Clementine and Mint - Remonter une Horloge
A/N: For those curious about the scene Hermione referenced in the most recent Procyon Mask chapter.
Hermione runs her finger over the spine of a book, it's old and weathered. Not something Madam Pince would allow her to take out, even more so with it being from the Restricted Section.
The pages within are thin, having nearly fallen apart in her hands earlier. Even though Hermione was careful with books. The damn thing was ancient, but it had been the only book she could find through the card catalog that might fit her needs. Problem was… it was missing pages, and what information she could glean about the spell she found sounded more like hypotheticals.
"Hmph."
She slides the book back onto its shelf, taking a moment to listen to the dead air around her. With practiced steps she moves around the creaky floorboards, not wanting to alert Filch if he ends up close by. Or - more importantly - Mrs. Norris. It was impossible to hear that cat creeping up on you and by the time she was meowing for her master it was nearly too late to get away.
Hermione hurries back to the Gryffindor Tower, slipping into bed even as her head is abuzz with the events that had transpired just days ago.
Harry had had his name pulled from the Goblet of Fire.
It shouldn't have been possible. Hogwarts had their champion for the tournament already: Cedric Diggory. And no school was supposed to have more than one champion. Apparently according to Harry when they had pulled him aside it was suggested the Goblet was hoodwinked into believing there was a fourth school. That Harry was from that school. But it was the Tri-Wizard Tournament, not the Quad-Wizard Tournament.
And that was the least of Hermione's worries. They could figure out who had done it, the how, and why, later. She needed to get her friend out of the tournament before he got hurt. Preferably before the first task.
Not that he had asked for the help… Harry rarely did. And Ron was convinced that it hadn't been a mistake, but rather Harry himself had tricked his way into the tournament. Ron even had the gall to ask her why Harry wouldn't have let him in on his plan. The bloody idiot.
If it wasn't for Ron's stubbornness on the matter she would have asked him to help with her research. That way they could find something faster. But no, Ron was content to just glare at Harry. As if that would solve anything.
The next morning Hermione goes over the notes she had taken from the book last night. It was the only lead she had and if it could help Harry out of his predicament it was worth a shot.
Now if only she could figure out how to cast it or get help from someone… One of the Professors would be ideal. Harry's safety had to weigh heavy on their minds… besides Snape, anyway. But the spell had been hidden away in the Restricted Section because it was dangerous, dark magic.
Something Alastor Moody was familiar with.
As much as she abhorred his teaching methods, he might be the only one that would hear her out. And being an Ex-Auror he was probably better equipped to deal with things if the spell went wrong.
With her mind decided, Hermione went through the rest of her day as normal, only stopping on the steps while everyone else hurried off to the Great Hall after classes were over.
"Hermione?" Harry glances over his shoulder at her, gaze questioning. Ron has already been swallowed by the crowd.
"I'll be right down. I have something I want to ask Professor Moody."
Harry frowns but continues descending down the stairs. She feels bad for leaving him alone - no one else was willing to interact with a cheat - but, this was for his benefit. He would understand.
She takes a breath and turns around, walking back to the classroom and trying to ignore the fact that the last time she was here after class it was to yell at the Professor. Let's hope Professor Moody doesn't hold a grudge.
Hermione raises a hand to knock on the wood of the door. After a few seconds have passed she pushes it open, stepping inside.
Moody glances over from his desk. "Miss Granger, to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence this time?"
Of course he hadn't forgotten.
She bites her lip, closing the door behind her and walking forward before placing her bag on one of the desks to get out the notes she had written for herself. "I was wondering if you could help me identify a spell, Professor."
His brow raises at her, the magical eye that is usually swirling around stopping to focus on her. It makes her skin crawl. "What spell?"
"Well, that's the thing. I couldn't quite find the name of it, just how it works." Hermione grasps the notes close to her chest, walking over to place them on his desk after a few seconds of deliberation.
Moody glances down, taking the thin stack of papers and looking through them.
A few minutes pass before he asks in that gruff voice, "Where did you find this?"
This was it. The point of no return. "The Restricted Section, Professor."
His gaze shifts up to her. "Did you get permission to go and peruse the books there?"
"No. I was hoping to find something that might stop Harry from having to participate in the tournament, sir."
"I don't believe I need to tell you how dangerous it is to mess with time, Miss Granger. Dumbledore informed me of your extracurricular activities last year."
"Yes, I'm aware of the dangers." She licks her lips nervously. "Do you recognize it at all?"
Alastor seems to regard her before placing the papers back down. "I do. But I'm afraid it won't work. The resiltempinore needs to meet a very specific set of conditions to be cast properly. The obvious one being that the final ingredient is difficult to obtain. There's also the matter that winding back even a minute of time could cause unprecedented ripples in the present and future. For your plan to work, you would need to know when the Goblet was tampered with so that you could reverse the time from when it happened and when Harry's name was picked. The 'cause' and 'effect' if you will. Since you would be deleting both events so that neither can repeat.
"Now," the Professor continues with a sigh. "That could be as little as an hour or a couple days of time you need to go through to pull Harry out from the tournament like this. It would be very risky even if you knew the exact time of the events you wanted to change. But, I'm assuming you wanted to go through the last couple days and try to find when the Goblet was tampered with manually. And if you were somehow spotted in the process your spell might just come to a grisly end."
She was afraid he might say that. "But Dumbledore is already taking a risk with Harry's life by not trying to pull him out of the tournament. This may be the only way to help him."
"I didn't ask for your opinion, Miss Granger. I'm telling you the facts. Even with everything set up properly it would be too risky. Your notes aren't even complete on what exactly happens during the spell itself."
"There were a bunch of pages missing pertaining to the spell-"
"Which is exactly why I'm telling you not to take the risk."
Hermione remains silent for a moment. "Are you going to report my activities to Dumbledore?" She glances down to her research papers, as Moody is already rolling them up and clipping them together. He doesn't intend to give them back.
"No. I know you're trying to look out for your friend, Miss Granger, but this is one of those instances where you can't help him. Not like this. Admirable as your intentions are, it would be a waste to see you disappear in some time magic incident."
"Admirable, Professor?" Did he just give her a compliment?
"Yes. It's hard to find people that remain loyal to their friends even during hardship. It's a rare quality to have. Don't lose it, Miss Granger."
"I won't. But, um… Are you saying you're not punishing me for entering the Restricted Section without permission?"
Alastor shifts in his seat as he places her rolled up notes somewhere behind the desk. Just in case she tries to grab it, she guesses. Must be his old auror paranoia kicking in.
"Depends. Do you make a habit of going into the Restricted Section when you're told not to? The way I hear it you're quite the troublemaker. Especially when Harry is involved. So," he places his hands on the desk, both eyes settling on her. "If you ever want to look up something in the Restricted Section I can write you a note. That way you're not getting yourself into more trouble."
Hermone's eyes widen. "I couldn't possibly-"
"I insist. You're a gifted witch, Hermione. I would rather you study and explore magic in a 'safe and controlled' environment. If you ever have any questions pertaining to what you find there you're free to come to me. I won't judge you."
Any more words of rejection die on her tongue. "Th-thank you, Professor Moody."
"There's no need for you to thank me, Miss Granger. I'm not doing this just for your benefit." He leans back in his chair, his gaze feels like it's burning a hole through her. As if he's trying to see inside her mind. "If you happen to find something less risky for Harry to use during the tournament, then you're welcome to it."
Oh. So he did care.
Alastor Moody wants to see Harry get out of this just as much as her. Hermione's lips curl up into a smile. "I'll be sure to do that."
"Hmph." He grunts, turning away and grabbing a piece of paper, scribbling onto it before extending it to her. "There you go."
She quickly reaches out to grab it, her fingers brushing briefly over his own. "Thank you again, Professor. And… I'm sorry for coming in and yelling at you when the year just started."
His hand settles back on the desk. "It's fine. Just don't let your emotions control your actions so much. If you remain calm and collected you're far more likely to come out of a battle than someone that loses their temper. Emotional people make mistakes."
Like Ron insisting on pushing Harry away instead of believing him when he said he didn't put his name in the Goblet. "Perhaps you should hold a class session on the matter."
Mad-Eye Moody blinks, letting out a snort of laughter a moment later. Hermione jumps in place at the sound. Like that of a dying dog. "I don't think many of the students here would benefit from it. They'll say they understand, but forget when it matters. I would rather teach everyone something more practical that they can use, instead of simple psychology."
"Makes sense. I look forward to your next class."
Hermione turns around as he goes back to whatever he was doing before she interrupted, grabbing her bag and hurrying down to the Great Hall with a newfound hope in her chest.
