Chapter One

A Finding and a Punishment

Hermione Granger, 17, was leafing though books as she always did before buying a new one when the book caught her eye. She was in the Defense Against the Dark Arts section of Flourish and Blotts looking for books that would help them in the upcoming battle. It was shoved between to books, higher than the rest by half and inch, and sticking out from the smooth edges of the rest of the books on the shelf. As she looked at it further, she realized it looked as if it had been stuffed into the shelf hurriedly. She walked up close to it, tilting her head she read the title; Forgotten and Unused Hexes, Jinxes and Spells. Pulling the book out, Hermione thought the book had seen better days. It was about the same size as her books for school but vaguely reminded her of the Advanced Potions textbook that had brought so much trouble for them last year, old and worn like that had been. Its cover was warn and the corners were bent and showing the tan color of cardboard under the soft green of a cover illustration long gone. She flipped to the back of the book, looking for a glossary of the spells inside. After finding it she quickly scanned through them and grinned. Snapping the book shut, she nodded. Out of the 35 spells in the book she had only heard of nine and only knew how to work eight. "This is perfect, just what we need. I'll look through it and decide which one we can use and read up on them. That way when Harry leaves the Dursley's we'll already have begun." She smiled and turned back toward the other books she had been looking at before this book had found her.

That is what Hermione had always thought. You don't find books, they find you. But of course, Hermione reasoned to herself, any avid reader would think that. She looked around at the books, before realizing that she might not have enough for the—Hermione looked down, counting the books for the first time—four books for them, and the three pleasure books for herself. 'Well I can always get one of these later.' She thought warily to herself as she walked up to the counter. She opened Forgotten and Unused Hexes and looked at the list of spells. 'Genus Mutatus…Hum, I wonder what that does.' Hermione, who knew that most of the spells used in the wizarding world were derived for Latin, had started studying Latin in her free time and thought she could guess at the meaning of the words. 'Genus…er…I thinks that's the same one I learned about in Primary school, the way to categorize organisms. I wonder if that has anything to do with it?' She asked herself. Now she couldn't wait to get to Number Twelve, not only did she not know a fourth of what was in that book, she had a sneaking suspicion that this book was going to help them.

Crimson eyes looked disapprovingly from the shadows at the shuddering mass of flesh on the floor. His posture, body tense yet leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, showed both apprehension and boredom. His gaze of blood flicked over the things in the room, pausing at each for only a second. He only needed a second for a lifetime of memories to flash through his mind. Wormtail was busy cowering and that would keep him occupied for a bit. The unsettling gaze settled on a small book, with a dark stain on the cover, spreading from a hole in the center. The man's temper simmered. That infuriating boy had destroyed two of his precious precautions against mortal death. Shaking his head the man smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He still had ways of avoiding death, and one day he would kill that meddlesome boy. 'Soon,' the man thought. 'Very soon.' Returning his gaze to the groveling servant on the ground, he waited for a moment before signaling the rat-like man could speak.

"M-master. I-I have information. G-good information, g-gr-great information. It will help you kill H-him sir, soon he will be out of your hair-er, out of your way Master. Soon! You see while I was in London-"

Voldemort leaned forward slightly and the man stopped speaking, knowing the movement and actions of his master quite well. The Dark Lord turned his chilling red eyes upon Wormtail. "Are you going to get to the point or are you going to continue to stutter all night?" He asked the man in a bored tone.

"Y-yes sir-Oh! I mean n-no sir. Harry-"

"Don't speak that name in my presence!" Voldemort shouted, after waiting for a few seconds and hearing nothing come from his servant he sighed. "Well?"

The man winced and took a deep breath. "Well it seems as though the mission was successful. Dumbledore is dead; Severus killed him, not Malfoy. It also seems as though the boy refuses to return to Hogwarts and finish his schooling there. It will be much easier to get to him, now that he refuses the help of his teachers." Wormtail nodded and closed his mouth, done with his report.

Voldemort continued to stare at the man. "Is that all! That is all you have to tell me after being in London for two weeks! None of that was news! Of course Snape killed Dumbledore! Do you really thing that I would trust a 17 year old boy, to kill that old man? You are an incompetent git!" Voldemort uncrossed his arms, and pointed his wand at the man shaking on the ground.

"B-but m-master!"

"Silence!" The Dark Lord's blood red eyes flashed and is nostrils flared. A pale, long fingered hand showed from under Voldemort's cloak as he pointed the wand at Wormtail. "Genus Matatus!" A bright yellow light flared and illuminated to room.

When the room returned back to normal, the huddling form in the center of the room seemed not to have changed. It raised its head up and Voldemort smiled, seeing that the spell had worked. It was an old spell, and one he had not used before, but apparently it worked, though he really had no idea why one would want to have such a spell.

"M-master?" The form said in a higher pitched voice then that it had been speaking in. The body was still round, its hair still thinning and a sandy brown, but the chest had grown as had the hips area. It looked down at itself and then back up at the man who had done this.

Wormtail was looking up at the Dark Lord through the eyes of a female.

A/N: snorts I like this. Hum…well half one condition had been met, but I'll tell you what it was when I finish it. Tell me what you think!

Conditions Met:
5. Voldemort must appear at some point.