Harry sighed when they finally Apparated in the London Library. He hated the feeling. It was like disappearing into nothingness and then being thrown together again, quite different from using a portkey. He repositioned his glasses and took a look around. From what he could see there wasn't anyone around, no camera, nothing. Everything was also covered with a fine layer of dust, so he guessed this wasn't a well used section of the library.
"You are to stay in my sight the entire time we are here," Snape said as they walked up a lighted staircase. "If you need to go somewhere else in the library, you will have to wait until we are ready to move. Is that understood?"
"Yes Professor," he murmured with Hermione. The less they spoke to the man the more pleasant this was likely to be.
With that Snape threw open a door, and they found themselves on what had to be the ground floor of the library. Harry winced at the sudden flush of sunlight streaming in through the large windows. A few Muggles were milling around, and the clock behind the main desk read 9:40, so the library was indeed open.
"All right then, the best place to start would be the internet," she started dragging Harry towards the back of the library.
"How do you know where everything is?" he asked after being set down at a console.
Hermione sighed. "I used to come here after school so I wouldn't have to sit at home by myself," she sat down at a computer next to him and opened a browser.
Harry shook his head. Hermione had to be the only person he knew who would spend her afternoons in a library when she didn't have to.
"Do you two know what to do with these contraptions?" Snape asked from behind them. When they both nodded he placed a piece of parchment on the table between them. "Good. While you're searching I want one of you to find out what these things are," he tapped the parchment before moving away.
Hermione glanced at the parchment and looked up, surprised. "Haloperidol? Lorazopam? Vicodin?"
Harry shook his head. "I'll take that if you want."
Silently, they began looking for information, trying to ignore Snape as much as possible. There were times when Harry would feel him staring a hole into his back before going back to whatever it was he was doing.
"Hey, Harry," Hermione said after a minute. "Look at this."
Harry scooted over. Hermione had pulled up an article.
The 1992 Olympics already had the world in an uproar from the moment it was announced that they were to be held in Barcelona, Spain. Anyone who was worth their salt began the tiresome routine of intense training and competition to be declared the best at their sport and have the chance to compete at the most prestigious sporting event in the world.
It was announced earlier today that Tae kwon do, a Korean martial art, is to be a demonstration sport at the Barcelona Olympics. This means that while women and men will compete, they will not receive medals. Many enthusiasts hope that in the next few years the sport will be fully recognized by the IOC. Several countries are already rubbing their hands in anticipation of showing the best they have to offer in the sport, but none perhaps as happily as the United States. It was revealed to this reporter that the US has what could be considered a "secret weapon", and that weapon's name is Marian Elvbow.
Elvbow, just turned 28, is believed by many in the US school to be their best hopes at showing up the rest of the world. Elvbow, a native of Arizona, is an unassuming young woman who admits that she first started practicing Tae Kwon Do as a 'lark' at the age of 20, and actually switched to another form of martial arts known as Xing Yi, which is Chinese in origin, because it "fit my personality better". She did return to Tae Kwon Do for competition, though she says that she still prefers Xing Yi for "personal reasons".
Eight short years later she stands as the undefeated (so far) US female champion in the middle weight divisions, having worked her way up from the general invisibility of the lower classes. In two weeks it will be determined at the US National Tae Kwon Do Championships if she will be able to compete at Barcelona.
"I'm not nervous," Marian said at a small conference earlier in the week. "The best person will win, and if that's not me, that's that."
When asked if she was bothered by her sudden rise to stardom Marian had this to say. "I'm a martial artist first and foremost, everything else is just a by product. It is good to see more people signing up at the dojo now that they feel they can go somewhere with it."
Underneath the picture was Ms. Elvbow, wearing what looked like a short white bathrobe and pants with a black belt, smiling along with about twenty other people similarly dressed. Harry blinked. Ms. Elvbow, an Olympic champion? You wouldn't guess it looking at her. She never talked about it, even when she bought in martial arts movies for them to watch at parties.
"What do you think happened?" he asked. She looked so happy there, holding up a trophy that was almost as tall as she was.
" I don't know, but I'm guessing I should print this out and look for the results," Hermione hit Ctrl-P.
Shaking himself, Harry turned back to what he was working on. He couldn't understand half of what they were talking about, so he just clicked on everything that he could find. Already he had several pages concerning "pain relief" "psychosis" "schizophrenia" "agitation" and "anti-anxiety". Whatever these drugs were, they were for crazy people.
"Oh no," Hermione whispered.
"What?" he asked, leaning over.
Hermione had pulled up another page, and he felt his heart sink as he read it.
The dreams of many American Tae Kwon Do enthusiasts were shattered today as Marian Elvbow, the woman many believed would be America's best bet for an Olympic victory, collapsed after Finalist kata. She was rushed off to St Josephs Hospital, where she was officially diagnosed as having 'acute fatigue'. While this diagnosis is the official one given by the spokesperson for the WTF, rumors have spread throughout the martial arts world like wildfire. Some of the rumors include that she is actually pregnant, attempted suicide, or passed out from a drug overdose.
Fast on the end of this diagnosis came several unsubstantiated reports that it was actually a psychotic episode that drove Elvbow into the hospital. . Elvbow, who has a history of mental disturbance, refused to comment on her mental state, saying only that she had been pushing herself too hard over the past week, and how she was paying for it. One thing is certain, though. Her health is at a point where she will be unable to finish the competition, and she will not compete at the Barcelona Olympics.
"Poor woman," Hermione murmured as she printed this page. "I wonder what really happened." She turned to Harry. "Did she ever talk about any of this?"
Harry shook his head. "Not a word."
Harry turned back to his own computer and began printing the pages he'd had saved. Hermione was typing again, so he guessed she had thought of something else to search for. Lost in thought, he walked over to the printer and waited as it spit out pages and pages of information. There were times at Hogwarts when he wished they could use computers for papers. It would make it so much easier.
Finally, the printer stopped, and he carried the thick stack of papers back to their work area. Hermione was sitting in front of the computer, this time with tears in her eyes. "What is it?" he asked. When she didn't say a word he glanced at the screen again. It was a copy of an old newspaper in Arizona, dating from 1976. The headline read: Missing Girl found After Two Weeks
Two weeks ago Shady Hill Sanitarium was shocked to discover that one of its patients was missing. The girl, 13 year old Marian, apparently left her room sometime during the night, though exactly how she did this is a mystery to the staff. A thorough search of the premises revealed that she wasn't there, nor had she been seen in the surrounding area. The orderlies held by their story that she had been locked in her room that night, and they are certain that she got out through no fault of their own.
Early yesterday morning, a driver spotted Marian walking along rural route 7 two counties away, her clothing in tatters. She was unresponsive when he attempted to talk to her, and acted "Like a doll that could breathe". The good Samaritan took her to Chandler Regional Hospital, where she is undergoing treatment for exposure and dehydration, as well as a host of cuts and bruises. We have received word that she is still unresponsive and refuses to speak to any of the hospital staff.
This is the second time Marian has been in our small newspaper in her short life. The first time was two years ago, when she attempted to destroy several works of art in the Arizona Art Museum, claiming that they were talking to her. According to witnesses Marian tried to knock the painting off the wall with one of the chairs that were scattered around the room. " It was like she was possessed," stated one of the museum workers. "She just kept screaming and crying". It was after this incident that she was transferred from Blackridge Juvenile Home to Shady Hill for observation and treatment.
"Doesn't surprise me that she finally got out," Mildred Collins, one of the volunteers at Blackridge admitted when the news broke that Marian had gone missing. Apparently, performing these disappearing acts is something that she became quite proficient at while at the Home, though Collins admits that "she never went farther than the front gate".
"This cant be the same person, can it?" Harry asked Hermione. It sounded like they were reading about two different people. "I mean, there have to be thousands of people in Arizona named Marian, right?"
Hermione shook her head. "The ages match, Harry. It is possible that there are two people named Marian who lived in Arizona and have mental problems,
but the chances of that would be in the millions." She had already pulled up a new page, this one containing the results of a small martial arts competition.
By the time the trio had returned to Hogwarts in the early afternoon all Harry wanted to do was climb into bed and sleep. He and Ron had stayed up the night before and running on four hours of sleep was not his idea of a good time. Unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to go to sleep.
"So, what did Snape make you do?" Ron asked the minute they entered the Gryffindor common room.
Harry shrugged. "Just looked up some stuff, that's all."
Ron wasn't convinced. "Come on, I looked all over Hogwarts and I couldn't find you anywhere. It couldn't have been detention, so what happened?"
"We went to the library," Hermione said, exasperated. She was just as tired as Harry.
"I checked-"
"The London Library," Harry finally shouted, then wished he could kick himself. Now Ron would never stop asking questions.
"What! You went into the Muggle world with Snape?"
Ron looked like a fish out of water, with his mouth hanging open like that. "We needed some information on Muggles, that's all," Hermione said quickly, making up for Harry's outburst. "Now, we're both about to fall out, so would you mind letting us get some sleep? We'll talk later."
"Oh, sure," Ron looked abashed, blushing to his hairline.
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