Chapter 2
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Being slightly disoriented by the thick steam, they made it through safely. Harry wiped his fogged up glasses, and looked up around the room. There were probably hundreds of washers and dryers, each having two elves "manning" them.
"Would you look at that?!" exclaimed Hermione pointing up at the ceiling. Harry and Ron squinted trying to figure out what exactly that giant mechanism was doing there.
"What is it Hermione?" asked Ron. Hermione didn't seem to have an answer to that question.
"I don't know," they all studied it a bit more. "Perhaps we should all go take a closer look at it." Hermione started for the ladder to the right of them.
"Are you sure it's safe? I mean, we don't know what it does." Hermione shook her head and explained how Dumbledore would never allow anything extremely dangerous in the school.
"But we're not even supposed to be here!" Ron was pushing Hermione's limits.
"Look, if you don't want to find your socks, FINE. But Parvati is driving me insane! Always complaining about her favorite periwinkle socks being missing. And if there's a way to shut her up, I'm going to do it!" she continued up the ladder. Ron heaved a heavy sigh, and began to climb it as well.
"Harry, aren't you coming?"
"I'll be up in a moment! Just want to see some of these," Harry pointed to a washer. "Considering how many times Hermione's mentioned muggle devices not working on Hogwarts, I want to know how these function."
"Harry, in second year you drove Mr. Weasley's car on campus, am I right?" Hermione seemed to have a point.
"But washers and dryers run on electricity!" Hermione shook her head and kept climbing. Harry made his way around some elves pushing baskets full of laundry, towards an elf that didn't seem so preoccupied.
"Er, hello." the elf didn't look up at Harry. Harry tried greeting it again.
"Oh, so sorry! Do you need laundry? Iris try to get it done fast! Name please?" the elf was apparently named Iris. Iris motioned her washing machine associate to hurry over.
"Actually, I was just wondering how these washing machines and dryers are functioning." Iris looked over at her co-worker and they both shrugged.
"'Tis a house elf's place to work. Not question things, no, no. Only disobedient elves do that!" shouted Iris's partner. Iris nodded in silence. Hermione would've had a fit if she had just heard what the elf was yelling.
"Harry! Hurry up! You've got to see this!" Ron was alternating between looking into the humming machine's window and telling Harry to climb faster. Harry got there and found himself in front of an extremely hyper Ron, and a anxious Hermione.
"Harry! Go ahead! Look!" Ron said pushing Harry up to the minute window. Harry gasped when he realized what he was staring at.
Turning around he exclaimed, "There's a phoenix in there!" Hermione nodded, obviously still contemplating it's motive for being there.
"Do you reckon it's related to Fawkes?" Ron said while gaping at it. Hermione was still in deep thought, and Harry was trying to get a better look.
"Did you notice what was surrounding it?" Hermione catechized. Ron shook his head.
"I was a little too busy just looking at it."
"Well, for your information. It's surrounded by socks!" Ron's eyes widened. He and Harry were fighting over to see which would look into the window first. Hermione sighed and started once more.
"I think it's guarding something as well. Like Fluffy was." they all recalled Hagrid's three-headed dog. Harry peeked in and saw what Hermione was talking about. It was indeed sitting on something, something quite large in fact.
"What is it?" Hermione shrugged and suggested they go to the library to research phoenixes. Ron groaned but Harry kept silent, seeing as Hermione glared at Ron for his lack of enthusiasm. They made their way down the ladder, but were surprised to hear someone coming through the steam.
"Hurry! Down that row!" Hermione whispered at them. They scuttled their way there and watched the person walk out of the fog. It was Dumbledore. He slowly climbed the ladder, and made his way to the device containing the phoenix and socks. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore knew they were hiding behind a dryer.
"Good day, Vermilion!" Dumbledore addressed to the phoenix. "Hope you find Hogwarts' accommodations comfortable." he waved at a nearby elf and continued on with his conversation with Vermilion. Harry nudged the others.
"We should leave, Dumbledore most likely knows we're here, so we might as well leave. Seems like he has business with Vermilion that we shouldn't be listening in on." the others nodded and followed Harry into the steam. The trip back didn't seem as long as the first trip. They were back at the kitchen's entrance in no time.
"What was that?!" Fred exclaimed. George was too busy trying to fit as many treacle tarts as he could into his robes.
"It's nothing, just leads to the laundry room, Dumbledore's there mind you. So I wouldn't go exploring just yet." Hermione explained. Ron nodded, but began nibbling on some treacle tart.
"Nothing, eh? Fred, how do you think we've missed that one? I mean, it's in the kitchen!" Fred shrugged. George gazed at the tunnel for a couple of seconds, and resumed the pillaging of tarts.
"Shall we go to the library now?" Harry asked. Ron groaned again, and Hermione shot him another glare.
To their surprise, they were greeted there by someone who they hadn't seen in a long time. "Well, look at this! C'mere!" Charlie said as he hugged Ron. Ron, too shocked to react, just kept gaping at Charlie. "What's wrong with you, Ron? Didn't expect me here did you now?" he smiled. He shook hands with both Hermione and Harry.
"So what have you been up to lately, Charlie?" Hermione asked quizzically.
"Oh, not much. Just flew in from Romania. Hogwarts business, so I'm not at liberty to say."
"You're starting to sound like Percy." Ron made a face after he said it, reflecting his opinion of his other older brother. Charlie snorted.
"Nonsense, I don't sound a bit like Percy. But it's pretty important to Dumbledore and asked me to keep quiet about it. Especially around you three." one of his eyebrows arched, and he darted his eyes between the three of them. He then laughed again.
"So how long will you be here?"
"About three weeks. Plenty of time to catch up with my little bro!" he said as he put Ron in a head lock. Harry and Hermione were trying hard not to laugh as they watched Ron flail his arms about trying to find means of escape. Charlie let go and Ron gasped for air. Ron glared at his brother, and scooted his chair a decent three feet away from him. Charlie smiled at them and insisted that he had to attend to Dumbledore.
"I wish I had a brother sometimes." sighed Hermione. Harry silently agreed, but shuddered at the thought of Dudley having more people to torment.
"Ok, let's start looking for Phoenixes!" Hermione scurried off to the far end of the library, Ron wandered off into a random aisle, and Harry started with the closest shelf. Just as Harry began flipping through a book, he heard Hermione scream. He saw Ron run out of his aisle as well and they ran in the direction of the screams. They found Hermione sitting down in a corner with her head down, crying, muttering to herself.
"Hermione! What's wrong?!" Hermione shoved Ron away as he reached for her. She was having hallucinations.
"There's a unicorn, THERE!" she shouted while pointing at an area of the library that was empty. "It's dead... and there was something drinking it's blood... It looked up at me... And smiled... Oh Harry! Ron! It had red eyes!" she slumped back down into the corner and quietly sobbed. Harry rushed at the window, only to find Draco Malfoy down on the grounds with his wand out. Draco waved at Harry, and walked away.
Ron attended to Hermione and escorted her out of the library. Harry was still at the window looking down at the grounds.
Had Draco done what I just thought he did? Did he dare perform dark magic on campus? And on Hermione, no less.
Harry idly trudged after Hermione and Ron. He found Ron sitting outside the girls' bathroom.
"So how's she doing?" Ron took a moment before answering, but Hermione interrupted.
"There's no need to worry about me. And no need for me to go to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey would just recommend some chocolate, and a goof night's rest. But since it's only 5:36 P.M., I won't be sleeping for awhile." Harry and Ron still looked concerned.
"Really, I'm fine." she felt her forehead. "It's nothing. It was just the shock of seeing it in the library, the worst I thought I could ever see there was..." she stopped herself from continuing.
"What did you see?" Ron asked. Hermione shook her head and they both knew to not ask any more questions.
Being slightly disoriented by the thick steam, they made it through safely. Harry wiped his fogged up glasses, and looked up around the room. There were probably hundreds of washers and dryers, each having two elves "manning" them.
"Would you look at that?!" exclaimed Hermione pointing up at the ceiling. Harry and Ron squinted trying to figure out what exactly that giant mechanism was doing there.
"What is it Hermione?" asked Ron. Hermione didn't seem to have an answer to that question.
"I don't know," they all studied it a bit more. "Perhaps we should all go take a closer look at it." Hermione started for the ladder to the right of them.
"Are you sure it's safe? I mean, we don't know what it does." Hermione shook her head and explained how Dumbledore would never allow anything extremely dangerous in the school.
"But we're not even supposed to be here!" Ron was pushing Hermione's limits.
"Look, if you don't want to find your socks, FINE. But Parvati is driving me insane! Always complaining about her favorite periwinkle socks being missing. And if there's a way to shut her up, I'm going to do it!" she continued up the ladder. Ron heaved a heavy sigh, and began to climb it as well.
"Harry, aren't you coming?"
"I'll be up in a moment! Just want to see some of these," Harry pointed to a washer. "Considering how many times Hermione's mentioned muggle devices not working on Hogwarts, I want to know how these function."
"Harry, in second year you drove Mr. Weasley's car on campus, am I right?" Hermione seemed to have a point.
"But washers and dryers run on electricity!" Hermione shook her head and kept climbing. Harry made his way around some elves pushing baskets full of laundry, towards an elf that didn't seem so preoccupied.
"Er, hello." the elf didn't look up at Harry. Harry tried greeting it again.
"Oh, so sorry! Do you need laundry? Iris try to get it done fast! Name please?" the elf was apparently named Iris. Iris motioned her washing machine associate to hurry over.
"Actually, I was just wondering how these washing machines and dryers are functioning." Iris looked over at her co-worker and they both shrugged.
"'Tis a house elf's place to work. Not question things, no, no. Only disobedient elves do that!" shouted Iris's partner. Iris nodded in silence. Hermione would've had a fit if she had just heard what the elf was yelling.
"Harry! Hurry up! You've got to see this!" Ron was alternating between looking into the humming machine's window and telling Harry to climb faster. Harry got there and found himself in front of an extremely hyper Ron, and a anxious Hermione.
"Harry! Go ahead! Look!" Ron said pushing Harry up to the minute window. Harry gasped when he realized what he was staring at.
Turning around he exclaimed, "There's a phoenix in there!" Hermione nodded, obviously still contemplating it's motive for being there.
"Do you reckon it's related to Fawkes?" Ron said while gaping at it. Hermione was still in deep thought, and Harry was trying to get a better look.
"Did you notice what was surrounding it?" Hermione catechized. Ron shook his head.
"I was a little too busy just looking at it."
"Well, for your information. It's surrounded by socks!" Ron's eyes widened. He and Harry were fighting over to see which would look into the window first. Hermione sighed and started once more.
"I think it's guarding something as well. Like Fluffy was." they all recalled Hagrid's three-headed dog. Harry peeked in and saw what Hermione was talking about. It was indeed sitting on something, something quite large in fact.
"What is it?" Hermione shrugged and suggested they go to the library to research phoenixes. Ron groaned but Harry kept silent, seeing as Hermione glared at Ron for his lack of enthusiasm. They made their way down the ladder, but were surprised to hear someone coming through the steam.
"Hurry! Down that row!" Hermione whispered at them. They scuttled their way there and watched the person walk out of the fog. It was Dumbledore. He slowly climbed the ladder, and made his way to the device containing the phoenix and socks. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore knew they were hiding behind a dryer.
"Good day, Vermilion!" Dumbledore addressed to the phoenix. "Hope you find Hogwarts' accommodations comfortable." he waved at a nearby elf and continued on with his conversation with Vermilion. Harry nudged the others.
"We should leave, Dumbledore most likely knows we're here, so we might as well leave. Seems like he has business with Vermilion that we shouldn't be listening in on." the others nodded and followed Harry into the steam. The trip back didn't seem as long as the first trip. They were back at the kitchen's entrance in no time.
"What was that?!" Fred exclaimed. George was too busy trying to fit as many treacle tarts as he could into his robes.
"It's nothing, just leads to the laundry room, Dumbledore's there mind you. So I wouldn't go exploring just yet." Hermione explained. Ron nodded, but began nibbling on some treacle tart.
"Nothing, eh? Fred, how do you think we've missed that one? I mean, it's in the kitchen!" Fred shrugged. George gazed at the tunnel for a couple of seconds, and resumed the pillaging of tarts.
"Shall we go to the library now?" Harry asked. Ron groaned again, and Hermione shot him another glare.
To their surprise, they were greeted there by someone who they hadn't seen in a long time. "Well, look at this! C'mere!" Charlie said as he hugged Ron. Ron, too shocked to react, just kept gaping at Charlie. "What's wrong with you, Ron? Didn't expect me here did you now?" he smiled. He shook hands with both Hermione and Harry.
"So what have you been up to lately, Charlie?" Hermione asked quizzically.
"Oh, not much. Just flew in from Romania. Hogwarts business, so I'm not at liberty to say."
"You're starting to sound like Percy." Ron made a face after he said it, reflecting his opinion of his other older brother. Charlie snorted.
"Nonsense, I don't sound a bit like Percy. But it's pretty important to Dumbledore and asked me to keep quiet about it. Especially around you three." one of his eyebrows arched, and he darted his eyes between the three of them. He then laughed again.
"So how long will you be here?"
"About three weeks. Plenty of time to catch up with my little bro!" he said as he put Ron in a head lock. Harry and Hermione were trying hard not to laugh as they watched Ron flail his arms about trying to find means of escape. Charlie let go and Ron gasped for air. Ron glared at his brother, and scooted his chair a decent three feet away from him. Charlie smiled at them and insisted that he had to attend to Dumbledore.
"I wish I had a brother sometimes." sighed Hermione. Harry silently agreed, but shuddered at the thought of Dudley having more people to torment.
"Ok, let's start looking for Phoenixes!" Hermione scurried off to the far end of the library, Ron wandered off into a random aisle, and Harry started with the closest shelf. Just as Harry began flipping through a book, he heard Hermione scream. He saw Ron run out of his aisle as well and they ran in the direction of the screams. They found Hermione sitting down in a corner with her head down, crying, muttering to herself.
"Hermione! What's wrong?!" Hermione shoved Ron away as he reached for her. She was having hallucinations.
"There's a unicorn, THERE!" she shouted while pointing at an area of the library that was empty. "It's dead... and there was something drinking it's blood... It looked up at me... And smiled... Oh Harry! Ron! It had red eyes!" she slumped back down into the corner and quietly sobbed. Harry rushed at the window, only to find Draco Malfoy down on the grounds with his wand out. Draco waved at Harry, and walked away.
Ron attended to Hermione and escorted her out of the library. Harry was still at the window looking down at the grounds.
Had Draco done what I just thought he did? Did he dare perform dark magic on campus? And on Hermione, no less.
Harry idly trudged after Hermione and Ron. He found Ron sitting outside the girls' bathroom.
"So how's she doing?" Ron took a moment before answering, but Hermione interrupted.
"There's no need to worry about me. And no need for me to go to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey would just recommend some chocolate, and a goof night's rest. But since it's only 5:36 P.M., I won't be sleeping for awhile." Harry and Ron still looked concerned.
"Really, I'm fine." she felt her forehead. "It's nothing. It was just the shock of seeing it in the library, the worst I thought I could ever see there was..." she stopped herself from continuing.
"What did you see?" Ron asked. Hermione shook her head and they both knew to not ask any more questions.