Chapter 2: A Plan
Hermione awoke in an unfamiliar place. Her head was swimming, and when she opened her eyes, she shut them just as quickly as bright light blinded her. She had no recollection of going to bed, or falling asleep at all. Just a sensation of being suffocated. She tried to move, but something prevented her from doing so. A rough hand brushed across her cheek tenderly, and she heard a voice speaking to her.
"Shhh. Hermione, you're safe now. Everything is alright. You're in the infirmary."
She slowly re-opened her eyes, and she saw Ron's face not far from hers. All of her memories from the night before flooded her mind, and she embraced Ron tightly. "What happened?"
His face showed his concern. "You mean you don't remember anything?"
She shook her head in reply. "No, the last things I remember were being suffocated and darkness." She thought for a moment and continued. "And you shouting and catching me. Nothing else."
"Well, Madame Pomfrey was hoping that you would be able to recall what attacked you so we could look it up."
Hermione's eyes widened, and she bolted out of her bed. She then realized that she was in her pajamas.
"Um. Ron? Who changed my clothes?" She was terrified at the idea of Harry or Ron seeing her without anything covering her. "Where is Harry anyway?"
"We asked Ginny to change you out of your uniform, and Harry is in the library, writing down anything he remembers and looking it up."
"Well, let's join him. I'll change quickly. Wait for me outside."
Ron did as he was told, and he was almost immediately joined by Hermione. They made their way to the library and found Harry in the middle of huge stacks of books.
"Need some help there?" Hermione thought she would never see the day when Harry would voluntarily research something more complicated than flobberworms.
Harry grinned as he saw his two friends and picked her off the ground in a warm hug. "How're you feeling?"
"Wonderful, just wonderful. Now, let me help you with this. I think I can recall enough about that creature to do some good."
An hour after they all sat down, completely into the books, Hermione found something.
"Of course!"
Both Harry's and Ron's eyes focused on her as they questioned what she meant.
"We learned about them last year! Well, it was only a brief mention and description actually, but I found out what that thing was!"
Ron prodded her to continue, so she did.
"An umbraca is a fabled creature of ancient wizard legend. It was considered to be just a fictional creature until about 200 years ago, when Silvestry the Stupid, a goblin explorer, uncovered a nest of umbracas. They are fierce, evil creatures who use witches and wizards' shadows to kill him or her. They then trap the shadows as a source of energy, much like food, discarding the body to rot. The victims are often random, but some of them are chosen because of their role in the umbraca's human past. Also, victims end up either of two ways. The umbraca can either kill the witch or wizard, or due to possibly recognizing traits of itself in the victim, can turn the human into an umbraca. If the victim was to escape, the umbraca would continue to pursue him or her until the victim faces either of two fates as stated previously."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were silent for a few minutes until Harry spoke nervously, his voice shaking.
"So that umbraca will keep after you until you die?"
"Well, the book also says that the only way for an umbraca to stop chasing its potential victim, the victim must have died."
"You can't just die, Hermione!" Ron was visibly distraught.
"I don't have to die. Not permanently, anyway."
"What do you mean, 'not permanently?' Death is always permanent. You don't just come back from the other side once you go there!"
"I can if someone resuscitates me." Hermione spoke very calmly and put her hand on Ron's comfortingly, and smiled reassuringly at Harry.
"So you're just gonna kill yourself?"
Hermione frowned as she thought. She jumped up from her seat and headed for the door. "Meet me at the lake tonight at 12:00." Before either of the boys could reply, she left.
(A/N: I got the name "Umbraca" from Latin 'umbra' and 'casses', meaning shadow and snare. As in 'trappers of shadows, get it? Got it? Good.)
Hermione awoke in an unfamiliar place. Her head was swimming, and when she opened her eyes, she shut them just as quickly as bright light blinded her. She had no recollection of going to bed, or falling asleep at all. Just a sensation of being suffocated. She tried to move, but something prevented her from doing so. A rough hand brushed across her cheek tenderly, and she heard a voice speaking to her.
"Shhh. Hermione, you're safe now. Everything is alright. You're in the infirmary."
She slowly re-opened her eyes, and she saw Ron's face not far from hers. All of her memories from the night before flooded her mind, and she embraced Ron tightly. "What happened?"
His face showed his concern. "You mean you don't remember anything?"
She shook her head in reply. "No, the last things I remember were being suffocated and darkness." She thought for a moment and continued. "And you shouting and catching me. Nothing else."
"Well, Madame Pomfrey was hoping that you would be able to recall what attacked you so we could look it up."
Hermione's eyes widened, and she bolted out of her bed. She then realized that she was in her pajamas.
"Um. Ron? Who changed my clothes?" She was terrified at the idea of Harry or Ron seeing her without anything covering her. "Where is Harry anyway?"
"We asked Ginny to change you out of your uniform, and Harry is in the library, writing down anything he remembers and looking it up."
"Well, let's join him. I'll change quickly. Wait for me outside."
Ron did as he was told, and he was almost immediately joined by Hermione. They made their way to the library and found Harry in the middle of huge stacks of books.
"Need some help there?" Hermione thought she would never see the day when Harry would voluntarily research something more complicated than flobberworms.
Harry grinned as he saw his two friends and picked her off the ground in a warm hug. "How're you feeling?"
"Wonderful, just wonderful. Now, let me help you with this. I think I can recall enough about that creature to do some good."
An hour after they all sat down, completely into the books, Hermione found something.
"Of course!"
Both Harry's and Ron's eyes focused on her as they questioned what she meant.
"We learned about them last year! Well, it was only a brief mention and description actually, but I found out what that thing was!"
Ron prodded her to continue, so she did.
"An umbraca is a fabled creature of ancient wizard legend. It was considered to be just a fictional creature until about 200 years ago, when Silvestry the Stupid, a goblin explorer, uncovered a nest of umbracas. They are fierce, evil creatures who use witches and wizards' shadows to kill him or her. They then trap the shadows as a source of energy, much like food, discarding the body to rot. The victims are often random, but some of them are chosen because of their role in the umbraca's human past. Also, victims end up either of two ways. The umbraca can either kill the witch or wizard, or due to possibly recognizing traits of itself in the victim, can turn the human into an umbraca. If the victim was to escape, the umbraca would continue to pursue him or her until the victim faces either of two fates as stated previously."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were silent for a few minutes until Harry spoke nervously, his voice shaking.
"So that umbraca will keep after you until you die?"
"Well, the book also says that the only way for an umbraca to stop chasing its potential victim, the victim must have died."
"You can't just die, Hermione!" Ron was visibly distraught.
"I don't have to die. Not permanently, anyway."
"What do you mean, 'not permanently?' Death is always permanent. You don't just come back from the other side once you go there!"
"I can if someone resuscitates me." Hermione spoke very calmly and put her hand on Ron's comfortingly, and smiled reassuringly at Harry.
"So you're just gonna kill yourself?"
Hermione frowned as she thought. She jumped up from her seat and headed for the door. "Meet me at the lake tonight at 12:00." Before either of the boys could reply, she left.
(A/N: I got the name "Umbraca" from Latin 'umbra' and 'casses', meaning shadow and snare. As in 'trappers of shadows, get it? Got it? Good.)