Chapter 17
Hogsmeade and Holidays
Hermione stared at the Weasley twins for a few seconds before answering, "Um, sure."
They turned simultaneously, walking down the benches like oversized steps. Hermione hurried after them, her shorter legs making the task more difficult.
Behind her she could hear Cho, Mandy, and the rest of the girls giggling again. Hermione ignored them and followed Fred and George down to the bottom bench of the section. Most of the students had chosen to sit on the more elevated benches giving Hermione and the twins some privacy as they sat back down.
"Thank you for helping me," Hermione blurted out, "I hope you didn't get in more trouble for setting off that stink-bomb."
One of the twins laughed and gave her a wink, "Don't worry, we're always getting in trouble. Percy did give us another detention but that's not important."
"What is important," the other twin said, jumping into the conversation without missing a beat, "is that you know about Featherfall."
Hermione suspected she knew what they meant but still she asked, "What's Featherfall?"
In answer, Fred and George gestured at the ongoing quidditch match and one of them said, "Keep watching and you'll see."
They fell silent and Hermione turned her attention back on the game. After the Slytherin Keeper blocked Cedric's next attempt to score, he passed to Marcus Flint who took the quaffle and sped past two Hufflepuff Chasers racing towards the goal posts defended by the Hufflepuff Keeper. As he pulled back his arm to throw the quaffle, one of the Hufflepuff Beaters swung their bat with both hands and sent a bludger flying towards Marcus. Just before the quaffle left his fingertips the bludger slammed into his shoulder. Marcus's throw missed wildly but that wasn't the worst news for the Slytherin captain, the force of the bludger had knocked him clean off his broom.
He fell towards the ground, arms windmilling uselessly. Fifteen feet from the ground his speed began to decrease. He still landed with a thump but the impact was that of someone falling out of bed rather than the bone shattering landing that a fall from fifty feet should have caused.
"That is what us quidditch players call Featherfall. Fred and I are second string players on the Gryffindor team," George explained, turning back to Hermione.
"Any student who watches a match knows that falling players slow down before hitting the ground," Fred added, leaning forward to look past his brother at Hermione.
"But," George continued, "as far as we know, very few students are aware that this same safety spell is used all over the castle grounds."
They gave Hermione an expectant look, waiting until she grew uncomfortable and blurted out an answer to their unasked question, "I read about various safety enchantments added to the castle in the thirteenth century. After that I experimented with dropping objects out of windows until I could determine the ratio of decreased velocity in comparison to the object's mass factoring in its surface area."
The twins smiled and George leaned closer and whispered, "I have no idea what most of that meant, but I can tell you're being honest so we'll be honest with you.
Before Hermione could respond, Fred explained, "Neville told us everything. Completely spilled the beans."
Without missing a beat George continued, "To be fair, we cornered him and Fred put a tadpole in his trousers."
Hermione started to say something with a scolding tone but Fred spoke over her, "Kidding Granger, we're kidding. Anyways, don't worry, we won't rat you out. In fact, we want to help you with this mission of yours."
At the exact same moment, Fred and George stood. They both winked at Hermione, identical smiles on their identical faces then George handed her a roll of parchment.
They walked away, leaving Hermione alone on the bench. She glanced up at Li and the rest of the Ravenclaw girls she had come down to the match with. They were giggling and whispering to each other. Hermione rolled her eyes and put the scroll in her bag then walked back up to the top of the benches.
It took quite a bit of insistence to convince her excitable peers that she had no romantic interest in any of the Weasley brothers, but they let the subject go as the match became more intense. Hermione waited impatiently until Slytherin won, then rushed off towards the castle, leaving her friends behind.
She found Neville later that day walking up a spiral staircase between the first and second floor. He saw her and immediately began wringing his hands nervously as Hermione jogged to catch up with him.
"Neville, listen to me," Hermione said quickly, "I know that Fred and George got you to talk. I'm not mad," she added, seeing his discomfort.
Visibly cringing, Neville said, "I'm sorry Hermione, I just told them you're trying to get into all the common rooms to complete your map."
Pulling out the roll of parchment, Hermione smiled, "Well I'm glad you did, because they offered to help."
Neville leaned in close as Hermione unrolled the parchment and they both silently read the short message it contained.
"Alright Granger,
Here's what we know. The password to get into Hufflepuff's common room changes once a month, they're a laid back lot. Anyways, let us know at least a week before you want to sneak in and we'll get you the password.
P.S. Slytherin? Fat chance. Sorry, we don't fraternize with that particular enemy. Good luck getting into their slime-hole of a common room."
Hermione sighed, "Well that's mostly good news but the poem makes it pretty clear I need to deal with Slytherin before I can try for Hufflepuff."
Neville, still looking awkward, spoke with a note of concern in his tone, "I gotta ask Hermione, are you sure this is worth it? I know you're a genius, but I'm barely keeping up with classes and all this sneaking about and secret keeping is getting to me."
Looking more closely, Hermione saw the signs. Neville appeared a bit paler and thinner than he had at the start of the semester and the circles under his eyes were minor but visible.
"Oh Neville, I'm sorry," Hermione said with sincerity.
He smiled and explained, "It's fine, really. It's not just you. My meetings with Dumbledore always leave me a bit stressed out too."
Intrigued, Hermione asked more about these meetings with the Headmaster but Neville deflected her questions, instead turning the conversation to the upcoming Hogsmeade visit.
"It's the only trip first-years can go on before next spring!" He explained excitedly, "You'll love Zonkos, it'll probably give you ideas for a few new spells."
They continued chatting as they walked. It wasn't until they arrived at the library that Hermione realized it was closed. Disappointed, she said goodbye to Neville and returned to Ravenclaw Tower.
It wasn't until the following Thursday that Hermione thought about the upcoming Hogsmeade trip again.
"You going to hang out with me tomorrow or run off with Neville?" Li asked suddenly during breakfast.
"I, um. Oh, Hogsmeade," Hermione stammered, "Well can't you, me, and Neville all spend time together?"
Li stared at her seriously for a moment, almost glaring, then she nodded aggressively and stated, "Alright then."
Not sure how to respond, Hermione took another bite of porridge, then stood and made her way to their first period class, History of Magic. Normally she would spend the lesson reading but, towards the middle of the period, Professor Binns did something Hermione had never heard him do. He went on a tangent.
"Now most historians will discuss Klecktor the Rabid without context, but when I was a young man I went to Egypt on a sabbatical. I discovered records of Goblins traveling to Cairo to meet and discuss strategies for an international rebellion."
A few other first-years had stopped drooling or doodling because for once, their ghostly professor's usual monotone had become unrecognizable. Binns seemed to shine more brightly as he continued, a small smile on his wizened, semi transparent face.
"Klecktor went to Egypt along with a dozen other Goblin leaders from Ireland. According to the records they chose this location due to the ever present rumors of powerful secrets hidden in the pyramids. The Goblins, as with many before them, sought to harness this supposed ancient knowledge but, needless to say, they failed. Why, when I visited Cairo, I met a man in a pub who offered to sell me a map to the Pyramid of Lichdom where he claimed Merlin, Ignotus, Rowena and St Mungo learned the secrets of immortality. Now maybe I'd had a few too many pints that evening, and he was only after a few sickles so…"
He trailed off, looked around the room at the many listening students and coughed, "Now Klecktor was the father of Dulktor, born in fifteen forty-four."
Voice returned to normal, Professor Binns resumed his lecture with no additional stories from his life and the students all returned to their usual activities for this class including sleeping, reading, or playing a subtle game of cards.
The next morning at ten o'clock, Hermione joined the crowd of first-years gathered on the southern lawn near the greenhouses. She spotted Li and went to stand beside her. Neville joined them a few minutes later as the group set off on the path they had followed the night they arrived at Hogwarts. Hermione chatted with Li while Neville quietly followed one step behind.
"Well I'll be gone, but there's a big feast on Solstice Day," Li said as they walked along, broad orange and red leaves strewn across the gravel path and laying on top of the banks of snow, "I'll leave your present in our room but don't open it early or Father Solstice won't bring you anything next year."
Suddenly worried, Hermione asked, "What day do you leave?"
"Two weeks from today," Li answered excitedly, "I get to see my brother, he's coming home for Solstice too!"
Relieved, Hermione thought to herself, "That gives me time. I bet I can make something to give her as a gift in two weeks."
Turning slightly to look back at Neville, Hermione asked, "What about you Neville? Are you going home for Christmas?"
Hands in his pockets as he shuffled along, Neville looked up at her question with a confused expression.
Realizing her mistake, Hermione quickly added, "Sorry, I meant Solstice. I think Christmas is, um, the muggle equivalent of Solstice."
"Oh, I see. Well no, I'm staying at Hogwarts. My Gran is going to her brother's estate for the Solstice this year."
"Why do you live with your Grandmother Neville?" The words were out of Hermione's mouth before she realized how personal of a question it was.
Neville stumbled, almost falling over. Once he'd regained his balance he spoke in a quiet voice, "Um, my parents were, well, they're not around…"
He glanced back at the ground and the three of them fell into silence for a time. Hermione felt foolish. She'd been contemplating last minute gifts for Li and had spoken without thinking.
"Hopefully Neville isn't upset with me," Hermione thought as they passed the train platform and approached the village, "I'll have to ask him again at a better time."
Their conversation turned to lighter topics as their chaperone, Professor Quirrell, led them about the village, allowing the first-years a few minutes to shop or look around in each store.
They went to Honeydukes where almost all of the students stocked up on candy of both magical and non-magical variety. Hermione couldn't help but think of her parents when she spotted a product called 'Self-flossing-mints!'.
Bitterly, Hermione thought, "This would be a great gift for them if they hadn't had their memories wiped."
The final stop of the day was in Zonko's joke shop. The various items in the joke shop had all been enchanted or charmed to create effects such as a fake wand that turned into a rubber snake when waved, or a book that could make a joke to fit any situation. Neville had been right, Hermione came up with quite a few new spell ideas by the time they left the shop.
"First-years! Time to head b-b-back to the castle b-before the sun sets!" Quirell called out around three in the afternoon.
Some of the first-years grumbled and Hermione heard one girl say, "I can't wait until we get to stay here until five o'clock without a chaperone."
The bright morning sun had melted a bit of the snow on either side of the path but as the afternoon wore on, the temperature dropped back below freezing. This left the first-years a thin layer of fresh ice to contend with on their way back to the castle. Hermione and her friends were much closer to the front of the group this time, walking just a few meters behind Professor Quirrell.
"I still want to know more about that conversation between Quirell and Snape," Hermione thought as they approached the castle walls where she'd eavesdropped on her teachers, "Maybe if I found some evidence of Snape's views of 'the Dark Lord' I could get him fired."
The following two weeks passed quickly. Hermione spent a little time working on her map but other than the Slytherin and Hufflepuff common rooms it was all but complete. Their homework load seemed to have slowed down. She suspected their teachers were more eager for a break from classes than the students. To fill her time, Hermione worked on her gift for Li.
The night before Li took the train back to London Hermione handed her a small package and explained, "You can open it early if you want, I made it myself and it's not that exciting."
Li rolled her eyes before taking the package and hugging Hermione tightly and whispering, "Don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone okay?"
Hermione laughed and hugged her back but she did not make any promises.
Neville's gift proved trickier to create, but with no classes to occupy her time, Hermione managed to finish it a full two days before the Solstice.
Gifts were not the only thing Hermione focused on during the break from classes. She spent afternoons and evenings on gifts, but her mornings were reserved for reading.
She read about Liches, Jin, ancient Greek wizards, and theories on the origins of magic. She even read an autobiography written by a retired general in the war with the Giants. It included harsh criticisms of the war, the Ministry, and the entire International Confederacy of Warlocks. It disturbed Hermione how relevant many of the criticisms still were despite the book having been written two centuries ago.
The majority of Hogwarts students had returned home like Li, or gone on holiday abroad. Of those who stayed, most enjoyed sledding, snowball fights, or skating on the frozen lake. Hermione discovered that for her, the best way to enjoy herself on break involved a tall stack of books, food smuggled out of the Great Hall, and one of the common room's armchairs pulled up close to a fireplace. She could even reheat her food and drinks using a simple levitation spell.
On the night before Solstice, while returning some books to the library, Madam Pince stopped Hermione as she left the building, "Miss Granger, a word in my office before you leave."
She did not phrase it as a question and so Hermione saw no other choice but to follow the elderly woman to her cluttered office.
The moment she closed the door, Madam Pince casually asked, "So, been dismantling any dragons lately?"
Caught off guard, Hermione immediately thought of the night she snuck into Gryffindor Tower, then, berating herself, plunged her hand into her pocket and grabbed hold of her wand. Heat flashed through the wood, though it was less painful this time. Hermione felt alternating waves of curiosity and alarm as she looked warily at Pince. The alarm was her own, the curiosity from her wand. Hermione noticed it was becoming easier for her to differentiate.
"I have an idea," Hermione said with a surge of confidence that felt somehow bolstered by the physical connection to her wand, "Why don't you just tell me what you already know and then I'll consider telling you more."
She expected Pince to laugh, scowl, or to just ignore her and continue being cryptic. What she did not expect was for Pince to do exactly what Hermione had asked.
"Well, I know that on Halloween a student passed the Gryffindor threshold with a proper house badge but lacking the magical signature to match. Luckily for that student this kind of thing would not alert those in charge of security. Only a witch with a special connection to Hogwarts would be able to sense something so trivial. Beyond that I could sense your bond with the vertebrae. Dragons, even after death, have a tendency towards forming bonds. This predisposition towards emotional and spiritual forms of magic is rather… primal," a scowl formed on the older woman's face as she said the word 'primal', but then she smiled again and flicked her wrist dismissively, "Albus has always shown more interest in that particular branch of magic than myself. If you want to know more, ask the Headmaster. "
The room was silent for a few seconds before Hermione realized her mouth was open in a little 'o' of surprise. She closed her mouth, clenched her jaw, swallowed, then spoke, "Yes. I managed to get into Gryffindor Tower and I got a piece of the dragon's spine,"
Pausing to find the right words, Hermione rubbed at the now healed burn on her wrist she'd gotten that night, "I, um, appreciate your interest. But I think I've gotten far enough for now. After all, I have years to solve the poem."
Pince sat down at her desk and folded her arms. She stared at Hermione for a few breaths then sighed, "It is quite rare to meet a student in whom I see so much of myself. Countless Ravenclaws pass through these halls who are not worthy of the name."
Hermione did not know what to say so she remained silent and after another long pause Pince spoke again, "I'll leave you be for now, but consider that you may not be alone in seeking out the knowledge and power contained in Rowena's room."
This comment forced Hermione to break her silence and ask, "Are there older Ravenclaw girls working on this?"
Pince chuckled, "Unfortunately, no. The other players who seek to join in this game have little interest in following the rules the way another student would."
Madam Pince seemed to be waiting for her to ask another question but Hermione was tired of being baited. Without saying another word she stood, still clenching her wand. Pince raised one
Distracted by her encounter with the librarian Hermione forgot about the Solstice. It wasn't until the morning came that she remembered. Mandy was the only one of Hermione's roommates to stay at Hogwarts over break and it was her somewhat annoying giggling that had woken Hermione. Yawning, Hermione looked at Mandy who wore a red and white Santa hat.
Once she noticed Hermione stirring, Mamdy cheerfully called, "Happy Solstice! Looks like you've got a good haul this year."
After rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Hermione took in a pile of presents atop the trunk. A few minutes later, Hermione sat with her new gifts feeling overwhelmed by the kindness of her friends and family. At her request, her parents had sent her a box of two hundred ballpoint pens in lieu of normal Christmas gifts. The package from Neville contained four bars of Honeydukes Chocolate that he had no doubt purchased in Hogsmeade.
The best present by far was Li's. She had given Hermione a pair of glasses along with a note explaining their purpose.
"I heard you complaining about finding books written in foreign languages and not having a way to translate them. I know you said you'd learn Portuguese and Mandarin over the summer, but I thought this might save you some time. These lenses can translate most written languages into something the wearer can read. They're my brother's old pair from his university training. I wrote a note in Mandarin on the back of this page, see if they work!"
Hermione placed the spectacles on her face then flipped over Li's note. A line of Chinese characters Hermione couldn't understand began rearranging themselves, contracting and shifting until a sentence in English emerged.
"Happy Solstice my squirrel."
Smiling, Hermione took the glasses off and went to grab her gift for Neville off of the windowsill where she'd left it the night before but it was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey Mandy. I left a gift out that I was going to deliver to someone today, you didn't move it did you?"
Mandy shook her head, "I didn't move it but if you had their name on the package the house elves must have delivered it for you."
Taken aback, Hermione asked, "There's house elves at Hogwarts? I've never seen them."
Mandy rolled her eyes, "Of course you haven't, that's the mark of a good servant. Who did you think cleaned the school or made all the food?"
This information almost ruined Hermione's holiday spirit, but she managed to put aside this new ugly fact for later consideration. Fresh snow fell past the windows and Hermione wanted to ask Neville what he thought of his present. She got dressed and made her way down to the Great Hall which had been decorated with wreaths, baubles, and streamers. Less than a quarter of Hogwarts' students had chosen to stay for the holidays, so each table had many empty seats and quite a few students were eating with those from other houses.
Hermione spotted Terry Boot sitting at the Slytherin table and frowned. He honestly did not look like he was enjoying himself. His face showed a mixture of boredom and sadness but, as she watched, Draco Malfoy looked his way and Terry forced a smile and laughed at Draco's inappropriate gesture.
Rolling her eyes and trying to ignore the Slytherin table entirely, Hermione located Neville who, of course, sat at the Gryffindor table.
"Happy Solstice!" Hermione said brightly, sitting down beside him.
Neville looked up from his plate and, with a mouthful of cinnamon roll said, "Happy Solstice Hermione!"
Laughing and brushing off the crumbs Neville had sprayed onto her robes, Hermione asked, "Did you get my gift?"
Neville nodded emphatically as he chewed then swallowed, "Sorry, and yeah! It's amazing Hermione! I'm going to fill it with soil then get a cutting from one of my Uncle's trees. He's going to love your invention."
Hermione smiled. She had put quite a bit of thought into her friends' gifts. Neville enjoyed Herbology so Hermione had crafted him a flower pot that would change size to accommodate a plant as it grew, all you had to do was add more soil.
"Sorry all I got you was chocolate, but," Neville glanced around then spoke in a whisper, "Someone sent me an anonymous gift that you'll find interesting."
"Really? What is it?"
Neville shook his head and smiled, "Can't tell you. Meet me after the feast by the statue of the troll on the fourth floor, then I'll show you."
Hermione tried to get Neville to tell her more but he remained tight-lipped. Forced to wait for answers, Hermione spent the afternoon chatting with Li. The communication paper she'd created still worked, even with hundreds of miles between the two pieces.
Feeling as though the day couldn't get any better, Hernione made her way down to the feast. Despite the smaller number of students, the Solstice feast was spectacular. Hermione ate so much she practically waddled out of the Great Hall after the desserts had disappeared.
She slowly made her way up to the fourth floor to meet Neville, but when she arrived at the statue, he was nowhere to be seen. After standing around for a few minutes, Hermione started to grow bored.
"Where are you Neville?" She muttered, checking her watch.
From Hermione's left came the sound of giggling and, with a flourish, Neville appeared.
Unfortunately for Neville, Hermione's hand had already been closed around the handle of her wand.
The moment he laughed and revealed his location, Hermione's wand was pointed towards him and she shouted, "Locomotor Wibbly!"
The small ball of orange light hit Neville in the chest and his legs immediately began to wobble. He stumbled back in surprise, almost falling, but somehow he stayed upright though his knees continued to shake.
"What's going on?" Neville asked, sounding frightened, "What did you do?"
"Oh no! I'm sorry!" Hermione said frantically, "I didn't realize it was you, it's the Jelly-leg-jinx, it will wear off soon."
It took less than a minute for the spell to wear off. Hermione thought she could have performed the counter-jinx, but Neville had given her a nervous look at the suggestion. His eyes kept shifting to her wand which Hermione still held at the ready.
While they waited Hermione silently wondered, "Why didn't the jinx work properly? Is it something about Neville, or…"
Thinking back to when she and Li had first tried this spell, Hermione realized, "My jinx seemed smaller and weaker than hers. Why am I bad at Transfiguration and jinxes?"
Interrupting her train of thought, Neville said, "Alright, my legs seem normal again. Sorry I surprised you, but maybe be more careful. Students really aren't supposed to cast spells on eachother."
The reality of what she had done hit Hermione then and tears came to her eyes, "I'm really sorry Neville. That was a horrible thing to do to a friend, it's just that I didn't see you at all! How did you create such a perfect Disillusionment Charm?"
This comment made Neville smile again and from his bag he pulled out a shimmering cloak.
"I got this for Solstice. I'm pretty sure it's an invi-"
Unable to contain her excitement Hermione interrupted him and exclaimed, "An invisibility cloak! I've read about them in a dozen different books but they never discuss the process for creating one, just the…"
Neville, who for a moment had looked rather disappointed by Hermione's reaction, began to chuckle to himself until she noticed and trailed off.
"Sorry," Hermione said sheepishly, "I guess I'm not good with surprises. First I attack you then I don't even let you finish telling me about the cloak"
Still grinning, Neville waved a hand and said, "Don't worry about it. I think maybe you're just too smart for your own good."
"Do you think it can cover more than one person?" Hermione asked as she inspected the cloak.
"Sure," Neville said excitedly, "Maybe even three people."
"And you have no idea who sent it to you?"
Neville shook his head and his expression grew more serious, "No, just a note that said, "Use it well". I thought that… maybe trying to sneak into the other common rooms might not be so crazy if we have this."
Hermione raised her eyebrows and said, "Really? But just the other week you said -"
Neville cut her off, "I know what I said. I, um, well I want to be braver. More like a real Gryffindor. My dad was in Gryffindor when he attended Hogwarts and my Gran says I need to be more like him. When I was just a baby he… well… he was brave."
Tears had begun falling freely from Neville's eyes as he spoke and Hermione stood awkwardly. She wanted to comfort him but couldn't find the words.
"Well," Hermione said after a few breaths of awkward silence, "Before we head to the dungeons, maybe we should use the cloak to sneak into somewhere a little less creepy."
Neville wiped his eyes and gave her a rather wet grin, "What did you have in mind?"
Grinning back, Hermione thought of her written communication with Li earlier that day, "Well, Li's brother told her about a peculiar painting on the fifth floor. It's a painting of a fruit bowl and apparently something interesting happens if you tickle the pear. He wouldn't tell her what it will do, but we could check it out"
Neville nodded, stepped closer, and tossed the invisibility cloak over both of them. Neville's eyes were still red from crying but despite that, Hermione thought it was the happiest she'd ever seen him look.
