Chapter 15: Hermione's Curious Mind

In the Gryffindor common room, Phoenix sat in one of the big cushy red chairs by the fire reading her thick brown leather book. Hermione was up in the dormitory doing her studies.

As time flew by, Harry and Ron came walking down the stairs talking about why Professor Snape hated him. When Harry spotted Phoenix, he gave a big smile. "Hey, Phoenix!"

Looking up from her book, Phoenix saw Harry and Ron in front of her. "Oh, hey Harry, Ron. I didn't hear you come down." She said closing her book, the back facing up.

"Ron and I are going to meet Hagrid in his cabin. Would you like to come?"

"Uh… sure. Let me go put this up." When she got to the girls' room, she saw Hermione on her bed petting Cali. "Hey, Hermione, Harry, Ron, and I are going to Hagrid's cabin want to come with?"

"No thanks. I was thinking about going to the library."

"Okay then, be back in a few." Phoenix flopped the book on her bed before leaving.

Hermione looked over on Phoenix's bed. She did not recognize the book. It was not a textbook. With a curious mind, Hermione went over to Phoenix's bed, inspecting the book.

The book was about the size of the ones she has seen in the library, and ancient. Brown and green leather bound it, and on the front was a symbol. The same one Hermione saw on Cali's tag. It was three arcs interlocked inside a circle. It was the triquetra. This intrigued Hermione. Her hand slowly went to the book.

"Meow!" Hermione flinched as Cali jumped from Hermione's bed and landed on top of the book, giving her a disapproving look.

"Cali, you scared me!" Hermione silently yelled. She grabbed hold of Cali, who didn't want to let go, and tossed her on the floor. Hermione's curious mind was getting the best of her.

Hermione slowly went back to the book. She pulled it towards her and opened it. The parchment inside was old. The first page, in medieval calligraphy, was 'The Book of Shadows'.

"Book of Shadows? What is this?" She spoke to no one in particular. "Ow!" Hermione looked down on her leg and saw Cali, claws out and digging into her skin. "Is there something you don't want me to know?" Hermione asked, but Cali squinted her eyes and dug deeper. Hermione closed the book and got off the bed, pushing Cali away. "I'm going to the library." Hermione said as she looked at Cali. She grabbed the book, stuffed it in her bag, and walked down to the common room. Fellow Gryffindors came through the portrait, huddling with their friends in the common room. This allowed Hermione to slip out and head towards the library.

Not to her surprise, Hermione found the library empty. Finding the farthest table, Hermione placed her book bag on the chair seated next to her, pulled out the Book of Shadows, reopened the book to read some more. The next page Hermione stopped on was a photo, an illustration. It was a woodcut picture of three women who appeared to be sleeping. Hermione took a better look at the picture. The clothes and furniture looked old, almost ancient medieval. 'Why are these women sleeping? Better yet, who are these women?'

Turning the page, Hermione saw another illustration with the same three women. This time though, they were fighting several horrible looking creatures Hermione has never seen before, much less read about. The next page looked more reasonable. The same three women were in it again. 'Maybe these women are important?' In this picture, the women were dancing and singing in a circle. They looked happy. They looked at peace for the time being. They looked as though they were celebrating.

"Could this symbol represent these women and Phoenix's family?" Hermione thought to herself out loud.

She turned the page again and found an incantation. 'What kind of incantation is this?' Hermione couldn't help herself. She came this far, might as well read it. 'If I read this and not say it out loud, then maybe it won't trigger anything.' Hermione didn't know for sure if this was true. She read that spells could be performed without saying them. Hermione took a deep breath and read the incantation.

'Hear now the words of the witches,

The secrets we hid in the night.

The oldest of gods are invoked here.

The great work of magic is sought.

In this night and in this hour,

I call upon the Ancient Power!

Bring your powers to we sisters three,

We want the power.

Give us the power.'

"Power? What power?" Hermione looked around, making sure nothing happened. Her stomach started growling. It was almost time for dinner. 'I need to head up to the common room before Phoenix finds her book missing.' Hermione placed the book back into her bag and left the library. When she came back to the Gryffindor common room, she headed straight back up to the dormitory, placed the book back on Phoenix's bed, and left for the Great Hall.

Hermione couldn't help but ponder on what she saw and read. She tried to pay attention to Phoenix, Harry, and Ron, but her mind kept wondering. 'Who were those women? What were they doing? What horrible creatures were they fighting?'

She had to know and needed to look at the book again. But how and when can she sneak it out of the dormitory without Phoenix seeing her? She couldn't just point blank ask her to see it, could she? Phoenix kept the book out in the opened. It wasn't like it would hurt their friendship.