Chapter 1 - DREAMS AND LETTERS
A distorted outline of a tall person pushed open the navy blue door and stepped inside without a single caution in the world. It revealed a morbid rectangular room that swayed down like a steep hill and was bordered with stone benches. There was no sound occurring whatsoever that even the stale wind could be recognizable.
A gloomy swirl of dust and smoke that surrounded the Death Chamber began to clear up as the person shot hints of yellow sparks past the benches and through the somber walls. I
The room was more visible to the human eye now, and three distinct figures came into view. A fearful Ron was standing in front of Harry to guard him, but Harry kept on shoving Ron repeatedly like he was some kind of puppet. They were both situated in front of the ancient veil, flip-flapping left and right, with blue streaks of reminiscent light were painted on both their petrified faces.
About ten feet away from them was a towering hooded figure dressed in a green cloak and with every step, Voldemort neared the two in front of the veil, his wand raised.
"Move aside, foolish boy." Spoke the chilling voice of Voldemort. Ron elbowed Harry violently in the chest, causing him to wobble down, and then raised his wand weakly, too.
"No! You'll have to get through me first! You he…hear me! You-gerroff, Harry..." Ron was panting furiously, his chest was heaving madly, and his wand arm bleeding freely.
"Move, Ron!" Yelled Harry as he stumbled up back to his feet and pushed Ron with all his strength, but he wouldn't budge.
"Well, well." Hissed the cold voice. "I guess your pathetic friend will have to be disposed first. Avada Kedavra!" The spark of vibrant light seemed to take forever to reach Ron, but when it did, the green beam streaked ripely onto Ron's chest with surprise, and he fell backwards into the veil and disappeared.
"Wake up Miss!" A squeaky voice rang out in the room. Something fuzzy brushed against Hermione's face, causing her eyes to open suddenly. She sneezed.
"What…?" She rose out of her bed instantaneously, and saw Dobby the house elf perching over near her bed, staring worriedly at her with his glowing eyes. In his hand was a huge feather duster swaying back and forth, and on his head were three colorful hats that seemed to be awfully familiar to Hermione.
"Are you alright Miss? Dobby heard you screaming!"
Hermione looked at herself. Her mint-green nightgown was clinging to her sweaty skin like butter on toast, and as her eyes trailed down, she noticed that her lower arms were crimson-colored with faint spots of purple situated upon them.
Faint whispers were traveling around the dorm room, and Hermione saw that a few people were stirring out of their sleep. Parvati and Lavender were sitting on their beds warily and staring at Hermione with concern, but others just opened their eyes once and went back to snoozing.
"I'm…fine. It was just a bad dream." Said Hermione, wiping her arms hoarsely and turning her face away from the lookers.
"Dobby must leave now, Miss. Dobby hopes you feel better."
"Thank you." Hermione said sincerely, and in a flash, he flicked his fingers and disappeared into the thin air.
"Are you alright?" Said Parvati sympathetically, observing her arms.
"Yeah. Goodnight." She said, and pretended to go back to sleep.
After a few minutes passed and nobody was awake, Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room and settled down on the leather sofa in the upper right corner. She pointed her wand to her arms and declared, "Clerio!". The blotches and the sweat vanished, but the red color was still present.
Hermione peered out the window, observing a warm sun peaking out of the steep hills and brightening the midnight sky. Halloween was approaching, and she could almost taste the savory flavor of pumpkin flying with the air outside.
Her stomach grumbled; it was still three hours before breakfast was served, and she was starving.
What did the dreams mean? Am I going insane? Ever since she had entered Hogwarts for her last year, all sorts of nightmares seemed to be attacking her sleep, and this one had been the worst of the lot. Voldemort killed Ron…
Hermione shivered with unease, and once more rubbed her arms. She didn't want to inform Harry or Ron, because their reactions would be horrible and they wouldn't be able to do anything. But I have to tell someone…
Only one person came to her mind, a person that she had confided in before and gone to extreme lengths to help her. She grabbed a roll of parchment, quill, and ink and started to write.
Dear Lupin,
How are you, Lupin? I hope everything is fine at Grimmuald Place, and assume nobody is in trouble.
I'm writing to you because recently, I have been getting these strange dreams of dark places, and I think most of them occur in the Department of Mysteries.
I am very confused, and please write back to tell me what you think, or if you know anything about it. Bye!
Love,
Hermione.
Hermione knew it was really short and straight-out, but she didn't feel like writing anymore than she had to. As she rolled up the piece of parchment, a familiar voice behind her spoke, "What are you doing here?"
Hermione whirled around to find Ron coming down the steps of the boys' dormitory. He was dressed in red and golden quidditch robes with a shining broomstick perched tightly in his hand; his face was still craving sleep, but his eyes glowed with excitement.
Hermione slid the parchment behind her and put it under the leather cover, 'I couldn't sleep." She said, and then pointed at Ron's broomstick, her eyebrows raised, "Quidditch at four o'clock in the morning?"
"Just practicing on my own for an hour or two," said Ron, and then eyed Hermione, as if he were looking through her. "What's that, eh?"
"What's what?"
"The parchment."
"Oh," she took it out, "It's just a letter I was writing."
Ron sat down beside her, "Who in the world are you writing to at the crack of dawn?"
Hermione announced the first person that came to mind, "Viktor."
Ron's face turned nasty in a whiff, and looked like he had just gobbled down something poisonous, "You still keep in touch with him?" He said disbelievingly.
"Yes I do." Said Hermione with her eyes towards the window. She didn't feel right lying to Ron like that and seeing his annoyed outburst, but on the other side, she didn't want to tell him what she was hallucinating in her dreams.
"Oh come on, Hermione! It's been three years since he came here!" Finally, Ron let go of his broomstick and lay it against the wall, "Wait. Are you under his spell or summat?"
"Oh shut up." Hermione rolled her eyes, and couldn't believe that Ron was still jealous.
He seemed hurt, but after a second, he hid it and said, "So why couldn't you sleep? Failing tests in your dreams, are you?"
She scowled at Ron, "No, but I was having bad dreams."
He stood up and clutched his broomstick safely like it was a piece of glass, and then straightened his robes so they looked unwrinkled.
"I hope they weren't too bad. I have to go now." He said seriously.
Hermione said bye, and after Ron left the common room, she took out the parchment and stared at it. Should I tell Lupin what I'm seeing in my dreams?
Nah, said another prevailing voice inside her head. I don't want him to think I'm crazy. Hermione remembered when Harry had to clear his mind to block bad dreams, and she attempted the same. She closed her eyes and focused on clearing her mind fully, but somehow the flash of green light hitting Ron's chest intruded into her mind…
"Hermione!"
Hermione's eyes flew open to discover a blurry figure of Harry facing her and poking her shoulder. She groaned tiredly, stroking his hand away, and then shut her eyes to blackness.
"Wake up! It's 9 in the morning!"
As if struck by electricity, her heart gave a jolt, and she screamed. "What? But I have an Arithmancy Exam today! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" Hermione prodded her legs to stand up straight, and she was about to run out of the common room in the speed of light when Harry grasped her arm, "Calm down, Hermione! It's Saturday." He gave her a will-you-ever-change look and let go of her arm, "A little panicky, are we?"
Hermione glanced at her arms; they were back to their normal ivory color. She tilted her head up to find a crowd of students in the common room; some were gibbering away, others were munching on candies and chocolate, and the rest were attempting to put curses on each other. A few of them glanced her way, wondering what all of the commotion was about,
"Are you sure?" She said, observing Harry mysteriously, who was about to go to Quidditch practice, no doubt, being dressed the same as Ron.
Harry chortled, "Yeah, but don't you have other duties to get to?"
Hermione's eyes widened, and without a word, she blasted out of the common room.
A distorted outline of a tall person pushed open the navy blue door and stepped inside without a single caution in the world. It revealed a morbid rectangular room that swayed down like a steep hill and was bordered with stone benches. There was no sound occurring whatsoever that even the stale wind could be recognizable.
A gloomy swirl of dust and smoke that surrounded the Death Chamber began to clear up as the person shot hints of yellow sparks past the benches and through the somber walls. I
The room was more visible to the human eye now, and three distinct figures came into view. A fearful Ron was standing in front of Harry to guard him, but Harry kept on shoving Ron repeatedly like he was some kind of puppet. They were both situated in front of the ancient veil, flip-flapping left and right, with blue streaks of reminiscent light were painted on both their petrified faces.
About ten feet away from them was a towering hooded figure dressed in a green cloak and with every step, Voldemort neared the two in front of the veil, his wand raised.
"Move aside, foolish boy." Spoke the chilling voice of Voldemort. Ron elbowed Harry violently in the chest, causing him to wobble down, and then raised his wand weakly, too.
"No! You'll have to get through me first! You he…hear me! You-gerroff, Harry..." Ron was panting furiously, his chest was heaving madly, and his wand arm bleeding freely.
"Move, Ron!" Yelled Harry as he stumbled up back to his feet and pushed Ron with all his strength, but he wouldn't budge.
"Well, well." Hissed the cold voice. "I guess your pathetic friend will have to be disposed first. Avada Kedavra!" The spark of vibrant light seemed to take forever to reach Ron, but when it did, the green beam streaked ripely onto Ron's chest with surprise, and he fell backwards into the veil and disappeared.
"Wake up Miss!" A squeaky voice rang out in the room. Something fuzzy brushed against Hermione's face, causing her eyes to open suddenly. She sneezed.
"What…?" She rose out of her bed instantaneously, and saw Dobby the house elf perching over near her bed, staring worriedly at her with his glowing eyes. In his hand was a huge feather duster swaying back and forth, and on his head were three colorful hats that seemed to be awfully familiar to Hermione.
"Are you alright Miss? Dobby heard you screaming!"
Hermione looked at herself. Her mint-green nightgown was clinging to her sweaty skin like butter on toast, and as her eyes trailed down, she noticed that her lower arms were crimson-colored with faint spots of purple situated upon them.
Faint whispers were traveling around the dorm room, and Hermione saw that a few people were stirring out of their sleep. Parvati and Lavender were sitting on their beds warily and staring at Hermione with concern, but others just opened their eyes once and went back to snoozing.
"I'm…fine. It was just a bad dream." Said Hermione, wiping her arms hoarsely and turning her face away from the lookers.
"Dobby must leave now, Miss. Dobby hopes you feel better."
"Thank you." Hermione said sincerely, and in a flash, he flicked his fingers and disappeared into the thin air.
"Are you alright?" Said Parvati sympathetically, observing her arms.
"Yeah. Goodnight." She said, and pretended to go back to sleep.
After a few minutes passed and nobody was awake, Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room and settled down on the leather sofa in the upper right corner. She pointed her wand to her arms and declared, "Clerio!". The blotches and the sweat vanished, but the red color was still present.
Hermione peered out the window, observing a warm sun peaking out of the steep hills and brightening the midnight sky. Halloween was approaching, and she could almost taste the savory flavor of pumpkin flying with the air outside.
Her stomach grumbled; it was still three hours before breakfast was served, and she was starving.
What did the dreams mean? Am I going insane? Ever since she had entered Hogwarts for her last year, all sorts of nightmares seemed to be attacking her sleep, and this one had been the worst of the lot. Voldemort killed Ron…
Hermione shivered with unease, and once more rubbed her arms. She didn't want to inform Harry or Ron, because their reactions would be horrible and they wouldn't be able to do anything. But I have to tell someone…
Only one person came to her mind, a person that she had confided in before and gone to extreme lengths to help her. She grabbed a roll of parchment, quill, and ink and started to write.
Dear Lupin,
How are you, Lupin? I hope everything is fine at Grimmuald Place, and assume nobody is in trouble.
I'm writing to you because recently, I have been getting these strange dreams of dark places, and I think most of them occur in the Department of Mysteries.
I am very confused, and please write back to tell me what you think, or if you know anything about it. Bye!
Love,
Hermione.
Hermione knew it was really short and straight-out, but she didn't feel like writing anymore than she had to. As she rolled up the piece of parchment, a familiar voice behind her spoke, "What are you doing here?"
Hermione whirled around to find Ron coming down the steps of the boys' dormitory. He was dressed in red and golden quidditch robes with a shining broomstick perched tightly in his hand; his face was still craving sleep, but his eyes glowed with excitement.
Hermione slid the parchment behind her and put it under the leather cover, 'I couldn't sleep." She said, and then pointed at Ron's broomstick, her eyebrows raised, "Quidditch at four o'clock in the morning?"
"Just practicing on my own for an hour or two," said Ron, and then eyed Hermione, as if he were looking through her. "What's that, eh?"
"What's what?"
"The parchment."
"Oh," she took it out, "It's just a letter I was writing."
Ron sat down beside her, "Who in the world are you writing to at the crack of dawn?"
Hermione announced the first person that came to mind, "Viktor."
Ron's face turned nasty in a whiff, and looked like he had just gobbled down something poisonous, "You still keep in touch with him?" He said disbelievingly.
"Yes I do." Said Hermione with her eyes towards the window. She didn't feel right lying to Ron like that and seeing his annoyed outburst, but on the other side, she didn't want to tell him what she was hallucinating in her dreams.
"Oh come on, Hermione! It's been three years since he came here!" Finally, Ron let go of his broomstick and lay it against the wall, "Wait. Are you under his spell or summat?"
"Oh shut up." Hermione rolled her eyes, and couldn't believe that Ron was still jealous.
He seemed hurt, but after a second, he hid it and said, "So why couldn't you sleep? Failing tests in your dreams, are you?"
She scowled at Ron, "No, but I was having bad dreams."
He stood up and clutched his broomstick safely like it was a piece of glass, and then straightened his robes so they looked unwrinkled.
"I hope they weren't too bad. I have to go now." He said seriously.
Hermione said bye, and after Ron left the common room, she took out the parchment and stared at it. Should I tell Lupin what I'm seeing in my dreams?
Nah, said another prevailing voice inside her head. I don't want him to think I'm crazy. Hermione remembered when Harry had to clear his mind to block bad dreams, and she attempted the same. She closed her eyes and focused on clearing her mind fully, but somehow the flash of green light hitting Ron's chest intruded into her mind…
"Hermione!"
Hermione's eyes flew open to discover a blurry figure of Harry facing her and poking her shoulder. She groaned tiredly, stroking his hand away, and then shut her eyes to blackness.
"Wake up! It's 9 in the morning!"
As if struck by electricity, her heart gave a jolt, and she screamed. "What? But I have an Arithmancy Exam today! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" Hermione prodded her legs to stand up straight, and she was about to run out of the common room in the speed of light when Harry grasped her arm, "Calm down, Hermione! It's Saturday." He gave her a will-you-ever-change look and let go of her arm, "A little panicky, are we?"
Hermione glanced at her arms; they were back to their normal ivory color. She tilted her head up to find a crowd of students in the common room; some were gibbering away, others were munching on candies and chocolate, and the rest were attempting to put curses on each other. A few of them glanced her way, wondering what all of the commotion was about,
"Are you sure?" She said, observing Harry mysteriously, who was about to go to Quidditch practice, no doubt, being dressed the same as Ron.
Harry chortled, "Yeah, but don't you have other duties to get to?"
Hermione's eyes widened, and without a word, she blasted out of the common room.