Okay, FINALLY the story-ball gets rolling. It won't be until this weekend for the next chapter to come out, but that you can blame that on my photography instructor. Yep. Send bags of flamin' crap to…oh, hell, I don't even know her address. Anyhoo…Once again, I would like to zend out kizzes to all of zee beautiful people who have read and reviewed zis ztory…er, story (Hey, I've got some French in me, so is that enough to justify my badly typed accent? No? Oh, m'kay, then…).
Quoth the Raven: Hmm…yes, yes, interesting point raised about Hermione's deduction skills. She would have thought at some point to search for two Harrys on the Map, and she will, in a later chapter…uh, oh, I might have given enough away already--OR was that last sentence (fragment) placed there just to confuse you? Hrm hrm hmm hmm ha ha Ha Ha HA HA! Oh, I am just the little devil, aren't I? Hee hee. But, yes, that idea will surface later on…perhaps ~8]
Anyhoo, hope y'all done find this here chapter tres interestin' (did I mention my French grandmother then moved to Arkansas of all places?). ~8]
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Disclaimers: My creative train of thought has derailed, so ahem T'ain't mine, never will be, no way, no how.
Chapter 16: Before Your Very Eyes
At exactly noon the Library doors swung open, and Hermione arrived not more than a minute later. Once inside she made a beeline towards Madame Pince's desk. In her hand she held a piece of paper, detailing the catalog number, name, and volume of the book she needed. The Librarian was searching in and around her desk as Hermione approached her, presumably for loose gnomes. She coughed slightly, not wanting to startle the woman. The older woman looked askance at her. "Yes, dear, what is it now?" she questioned, not bothering to hide the irritation from her voice.
Hermione handed her the slip of paper. "I've been trying to find this book, but it's not there." Peering at the young girl over the tops of her glasses, Pince raised her eyebrows. "Well, then somebody must've checked it out." As she said this, she glanced at the paper. "Hmm, actually this book hasn't been checked out in awhile. I don't recognize the name. Somebody must've shelved it back improperly…blasted gnomes…"
Hermione's shoulders slumped, sighing. Checking every single book on every single shelf until she found it would probably take years, at the very least… She then noticed Madame Pince pick up her wand, moving out from behind the desk. "Hmmph. No matter," the Librarian shrugged. She raised her wand, pointing it high above her head. "Directus Biblius…ahh, Catalog Number 1,396,806."
Hermione watched in amazement as the wand suddenly became animated, jerking Pince's arm downwards. It then pointed north-east, propelling Pince and Hermione along as it moved forward down several rows of books. They took a sharp right at the end of the sixth row, then another hard left. A few more turns and it stopped, pointing straight up again. Madame Pince sighed irritably. "Always on the top…" She knelt down and grabbed the nearest stepstool, grasping hard onto the wriggling wand. "Oh, wait just one moment, you." No sooner had the Librarian stepped onto the stool did the wand connect immediately to the spine of a book on the top shelf.
She hefted it out, calling down to Hermione. "Tome of Omens…would this be it, dear?" Hermione nodded excitedly, reaching to grab the immense book from the Librarian. Pince stepped down, her wand still once more. She glanced at the book, sighing. "Hope it was worth it…"
Hermione thanked her, then headed eagerly for the nearest table. Heaving the tome onto the surface, she used both hands to open the book to the index. Hermione breathed in deeply, calming her nerves as she searched the indices. She flipped through the pages anxiously, now only a matter of time before she would finally find what she had been searching for.
* * * * * *
As the afternoon wore on, Fred, George, Harry, and Ron all sat huddled around the Marauder's Map. Since there were no classes that day, they had left the Common Room and quietly stole inside Binns' History class before unfurling the map; no student would certainly go lurking about there on the weekends. And Binns was of no problem, because the antiquated apparition had already retired to his study for the evening, as he had done every weekend for at least the past century. Still, they sat hovering over the map to keep it out of view, just in case.
After watching the slight movement of Draco's dot on the map for a while, Fred exhaled loudly. "So, let me get this straight before we go any further. Both of you actually want to find the bugger? I mean, haven't the last few days been some of the absolute best of your academic career without Malfoy around? Well, except for poor Harry here, that is." Both Harry and Ron nodded reluctantly.
"Who knows," Harry said wistfully, "maybe this'll change things between us." He sighed heavily. "Or not."
Ron snorted. "Yeah, right. I'm betting on the latter." He then looked up at his brothers. "Are you sure you can't come with us?"
Fred rolled his eyes. "We'd more than love to, except that McGonagall gave us detention tonight for not being in class the other day, the old bat. Or cat, as it were."
Ron sighed. "Right. I don't think you'll have any problem finding us once we've got Malfoy in tow." "About that," George interrupted, "Have you thought to conjure up a straightjacket for the old boy? I'm sure he'll be quite the raving loony once you've found him."
Laughing, Harry replied, "That thought actually hadn't crossed my mind, but who's to say he wants to be found? I mean, this sounds just like the perfect little set-up for him. You know, disappear for a couple of days while he's lounging away in some hidden luxury room with a few house elves, only to reappear with a sob story a few days later."
George shrugged. "You may be right, Harry, but it'll be even greater if you were to catch him in the act." He held up a finger as a realization dawned on him. "Oh, and I've almost forgotten." Both he and Fred exchanged mischievous glances before continuing.
"There's this spell we've been working on, and we think we've finally perfected it. When you first come across Malfoy, I want you to point your wand at his face, either of you, and say 'Momento Exacteum,' alright?"
"Momento Exacteum?" Ron responded incredulously. "What's that supposed to do?"
The twins sniggered loudly. "What it does," explained Fred, "is capture that exact moment in time, and sort of stores it in your wand, like those 'cameras' Dad's so fond of. This way, we can see the look on Draco's face when he first sees you over, and over, and over again!"
"And we think we even found a way to project it across the entire ceiling of the Great Hall, so everyone can see it," George finished excitedly.
Harry and Ron exchanged nervous glances before reluctantly agreeing. "Alright," Harry replied, "but if he grows a fluffy white tail and rabbit ears, we're blaming you."
Fred sported a lop-sided grin as George replied, "Don't worry. We'll take full responsibility." Turning their attentions back to the Map, the twins began finalizing the details of Ron and Harry's course.
* * * * * *
With a loud sigh, Hermione realized that in the eight hours she had been in the library, only a passing moment of that time had been spent reading anything useful from the Tome of Omens she had waited so long to get. Under the heading of fetch was the instruction to "See Foretellers of Doom by Reva Dewbury, 1748." That book had led her to another, and then other as she searched the aisles endlessly. "Unbelievable," she muttered warily, pulling out her thirtieth book that day from the bottom shelves.
Finally, moments after the clock had struck eight, Hermione made a breakthrough.
On page 186 of "Ghoulies, Ghosties, and Otherworldly Beasties" was an entire page and a half on 'Fetch.' She brought her finger to the page, following the lines with it to keep her place as she scanned them rapidly.
"The sighting of a Fetch is most often mistaken as that of its relative, the Doppleganger. It appears most often as a person's 'double walker,' and makes itself visible to all present. Unlike the Doppleganger, however, the Fetch is not as benevolent, but it is also not to be taken as an omen of death. Whereas the Doppleganger makes itself appear of its own accord, a Fetch manifests only because it has been sent by another.
The duty of the Fetch is revealed in its namesake. It exists to fulfill the purpose of "fetching" its earthbound likeness for the one who has commanded it to do so. The creation of a Fetch is an arduous task, and only Witches and Wizards of the highest order are thought to master the necessary skill and magickal ability needed for such an endeavor. Although any such person in the Wizarding World is more than able to forge such a creature, it is most common among those traveling the Left Hand path towards Dark Magick--"
Hermione let the book slip from her trembling hands and onto the table, where it landed with a dull thud. She had to find Harry… Leaving her things where they lay, Hermione turned heel and ran from the Library, ignoring Madame Pince's appalled expression on her way out. She had never felt so frantic in her entire life, a feeling that until now she had usually reserved for Final Exams.
The young girl bolted up the staircases leading to the Gryffindor's common room. She only hoped that Harry was safely inside playing Wizard Chess with Ron, or listening in on the Weasley brothers' latest antics instead of wandering the darkened corridors of Hogwarts in their search for Draco. Nearly shouting the password to the Fat Lady, Hermione all but shoved the portrait aside as she made her way through the portal door. A quick scan of the room resulted in neither Harry nor Ron. She did catch the attention of Dean, however.
"Hermione? Something I can help you with--"
"Dean! Have you seen Harry or Ron recently?"
The boy nodded. "Sure, they left a few minutes ago with Fred and George. Wanted to show them something. I'd have gone, but my Potions homework isn't going to finish itself, if you know what I mean." He turned, bringing up his parchment scroll with a grin. "You wouldn't happen to know a spell for my quill that would do my work for me, would you, Hermione?"
Receiving no answer, Dean looked around the now empty room curiously. "Hermione?"
She was already gone.
* * * * * *
Twenty minutes later, their heads full of mental notes and directions, Harry and Ron found themselves at the base of an armored-knight's statue. Ron looked at the Map, then at the knight, then back at the Map, and finally at Harry.
"Well, this can't be right! Harry, we pass this statue every bloody day! It's in the Main Hall, for Merlin's sake! Fred must have meant for us to take a left turn instead of a right back there…"
Harry took hold of the Map. "Calm down, Ron. George said that we'd encounter a Knight's statue. Now we've just got to try and…open it." Harry looked at the knight curiously, ducking in and around it in search of a doorway.
Ron searched with him. "Maybe the doorway's behind 'em or something, and we've got to move it out of the way."
Sighing, Harry raised his eyebrows. "No, he said we'd have to open it somehow. He wasn't really clear on the specifics, only that it was 'easier than it looks.' Maybe this will work." Holding the Map in his left hand, he took hold of his regular wand with the other, and pointed it at the knight. "Alright. Here goes--"
Taking into account that Harry's hands were both full, Ron interrupted him. "Um, Harry, shouldn't you be holding the Invisibility Cloak in one of those hands there?" Harry looked from the Map to his wand, sighing.
"...Yes…" He handed the Map to Ron, then pocketed his wand. "I forgot to grab it when we left Binns' class. I'll run back and grab it. Just stay here and keep an eye out for Filch while I'm gone, alright?"
Ron looked up at the knight statue, cocking an eyebrow. "Won't that greasy git be the least bit suspicious?"
Harry shrugged, already halfway down the hall. "If he asks, just tell 'em you're really interested in the statue, or something."
"Wait, Harry--!" Ron sighed as his friend turned the corner. When he was out of sight, Ron looked back up at the statue. "'Interested'," he muttered, "Not bloody likely…" He instead opted to make goofy faces against the polished surface of the knight's armor, the curves of it somewhat giving his reflections the effect of a funhouse mirror.
* * * * * *
Bolting down one corridor or another, Hermione was nearly out of breath when she ran into none other than Pansy Parkinson and a small entourage of Slytherin girls.
"Well, if it isn't Potter's Mudblood--"
"Can it, Pansy, now is not the time. Have any of you seen Harry or Ron around?"
Pansy glanced back at her fellow classmates, shrugging. She must have noted the look of panic on Hermione's face, because her answer was, for once, void of any bitterness or sarcasm. "Can't say that I have. Girls?"
"Nope." "Not me." "Fortunately, no."
Finally a fifth-year Hermione had seen in her classes stepped forward. "I passed them on my way here, back towards the Main Hall. Couldn't have been more than a few minutes ago, so they might still be there."
Hermione nodded appreciatively. "Great. Thanks for your help!" Ignoring the confused looks of the group, she then sprinted off again, heart pounding furiously.
* * * * * *
A few moments later, Harry entered the History classroom again, though not before checking the hallway for wandering students. He walked towards the podium at the front of the class, where he and the Weasleys had been sitting. Sure enough, there below it lay his Invisibility Cloak, its telltale fabric glinting against the light.
"There you are…"
Harry stooped down and picked it up, giving it a shake before tucking it under his arm. Turning around, he was quite startled to see that he was no longer the classroom's sole occupant.
His doppleganger had returned.
Harry gave a surprised cry, stumbling back into the podium. As before, the otherworldly being simply stared at him. Harry closed his eyes briefly and swallowed, steeling himself for yet another encounter. When he opened them again, his doppleganger had already managed to cross the distance between them, and now stood less than an arm's length from the frightened boy. As Harry began to tremble, his doppleganger smiled.
And then, it spoke.
"Surprised to see me, Harry?"
Before anything could register into Harry's mind, his twin viciously backhanded him across the face. Harry careened sideways onto the floor, sending the Invisibility Cloak flying out from underneath his arm. He quickly sat up, wide eyes fixated on his Other. What terrified him the most was not the sudden violent outburst, but the doppleganger itself. Although it dressed like Harry and moved like Harry, the voice used by the doppleganger was most certainly not Harry's.
It was Voldemort's.
No no no please Gods no not again anyone but him--
"Your Gods can't save you now, Harry."
Harry only then realized that he'd been speaking aloud.
"Why…are you doing this to me?" he questioned, his voice threatening to break.
His Other kneeled before him, its hand reaching out to roughly grip the back of Harry's neck. Harry cried out as he was pulled forward, inches from his malevolent reflection.
"You owe me, boy," it hissed in Voldemort's voice, "moreso than ever before." Harry clenched his teeth, his breath heaving.
"Sod Off--"
Harry let loose an ear-piercing scream as a finger was forcefully pressed against his scar. An instant later it was removed, and a fine line of blood traced the already aggravated wound of his scar. Harry collapsed forward in agony. When the initial electrifying pain had worn off, Harry slowly raised himself up on his elbows. Teeth clenched in anger and pain, he wiped the tears from his eyes with the heel of his hand.
His doppleganger then stood up angrily, walking only a few short feet away from Harry before whirling around. "Never, ever defy me like that again, for the next time I might not be so lenient." More than ever before did Harry wish Sirius had taught him how to apparate properly.
Sirius…
Recovering his breath, Harry motioned towards the front of the room. "What do you say the chances are of me getting past you and through that door over there?" His Other laughed as it turned towards the doorway. "You can't be seriousss, child…"
Harry took advantage of the brief moment of distraction and brought the Crystalis wand out from underneath his robe. He thought now was a very, very good time to use it. Harry felt a surge of power issue forth from the magnificent wand the instant he grabbed hold of it. He couldn't help but smile as his doppleganger turned around, the crystal rod aimed menacingly at its chest.
With every passing second he felt the energy from the wand taking hold of him. He took note of the astonished look on his Other's face, wishing he could perform a 'Momento Exacteum' on it…
Much to Harry's surprise it reached out and grabbed hold of the opposing end. Only when a slow grin crept across his doppleganger's darkened features did Harry have the sickening realization that he had experienced this sensation times before, the last with Cedric.
As his surroundings melted away, Harry then understood that it was not a wand that he possessed, but a Portkey.
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HA HA! Oh, man! You guys have no idea how long I've been waiting to post this chapter! Hoo hoo, yeah…sorry for the lame chapter title though. It kinda makes sense if you think about it…hrmm.
Either one of two things will now occur: Flames, flames, and more flames, or nothing at all. Hmm…can anyone guess what the preferred third route would be? You know, the proverbial "Choice C," if you will…anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Oh, dear goddess, I'm quoting Ben Stein…that means it's high time for "The Bold and the Beautiful" list to be rolled out once again, before my lost marbles can scatter themselves all over the floor:
Rolllllll Calllllll: Lady Foxfire! Raven! Allocin! Loopy! Lily Malfoy! Taracollowen! Iris Iolani! Zahrah Thomson-Radcliffe! Guess! Beccy! The Female Vampire Lestat! Amerkat! Mouse! Lili! Lady of Arundel! ArchArtist/Writer! Breea! Lassy D! Kim! Urania! AAAANNNNNDDDDD Quoth the Raven!! Yay!! ~8]