room with two shelves. In between these shelves, books rested on a table, lit by a candle.
Approaching the table slowly, Sophia flipped through the blank pages. Closing her eyes, she sighed in defeat.
"What's wrong, mom?" Viktor asked.
Sophia slowly turned around and faced her youngest son. "I'm afraid we can't help her anymore."
"What do you mean?"
She pointed out the books with her head. "You see this?"
Viktor approached and nodded.
"These are dark art books."
Frowning at the comment, Viktor wondered out loud. "Why are they all blank?"
Giving her son a sympathetic smile, she put a hand on his cheek. "I'm sorry Viktor, but I think we lost her."
Taking a step back, the young man looked around. Every adult in the room lowered their gaze to the floor, understanding Sophia's silent message.
"You didn't answer my question!"
Sighing deeply, she pointed the grimoires with her finger. "These books have been deprived of their magic. Somebody absorbed it."
"So what? Hermione absorbed the books' powers! We didn't lose her!"
Closing her eyes, she tried to come up with a way of telling her son the truth but Ioan intervened.
"Viktor, dark magic isn't something you can control, it is something that controls you by using your weaknesses. Right now, Hermione is consumed by darkness, and there is no way back for her now." Seeing his son shaking his head, he added. "Hermione knew that when she came here."
Jaw clenched, Viktor looked back and forth between the books and his father. "If she absorbed their magic, I'm sure there's a way to put it back in them."
Shaking his head, Ioan refuted his son's theory. "It doesn't work like that. Why do you think every country hides its black arts grimoires? Because once you use them, you're lost."
"Then how do we stop her?"
Staying silent, his father just held his gaze, but Viktor knew perfectly what he had in mind. Shaking his head he tried to tell him he couldn't, in vain.
"You don't have a choice Viktor. Remember how I told you we would use it as a last resort? This is it!"
Focused on their conversation, the two men didn't notice the rest of the family getting closer to them. Now that he took his environment in, he realized something. "Where are the British?"
Turning around, the whole family realized the Aurors have left.
"Where are they?"
Sophia looked at her husband. "They went to kill her!"
