Chapter 6
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Disclaimer: JKR is our queen, and I am a mere peon attempting to shadow her.
"Lyra Black" finished her drink and asked Hermione if she wanted another. Hermione (or rather, "Roxanna") shook her head and said she'd really ought to be getting back to Hogwarts, as it was truly late at night.
"Miss Black, thank you so much for making the point to speak with me tonight. I would have slipped out quietly if I could have, but this was really… nice." Hermione couldn't help the blush that crept up her cheeks, and while she would have liked to have said that it was because she was lying to Bellatrix, she knew better.
"Roxanna, it has been my pleasure as well." Bellatrix gave what seemed like a genuine smile to Hermione, causing her flushed cheeks to radiate even more with heat. "I look forward to our next meeting."
Hermione gave a small smile, nodded, and looked down bashfully. Playing her part as Roxanna Sevilla was turning out to be rather easy for her, and she had a feeling it wasn't because she was a natural actress. The young witch was still hiding behind her curtain of hair when Bellatrix leaned down to catch her eye. "I will send you the details for our next meeting. Keep studying hard, but remember that what you are learning in those classes is just the beginning."
Hermione looked up to respond, and saw that the dark witch was already leaving the pub. She waited a moment to regain her composure, then tried to walk out without having to make eye contact with the barkeep, who had kept a surreptitious eye on the pair during their entire meeting. Stepping outside into the cool night air, Hermione took a deep breath to try to cleanse herself of the whirlwind of emotions and thoughts that had taken her over. Throwing the invisibility cloak over herself, she made her way back to the school and her own bed, concentrating the entire time on simply breathing, and not thinking. For once, the brains behind the Golden Trio didn't want to think.
Hermione's empty mind served her well until a few hours later, when she suddenly awoke and sat bolt upright in bed. What if Bellatrix sent an owl to the real Roxanna? How was she to get the message from her, without letting her know that Hermione had stolen her identity? She didn't even know the girl! The anxiety of this problem kept Hermione up until dawn, when she finally fell into a restless sleep, her roommates waking her up an hour later.
Blearily, Hermione got herself cleaned up and dressed. She tried to think of something to tell Harry and Ron about her evening's adventures, but she was too exhausted and worried to figure out what she should tell them. And even though it was still the weekend, she had at least 3 assignments to get started on. She sighed and gathered up her books, including the small volume on plants that Bellatrix had given her, and descended to the common room. She decided that she would just say that she hadn't found anything in the library. This was the truth. After all, she had never gone to the library. For now it would suffice. Otherwise, she told herself convincingly, she'd have to deal with their overprotective knee-jerk reactions.
"Morning, 'Mione!" Ron greeted her cheerfully, looking annoyingly well rested. "How did the library go?"
"Yeah, did you find out anything?" Harry had the decency not to throw his energy in her face, and kept a respectfully subdued volume to his voice. Hermione wondered if this is what a hangover felt like and was happy that she had no classes and she could return to her room to nap later.
"I didn't find anything in the library last night." Hermione muttered the truth to them. "And I am exhausted this morning. Can we just go to breakfast?" The boys, while looking disappointed that she had nothing new to tell them, were nonetheless happy to indulge her latest request.
While the boys plowed their way through mounds of food, Hermione picked at her own plate and flipped through her textbooks. However, her mind would not settle, and she found herself thumbing though 'Native Plants of the British Isles.' There really were some interesting plants that she thought she could find on her camping trip, and they might even come in handy someday when she needed to make potions away from school. She tried to keep her mind occupied with the information in the book, but eventually gave in to temptation and turned to the front page. She had to see the handwritten message again, if just to remind herself that the whole thing hadn't been a dream.
There was writing on the front page, but not what she had expected to find. "It really was a pleasure. Wednesday, 1 am, the boathouse. Practice your aguamenti."
Hermione slammed the book shut and looked up, startled. Harry gave her an odd look, but Ron did not notice anything amiss. "I just thought of something I should have checked in the library," the flustered witch announced.
"Do you want us to meet you there? I mean, we were going to go practice Quidditch, but we'll come help you look if you want." Harry had a hopeful look on his face, and Hermione quickly reassured him that she would catch up with him and Ron later. For once it suited her fine that her friends didn't want to help her.
Hermione rushed to the library, realizing that she needn't have worried that Bellatrix would send an owl to the real Roxanna. She already had a way to communicate with Hermione, and a secret one at that. While the relief of not needing to have any awkward conversations with the Ravenclaw girl was palpable, Hermione found that the anxiety of the next meeting with the dark witch was quickly replacing her earlier stress.
Once in the library, Hermione gathered as many books as she could find that had information about the aguamenti spell. This was a fairly advanced spell that caused water to pour from one's wand, and Hermione had read about it years ago. She was not scheduled to learn how to do it until the following year, but Hermione being Hermione, she had been trying out the hand motions since the summer before. She realized that as a sixth year, Roxanna must have learned the spell already. Hermione made plans to spend some time near the lake practicing it in private, and she hoped that she didn't make a mess of it. However, there must be something more to the spell if Bellatrix wanted her to know it.
The books explained that aguamenti didn't create water, but pulled it from the environment – mostly the air, but sometimes from plants as well, if the wizard was powerful enough. It could be used for anything from filling goblets to putting out fires or washing away things. It seemed the wizard controlled the amount of water and the force. Hermione could see that it could be a powerful spell if used in certain ways, but was unsure how Bellatrix planned on using it. Well, there is only one way to find out.
By dinnertime, Hermione was glad of two things: that the boys had spent the day playing Quidditch, and that she'd already learned the spell to dry oneself off. She had managed to drench herself more than once, as well as all of her books, before she finally got some control over the aguamenti spell. While she was certain that she'd need more practice before Wednesday night's private lesson, the young witch was pleased with her progress. She only hoped that Bellatrix was, as well.
Wednesday night rolled around far too quickly for Hermione's liking. She hadn't yet returned Harry's invisibility cloak to him, and she lay in her bed with it and her autumn robes under the covers with her. She tried to be still, but her anxiety was swinging her emotions all over the place. Hermione couldn't help but be worried, and even making a list didn't help. While at the top of her list were her concerns about her own life and limbs in the hands of the dark witch, she couldn't help but be concerned that she wouldn't live up to Bellatrix's expectations and that the witch would be disappointed in her. Hermione hated to disappoint her teachers.
When the clock finally turned to half past midnight, Hermione crept quietly out of bed, threw on her robes and the invisibility cloak, set a spell to her bed to make it seem as if she was still there, and tiptoed out of the room, book clutched in her hand. In the common room, the fire was just beginning to die out, and Hermione wondered if she should just sit down in a comfy chair and forget about the whole thing. While her mind was contemplating that, however, her feet had her moving to the exit, and she was out and in the corridor before she knew it.
The boathouse was empty when Hermione reached it, and she had enough time to stash the cloak away, find a comfortable seat, and allow her nerves to start jangling like a harp in Peeve's hands before Bellatrix finally arrived. Hermione did not see her coming – one minute she was not there, and then she was, even though she should not have been able to apparated onto Hogwarts grounds.
Hermione's heart pounded at the sight of the dark-haired woman, standing so confidently with her skirts swaying around her ankles and her hand resting casually on one hip. She was breathtaking, and Hermione entertained a brief fantasy of seeing this woman at the front of a classroom each week.
"Goo- - good evening Miss Black." Hermione hoped her spells had more to offer than her words.
Bellatrix nodded at her. "Roxanna. Your aguamenti, please."
Hermione stood up, pointed her wand towards the lake, prayed silently to anyone who would listen, and quietly whispered the spell. A strong flow of water poured out of the tip of her wand, and she smiled despite herself.
"Again. Stronger this time."
Hermione tried again, and this time the water came gushing like a hose that was on full power. She even had to step back a bit from the force of it.
"Now make the water into a wave, and use it to push that boat on the shore out into the lake."
Hermione stopped and looked up. "I… I don't think I can do that."
"Nonsense. Of course you can. Watch."
Bellatrix pointed her wand to the lake and with a flick of her wrist and a muttered incantation, created a wave strong enough to send ripples far across the lake. She then turned the direction of her wand towards Hermione, and at the same time the volume of water went from being a torrent to being a light mist that dusted Hermione in dew. The older woman smirked at her student, now covered in droplets.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at the witch, pushed her wilted curls out of her face, and turned to aim her wand at the boat. She managed to get a stronger flow than last time out of her wand, but nothing forceful enough to move the heavy wooden rowboat.
"Again." Bellatrix came behind her, reached out her arm, and gently laid her hand on Hermione's wrist. Hermione froze, feeling every part of her body that the dark witch touched, and unable to breathe because of it. "And this time, move your wand… like so."
The wave that came from Hermione's wand was enough to push her fully back into the older woman's body, who stood steady against her. The young witch was having trouble controlling the wave, spraying it across the grass and lake until Bellatrix exerted more pressure on her arm. With her help, Hermione was able to use the wave to push the boat across the shoreline and into the water. As soon as it was floating, Bellatrix released her grip and Hermione dropped her arm, extinguishing the water flow. She couldn't help her relieved laughter at succeeding, and turned to find the dark-haired witch with a small grin on her face as well.
"That was… not bad. I hope you have mastered the drying spell, though."
Hermione laughed louder at that, and nodded. She demonstrated by drying the dock and the boathouse, pleased that she could show off something that she knew well.
"Now tell me what you know of the spell. For instance, where does the water come from?"
Hermione proceeded to recite from memory all that she had read about the aguamenti spell, as well as her own conclusion that it was a specialized form of the "accio" spell, which brought the spellcaster whatever was requested. "Accio Hogwarts: A History," for instance, was one of Hermione's most commonly used spells. Bellatrix nodded patiently through this recitation.
"You seem to have grasped the basics. Good. Now let's see what else you can learn." Hermione's mouth fell open at the woman's callous response to her hard work, but she shut it quickly and began to listen.
"The aguamenti charm works best when there is a lot of water around, such as this lake. You would have had trouble creating that wave inside the castle, for instance. Even so, a powerful wizard can pull the water from deep in the earth if needed, as well as from air or plants as you have mentioned. None of this is new to you, I am sure. However, your precious professors have certainly failed to mention that you can use similar spells to control other elemental forces." Bellatrix strode out of the boathouse and on to the grass. Hermione followed her quick pace and stood uncertainly beside her. Miss Black took no notice of her discomfort and instead aimed her wand over the lawn.
"Ferrumenti!" With that, a large amount of dust burst through the grass and rose into the air. With a flick of her wrist, Bellatrix caused the dust to coalesce into a ball and brought it close to Hermione for her inspection.
"It's metal," the young woman breathed, afraid to touch it.
"It's iron. It is found in great abundance in almost all soils, and a simple summoning charm can call it out for your use."
"How do you use it?" Hermione was almost afraid to ask, but her curiosity had to know. At the young woman's query, Bellatrix muttered, "Oppugno!" and the ball began flying at great speed around them. Hermione watched as it smashed through the boathouse walls over and over again, before turning and flying back towards her. Hermione dove to the earth. Bellatrix laughed delightedly, if a bit meanly, at her student on the ground, then stopped the iron ball right above her hand. Hermione got up and delicately plucked the ball from the air.
"It's almost like a bu…" She caught herself just before she made the reference to the muggle bullet. "Like a bludger." As Bellatrix nodded, clearly pleased with her own showing off, Hermione was busy conjuring images of how dangerous this spell could be. Childhood fears of guns were rising up within her: some muggle things had always seemed far scarier to her than what magic could accomplish. Best to quell her nervousness with knowledge, so she continued asking questions.
"How do you control it?"
Bellatrix laughed in surprise. Her pupil was showing more interest than she had expected, and she was delighted in her confidence. "No, no, my pet. You aren't ready for this quite yet. First you must master the control of water. Show me that you can send the water wherever I want it, in whatever quantities I choose, and we will move on to ferrumenti."
"But…"
"No. You needed to see what is out there to learn, but that does not mean you should take on everything all at once. You are my student now, and we will proceed at my own pace."
Bellatrix looked pointedly at the younger witch until she lowered her eyes and nodded in acquiescence.
"Now, aguamenti again, and this time start with a small amount of water and increase it slowly."
Hermione worked at the spell until she was exhausted and drenched many times over. As she adjusted her casting to meet Bellatrix's demands, it occurred to her that the dark witch was really a very patient and effective teacher. The thought disappeared quickly, overwhelmed by the demands of the moment, but later, when safely back inside the castle in her own bed, Hermione pondered her assessment.
At no time did Bellatrix talk about the Dark Lord, mudbloods, unforgiveable curses, or anything else that Hermione would have expected from someone trying to recruit a young batch of Deatheaters. At no time did the older woman try to teach her anything other than how to control her own magic. While the magic she demanded was undoubtedly powerful, it didn't cross the lines into dark magic, which left Hermione both grateful and wondering.
Were these spells the kinds that she would continue teaching, or would the magic get darker and more powerful? Was Bellatrix trying to recruit Hermione, or did she really enjoy teaching her?
Hermione knew that Bellatrix had been correct in stating that the students weren't able to learn such things from Hogwarts professors. Under Dolores Umbridge's influence at the school, this was even more true than usual, and as terrifying as the conclusion was, Hermione knew she was eager to continue her lessons with the Death Eater.
As she drifted off to sleep, in between mentally practicing wand motions, Hermione made one more consideration. I have got to find a way to get Ron and Harry up to speed.