The Date

Harry looked at Hermione intently. Her face was dumbstruck, if you could use that word for her. In awe of their surroundings. He smiled as Hermione was rendered speechless by the star lit cave.

With all the chaos that had happened over Halloween, Harry and Hermione's first date had been postponed for over a week.

But now, at last, it was taking place. Harry thought it was going well. He had flown with Hermione down the lower dungeons. He had shown her the big open cave with stalactites and stalagmites first. It had been fun flying through the wide open cave amidst the star like sources of light. Hermione had insisted that they examine the strange light sources. So Harry had guided his broom to the ceiling, and kept it as still as he could, in order to let her examine it, as she sat behind him. They found that the light came from tiny pears. They just hung from the stone, no branches or pear tree. They were about the size of a Knut.

When Hermione was satisfied, they went to some of the random rooms that Harry had found to be unique. They visited one of the jail cells that extinguished magic. Hermione was intrigued and begun to speculate how it was done.

In between visiting rooms, they passed the memorial of the Slytherin class of 1953. Hermione decided to add their names in a heart, with the date. Harry thought it was a bit kitschy, but she insisted.

Harry had decided that they would eat a small dinner in the brightly lit cave with the horned rabbits.

It was evidently a good choice, going by Hermione's reaction right now. She didn't know where to look, what to study in detail, so for the time being she just stood still, and took it all in.

The herd of rabbits played at the side of the stream. There was a whole crowd of baby bunnies. Some of them played among themselves. Others, the older ones, watched as the male rabbits charged at each other, fighting over mates as elk would.

This was new to Harry, last time he was here it was winter. He guessed the fall was their mating season. Although why would the seasons have an effect down here? It was always the same temperature.

They evidently did. This time there were wild flowers. And by wild, Harry meant wild. They had teeth.

Harry decided to avoid the flowers, hovering over them until he got to an open patch free of flowers, close to the stream.

"These caves are amazing. Do you know where the tunnels go to?" Hermione wondered.

"I have no idea. I guess that there are some secret passages to the Chamber of Secrets. I would also think that there would be some passage that leads outside again, but I have only found tunnels that lead down, so I haven't got a clue."

"The downward slope doesn't have to mean anything. There is a level connection between the top of Ravenclaw Tower and the library. Magic can do wonders. In a way the downward slope makes sense, since it would give potential invaders the disadvantage of having to fight uphill."

"I know a short cut like that too." Harry smiled.

"I'm almost jealous. Why do only Slytherins have access to a seven circle ritual chamber?"

"Because we have the best founder?" Harry asked innocently. "Besides, I'm sure there are other ritual chambers at Hogwarts. The place is teaming with magic."

"I asked the Weasley twins for help, locating them, and we only found two, a three circle room hidden by the Great Hall, and a four circle one close to the Gryffindor dorms."

"Strange. But at least that guarantees that you'll stay friends with me. You have no other access without me and my cloak." Harry laughed.

"Pratt, there are many other reasons I'm sticking with you." She snuggled into him. "But I have been thinking. We have not done any ritual this fall. We should change that."

"What sort of ritual strikes your fancy?"

"I have been making a list. There are a lot of fun ones, that are not too complicated. But their effects are only short term. But there are slightly more difficult ones, that I would like to do, because they will help you much more. One could give you twenty twenty vision. Another one would let you change your hair color. Which could help you if you can't get Dobby to help you disguise yourself."

"You can correct vision with a beginner's ritual?" Harry was astounded.

"Err, it's not quite for beginners, but it's not that complicated."

"I definitely want to do that one at some point, but could we practice others first?"

"The one we used last year to find Mafalda was much more complicated." Hermione protested.

"Yes, but it was an emergency." Harry tried to placate her. "I know my eyes are not the best but they do work, I don't want to make them worse. Also, I don't want to advertise that we are doing rituals."

"Fine how about we do one that makes a glass unbreakable."

"Isn't there a spell for that?"

"Yes, there are spells of varying difficulty for most rituals. Remember, that's one reason why rituals got out of use for everyday things. It's only the truly difficult rituals that are interesting in their results."

"Then we mighty as well make a glass unbreakable."

"I'll get everything ready for that. But after that we need to do something useful."

"Yes, we can make something more dangerous after that."

"All right, what about your project. Any success finding allies?" Hermione changed the topic.

"Only a little. I found someone from Hufflepuff, who I'm supplying with restricted supplies. We'll see where it goes, but at least I'm building connections."

"Harry, I have given your problem some thought. I have heard a lot of complaining among the students, especially Ravenclaws about this years DADA. More than usual. How about you teach us. I don't know how large a group we could get together, but if we pas our OWLs then we would all be in your debt. That could be useful in building your network."

Harry paused eating his sandwich. Hermione wanted him to do what? "You want me to teach people to fight?"

"I was thinking more DADA, but if You-Know-Who stirs up more trouble, it would be beneficial to have a group of fighters around you. No?"

"Sure, but I can't teach."

"Why not?" Hermione asked. "You are the most gifted DADA student in our year. I bet if we didn't have Umbridge you would have overtaken me this year as the top spot in the class. You were always the best at practicals, and now that you are motivated, you actually study defense."

"But I have no idea bout teaching. I would not know what to do."

"Maybe you could ask Professor Flitwick … or Professor Snape, I suppose. I'm sure they could give you helpful suggestions."

"I don't know that I trust them enough, but I could ask Moody. I'm sure he would know." Hermione looked at him in inquiry. "Oh, I'm still in contact with Moody, he is with Sirius. I thought I mentioned that before."

"So, you are willing to do it?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Yes, it makes sense," Harry hesitated, could he really teach a group of his classmates? "But who do we invite? And how much could we trust them. I mean if I count the people I trust, it comes really down to just you, maybe some Weasleys, the Greengrass sisters, Theo. … That is about it. How can we trust others?"

"But you don't have to trust them. We'll be just another study group. I know of several student from Ravenclaw who would be interested. The people you just mentioned would be worth asking. And that contact from Hufflepuff. Maybe they know some of their housemates that would be interested too."

"You're right, this could be a great opportunity for the network. I'll do it." Harry agreed.

The two finished their dinner with more small talk. They quickly cleaned up. Even if no one else would come down her for another fifty years, it didn't feel right to leave a mess behind.

"Harry could we explore some more passages?" Hermione asked. "I mean some that you have not looked at?"

"Sure. We are actually not that far from where I stopped. The dungeons become more extensive the further down you go, so I stopped going down at this point. When I was searching for Mafalda, I had to focus on some level, and this was the one. That was before you found that ritual." Harry explained.

"Let's go right now." Hermione excitedly got up and began packing up the remnants of their meal.

"I should warn you though. For the most part it's just long and dark passages and empty rooms. I showed you some of the most exiting attractions of the dungeon tonight, but there is also just a lot of dust."

"Och, I'm sure we'll find something exiting."

To his great surprise, Harry was proven wrong in the very first room.

After a few minutes flying and taking a few random turns, which Harry made sure to memorize to note on his dungeon map, the two came upon a door. Hermione wanted to burst through the door right away.

"Stop!" he shouted. Hermione froze instantly, before giving him an annoyed face.

"What is it?" she almost looked as if she was rolling her eyes.

"I have to first check the door for traps." Harry proceeded to go through his routine spell chain. He could do it in his sleep, and at least that looked like it impressed Hermione.

As soon as he gave her 'the nod,' Hermione opened the door. His caution didn't seem to deter her inquisitive spirit, but this time she had her wand out. She paused only momentarily. Harry shined the lamp at the door, holding the broom that had it attached, with his left hand, while holding his wand in his wand. The light of the lamp did not seem to penetrate into the room. It was a gloomy cave, but not completely dark. A faint light came from the other end of it. Almost like moonlight.

Hermione stepped into the room.

She lit her wand with a lumos, and turned around.

Then she turned ghost white. "Harry?"

"Yes, Hermione, what's going on?" Now he was really concerned. Something was not right.

"Harry,can you hear me?" She turned around several times. Then she started to touch what was probably for her a solid wall. If the moment had not been so serious, it would have been funny, watching her touch the door, which to Harry was open.

Harry hesitated for a moment. They had no idea where this portal lead to. But he would not abandon Hermione at some cave who knew where. Steeling his resolve, he stepped through the door after Hermione.

She enveloped him in a soul crushing hug. "Thank God, you came." Then she became sobered up quickly. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"There is only one way to find out." Harry pointed at the only visible exit to the cave.

"Right." Hermione proceeded to the opening, this time with much more caution.

Harry followed close behind. He had extinguished the light, to not alert any potential foe. Both their wands were at the ready.

The outside was a bit anticlimactic, it was just a forest.

They both peered around, trying to make out details in the bright moonlight.

"Where do you think we are?" Harry asked.

"No idea, we could be anywhere." Hermione frowned. "But we are probably still in England. Magical travel has some limits. Lets head in one direction and hope we hit something."

"Wait, I have my broom, that will be quicker." Harry reminded her.

"Yes, of course."

The two got on the broom and rose. Harry steered them to just above the trees. He wanted to get away from any potential predator. As they reached the top of the forest, Hermione let out a sigh of relive.

"Look Harry, we're lucky. We're just in the Forbidden Forest." She pointed him to the back, where Hogwarts stood pale white in the moonlight.

From there it was a short flight to the edge of the forest. The little adventure had even saved them time. It had dramatically reduced the time of their return trip. Harry was glad for this little short cut. He could use this portal to more efficiently explore the lower dungeons in the future.

But it was late and so Harry led Hermione to her dorm. They covered themselves by his invisibility cloak when they approached Hogwarts to avoid detentions.

They traversed the ever moving stairs and were almost at the entrance to the Ravenclaw tower, when they heard the sound of Mrs. Norris miauing.

Harry stopped, as he always did, when the caretaker's cat was around. Hermione bumped into him and then petrified as well. Harry's heart rate barely rose. This had occurred countless times before, and the cat usually just went on her way.

This time was different.

Usually she just walked past him, as if he was not there.

This time she sat down before them, and stared right at them.

Now Harry grew worried.

He held his breath, and hoped that any moment now, Mrs. Norris would get up and meander on.

It was not meant to be.

She just sat there and remained motionless.

Then it got worse.

They could hear Filch approach.

"Mr. Potter, you can come out of that cloak of yours."

For a moment Harry remained motionless. He almost panicked. This had never happened before. His father's cloak failed him.

"There is no sense in you dillydallying, Mr. Potter."

Reluctantly Harry pulled down the cloak, exposing both himself and Hermione.

"I see you are not only following your mother's footsteps."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. What were they supposed to reply to that?

The custodian turned around, and said, "To my office."

Harry sighed. The four quickly marched to the custodians office.

"Take a seat." Filch said, not unkindly. "I have always wondered what your parents would think about your adventures, Mr. Potter."

"You seem to know them better then I realized."

"I didn't really know your father too well. Aside from some detentions, I had few interactions with him. Your mother was a different matter. Lily was very kind to me. She helped me a great deal."

Filch stared into the distance, his eyes seeing different memories.

"How was it that my mother helped you, Mr. Filch?"

"Have you ever heard people wonder about the rumored connection I have with Mrs. Norris?"

Harry and Hermione both nodded. They especially recalled second year, when Mrs. Norris had been petrified. The caretaker had reacted as if a part of him was missing. They wondered how Mrs. Norris was connected with Lily. Harry leaned forward, his whole attention on the caretaker. It was a new experience to talk to someone who actually knew his mother. It was a little odd that it was the normally very cantankerous caretaker, but Harry was not picky at the moment. Hermione sat still on her chair. She also showed interest, but was more relaxed about it.

"I have to thank Lily for all I know about Occlumency, which is a subject I wanted to talk to you about for a while." Filch seemed to talk about a tangent. "I met Lily in her fifth year. She had this insatiable hunger to learn everything about magic and the magical world. She had read something about squibs and came to my office to ask me about it. Our initial interactions were kind of trivial, but we soon discovered a mutual interest in the mind arts."

"I thought squibs can't do magic?" Hermione interjected.

"Squibs can not do active magic, correct, but Occlumency, as opposed to Legilimency, is passive magic. Just like some of the magical contraptions that squibs can use, but not muggles. I knew about this before Lily and I studied Occlumency together, but only her genius at Legilimency helped me unlock the full potential for a squib."

"What do you mean?" Harry thought out loud. "Does Mrs. Norris have something to do with that?"

"Mr. Potter, you have been studding Legilimency for a little while. Have you heard of mind councilors?"

"Yes, they are a way of making your mind more efficient by adding characters with independent thoughts to your mind." Harry explained succinctly to Hermione.*

"Correct. But the full potential of mind councilors goes well beyond the inside of the mind. With the help of Legilimency, a wizard is able to form a mind councilor that is in control of an animal, a companion of sort. This satellite councilor can have quite a number of benefits, well beyond just having an extra set of eyes and ears. Once the connection is formed, this connection relies solely on passive magic, just like the whole mind council. Lily found a ritual that aids a wizard in the complicated process of forming this connection. She was able to alter this ritual. That is how Mrs. Norris became my familiar."

Now both Harry and Hermione's imagination were captured. Harry's because of the mind arts and Hermione's because of the rituals. Harry realized that maybe they had found their new Legilimency tutor. "Mr. Filch, my mother helped you a lot. … Hermione and I, we have been kind of stuck, ever since I lost my last tutor." He tried to ask, without looking like he would be the one indebted.

"You're right, Lily gave me a huge gift with Mrs. Norris. I would be happy to return the favor." The caretaker smiled. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a beat up journal. "This a journal your mother gave me before … after she left school. It has quite a bit about Legilimency and about rituals that could help along the process. Maybe you can start with reading it. I'm happy to help if any questions come up."

Harry picked up the journal and started flipping through it. His mum's hand writing was delicate and easily to read.

Mr. Filch cleared his throat. "I'm sure you will find a wealth of knowledge in there, but maybe three o'clock in the morning is not the best time to begin with it?"

A.N. I know it's been forever since I published on here. Real life and stuff happened I guess. Actually I have worked on fanfiction, just not always on this one. I think in the future I won't start publishing on here without having finished at least a rough draft. As far as this chapter goes, I'm quite proud of it, actually. I have never come across anything in which squibs are significant. This is unique! Is it? There will be more about it in future chapters. If you have come across something squib related, I would love to hear some suggestions.

For a moment it looked like they are lost, huh? If you want to read a story where the two really get lost, read Stranded by Starfox5. It's his current work in progress. He updates more frequently than I.

I have several concerns as I post this. It seems to be too much at once, kind of check marky. What do you thing? I also don't know if Hermione makes sense in this chapter, but I have tried to make are a bit prone to ignoring danger when new knowledge is at stake. I guess it fits with her inquisitive nature, kind of like her obsession over ritual magic.

*Mind Councilors are explained in more detail in chapter 11 of Blue Blood.