Book of Shadows
Chapter 25 – Unforgivable
…
Time marched on like a weary soldier, slow, inexorable, inexorably slow. The holidays approached without the usual joy or cheer, no one was bothering with decorations. The shadows continued to come, and given the complexity of the Spirit snare spell, it was making its way into grimoires slowly, much too slowly.
The Spell eater continued to grow bolder, seen more and more, risking larger and larger targets. Some of the smarter students had started carrying weapons, daggers and clubs mostly, though one Slytherin was seen with a very fancy sword hanging off his belt. Several remarked it probably wasn't real, not with that many jewels on it.
He who opens the ways had been spotted as well; one particularly brave, or dumb, group of students had even approached it with intent to capture. This group did not include Ron or Harry and was not from Gryffindor which likely saved their lives. They were the first to witness a portal with their own eyes, followed by the things coming through that portal, followed by the hall receding very quickly behind them.
The small horde had been dealt with by Remus and Tonks who were, for reasons never explained, together at the time.
The failure of this group had not dissuaded the more courageous members of the school from hunting the portal maker, contrarywise it did nothing to help them find it either. His appearances coming seemingly at random was more of a discouragement than having to battle through hordes of shadows.
They were a fun bunch, no question.
Hermione, at Harry's request, had shifted her primary focus from formally completing the translation of the shadow runes, to concocting a plan to capture the Spell eater. Lavender and Parvati liked this because it meant they spent their time in the library, rather than the boring, empty runes classroom. It was only a minor improvement, but still an improvement.
"No, that won't work either!"
Mostly.
The book was shut with more force than necessary and shoved aside so the next one could be opened and voraciously devoured.
"You think she was always like this?" Lavender wondered in whisper.
"Makes you feel sorry for Harry and Ron, doesn't it," said Parvati.
Neither of the girls had seen Hermione when she was in research mode. It was similar to watching Ron eat when he was hungry. She did not merely read; she consumed the material. Finding what she needed, or not, and tossing the book aside to move on to the next course—I mean text.
One wouldn't judge them too harshly for cowering, anymore than one would judge them for cowering from a dragon. The differences were purely a circumstance of birth.
"Uh, Hermione?"
"What!"
Don't cower… don't cower, "Uh, so, whatcha doin?"
Hermione looked up from her book, giving the blonde a look that told her in no uncertain terms just how stupid her question was and precisely how stupid she was for asking it.
"Just asking."
"It shouldn't be that difficult to figure out," she said shortly. "We need to catch the Spell eater. I'm trying to find a way to do that."
"Won't one of our spells work?" asked Parvati.
"If he'd stay long enough to use them, which he won't."
"Oh, when you say catch, you mean like, physically catch."
"Was that not perfectly clear?"
"No."
Hermione stopped, briefly, "Oh."
"So, precisely, what are you trying to do?" Parvati continued, as Lavender just sat there pouting.
"I'm looking for something that can erect a temporary ward. A wall of some kind that will keep him from escaping."
"You mean like a magic wall?"
"Yes."
"But, wouldn't he just eat that?"
A cheeky cricket chirped amid the long pause where Hermione stared at her roommate. Her hands began to tremble then, abruptly, slammed the book closed with a furious boom.
"DAMMIT!"
"Uh, Hermione?"
"Of course, he would eat a magical barrier. It's so obvious. What was I thinking? Guuuuuuuuh!"
She went on like this for several minutes, berating herself for her lack of foresight, missing something so obvious; it was around the point she started saying things like "Snape was right, I am a dunderhead," that her roommates felt it necessary to cut her off.
"Hermione stop it!" said Parvati. "It was a simple mistake. There's no reason to go on and on like a two-year-old."
The sternness of her tone shocked the bushy-haired girl, as did being compared to a two-year-old, "Am not a two-year-old," she mumbled.
"I think we need a break," said Lavender.
"You would," Hermione griped, but Parvati was having none of it.
"She's right. Let's go for a walk. A little exercise, a little fresh air, a brand-new perspective. Come on."
"Aw, but I don't wanna," she moaned as they dragged her out of the library.
"Don't be such a baby," said Lavender. "It's just to clear your head."
Hers wouldn't be the only head. Half-way across the castle, Ron and Harry walked into the hospital wing. They did so on their own power, fully erect, leaving no trail of any kind. Obviously, they were not there to be treated, which made it quite an off day.
"Madam Pomphrey, you wanted to see us?" said Harry.
The medi-witch nodded, ushering them into her office, "It is a delicate matter," she began, putting both boys on high alert.
Neither one had done anything that would involve a 'delicate matter'; they were only fifteen after all, and girls were still a great mystery to them.
"It's about that young lady you brought in, the one that was attacked by the Spell eater."
Ooooooooooh!
"Is she awake?"
"At long last," she said. "I think her head injury is what prolonged it. She seems, mostly fine."
Ron smiled at the news, but Harry, every attentive to such things, latched on to the, "mostly fine?"
"That is the delicate matter," she said.
Uh oh.
"When I asked her to test her magic with a simple levitation charm, she looked at me like I was mad. It was as though she'd never heard of such a thing. At first, I was afraid she'd forgotten what magic was, but she assured me she remembered that. She knew she was a witch and why she was at Hogwarts.
"The problem became apparent when she opened the book. The first thirty of so pages were blank."
"Blank?"
"Yes. Having gone through my own grimoire I can safely say there are no blank pages."
The two boys nodded, the same was true of theirs.
"So, what happened?"
"I thought about that," she said. "At first I assumed it was somehow connected to her head injury, but then I remembered how you found her."
She let the statement hang, hoping they would catch it. Harry caught first.
"The Spell eater, he was sucking on her book!"
"Sucking on—you mean he sucked the spells out of her book?"
"That is my current assumption," she said. "Unless there were other parties involved we do not know about, I think it the most likely explanation."
The most likely explanation was horrible. It took a lot of work and practice to learn a spell; to be taken away so easily.
"I have already informed the headmaster and he agrees with my hypothesis. He also agrees that we should not spread this around, at least not until the Spell eater has been caught."
"But, shouldn't we warn…" Ron started.
"No!" said Harry, cutting him off. "If people knew this they'd panic. Panic would make them stupid and it would just make everything worse."
"Exactly so. They already know he is dangerous. Knowing this will not make them any more cautious than they already are."
"Well, yeah, I guess. But, why are you telling us then?"
"I understand the two of you are actively hunting the Spell eater. The headmaster personally requested I inform you."
"We need to find Hermione. See what she's got. Catching the Spell eater has just become top priority," said Harry.
Ron nodded agreement.
They were just about to excuse themselves when an urgent call of "Madam Pomphrey!" rushed into the office, followed by the medi-witch rushing out.
Ron and Harry followed, finding Neville staggering in under the weight of a barely conscious Lavender Brown. The two unconscious bodies floating along next to him were quickly directed into the nearest beds.
"Nev, what happened?" Ron asked, helping him with Lavender.
"They were attacked," he said. "They were all down when I showed up. I just barely chased him off."
"Chased him off?" that could only mean, "The Spell eater."
Neville nodded, "He was sucking on Parvati's book when I showed up. Banished a helmet into him."
"Nice one," Ron said.
Harry said nothing. Having seen the Indian girl laying in one bed, clutching her book to her chest, his eyes had wandered to the other and froze. It should have been obvious; Lavender and Parvati were supposed to be watching her. Perhaps his mind just hadn't wanted to think it, but it could not refute what his eyes were telling him.
In the other bed, lay Hermione, clutching her grimoire like a life preserver. It only took a moment before Ron saw her too.
"No! Not again."