"Secrets are like rivers: the deeper and quieter they are, the more devastating they will be the day they emerge from their silent bed."
Anonymous
The weeks had passed slowly and the cold of November was already upon us. Hermione still hadn't returned to sleep in the Gryffindor dormitory, preferring the quiet and solitude of the Room of Requirement. The two time travellers' research had come to a standstill. They were each doing research on their own but nothing was very conclusive. Hermione knew the exact location of the Ravenclaw's Diadem but preferred to find a way to destroy it before retrieving it. As for the other horcruxes, they had no idea where they might be. It was unlikely that Voldemort had ever entrusted his precious items to any of his followers.
The main problem, apart from finding the location of the other horcruxes, was finding a way to destroy them. The Gryffindor sword was not impregnated with basilisk venom and was therefore useless. The basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets had not yet been killed by Harry and the wizards could not possibly go and retrieve its fangs. Hermione would have liked to kill it, but Remus had expressly forbidden it. The witch knew that it was sheer recklessness, but the idea was still there in the back of her mind. The most 'feasible' solution was the use of fiendfyre. This dark magic spell, so powerful, so dangerous, which could with its power overcome the horcrux. Hermione had not yet told Remus about it, although it was quite likely that he would not agree with the idea.
For the time being, Hermione was having breakfast at the lion's table. For once, she had woken up rather late, so she was not alone at her table. Almost all the Gryffindors and Hermione hated that. But she had been forced to come, Remus would have killed her if he had seen her miss a meal. As luck would have it, Remus was not in the Great Hall that day.
Hermione was lost in thought and didn't see Lily and the marauders sitting next to her. She hardly ever spoke with them, only an occasional hello with Lily or Remus. They hadn't appreciated the first Defence Against the Dark Ones class where Hermione had sent Pettigrew to the infirmary for three days. He could have been happy, Mulciber had been there for a fortnight. He particularly hated her and never missed an opportunity to confront her. Lily, she often spoke to him, they had even done a transfiguration homework together, but since she had been dating James, she had drifted apart, even though they had never been very close. Hermione didn't mind, after all, Harry had to be born.
"Another murder" James announced. "A Muggle couple murdered in their living room. Their children have been tortured and have just been transferred to St Mungo's."
Hermione snapped out of her thoughts and began to listen to the marauders' conversation. The murders were happening more and more every day, yet it was only November. In the books she had read, the murders had happened later. She would have to ask Remus. It had almost become a ritual to see the Daily Prophets appear with its share of bad news. Although she didn't trust the paper, it could be very useful from time to time.
"I don't know why they attack defenceless muggles from behind."
"Because they're cowards, James, those bloody Death Eaters are cowards, racists and blind, obsessed with their master."
"Yes, I know, Padfoot, but I can't help but have doubts. They attack muggles. What's next? Why not all Muggles-born, half-bloods or even my family, we're fighting them, we're not safe from anything."
If you only knew James thought, you're not out of your nightmares yet.
"Don't worry Prongs We will always protect each other."
"Thanks Peter, but we can't be sure of anything. If one of us was in mortal danger, what could the others do? We are just poor students who don't know much about life."
"You are wrong James. If one of us was in mortal danger, the others would be at his door, preventing anyone from entering. Do you have so little faith in us to say that? I remind you that you're all in danger because of me once a month" Remus finished, lowering his voice.
"That will change in a few years. The traitor won't be standing at the door, he'll be at home, waiting for his master to kill his 'friends'. No Hermione, you're going to stop that" she said to herself
"So Grace, eating alone?"
Hermione turned abruptly as she heard a familiar voice call out to her.
"No Mulciber, I have the Minister of Magic in front of me. I'm fine with him one on one, go back to your dogs, I think they're waiting for you."
The dogs in question growled, the resemblance was striking. All that was missing was that their ears were getting longer.
"If I were you, as much as it would disgust me, I would stop this little game right now, Grace. We don't like blood traitors who mix with mudbloods.
Mulciber didn't have time to see it coming and took a huge punch in the head.
"Don't ever insult a mudblood in front of me again, or you'll pay a hundredfold" she said hatefully.
"I'm not going to be scared by a common half-blood like you! I've been a pureblood for many generations, mudbloods are vermin compared to me."
"Crucio"
Hermione hadn't even felt her wand come out or cast the spell. But she put all her rage, all her anger into it, it wasn't enough though, she had to get it out.
Mulciber was in pain. Of course he had already received pain. After all, that was how purebloods were raised. But he had never been confronted with such hatred in this spell."
"Expeliarmus"
Hermione felt her wand leave her hand and join Dumbledore's. She saw that everyone in the room was watching her in horror. Mulciber's screams were so loud that they could be heard across the castle. The young woman began to feel her magic pulsing through her veins and ran off into the park. Many people followed her, the marauders in the lead, followed closely by all the seventh years.
She had to calm down or she would explode, in the most literal sense of the word. Control yourself, come on. She heard a voice whisper in the distance and then the dark.
Remus was in his classroom, preparing his lesson for the afternoon when he heard screams. They were quite distant and full of pain. Stop thinking about the battle Rem. He went back to work but it was hopeless. He saw the battle again, the cries of the Order as they saw Harry dead, and then Dora leaving to fight her aunt, promising to return. He forced himself to stop his flashbacks and went to look at the park. He stopped immediately. What he saw did not please him at all. Hermione was holding his chest with her hand, as if she was having urges. She was being followed by almost all of Hogwarts and it didn't look good at all. Remus didn't know what had happened but grabbed his wand and ran through the castle hoping to get there in time. Bloody forbidden to cross. He arrived in the park, pushed his students out of the way and approached Hermione. Her discomfort was plain for all to see and her eyes were pleading, quite the opposite of the young woman in her normal state. He assessed the situation in a split second and muttered an incantation.
Obvolvit ut in bulla.
Obvolvit ut in bulla.
Obvolvit ut in bulla.
Hermione rose into the air. She was surrounded by a transparent ball, like a soap bubble. But the most amazing thing was not the bubble but what was inside. A black aura had taken hold of the young woman. The appearance was a mix between memories put in a pensieve and a dementor cape. A beautiful and terrifying sight.
"What's that?" asked James in amazement.
Lily replied, fascinated.
"It's her dark magic."
There were murmurs in the crowd. Dark magic was a serious matter, a taboo. Some parents didn't even talk to their children about this branch of dark magic, for fear it would bring them bad luck.
"It sounds like..."
"An obscurus."
The murmurs grew louder, and most of the students backed away in fear.
"Don't worry dear students. Go back to your house dormitory" ordered Dumbledore, to which no one listened.
The more minutes passed, the faster Hermione spun around. The aura enveloped her more and more. Only a few strands of her hair were visible, but they were getting lighter and lighter, and her eyes were closed. Her magic could engulf her at any moment.
Lily whispered to her boyfriend that it must be very interesting to know the magical power of the young woman. Dumbledore heard her and muttered an incantation. Hermione opened her eyes sharply. Above the bubble an inscription in golden letters appeared. The teachers opened their eyes wide in amazement. The others didn't know much about it, but from the teachers' reaction it must have been huge.
Remus looked at the clock and saw that Hermione had been releasing her magic like this for over half an hour and it was about time it stopped. He created a barrier that no one could get through and cast an Assurdiato. He pulled out a pendant and spoke.
"Hermione Granger. Hermione Granger. Hermione Granger. I, Remus Lupin, command you to release your magical burden and lock it away in your most prized possession."
He clapped his hands three times and caught Hermione as she fell like a rag doll. He pushed everyone away and threw a levicorpus at his friend so he could give her first aid. He walked to the front of his chambers where he slammed the door in the face of the Headmaster, who was stunned by all the discoveries he had made.
Lily had rushed to the library. For the first time since she'd been at Hogwarts, she didn't take the time to greet Mrs. Pince and rushed to the magic section. She was closely followed by the marauders who were trying to keep a low profile, the last time they had been here they had burnt a book in front of Mrs. Pince's frantic eyes. She had formally forbidden them any access to the library so they avoided passing her office. After passing the dragon, as they called her, they arrived at Lily's table, who had already opened six books in front of her.
"Lily-honey, I don't think all these books are useful."
"You don't know that, James! I don't think you've ever studied magic power, so shut up. Remus, if you would like to help me, could you look up information in these two books? The others are in runes and I'm the only one studying them. James, Sirius and Peter, I give you this book, it should be easy to understand, write down everything you think is important. No, if you find something important, you tell me right away."
The five friends fell silent and each concentrated on his or her book or books. They read for over half an hour without finding anything interesting. Sirius, who had never been known for his patience, lost it.
"Well, Lily, we've been looking for three hours, so maybe it's time to stop."
"For your information, we've only been searching for half an hour, there's still a lot to learn."
"Now I've found something!"
Sirius woke up with a start when he heard the cries of his best friend. He sat up quickly and asked his friends. Peter shrugged and Remus and Lily both ran over to James.
"What's going on?"
"What's going on is that, unlike you mutt, we've continued our research and it seems that James has discovered something. Would you please read the passage?"
"Magical quality, more commonly known as magical potency (magicae potentia) is an indicator of a sorcerer's power. This form of magic is not fixed in any way and can increase or decrease over time. Magical quality is very abstract: one sorcerer may know many spells and be not very powerful, while another may know only ten or so spells and be very powerful. Some wizards are powerful from birth and others are powerful through their learning or their actions. On the contrary, some wizards can lose magical quality because of an event, often traumatic. Magical quality is very difficult to measure due to its abstract form. The most powerful wizards known to date are Rowena Slytherin, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor and more recently, Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore. To calculate your or someone else magical quality, see The Magical Quality, limited edition page three hundred and ninety-four."
The friends sighed, it was not enough to discover Helena's true magical potential. Their comrade was a mystery that seemed to grow thicker every day.
Albus Dumbledore, ever since he was headmaster of the renowned Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had always instilled respect in the teachers he recruited. Few of the teaching staff dared to question his decisions. When teachers were unhappy, they let him know, but only Minerva had ever opposed him openly, though always respectfully. But now! The door had been slammed in his face. To him, Albus Dumbledore. Since the beginning of the school year he had been watching this new teacher and his niece who had arrived at Hogwarts. These two people were more than mysterious to the Headmaster. And if there is anything he hates, it is mysteries. Not finding answers to a riddle was very frustrating. Of course, a Dumbledore without riddles is not really a Dumbledore. But the riddles were his to create. Not two Spanish wizards out of nowhere.
The old man picked up his pen and looked at the scene again. The more he saw the scene, the more frustrated he became. Why had Professor Lucas cast an unknown silence spell? What incantation could he have wanted to hide from the whole school? And above all, how could someone as young as Helena Grace have such magical power? He had rarely seen people who were possessed by their magic in this way, but often he had whispered the incantations to reveal the magical power. The eyes would change colour, it was part of the process. But no one had ever had that colour. Not even him.
The headmaster realised that he had been pacing for over two hours. He decided not to show up for lunch and disapparate, he had to gather more information about the Lucas family and Grace.
"Now, Remus, I'm counting on you to get Professor McGonagall to talk to you. Sirius, Peter, please behave, it's very important. James, let's go. I'll see you all, no exceptions, in two hours."
The couple left at his words, they walked to Hogsmeade and entered Flourish and Blotts' branch. The shop was much smaller than the one in the Diagon Alley, but there were still plenty of books. They went to the 'magic' section and started looking for the book they needed to find. A wizard-librarian came up to them and asked them what the title of the book was that they were looking for. Lily gave the name and the wizard cast a spell in the bookshop, without success. He explained that the book was not here, but that he would send an owl to the Traverse Road shop to see if they had it. The two lovers left the bookshop, disappointed. They returned to Hogwarts, not wanting to drop by the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer.
Meanwhile, Sirius, Remus and Peter had made their way to the Transfiguration Room.
Black, Lupin, Pettigrew. What are you doing here? You shouldn't be in class?"
"No, Professor, we were supposed to have a class with Professor Lucas but it was cancelled, we'd like to ask you a few questions."
"I doubt it has anything to do with transfiguration or you being Prefect Lupin, do you? Go ahead and ask me your question."
"Can you explain what happened in the park?"
"I don't know what more I can tell you, you were there. Miss Grace released her magic. Dark and white, and then Professor Dumbledore calculated her magical power."
"Yes, but why did her magic develop like that? Why now? And why were all the teachers so amazed when they saw her magical quality?"
"Everyone saw what happened in the Great Hall. I think being disarmed in a moment of pure hatred was unbearable for Miss Grace. I see you've asked about the magical quality. All I can tell you is that it has something to do with her eyes."
"Do you think Grace will be sacked?"
"I hope not, Mr Black, it would be a disaster for the wizarding world."
"For the wizarding world, that's all, anyway, there's seven months to go before the end of the year so I don't see what difference it would make. And why did Professor Lucas know how to react and take her to his chambers?"
Minerva's tone became much drier and she pursed her lips, a sign that she was starting to get angry.
"You have no idea what the consequences are, what's going on out there. It would be a disaster if Helena ended up in Azkaban for throwing a dolorous. There are thousands of lives at stake, including yours. As for the rest, I won't tell you more, it's a private matter. Now get out of here."
With a flick of her wand, she led the three marauders out of the room and dropped into her chair. She had to think and go and see how Hermione was doing.
The five friends met up and headed for the Shrieking Shack, they needed some quiet. Remus Sirius and Peter told of their meeting with Professor McGonagall and Lily and James of their failure to discover any additional information that could help them.
"In short, we didn't learn anything at all."
"On the contrary Peter, we learned that magical power has something to do with eyes, that Professor McGonagall is close to Helena as she called him by his first name, and last but not least, Helena Grace has a more than important role in the upcoming revolt and that our lives are in danger without her."
With that, Lily left to join her friends as the marauders returned to their common room, looking for a new prank to play.
Remus had healed most of Hermione's wounds but others would have to wait until she woke up. Her hair was matted and full of dried blood, her skin was badly damaged and much darker than usual. The magic had gone through her skin and as a result it had become impregnated with the magic. Hermione's complexion was grey and unrecognisable. Remus had been right to rush her out of sight because within seconds of slamming the door in the Headmaster's face, Hermione had regained her chestnut hair, hazel eyes and facial features. When he woke up, he would have to tell her about it, human metamorphosis was such a complex branch of magic. He'd had a visit from Madam Pomfrey but hadn't let her in. No one should see the young woman in this state.
Several hours passed and Remus struggled not to fall asleep. He thought about the consequences of this. He didn't even know what event had triggered the explosion. He could have searched Hermione's head but didn't. Firstly because she was his friend and he wasn't going to violate her thoughts, and secondly, even though he had made a lot of progress in Legimency, Hermione was probably stronger than him, even in a faint.
Remus eventually fell asleep and was only awakened in the early hours of the morning with the first rays of sunlight streaming through his living room windows. He turned his head and checked to see that Hermione was still there. He was relieved to see that she was still there. Knowing her, he knew very well that she would never have woken him up and would have left without a sound. The young woman was moving around a lot and Remus couldn't tell if it was due to nightmares or the events of the previous day. A good hour later, Hermione slowly emerged from her state of unconsciousness. She wanted to get up but Remus stopped her almost immediately.
"You can't get up just yet, you're still too fragile. Don't look at me like that, it's not a bad thing to be fragile from time to time."
"What happened?"
"Well, Mulciber came up to you, he started calling the Muggleborns you-know-what, you didn't control yourself and threw a dolorous at him, Dumbledore rushed at you and he disarmed you. You didn't like that and you exploded. I locked you up so you wouldn't do too much damage. Hermione this is a disaster, Albus has calculated your magical power. He's probably doing research by now." And... Remus struck a pose. "Why didn't you tell me? I knew you were powerful Hermione, but this much?"
Hermione frowned at the memory. She knew that Remus was angry with her. She shouldn't have kept her magical potential from him.
"I didn't see the point in telling you Rem', it's irrelevant."
"Irrelevant? Hermione, your eyes were WHITE! Remind me what colour Dumbledore's were?
"Silver"
"The founders?"
"We don't know their power."
"That's right. Harry?"
Hermione's throat tightened at the thought of her brother. She had never realised that she could have been more powerful than him. She gave so little importance to such things.
"Hermione, what colour were Harry's eyes?"
"Black"
"Yes, and do you know what that means?"
The young woman shrugged, looking disillusioned."
"You know what it means. Your power is dangerous. You have to control yourself Hermione, having such power is dangerous for others, but especially for you. You know as well as I do, if I hadn't intervened you would be dead and everyone around you would be seriously injured."
Remus gave Hermione time to process what he had just said, even though he knew she already knew all this, hearing it was not the same. He headed for the door, he had a problem to deal with and not the least, he had to explain to Dumbledore what had just happened, while hiding the truth from him and asking him not to send Hermione away. He was going to ask Minerva for advice, perhaps she could help him.