To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice.
-Confucius
Silence.
Silence was the first thing Hermione noticed the moment she apparated to Hogsmede and emerged from a run-down alleyway behind the Hog's Head. Normally a blustering and busy village full of eager children peering into the frosty windows of Honeydukes and laughing couples and friends sauntering into the Three Broomsticks; the stillness of the cool mid morning air in Hogsmede startled her.
Breathing deeply after her passionate impromptu kiss in the rain with Draco, Hermione suddenly noticed that it was too cold. Granted, it was well into the winter season and snow was adorning the sides of the narrow alleyway - along with the obvious fact that she was still reasonably wet from the tumultuous storm back at Muron Castle; Hermione couldn't help but feel the strange coldness of the bitter air seep into her very bones.
Dementors, she thought ruefully to herself.
Casting a quick drying spell with a deft flick of her wand, Hermione rounded the corner of the Hog's Head to see a virtually empty Hogsmede.
Eyes gazing over the little village in a dawning horror, Hermione looked out at what appeared to be a ghost town. The windows to every shop were darkened - the doors to every establishment - closed. And Hermione realized with a sudden certainty that if it would have been nightfall, the Hogsmede that was before her would have taken on a very frightening aura.
Hermione looked to the skies for any sign of Dementors, but when all that she saw were darkened clouds gathering loudly - concocting what would surely be a fearsome storm; she cautiously moved up a narrow pathway that led out of Hogsmede and toward the Shrieking Shack.
The trek was slightly uphill and somewhat exhausting. Still not fully recovered from her adventures beneath the cove in France only the night before, Hermione breathed heavily as the visible mist that was her breath permeated the still briskness of the air. Rounding a fork in the trail, Hermione saw the intimidating walls of the Shrieking Shack in the distance.
"Death Eaters are scouring the Forbidden Forest as we speak..." Snape had said. Of that, Hermione had no doubt. So, without the asset of Harry's invisibility cloak that she had so come to rely upon in adventures past, Hermione determined the best way to get to Hogwarts would be through the Shrieking Shack. It would greatly diminish the time she would have to spend walking by the Forest and offered the advantage of being remote, undeniably frightening, and Hermione hoped - completely deserted.
With one final loud breath, Hermione came over the slight incline that leveled off in front of the shack. Eying the exterior suspiciously with one furrowed brow, she brandished her wand.
"Homenum Revelio!" She whispered softly as she waited for the spell to take effect - revealing if there were any humans within the shack or the nearby vicinity.
When Hermione felt no such sensation - relief immediately washed over her and she turned at a right angle to find the entrance of the shack.
As she rounded the west wall of the structure, Hermione was grateful that her footprints alone in the aged, crunching snow were the only thing that seemed to have recently disturbed the area. Crouching to peer through a broken window that was ground level, Hermione squinted into the shadowy interior. Shuddering slightly, she backed away with haste and made for the front entrance - which turned out to be a dingy door barely hanging on one hinge.
Wand at the ready, Hermione hesitantly pushed the dilapidated door forward as it made a great groaning sound - allowing a small entrance to the interior. Swallowing heavily, Hermione ducked below a wooden beam that had evidently fallen from some rafter above and lodged itself in the entryway. As she crossed over the would be 'threshold', Hermione silently lighted her wand as she struggled to remember the exact location of the underground passageway that led to the grounds of Hogwarts and the infamous Whomping Willow.
Each step Hermione took created a loud creaking noise beneath her feet - and with each step, she felt her heart nearly hitch up in her throat.
Calm. Stay calm.
You cast the spell - you know that no one is in here with you.
Well, no humans, anyway.
It's just a creepy old building - nothing more; nothing less.
And Hermione flashed briefly back to the last time she was in the Shrieking Shack - in her third year.
I wasn't this frightened then, and I'm a bloody Auror now.
Of course, Harry had been with her then.
And though Hermione was usually the brains of whatever operation they were embarking on, Harry always seemed to be the one in control.
Gryffindor courage, Hermione thought as she came to the top of a very precarious looking stairwell.
Squaring her shoulders and taking a deep breath, Hermione took a tentative step on the ledge below. Tapping it gently with her foot before leaning on it with the full force of her weight, Hermione slowly lowered her left leg so that she was completely standing on the steps that descended deeper into the shack.
With care and precision, Hermione checked each of the stairs with one foot before venturing further below onto the next step. About midway down the stairs, a rustling sound below caused Hermione to step down heavily with a start. The abrupt pressure of her weight on the frail step generated a sharp crack as Hermione's leg went fully through the wood. Shrieking loudly as she fell through the hole in the step, Hermione managed to grab a hold of the next step in succession that was now above her - dropping her wand to the ominous basement below, along with the wood and dust that was settling somewhere beneath her.
Hermione had heard when her wand clattered toward the ground. As a million different thoughts of panic were frantically pulsing through her brain, she managed to focus on that one point. It was a good couple of seconds before she heard her wand collide with the ground. That, in turn, meant for Hermione that she had a pretty good fall ahead of her if she let go.
Damn.
As her upper arms began to tremble with the strain of trying to pull herself up over the step, Hermione suddenly felt a rush a cold air and a sense of despair and hopelessness that was almost physically painful. With a dawning of a dreadful realization, Hermione stifled a small gasp.
There was a Dementor in the Shrieking Shack.
And then, she could actually feel it's presence as it hovered above her - greedily taking away her joyful memories. A deep inhuman noise sounded beside her, and with a new shock wave of horror, Hermione realized that there were two of them.
Struggling already as she was, Hermione knew that she did not have the strength to hang onto the step with one arm and summon her wand. So with a silent prayer in her head, Hermione closed her eyes and let go of the ledge.
One.
Two.
Hermione counted as a rush of air caused her stomach to do a enthusiastic back flip before she crashed violently to the floor. Groaning loudly as she pulled her knees to her chest, Hermione didn't have time to focus on her throbbing legs. The Dementors had already descended upon her and were now so close to her prone form that Hermione could have literally reached up and grabbed their cloaks.
Feeling around frantically on the ground around her, Hermione groped helplessly for her wand. As she felt the despair from the Dementors increase with each passing second, she urged herself forward in the dark, scrambling on her hands and bruised knees - desperately searching for her wand. And just as the Dementor's hold became nearly unbearable - the despair and hopelessness nearly as overwhelming as when Ron had been killed, Hermione's right hand nudged a familiar object.
In one swift movement, Hermione rolled onto her back, pointed her wand at her attackers, and shouted loudly as she thought of her kiss with Draco in the rain, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
A blinding, brilliant light filled the entire expanse of the shack's pitch-black interior as Hermione's silver otter burst forth from her wand and chased after the two Dementors with such vicious haste that the attackers immediately fled.
Panting softly on the dusty ground, Hermione lifted up her cloak and robes to observe her legs. As she shone the light from her wand on the area, she could clearly see a nasty purple bruise was already beginning to form on the left shin - just below the knee. There were a few minor abrasions from the loose wood. Cursing loudly, Hermione stood on shaky legs and took a few tentative steps in the darkness. Other than the slight throbbing sensation that was coursing through her calves, she ascertained that she could walk without causing significant incident.
Hermione took in a panoramic view of the basement area as she shone her wand ahead of her. A few meters forward and just to the right lay the darkened tunnel that led to the Whomping Willow. Relief washed over her as she made her way over to the tunnel - looking cautiously behind her for any sign of a repeat appearance of either one of the Dementors.
With one final glance over her shoulder at the Shrieking Shack, Hermione ducked her head and strode through the tunnel's entrance.
A lot more cramped than the last time, Hermione thought ruefully as she ducked lower still and nearly crawled around a sharp bend. Of course, the last time she had been in this tunnel, she was thirteen years old - and hadn't even begun to grow. Suppressing a small smile, Hermione thought of how back in those days she had been slightly taller than Harry.
A small squeak from a rat near her feet pulled Hermione out of her reverie. Pointing her wand at the putrid vermin, Hermione couldn't help but think - with a great shudder - of Wormtail.
He's dead, though.
Keep moving.
Stepping over the foul beast, Hermione continued through the low tunnel for several moments without incident. The length of the tunnel seemed much longer than she recalled. With every bend she rounded, Hermione felt certain that she would see the steps leading up to the Whomping Willow. But each bend seemed to lead to another straight stretch of walking that lead to another bend. After what seemed like several hours, Hermione finally rounded a bend that opened up into a larger circumference and just ahead of her - Hermione saw the rocky steps that led out of the earth and into fresh air.
Finally.
Slowly climbing the make shift steps, Hermione pocketed her wand to grab onto a rocky ledge as she hoisted herself up and out of the tunnel.
Immediately, Hermione knew she was in the right place.
With a great groan, the Whomping Willow that was just above her seemed to spring to life. Reaching into her cloak, Hermione brandished her wand and casually flicked it up toward the tree.
"Immobulus!"
The massive tree shuddered slightly, and then stilled itself as Hermione walked from beneath it's shade and into the open.
Hermione wasn't sure how long she had been in the tunnel - but the storm clouds that had been brewing when she had left Hogsmede looked as though they were ready to burst open at any second. With a quick glance at the Forbidden Forest, Hermione's senses kicked into overdrive as she strode toward Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
It was when the massive iron gate was in view and she had sent her Patronus to Minerva McGonagall that Hermione saw shadows emerging from the Forest. Glancing over her shoulder, Hermione saw five - no - six, Death Eaters striding up the hill toward her. With no sign of McGonagall at the gate, Hermione turned to face the Death Eaters - wand over her head in attack position.
Before a particularly tall Death Eater even had time to finish ascending the mound of earth several meters from where Hermione stood, a red stunning spell hit him square in the chest - sending him rolling precariously the way in which he had come.
Hermione stood like a warrior in battle - hair blowing furiously around her as the heavens broke open and the rain began to fall. Her wand was poised threateningly ahead of her as the Death Eater continued to roll back wards.
Two other Death Eaters were coming at her from the east, and without uttering a word, Hermione sent her wand into a complicated movement as an eruption of light shot from the weapon, causing both Death Eaters to freeze on the spot and fall to the earth.
The rain was now pouring down in frantic intervals, melting what was left of the snow.
As the remaining three Death Eaters approached Hermione, stumbling on the newly slippery grounds; Hermione strode towards them with purpose and with three quick flicks of her wrist, sent full body binding curses on each of them.
Not a single Death Eater had retaliated or fired one curse at her.
That was too easy, Hermione thought with concern as she took several deep breaths.
At that very moment, Minerva McGonagall came running from the length of the castle, wand drawn with a very angry looking Filch jogging behind her.
"Hermione!" Minerva shouted, as she finally reached the gate and undid the wards.
Hermione rushed toward the elder witch and quickly embraced her, "Minerva - I'm so glad you're here."
"Where have you been?" McGonagall demanded sternly, as she pulled back to look at Hermione, "Potter said that there hasn't been a sign of you for - Oh my goodness!"
And McGonagall gently pushed Hermione to the side as she stepped out from around her to observe the fallen Death Eaters that were strewn precariously across the grounds.
"What happened?"
Hermione firmly grasped the older witch's upper arms as she steered her towards the castle, "I don't have much time to explain," Hermione began, "Those Death Eaters have been hiding in the Forbidden Forest - the moment I sent my Patronus to you, they made their appearance."
Minerva turned around towards Filch, who was idly standing by the prone body of the nearest Death Eater, kicking him roughly in the side.
"Yes," Minerva replied, "Hagrid made us aware of their moments and we have since barricaded the students in the castle. Hogsmede has been completely evacuated, but we've been too worried to risk moving the children. The Order has been preoccupied with a sudden onslaught of Death Eaters at the Ministry..." she trailed off before she addressed Filch, "Argus! Please stay here and keep an eye on them - I will send Professors Flitwick and Lupin down to assist you."
"Remus is here?" Hermione asked incredulously; completely forgetting his post as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
"Yes," Minerva replied as she continued towards the castle, "Although on and off - his being head of the Order of the Phoenix greatly minimizes the time he spends here at Hogwarts - not to mention - it seems as though he and Potter have taken on a little project together...he's generally only here for classes," she concluded with obvious disapproval in her voice.
"Headmistress," Hermione said as she followed McGonagall through the main gates of the castle, "I need to get into the Chamber of Secrets."
McGongall stopped dead in her tracks, causing Hermione to nearly walk right into her, as she turned around and looked at her former favorite student with evident confusion.
"The Chamber of Secrets? But whatever for? Is that why the Death Eaters have been watching Hogwarts?" She demanded as she put her hands on her narrow hips in a manner that would have even sent Molly Wealsey running. "How is it that no one in the Order knows of this?"
"Headmistress, please...I don't have time to explain. And no - I think that those Death Eaters out there were specifically after me..." Hermione trailed off before regaining her thoughts, "It was odd, though - they didn't even seem to put up a fight..."
Minerva looked at Hermione as though she had just pronounced the wrong answer in class, "Why would those Death Eaters be after you, Hermione?"
Because Voldemort knows that I can do wandless magic and he thinks a formal introduction is in order.
"I'm not exactly sure...but I have to get into the Chamber," Hermione lied as she walked through the main corridor and began to scale the stairway that led to Moaning Murtle's bathroom.
"Hermione Granger!" Minerva shouted with authority, "You be careful! Do you understand? I don't care if your an Auror or not - look after yourself!"
Hermione paused to look back at Hogwarts's Headmistress. "Yes, Headmistress, I will," she replied with a shaky smile, "I'll hurry as fast as I can."
And with that, she turned on her heels and was off.
When Hermione finally burst through the doors that led to Moaning Murtle's bathroom, a new wave of fear hit her like a ton of bricks.
What if I can't open the Chamber?
Hermione had shown her confidence in the manner when she had suggested her idea to Snape, but here alone in Hogwarts, her long suppressed doubts were resurfacing.
Just as she turned to the sink to mutter the password, a loud shriek came from one of the stalls as Moaning Murtle floated out from underneath the door, hands in her face - crying.
"Murtle?" Hermione asked, tentatively.
"Oh! It's horrible, it's just horrible!" Murtle wailed as she continued to cover her face.
Hermione walked cautiously over to Murtle and raised an eyebrow, "Murtle, what's horrible? Please, it's me - Hermione Granger. Do you remember me from when I went to school here?"
At Hermione's mention of her name, Murtle uncovered her face and glided over to where Hermione stood, "Oh yes!" she said an extremely high pitched voice, "I remember! I remember everything! You and that handsome dark haired boy and the boy with ginger hair were here - I remember!"
Hermione nodded, "Yes, that's right; Harry and Ron," Hermione said without a second thought, "But Murtle...I'm going down in the Chamber, so could...er... you maybe keep it down just a bit?"
At that request, Murtle set into a whole new fit of sobs as she covered her face and flew around the bathroom, "But there is someone already down there! And every time the Chamber is opened - something bad happens! Look at me! That's why I'm dead!" She shrieked before she returned to her position in front of Hermione.
"Wait! Murtle..." Hermione began frantically, as she very nearly tried to grab the translucent girl. "Someone is down there? Right now? Who's down there, Murtle? Please - this is extremely important."
Between sobs, Murtle managed a shaky, "...red eyes...there were red eyes!!..."
Hermione, who was desperately trying to comfort the crying ghost, stood rigid and erect at Murtle's revelation.
Red eyes?
Impossible.
Harry had told her that Voldemort had red eyes - slits, really - but red nonetheless.
But how could Voldemort have gotten into the castle without anyone else knowing?
It couldn't be...
It was impossible...
Hermione felt a chill run down the length of her spine as she subconsciously clutched her wand even tighter.
Murtle was still having a fit and went through one the stalls as she continued to wail.
Shaking with a fear that Hermione was quite sure she had never before experienced in her life, she turned toward the sink - swallowed loudly, and made the same hissing sound Harry had done when he opened Slytherin's locket.
It only took two tries.
The sink groaned and shifted loudly, folding in on itself as it revealed a dark pit that led to the Chamber of Secrets.
Peering over the edge of the dark hole, Hermione closed her eyes.
Courage. Gryffindor courage.
You can end this.
Right here - right now.
Singlehandedly, you can bring about Voldemort's demise.
Slowly opening her eyes, Hermione again peered into the black abyss. Shining her wand into the pit, she still could not see how far away the ground was.
How did Harry and Ron get down there in the first place?
And then a thought struck her.
She almost had to physically restrain herself from smacking her forehead with her hand - she felt so foolish.
Carefully pocketing her wand, Hermione closed her eyes. A moment later when she opened them, she stood on all fours - as a griffin.
Her griffin eyesight was infinitely better than her human eyesight. Sticking her great head into the pit, her keen eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could make out the floor - some forty meters down.
Taking one last glance to see if Murtle had emerged from the bathroom stall, Hermione dove head-first into the Chamber of Secrets.
The circumference of the pit that led to the ground below was narrow - nearly like a wishing well. Not until there were only ten meters left to fall, (where the Chamber widened immensely), did Hermione spread her massive wings - pounding them furiously as they gracefully lowered her to the ground.
The moment her razor-sharp claws touched ground, Hermione transformed back to her human form and brandished her wand - pointing it in front her on the defensive.
But aside from the sounds the rats were making as they crawled over a rather disturbing pile of bones - the Chamber was silent.
Cautiously, Hermione ventured forward, her lighted wand shakily leading the way - causing the light to play off the barrel vaults in the Chamber at odd angles.
Ok. Harry said the Basalisk was killed in a massive atrium with water.
Hermione looked around the Chamber in confusion. There were tunnels that led in every direction - making it impossible to decide which one take.
With shaking hands, Hermione turned to the first tunnel on her left and followed it for several moments to a dead end.
Returning to her original starting place, Hermione took the first tunnel on the right - only to come to the same result.
A dead end.
Why do they have to call it a 'dead end', anyway?
Feeling more annoyance than fear at this point, Hermione walked further down the main tunnel before venturing off to a side tunnel on her left. As she rounded a bend, she nearly screamed out in fear as she stumbled upon what she realized was a giant snake skin.
Disgusting.
How has this not decomposed yet?
Pressing forward, Hermione began reciting facts aloud about the Basalisk as she continued down the tunnel in a vain attempt to calm her nerves.
"...can live over one hundred years..."
"...can kill you by looking straight in the eye..."
"...the males have a red making on their chest..."
"...spiders flee from it..."
"Ouch!"
Hermione was brought out of her reciting as her foot caught a protuberance in the tunnel. Stepping carefully over the raised piece of stone, Hermione looked up to see an opening in the distance. As her heart began racing in her chest, Hermione splashed through the ankle deep water as she hurried to the opening. Once she walked through the archway and turned to her left, her jaw nearly dropped.
Before her - unlike any description Harry could have ever given, was the main atrium in the Chamber of Secrets.
A narrow pathway led to a gigantic statue of a man's head. Parallel to the pathway were stone statues of enormous snakes - presumably Basalisks. They had raised necks and heads coming out of the water in an illusion that made Hermione feel very much as if the statues were in striking position of whomever was walking along the path.
And up ahead - remarkably, unbelievably, was the body of the Basalisk.
With widened eyes and a new sense of determination, Hermione sprinted as fast as her aching legs would allow until she stood and hovered over the once great beast.
The morbid sight of a slightly decomposing creature should have probably frightened her - but the only thing on Hermione's mind were the creature's fangs. The yellow, knife sized daggers were clearly visible in the beast's somewhat parted mouth. Bending over, Hermione hesitantly reached her left hand forward and wrapped her fingers around the nearest fang as she pulled up with all her strength.
The fang did not budge.
Brandishing her wand, Hermione pointed it at the Basalisk's fang and whispered, "Accio Basalisk Fang!"
Shockingly, in one rapid moment, all of the Basalisk fangs dislodged themselves from the creature's rotting gums and flew towards Hermione's wand. A second had barely passed as she screamed loudly and covered her head.
An eerie high pitched chuckle from directly behind her caused Hermione's blood to freeze and her eyes to snap open.
"Have you ever heard the phrase, 'think before you act', Miss Granger?" asked a shrill voice.
Heart pounding furiously in her chest as though it were a frightened animal trying to escape its cage, Hermione drew her wand to her side and clutched it tightly.
Turning around with more speed that she truly thought she was capable, Hermione whirled around, pointed her wand at the tall figure she knew to be Lord Voldemort and shouted, "EXPELLIARMUS!"
Voldemort, surprised by the intensity and speed of the spell, managed to block Hermione's curse a millisecond before it came into contact with his emaciated looking body.
Black robes swirling around his ghastly white skin, Voldemort calmly waved his wand and before Hermione knew anything else, her wand was in the hand of the darkest wizard of all time.
Voldemort's presence was overwhelming. Tall, snake-like in his precise movements, he appeared strictly forbidding - and his eyes - the red eyes were too terrifying to look at directly.
"It seems," Voldemort began quietly - as though he were striking up a conversation with an old friend, "...that you have taken the route of one, Harry Potter. And while I have always dismissed your dear friend Potter, as having nothing more than an overwhelming dose of luck on his side, " he spat Harry's name with obvious vehemence and disgust, "It is quite clear to me that you are infinitely more powerful than the dear 'Boy Who Lived'."
Hermione stood staring dumbly at the dark wizard without knowing what to say or do.
And what does one say to Voldemort?
And so she said the first - albeit not the smartest thing, that came to her mind.
"Go to Hell."
She awaited for the retaliation that was sure to come - a scream, a curse, a hex - anything. But Voldemort stood and eyed her with something of a look of admiration on his face - if that were at all conceivably possible.
And then, in an almost disgusting manner, and thin smile appeared on his sinister lips.
"You have more passion and fire in you than most," Voldemort said as he took a step closer to Hermione - causing her, in turn, to take a step back, "And though your blood is tainted...I still have a use for you."
Anger flashed across Hermione's eyes as she involuntarily took a step forward and shook her index finger at him, "And you would know all about what it means to have 'tainted' blood, wouldn't you, Tom? Last I checked you had the same muggle blood flowing through your veins as I do," Hermione spat.
Whether at the use of his given name, or the comment of his lack of being a Pureblood, Hermione wasn't exactly sure - but Voldemort strode forward - completely thunderous. Without a break in momentum, he grabbed Hermione by the front of her cloak, and with surprising strength - lifted her into the air.
"You think that using that name will give you power over me?" Voldemort hissed as his terrifying red eyes flashed just inches from Hermione's face. "Dumbledore thought it would be a great deterrence to me as well...and where is the old fool now?"
"Dead," he concluded shrilly after several moments - his crimson eyes boring into Hermione's frighted toffee ones.
Swallowing as best as she was able with Voldemort's grip on her throat, Hermione slowly met his eyes with determination, "Dead by the hand of a man whom you thought to be your servant these many years," she spat and swallowed again, "Even in death...Dumbledore triumphs."
And then Voldemort did the last thing that Hermione would have ever expected him to do.
He slapped her straight across the face.
No curse - no unforgivable from his ivory wand - but a muggle, primitive slap across the face as he threw her to the ground next to the Basilisk.
Why is he sparing me?, Hermione thought to herself as she wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her sleeve.
The Dark Lord, Snape had said, is just as curious about Hermione's abilities with wandless magic as the rest of the wizarding world would be if they knew she possessed them...I am confident...he would keep her alive...a powerful bargaining chip for Potter...
And as Hermione looked up from the ground to stare at Voldemort's face with contempt, she saw a Basalisk fang - lying not two feet from within her reach.
Surreptitiously feeling in her robes for Ravenclaw's compass, the moment her fingers wrapped around its circumference, she steadied herself.
It was time.
"You know, Tom," Hermione began from her prone position on the damp floor, "We aren't so different, you and I. We both have muggle blood flowing through our veins - both of us were essentially loners for quite some time..." she continued as she shifted her body toward the Basilisk fang, "...and we both have an insatiable thirst for something greater...for me - knowledge. And for you..." she paused as she was within reach of the fang.
"Power and immortality."
Voldemort regarded her silently behind narrowed, crimson eyes.
And in one swift moment, Hermione seized the Basilisk fang with frantic hands and drew the compass from the folds of her cloak as she met Voldemort's widened eyes.
"But unfortunately," she whispered, "...immortality comes at a price."
And Hermione's hand rose heroically in the air - clutching a yellow fang - and came crashing down upon Ravenclaw's compass.
Well, there you have it! Voldemort FINALLY makes his appearance! Please review!!