"But what was that thing?" Hermione asked as she searched through the thick library book. Harry and Ron gave her a blank stare from across the dark oak table.
"Something meant to take out Skeeter," Ron replied, much to Hermione's annoyance.
"We know that Ron," she said. Hermione turned the crinkled old page of the Hogwarts definition manual finding nothing even closely related to exploding mechanical owls.
"Why don't you just ask Skeeter?" Harry suggested. "She seemed to know what was going on."
Hermione sent Harry a narrow squint of exasperation.
"I'm not talking to her," Hermione informed, her nose turned upward. She was quick enough to see Harry and Ron exchange glances.
"Well, that's it," Ron said, "I'm going to get some lunch. You have fun on your wild bird chase."
Ron always had a way of upsetting Hermione. She was so furious at him she could barely smirk as he left the table. Harry must have picked up on Hermione's bad mood because he stumbled up from the chair.
"I'm starved…I think I'll go with Ron. Let us know if you find anything," Harry said and hurried off to catch up with Ron. Hermione resisted the urge to call them both loafers under her breath. She spent the next few hours searching through all the familiar books and dictions before coming up short on finding an explanation. Even after getting permission to look through the restricted section of the library she only found one tiny piece of information.
Mechanical magic: not to be confused with the mechanics of magic.
To say the least, the definition did nothing to increase her knowledge of the subject. With a frustrated sigh she looked up from the dark pages of the book to spy Jerimus Brighthall sitting at a table across the room. He held his wand above the pages of an old book and silently sipped from a black mug as he read. The action intrigued Hermione. She had been curious as to the use of magic for the sightless. Closing the unhelpful old book with a rather violent slap, Hermione stood and walked over to Jerimus' table.
Before she said anything Jerimus looked up in her general direction.
"Miss Granger?" he questioned. Hermione was surprised by the keenness of his instincts.
"Hello," she said stupidly. The mysterious Auror frightened her a little, although she would rather be trapped in a pit of devils snare than admit the fact to anyone.
"Please, have a seat," he offered, as he placed the wand on top of the book and took another sip of his hot drink.
"Oh, thank you," Hermione said meekly and pulled out the wooden chair to sit. Hermione sat quietly with her hands perfectly still in her lap. Her eyes moved slowly from side to side as she tried to think of a polite way to question the Auror.
"Is something on your mind?" He asked in such a way Hermione thought he already knew what she wanted to say.
"Oh, well," she began, "Actually, I was wondering how you…"
"See." He finished for her. She shook her head in response and then realized he wasn't able to see the movement.
"Magic has been my ally throughout my career," he explained somewhat darkly, "My sight was robbed, not my skill with a wand."
Jerimus was intimidating upon first meeting, but as he talked in his smooth Scottish voice put Hermione at ease.
"So, you use magic to see?" she asked pulling her chair a little closer to fully hear the soft spoken Auror.
"In a manner of speaking," he replied. Hermione had hoped he would elaborate. When he didn't she shoulders dropped a little.
"How did you know Skeeter had been attack? How did you know she was about to be attack at the Quidditch game?" She asked, her need for knowledge getting the better of her. Jerimus gave her a half smile and leaned back in his chair.
"You are all questions Miss Granger. You would make a good reporter," he stated.
"A better one than Skeeter the Cheater," Hermione accidentally let slip under her breath.
Jerimus gave her a knowing look, his hollow green eyes aimed just above her shoulder.
"All Aurors can sense when dark magic is near," he told Hermione his voice barely above a whisper. "I make up for my loss of sight by using magic in more inventive ways."
Hermione smiled a little, glad to finally have some of her many questions answered. She decided to take a chance on the big questions. With her hands she brushed back her hair and scooted to the edge of the chair.
"What was that thing that exploded?" she asked. Jerimus hesitated for a moment, and Hermione realized he was waiting for a student scanning the bookshelves near them to leave. When the student was out of sight, Jerimus spoke.
"Mechanical magic." He stated. Hermione's hope of more elaborate explanation faded until the Auror spoke again. "Inexpensive and effective. Popular with assassinations. Rita's brother was killed by it in the fight against the dark lord's henchmen."
The information was far more shocking than Hermione expected. Her mouth dropped open and she narrowed her eyes at the tall man sitting across from her. Jerimus took another drink.
"I…I didn't know," Hermione said. She lowered her head feeling a little guilty, but only a little, for her hostile feelings toward Rita. Jerimus brought his hand up to tug at the small whiskers on his chin.
"It takes an experienced and powerful wizard to bring an inanimate object to life," Jerimus said. Hermione suddenly placed her hands on the table as an interesting thought struck her.
"Mr. Brighthall, do you think, whoever killed Skeeter's brother is after her now?" Hermione asked.
"That, Miss Granger, is a question I wish I could answer," he said mysteriously. With a swift and graceful movement he rose from the table, towering over Hermione, and closed his book.
"Good day." He said and exited.
Hermione was glad that her hours of study in the library had paid off, if only in a few small ways. She was sure that Rita was in league with the Death Eaters, but if they had been responsible for the death of Rita's brother Hermione found her theory harder to justify.
Hermione gathered her things and decided to venture down to the great hall for some leftover lunch. Her mind was occupied, not with questions about the workings of mechanical magic, or with thoughts on who was behind the attacks. No, Hermione was thinking about something more frustrating and intriguing than any of that. She wanted to know whose side Rita Skeeter was really on and, so help her, she was determined to find out.
The stairs were cold and still a little damp from the rain storms that had swept over Hogwarts since the Quidditch game. Hermione shivered in the cold night air as she drew her feet to her chest. For several nights she had waited in the shadows outside McGonagall's room for any indication of Rita's true agenda. Tonight she wished she would have picked warmer robes.
A chill wind blew through the corridors of the winding staircase causing Hermione to stand. She decided it was time to give up for the night. From the corridor Hermione could see the yellow glow of the clock tower which recorded the time as half past two. She needed sleep and didn't want to risk getting caught out so late.
She had tried to force Harry to give her the Marauders Map but he refused, explaining that it was only to be used for important missions. Finding out the true intentions of Rita Skeeter was an important mission, whether or not Harry Potter realized it. Even without the map, Hermione had ventured into the night to stake out Rita's room. Now, in the cold still of the early autumn night she lost some of her enthusiasm. Wrapping her black robes tighter around her Hermione began the long trek back to her room. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw something. Something tiny. Something with wings.
Hermione quickly ducted behind the stone wall overlooking the court yard and watched as a tiny black beetle flew in the direction of the library. With a bright smile Hermione tensed up.
"Gottcha," she whispered excitedly to herself.
Hermione ran as quietly as she could down the hard stone steps and into the library. Rita had flown through one of the topmost windows of the library and was buzzing through bookshelves when Hermione crept in. The girl ducted behind a table and watch Rita buzz through the bars of the restricted section of the library. Carefully Hermione rummaged through the drawers that she knew contained the magical key to the lock baring the dangerous books. Once she found the long rusted key she rushed to the lock and quietly swung open the gate.
She tiptoed through a number of rows until she saw a dim light at the end of section. As she approached she saw Rita had changed back to human form, although her dark dress made her hard to see. The blond curls atop her head were like a beacon, however, and Hermione smirked at the fact Rita was trying to be stealthy with that hair. Hermione was close now and she drew her wand, knowing she was about to catch Rita in the act of sabotage.
"Caught in the act!" Hermione yelled as she leapt out from behind the bookcase and landed in front of Rita. Rita jumped in alarm and clasped her hand over her chest. With a growl Rita strode over to Hermione who raised her wand in defense.
"Shhh," Rita said, a finger to her lips, "Do you want to get us both in trouble?"
Hermione refused to lower her wand, as she tried to peer about Rita's form to see what the woman had been doing.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked her guard up. Rita rolled her eyes, an act that caused Hermione to become even more agitated. Rita had no right to be annoyed with Hermione if anything the reporter should be on the defensive.
"Looking for something," Rita answered and turned her back to the girl. Hermione thought this an odd move, since Hermione's wand was out and ready for attack.
"What?" Hermione spat, lowering her wand only a little.
"Well," Rita said, looking over the top of her glasses at Hermione as though she was queen of the world, "It's really none of your business."
Hermione was unsure what to make of the situation, because Rita did not sound like she was making a threat. Still, Hermione did not trust the unregistered amigus.
Rita began examining the titles of different books in the dim light with one hand brushing over the books as she went along.
"None of my business?" Hermione asked her voice loud, "You conspiring with the Death Eaters is the business of everyone at Hogwarts, especially Professor Dumbledore."
Hermione hoped the threat would have an impact on Rita, because in all her intelligence Hermione failed to realize before now if a duel broke out she might not have the upper hand. Rita did not even turn around, but kept searching through the books.
"Ah-ha," she said and pulled out a large green book with golden pages. Rita held the book out in front of Hermione and the girl had no choice but to catch it in her arms before it dropped to the floor. The book was much heavier than it appeared and when Hermione caught it she thought she heard nuts and bolts clanging around inside.
"Did you hear what I said," Hermione restated. Rita went back to squinting at the title of each book on the shelf. Hermione shuffled the book and her wand between each hand trying to resume her commanding stance.
"Heaven knows what you say, child," Rita replied flippantly as she pulled a book from the shelf, examined it and put it back when it barked at her. Hermione's frustration with Rita started as a burning fire within her chest and quickly spread to the rest of her body.
"I SAID," Hermione yelled, "YOU ARE CONSPIRING WITH THE DEATH EATERS!"
Hermione finally achieved her goal of gaining Rita's full attention. The reporter eyes were wide as she faced Hermione without moving. Finally the woman seemed to reclaim her senses. She walked over and got too close for Hermione's comfort as the woman faced her, scowling down her glasses.
"First of all, you need to keep your vicious little mouth shut or you're going to wake up the entire school," Rita hissed, "And secondly, Miss Almighty, if I was conspiring with the Death Eaters my first priority would have been to kill Harry Potter, and since I haven't done that, or intend on ever killing anyone for that matter, I suggest you shut up and do it quick."
Hermione was a bit taken aback by Rita, whose presence was far too invasive of Hermione's comfort zone. Finally Rita did step away and returned to book collecting.
"Then what are you doing," Hermione demanded in her most stern tone. Rita pulled out two more books and piled them on top of the other one she gave to Hermione. Then Rita did something Hermione had never seen her do before. She gave Hermione a peculiar stare, as if trying to decide what to make of a strange creature.
"Come with me," Rita said.
The blond reporter grabbed Hermione's arm and lead her to a private table at the back of the restricted section. Hermione set the books down and Rita scattered all three out and opened the first one. The green book with golden pages emitted a bright light that turned into what looked like large blueprints.
"Shops with these parts," Rita said and threw a page of her notepad into the golden light. After a few minutes of clanging the book spit out some bolts and the note page with golden cursive writing.
"Don't just stand there, girl," Rita said shoving a page of notepad at Hermione, "Make yourself useful."
Hermione looked down at what Rita's quill had written on the paper. An odd assortment of metal parts, a few feathers from a real owl, an exploding chime bomb, and tiny navigation chip rounded out the list of parts. Hermione, beginning to understand, opened the second book. This book set off a loud explosive charge from its pages.
"And you think I'm going to wake up the school," Hermione remarked. She threw the paper into the book another list came out. The same was repeated with the third book until the two had a list of six or seven shops carrying the materials.
"You want to find out who is behind your attacks," Hermione said as she helped Rita re-shelve the books.
"We've made a breakthrough," Rita said with phony excitement. Hermione smugly smiled and Rita's un-amusing sarcasm. All of the suddenly Hermione felt very serious, as she thought of what Jerimus had told her a number of days ago.
"And your brother's attack as well," Hermione said. Rita turned swiftly and narrowed her eyes but Hermione could not tell if anger or sadness was behind them.
"Who told you about that?" Rita asked her voice hard and emotionless.
"Mr. Brighthall," Hermione answered and cast her eyes downward. Between her encounters with both Jerimus and Rita, Hermione was beginning to wonder how the two knew each other.
"He should learn to mind his own business," she retorted. From her tone Hermione decided it was best to leave the subject alone.
"Most of these places are in Hogsmeade and Diagon Ally," Hermione said as she looked over the three lists. "We have a three day weekend coming up. We could go then."
"We?" Rita questioned. "Oh no, there is no we. There is you staying at Hogwarts and there is me getting a story but there is no we."
"And Mr. Brighthall should come along too, in case we run into any danger," Hermione reasoned ignoring Rita's comments. There was no way Hermione was going to miss out on an adventure. Besides, going with Rita and Jerimus to track down some Death Eaters was a round about way of getting revenge on Harry and Ron for scoffing at her interest in the attacks.
"I will have you know, I was a reporter before your mother was old enough to use the loo. I've been in quite a number of dangerous situations. I don't need a bratty school girl or a retired Auror to protect me," Rita said triumphantly. Hermione was not about to back down. This time it was she who intruded into Rita's personal space.
"That's too bad. I'm talking to Mr. Brighthall tomorrow. We will meet you on Saturday morning at the main entrance," Hermione explained all the while enjoying the contorted look of hurt pride on Rita's face.
"And don't be late," Hermione added, "Or we will have to leave without you." Hermione snuck out of the library more than content that waiting for a few days on cold rain soaked steps was worth it for the adventure she was about to have.