Chapter 12
The Madness of Harry Potter
Hermione woke up with a start. She opened her eyes and looked around; the room was three shades darker than usual, but not completely dark, that gave Hermione's face a sort of shadowy appearance. Immense particles of snow fell to the ground in an oblique fashion because the wailing wind was gusting through the air and snow like a leaf blower.
Hermione felt sensational as she sang merrily in the shower, because today was the last day before Christmas vacation began, and what was more was that her parents had agreed that she could go stay with Ron at the Burrow, due to the fact that she would be coming home to them permanently after school ended. Actually, she had begged them into agreeing by sending them about 15 letters and they had to give in.
Another thing that was on her mind was the decision she had made to become an Animagus. After Transfiguration class ended, she planned to talk to McGonagall about it and hopefully she would be the one giving her lessons.
The day passed by as quickly as the violent wind outside. In Arithmancy, Professor Vector gave the class a test on Statistical Numerology which Hermione found very similar to the statistics in the Muggle World, and she knew that she had aced her test. Her second class was Potions in which Snape gave them a new potion to work on called the Babbling Potion. At the end of class, he made a very nervous Neville drink it, causing him to talk and talk unstoppingly. Hermione's next class was Transfiguration and believe it or not, they were still on Conjuring spells. Today was a practical test to see whether they could perform it accurately, and Hermione did successfully, earning Gryffindor a whopping twenty five points. On the other hand, the chair that Ron Conjured ended up with only two legs, resulting in only half marks.
At the end of class, she said to Ron and Harry, "I'll see you later. I have to talk to Professor McGonagall."
"About what?" said Ron, narrowing his eyes.
"I'll tell you later." And without another word, Hermione marched up to Professor McGonagall's desk. She looked up.
"Yes, Ms.Granger?"
"Well…I want to become an Animagus and I was wondering if you could give the proper registration forms."
She looked surprised for a moment, but then said, "Of course."
She rummaged through one of her desk drawers and pulled out a thick roll of light green parchment and handed it to her. "Now I want you to fill that out and hand it to me before today. We can arrange your Animagi lessons after vacation."
"Who will be teaching me?" said Hermione as she took the forms from her.
Professor McGonagall smiled, "I will. And just out of curiosity, why did you choose to become an Animagus?"
"I don't really know…" Hermione said, "I guess it's because I've always been interested in Animagi and there would be loads of advantages after I become one."
Professor McGonagall nodded, "Alright, then I will be seeing you later."
Hermione said goodbye and left the classroom with the forms in her hand. She caught up to Ron and Harry on the third floor.
"What's that?" said Ron, pointing to the parchment.
"Registration forms for becoming an Animagus." She answered.
"You-An Animagus?" said Harry in awe.
"And why become one now?" Ron added.
"Because you have to be and adult, or otherwise the age of 17 to become one." said Hermione. She almost tripped over one of the humungous rocks that Peeves was throwing down from midair.
"But why?" said Ron, ducking as another rock went flying past him.
"Well, there are a lot of advantages to becoming one, and I know I'm smart enough for it-"
Ron snorted loudly, "I think that's the first time I've heard you brag openly like that, Hermione." Harry laughed as well.
"Like it or not, it's true! And you two better stop laughing or I stop doing your homework from now on."
With no surprise, they fell silent.
The rest of the day passed in a flash and before she knew it, she was in the Common Room with a full stomach from dinner and ready to fill out the forms. She opened up the roll of parchment to find small ancient-looking writing spread evenly throughout the parchment and saw that there were three other similar looking ones after it as well.
The first section of the forms asked for simple information like her name, age, date of birth, family, residence, and it was like any normal Muggles form until she reached to the part where it said lineage. She checked Muggle-Born. The second part asked how long she'd been practicing magic and her O.W.L and/or N.E.W.T results in school and she triumphantly wrote all Outstandings. The next section asked what spells, charms, or hexes she knew how to perform, which filled up a full three pages. All kinds of spells were on the form and Hermione checked most of them, but there were some that she had never heard of before. Finally, the last part asked her why she wanted to become an Animagus.
It took her about half an hour to finish it, and when she did, she went to Professor McGonagall's personal office. She found her sitting at her desk, grading essays, and she looked older than ever against the yellow light of torches placed around the room.
"Here you go Professor. I finished them." said Hermione, handing over the papers to her.
"Ah…wonderful. Do you have any questions about the process?" asked Professor McGonagall.
"Yes," said Hermione, sitting down on a chair across from her, "how long does it take to become an Animagus?"
"It depends on the level of the person's magical capabilities. You also need plenty of motivation and the hardest thing is to focus when you're transforming. For you, I'd say it will take you about three or four months because of your advanced knowledge in magic." Said Professor McGonagall.
Hermione flushed a color of purple. She thought back to when Sirius had said that it had taken them two years to figure out how to become one…but then again, they were working it out by themselves, so of course it would take longer.
"What if something goes wrong during the transformation?"
"Well, you won't get to transform until the end until I am absolutely positive that you will be able to do it, so there shouldn't be any problems. However, people in the past have had terrible mishaps because they rushed into the transformation."
"What kind of mishaps?"
"Sometimes half of their bodies transformed and other times they transformed fully but didn't know how to transform back, which obviously results to staying an animal forever."
Hermione gulped. She didn't want to stay an animal forever. She wanted to be human.
Professor McGonagall saw Hermione's expression and said, "But don't you worry. I'm ninety percent positive that nothing bad will happen to you."
"Thank you, Professor." she said kindly, and got up from the chair and left the room feeling a bit anxious.
…
It was Saturday morning and she was now at breakfast in the Great Hall with Ron and Harry. With one hand she was drinking her orange juice and in the other hand was the Daily Prophet, which she was reading about the inauguration of the new Mistress of Magic, Amelia Bones. It's about time they got a new Minister, Hermione thought bitterly. At the same time, Harry was telling Ron about how Luna had tried to kiss him but he had pushed her away, causing her to fall to the ground. When Hermione heard this, she deliberately stayed out of it and didn't say anything because she knew Harry would bite her head off. I mean, what kind of girl would talk to you or even look at you again if you pushed her away when she tried to kiss you?
Hermione decided it was time to change the conversation, so she said, "How are we getting to the Burrow?"
"The train, I think." said Ron, "it'll take us to King's Cross and Mum told me loads of people from the Or-people will be there to be Harry's guards."
"There's nothing new about that." said Harry, rolling his eyes, "You'd think Voldemort would just jump out in the middle of the street in London and curse me in front of Muggles."
"No, but it doesn't hurt to be extra careful." Hermione pointed out.
After she was done her breakfast, she went back to her dormitory to pack up a few of her clothes and books in a medium-sized bag, humming Christmas tunes while doing it. She didn't think she could be any happier than she was now. She was going to spend Christmas with her best friends.
The Hogwarts Express was to leave Hogwarts at exactly eleven o' clock, and Hermione, Ron, and Harry didn't bother to ride on the horseless carriages because of the limited amount of their luggage. The strolled past the Hogwarts grounds and out the entrance doors, with a bouncy Crookshanks following them close behind.
The scarlet steam engine was just waiting for them out the doors and the three went inside and found a compartment with Neville and Ginny sitting across from each other; they were playing Exploding Snap.
Neville muttered a hello as he looked up and saw them. Hermione and Ron sat down next to Ginny and Harry next to Neville. Immediately, Ginny moved across and situated herself next to Harry. Neville, Ginny, and Harry all hooted with laughter.
"Oh, please," said Hermione, rolling her eyes, "We're not contagious, you know." This produced even more laughter.
"Where's Dean?" said Ron, with an unnecessary tone in his voce.
"With his friends," said Ginny casually, "maybe you two should get some air too."
In response, Hermione cuddled up closely to Ron and shot Ginny a wicked smile. Again, they all giggled.
The game of Exploding Snap continued and Hermione sat there staring at Ron and thinking. Even if she didn't want to admit it outside, inside she knew that she liked it when someone picked on her and Ron. It made her feel somewhat special and different from everyone else. The months were passing slowly, but she was getting closer and closer to Ron by each day. She felt like she was attached to him by an invisible string, never being able to go a distance or certain amount of time without thinking of him. Even when she was in Arithmancy or Ancient Runes, she would be thinking about Ron and what he would be doing at that precise moment. When summer started, she was going to miss him so much, and even if she would get to see him at times, it wouldn't be the same as having him in front of her everyday. She wouldn't get to talk to him, or get to stare in his deep eyes, or kiss his succulent lips…without realizing it, she dozed off into a deep slumber…
"Hermione. Hermione." Someone spoke softly in her ear. Hermione opened her eyes. One of her hands was limping across Ron's torso and her head was on his shoulder. She looked around and saw that it was completely dark outside and snow flurries touched the ground softly. She straightened herself out, especially her hair.
"Finally, you're up," said Ginny, observing her curiously, "you're like a sleeping machine. How long did you stay up last night?"
"I dunno…until ten maybe…" she said, brushing her hair with her comb, "what time is it?"
"Quarter until seven," said Harry, checking his watch, "and we're almost there."
She slept the whole way? The last thing she remembered before dozing off was her thinking about Ron and feeling his warm body next to her.
After a few minutes, the Hogwarts Express began to slow down gradually and Hermione gathered up her things in one hand and automatically grabbed Ron's hand without realizing it.
They all stepped out of the train and onto the snowy Platform. Instantly, Hermione spotted Mr. and Mrs.Weasley, Lupin, Moody, Bill, Fred and George, Angelina Johnson, Percy, Kingsley, Mundungus, Mrs.Figg, and a pale-faced witch in her thirties wearing modernized Muggle clothes that Hermione didn't know.
"Bloody hell." said Ron, amazed at the number of people waiting for them.
"Oh, how are you all?" said Mrs.Weasley warmly as she hugged them in turn. When she came to Hermione, she conjured an odd expression on her face but then hugged her anyway.
"Some of you might not know her." started Lupin, looking at the unfamiliar witch, "but this is Emily McRoder. Emily, this is Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Harry." He said, pointing to each of them and shaking their hand. When she shook hands with Harry, her gaze went up to his forehead.
They walked away from the platform, and Hermione heard Fred whisper to Ron, "You do realize that everyone saw you holding hands, right?"
Hermione blushed deeply, and so did Ron. She obviously hadn't realized it, and now everyone knew they were an 'item', not that there was anything wrong with that. She just thought it would be weird if uncomfortable questions popped up for them.
"How are we getting home, Mum?" asked Ginny.
"Your father borrowed a car from the Ministry, and we're not going home. We'll have to spend the vacation at Grimmauld Place only because Dumbeldore thought it would be better for Harry to stay there, so I just thought we would all stay there as well."
Half the group cast a serious look towards Harry, who stared straight ahead as if a parking lot was the most interesting thing he'd ever laid his eyes upon.
In front of them was a red Jeep with a tire attached on the back, and Hermione suspected it was enlarged in the inside, because even a Jeep couldn't fit up to fifteen people. As she scrambled inside, she saw that it was almost the size of a walk-in closet, and sat between Ron and Harry in the back.
The ride back to Grimmauld Place was a rather talkative one. Fred and George told them about recent inventions for their shops, and then Mr.Weasley conversed rather excitedly about a Muggle computer he had come across and brought home, still trying to learn how to plug it up. When Hermione told him that she could help him turn it on, he looked absolutely delighted.
…
They were back in Grimmauld Place unpacking their bags when Lupin popped his head in the room, "Harry, could you please come in here for a minute?" Harry left the room with Lupin, which left Hermione and Ron alone.
"AH!" Hermione jumped as Ron grabbed her from behind and put his arms around her.
"Did you know that I haven't kissed you even once today?" He said, pulling her about and kissing her passionately on the lips. Hermione broke off shortly.
"I really don't want anyone seeing us kissing." She said, still in his arms.
"Too late." A voice came from the hallway. Hermione cricked her neck towards the door so quickly that she could have broken it. Bill was standing like a guard at the door with his long arms crossed, trying not to laugh at the top of his lungs. She let go of Ron immediately.
"Bill!" yelled Ron as his face turned red.
"You could have at least locked the door," he snorted, "but you keep that up and everyone will be standing her watching you two, especially Mum and Dad."
"What do you want anyway?"
"Mum told me to call you for dinner." said Bill, still not being able to keep a straight face.
"Oh alright, we're coming." said Ron, getting, back to unpacking his robes.
"Great." said Hermione after Bill was out of earshot, "now they're all going to think that we can't keep our hands off each other."
"But we can't." said Ron, smiling mischievously, once again stopping halfway through his packing.
"It's not funny!" she scolded.
"Come on." said Ron, taking her hand, but she instantly moved hers away, "Don't you hold my hand."
He looked hurt, "You are way overreacting. Who cares what they think?"
"I do."
He rolled his eyes, "Fine, then." He stormed off without waiting for her.
They went down the ancient spiral staircase and ended up in the main living room. Lupin was standing across from Harry showing some type of parchment and talking at the same time.
"What's up?" said Ron as they approached them.
"Well, Harry will be the one to inherit this place since he is of age now. I was just trying to make him sign some forms." said Lupin soothingly. Harry however, was looking in the opposite direction with his face distorted with anger.
"Trying?" said Hermione, trying to meet Harry's eyes but failed.
"He won't sign it." explained Lupin, also looking at Harry.
"I don't want this place," barked Harry, then shot a dirty look at Lupin, "why don't you inherit it?"
Lupin ignored Harry's rudeness, "Because I had no exact relation to Sirius; I was only a friend, and I doubt that counts, but you on the other hand are his godson, so you should be the first in line to get it. You can live her when school ends and won't have to go back to your aunt and uncle."
It seemed reasonable to Hermione, but she couldn't blame Harry for getting angry. Every inch and corner of this house would remind him of Sirius, if it didn't already.
"I'll think about it." grumbled Harry. As he said this, a ringing sound filled the room. Lupin went over to the stool placed near the window and picked up a cordless phone. Hermione raised her eyebrows.
"Why do you have a telephone in here?" said Hermione after Lupin hung up the phone.
"Tonks put it in because she needed it during the summer," he said, "Let's have some dinner. I'm starving."
Hermione agreed to that comment and anxiously entered the dining room. It was like she was standing in a multi-scenic room with people doing all kinds of diverse things. Mrs.Weasley smiled as she poured steaming macaroni soup into checker-decorated bowls, apparently in her own little word, and on her side, Bill filled the glasses with pumpkin juice with an occasional waving back of his hair. Ginny and Angelina set up the table but broke five china dishes along the way, while Fred and George hovered over an enormous steel cooking pot placed on the far side of the table, adding a whopping amount of cayenne pepper. Hermione stirred in the twins' direction with interest.
"What in the world are you making? Hermione peered into the pot. Flame-red liquid bubbled upwards like molten lava, giving off a strong smell of chili and black pepper.
"We're adding another flavor to our Wild Toffee collection. Hot Tamales." said Fred, stirring the liquid with a spatula, "dare to try?"
"Hot Tamales? Isn't that a Muggle sweet?"
"So we borrowed the name," admitted George, "but you can bet this'll be by far spicier. So what do you say?"
"Even I'm not that naive." she laughed and turned to settle down on a chair next to Ron, observing the placed dinner hungrily. An immense bowl of chicken lay in front of her and she could feel the devouring taste in her mouth, and a deep pan of brown rice simmered, while the sweet fragrance of apple pie aroused her nostrils.
"COME ON, ARTHUR!" screeched Mrs.Weasley, glaring up at the ceiling as if her husband was facing her. A second later, Mr.Weasley popped into the dining room looking mildly swell in the face.
"Fred, George!" Mrs.Weasley shouted, making the twins jump, "Would you get that rubbish out of here?! I swear if I see one more of your idiotic inventions, I'll pour them down the sink!"
Fred and George hastily carried cut the bubbling pot into the kitchen, while two more people appeared out of thin air, one being Emily and the other-Professor McGonagall.
Hermione registered a look of surprise. She had never seen her Transfiguration teacher outside of school, let alone at Grimmauld Place. She wore an intense crimson cloak that went past her feet and a dark pointed hat situated upon her head that made her look like a gaunt lady bug.
Professor McGonagall sat down, putting aside her briefcase, and greeted everyone curtly.
The dinner was simply delicious. Ever since she had found out that slave labor made the Hogwarts food in her fourth year, she had never been satisfied with the quality of the school food as much as homemade cooking.
All kinds of conversations were stirring in the mold, but Mr.Weasley's talk about Amelia Bones attracted her the most.
"…the number of laws she's made and repealed in such a short amount of time is remarkable. Just a few days ago she announced that she had called back the Aurors marked for Sirius's search and recruited more of them for the Death Eaters running amuck…"
Several people looked in his direction.
"Where do they think the Death Eaters are, Dad?" said Ron as he ate his chicken.
"The Ministry isn't exactly sure, but they have an idea. You probably didn't hear about this, but a wizard by the name of Wilbert Arnold was killed a month ago not far from here and we know it was the work of Death Eaters, but Fudge was still
in office then and he blocked that story from being published in the Daily Prophet."
"Why'd they kill him?" said Hermione.
"Now I can't answer that." replied Mr.Weasley, smiling slightly.
"Why not?" demanded Ginny.
"Order business."
"But we should be allowed in the Order!" Ron protested, gesturing to Hermione and Harry, "we're of age!"
"Yes, however you haven't finished school yet." Said Mrs.Weasley in a stern expression, "We've had this conversation before."
"Too bad little bro." said George.
"Then how about the members of the Order tell famous Harry Potter what the Crystal of Invincibility is." Harry's voice rang out.
Right away, Mrs.Weasley's spoon dropped out of her hand with a clank. Professor McGonagall's eyebrows went as high as they could go, Mr.Weasley roughly coughed out the bits of chicken he'd been chewing, Mad Eye Moody's magical eye went haywire, and even Fred and George looked mildly serious. Lupin was the only one who wasn't shocked, his face relaxed, and he grinned.
"I don't know why you're all so surprised. Clearly you haven't learned that nothing gets past these three." said Lupin.
"I have learned it alright," Professor McGonagall contradicted, surveying Harry, "Mr.Potter, how long have you known about this?"
"Only a week or so. I've seen things in my dream."
"So, can you tell us about it? Like who created it?" said Ron eagerly, but Hermione had her doubts. If they weren't going to tell them about a murder, why would they give information on the Crystal?
Hermione saw the members of the Order glance at each other, and then Professor McGonagall spoke, "Very well, Mr.Weasley. I'll tell you because I reckon you'll find out about it one way or another. The Crystal of Invincibility was made in Hogwarts a thousand years ago by Salazaar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor when they were close friends, because of a prophecy that was made then. It was stated that each generation of witches and wizards would face a Dark wizard or witch that would try to destroy or rule to world, cumulating more power as the generations passed and producing the most powerful wizard the world had ever seen, who could be able to destroy life itself."
"Voldemort." breathed Harry.
Professor McGonagall flinched, "Yes, and that is how the Crystal came into production. Slytherin and Gryffindor hoped that by making this crystal, they would wipe out this evil and let future heirs of Slytherin and Gryfffindor use it as well."
"So that's why Voldemort wants it, because he can use it since he's the heir of Slytherin." said Harry, who had now stopped eating.
"How come they only let heirs of Slytherin and Gryfffindor use it?" said Hermione. Finally, they were getting to the bottom of things.
"There are many theories which none have been proven," was it her, or had Professor McGonagall looked away when she said this? "however, they did have someone hold the Crystal for them so if they died, they could hold it until a new heir came along."
"The Keeper." said Ron and nodded with satisfaction.
"At the times of Gryffindor and Slytherin, the Keeper was the witch who made that prophecy, and her name is not known."
Hermione wondered if she was an ancestor of Trelawney, since she was the one who had made the prophecy about Harry.
"If Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin, then who is the Heir of Gryffindor?" asked Ginny.
Professor McGonagall looked at the others before she answered this, "That is unknown, unfortunately."
No other questions were raised after that. They ate their dinner in wonder. Hermione hoped that the Crystal was well protected, because the last thing they wanted was Voldemort destroying the world with it.
…
Hermione, Ron, and Harry were in the vast backyard three the next morning and played with the snow. Sirius had told her two years ago that the backyard was invisible in the eyes of Muggles, so it was safe if they were in the backyard. There were a group of newly grown trees that were clustered together in the far right corner that had lost all their leaves, and diverse plants were lined up in the back, touching the wooden fence, which didn't have any flowers sprouting out in the cold.
It was snowing very lightly, looking like a picture out of a Hallmark card, but because of the continuous snowfall over the past couple of days, the sheet of snow on the ground had almost reached two feet. Hermione was building a huge snowman by combining large amounts of snow by magic while Ron and Harry were having a highly competitive snowball fight far away.
She felt like a ten year old again, out I her front yard, building a cute little snowman with Maria, a girl she used to go to school with. They were sort of friends and would've turned to best friends if Hermione hadn't gone to Hogwarts. The thought of the Muggle world made her think of her parents and she got a bad feeling in her stomach. She felt horribly guilty for not going home again.
As she was pasting some Conjured black buttons onto the snowman's face, a terrifying scream rang out in the air. Hermione swerved around to see Harry's knees hit the snowy earth. He clutched his scar and screamed. Now alert, Hermione Apparated next to him and shook his shoulders.
"Harry! Harry!" shrieked Hermione, totally frightened by Harry's outburst. What was happening? What if he was dieing?
She turned to a flustered Ron behind her, "Go get help!" Before she even finished the sentence, Ron zoomed as fast as he could across the snow and straight into the house.
She darted her eyes. Harry lowered his body to the ground in pain. What do I do? What do I do?
She grabbed Harry's hands tightly and yelled, "Harry!"
A dark feeling jerked her body like a striking blow to her heart. She let go of him in half a second.
"NO!" Harry bellowed and staggered up and stumbled for a moment with one of his legs limping out. Harry stopped for a moment. He looked at her strangely and narrowed his puffy eyes. He trotted back, "You betrayed me! You bastard!" He pointed at her shrilly.
"What are you talking about?" screamed Hermione as loud as Harry. Her heart raced with panic. He was losing it, and so was she. Had he just called her a bastard? She was scared out of her mind. Why were they taking so long to get here?
Suddenly, Harry waved his wand out and pointed it at her and shrieked, "Crucio!"