Hermione's Letter
Chapter 4 Revised Edition
Copyright © 2003 Steven Gilks. All rights reserved.
Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and all related scenarios and elements copyright
© J.K. Rowling. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended and no money
is being made.
That said, everyone
please R&R!
Inside the tower which was home to
all the members of Gryffindor House, there was much commotion as people
scrambled out of bed and rushed down the stairs toward the communal area at the
centre of the Tower. Discussion and theory were rife as the room was gradually
filled with people wondering what had been the cause of the enormous shockwave
that had rocked the Tower so powerfully.
It was a few minutes before everyone
had managed to assemble. There were now many rumours; some thought there had
been an earthquake; some thought it was a very powerful thunderstorm; some
thought that perhaps giants had arrived to destroy the school. The rumours and
speculation, however ridiculous, continued pouring in for another ten minutes
or so, and the magnitude of them increased as more people came in.
But they were all nullified when
Professor McGonagall Apparated into the room, along with an aura which made
everyone fall silent and killed off all of the rumours and ideas that had
previously been floating around. Just about everyone assembled to hear what she
had to say, and soon, every set of eyes in the room was fixed on her.
"I am sure you are wondering as to
the cause of the disturbance we have just experienced," she began, with power
in her voice.
Many heads nodded at her, especially
from the first years. It was their first night, and something clearly out of
the ordinary was going on. Quite a
beginning for them, thought Hermione.
Professor McGonagall continued.
"There is no easy way to say it, so I'll just say it: Ravenclaw
Tower
has been totally obliterated from the top to the bottom. We know…"
But as she attempted to continue
there was a murmuring around the room. Parvati Patil was already in tears – her sister, Padma, was in Ravenclaw, and she
knew the inevitable news that was soon coming. Lavender and Hermione looked
after her, comforting her as best they could.
McGonagall cleared her throat, and
the atmosphere became silent again, in order that she could continue.
"As I was saying, we know only that
it was not caused by conventional means. The structure of the tower was secured
properly, and tectonic movement is not capable of damaging the castle, provided
it is in good condition, which it is and always has been."
Again, there was a general murmuring
in the room. People were now very frightened, and rumours about Voldemort
started to spread around, despite the Prefects' best efforts to silence people.
McGonagall called for silence again,
and continued her speech.
"We have considered closing the
school down; however, due to a generous offer we have received,
we will not need to do that. We will, however, need to leave Hogwarts until it
can be safeguarded again, and the Tower can be rebuilt. Therefore, until
further notice, we will educate you at a secret location. The place we are
going is distant; you will need to pack clothing and all your magical equipment
into your trunks, and wait here, in the Common Room. No-one, I repeat, no-one
is to leave this tower for any reason, save for the Prefects, who will report
directly to myself when everyone is prepared."
This time, there was no movement.
There was silence and looks of surprise on the faces of many Gryffindors, as
this course of action had not been anticipated. Hermione, certainly, had
presumed that Hogwarts would now be closed. A move to another location was
almost totally unprecedented.
The Professor turned to leave, and
then, remembering something, turned back. With the gravest look on her face,
she made one further comment.
"And, I am very sorry to announce,
no-one in Ravenclaw House managed to escape the
devastation caused by the destruction of the Tower."
She had clearly had difficulty making
this last announcement, but she turned away from the members of her house, and
left the Common Room, exiting via the portrait of the Fat Lady that hung in
defence of Gryffindor House's tower.
Silence continued to permeate the
room and the people within long after McGonagall had departed. Many Gryffindors
had friends in Ravenclaw; the loss of that many
friends caused widespread pain. The anguish, however, was worse for Parvati Patil than for any other
house member. Her twin sister, Padma, was gone, and
gone forever. She simply cried into Lavender Brown's arms; there was nothing
that Lavender could do but hold her tightly and try to comfort her as best she
could. Hermione was almost in tears for her. To lose your twin was perhaps
worse than losing a brother or sister, thought Hermione, because they had the
potential to be that much closer to you. They were so much more like you.
Eventually Lavender managed to guide Parvati out of
the room, and Hermione wiped away a tear at Parvati's
sorrow, before following them out. All three went upstairs to the girl's
dormitory in silence, except for an occasional sob from Parvati,
and began to collect their things together into their trunks, mere hours after
they had arrived at Hogwarts. Her mind focused on the task as best it could,
whilst the emotional effects of the disaster fought for control of her mind.
But the task won out, and Hermione
managed to bring all her things down to the Common Room in her trunk in three
minutes flat.
But then, it occurred to her.
Her heart skipped a beat as she
realised what she had to do.
The events of the letter… the
disasters it described… could this be one of them?
She ran off quickly to find Harry and
Ron. Running into them in the boy's dorm room, she sounded so urgent that they
pulled her aside and used a Silencing Charm to prevent the others overhearing.
She explained the parallel she'd seen with the letter, reminding them of what
it had instructed her to do if - when, she corrected herself – it happened. And
she knew they'd probably think she was mad for suggesting what she was…
"Are you mad?" exclaimed Ron. "You
heard what Professor McGonagall said."
Hermione looked at him intently. "I
know, but this is for more than just obeying the school rules, Ron. This is for
the future of Hogwarts and perhaps the world. You need to look at the bigger
picture. Do you see why this is so important? Come on Harry, get your cloak.
We've gotta go, now!"
Harry picked up the cloak with a
little trepidation. "It won't take them long to realise we're gone you know.
And we still don't have any proof the letter's genuine."
Hermione got a little frustrated.
Each of the two arguments he had just presented was a valid one, but she had a
counter attack. "But, Harry, if the letter is
genuine, and we don't do anything, we're putting everyone's lives at risk! And
if we do it quickly, they won't suspect anything. Come on!"
Harry hesitated a little more, and
then swung the large Invisibility Cloak around him, Ron and Hermione, instantly
rendering them unseen to the naked eye. Being careful to avoid colliding with
people in the hustle and bustle of the evacuating Gryffindors, they managed to
successfully avoid bumping into anyone and escaped the Tower via the portrait
of the Fat Lady. After carefully closing the door holding the portrait, so as
to avert the creation of any noise, the group rushed off to Ravenclaw
Tower as fast as they could manage without tripping over the Cloak, unseen and
unheard…