The Crystal Council

Chapter 6

The First Steps

When Hermione had returned from Morgan's vault, she found the two goblins Hylboirm and Klobtes in a daze and both completely ignored her until she waved her hand in front of them. Before either could speak Hermione motioned towards the elevator and the three moved towards it and began heading to the surface.

Hermione broke the silence first "As both of you know I am the true heir of Merlin and Morgan and with the prophecy I currently have nothing but enemies in this world. Therefore, I would like to request both of your help with several things."

"Anything you ask my lady." Both goblins replied at the same time

Hermione let out a soft sigh before continuing "Hylboirm I need you to keep my true identity hidden from the Ministry and any other witches or wizards trying to find out who I am. Klobtes please transfer the money my parents left me into a special account that we can use as a war chest. I would also like you two to begin spread the word of Morgan's heir's return among the other magical creatures and of the coming war."

Both goblins gave a short quiet nod and the rest of the elevator ride was quiet with Hermione deep in her thoughts despite the growing exhaustion of dealing with two of the most powerful people in history. As the three reached the office once more Hylboirm returned to his desk and immediately began working again. Klobtes lead her back out the door and through the maze that was Gringotts Bank. Upon entering the main hall of Gringotts and with absolutely no warning Hermione found herself in the arms of a very concerned Ms. Leighton,

"Oh Hermione, are you okay? You're not hurt, are you? Did the goblins take care of you?" Ms. Leighton was hugging Hermione and fretting over unseen injuries. Hermione had frozen in place far too aware of how tight she was being hugged the exhaustion of her time in the vaults along with the emotion of loving human contact, she could feel the tears stinging her eyes. Hermione hugged back and shut her eyes tight holding back the tears she so wished to cry and whispered, "I'm okay Ms. Leighton I'm okay."

After a few minutes the two separated Hermione still confused why Ms. Leighton had acted as she had and asked "Why are you so worried? I was completely safe. What happened to make you so worried?"

"What do you mean? Did you not feel the earthquake?" asked Ms. Leighton

"Earthquake? What earthquake?" asked Hermione as she looked around and realized there was more dust on everything in the room including most of the goblins and she could see cracks along the walls though they were rather small. Klobtes was the next to speak "Ms. Leighton perhaps it would be best to let Ms. Granger get some fresh air while we finish up the paperwork."

Ms. Leighton looked unsure whether to let Hermione out of her sight so soon but one surprisingly effective set of puppy dog eyes from Hermione and she relented saying "Alright, but don't leave the stairs the area is still too unstable and if you get hurt…" she let the unspoken threat hang in the air before turning and following Klobtes to one of the desks.

Hermione now freed from the loving death grip she had been in smiled at Klobtes and moved towards the doors. Upon stepping out onto the step Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath, glad to be out of underground cave and into open air. It was when she exhaled and opened her eyes that she froze unable to comprehend what was in front of her.

Diagon alley could not have been hit by an earthquake. The entire street no longer existed, stores on both sides gone entirely or rubble. She could see people both dead and injured covering the remains of the street and several people impaled with large earthen spires that had come up through the street. She could hear and see medical witches and wizards flying around on brooms looking for survivors and the ministry had also showed up with aurors everywhere assisting where they could. Hermione could feel the tears start to run down her face at the horror in front of her when suddenly an intense overwhelming fear took hold of her. Her vision began to swim, and she could feel her heart rate increase and despite her attempt to calm down her breathing was becoming faster and faster. Hermione closed her eyes trying to focus but when she opened them, she found herself standing on a hill overlooking a village. She remembered this place though the name escaped her, it was a small wizarding village on Germany's northern coast. Ginny and herself had arrived here after fleeing Britain whereas Luna and Neville had ended up in France. This was a memory a very unhappy one at that. Hermione looked back at the town she could see Ginny and herself leaving to the south followed by a trail of spells as it turned out the town were supporters of Voldemort and his death eaters. It would be the arrival of the figures near the coast and far side of town, they simply stood on the edge of the town before the one in the center took out his wand and placed the tip on the ground, light erupted from the wand and spread into the ground. The three individuals were Voldemort, Bellatrix, and a death eater wearing a silver mask and red hair. The light traveled through the village before dissipating then after a few seconds the ground erupted with light and the earth shattered. Shard of earth spearing everything from the buildings to the people sparing no one and causing a fire and Hermione found herself back in her old body running for her life after having been separated from Ginny. Hermione turned to see something that would scar her forever, People impaled by the earth and blood everywhere highlighted by the fire and the mad cackle of Bellatrix. Hermione tried to move to do anything but she couldn't and her fear kept mounting as she stared at the scene before her until it peaked when three figures appeared in the flame and the sheer desire to escape caused tears to begin flowing freely and she closed her eyes tight. The sensations only stopped when something wrapped itself around her causing Hermione to let out and ear-splitting screech and began to struggle. Eventually a voce began to break through the fog clouding her mind and she could hear more voices joining the first slowly drawing her back to the present. When Hermione opened her eyes, she could see Ms. Leighton with three other people she didn't recognize, and unable to properly communicate and exhausted from the day's events passed out.

Hermione woke slowly and stretched her aching muscles and winced in pain not to mention the headache she was sporting. When she finally looked around, she realized that she was in some kind of makeshift infirmary in what looked like The Leaky Cauldron with an extension charm. Hermione turned her head to see a large number of other people laying on cots just like she was and through the chaos she could make out several faces. She could make out Ollivander's face covered in small cuts and just next to him was Madam Malkin with a head bandage and arms wrapped much the same way. Hermione attempted to sit up only to fall back on her cot with a load moan of pain and the creak of the cot alerting a nearby nurse and Ms. Leighton both of whom were at her side a second later. The nurse cast a quick spell before rushing off to some other area of the infirmary while Ms. Leighton asking undecipherable questions at breakneck speed. Hermione could only lay there her body felt like stone and her brain was barely able to function. Hermione's senses slowly began to return her vision sharped, her hearing cleared, and her ability to feel was growing as well though she wished it wasn't, she could feel the bruises forming. However, it was her hearing that started to cause a problem as it only got better and better to the point where normal conversation sounded like a shouting match. This caused Hermione to place her hands over her ears to muffle as much noise as possible. Her vision was also improving at a rapid rate and everything was becoming crystal clear. The nurse had returned with a doctor who took immediate notice of Hermione's state and whispered something to the nurse who then walked over to Ms. Leighton and whispered to her causing her to stand look between to the doctor and then the nurse before following the nurse to a different area. The Doctor then took out his wand and cast a spell which distorted the area around the two of them. He also placed the wand to his throat, and it glowed slightly and then he put his wand back into his pocket. The doctor then placed his hand over his ears and pulled them away indicating that Hermione should do the same. Hermione slowly removed her hands from her head and gave a sigh of relief when the noise was now much more tolerable.

The Doctor gave a light chuckle "Greeting Ms. Granger, I am Dr. Gavin and while I'm sure you have many questions, I would like to preform a few tests to make sure there are no lasting effects from your episode."

Hermione gave a small nod and the doctor began his work an after a few minutes and a of battery tests the doctor called for a seat and glass of water.

"Here I imagine you're pretty thirsty, drink this and then we can talk." Said the doctor as he handed over the glass.

Hermione consumed the water without hesitation and let out a sigh of contentment before she turned to the doctor and asked "What happened? The last thing I remember is exiting Gringotts and seeing all those people…"

"Whoa! Try not to think back on that just yet." Interjected the doctor "From what we could figure out from Ms. Leighton it would appear that you have some memories from your time as a baby that are locked away in your subconscious and what you saw triggered those memories causing you to go into a state of shock." The doctor took a deep breath and continued "My colleges and I have come to the conclusion that you have some form of PTSD." He finished.

Hermione soaked up this information with a sense of dread because it meant her nightmares would continue haunt her for the foreseen future she looked to the doctor "Is there any way to prevent this from happening again?" she asked quietly

The doctor shook his head "I'm afraid not, this is something you are going to have to live with for the rest of your life. I'm sorry. However, I won't allow you to suffer more than you have too. The nurse is giving your guardian a supply of dreamless sleep potions which should last you until you go to Hogwarts." The doctor finished.

Hermione let out a sigh of relief at least for a time there would be no nightmares. Hermione saw Ms. Leighton and the nurse returning with a bag full of potion slung over Ms. Leighton shoulder. The Doctor had also noticed the return of the two women and took out his wand saying "I'm going to shrink the muffling spell I cast over us to cover only your head it should last until tomorrow and by then your hearing will have returned to normal though your vision might be a little distorted but, it should keep you sane. The doctor waved his wand and the bubble shrunk to fit around Hermione's head causing her vision to swim once more. Hermione sat up on the cot closing her eyes and letting her heart redistribute her blood properly. She could hear the doctor talking to Ms. Leighton but didn't care enough to listen. Upon opening her eyes Hermione found Ms. Leighton giving her a small sad smile before asking "Ready to go home Hermione?"

Hermione gave a small nod before getting to her feet and only then realia zed that both the book and money pouch given to her by Merlin were missing. Hermione began to panic as she searched her pockets and under the cot for her things when Ms. Leighton placed her hand on her shoulder and pointed towards the entrance of the pub where a table was set up and a Ministry official sat waiting.
"Don't worry Hermione, they have you stuff waiting for you over there." Ms. Leighton spoke softly

Hermione, without a word, began moving towards the official quickly followed Ms. Leighton. The two reached the official in record time and before the official could even greet the duo Hermione had already demanded "I need my book back now." As she stared down the Ministry official.

"Hermione! Watch your manners young lady." Scolded Ms. Leighton

Before Hermione could respond something clicked in her head and she meekly said, "Sorry Ms. Leighton."

Ms. Leighton nodded "That's better. I'm sorry for her behavior sir, she has had a very hard day and it seems it has made her rather grumpy."

Hermione found that she no longer had control of her body and could only watch as the Ministry official responded to Ms. Leighton.

"That's quite alright miss. It's understandable. Now about his book did you store it under your name or hers?" asked the official

"Mine" replied Ms. Leighton

"Right, give me a minute." Asked the official as he stood and turned to a series of boxes behind him. A few moments later he returned hold both the book and pouch giving both directly to Hermione who took them with a small smile on her face and a quiet "Thank you."

The official smiled "You're welcome, I assume you two are about to head back home?" he asked

"We were just about to leave. I hope that won't be a problem." Said Ms. Leighton

"Not at all, however you will need an escort due to the nature of this disaster we want to make certain everyone who can get home get home safely." Said the official

"Is that really necessary?" asked Ms. Leighton

"I'm afraid so. Due to unknown nature of this incident it is in the best interest of the Ministry to ensure that everyone gets home safely." replied the official

"I see, so who will our escort be? asked Ms. Leighton

"Hmm… I'm going to send one of our older aurors with you today. Are you familiar with Mad-Eye Moody?" said the official

Both Ms. Leighton's and Hermione's eyes widened.

"A-are you sure, I mean he's one of the heroes who fought against he who must not be named in the first war. Should he really be escorting people back to their homes?" asked Ms. Leighton

"Ha!" a gruff voice from behind the two laughed "I'm no hero, a warrior maybe but not a hero."

Hermione turned to see the one and only Mad-Eye Moody.

"Regardless right now I'm simply an auror who has a job to do. Where are we going?" asked Moody

"London's magical orphanage a few blocks from here should be an easy trip." Replied the official.

"Last time someone told me that I lost my eye." Responded Moody

The silence was deafening until the official cleared his throat "Right… well you can leave whenever you're ready. Goodbye and take care." As he returned to the paperwork at his desk.

Moody turn to the two women "No point in waiting around. Let's get the two of you home."

Moody began walk towards the door with both Hermione and Ms. Leighton hot on his heels. The three quickly moved down the street and Hermione was beginning to regain control of her body. However, before she could retake full control her right hand shot out to grab Ms. Leighton's. This caused Ms. Leighton to look down and give Hermione a soft smile and a soft squeeze of the hand. Hermione returned the smile with one of her own as she regained full control of her body. The rest of the trip continue in silence with Mad-Eye Moody watching everything and everyone they passed ever vigilant for danger. Eventually the three arrived at the orphanage's gate and Moody turned and said "We're here. I'll see you inside but then I'm returning to the Cauldron. Oh and Ms. Leighton if you could visit me at the Auror Office tomorrow morning that would be most helpful."

"Of course, Auror Moody. Come Hermione I think it time we got you a shower and into bed." Replied Ms. Leighton pulling Hermione towards the front door with no resistance from her charge.

However before they could reach the door it burst open and Amy appeared in the doorway and upon see Hermione attempted to rush her only to fall short when Amy missed her footing on the steps and ended up doing a face plant into the grass nearby. However. She was back on her feet seconds later and was hugging Hermione soon after. Amy was crying and blabbering incoherently but clearly very happy to see her best friend alive. Hermione returned the hug with tears pricking at her eyes. Soon they were joined by Ms. Leighton holding them both in her arms as the two girls slowly recovered from their emotional high. Eventually the girls calmed down and Ms. Leighton was able to get them inside get them into a shower before giving Hermione one of her potions and getting both girls into bed. Ms. Leighton was exhausted, but she had one more stop before she could fall into her own bed, the Madam's Office. Standing outside the office door she knocked

"Enter" came the response from within. Ms. Leighton took a deep breath and opened the door. The office was sparse, bookshelves lined both walls filled to the brim with books. A large wooden desk with neatly stacked papers on each corner of the desk. Behind the desk was the Madam sitting in a large high-back chair made of wood and leather. The Madam herself was tall for a woman standing at just over six feet tall and average in weight, her hair was jet black and held in a thigh bun, her eyes an icy blue followed line after line on a piece of paper she held in her hands. The Madam had a penchant for the color black and usually wore long black conservative dresses with robes and little else. While the Madam usually had a stoic unreadable expression but now, she was clearly concerned about whatever she was reading, without looking up she spoke "It seem you had quite the interesting day Ms. Leighton."

"Yes, Madam." Replied Ms. Leighton

"Tell me what happened." Ordered Madam

Ms. Leighton gave a small before retelling the events of the day while the Madam listened carefully. When Ms. Leighton had finished the Madam sat quietly thinking before she spoke "Thank you Ms. Leighton. I'll have to talk to young Ms. Granger tomorrow and see what we can do about her school supplies, maybe some of the older students will be able to help. For now, get some rest you've more than earned it."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll see you in the morning" replied Ms. Leighton

The Madam waited until Ms. Leighton had left the room before looking down at the letter she had been reading earlier.

Dear Madam Tarisa

I know your name Madam and you know what that means. Allow me to explain what is happening, I am Hermione Granger from roughly four years in your future. I am the heir of Merlin and Morgan le Fay and there is a prophecy about me involving both Dumbledore and Voldemort. This letter as well as the other letter and a bag are items I left behind with the goblins after I traveled to the past. The second letter and bag are for the past me they contain the items I will need for my first year at Hogwarts. I ask that you trust me and revel nothing about this to past me or anyone else and know that in time I will trust you too. I will ask only one more thing from you, please teach me everything you know. I will need it.

Love Hermione

Tarisa rubbed her forehead already feeling the headache developing from the sheer impossibility of what she was reading but when she looked down, seeing both the bag and letter for Hermione, it was just too much. Tarisa stood up from her desk and exited the room locking the door with the strongest locking spell she knew before heading to bed.

The morning came too quickly for both Tarisa and Hermione with the latter waking due to the sun shining through her window. Hermione turned away from the light hoping she would be able to once again fall into the world of unconscious bliss. It was not to be, for a few moments later someone knocked on her door and the muffled voice of Ms. Leighton asked, "Are you awake Hermione?"

"No!" came the muffled response. The door opened regardless, and Ms. Leighton entered the room behind her floated a plate of food.

"Hermione, I know you've had a hard day yesterday, but you need to get up. Its almost nine and the Madam wants to see you as soon as possible. "informed Ms. Leighton as she placed the food on the bedside table.

"Ugh, fine" replied Hermione as she extracted herself from the sheets drawing a giggle from Ms. Leighton

"Right then, I'll leave you to it then." Replied Ms. Leighton "I'll see you again this evening." She finished leaving the room

Hermione sat up and quickly ate her breakfast before getting dressed and heading to the Madam's office. Upon arriving she knocked and entered find the Madam sitting at her desk writing something.

"Good morning Hermione. Please have a seat I'll be finished in just a moment." Said the Madam

Hermione taking her cue sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk and waited, two minutes later the Madam put down her quill and looked up.

"Hermione, you've had a rough few weeks, how are you feeling?' asked the Madam

"Honestly, I'm just really tired the last few weeks have been trying…" replied Hermione as she sank deeper into her chair.

"Indeed. Now you need school supplies and with recent events, shopping is out of the picture. My plan involved asking around the orphanage for secondhand items. However, it would seem that you have quite the powerful benefactor. These are yours I believe." Said the Madam as she pulled the letter and bag from behind her desk.

Hermione recognized the bag; it was her own from the past, but the letter was the mot concerning to her. It was a simple envelope with her name written on it. She swiftly opened the letter and began to read…

Hello Hermione,

You know who I am, and I know your life has been hectic recently. It will get worse, but your allies will grow. I can only give advice on who to trust and hope you take my words to heart. First trust the Madam she is a master of Legilimency and Occlumency. Ask and she will teach. Second trust Amy, she will be a valuable friend and powerful ally and when her eyes glow never lie to her. Third trust Neville, help him grow and his strength will be yours when you need it. Fourth trust Professor Sherry Valler, she is the new DADA teacher at Hogwarts and is incredibly intelligent and is very hands on when it comes to teaching. Do not trust the other teachers not Hagrid or McGonagall. You won't meet the first two knights until just before your second years starts. Begin preparing them for war.

Watch your back,

Hermione

Hermione was stunned this was a letter from her future self, a warning and helping hand from the future. Hermione shook her head and grabbed the bag and opened it. The bag clearly had a magical extension charm placed on it and a very special type of extension charm at that Hermione in her old world had developed a special type of magical extension while on the run. The bag she currently held had her special type of extension charm on it. The charm divided the space inside the bag into different sections each holding different books and items she would need for her first-year classes at Hogwarts. Hermione also found a wand in one of the sections, her own wand from before she lost it to Bellatrix in her old world. Hermione pulled the wand out of the bag and gave it a test wave. The wand let out a single golden butterfly that floated over to the Madam and landed on her shoulder. Hermione smiled and felt tears sting her eyes the sheer joy of having her old wand back was beyond description. The Madam waited a few moments before giving a light cough.

"Hermione how are you feeling now?" asked the Madam

"Better, much better." Replied Hermione

"That's wonderful now if you don't have any other questions, I would ask that you leave, I am a very busy woman after all." Said the Madam

"Actually, I do have one question. What did you get a mastery in?" asked Hermione

The Madam stiffened slightly "Why do you ask Ms. Granger?" she replied quickly

"Partially out of curiosity and partially because I think you can help me." said Hermione

"Very well but on one condition for every lesson I give you, you share information with me." replied the Madam

Hermione closed her eyes while she thought before replying "Very well, what is your first question?" asked Hermione

"Who are you?" asked the Madam

Hermione let out a quiet sigh before responding "I am Hermione Granger just not your Hermione. I come from a different world with a different timeline. I have seen things you would not believe could happen."

"I see… that is interesting, and I suppose I'll find out whether that claim is true soon enough. How much do you know about Occlumency?" asked the Madam

"I know a little from my time in the other world. I know enough to set up a barrier in my mind." Replied Hermione

"Then please do so. The stronger your barrier the better I can assess your skill level." Said the Madam

Hermione closed her eyes and erected her metal barriers and gave a small nod to indicate she was ready. After a few seconds Hermione could feel the Madam probing her metal walls gently at first then stronger and stronger until it suddenly stopped. Then a she felt the massive strike at the back of her head breaking through her defenses. The Madam was surprised, Hermione was too young to have such mental defenses and yet she did. However, it was still far too easy for the Madam to break though Hermione's walls and the memoires, no girl Hermione's age should have them. Memoires of three people two women and a man fighting for their lives in London's alley ways, a woman dressed in black laughing as she carved something into Hermione's flesh, Hogwarts in ruins charred black. Then a memory of gold pillars and endless hallways and a cackling laugh echoing but, before she could get a good feel on what was happening the Madam was pushed from Hermione's mind with such force that she fell back against her desk for support. The Madam righted herself and tried once more to enter Hermione's mind only to find it protected by an impregnatable barrier. Hermione was still reeling from the mental assault and feeling slightly drained from the entire experience and simply sink into her chair. The Madam was far worse off, after the second attempt on Hermione's mind, her own mind had been assaulted by a powerful force that had nearly crippled her and she was now on the floor. Hermione was the first to recover finally shaking off the attack into her mind and repressing the dark memories that had arisen. The Madam still dazed looked up at Hermione only to see her covered in glimmering translucent scale like armor. The Madam closed her eyes and shook her head and looked at a now completely normal looking Hermione. The Madam began to stand using the desk for support and with the help of Hermione was able to get back into her chair. The two sat in silence for several minutes until the Madam broke the silence.

"Hermione can you explain to me what happened when I invaded your mind?" asked The Madam

Hermione let out a sigh before responding "I set up my mental barriers which you then probed and managed to break through, then the memories began flooding back and then nothing until I saw you on the floor."

"Interesting I was forced out of your mind and when I entered a second time something in your mind struck back and almost destroyed my mind. I don't know what it was, but it felt like a wall of stone, and just after I could have sworn, I saw something around you. Never mind that for now, my curiosity can wait your training cannot therefore starting tomorrow and until you leave for Hogwarts you will train with me every morning until you can properly resist a mental intrusion." Said the Madam.

Hermione was taken aback as in her combined memory never had the Madam offered to help anyone to this level and Hermione could only respond with a small nod.

"Right then I will see you tomorrow morning Hermione, don't be late." Said the Madam

"Yes Madam." Hermione replied as she got up and moved to the door and exited the room as if on autopilot. She remained in a dazed state until she found herself sitting on her bed at which point both women thought the exact same thing.

"That was one hell of an experience."

Okay, next chapter done in time for the holidays. I must apologize for the lateness of this chapter as the place I work, Fedex Ground demands more hours during the holiday season and I also feel as if this chapter is a little underwhelming but I will let my readers be the judges of that, Thank you all for your patience. Now onto the few reviews from last time.

Renu: I hope I haven't lost your attention during my long absence. I have most of the story in my head I just have to get it onto the computer. I'll also say just that Hermione has more to worry about than the threat of just Dumbledore and Voldemort.

sanekittens: You ask a lot of questions and bring up some good points that I clearly failed to convey properly. To clarify, The wand is powerful but having been unused for a few thousand years means it needs reform its stagnant magic into something more usable. On the PTSD issue it will happen when the three meet and the awesomeness will outweigh the sadness, I promise but part of why I write is to bring forth as many emotions as possible so be prepared to feel. Hermione has just begun her journey in this world and had a very rough chaotic start with little rest between unbalancing events by the time she gets to Hogwarts you'll begin to see more of the adultness in her. Her memoires of her childhood in her time are gone for good replaced by the younger Hermione's memories and as for contacting Viskara at this point she is unable to contact him, but he can contact her and simply hasn't done so yet. Hope that helps clarify and thanks for the review.

BluTiger13: I'm glad to respond to my readers it helps keep me grounded in a way I haven't been before and thanks for understand that creative projects take time. Know I won't stop working on this story even if I only have one individual reading.

kpop1392as: Hermione will be to different situations differently in some cases holding back and in others letting her power free. I am still working on how I'm going to deal with the house elves at the moment so I cant really give you a clear answer just yet.

MaskedMistressJade: Maybe not soon but finally an update.