Chapter Eight
In which Grindelwald and 1945 are discussed
Hermione awakened to the sound of Ginny giggling as she watched Professor Lupin conjuring breakfast for all of them. Severus was standing the doorway to the storeroom, which connected his private rooms, his offices, and the classroom, reading or perhaps pretending to read while rolling his eyes at Remus and Ginny. Hermione yawned and stretched before joining them. They had moved the writing desk away from the wall in order to use it as a table.
"It isn't much, but this sort of thing isn't exactly my specialty." said Remus, gesturing toward the breakfast and managing a smile.
"It will have to suffice until we can find a way to get to the kitchens without being killed." said Severus, closing his archaic potions' tome.
"And as you've said several times, so often in fact that I could hear you even after I dozed off, dealing with those monsters is my job, isn't it?" asked Remus, motioning for them all to have a seat.
"Touchy, aren't we? Does it have anything to do with the moon that will be rising tonight?"
"Ironically, yes." said Lupin, who had noted that morning when he had peered into the corridor outside that there was no sunlight and probably no moonlight either. Hermione could have confirmed that for him. But still he felt the pull of it. He felt the wolf already tugging at his mind.
"Tonight's the full moon!" exclaimed Ginny, dropping her fork with a loud clatter.
"And tomorrow night and the night after, but Severus has potions made up for me already, so don't fret about it, Ginny." Remus told her with a warm, comforting smile.
"I wasn't worried. I just forgot." she said, blushing slightly.
"Trusting." chuckled Severus darkly as he helped himself to some of Remus's conjured toast.
"He has earned our trust." said Hermione.
Severus looked at her for a moment and asked, "Are you implying that I somehow haven't?" There was something like hurt in his eyes.
"Not at all." she replied sincerely. "Why do you ask?"
"I sometimes wonder." murmured Severus with a shrug, turning his full attention to his food.
Hermione couldn't help but to feel a little guilty for her off-hand remark, which had only been intended as a defense of lycanthropic Remus and not as an insult to Severus. It had simply been interpreted badly.
"I do trust him. Mostly. I trust him not to kill us all or hand us over to Voldemort. And isn't that enough? What more does he want from us? From me?" she wondered as they ate in silence.
After Remus had magically cleared the table, he looked at his three companions and sighed. Severus was brooding over dark things, some related to their predicament and others not, but it was written upon his sallow features in an indelicate hand. Hermione was contemplating something as her brow was furrowed. Remus suspected that it was what she had read in the history book or questions derived from that source. Ginny was watching them and himself, watching just as he was and perhaps wondering if those gathered around the makeshift table were equal to the task ahead of them. Remus smiled softly as he realized how alike they were. Watchers and observers, seldom playing the active part that others were so desirous of.
"What do you suppose they're doing?" asked Ginny softly.
"Who?" asked Snape.
"Them, out there."
"Oh. They stopped testing the wards hours ago." said Severus with a shrug.
"Perhaps they're sleeping. They do sleep, don't they, professor?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, fortunately for us, but I don't think I would count on it enough to venture out just yet." he replied.
"Indeed not." Snape said with a sneer. "But we were lucky yesterday. If that one had awakened any sooner in the library it certainly would have taken one of us."
"Taken?" questioned Ginny.
"Your esteemed Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would probably wish for me not to elaborate, Miss Weasley."
"You know. This is a bit ridiculous. I appreciate respect and deference as much as the next bloke, but we might be trapped here for days. My name is Remus. Her is name is Ginny. Her is name is Hermione. And yours is Severus. If we're going to form a working partnership, and we must if we intend to survive until the next dawn, then formality should perhaps be cast aside. Are we in agreement?" His tone was one of frustration and annoyance, which they had seldom heard the mild-mannered professor use.
"Well, we are in this pickle together." shrugged Hermione, looking at Severus and hiding a smile behind her hand. In her case he had already made that sacrifice.
"You are doing away with order and discipline, you know, but I suppose I can live with it on this occasion." said Severus sulkily.
Ginny merely nodded her consent.
"Right then. We are in a pickle. The worst one I have ever been in. So we must start finding our way out." said Remus with a nod.
"This has been bothering me for some time now. I trust everyone else has noticed it too. The furnishings and books and so forth all appear to be from the mid-forties, from about fifty years or so ago. Why is that?" asked Hermione.
"Could this place change every so often? You know, every hundred years or so?" questioned Ginny.
"While that would be an admirable feat of magic, I find it unlikely. What would be the point? To give the inmates here fresh reading material and new mattresses?" asked Severus with a derisive snort.
"Play nice, Severus!" chided Remus. "I would think that perhaps that the decor is a result of some event either here or in the outside world. A catastrophe or something." mused Lupin.
"Could it have had something to do with Tom Riddle?" asked Ginny sheepishly. "He was here during that time." she added.
"Even he would not be foolish enough to knowingly tamper with something like this. I doubt very much that demons recognize the difference between a pureblooded snack versus a ... less than pureblooded one." said Severus.
"Grindelwald?" suggested Hermione, remembering reading on the back of a chocolate frog card that the Dark Wizard Grindelwald had been defeated in 1945.
Remus and Severus shivered at the mention of the name. Before there had been Lord Voldemort, there was Grindelwald.
"Well?" asked Hermione.
"He was crazy enough, they say." Severus said.
"But Dumbledore defeated him ... so he was killed in nineteen forty something." said Remus, shaking his head.
"There were ashes. Or so I hear. But do you recall anything more than stories? Do you recall ever reading anything more than vague notions and dates on the subject of Grindelwald's defeat?" questioned Snape.
"No." said Remus and Hermione.
"So, let us hypothesize that he was imprisoned here, since Azkaban certainly could not have held him before the dementors were brought in. Perhaps a copy of Hogwarts from 1945 went with him. What this theory does for our current situation, I cannot say, but there you have it."
"Knowledge is power." murmured Hermione.
"And ... and he wouldn't still be here, would he?" asked Ginny, her freckles standing out against her pale skin.
"Not very likely. The other occupants of this improvised hell would have made mince meat of him long ago." answered Snape.
"At least we can be sure that Professor Dumbledore knows this place exists then since he defeated Grindelwald." said Hermione.
"True, but it may take some time before he realizes that we've been sucked into this realm. We must try to find our own solutions." said Remus as gently as possible.
"You really think the Founders left an escape route in this place?" asked Severus, glancing almost half-apologetically at Ginny and Hermione.
"For one reason and one reason only. Godric Gryffindor would have taken accident-prone and even curious students into account. He wouldn't have abandoned the hapless to certain death." said Remus.
Severus's lip curled into a sneer as he said, "I certainly hope your faith is not misplaced."
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A/N: That should explain a few things. Not everything, but some things.
kristen: Wow! Thanks for the compliment! I shall certainly keep writing.
Lily_Cat: Well, with 55,000 Harry Potter fics, it is difficult for to be original, but I try. Thanks for reviewing!
Witchy-grrl: It has been a while since I've watched The Princess Bride. Wesley was the hero, right? Ron and Hermione as five-year-olds ... *chortles* Thank you for reviewing!
Lexia: I appreciate the compliment and thanks for the review!
lil pixie: The castle is filled with the creatures. I don't have a specific number, but certainly more than one. Are there any other creatures in there? Good question. I'm thinking probably not, unless you count one werewolf named Remus. Thank you for reviewing!
Moonlitbeauty: I was going for creepy! Thanks!!
JoeBob1379: I never know the ending when I start writing. That would spoil the fun of it! I just have some random mental images and string them along with some weird ideas. I can't really answer your questions without giving too much away. The romantic action ... will be coming soon. A couple of chapters ... maybe. Sorry about the non-answers. Thanks for reviewing!
Lady Lynet ap Evyn: Thank you very much!
Helen: Wow, that's the first time I've heard of someone daydreaming about something I've written. *blushes* Thanks!
labrisa: Thank you!
Aqua Child: The pairing is pretty rare, but it has been done before. There are several stories where Ginny becomes a werewolf, for instance. I read a few of them a while back. Thank you for the review!
In which Grindelwald and 1945 are discussed
Hermione awakened to the sound of Ginny giggling as she watched Professor Lupin conjuring breakfast for all of them. Severus was standing the doorway to the storeroom, which connected his private rooms, his offices, and the classroom, reading or perhaps pretending to read while rolling his eyes at Remus and Ginny. Hermione yawned and stretched before joining them. They had moved the writing desk away from the wall in order to use it as a table.
"It isn't much, but this sort of thing isn't exactly my specialty." said Remus, gesturing toward the breakfast and managing a smile.
"It will have to suffice until we can find a way to get to the kitchens without being killed." said Severus, closing his archaic potions' tome.
"And as you've said several times, so often in fact that I could hear you even after I dozed off, dealing with those monsters is my job, isn't it?" asked Remus, motioning for them all to have a seat.
"Touchy, aren't we? Does it have anything to do with the moon that will be rising tonight?"
"Ironically, yes." said Lupin, who had noted that morning when he had peered into the corridor outside that there was no sunlight and probably no moonlight either. Hermione could have confirmed that for him. But still he felt the pull of it. He felt the wolf already tugging at his mind.
"Tonight's the full moon!" exclaimed Ginny, dropping her fork with a loud clatter.
"And tomorrow night and the night after, but Severus has potions made up for me already, so don't fret about it, Ginny." Remus told her with a warm, comforting smile.
"I wasn't worried. I just forgot." she said, blushing slightly.
"Trusting." chuckled Severus darkly as he helped himself to some of Remus's conjured toast.
"He has earned our trust." said Hermione.
Severus looked at her for a moment and asked, "Are you implying that I somehow haven't?" There was something like hurt in his eyes.
"Not at all." she replied sincerely. "Why do you ask?"
"I sometimes wonder." murmured Severus with a shrug, turning his full attention to his food.
Hermione couldn't help but to feel a little guilty for her off-hand remark, which had only been intended as a defense of lycanthropic Remus and not as an insult to Severus. It had simply been interpreted badly.
"I do trust him. Mostly. I trust him not to kill us all or hand us over to Voldemort. And isn't that enough? What more does he want from us? From me?" she wondered as they ate in silence.
After Remus had magically cleared the table, he looked at his three companions and sighed. Severus was brooding over dark things, some related to their predicament and others not, but it was written upon his sallow features in an indelicate hand. Hermione was contemplating something as her brow was furrowed. Remus suspected that it was what she had read in the history book or questions derived from that source. Ginny was watching them and himself, watching just as he was and perhaps wondering if those gathered around the makeshift table were equal to the task ahead of them. Remus smiled softly as he realized how alike they were. Watchers and observers, seldom playing the active part that others were so desirous of.
"What do you suppose they're doing?" asked Ginny softly.
"Who?" asked Snape.
"Them, out there."
"Oh. They stopped testing the wards hours ago." said Severus with a shrug.
"Perhaps they're sleeping. They do sleep, don't they, professor?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, fortunately for us, but I don't think I would count on it enough to venture out just yet." he replied.
"Indeed not." Snape said with a sneer. "But we were lucky yesterday. If that one had awakened any sooner in the library it certainly would have taken one of us."
"Taken?" questioned Ginny.
"Your esteemed Defense Against the Dark Arts professor would probably wish for me not to elaborate, Miss Weasley."
"You know. This is a bit ridiculous. I appreciate respect and deference as much as the next bloke, but we might be trapped here for days. My name is Remus. Her is name is Ginny. Her is name is Hermione. And yours is Severus. If we're going to form a working partnership, and we must if we intend to survive until the next dawn, then formality should perhaps be cast aside. Are we in agreement?" His tone was one of frustration and annoyance, which they had seldom heard the mild-mannered professor use.
"Well, we are in this pickle together." shrugged Hermione, looking at Severus and hiding a smile behind her hand. In her case he had already made that sacrifice.
"You are doing away with order and discipline, you know, but I suppose I can live with it on this occasion." said Severus sulkily.
Ginny merely nodded her consent.
"Right then. We are in a pickle. The worst one I have ever been in. So we must start finding our way out." said Remus with a nod.
"This has been bothering me for some time now. I trust everyone else has noticed it too. The furnishings and books and so forth all appear to be from the mid-forties, from about fifty years or so ago. Why is that?" asked Hermione.
"Could this place change every so often? You know, every hundred years or so?" questioned Ginny.
"While that would be an admirable feat of magic, I find it unlikely. What would be the point? To give the inmates here fresh reading material and new mattresses?" asked Severus with a derisive snort.
"Play nice, Severus!" chided Remus. "I would think that perhaps that the decor is a result of some event either here or in the outside world. A catastrophe or something." mused Lupin.
"Could it have had something to do with Tom Riddle?" asked Ginny sheepishly. "He was here during that time." she added.
"Even he would not be foolish enough to knowingly tamper with something like this. I doubt very much that demons recognize the difference between a pureblooded snack versus a ... less than pureblooded one." said Severus.
"Grindelwald?" suggested Hermione, remembering reading on the back of a chocolate frog card that the Dark Wizard Grindelwald had been defeated in 1945.
Remus and Severus shivered at the mention of the name. Before there had been Lord Voldemort, there was Grindelwald.
"Well?" asked Hermione.
"He was crazy enough, they say." Severus said.
"But Dumbledore defeated him ... so he was killed in nineteen forty something." said Remus, shaking his head.
"There were ashes. Or so I hear. But do you recall anything more than stories? Do you recall ever reading anything more than vague notions and dates on the subject of Grindelwald's defeat?" questioned Snape.
"No." said Remus and Hermione.
"So, let us hypothesize that he was imprisoned here, since Azkaban certainly could not have held him before the dementors were brought in. Perhaps a copy of Hogwarts from 1945 went with him. What this theory does for our current situation, I cannot say, but there you have it."
"Knowledge is power." murmured Hermione.
"And ... and he wouldn't still be here, would he?" asked Ginny, her freckles standing out against her pale skin.
"Not very likely. The other occupants of this improvised hell would have made mince meat of him long ago." answered Snape.
"At least we can be sure that Professor Dumbledore knows this place exists then since he defeated Grindelwald." said Hermione.
"True, but it may take some time before he realizes that we've been sucked into this realm. We must try to find our own solutions." said Remus as gently as possible.
"You really think the Founders left an escape route in this place?" asked Severus, glancing almost half-apologetically at Ginny and Hermione.
"For one reason and one reason only. Godric Gryffindor would have taken accident-prone and even curious students into account. He wouldn't have abandoned the hapless to certain death." said Remus.
Severus's lip curled into a sneer as he said, "I certainly hope your faith is not misplaced."
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A/N: That should explain a few things. Not everything, but some things.
kristen: Wow! Thanks for the compliment! I shall certainly keep writing.
Lily_Cat: Well, with 55,000 Harry Potter fics, it is difficult for to be original, but I try. Thanks for reviewing!
Witchy-grrl: It has been a while since I've watched The Princess Bride. Wesley was the hero, right? Ron and Hermione as five-year-olds ... *chortles* Thank you for reviewing!
Lexia: I appreciate the compliment and thanks for the review!
lil pixie: The castle is filled with the creatures. I don't have a specific number, but certainly more than one. Are there any other creatures in there? Good question. I'm thinking probably not, unless you count one werewolf named Remus. Thank you for reviewing!
Moonlitbeauty: I was going for creepy! Thanks!!
JoeBob1379: I never know the ending when I start writing. That would spoil the fun of it! I just have some random mental images and string them along with some weird ideas. I can't really answer your questions without giving too much away. The romantic action ... will be coming soon. A couple of chapters ... maybe. Sorry about the non-answers. Thanks for reviewing!
Lady Lynet ap Evyn: Thank you very much!
Helen: Wow, that's the first time I've heard of someone daydreaming about something I've written. *blushes* Thanks!
labrisa: Thank you!
Aqua Child: The pairing is pretty rare, but it has been done before. There are several stories where Ginny becomes a werewolf, for instance. I read a few of them a while back. Thank you for the review!