Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the world of Harry Potter, that's J.K.Rowling's job. The plot is mine though.
Chapter 13 - Announcement
The teens just stood there, shocked by what they had seen, and waited to see if there was any sign of movement from under the pile of rubble. There was none. Neville was the first to react, and also a lot closer than the others.
"Come on! Help me!" he called. He scrambled onto his hands and knees and began to roll away some of the lighter stones. Snapping into action the rest of them joined in and they were soon all throwing stones aside, looking for where Hermione was buried. They hadn't moved more than half of them, before Dumbledore burst into the room.
"Professor!" Neville called, seemingly taking charge of the group. "Hermione is under here."
"Stand back," he replied, pulling his wand out of his pocket and pointing it at the pile of stones. As soon as everyone was clear, he muttered a few words, and all the stones started to roll slowly out of the way at once. As soon as Dumbledore ended his spell, they could all see a figure lying face down where the pile used to be. This was not the Hermione they were all used to seeing. This was the one who had saved Harry from the killing curse. Her hair had grown longer, and was now almost down to her waist. She no longer looked like the skinny girl who spent far too much time in the library, but she seemed every bit the powerful witch she was. Her school robes had been replaced by her plain white ones, and as usual, her feet were bare. Harry was the first to reach her.
"She's still breathing," he said, feeling relief and guilt wash over him. "I think she is just unconscious."
Considering what had just happened she looking in surprisingly good shape. There were no injuries at all that they could see but they decided that the best thing was to take her to Madam Pomfrey and make sure.
Voldemort sat on his large oak chair, looking around at his followers. He was growing tired of punishing them all for failing him, and was becoming more and more annoyed that the only plan he could think of was going to rely on someone other than himself. He was a considerably powerful wizard in his own right, and he knew without a doubt that Hermione shrugging off the killing curse, and then casually dealing with the most powerful blasting hex he could manage, should not be possible for any wizard. He had done a fair amount of research on the matter, and had reached a reluctant conclusion.
"Severus!" he hissed, "I want you to drop hints to that old fool back at Hogwarts that I will be launching a full scale attack soon. We are going to take Hogwarts by force, and then nothing will be able to stand against me."
"But, but master?" snivelled Wormtail, cowering on the floor. "Surely it would be better to attack by surprise so they do not have chance to prepare?"
Seemingly realising his boldness, Wormtail began to slowly crawl backwards across the room.
"It isn't wise to question my decisions Wormtail," Voldemort snarled, standing up from his chair and pointing his wand straight at the cowering figure before him. The rest of the Death Eaters gathered there all subconsciously took a step backwards. They had all witnessed Voldemort's rage on more than one occasion and had no desire to be on the receiving end.
"However Wormtail," he continued, casually waving his wand from side to side, "usually you would be right. Did you not notice the mudblood girl who single-handedly thwarted our attack on Hogsmeade? I believe she may have inherited the power of the Guardian, and so her strength will surpass even mine for now. I would have no hope of victory. Hopefully word of our attack will spread to her opposite, the Destroyer, and he will aid us. We will fight side by side, and then just when victory is certain, I will take the powers for myself! Then truly no one will be able to match my power."
Voldemort just stood there and laughed his evil laugh, sending shivers down the spines of even the most hardened Death Eaters.
"However Wormtail, I cannot let your insolence go unpunished now can I?"
"Master please, no…"
"Crucio!"
The first thing Hermione noticed when she woke up was that she seemed to be floating. She turned her head around and saw that Dumbledore, followed closely by her friends, was levitating her along the corridor. For an instant she panicked and waved her arms around, before realising that she wasn't going to fall anywhere.
"Remain calm Miss Granger," said Dumbledore softly. "We are just taking you to the Hospital Wing."
"It's alright Professor, I can walk." She had no wish to be levitated all the way there, as the floating was making her feel even more ill. She rotated herself around until she was upright, and then planted her feet down on the ground, causing her to wince as pain shot across her back. Concentrating on the worst of the pain, she took a few deep breaths and focused her magic on it. For a few moments it felt warm, and then straightening up with a small cracking noise causing the others to wince, the pain was gone.
"See Professor, I'm fine," she said, rotating her back, showing that it no longer hurt. "I could just go back up to Gryffindor tower and … oh." She suddenly stopped as she noticed her appearance; wearing all white and not her uniform. Looking around she could see that a handful of people were starting to gather along the corridor to see what had happened.
"Perhaps it is about time you explained to the rest of the school what has happened," Dumbledore said, smiling slightly, "I can arrange for the school to be gathered this afternoon if you like?"
The words may have formed a question, but his tone left no doubt in anyone's mind that that was what was going to happen. Accepting her fate, Hermione nodded her head slightly.
"I'll do it."
Shortly after all the rest of the school entered the hall, staff and students, Hermione stood alone just outside the doors. She could hear murmurs within, probably caused by people wondering why Dumbledore would call everyone in the afternoon. No one could ever remember it happening before except on important school days. She stood up straight, pooled some of her magic into her hands, and strode confidently into through the doorway, throwing the doors open forcefully with a burst of light.
The heads of every student pointed towards her as she made her way down the whole length of the hall, her footsteps echoing loudly in the now silent castle. When she reached the front, she turned around to face everyone and started her speech.
"Some of you may have noticed over the past few weeks my magic has become quite a bit stronger than it was before. This is because I was given the power of the Guardian. That's basically it. I am to use this power to protect others and myself from evil and…" she waved her arms about vaguely, "other things. If anyone doesn't believe me, they are welcome to challenge me to a duel, but I will be performing an exhibition match against Dumbledore shortly after tomorrow's contest. I hope that will put your minds at ease."
As she was talking nobody moved. Nobody except a handful of Slytherins. The thing that mattered to them more than anything was power, and to suddenly have one of the Gryffindors claiming they were stronger than even Dumbledore was outrageous. No one seemed to notice the Malfoy hardly seemed to be paying attention, he just sat at his seat gazing straight forward as if he wasn't even interested. Pansy, the most outspoken of them, stood up.
"What makes you think we're going to believe that!" she shouted across the hall, "You can't just…"
"Miss Parkinson," started Dumbledore, but there really wasn't any need. Hermione just glanced across at the Slytherin, and with barely a twitch of her eyebrow, Pansy's mouth disappeared. Had this been a prank there was no doubt that this would have been very funny, but the seriousness of the situation, and the fact that people were still trying to figure out what was happening, meant that everyone remained perfectly silent. Hermione just walked calmly back down the length of the hall and out through the doors. As they slammed shut behind her, Pansy's mouth reappeared, and she fainted.
A/N – A short and fairly uninteresting chapter I know, but a duelling contest next!