The next morning at breakfast, Hermione appeared tired but exultant. "I've got it. It took me all night, but I found the answer. Uh oh, he's coming. I'll tell you guys later." Hermione pretended to be absorbed in her breakfast as Malevich passed by on his way to the Slytherin table.
"It's ok Hermione, you can look up, he's gone," Harry gave her the all clear.
"Thank goodness. I don't think I want to talk to him anymore." Hermione looked towards the Slytherins and found his intense gaze upon her. She quickly broke the connection, but found herself staring instead into the eyes of a greasy, black-haired teacher. Why did he seem to hate her more even than Harry now?
Harry saw the direction of her gaze. "At least it's not me anymore. Sorry Hermione."
"It's ok. Meet me in the Room of Requirement at 8 tonight. I'll tell you guys there. I don't think it's something that should be widely known." Hermione left the table and headed off to Arithmancy.
"Something's not right with her," observed Ron.
"Snape is probably just getting to her, along with her lack of sleep and whatever is going on with Malevich. We'll find out soon enough." Much though Harry was curious, he didn't want to spend hours in the library looking for some obscure reference that only Hermione could find.
That night Harry and Ron made their way to the Room of Requirement and found Hermione pacing outside the door.
"There you two are. Finally!" Hermione pulled them inside.
"Why didn't you wait for us inside?" Ron asked, perplexed.
"Because you don't know what the room was supposed to be like, so you would never have found it." Hermione was impatient to tell them about the Malevich family. "Look around."
Harry and Ron obeyed. They found themselves in a Gothic entrance hall complete with pillars, vaulted ceilings, and large windows that revealed a bitter, desolate plain with a howling wind around them. Hermione led them to a small room to the right of the door.
"This is the Malevich Mansion. You would have thought of a place where no one will find us. The problem is that that's what he would try to find too. You see, I think Malevich knows a lot more about Hogwarts than he lets on, but he would never try to find me hiding in his own house. " Hermione had begun to ramble.
"Wait, Hermione, slow down. What do you mean he knows more about Hogwarts? How do you know?" Harry's interest had peaked.
"Last night when I was in the library I heard someone sneaking around there too. Unlike our other years, we don't have any suspicious new teachers. What we do have is a suspicious new student. How would a student get into the library at night without getting caught?"
"Well, what about Snape. He's been acting pretty weird lately," Ron offered.
"It can't be Snape. Whenever we see Snape out at night, he's never hidden himself. And he's never been afraid to look for me in my invisibility cloak," said Harry. "Ok, continue Hermione."
"Well I had taken the book with me so that I could read it where I wouldn't get caught. The figure I saw was looking in the same section that I had just been in. They didn't take anything, but actually sighed a little in relief. So then I was going up to the Room of Requirement to read the book, when I saw the same figure enter the room. Since Malfoy's here, who else do we know that would sneak around at night?" Hermione was breathless.
"I'm not complaining, but you always said that Malevich was a nice guy!" Ron couldn't help but be a little happy at the prospect of an unattached Hermione.
"I guess he can please where he chooses. Besides, who else might have read all of Hogwarts: A History? The only logical person is Malevich. So I had to choose a place that he wouldn't suspect."
"Ok, so Malevich is sneaking around. What does this have to do with what you found?" Harry could see an adventure forming.
"Did you ever wonder why no one remembers the Maleviches? Or how they managed to stay pure-bloods? Everyone thought that all the Maleviches died when Rasputin came into power in Russia., but a few of them managed to survive. Knowing that he would kill them if he knew they were alive, they stayed hidden for many years, having children within the family to keep the bloodline pure. No one at Durmstrang thinks that Malevich is actually a real Malevich, just a bastard child, because he's the first one to go to a wizarding school. The Malevich Mansion has an extensive library that miraculously survived the raid, and the subsequent generations have just read all the books there. However, there is also one book in which they record the family line of the Maleviches, along with their respective achievements. I found that—"
Ron interrupted Hermione saying, "How do you know all of this unless you've been there? Did you Apparate there?"
"How many times do I have to tell you Ron, you can't Apparate within Hogwarts bounds, exasperated Hermione. "There is a second copy of the book in the Hogwarts library that mirrors all of the changes made in the book in Russia. They thought that the book had been destroyed, which they still do, because I have it, but that is why Malevich is here: to make sure that the book does not exist."
"Hermione," Harry said slowly," do you know what they are going to do?"
"Yes," she replied.