Hi! I'm back! First and foremost I'd like to thank everyone who has taken time to review my work! An especially big shout out to user Romione Granger-Weasley! You're always so kind and so quick to review all the chapters. Also thank you to RictumsempraRhr and Chemrunner57 who've left multiple reviews, you guys rock!
Also, I got a question on my last chapter so I'd just like to clear some things up best I can!
It was brought to my attention that Hermione not sharing with Ron or Harry about her book might've irked people, but there are reasons for it.
was an obvious divide between the three of them when Hermione found the book.
herself (as seen later) doesn't even really understand what she's found herself. She knows how impulsive Harry can be so she wouldn't share it with him until she knew how powerful it really was.
the plot of the story somethings may have a clear solution or be frustrating but as a writer this is how I'm developing my plot, if it bothers anyone, I'm sorry. I hope you can overlook it as I feel these things are best for plot development.
Also why Hermione didn't use the disillusionment charm on herself, Bellatrix had heard her and Ron and was coming. She's a very powerful witch so Hermione knew they could be caught and therefore Ron would die. In the moment that's what she cared about.
Sorry this was so long, here's the chapter! Please review!
"What is it?" He asks impatiently.
"How did she know all this?" The old man whispered to himself, almost amazed as he skimmed the pages.
"What is it?" Harry asked again, this time louder.
"And this book, I, I didn't even know it still existed, I thought," he's talking to himself, but Harry is still listening.
"Listen to me!" He boomed, Dumbledore knew something. And as far as Harry knew, this something could get Hermione back, or at the very least help him understand what Voldemort might want with her.
Dumbledore snapped out of it to meet his green eyes.
"Is this, whatever this is, can we get her back?" Harry almost whispered, pushing down any hope best he could.
"I'm afraid," the old mans voice is shaking, "I'm afraid this only endangers Hermione further."
Feeling bold, Harry moves forward and tries to snatch the leather bound book Hermione's been scribbling in. However, Dumbledore is faster despite his age and pulls it out of Potter's grasp.
"Harry." He warns, voice dangerously low.
The dark haired boy recognized that voice, the last time he heard it was when Dumbledore had told the Gryffindor to get closer to Slughorn, for his memory.
And it clicks.
"This is about what you needed from Slughorn, isn't it?" His voice is stronger than he thought was capable with all the guilt wracking his mind.
"No one can know." The white haired man says.
"Hermione does."
"She shouldn't." Dumbledore says sharply, "I don't even know how."
"Tell me," Harry's begging, "please."
The headmaster shakes his head a little, "I don't even understand it myself, not fully."
He sits on the edge of the cot Hermione had been occupying, it still smells like her. He wonders how long that'll last, "please sir."
Sighing in defeat, he sits next to him, "I knew that Voldemort had employed ancient dark magic to keep him so strong and I suspected he shared as much with Professor Slughorn. I believe that Hermione has found the very thing I've tasked you with retrieving from Horace's memory." He explained.
"And what is it?" Harry whispers.
"A horcrux, it conceals a part of a dark wizard of witches soul, the logistics are unclear, but it leads to immortality."
"You think he's made a Horcrux?" The Boy-Who-Lived asks.
Dumbledore nods, "possibly several, but I can't be sure. Even I am not fully aware of the extent of these objects, there's only been one text written on it. I had thought the very book was destroyed decades ago."
"The book..." he trails pointing to the black thing splayed on the ground.
The old man nods, "yes, it's contents contain that of Dark Magic. I had every intention to destroy the book myself, but Headmaster Dippet disagreed. By the time I was appointed, I was under the impression a boy named Tom Riddle had obliterated the only copy in existence."
"How would Hermione have gotten it?" She's the last person who'd break any sort of rules.
Dumbledore shook his head, "I don't know. It also appears several pages are missing, those I believe outline how to destroy a Horcrux. Miss Granger is exceptionally brilliant, more so than I am, she must've hid them away knowing how crucial it was."
Harry nodded somberly, pondering on why Hermione didn't tell him.
The professor broke his revere, once again sounding frantic, "would anyone know?"
He shook his head fiercely, "she didn't tell me. Her and Ron haven't spoken in a while. Ginny maybe, we can ask," he began.
"No!" The mans voice boomed, Harry jumped, "no, no one can know." He says calmer.
After a moment, a tense moment, the chosen one speaks with so much conviction, it shakes Albus Dumbledore himself to his very core.
"No."
All the headmaster can do is scrunch his brow in confusion.
"Ron, he deserves to know." Harry states.
Knowing there's no point in arguing, the old man grants him this mercy, "just him, no one else Harry. This, this changes everything."
And though Potter can't comprehend how important this is, he nods anyway, sensing as much.
"You have to be strong Harry. Now more then ever. Mister Weasley, I fear he has the potential to stumble down a long path of darkness. You must steer him of that, you must be strong." He tells him.
"I don't know how," The chosen one admits quietly, eyes looking around the small room, "Hermione, she's always been strong enough for the three of us."
And it's true. Whenever Harry is too exhausted to carry on, it's always Hermione who stays up looking for a solution. It's Hermione who makes sure he and Ron have a good time at Qudditch despite all the bad. It's her who keeps them going.
"Now you must find the strength she once possessed. For yourself, for Ron, for Hermione. It's the best chance she has." Albus tells him softly.
Silently, Dumbledore charms both the book and diary, no doubt putting protective enchantments on them as he slides it back into her trunk.
Just when he makes a move to tell Harry they should go back downstairs and act as if nothing happens, someone speaks.
"What happens if he finds out Hermione knows?" The young boys voice is trembling.
For a brief second Dumbledore's voice catches in his throat, "I fear for the worst." Is all he can manage.
...
Soon they go downstairs, no one questions how long they've been gone. Ginny however, does ask if they found anything. Quickly, almost awkwardly, Harry says no. No one seems to catch the lie, except for Ron.
Before he can question his friend, a small group enters the room.
Lupin, Tonks, Moody, McGonagall, and Kingsley walk in, however their arrival is anything but joyous.
Ignoring any niceties being exchanged, he stands numbly as they speak to Dumbledore. A few minutes later, they disburse, a few Weasley's as well.
"Ronald would you mind accompanying me outside? I would like to make sure no traces of dark magic were left behind." He says to the younger boy.
"Albus, I don't think that," Molly tries again delicately.
"It's alright Mum. I'll be fine." Without another word, he walks to the door, not even bothering with a coat. He hopes the cold air will sting his skin and make him feel something.
They step outside as Ron wordlessly leads Dumbledore over to the oak tree.
"What happens if there is dark magic left behind?" The ginger all but whispers.
Weasley hears the old mans lips smack against each other as he starts to speak, "it's a very rare, very powerful thing, but it seems those from the noble house of Black are able to master such things."
"Such as?" The boy implores.
"Sometimes, if say an ancient spell, or even something dark like an unforgivable curse is used, a wizard or witch powerful enough may be able to trace the source of the dark magic." Dumbledore peers over to see Ron looking confused, "essentially, if something other than expelliarmus was used, depending on the spell, Bellatrix is able to call to the connection of her magic here, she can apparate back."
Ron hasn't realized it, but they had stopped walking, the tree in sight, but they weren't exactly there.
"And if it is there, how do you, you know, stop her?" He gulped. Asking questions was a line of defense, as he tried to block his mind from the thought of an unforgivable curse used on Hermione.
"I shall expel the magic from the area, strengthen the wards, extend the apparition line." He assured.
"Bellatrix," he whispered, "she never, she never passed the wards, Harry, Hermione, and I, we ran out of them."
The headmaster nodded, "yes, if nothing else you and your family will be safe as long as you stay within the bounds."
Ron opens his mouth to make some snarky comment about what good that did Hermione, but refrains from it. He'd hate to see so much as a hair out of place on someone else's head he cared about. This was enough pain to last him a lifetime.
At the silence, the ginger breaks it by continuing his stride to the tree, dreading every second as he goes.
Again, wanting to avoid the inevitable, he talks again, "I reckon someone should do the same at the Granger's." It's unspoken, but the fact that Death Eaters could go after them is very plausible. Something that's been eating at Hermione for a while.
"The wards have been placed around the Granger's house after the tournament. Hermione requested her parents not know about their placement. The order checks in." He assures.
"Oh." Ron breathes stupidly. Hermione is brilliant, he's not surprised, he just should've realized. He also wishes she didn't do it alone.
A Gryffindor through and through, the bravest of them all she was, is, he reminds. Now it's his turn to be the courageous one, to buck up and face her parents, help the order anyway he could, and get her back.
And like he can read Ron's mind, Dumbledore breaks his thoughts, "don't worry yourself too much Ron, there will be time for that later," to worry about Hermione's family, about her, "for now we must focus. One thing at time."
With a huff of air, his shoulders ease the slightest bit, but are still tense. Ron finally steps to the tree, focusing viciously on the unfamiliar incantation Dumbledore whispers rather than the fact Hermione was here not long ago.
Then something catches his eye.
As the old man casts the spell, a glowing white light outlines the grass. There's a few shapes, one is a silhouette of what Ron knows to be Hermione's crumpled body, two outlines of pairs of shoes, but the other, it's a rectangle.
Meaning, something was there on the ground as they apparated away, but it vanished with her.
After a moment he realizes, heart breaking as he does, "the book."
Dumbledore drops his wand at the word.
"What did you say?"
"Book," he chokes out, "the book, she grabbed onto it, it's gone." It was a gift, he was supposed to give it to her. Give her that and all the love he had to offer. To show he cared.
Then with a thud, his back is hitting the tree trunk as Dumbledore's piercing eyes bore into his own.
"Book, what book?" He sounds panicked, more frantic then Ron ever imagined he could sound.
He just stares at him with wide, shocked eyes.
"Ron!" His voice booms.
The red head flinches, "a gift a Christmas gift. It was Hogwarts, A History. That's all." He explains quickly.
At the admission, Dumbledore's hands slide off his shoulder as he steps back. "My apologies." The man says rather calmly.
However, Ron is anything but.
He slants his eyes to the most respected man in the Wizarding world, not caring less, "this is about that book, isn't it? The one she's been holding onto." Realization strikes again, "Harry showed you, it means something doesn't it? Come on, out with it!" He commands loudly.
"Keep your voice down. No one can know." The white haired man tells him.
"Tell me what it is! Tell me it can help!" He pleads angrily.
"Mister Weasley!" The headmaster roars, making the younger wizard slink back, turning red. "I will tell you what I know, if you swear this information stays strictly between us and Harry. Do you hear me, no one can know, this is life or death."
Anxiously, Ron nods. He's praying to whatever is up there that this information hasn't reached Hermione. That this proclamation of life and death won't touch her.
Dumbledore's voice drops to a deadly whisper, "Miss Granger seemed to either knowingly or unknowingly, uncovered what I believe is the key to destroying Voldemort."
Ron shivers at the name. Shivers even more at the prospect of what this could mean.
"The book she's been immersed in, the last known person in possession of it was Tom Riddle. I was believed it had been destroyed upon his departure."
"What's in the book?" Weasley gulps.
The old man shakes his head, "dark magic. The darkest magic possible. The type of power that'll make you wish you rotted in Azkaban rather then meet it's fate."
Still, Ron's brow remains scrunch.
"A horcrux," it's barely audible, "bi products of murder, that if done correctly, can give one immense power, immortality." He tells in a whisper.
"How do you destroy one?" It's the first thing he thinks of, if these ruddy things are out there he wants them gone.
Regretfully, Albus sighs, "that's the thing Ron, I believe only Hermione knows how to do that."
"Meaning if she found these, whatever, she could then kill Vold," he stops, "kill him." He amends.
"Yes." He nods slowly.
"And that's exactly where she's been taken to, to him!" Tears sting the corners of his eyes.
"Listen to me, you are fearing the worst, I doubt Voldemort even knows the extent of the information Hermione has, even if he really does suspect it." His eyes meet Ron's glassy ones, "and Miss Granger, she wouldn't give it up for anything."
"You see professor," Ron chokes, "that's exactly what I'm afraid of." He admits.
Sadly, Dumbledore nods with sympathy, as he flicks his wand one more time. Ron bites his lip and closes his eyes shut at seeing the outline of Hermione again.
A moment later, the old mans voice causes him to open them, "there's no dark magic here." He promises.
Ron let's out a breath he didn't know he was holding. At least it was one last thing to worry about.
"Now to strengthen," Albus starts until a shriek sounds from inside the Burrow.
Without a glance, the ginger takes off toward his house. Surprisingly, Dumbledore doesn't stray far behind as they clamber into the living room.
Lupin is dropped to his knees consoling the shaky body. Ginny is backed into a corner horrified. Molly is crying.
"I don't, I don't understand." McGonagall's uneasy voice says.
In front of Ron, is Harry Potter, writhing on the floor and clutching his scar.
"It's him." Is all he can say to the room.
Next chapter we finally get to see where Hermione went to, so stay tuned for that!
Also a reminder that this differs from canon (clearly) so for the sake of this story this book exists and Dumbledore doesn't have vast knowledge on Horcruxes.
Thank you so much for almost twenty reviews, keep them coming! Until then, here's a preview to the next chapter!
"Save your voice Mudblood." Lestrange smiles, "there will be plenty of time to scream tomorrow." She pauses, "better yet, the Dark Lord will make you sing."
At this, the light fades out leaving a horrified Hermione behind.
It just hit her, tomorrow she'd do the most terrifying thing in her life. Something that Harry has done a multitude of time and barely made it out alive, even with a wand.
Tomorrow she would face Voldemort.
Also just wanted to let you guys know that I'm actually paralyzed in mg left arm so I type these all with one hand so it takes me a bit longer. Please be patient with me! Much love.
Until next time!
