"Good evening, Professor," Hermione said as she entered the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore greeted her and motioned her to sit down in the armchair that was already waiting for her.
"I hope you have fully recovered from our last lesson?" asked Dumbledore and Hermione nodded. Dumbledore then smiled broadly at her and with a wave of his wand conjured a cup of water for her, which Hermione accepted gratefully.
"Professor, I now know exactly what else I can do with my third ability," she said and Dumbledore raised his eyebrows with a surprised look on his face.
"I can enter other people's minds, but slightly differently than Legilimency. I can move freely in their minds and look at memories while reality moves on slowly. I found it out subconsciously with Professor Lockhart. He sort of invited me to do it but didn't notice. In the process, I also found out that he's an impostor who's been adorning himself with other people's plumes. Did you know that?" asked Hermione after her explanation. She had been going back and forth for the last few days about whether she should bring it up to Dumbledore when she told him about her experimentation with infiltration, as she called her third ability.
Dumbledore looked amused, a smile making his white beard twitch. Hermione looked at him, frowning.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to find out, Hermione."
"So if you knew, how could you hire a criminal swindler?" said Hermione louder than she had intended. The injustice still made her blood boil. Dumbledore raised both hands soothingly and took a sip from his golden goblet.
"I know what deeds Gilderoy Lockhart has truly done, as do you. Anyone who has mastered the art of Legilimency can easily find out. You must, however, take into account my view of things. I'm sure you can imagine that the number of applicants for the position dropped dramatically after the last teacher was killed. Besides, in direct comparison, a self-absorbed imposter is clearly more harmless than a teacher with Lord Voldemort at the back of his head, don't you think?"
Hermione snorted but finally nodded. Another year she and her classmates would have to do without proper lessons in Defence Against the Dark Arts.
"So, you're saying that you can move freely in other people's minds?" asked Dumbledore, finally changing the subject. Hermione nodded and described in detail to her Headmaster how she had looked around Lockhart's manifestation of the mind.
"Then I want you to have a look around my mind," Dumbledore said eventually, rising from his chair. He walked around the desk and spun Hermione and her chair around so that they were now sitting across from each other in the empty part of the office. Hermione had looked at him with wide eyes when he had made his request.
"Are you sure?" she asked tentatively and Dumbledore nodded firmly. Hermione concentrated and was pulled through the dark tunnel a moment later, only to look through her own eyes again, having bounced off Dumbledore's mental barrier.
"That's a relief," he said, and Hermione immediately understood what he meant. As with Legilimency, it was probably possible to stop her infiltration ability if one closed one's mind and maintained a barrier. Dumbledore signalled Hermione to try again and on her next attempt, she was able to enter his mind through a gap Dumbledore had opened for her.
She looked around the huge room with fascination, which inevitably reminded her of the dungeon room where she had played chess with Harry and Ron against Professor McGonagall's enchanted chess pieces last year. The floor consisted of countless square tiles of different colours, each with a chess piece of the same colour on it. As far as she could see, just like her manifestation of the mind, the room had no real walls bounding it.
She stepped closer to one of the smaller chess pieces that reached up to her chest. Other, larger statues would tower over even Dumbledore by several heads, she thought to herself as she looked around. On the coloured wood of the figure, Hermione could make out a pattern, which on closer inspection turned out to be engravings. There was fine text and also some pictures engraved on the figure. Hermione touched one of the images with her hand and it lit up, whereupon it rose luminously from the figure and, like Lockhart's paintings, played the film of a memory.
She saw a much younger Albus Dumbledore talking to a boy in a shabby-looking bedroom, after which his wardrobe burst into flames. Hermione had become curious but decided not to delve into the memory and moved on to another figure where she touched the text of an engraving. The text also began to glow and the writing rose luminously before her eyes, where the letters multiplied and finally revealed the entire text stored in the figure's small engraving.
The text was about the use of dragon blood and Hermione read through it with interest. She found it fascinating to be able to read Albus Dumbledore's knowledge directly from his mind. After reading the text, she continued to look around the seemingly endless room. She recognised something strange and walked towards a figure that seemed to be shrouded by a cloth of the same colour. As she got closer, she noticed that the cloth was not cloth at all, but a realistic carving in the wood of the figure.
Fascinated, Hermione walked around the seemingly shrouded figure once and took a closer look. It really did look as if the figure was only shrouded to protect it from the gaze of intruders. She finally decided to leave her headmaster's mind again and a second later was pulled back through the dark tunnel into her own mind.
"Can we begin?" asked Dumbledore, and Hermione couldn't help laughing.
"We're already done," she said and Dumbledore looked surprised. She briefly told him about the chessboard, which Dumbledore had also told her about when they had talked about Hermione's and his manifestations of the mind. He told her that he hadn't noticed anything about her invading his mind, unlike her other abilities where he could feel the intrusion into his emotional or thought world.
Hermione told him about the cloaked figures and Dumbledore explained to her that he had only loosened his mental barrier enough for her to enter his mind. She nodded and the two chatted for the rest of the lesson about the similarities and also the differences in their manifestation of the expanded mind.
"Now that we have explored your abilities, it is up to you to improve and perfect them. I think we can devote the next lesson to further planning your transformation and elemental spells," Dumbledore stated before ending the lesson. Hermione thanked him and went to bed that night looking forward to the next lesson.
"Hello, Miss Granger," said Professor Snape, who was already waiting in the dungeon this time, where Potions lessons usually took place. Hermione had enjoyed the day and had been flying a little with Susan and Ginny before finishing her homework in the afternoon, already looking forward to her one-to-one lesson with Professor Snape.
"Good evening, Professor! Did you have a good weekend?" asked Hermione as she entered the classroom.
"Thank you for asking, actually it was a little stressful as I had to prepare some ingredients for the potion we will be brewing today," he replied and Hermione's eyes grew wide. If Professor Snape had to prepare many ingredients, it had to be a significantly advanced potion they would be making today.
"I must say I was a little surprised when Professor Dumbledore asked me to brew this very potion with you. However, it is undoubtedly a good opportunity to expand your understanding of potions," he said as Hermione looked around the classroom curiously. On almost every desk stood countless small bowls, vials and flasks, some filled with ingredients still unprocessed, others with coloured liquids emitting white smoke.
"That's really a lot of ingredients, what potion are we brewing, Professor?" asked Hermione.
"Felix Felicis," he replied, smirking. "I take it from your reaction that you've already read about it?" he replied to Hermione's gasp as he spoke the potion's name. Hermione nodded and let her eyes wander reverently over the ingredients.
"Since this is a significantly advanced potion, I will be doing most of the brewing, however, I will need your help," he said with a serious expression and Hermione nodded. She had already read about the potion in the library. Liquid luck was extremely difficult to make and any mistake in brewing it could have fatal consequences for the one drinking it if the mistakes were not noticed.
"I will do my absolute best, Professor!" she assured and Professor Snape nodded. He relaxed a little and went from table to table with her first. Hermione was to name the ingredients first. If she didn't recognise an ingredient, which often happened with these complex ingredients, Professor Snape explained what it was and how it was obtained. For Hermione, this step alone was extremely enlightening.
After they had gone through all the ingredients, Professor Snape waved his wand and the first step of the recipe appeared on the blackboard. They walked over to the only nearly empty table, where on the hearth sat a small, still empty cauldron.
"Since the potion needs to be stirred constantly, I would ask you to add and prepare the ingredients at the appropriate time," he said and Hermione nodded. She read the first step carefully while Professor Snape lit the fire under the cauldron. Hermione walked over to one of the tables where the base for the potion sat in a large vat.
With a motion of her hand, she floated the vat over to the cauldron and measured out exactly two litres of the seven-hour steeped black tea. Hermione had chuckled when Professor Snape had explained to her that tea was the base for the potion and wondered if the inventor of the potion was from England. Taking his cue, she poured the tea into the cauldron in a steady flow.
As the liquid began to boil, Hermione added the second ingredient. It was a finely mortared paste of Boomslang Skin and mint leaves. Professor Snape stirred at regular intervals while Hermione followed further steps of the recipe, chopping Abyssinian Shrivelfig, providing tinctures and tickling some fresh ink out of a small squid that was swimming around in an aquarium on the teacher's desk.
Two hours had already passed when Hermione, approaching the potion table, noticed that part of the hearth's support was about to break off. At the last second, she pointed her finger at the cauldron, which was already tilting ominously, and stabilised it with a levitation charm. Professor Snape moved his head down to the hearth and instantly repaired it with a spell. He wiped the sweat from his brow while still stirring the potion in various combinations, which by now had turned to the bright green colour of young blades of grass.
He thanked her and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as she slowly slipped the Dragon Heartstring into the potion at his signal. Siren hair and murtlap essence followed, after which the potion turned a deep red colour. Hermione looked up briefly at Professor Snape to check his expression as to whether this was a desired intermediate result.
Professor Snape's features visibly relaxed and he flashed her a small smile, which made Hermione smile too. He reduced the heat and waved his wand, whereupon the ladle continued to stir in a steady clockwise motion.
"That was the hard part," he said, settling exhaustedly into one of the armchairs he had conjured for the two of them with a wave of his wand. Hermione conjured a glass and magically filled it with water from her wand. She floated it over to Professor Snape, who thanked her and emptied it in great gulps.
Hermione looked over admiringly at her potions professor, who had spent the last two hours stirring the potion constantly with one hand in a variety of combinations, while continuously adjusting the heat with his wand and performing a few incantations, all part of the brewing process. She filled a glass for herself as well and leaned back in her chair.
"Have you ever taken Felix Felicis?" asked Hermione, and he shook his head. She wondered why Dumbledore needed Liquid Luck. Surely there were other advanced potions that required a far smaller selection of ingredients that they could have just as easily brewed if it was just a matter of brewing a complex potion. She was sure that Dumbledore had a good reason for having Professor Snape and her make this very potion.
While they waited for the potion to turn golden and little drops to start bouncing on the surface, they chatted about the steps Professor Snape had taken while Hermione had provided the ingredients. He then introduced her to what he had in mind for their next individual lessons. Hermione's eyes had lit up when he had mentioned that next time they would go on a night excursion to gather herbs in Scotland during the new moon.
Hermione was excited and incredibly looking forward to the trip. Some time later, the two turned their heads towards the cauldron when they heard a splash. Professor Snape stood up and bent over the cauldron. Hermione did the same and she could already see the bouncing drops jumping from side to side on the surface like little dolphins without any of them leaving the cauldron.
The potion had turned a golden colour. Hermione let out a little whoop, which elicited a smile, this time wide, from Professor Snape. Hermione was pleased to see such a rare emotion on his usually calculated and cool face. However, she immediately banished the simmering attraction that this smile triggered in her. She knew better than to give in to those feelings.
She helped Professor Snape clean up and quickly said goodbye after he dismissed her. As she happily walked up the path to Ravenclaw tower, a bitter taste joined her feeling of success. Once again she had felt an attraction to Professor Snape. How would she survive another six years at Hogwarts if she consistently had these feelings for her Potions teacher? She decided not to actively suppress the feelings, because she knew that it could have the opposite effect.
Rather, she decided to distract herself from it, preferably in the form of Quidditch and books. So the next few days passed quickly with Quidditch practice, hours of library sessions and relaxing breaks by the lakeside with Susan, Luna and Ginny, who, however, wandered away from the group every now and then. Hermione, who could read a slight heartache in her feelings, felt for her and decided not to stalk her and give her time to herself.
She also tried to distract herself from a certain professor who was unavailable to her. She had been keeping an eye on Roger Davies due to Susan's constant references to his good looks and could also detect interest on his part, but she had decided for the time being not to damage the team spirit by invoking drama even before the first game.
She resigned herself to her current situation and distracted herself with the anticipation of the weekend. She would be working with Dumbledore to prepare the next step of the Animagus transformation, if everything went smoothly there would be a full moonlit night. She was surprised when she received an invitation to Dumbledore's office as early as Thursday evening. When she stepped through the door of his office, the Headmaster welcomed her with a smile and offered her the armchair next to his, which was in front of his fireplace. Hermione liked the relaxed atmosphere and let herself fall into the armchair.
"You're probably wondering why I called you in before the weekend. Well, let's get straight to the point," he said, waving his wand, whereupon a tiny vial of a golden liquid that looked very familiar to Hermione flew into his hand.
"Professor Snape has told me that you played a large part in the successful completion of the potion. I was very pleased that you managed to make a flawless Felix Felicis on your first attempt. That should then reduce the number of attempts we need to make the Animagus potion if Felix is kind to us," he said, winking at her.
Hermione now understood why Dumbledore had requested a Felix Felicis from Professor Snape. He didn't want to leave anything to chance on the full moon night tomorrow, Friday. She accepted the vial and estimated the approximate amount that must be inside.
"This is a half-day's portion, which should be enough for one night, I think. If you take this vial before dinner tomorrow, you should be lucky enough to add the mandrake leaf to the potion by full moonlight," Dumbledore explained and Hermione looked out the window. Outside, the sky was cloudy.
"When you say potion, does that mean you already have the rest of the ingredients?" asked Hermione and Dumbledore nodded. Hermione couldn't believe her luck and chuckled as she did so, looking down at the vial in her hand that contained this very thing in liquid form.
"I want you to come to my office tomorrow after dinner. We can tackle the first lesson in elemental spells while we wait for the moon."
"I'd love to!" replied Hermione, saying her goodbyes before leaving Dumbledore's office in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower. When she heard some shouting about halfway there, her fist clenched around the small vial.
"Loooooney! Looohoohooney! Where are you going?" echoed from the corridor she was about to turn into. As she rounded the corner, she saw a mane of blonde hair just disappear through the door of a girls' lavatory. Just behind her came the worst possible combination of Slytherin girls and Peeves, the poltergeist. He seemed to have joined the girls chasing Luna.
Hermione shot a nonverbal Full Body-Bind Curse after Peeves, hitting him in the back. Instantly his arms and legs snapped together and he fell through the floor.
"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Hermione, extending the spell to the width of the corridor as she aimed the now drawn wand centrally between the two students.
"Well, how does it feel to be completely helpless at the mercy of another person?" she said as she knelt down to the two motionless students on the floor and looked into their wide-open eyes with a disgusted look.
"If I see you near Luna even once more or witness you molesting her, I will have broccoli growing out of all your orifices," she said, releasing the curses. With looks of fear, they scrambled to their feet and stormed off towards the dungeons. Hermione hoped that this threat had done more than her silencing spells had so far.
Gingerly, she opened the door to the girls' toilet. Luna was standing at the sink, washing her hands. Hermione could tell she was shaking.
"Luna," she said quietly so as not to startle her. Luna turned around and Hermione realised, somewhat surprised, that there were no tears in her eyes. However, her eyes showed an irrepressible sadness and Hermione reached out to wrap Luna in a hug. Luna hugged her tightly and buried her face in Hermione's shoulder. She placed a hand on the back of Luna's head and gently nuzzled her hair.
"Come on, let's go to the common room and make ourselves comfortable, shall we?" said Hermione, taking Luna by the hand. Together the two of them walked up to Ravenclaw tower and found a small sofa by one of the fireplaces in the common room, where they snuggled close together.
Hermione was a little unsure how to act. She thought back to the numerous situations where she had had to run away from Debbie and how she would have liked to be treated by someone who wanted to comfort her. Inevitably, the moment when she had cried on Professor Snape's lap also came to her mind, but she shooed her Potions teacher away from her thoughts.
She put her arm around Luna's shoulder and pulled her closer. Whispering softly, she told her that she knew exactly how Luna felt. Hermione told Luna about her first years at Muggle school, where she had been defencelessly at the mercy of her classmates. But she also told her that at Hogwarts she had made sure that Malfoy, for example, would think twice about insulting her.
"With magic, you have a way to fight back without physical violence. And that's really important, Luna. Others would tell you to just let it wash over you, but you have to fight back. You have to show that messing with you is a bad idea," she said and Luna looked up at her in surprise.
"You mean you want me to cast curses on them?" she asked, her eyes wide.
"Not bad ones, of course, but I think I showed your two 'best friends' from earlier how it feels to be at someone's mercy."
"Did you hex them?" asked Luna, her eyes wide, and Hermione nodded, telling Luna about the Full Body-Bind Curse she had cast on the two Slytherins. Luna laughed and rested her head on Hermione's shoulder again.
"If only I could do magic like you," she said, looking absently into the warm fireplace.
"I'll teach you everything you need," Hermione replied, having momentarily forgotten that after a month at Hogwarts, Luna had barely mastered the levitation charm and couldn't really fight back without her help. "We'll practice some spells we don't get taught in class, yes?" said Hermione and Luna beamed at her.
"Thank you so much, Hermione. You really are the best friend anyone could ask for. At least you're a friend to me."
"You're my friend too, of course," Hermione said, correctly interpreting Luna's uncertain look. "Hey, you can always count on me," she added, looking seriously into Luna's eyes, who was now actually choking back a tear. Hermione took her in her arms and the two of them talked for a while about Luna's experiences in her first year's classes before heading off to their dormitories.
Hermione took a deep breath as she slipped under her covers. She wondered briefly if she had done the right thing earlier in the corridor. But she knew better than anyone that you couldn't talk to bullies. One could, however, show them that one was not helpless and could stand up to them.
Malfoy, who by now didn't even dare to say anything derogatory in Hermione's presence, was the best example of this. In her mind, she went through the spells she wanted to teach Luna. She could think of a few, but she would have to do without Professor Snape's useful spells, because unlike her, Luna was unable to cast them nonverbally. Since she had had to promise Professor Snape that the spells would not become the school's new trend, Luna would have to do without 'Langlock', for example.
She took another look out of the window at the cloudy sky and hoped that the moon would at least show itself briefly through the Felix Felicis the next evening. She checked - as she did every night - the fit of the mandrake leaf on the roof of her mouth and then put herself into a trance to fall asleep quickly. She used the time in her mind library to review her knowledge on the shelf on elemental spells so that she would be as prepared as possible the next evening.
As she left the Great Hall after breakfast the next morning, the two Slytherin first years who had harassed Luna the night before were just coming towards her. They both froze and looked at her with fear-filled eyes. Hermione gave them a stern look and continued walking. The two seemed to have learned their lesson. Now only Luna had to learn how to defend herself.
"Penelope!" she called after the blonde girl who was just making her way to the upper part of the castle. She turned and smiled at Hermione.
"Hello Hermione, what's up?" she asked and Hermione pulled her a little away from the stream of students scurrying to their classrooms for a moment. She told her about Luna's problems, at which Penelope's expression turned serious.
"I'll try to boost her confidence," Hermione said, deliberately leaving out the part about the spells, knowing that the tutor wouldn't approve. But Hermione was determined to genuinely help Luna.
"Thank you for bringing that to my attention, Hermione. She's usually so quiet, no wonder," Penelope said, promising to look after Luna's welfare when she was around. Hermione thanked her and headed off to Potions class.
Hermione sighed inwardly when she saw the scowl with which Professor Snape regarded Harry. She wondered if it was simply too late to bring these two people out of their spiral of hatred. However, both factions had an equal share in the war they were fighting amongst themselves. Often Hermione was sure that she would have reacted very similarly to Harry's impertinent and rude remarks.
The day passed somewhat ploddingly, largely due to the anticipation and tension that continued to build within Hermione as the evening drew nearer. The fact that she had no problems whatsoever in performing the spells required in class, despite her mental digressions, showed her once again how much her skills had grown in the short year she had now been part of wizarding society.
When she finally got through the last lesson, she pulled out the vial of Felix Felicis in an unobserved moment and emptied it in one go. Immediately a feeling of euphoria spread through her. She was completely convinced that tonight the moon would shine long enough for her to get one step closer to the Animagus transformation.
After dinner, she found herself in Dumbledore's office as arranged. In a good mood, she greeted her headmaster and sat down on the armchair that was already waiting for her. She chatted a little with Dumbledore, who was excellent at making small talk.
"Well, I think we can start with the first lesson in elemental spells," Dumbledore finally said, drawing his wand. "First of all, do you know what Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration states?" he asked, smiling when Hermione nodded. She had stumbled across it in 'Achievements in Charming'. It had answered many of her questions, such as why wizards didn't just conjure food out of thin air.
"Then you know that, unlike transformed items, conjurations dissipate after some time. However, the time period can be extended depending on the caster's ability. Elemental spells are also conjurations, as I'm sure you know. However, elemental spells can also involve the caster's surroundings in the conjuring process. Like this, for example," he said, pointing his wand at the hearth fire. One of the flames flickered in the direction of his hand and began to twist into a fine cord that spiralled around itself between Hermione and Dumbledore.
"The basic form of the conjuration spell can be used on the outside world, as it can on the void. But there is a third form, which is conjuration from the magic of the caster himself," he said, flicking his wand again, whereupon the string of flame retracted into the fire and, after another sweep, a small blazing flame appeared above the tip of Dumbledore's wand, seemingly staying alive without a fuel.
"Then Incendio, for example, is a variation of the conjuration spell?" asked Hermione and Dumbledore nodded.
"Incendio is a very good example. The spell only uses up the caster's magical energy for a short time and needs a target that can burn. However, the method of conjuring is basically the same," Dumbledore explained.
"Just like Aguamenti!" exclaimed Hermione, realising a connection. Conjurations that altered or used the elements had their origin in the conjuration spell and always resulted in the same outcome. So if one wanted to achieve a result other than a jet of water or a fire in the fireplace, one had to modify the original formula of the conjuration spell and direct it in the individual direction of the desired conjuration.
"How do I know how much energy to give to the spell?" asked Hermione, drawing her own wand.
"That's a good question. You should always start with the smallest amount you need to perform your conjuration. Once you've performed the spell, you can add more magic to it to amplify the result," he explained, demonstrating at the same time by growing the flame at the tip of his wand.
"Are you sure you want me to do magic here? Aren't you afraid for your precious items?" asked Hermione and Dumbledore smiled at her.
"As always, you are most courteous and obliging. In fact, I have a small protective ring set up over my facility. So you can cast your spells without hesitation, nothing will happen to my office," he said and Hermione felt herself blush at his words.
But before she had fully raised her wand, Dumbledore raised his hand. At her questioning look, he pointed out the window and Hermione gasped. The clouds had completely cleared and a large, dark yellow moon was rising over the tops of the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Hermione was flooded with adrenaline and did a little jump in the air.
"Let's go up to my little balcony," Dumbledore said, directing her up the small spiral staircase behind his desk. At the end of a narrow corridor, they passed through an ornate oak door with a stained glass window and came out onto a small outdoor area surrounded by an ornate balustrade.
"I think we should wait a few more minutes until the moonlight gets brighter. Then we should be on the safe side," Dumbledore said. Hermione nodded and let her eyes wander over the moonlit castle grounds. She couldn't imagine a more beautiful view. Behind the black lake rose the Highlands, their mountain peaks already wearing little sugar bonnets of snow. The lake shimmered mysteriously and the trees of the Forbidden Forest swayed in the light breeze that blew across Hermione's face.
Once again, she was overcome by the feeling of absolute happiness that Hogwarts brought out in her. A tear of joy ran down her cheek. Wordlessly, Dumbledore and Hermione stood on the balcony for a few minutes, enjoying the view. Even her headmaster seemed to still be fascinated by the view, even though it had been part of his daily routine for decades.
When Dumbledore deemed the time appropriate, he conjured a crystal vial into which Hermione was to spit the mandrake leaf she had now kept in her mouth for a month. She turned away briefly to release the adhesive spell and spare Dumbledore the sight of her stuffing the saliva-soaked leaf into the vial with her tongue.
"Excellent, if you would be so kind as to give me a strand of your hair."
Hermione nodded, cut a strand of her hair with a spell and handed it to Dumbledore.
"I'll be right back," he said, spinning on the spot. The next moment he was gone. Hermione giggled and leaned against the parapet to take in the extraordinary view one last time.
A few minutes later, Dumbledore reappeared in the exact spot where he had disappeared. He explained to her that he had combined the potion with her hair, the pristine dew, the Death's-head Hawk Moth chrysalis and her mandrake leaf and placed it in an undisturbed, completely dark place.
"Thus we have only to wait for the next thunderstorm. And you must recite the formula every morning and evening while pointing the wand at your heart," he said.
"Amato, Animo, Animato, Animaga," Hermione said aloud as she pointed her wand at her chest. Dumbledore nodded and pointed to the door with his arm. Hermione walked ahead back into Dumbledore's office where they continued the interrupted private lesson.
She recalled in her mind the words Dumbledore had imparted to her regarding the summoning of elements. She raised her wand and let the smallest possible amount of magic flow through it that she could muster to conjure a flame. Much like Dumbledore's before, a small candle flame appeared above the tip of her wand. But only a moment later it flickered and went out again.
"Well done, Hermione. With practice, you'll soon get the hang of keeping a flame alive for longer," Dumbledore praised her. Hermione grinned sheepishly and concentrated on the conjuration again. This time, however, she wanted to summon a different element. A few seconds later, a small drop grew from the tip of her wand, running down like morning dew on it, and travelled coolly down her hand.
She could understand why spells like Incendio and Aguamenti had been invented. It required great concentration to direct the conjuration towards the desired element. Next, she tried to conjure the element of earth. Sure enough, she managed to create a small pebble and after a wave of her wand, it floated above.
Dumbledore nodded and praised her fundamental approach. Now all that was missing was air as the final element. Hermione concentrated and gasped as a sharp breeze blew through the room, causing Dumbledore's hair and beard to flutter to one side. Fawkes let out a comfortable squeal and spread his wings to let the wind glide through his feathers.
"I thought so," Dumbledore said as the wind died and Hermione looked at him questioningly. "Every wizard and witch has an element to which he or she feels more affinity than the others. Since you're not only the Daughter of the Raven, but you've also recently become a Quidditch player, I already figured that air was your element."
"What is your element, Professor?" she asked and Dumbledore smirked.
"Fire," he replied curtly. Hermione nodded and asked what the next step to controlling the elements was.
"You can think of it about the same as with your mental abilities. There's a fine line where summoning works. Like the ropes that serve as a visual representation of your abilities, there is a path that you must stay on in order for the elemental conjuration to be maintained," Dumbledore explained and then demonstrated to her again with a flame how a conjuration failed if one did not stay on the path.
Quickly, the round flame he had conjured over his wand died. He then showed her the same conjuration with perfect execution. It was a night and day difference as the flame blazed vigorously, though it was no bigger than the last.
"Finding the path and following it requires a lot of practice and patience. I would like to ask you not to practise on the school grounds or indoors for safety reasons. Our future weekly one-to-one lessons are the only suitable place for that," Dumbledore said, looking at her admonishingly over his half-moon glasses.
Hermione nodded and promised her Headmaster that she would abide by this instruction. Dumbledore smiled at her and looked at the clock hanging behind Hermione.
"I think one more attempt at improving your elemental air conjuring, then we should finish the lesson for tonight, what do you think?" he asked and Hermione nodded, pleased to be allowed one more attempt.
Again, she let a little magic flow through her body into the wand first, whereupon a small puff of wind arose and spun in a small spiral above her wand, causing Dumbledore, who was facing her, to flicker slightly through the swirling air.
"Very good, now try adding more magic. You must find the right amount, stay on the path."
She concentrated and let more magic flow into the conjuration. She could feel her wand vibrating slightly. As she let more magic flow through it, the vibration decreased again and the air flow dried up.
"I think I felt it. There was a point where the spell weakened, even though I added more magic. I felt the power of the conjuration diminish before it actually happened," she explained and Dumbledore clapped his hands once.
"Excellent, that's exactly what I was trying to portray. The fine line where the spell succeeds. In time you will get a feel for it and be able to perform more powerful elemental spells. But it takes a lot of training."
"Like Quidditch!" exclaimed Hermione and they both laughed. Dumbledore nodded and then dismissed her. Happily, she walked with springy steps up to the Ravenclaw tower, where most of the students had already gone to bed. On an armchair facing away from her, she recognised a familiar blonde shock of hair. She walked up to the armchair and saw that Luna was engrossed in an essay she was probably correcting.
"Busy as a bee," Hermione said quietly so as not to startle Luna. Luna looked up and smiled when she recognised Hermione, who was now sitting down on the arm of her chair.
"Would you read this one through?" asked Luna and Hermione nodded with a smile. Luna shifted a little, causing Hermione to lose her balance and fall into the armchair with her. The two of them laughed and snuggled together in the armchair, where Hermione was carefully reading through the Herbology essay.
"Very good, I'd hand it in like that!" said Hermione and Luna beamed at her. She rolled up the parchment and stowed it in her bag, which was in front of the armchair. The two of them chatted some more about the material that had just been covered in Luna's class. They were annoyed that Professor Lockhart was even more of a storyteller than he had been with the second graders, instead of teaching them something meaningful.
"You should have experienced Professor Dumbledore's class at the end of last year, it was worlds better than any other class at Hogwarts!" said Hermione and Luna looked at her with shining eyes. She talked a little about how Dumbledore had shown them several magical creatures and how to ward them off. Most of them didn't even require spells, just the knowledge of what deterred or appeased them.
Luna was hanging on her every word and Hermione was a little startled when she looked at her wristwatch. She sent Luna to bed and went to her bed chamber herself, where she fell into a restful trance a little later. She was unsurprised to find that new bookshelves had appeared in her mental library, sparsely filled with books. She arranged them and had a hunch that one shelf, which was slightly larger than the others, must have belonged to the elemental air conjurations.
"Amato, Animo, Animato, Animaga," Hermione said loud and clear as she pointed her wand at her heart. She looked hopefully out of the window of her bedchamber, but the sky above the treetops of the Forbidden Forest was bathed in a beautiful, but cloudless, purple by the setting sun. There hadn't been a cloud in the sky for a fortnight, much to the delight of her classmates. She had enjoyed Quidditch practice, but she had hoped that the summer temperatures would eventually lead to a thunderstorm that would finally allow her to transform.
She sighed and shrunk her woollen gloves, which Hagrid had given her for her birthday last year, and stowed them in her bag. Her annoyance at the fine weather quickly dissipated, however, for tonight she would be gathering herbs with Professor Snape. She threw on her winter cloak and checked the fit of her braid once more before heading towards the dungeons.
"Good evening, Miss Granger. I trust you have prepared yourself well?", Professor Snape greeted her at his office door and Hermione nodded. He eyed her clothes for a moment and finally nodded. Then he went back to his office and returned with a broom and a suitcase.
"To attract less attention, we'll fly from the Astronomy Tower," he said and the two of them set off for said part of the castle. It had already grown dark and most of the students had retreated to the common rooms. As they stepped outside through the door to the Astronomy Tower's observation platform, Hermione tucked her robe in a little tighter and immediately took out her gloves alongside her shrunken broom, as she could already feel the cold in her bones.
When she was ready, she nodded to Professor Snape and the two pushed off. As previously discussed, she followed him at a measured pace. His Clean Sweep would not have been able to keep up with her Nimbus if they had been flying at full speed. She enjoyed the flight on her broom despite the cold of this moonless night. The countless stars that shone in the firmament did not illuminate the ground below them, but they were very beautiful to behold.
As they passed the boundary of the school grounds, it felt like the air they were flying through was as thick as honey. Hermione suspected she could feel the protective charms that lay over Hogwarts. They flew north for quite a while and even passed the sea briefly before Professor Snape switched to a descent. Landing beside him on a small island overgrown with grass, she looked around with interest.
"Where are we exactly?" she asked, turning her gaze up to the stars.
"On Orkney, there are several islands here where Three-Horned Root and Gypsophila grow. That's what we came here for," he said, explaining how she recognised the plants. He knelt on the ground and breathed on the grass. His breath rose in a small puff of mist, but among the blades of grass he had breathed on, one began to glow slightly. Hermione's eyes widened.
"Three-Horned Root blooms most of the year, but can only be distinguished from ordinary grass on a new moon and with breath," he explained after he breathed on the glowing blade of grass again and then cut it off with a small sickle. Hermione was intrigued and settled down beside him to look for Three-Horned Root in her turn.
"Since there are two of us, we should manage 200 stalks," he said, handing Hermione his sickle. He then reached into his pocket and gave her a small bag in which to place the stalks she had collected. They split up and Hermione giggled as she thought of what a Muggle would think watching two figures wrapped in thick robes crawling over the grass and breathing on it.
After about half an hour, Hermione had gathered a hundred stalks. By now she was nice and warm, having remembered the heat-sphere she had completely forgotten about in her excitement over the trip. When she found Professor Snape, he was still busy collecting the plants.
She helped him gather the rest and then emptied her bag into his larger container for storing the potion ingredients.
"That was quick, very good work!" he praised her and mounted his broom. He explained to her that they needed to go a little further north to find Gypsophila. When they had been flying for about five minutes, he dived down and the two landed on an even smaller island. He explained to her how to recognise Gypsophila. It was also almost indistinguishable from ordinary grass, except that it became completely rigid when the moon was new. He let a breath of wind blow from his wand and pointed it at the grass.
Immediately the blades of grass bent as they were caught by the wind. One, however, remained rigid, as if it were made of stone. Professor Snape bent down to the blade and plucked it with his free hand.
"Professor Dumbledore tells me that you are currently training in elemental spells. Would you be so kind as to assist me? It is considerably easier to cut the stalks cleanly if you have both hands free," Snape said and Hermione immediately drew her wand. It was a perfect way to practice her spells outside of Dumbledore's one-on-one lessons.
Hermione conjured a steady stream of air that warmed Professor Snape in addition to the wind as she combined it with her heat sphere. He thanked her for the warmth and began to cut the stiff stalks with his sickle. It didn't take as long as it had with the Three-Horned Root, as the stalks grew closer together, some even like little groves right next to each other.
Finally, Professor Snape straightened up and stowed the second bag in his trunk. Hermione couldn't help but let her eyes wander over his slender fingers again and again. She glanced up at his face and saw above him a green light illuminating the star-filled sky.
He too seemed to have noticed it out of the corner of his eye, for he wheeled around in a flash and stood protectively in front of Hermione. As his gaze drifted upwards, however, his body relaxed and he took a breath. Her gaze followed his and she craned her neck to look up at the sky directly above her. Her eyes widened as she saw the aurora that was forming. Larger and larger grew the green streak that wafted mysteriously in the night sky.
"That's beautiful," Hermione said softly, coming to stand beside Professor Snape, who was also admiring the spectacle in the night sky. He looked down at her briefly and she could see the reflection of the aurora borealis in his dark black eyes. He nodded and looked up again.
The two of them lost themselves in the beauty of the bright green natural spectacle and it was only after about ten minutes that Professor Snape cleared his throat and suggested they start the return flight. When their eyes met, Hermione could see that Professor Snape's face had taken on a sad expression.
"Is everything alright?" asked Hermione. He seemed startled that he had shown his feelings and instantly hid his face with the usual mask of his expressionless face that he also put on for class.
"Of course, let's fly," he said tersely, calling his broom to him with a summoning charm. Hermione did likewise, pondering the entire flight back why Professor Snape could become so sad at such a beautiful sight. When they landed at the Astronomy Tower, they both shrank their brooms and stowed them in their bags.
"I will be accompanying you to Ravenclaw Tower," Professor Snape said, and Hermione thanked him. Silently, the two walked through the corridors. They encountered the patrolling Professor McGonagall, who nodded at them both with a smile. When they arrived outside the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower, Hermione turned and looked up at her Potions teacher.
"Thank you so much for a lovely evening. I learned a lot. And the auroras were beautiful," she said, looking into the black eyes that returned her gaze.
"You're very welcome, I'm glad," he replied and Hermione smiled broadly as his mouth also twisted into a slight smile. After a few seconds of silence, he wished her a good night and Hermione turned to solve the eagle's little riddle as Professor Snape walked down the corridor. She followed him with her gaze and then had to ask the eagle-head to repeat his words, which he did with an annoyed undertone.
A little later, as she snuggled down in her fluffy bed, she looked back on the trip once more and was overcome by a wave of emotions. Happiness and sadness came at the same time and showed themselves in hot tears running down her cheeks. It had been a great trip. But it had shown her once again that she was in love with Severus Snape. An unattainable, unfathomable and mysterious man for her, with whom she could never have a future. She did nothing to stop her tears, for it also did her good to let her emotions run free. After a while, she calmed down and gave herself a rest with a trance in which she filed the memories of the day in her mental Pensieve.
Author's Note: Lots of progress! I had a lot of fun writing this one. Hope you like my attempt in putting some flesh on the bone of potions, ingedient gathering and conjuring. If you liked it, I would be happy to read a few lines from you. Also thank you to all the people that already left reviewes, it really means a lot! See you next time!
Kasing