Disclaimer: In no way do I own or claim to own Harry Potter. That is the original work of JKR and I'm not stupid enough to attempt to steal it.

The Enlightenment

"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence." - Abigail Adams

Chapter 8: Ivan

"Hermione!" Ron yelled, brandishing a plain white piece of paper with only eight words on it. It wasn't signed and he didn't recognize the handwriting, but he knew who sent it. He rushed into the sitting room, where Hermione was reading by the fire. She looked up curiously as she heard her name, but as soon as she read the note she yelped and leapt to her feet.

"Oh, this is much too sudden!" she exclaimed, running out of the room, dropping the note.

With perplexed expressions, Harry and Ginny looked at Ron. Charlie, standing at the foot of the stairs where Hermione had just flown by him, also stared. Ron did his best to look confused as well, but Harry wasn't fooled. He walked over and picked up the note.

"'Four o'clock. Leaky Cauldron. Room thirteen. July twenty-fourth'," he read aloud. "That's now." He looked at Ron with an arched eyebrow and asked, "Do you know what this is about?"

"It's something Hermione wrote-" He didn't manage to finish his sentence, as Hermione had just reentered the room, with no apparentchange from when she left.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours," she said. "This shouldn't take too long."

"Don't you want someone to go with you?" Ron asked.

"No. He's only expecting me, and I don't want to offend him by bringing someone else along. I'll see you all later." Hermione then Disapparated with a small pop.

"Want to fill us in on what that was about?" Charlie asked flatly, crossing his arms.

"Yes, who's this 'he'?" Ginny said.

"Right…well…" Ron said, and then proceeded to tell them what Hermione was up to.

Meanwhile, Hermione had appeared in the courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron that contained the doorway to Diagon Alley. She entered the small pub, glancing around her as she made her way towards the stairs. When she was about to go up, Tom, the barkeep, called her back.

"Excuse me, miss!" he said, just loud enough for her to hear. He gave a toothless grin and held out a plain white envelope. "I was told to give this to a brown-haired young witch who came in at four."

Hermione, confused, went over and took the envelope. She opened it and pulled out a plain white piece of paper,much like the one she had received at the Burrow. This one, however, read "Go upstairs. Find the note taped to the door." Frowning, she glanced at Tom, and then proceeded to go upstairs.

It took her only a few seconds to reach the door to room thirteen, with another note taped to it. She pulled it off and turned it around to read. She frowned again as she read don't turn around. Immediately, that was all she wanted to do. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and her breathing quickened as she felt as if someone was standing right behind her, close enough to feel their breath.

Then, when something cool, smooth, and round was shoved into her hand, she knew it wasn't just her imagination. She also knew she should have brought someone else along, as she experienced a familiar tug somewhere behind her navel, signaling she had just touched a portkey.

An instant later, the movement stopped. The person behind Hermione gripped her shoulders, as if to keep her from falling, then let go and stepped back. Hermione whipped around, pulling out her wand and pointing it in between the stranger's eyes. She glared at him as he stared back with an expressionless face.

"What did you just do?" she demanded.

"Hermione Granger?" the wizard asked with a hint of a Bulgarian accent.

"What did you just do?" she repeated.

"Are you Hermione Granger or not?" He grew agitated in the span of a few seconds, and Hermione felt a spike of fear. She didn't think he would hurt her, but she lowered her wand just in case.

"Yes. Yes, I'm Hermione Granger," she said.

He nodded, satisfied, and his agitation vanished. "The name's Ivan."

Hermioneraised an eyebrow, wondering if he was, indeed, the man Victor was friendly with. Victor had never told her his name and she didn't know what he looked like or how she could be sure that it was him whom she was speaking with. Ivan himself was a tall man, quite skinny, with uncombed, greasy brown hair and bloodshot hazel eyes. His skin was pale, as if he hadn't been out in real sunlight for months, possibly even years. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, possibly younger. He wore Muggle clothes, but there was a wand sticking out of his pocket.

"I knew you would be followed," Ivan said suddenly. He turned and strode over to a nearbytable. Hermione noticed that the room was full of computers and all kinds of technical equipment. There were no windows and only one door that had to have at least fifteen locks on it.

Ivan picked up a small hand-held screen and held it out to Hermione. She took it and looked as Charlie appeared on the landing back at the Leaky Cauldron. He walked up to room thirteen and raised his hand to knock on the door when he noticed the note. He knelt down and picked it up, then scowled and Disapparated.

"What is this?" Hermione asked, too curious to be worried about the anger she would have to face when she returned to the Burrow.

"My own invention. It combines magic and computers. It almost acts like a crystal ball, except it plays real-time footage and there's the equivalent of a camera at the other end. Quite the ingenious invention, if I do say so myself."

"That's amazing!"

"You haven't seen anything yet," he said, moving to pick something else up, obviously very proud of his inventions. Then he froze, object in hand, and then placed it back down with a resigned expression. "But you haven't come here for that. Yes, it's time for business. Come, come, we should get more comfortable. Beverage?"

Slightly surprised and confused, Hermione refused. Ivan shrugged in a 'suit yourself' way. He moved past Hermione and flopped into a comfortable looking leather chair. There were two others placed around the room, and Hermione took one and pulled it up to sit near Ivan. He shifted things around on his desk then picked up a stack of papers and handed them to her.

"Everything I could find on that woman. Everything from date of birth to allergies to schools to family and friends," Ivan said, waving his hand at the papers. "She's quite interesting. Disturbed, but interesting."

"What do you mean by disturbed?" Hermione asked. Ivan just waved his hand at the papers again then leaned back in his chair, watching as Hermione began to read.

It took a long time to get through the whole thing. Nearly two hours were spent reading, looking through everything from a copy of Lexi Medley's birth certificate to schools she went to and the grades she got to visits to the doctor. There were even full profiles on both of her parents and one set of grandparents. It was overwhelming the information Ivan had found. He looked quite proud of himself when she finally looked up at him.

"Impressive, isn't it?" he said with a smug grin.

"She is disturbed. I wonder if she really did attempt to kill her father…and that hospital visit-" Hermione began, ignoring his comment.

"Ah, the one that there was no description of with the others?" he said. "It took me days to get information on it. It had been deleted from all the databases at that hospital, I only found it in a record of a follow up exam from her pediatrician."

"It sounds like something from a curse," Hermione said. "Massive bleeding from the wrists with only tiny little slits. It almost sounds as if someone tried to bleed her dry."

"Yes, yes, I know! It sounds like a Dark curse, does it not?"

Suddenly, Hermione stood up, letting out a shocked gasp. "Oh my goodness! I think…but no, that's not right, they were only fifteen…but maybe…" She began pacing, muttering to herself.

"Are we having an epiphany?" Ivan asked.

"Maybe!" Hermione said, suddenly excited now. She turned to Ivan, a glint in her eyes. She knew she was on to something.

"She knew Severus Snape. He made a ton of Dark spells, and some of them are in this old Potions book of his…well, he couldn't have possibly tried them on students when he was at Hogwarts because surely he would've been expelled. Maybe…maybe he knew someone, older than him, who could use magic and didn't have the restrictions of underage wizards. Maybe they tested the spells on Lexi, and…" Hermione trailed off, shaking her head.

"It's far-fetched, but it could be possible," Ivan murmured, turning in his chair to the nearest computer. He began typing rapidly, Hermione completely forgotten, muttering things under his breath.

After fifteen or so minutes of this, he looked at Hermione again, as if surprised she was still there.

"I apologize. Here, take your file. I need to do more research. I'll contact you again when I have something," Ivan said, handing her the papers on Medley. Hermione took them and held them close to her chest. He then handed her a small, round stone and, before she could thank him, she felt the effects of a portkey.

A/N: Constructive criticism is very welcome. Please, if you see any way in which this can be improved, don't hesitate to inform me. However, I ask that you do it in a helpful manner, and that you don't just say, "This is terrible." Thank you!