"One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying."
Joan of Arc
Chapter 2
It was nine of the clock in the morning when Hermione and Viktor finally arrived at the place known as Circe's Grove. In this southern part of the woods was a meadow of many-coloured flowers and several conifers called Field of Mare. At the foot of a nearby mountain, hidden from the eyes of muggles, lay the ruins of Circe's Palace. The powerful sorceress was known for her extensive knowledge of potions and herbs, and also for turning her enemies or those who offended her into animals. Legend has it that when Odysseus decided to leave her island of Aeaea in Greece, many adventurers sought her out to steal her magic wand.
What many magicians who dueled with her did not know was that Circe was the eldest daughter of Ignotus Peverell. He had been the youngest of the three brothers who received one of the Deathly Hallows by Death. Angered at her father, who had trusted the Invisibility Cloak to her younger brother Aeëtes, she decided to set out in search of the Elder wand. It was the only one of the three relics that had not passed to an heir. Unlike Cadmus, who bequeathed the Resurrection Stone to his daughter Penelope, Antioch lived in seclusion. He feared of being robbed of the powerful Elder Wand. Nevertheless, the young witch managed to find her uncle and murder him. Yet, the same as Antioch before her, the sorceress fled to a distant land, Albania. There she lived in the remote forest of Zall Gjocaj. It is not certain, but at some point Morgan Le Fae stole the wand, which has since been passed from hand to hand among many magicians. But perhaps Circe's most valuable and dangerous treasure was her grimoire, a compendium of the darkest magical arts.
"Come and see what I have found!" Krum said, pointing to a large hole in one of the ruined palace walls. The witch did not expect to find so many recent signs of magical activity there, since few ventured into that part of the forest. It seemed that the hole leading to a narrow passageway had been created at least a year ago. She did not know of many wizards capable of breaching such powerful protective wards on the walls. Since early morning, the two searched for ways to enter the palace and found that the palace, reminiscent of the temple in the Acropolis of Athens, had been protected to prevent intrusion. Upon many hours of hard work, Hermione managed to find a gap in the intricate ancient wards, and they got inside. Signs of destruction were everywhere, toppled marble columns, the remains of what appeared to be wooden furniture, but the function of which was difficult to discern.
After examining the risk of going through the passage in the wall, both decided to go in. The path led further and further underground. After fifteen minutes of walking, they reached a large hall magically lit by torches. Unlike the rest of the castle, the chamber was in immaculate condition. On the walls, Minoan-style paintings displayed passages from the Odyssey and the Iliad, and in the center stood a kind of altar with a medallion in the center. The locket was made of gold, and a serpentine S of bright green stones was carved on the front. "Wait a minute, I know that necklace," Viktor said in alarm. It belonged to Delores Umbridge, the late Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic. He had met her during the Triwizard Tournament. She was in charge of the investigation into Diggory's murder. "Umbridge died three years ago. I was still an intern in the Department of Mysteries at the time," said Hermione. The witch had been among those who analysed the strange condition of Dolores' body. It was a horrible sight, only a few scattered pieces were found on the floor of the apartment where she lived. Apparently she was the victim of a dark ritual.
To continue her research, Hermione had to remove the medallion from the marble altar. As soon as she approached the object, the young witch noticed the same evil aura that was present in the ring at the Riddle mansion. Already experienced in dealing with this type of artifact, Granger used her wand to levitate the locket and place it in one of the protective crystal boxes. These special devices could contain the dark magic and avoid bigger problems. Still, when the medallion was removed from its original position, the walls of the huge room began to crumble. The two magicians had to flee not only the chamber, but also the palace, which was shaken by a strong earthquake within minutes. Coincidence or not, it was time to return to Britain and search for more clues.
A week later, Granger was back in the Department of Mysteries. Locked in the room with the ring and the locket, the witch decided that maybe it was time to ask for help. She needed someone who not only really understood the dark arts, but also had experience. The only problem was that after the fall of Grindelwald, the most prominent dark wizards were either dead or locked up in Azkaban or Nurmengard, the largest magical prisons in Europe. Well, she actually knew someone who had enough knowledge and skills to help her. During the Dark Lord's reign of terror, his followers were called the Death Eaters. Two of the most prestigious British families at that time were the Blacks and the Malfoys. Draco Malfoy, the sole heir of both families, was the youngest wizard recruited by Gridelwald. The Dark Lord had given him the job of killing Albus Dumbledore, then Professor of Transfigurations. At the end of his senior year, he tried everything from poisoning to cursed objects, but to no avail. In desperation, he sought out Dumbledore and asked for help from the Order of the Phoenix. This was a group of magicians led by Albus that later put an end to Grindelwald and the Death Eaters.
In spite of refusing to obey the Dark Lord's orders, Draco Malfoy was sentenced to house arrest for life. Two Gryffindor students had been either cursed or poisoned that year due to his failed attempts to kill Dumbledore. One of the victims was Ron Weasley, one of Hermione's best friends. The boy would have died had Harry not remembered that a bezoar, a stone taken from the stomach of a goat, is a common antidote for poisons. Since then, the young witch had vowed never to have contact with a member of the Malfoy family. Nevertheless, Granger was met by the heir at the Malfoy estate on a sunny Tuesday afternoon the next week. "What's a Muggle-born like you doing here?" Draco said sarcastically. He thought after the Dark Lord was defeated that he would finally have peace, but it does not seem to be the case. "I need your expertise in the dark arts to solve a problem of the utmost importance. Would you be willing to help?" the witch asked in a solemn tone.
"The question is not whether I am willing to help or not, but what I will get out of it," said the young man. His last act of altruism did not even save him from the punishment of spending the rest of his life under house arrest. So this time he wanted to know what the witch had to offer in exchange for his knowledge. Amazed that the he would agree to help her, albeit at a price, Hermione quickly thought of a solution to the situation. The Malfoys had always harboured prejudice against muggles and muggleborns. "I do not have the power to lift your sentence. But we can try to put an end to the house arrest if you decide to work with me," Hermione said. Indeed, it was nothing new for a former Slytherin to try to negotiate. Three days earlier, Granger had called in the current Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, who recognised the seriousness of the problem. Perhaps Tom Riddle was secretly preparing to take Grindelwald's place. So the minister had pledged his full support to facilitate the agreement. "If you add to your proposal that my mother be released from Azkaban, we are in business," Draco declared. "I accept," the witch said, and so began a most unusual partnership, for never before had a dark wizard considered working with a muggleborn.
At the first meeting, few days later, the two began formalizing the agreement in a document signed by both parties. It was even stipulated that the wizard could leave the manor to help with fieldwork whenever necessary. This was followed by a detailed report of everything that had happened since the investigation began. "You do not have to be so shocked, Granger, just like you, I hate dark lords," said the Malfoy heir. Even the possibility of another one made him angry. The wizard believed nothing good could come from someone who delved too deeply into the dark arts. "These two objects, I think I know what they are," Draco said referring to the ring and the locket. "How do you know that? I was very vague in my description of the artifacts," Hermione asked. It turns out that years ago Grindelwald was obsessed with the idea of living forever. After discovering that the Elixir of Long Life, obtained with the Philosopher's Stone, turned the mage into a mere Squib without magic, he decided to get more creative and make a Horcrux. This infamous item was the result of a macabre ritual that required a human sacrifice and could keep part of the magician's soul alive outside the body.
The Dark Lord was never able to create one though. He did not found a complete description of the ritual. "A Horcrux has a special evil aura and if you touch it, it can cause instant death or led to insanity," said Malfoy. The wizard also described how one night while trying to find a way to kill Dumbledore he had ran into the Slytherin heir in the Hogwarts library. "Riddle was in the restricted section reading a book..." Draco continued in his explanation until he was interrupted. "I know what book you are talking about," said Granger. Tom had been a sixth-year and she once saw him talking to Horace Slughorn, the old Potions teacher, about this particular compendium. It was made of black leather outside and on the cover was written in gold Magicks Moste Evile. "Why did not I think of this before?" cried out the witch. The author was a distant relative of Salazar Slytherin named Godelot, who had it written in the early Middle Ages. "It's the most complete reference book on the Dark Arts next to Circe's grimoire, which was lost a long time ago," Hermione said, annoyed that she had missed such an important clue. "Calm down, Granger! I only know what a Horcrux is because my father made me read about it when I was a kid," Draco added. Any normal person would never have come across such nefarious book. At that moment, she also wondered what kind of parent would force their own child to study the dark arts. Probably someone who was very evil and partially insane.