"My sources at Hogwarts told me of the sorting hat's song a long time ago Malfoy," Voldemort said with irritation.
"Ah, but did they tell you that the weapon is a person not an object my lord?"
Thoughts filled Voldemort's head. Could it be he wasted all this time looking for an object and it turned out to be a person? He wanted to laugh! After all, he wasn't worried. He was the most powerful wizard, not some mommy's boy wizard. He wouldn't worry about this 'weapon.'
Malfoy looked worried about his lord's laughing face. He could tell the Dark Lord was not going to take this wizard seriously, whoever he was. "My lord, maybe we should look for this person," Malfoy suggested.
"What, and waste more time," Voldemort growled. "Anyways, I am the most powerful wizard. No one can defeat me."
Malfoy couldn't help but think about how sixteen years ago, one little baby almost did.
"Argh! I can't find my cloak!" Storm yelled as she attacked her trunk.
"Maybe if you would take it off and leave it in one place, you'd be able to find it." Hermione knew she sounded like a mother but she couldn't help it.
"Okay mum," Storm said sarcastically. "I'll remember that next time. Forget it, I'm going over to the boy's dorm to steal one of theirs."
Hermione watched Storm storm out of the room and laughed. It was obvious that Storm wasn't used to living with other people. She never picked her stuff up and now, with the school year three-fourths of the way over, she couldn't find anything.
Hermione, looking at the mess, decided to help her out. She began picking up the discarded clothes. But before she put the clothes in the trunk, she noticed that the books were in disarray at the bottom of the trunk. She started straightening the books and found a piece of parchment tucked in one. She took it out and looked at it. Maybe it was for an assignment.
Deciding not to snoop in Storm's stuff, Hermione put the parchment back where she found it and straightened the books. She then began folding the clothes.
She was just finishing when Storm walked in holding Harry's cloak.
"Snitched Harry's. Oh Hermione, you didn't have to clean up my mess. But thank you ever so much for doing it. I do hate cleaning," Storm said honestly.
"It was no problem," Hermione stood and picked up Draco's cloak. She took to wearing it lately, preferring the black crushed velvet to her practical cotton one.
"So where are we going this morning?" Hermione asked as they neared the front doors. Storm merely smiled mischievously in return and Hermione's suspicions grew. "We are not going to anything illegal, are we?"
"Technically no," Storm answered but with the look she received from Hermione, she went on. "Going down to the lake on a warm afternoon is not illegal."
"What are we going to do at the lake?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"I'm going to teach you something," Storm stated matter-of-factly.
Hermione did not press the issue knowing that Storm would not give anymore information. She did wonder what Storm was going to teach her. Different ideas kept popping into her head, each as unlikely as the last. Finally they reached the lake and Storm turned to her.
"No as you know, the war is soon approaching and we will be expected to fight. You are the brightest witch at Hogwarts, but you will not survive a war. Book smart means nothing in a war. You have to fight to win. There can be no runner-ups in a war Hermione, if you lose you die." Storm let this information sink in before continuing. "I'm going to teach you a spell that will help you protect yourself. Yes, this spell is frowned upon which is why we are here. The spell is complex so it takes a gifted witch or wizard to perform it. If done correctly, it will cause the victim to feel as if their brain is being crushed," Storm explained.
"Where did you learn it if it's frowned upon?" Hermione asked and was chilled by Storm's sarcastic smile.
"On the streets Hermione, you do whatever you can to survive, even kill," Storm paused. "Anyway, the spell will cause the victim's brain to constrict. If it goes on without someone performing the counter curse in three hours, the person will die."
"That sounds horrible!" Hermione said with disgust.
"No Hermione, if done to an innocent person it's horrible. We have to live to help Harry. This, even though inhuman, will allow us to live."
"Okay then," Hermione mumbled quietly even though she still did not like the idea of the curse.
"You have to put all your energy into your wand and bring your wand down like so," Storm said while demonstrating the wand movement. "While doing so you say 'Restriconous!' Okay, here practice on these rats. Don't worry, I'll do the counter curse."
Hermione soon found out that Storm was right, the spell was complex. It took her about twenty tries before she finally mastered it. What happened when she performed the spell baffled Hermione. Blinding lights in every color from the rainbow exploded from the wand. Storm explained that this triggered the brain into spasms.
With dusk arriving, Storm ended the lesson. She let all the rats free and headed over to Hermione. Together they walked back up to the school.
A/N
Hey ya'll! Hope you like the story so far. Anyway, Storm and Harry's relationship will take off in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!
Meia