Chapter 14
"You could slow down, you know." Hermione could hear how petulant her voice sounded, but at the moment she didn't care overmuch. "Are you planning to walk me all the way to London from here?" Hermione couldn't determine just how long she'd been walking, but she did know, however, that the muscles in her legs were burning, and that her lungs were about to give out. The sun was far off in the west.
The dark eyed man turned back to her, taking in her appearance. He shrugged, crouched down on the ground. He waited for her.
Hermione slumped to the ground. I'm too old for this. I haven't been on a Harry Potter adventure for twenty one years. I have two children. I have a very large bookcase back at Hogwarts that needs a few more books. I don't want to write them. Hermione sighed, pushing twigs around with her fingers. She glanced up at the man.
His hair was very black, cut below his ears in a ragged manner, as though he'd done it himself with a knife. His skin was the rough tan of an adventurer, and his eyes pierced her. He appeared to be around thirty, though the sun lines that gathered around his face made it hard to tell.
"We do have to be going. That Devil's Snare was planted, 'though I'm not sure if it was for you. I have to get back, and can't leave you here." He stood again. Hermione remained on the ground.
"I'm thirty eight. I'm not young enough to go gallivanting around the countryside. Why didn't you just take me back to Hogwarts?" Frustration was bubbling inside her heart, and helplessness wasn't helping the situation. All she wanted to do was burst out in tears and curl up in bed.
"If I left you at Hogwarts, you'd be found." The dark eyed man was now looking intently into the distance. The path was overgrown, leaving Hermione to wonder if anyone had passed this way for decades. Huffing, Hermione stood to her weary feet and motioned for the man to keep moving. Oh well, she thought to herself wearily, at least we'll get to where we're going faster than if I sit on the ground.
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Finally, they reached a clearing. The man searched around on the ground again, and finally picked up a piece of unimportant rubbish.
"Quick," he said urgently, and Hermione grabbed onto the piece of gladwrap hurriedly.
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked, but before the man could answer, there was a sinking feeling in her stomach, and she was jerked by her navel to an unknown destination.
The blankness around her eyes dissipated, and Hermione was able to see the clearing sight around her. The tall dark man was standing in the middle of a field- one that she recognised.
It was the Auror training field.
"Who are you?" Hermione asked in desperation, her heart pounding and her head swimming at the revelation. The dark man just turned and smiled mysteriously at her.
"The time will come. Now- you're coming with me." And he grabbed her arm- not gently- and began to stride off, nearly carrying the distraught Hermione behind him.
~*~
"Nope, nothing still. I do say, Minerva dear, it does appear that someone's taken it away! There's just one tiny thread…" Ruth leaned in a little closer, her nose almost touching Lianna's. "But it's too thin. I might snap it if I try to follow it. Then there'd be no reason to go hunting anyway." Ruth pulled back, her little nose wrinkling. "Who would do something like this? Soul-pulling has been against the law since the five hundreds- I don't know if there's any manuscripts for how to do it written after the three hundreds. Whoever's doing this has taken a lot of time to prepare- it just scares me to think how many other people may be sitting around with only a tenuous link between their soul and body." Ruth glanced around hastily, unconsciously, and Minerva's face was distraught.
Adrienne struggled to understand, "Ruth," the lady turned to look deeply at the dark eyed girl, "just… what… well, why would someone do that to another person?" Adrienne floundered for the words to express her emotions, even in her own mind. Lianna? Gone? It was more than she could imagine.
"Well, dear," Ruth sat herself down in her chair again, her blue eyes glancing at the table, recalling her information. She looked up at Adrienne's eyes again, "it gives the caster some very strong elements to play with.
"I assume you know about the elements of magic- heat, cold, light, dark, dry, wet, strong, weak; correct? Do they still teach that, Minerva?" Ruth bounced a question at the witch beside her.
"Oh, in passing, in Philosophy of Magic." Minerva seemed a little subdued about this point, avoiding her friend's eyes.
Ruth shook her head at Minerva, "it's what makes all magic what it is- sort of like its DNA." She smiled again at Adrienne's incomprehension.
"It's what makes it unique. The balance of parts determines the strength, and the purpose of the magic. The soul is the very essence of heat, light, dry and strong magic- in fact, there is (depending on the person, of course,) very little of the opposites in the soul. It is what makes a person unique, and without it- well, you can see for yourself. Merely a shell.
"As soon as the link is broken between soul and body, the body dies. Of course, while the soul is absent like this, another soul may be placed inside the body, then the other soul removed- there is still a soul in the body, and although some deterioration may occur, the body will still accept it… But that's a subject for a different time.
"But having a soul to work with gives the magic worker an almost endless supply of energy, and strong energy. Once the soul is outside the body, it is easy to forget that it is the very essence of a person- hence, taking the soul of a person is the greatest crime.
"I'd very much like to get my hands on the person who cast this magic." Ruth's eyes lit up with a dark emotion, still piercing deep into Adrienne's. She quickly broke the contact, leaving Adrienne gasping for breath.
"Thanks," she managed to gasp.
"Oh, sorry, dear," Ruth fluttered her hands at Adrienne, "I do that when I get worked up and I stop concentrating properly."
Adrienne just nodded. "What can we do to get my sister back?"
"Well, what did she say when she left us?" Minerva suddenly piqued up.
Ruth answered, even though she hadn't been present; "We have to find her father."
~*~
A/N: soon this plot will stop being treacle and become toffee, it's thickening so much… Thankyou greatly to my reviewers: the chapters will continue to write themselves, I'm sure!! Enjoy, and keep dreaming,
*kitten