Chapter 13

Death-Eaters

Dumbledore peered over his small half-moon spectacles at Hermione, an amused look on his aged face, blue eyes twinkling. Terry continued to walk away, unaware the Headmaster stood behind him, and had likely just seen him attack another student.

Dumbledore did nothing to stop Terry, instead, he turned to Neville and said, "Good afternoon Mr. Longbottom, would you introduce me to your, ahem, somewhat assertive friend?"

He glanced down at the wand, which Hermione still held pointed at the center of his chest. She lowered her arm and quickly stashed her wand in her pocket, hoping Dumbledore would not choose to confiscate it.

Neville, still catching his breath, said, "She's Hermione sir, Hermione Granger."

Before Dumbledore could speak again, Hermione quickly said, "I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to point my wand at you. I only pulled it out because Terry Boot hit Neville. You saw that didn't you, sir?"

"I did indeed, Ms. Granger," Dumbledore said with a small nod, "I will have a chat with Fidelis and explain the situation. I prefer to let the students' head of house deal with minor infractions like this."

His smile remained pleasant as he continued, but his eyes lost their twinkle and his tone grew more serious, "However, you should be careful, magic is not to be used on other students. Breaking that rule is the kind of infraction I oversee personally."

Then, Dumbledore stepped past Hermione, put his hand on Neville's shoulder and said, "I'd like a word, Mr. Longbottom. Follow me to my office would you?"

Neville, who looked rather nervous, nodded mutely and followed the Headmaster towards the main castle.

"I felt no sense of fear from my wand," Hermione realized as they walked away, leaving her standing alone in front of the library, "Does that mean Dumbledore isn't as powerful as I've read? Or was Madam Pince lying to me? Maybe there's another reason my wand is frightened of her."

That evening, Hermione went back to the library and found a shelf with various books on Hogwarts. She spotted 'Hogwarts a History' as she searched through the various titles, though this copy looked less dog-eared than her own. It took only an hour of skimming books for Hermione to find the piece of information she sought, so she left the library, encountering a light rain as she stepped outside.

Feeling triumphant, Hermione hurried through the rain to the main castle, and then headed to the fifth floor, hoping to confirm another of her theories. After wandering the corridors for a few minutes, she spotted a group of sixth-year Hufflepuffs. Hermione followed them, making sure to keep well back so they wouldn't notice her.

Hermione pulled out the map as she walked, locating the corridor she was following the Hufflepuffs down. Seeing that they had passed all of the branching hallways or doors to other rooms, she realized they were walking towards a dead-end.

"They must be returning to their common room," Hermione thought excitedly, "Just like I'd hoped."

As the Hufflepuffs neared the end of the corridor, Hermione stopped, set the map down, and pretended to be tying her shoelaces. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione watched one of the sixth-years hold a hand out to the decorative suit of armor that stood in front of a pair of shields mounted to the wall.

Hermione thought the boy said something, but she couldn't hear from so far away. In response, the suit of armor moved, reaching out to grasp hands with the Hufflepuff boy. The suit of armor then stepped to the side, and the first of the Hufflepuffs sat down and disappeared feet first from Hermione's view.

She moved forward as the three other students took turns entering. As she came closer, Hermione saw that a section of wall had opened up, and the older students were sliding down into an angled stone tunnel. Confident she had learned what she needed for now, Hermione hurried away.

When she reached the Ravenclaw common room, Hermione located Li, who sat on a couch reading 'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration'.

"Hey," Hermione said in greeting as she sat down beside Li, "You remember that poem I found?"

Li bookmarked her page before answering, "Of course, why?"

"Because I think I've confirmed what it means," Hermione whispered.

Li followed Hermione up to their room and listened as she explained her interpretation of the poem.

"Tonight I confirmed that the Astronomy Tower wasn't added until the seventeenth century, long after Rowena's time. I'm certain the poem is saying I need to get into the other houses' common rooms," Hermione concluded enthusiastically.

After a moment of thought, Li gently said, "This is fascinating, and I think what you're saying makes sense, but I'm sure sneaking into another house's common room is against the rules. Is it worth getting in trouble for this?"

Hermione paused, not sure what to say. The mysterious poem felt important in a way she couldn't put into words. She knew that Madam Pince discovered it during her time at Hogwarts, and she guessed that throughout the centuries, many other students would have tried to solve this mystery as well.

"It feels important," Hermione said slowly, "As if getting into that room will fix everything."

Li raised her eyebrows, looking at Hermione skeptically, "What are you going on about? What would it fix?"

Ignoring Li, Hermione pulled her wand from her pocket and stared at it curiously.

"Is it you again?" Hermione wondered silently, directing her thoughts towards her wand, "Are you trying to push me to investigate Rowena's room the same way you've been trying to frighten me away from Pince and Ollivander?"

In response, Hermione thought she felt a tiny pulse of timid agreement coming from the wooden stick.

"Well stop it," she replied mentally, "You're as bad as those two. Let me make my own decisions!"

When she looked up from her wand, Hermione found Li staring at her with a look of concern.

"I… um," Hermione began, but Li cut her off.

"Do you need to go to the hospital wing or something? You seem a bit out of sorts."

With a heavy sigh, Hermione shook her head and set her wand aside. She told Li about her meeting with Madam Pince and her realization that her wand was attempting to communicate through emotional messages that Hermione found difficult to distinguish from her own feelings.

"And just now, I've figured out that a part of my fascination with this poem is due to my wand's influence," Hermione concluded angrily.

Appearing dumbstruck, Li said nothing. After a few silent moments, Hermione grew worried.

Internally, she began to fret, "Does she think I'm a freak? Is this too strange? Maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

Finally, Li's mouth, which had been hanging open in bafflement, closed and became a smile.

"You're totally weird," Li said, grin broadening as she spoke, "Did you know that?"

Seeing the look of shame on Hermione's face, Li continued, "Oh relax, I'm not making fun of you. Being weird is better than being boring."

Hermione smiled shyly and said, "Thanks Li, but I think a couple of weeks being boring might be good for me."

As she drifted off to sleep that night, Hermione thought, "I'm going to focus on classes this week. No more exploring until I've gotten better at Transfiguration and learned some more spells. I have years to work on the poem and the map, there's no hurry."

Hermione found herself standing on a misty hillside, lit by moonlight. Through the mist she could make out many long rows of plants stretching into the distance. Hermione walked down the gentle slope to the closest row of plants and discovered vines laden with dark bunches of grapes.

"It's a vineyard," Hermione thought, feeling as though she'd been here before.

Further down the row of vines, she could see a light, so Hermione walked towards it. The mists dissipated as she approached the light revealing a ten-foot tall, gangly creature standing before her. It had thin limbs, longer than a humans in proportion to its rather short torso and a spiraling pattern ran across its chest. Intense red light emanated from its eyes and mouth, driving back the mist and warming the air. The sight of it seemed to unlock Hermione's mind, and she suddenly felt wide awake.

"This is a dream," Hermione realized, "And I've had this dream before."

Memories of her two previous encounters with the creature began to surface, and Hermione remembered, "That spiraling pattern… It's my wand. It's been trying to warn me about something."

The strange creature, her wand, took a step forward. Despite the power and heat that it exuded, Hermione felt unafraid, meeting its gaze without flinching, and staring into the depths of its fiery eyes.

"Do you have a name?" Hermione asked, oddly confident in this surreal situation.

The wand-creature did not speak, but Hermione felt mild remorse, followed by a sense of confusion, and finally a burst of urgency.

"I don't understand," Hermione said, trying to make sense of the flood of emotions, "I know you're trying to warn me of something. You think Ollivander and Madam Pince are dangerous, right?"

She felt a sense of agreement coming from the wand-creature, then fear, mixed with triumph and curiosity.

Growing frustrated, Hermione stepped closer and asked, "Is there another way you can communicate? Do you know how to write?"

The uncertainty, jealousy, and derision that came from her wand next felt stronger, and Hermione took another two steps forward, a theory forming in her mind.

"May I touch you?" Hermione asked, eyes still locked with the tall wand-creature.

The creature sent a wave of resolve, mixed with relief, almost overwhelming in its emotional volume. Hermione reached her arm up and placed her palm on the side of the wand-creature's torso. Instantly, Hermione's vision went black.

In the darkness she heard three words, spoken by a dry, crackling voice that seemed to come from all around her, "He. Is. Awake."

Hermione awoke drenched in sweat, clutching her wand in one hand, though she was certain she'd placed it in her trunk before going to bed. The details of the dream began to grow fuzzy, but the words spoken at the end still rang in her mind. Before she could forget them, Hermione got up to retrieve a pen and notebook from her trunk. She wrote the words down, followed by a description of the dream.

"I was in a vineyard. There was a red light coming from, what I believe is, my wand's soul, or dream-form, or something. When I touched it I heard the words 'He is awake'. It is possible I have dreamed something like this before."

After jotting down these words, she locked her wand in her trunk and managed to fall back asleep for a few more hours despite the disturbing dream.

Hermione spent the following days using her wand as little as possible, unsettled by the dream and the realization that her wand had been pushing her to obsess over the poem. When she did need to use it during lessons, Hermione consciously tried to block out its emotional messages.

In her free time, Hermione began practicing wandless magic. To her delight, she discovered that her ability to levitate objects had improved. It seemed that using an incantation benefited her spellwork even without a wand. She managed weaker versions of other spells, but found that attempting Transfiguration without a wand to be a fruitless effort.

As October brought chilling winds and morning frost to Hogwarts, Hermione found herself itching to try more spells. She had an ever growing list of memorized incantations, but so far, she had only attempted a dozen spells, including those from her practical lessons.

"Do you want to cast some spells tonight?" Hermione asked Li during dinner on a chilly Friday evening.

Li finished chewing a large bite of a burrito before answering, "Sounds fun, should we invite Mandy and Padma like last time?"

"Not tonight," Hermione said, glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, "I want to see if we can pull off a Shield Charm."

"Why can't Mandy and Padma learn it?"

"Well, I'm sure they could. But if we want to be certain our shields work, we'll need to block a spell."

Li raised her eyebrows, "You don't mean…" She glanced around and lowered her voice before continuing, "Are you saying you want me to jinx you?"

Hermione did not like breaking rules, but over the last week, memories of her meeting with Madam Pince kept resurfacing. She'd instinctively drawn her wand to defend herself but hadn't known a single spell that would help if a witch or wizard attacked her.

"Yes," Hermione said after a long pause, "I want you to try and jinx me until I can defend myself."

Li gave her a worried look and opened her mouth to comment, but before she could, Hermione said, "Listen, I talked with an older student who's a muggle-born. She made it clear that Hogwarts can be dangerous to someone like me."

This was not the full truth, but it convinced Li to help Hermione train. They made their way to an empty classroom on the second floor that Hermione had spotted on the map the night before. The only way to access the room was to step out onto a third-story balcony and then descend a narrow staircase with a low ceiling. The entrance to the staircase was half hidden behind a stone gargoyle, making it secluded and secret enough that Hermione felt reasonably certain no one would find them.

Desks and chairs were stacked against one wall. Leaving an open area perfect for their needs. Hermione used her wand to light a few candles she had brought to provide illumination.

"Okay," Li said, "We need to decide on what jinx to use."

"How about the jelly-legs-jinx?" Hermione suggested, "All it does is make your legs too wobbly to stay standing and it wears off quickly."

Li shrugged, still appearing hesitant about what they were doing. They both pulled out their wands and Hermione opened her notebook in which she'd taken notes on the Shield Charm.

Within an hour, both girls managed to create a magical shield. It was just barely visible, a shimmering pink wall that materialized in front of them for a few moments. Hermione immediately wondered if she could modify the spell to create a shield all around her rather than just in front.

"Alright," Li said, "I guess we should try a jinx now."

Hermione, who had been about to try the Shield Charm again, lowered her wand and nodded. She turned to another page in her notebook and Li leaned in close beside her to read the instructions Hermione had written.

For a moment, Hermione forgot about jinxs or the possibility of getting caught doing magic outside of class. Having Li standing so close to her made her tense up. The light of the candles reflected off of Li's dark hair and Hermione felt oddly nervous all of the sudden. Li, whose shoulder pressed against Hermione's, seemed to sense her discomfort and moved slightly, breaking their physical connection.

Not sure what caused her reaction, Hermione focused on the task at hand.

She stepped to the side, lifted her wand, and said, "Locomotor Wibbly!"

A fist sized sphere or orange light shot from the end of her wand, bounced off of the room's blackboard, and came flying towards Li. With a squeal, she dove to the ground and the spell missed her by inches. As it collided with the stone wall behind them, it broke into fragments that dissipated into the air.

With glasses askew, Li looked up at Hermione and, in a dry voice, said, "how about some warning next time?"

Hermione hurriedly helped Li to her feet and the shorter girl dusted off the front of her robes.

"Sorry Li, I, um, should have warned you."

"It's fine," Li said laughing at Hermione's look of embarrassment, "My turn, Locomotor Wibbly!"

The orange sphere Li created was double the size of Hermione's. The blackboard cracked as the spell struck it and came flying back towards the girls.

Hermione's arm lifted, and before she could process the fact that Li's jinx was moving faster than her own, she whispered, "Protego."

The jelly-leg-jinx bounced off her shield, hurtling into a stack of chairs. They teetered, and the stack began to fall. Li ran forward to stop the small tower of chairs from toppling, but it was too late. The noise of the cracking blackboard had been nothing compared to the cacophony the sturdy wooden chairs made as they slammed down on the stone floor.

Hermione and Li stood petrified for a moment, then they both scrambled towards the door of the room. Hermione paused for a moment to grab her notebook and satchel bag, then hurried after Li. They ran up the staircase, out onto the balcony, and back inside. They sprinted down a narrow hallway that cut diagonally across the third floor.

The inhabitants of the paintings on the walls shouted at them as they passed. Some asked what the trouble was, others sternly called for them to slow down. At the end of the hallway a familiar figure floated a few feet off of the ground.

Hermione and Li slid to a halt right in front of Peeves who did not move, but smiled, displaying teeth that were sharper than a normal person's.

The little man cackled, "Oho! The squirrel and the owl, in a hurry are we?"

Hermione looked over her shoulder, expecting to see Filch or Snape in hot pursuit. Fortunately, no one was following them.

"We're just hurrying back to our common room," Li explained breathlessly.

Eyes twinkling with merriment, Peeves sang, "Two ickle first-ies out for a run, both looking guilty, oh how fun! Should I call for Filch or let the Headmaster know? Tell Peeves a joke and he might let you go!"

Li rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. What's the difference between a niffler and a goblin?"

Peeves scratched at his chin contemplatively before asking, "What?"

"They'll both steal your coins but the goblin will charge you a transaction fee for the service," Li answered.

"Not bad," Peeves chuckled, then turned to look at Hermione and said, "Your turn!"

Hermione tried to think of a joke, but the only ones that came to mind referenced the muggle world such as, how many lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb? In the end, she went with the first joke she thought Peeves would understand, though it wasn't very humorous.

"What did one egg say to the other?"

Peeves said nothing, so Hermione gave him the punchline, "Let's get cracking."

She smiled, but Peeves' grin faded and he drifted closer to the floor shaking his head in disappointment, "What a bland sense of humor you have… but a deal is a deal, I won't say anything to Filch or Dumbledore."

Hermione let out a sigh of relief as Peeves floated past them but then, in his loudest, most obnoxious voice, Peeves began to shout, "OH PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL… I THINK YOU'LL WANT TO TALK TO THESE TROUBLESOME FIRST-YEARS!"

Li cursed, grabbed the sleeve of Hermione's robe, and began to run, pulling Hermione along behind her.

Before they could turn the corner at the end of the hallway, a voice behind them called, "Hold it right there you two!"

Reluctantly, Li and Hermione stopped and turned to find Professor McGonagall. She glared down at them, stern face suspicious.

Li, thinking quickly, said, "Evening Professor, we were hurrying to get back to Ravenclaw Tower before curfew."

Hermione gaped at her, surprised by how calm she sounded. Li gently elbowed her in the ribs, prompting Hermione to close her mouth and nod in agreement.

Professor McGonagall continued to stare at them, not seeming convinced, "You have a full thirty minutes before curfew, there is no need to race recklessly through the hallways."

Peeves, who hovered behind McGonagall chimed in, "I think they're running because they did something naughty!"

"That's not true Professor, we -," Li began, but McGonagall cut her off.

"For running in the hallways, I will take ten points from Ravenclaw. If you have been doing anything else against the rules, know that I will not hesitate to give you detention if I catch you. For tonight, I think it best you walk back to your common room."

She emphasized the word 'walk', and Li nodded, taking Hermione's sleeve again, leading her away. They did not speak again until they arrived at their room.

Li collapsed onto her bed and let out a groan as Hermione sat on the end of her bed, rubbing at her temples. The running had brought on a pounding headache. She could feel the beating of her heart, each beat accompanied by a pulse of sharp pain.

"Ugh, I hate running," Hermione complained.

"That makes sense, because you're not great at it," Li replied.

"I always found ways out of it in Phys Ed, except in grade four. Mr Fulton didn't believe I was asthmatic so he made me run laps with the other kids. I was always the last one to finish…" Hermione trailed off, realizing she was rambling about things from the muggle world.

"Tonight was a close call," Li commented, filling the silence.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed, "But we did manage the Shield Charm.

Li nodded, "We both got the jelly-leg-jinx on the first try too, but how about we lay low for a couple nights. There's some other Ravenclaws, like Padma and Mandy, that I hang out with when you're off making maps and solving mysteries. I think you'd get along with them. Want to come down to the common room? I saw them sitting at our usual spot when we came in."

A surge of equal parts fear and embarrassment flooded through Hermione. She wasn't entirely sure why Li had befriended her, but when it was just the two of them, Hermione felt comfortable. If she went down to the common room, Hermione knew she would become quiet and awkward.

Worried Li wouldn't want to spend time around her if she understood how socially inept Hermione was, she lied, "I've got a pretty bad headache from running. Maybe tomorrow night I could meet your friends. I'm just going to lay down until my head feels better."

Not looking entirely convinced, Li said, "Alright, if you feel better soon, come down and chat with us."

After Li shut the door, Hermione got up and opened her trunk. Her headache had, in truth, faded, barely bothering her now. She pulled out the Wizarding newspaper she had purchased from the school store, hoping the distraction would keep her from sulking.

The main headline on page one of 'The Daily Prophet' was about interest rates and security at Gringotts Bank. As she read, Hermione determined that the bank was run by goblins, though the Ministry of Magic seemed to have regulating powers that affected the bank's ability to lend out gold internationally.

A shorter article near the bottom of the page caught her attention when she spotted the word 'muggle' in its title.

"Welsh Dragon spotted by two dozen muggles near Yorkshire!"

Hermione read the article, curious how the Wizarding world managed to keep things like wild dragons secret from the muggles. By the time she finished, she understood, and a cold rage overcame her.

"Memory charms…" Hermione thought darkly, "How many people like my parents get their minds wiped each year? What if it does something to their brains? Is the Ministry sure they aren't causing dementia or Alzheimer's? Would they even care?"

It was too early, and Hermione felt too upset to consider going to bed. She pulled the curtains closed around her bed and opened a book she'd recently borrowed from the library. It detailed the creation and implementation of the International Statute of Secrecy. As she read, Hermione began to see that the Wizarding world had more issues than their treatment of goblins, elves, and muggle-borns.

Staying hidden from non-magical society had been justified through fear tactics. The historical witch hunts in Europe being used to justify increased surveillance by the magical governments around the world. They claimed witches and wizards were hated by those with no magic and would stop at nothing to exterminate them. Simultaneously, the Wizarding world derided muggles as inferior fools, tinkering with science to create sub-par imitations of what magic could accomplish.

Hermione was baffled by the contradictions that seemed obvious to her as she read, "The Ministry claims the International Statute of Secrecy gives them the power to regulate and conduct surveillance on all magical transportation in the United Kingdom, but the section of the I.S.O.S they cite isn't clear. I would argue they're twisting the document's original meaning to justify taking more control."

Over the weekend, Hermione finished the book and returned to the library to do more research on Wizarding governments. She learned that after the signing of the I.S.O.S, many governments began gradually imposing more control over many aspects of Wizarding society, all of them using the Statute of Secrecy as justification. Hundreds of years later, Wizarding governments controlled their citizens' lives in a way that reminded Hermione of 'Nineteen Eighty-four', the novel by George Orwell she read the year before.

"At least now I know Big Brother is watching," Hermione thought wryly as she headed down to dinner on Sunday evening.

Neville waited for her, stopping her with a hand on the shoulder as she entered the Great Hall, "Hermione, can we talk?"

Seeing the serious look in his eyes, Hermione nodded and followed Neville to a bench in the entrance hall.

They sat and he asked, "Hermione, have you heard about You-know-who?"

"Yeah, a bit, I've been meaning to find a book about him, why?

"Well, when I was talking with Dumbledore, he said something strange."

The encounter with the Headmaster had slipped Hermione's mind completely. She should have asked Neville about it sooner.

"Oh yeah, what did he want to talk with you about? You weren't in trouble right?"

Neville shook his head, "Of course not, he just wanted to ask how my -"

Hermione interrupted, "Good, because it was Terry who should be in trouble, that jerk."

Neville looked a bit annoyed at the interruption but patiently explained, "He got detention, and he apologized to me yesterday. That's not what's important though, when I was talking with Dumbledore, he told me something about the Potters."

"The couple that killed Vol-, um, He-who-must-not-be-named?" Hermione asked, barely remembering not to say Voldemort's name.

Neville nodded, but said nothing. He looked nervous, wringing his hands and tapping a foot against the ground in a rapid rhythm.

Hermione waited for a second before saying, "Well, what did he say about them?"

After glancing around, Neville looked her in the eyes and said, "Promise not to tell anyone?"

Hermione nodded.

"Okay, well first off, he told me that You-know-who might not be dead."

Hermione started to speak but Neville, who clearly wanted to say what was on his mind, ignored her and went on, "He said that You-know-who used the Dark Arts in ways that are hard to imagine. He said that overcoming death was one of his primary goals, that's why his followers called themselves Death-Eaters."

As Neville paused for a breath, Hermione jumped in with a question, "Why has he been gone for ten years then?"

"Because something happened that night he killed the Potters. Dumbledore says he's not totally sure, but he thinks whatever happened weakened You-know-who, but that he's likely still out there, biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to return to power."

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "It sounds to me like he was just being melodramatic, don't let that old man scare you. I'm not sure he's nearly as wise and powerful as he pretends to be."

Neville looked shocked at her comment, "He's the most powerful wizard of the modern era!"

"So I've heard," Hermione said with a shrug, "But if he's so incredible, why is he running a school instead of ruling the Ministry or fighting dark wizards."

"He defeated Grindelwald," Neville said hotly, "And my Gran said Dumbledore is the only wizard He-who-must-not-be-named ever feared."

"Alright, sorry. Why are you so worried about what he told you? If You-know-who is afraid of Dumbledore, then even if he returns we'll be safe at Hogwarts."

"I guess that's true," Neville said contemplatively.

"Come on, let's go get some dinner. I doubt Vol-, I mean, He-who-must-not-be-named will be hiding under the Gryffindor table," Hermione laughed at her own joke and added, "If anything, I'd bet he'd be under the Slytherin table."

Neville gave a weak smile and they made their way into the Great Hall. While eating a samosas and a lentil soup, Hermione remembered the words she'd heard in her dream. She wondered if 'He is awake' might have something to do with Voldemort, but dismissed the thought and focused on the delicious meal.

After dinner, Hermione returned to her room and pulled her wand from her trunk for the first time in two days.

The moment the wood touched her skin, a sense of urgency washed over her. She tried to drop the wand but instead, her hand clenched tighter. Hermione tried to focus her will to force back the emotion coming from the wand as she had before, but it intensified, overwhelming her and making her unable to control her body.

Her fingers were now white-knuckled and her whole arm shook from gripping the wand so tightly. The edges of her vision began to grow fuzzy and Hermione fell to her knees, unable to think over the volume of her wand's terrified, pleading sense of urgency. Hermione slumped to her side on the floor, ears beginning to ring, breath shallow and weak, vision going black.