Author's Note: A very brief note, before this chapter begins:

I've had several reviews and DMs that are wondering if this will be a HarryHermione fic or a TomHermione fic. The answer? Neither. There will be romance, yes; that's why it is a sub-genre of this fic. But, it will never be a HarryHermione ship. You will see why that is not and cannot be the ship for this story. As for TomHermione, I am saying no to that one, as well, because for what I planned for as far as the plot - it'd be a real disservice to their story arcs to go with the True Love Conquers All trope and ship them together.

So, yes, lots of romance and ships, one of which involves Harry, another that involves Sirius, and a few canon romances of canon character's ancestors in the 1940s. But, for Tom and Hermione? They have other ships to sail on in this story, than the HMS True Love Conquers All.

If that disappoints you all, I do apologize. I have other stories featuring HarryHermione and could possibly write a TomHermione fic, but The Sepulcher of Souls is neither of those stories.

Without further ado, I present the next chapter!


CHAPTER III: A Core Catastrophe

Professor McGonagall had warned her that something catastrophic and unpredictable could happen if she tried to use the Time-Turner for anything other than its prescribed use.

When she'd very seriously and very sternly given Hermione the Time-Time Turner on the night of the Welcome Feast, Professor McGonagall had made it clear - this was a tool to support her schooling only.

The Transfiguration Professor had been unabashed to admit she believed Hermione was a stellar student, well on her path to becoming a magical prodigy. Thus, Professor McGonagall had worked very hard all summer long on Hermione's behalf, petitioning the Ministry. It had been a long and very prickly process, mostly consisting of assuring and reassuring them that the young witch in question was responsible, hard-working, dedicated to her studies and one of the wisest and most mature Gryffindors and Hogwarts students she'd seen in decades - therefore, the use of a Time-Turner to help her take additional classes was a sound and worthy reason.

Hermione had never been prouder than when Professor McGonagall had put the small, diaphanous necklace in her hand.

She would use the Time-Turner for a probationary period of one school year. The third-year curriculum was enough of an example of how well she'd do, with the advancement of core classes and the addition of rigorous electives to her course load. Then, she would meet with a representative from the Department of Mysteries and the end of third-year, so that it could be assessed if she was allowed to continue using it. Hermione had been so excited, near bursting with anticipation of how much she would learn and how much more powerful she would become because of it - then, Professor McGonagall had done something rare.

She'd reached out, held Hermione's chin tightly, and made the young witch look her directly in her dark eyes.

In a clear and pressing Scottish brogue that made a chill go down her spine, Professor McGonagall had told her:

"Time Travel is possible and real, Miss Granger. Magic makes it possible and real, but also a catastrophe of unthinkable proportions when deliberately misused, abused, or thought to be an easily controlled tool to be manipulated for one's own uses. Do not take it upon yourself to do anything but respect Time and its mighty power when coupled with magic. Time is a magic of its own, beyond our human understanding - and, there is no telling what will happen if you try and engage with a magical force beyond yourself."

Professor McGonagall could not have made it clearer that she was doing something dangerous and unpredictable and complex, but she'd trusted Hermione to be responsible and obedient and live up to the promises of her character and integrity she'd made to the Ministry for Magic.

Not only had she not listened or obeyed, Hermione couldn't help but feeling an immense guilt at having broken Professor McGonagall's trust and disappointed her.

By being astride a hippogriff with her best friend and an escaped convict, after having used the Time Turner to make it all possible, Hermione had done exact what Professor McGonagall had yearned for her not do -

Try and manipulate Time for her own uses, instead of what she was meant to be using it for.

A thunderous volley of spells slammed directly into her.

Mr. Black's skeletal hands clutching at her arms to try and move her out of the line of fire, Harry yelled in distress as he reached behind him and grabbed her arm to do just as Mr. Black but in another direction -

It was too late.

Hermione had never screamed as she did in that moment, an agonized and shattering noise being pulled from her as the Time Turner exploded with a high-pitched buzz. For one singular moment, glass and sand granules and light moved in slow motion around her, like a cloud or a halo - then, the utter and shattering agony came.

White-and-gold flames leapt onto her mouth, her neck, her nose, her hair, blistered down across her collarbone and down her chest.

Hermione was on fire.

Before she could think another thought beyond this terrifying realization, something yanked terribly and wretchedly at everything in her middle, hurting worse than the fire -

Hermione gasped, her eyes opening wildly, blindly, emptily.

"Oh! Oh, my - there, there, darling - it's alright. You're alright now - "

Hermione moaned in pain, her eyesight cloudy and dazed enough to only allow her to see a blur of red somewhere above her.

"Darling, you're safe now, but you're awfully hurt. I'm about to give you a potion that will put you to sleep - but you'll only be sleep. You're safe now and I'm going to Heal you..."

Hermione couldn't understand anything over the pain, but the feel of coolness in her charred mouth was more important. The coolness gave a relief that made her whimper like a child of four instead of a young lady of fourteen. Another sort of coolness was on the part of her face that could feel something other than pain- soft, smelling of jasmine, and with the soothing pressure that could only come from someone like a mum.

Hermione whimpered once more, everything hurting worse than ever, and then, suddenly -

Darkness.

A darkness that was smooth and calming, curling around her pain-shocked mind like a soft, cocooning blanket. This darkness was different from the crushing, burning, shredding darkness that had come after the Time-Turner had broken. This darkness was...

Hermione didn't think or know anymore, as she fell into a deep, sedated sleep.

The Healer that stood above her, hands shaking slightly, looked down and promptly burst into tears.

This was going to be a long and uncertain night for everyone involved in this unusual, spectacular, unforeseen consequence of trying to manipulate and shift Time itself.


Cedrella sniffled hard, trying to stem anymore tears from coming from her bright-blue eyes.

A part of a Healer's training was to be able to effectively manage one's emotions, but in this moment, Cedrella couldn't help herself.

These children - both the young wizard and the young witch - were about the same age as her boys. Marcellus and Octavius would be going into in their seventh and fourth years at Hogwarts, respectively, come the first of September. Glancing between the two beds, one with the charred girl and the other with the deathly still but stabilized boy, both of these children looked to be around the age of her Octavius.

What had happened to them? What was the meaning of the crash? Where were they coming from and why were they traveling in the dead of night by Portkey to start with? Was the man with their kidnapper - or, their father or uncle? Who was he and who were they, each of these grievously harmed children?

So many questions began bubbling, as a spike of motherly outrage very briefly rose up in here.

They had no business out of their homes at this time of night! Let alone experiencing the awful, explosive event that had them being rescued from an unknown wreckage in a burning field! Children should be safe and protected and well taken care of. Not whatever this was, for whatever reason it had happened.

Cedrella took a deep breath, truly steadying herself after a few minutes of suppressing tears.

Through tearful eyes, she watched in relief as the dose of Sedation Serum finally began taking effect in the young witch, who was marred and harmed as if she'd tussled with a nest of baby dragons. There was no part of her Healing training and Emergency Medicine specialization that had her doubting that it would be best for this child to be unconscious, before Cedrella began work on Healing her.

It took a little longer than average for the dose to pull the witch into a magically-induced sleep. The child must be rather powerful, magically, to be able to resist the potent magic of the potion for as long as she did - but, within another minute or two, the potion took properly.

Cedrella breathed easier as the child's vitals began lower and steady.

Young Miss, as Cedrella had begun to call her mentally, was in far too much pain to be able to be conscious just yet.

It would be another week before her body had healed and the damage had been repaired enough to allow her to be awake without the agony of what had happened to her tonight. Cedrella didn't want the girl awake a moment before that. '

Not if she could help it.

Cedrella took a deep breath, steadying her hands.

Quietly, methodically, she began to work. It would take all of her skills and all of her focus to successfully Heal any of these strange wreckage victims, who'd suddenly appeared in Hogsmeade Village, for reasons and purposes unknown.


Phineas Aurelius had been the Mayor of Hogsmeade Village for forty years, so far. This, however, was the first time in all his decades as Mayor and steward of this Wizarding Village that he'd ever seen something like this - the charmwork that indicated the scene of a magical catastrophe was being shielded from public view.

A gossamer dome of magic was spread over the wreckage site, not allowing Phineas Aurelius to see anything at all, until he stepped through the spell-boundary. He blinked harshly, as he understood the purpose of the dome was to provide cover and light to see by.

His blue-gray eyes were adjusting, as Constable Spinnet noticed him.

The brawny, brown-skinned wizard was practically sprinting towards him, almost bowling into several of his deputies, as he skidded to a halt before Phineas Aurelius. Constable Spinnet was both panicked and distressed, speaking before Phineas Aurelius could even draw breath to speak himself.

"Mr. Mayor! Oh, Mr. Mayor, sir - this is - we've only begun to figure out what's happened and it isn't good!"

Phineas Aurelius gave Constable Spinnet a steadying look. The former Gryffindor was excitable, certainly, but this was beyond that. This was true panic and the scattered focus of trying to cope with a number of intense things, all at once.

"Well, then, start from what you know, Alfred," said Phineas Aurelius, crisply. "Take a deep breath and make your report, Constable."

Constable Spinnet was grim, as he gathered himself and declared:

"This was not a Portkey wreck, Mr. Mayor. Preliminary search and investigation is making it clear that there is no magical signature or spell residue that matches a Portkey, even an unauthorized Portkey."

Phineas frowned. This was not promising, so far. Although he had a nasty suspicion about the answer, he still asked.

"A Porktkey has been ruled out. What about Apparition, misappropriation of Floo Powder, or other conventional means of magical transportation or travel?"

Constable Spinnet shook his head, gravely. "None, sir. There is no conventional or unconventional reason or means by magic known to me, why they appeared or how."

Phineas Aurelius felt his shoulders instantly becoming tense with the knowledge of what must be going on, if none of his law enforcement officials could determine the magic used to create or produce this level of magical catastrophe.

"Well, if it is unrecognizable and has produced this level of destruction and chaos, then surely, it is Dark Magic," announced Phineas Aurelius, taking the step to make clear what Constable Spinnet was dreading to have to declare himself. "The presence of Dark Magic can only mean one thing."

Constable Spinnet shook his head, a droop in his shoulders as he confirmed:

"This crash had nothing to do with Muggles and their war. This has to be an operative of Grindelwald, due to the Dark Magic. They must have landed here tonight by Dark magical means." Constable Spinnet was stricken, as the Mayor stared at him with an unreadable expression, adding: "The war has finally reached Britain, after all these years of refuge and neutrality, I suppose."


An hour or two must have passed before Cedrella was satisfied that both children were stable, if still in critical condition. There was only so much Healing that she could do here, the lone Healer present and without the environment needed to produce peak magical medical results. Ensuring that both children were alive, had stable vitals, and were fit enough to tolerate a magically-induced sleep, Cedrella dosed each child with a twelve-hour Dreamless Sleep potion.

She did not normally believe in sedating children, but in this instance, there was little question that it was the appropriate action to take.

Both children had been through a terrible ordeal and their young bodies needed sound rest for recuperative purposes. Right now, their delicate magical cores had to replenish and stabilize after the traumatic experience they'd been through; the best means of that happening would be to ensure they slept with the aid of magic for the next few hours.

Cedrella stood for a moment, slightly out of breath from the steady and intensive work that Healing these children had been.

"Well, Lolly, I believe that does it for these two little ones." Cedrella announced, allowing her house-elf assistant to cancel the sterilizing charms on her hands. "End the report and gather the notes for me to review, over a cup of tea."

Lolly, her trusted medical assistant elf, bowed low, disappearing with a snap.

Cedrella left the other two elf assistants to their bedside duties to their pediatric patients, taking the brief respite before reviewing the medical records to check in on the other patient to be seen to tonight.

The deputy followed her footstep for footstep, protectively hovering as Cedrella stood before the chained wizard's bed, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

The wizard was in a state of stasis from the Stabilizing Spell, not able to decline or improve in health until the spell was cancelled by Cedrella.

Her uncle wanted her to keep him like this indefinitely, until it became clear exactly what was going on - but, Cedrella wasn't too fond of the idea. The Stabilizing Spell was meant to hold the person in a state of stasis temporarily, usually to extend the time needed to make a decision or determine a diagnosis. It wasn't anything close to the Drought of Living Death, where the stasis would literally immobilize the presence of life in the human body and hold it in perfect stillness into a counter-dose was provided. There was another couple of hours, at most, before the spell would start to deteriorate and the wizard would begin to slip back into the state of utter trauma he'd been in when Cedrella had found him.

"Are you going to start your work on him right now, Healer?" questioned the deputy, warily. "Mr. Mayor has given instructions - "

"I'm aware of the Mayor's directives, Deputy." Cedrella said, looking away from the trauma patient that awaited her soon enough and at the deputy eyeing her, readily. "I'm not ready to begin my work, but I will require you to remain on watch - within the room, not outside. I need to know the second something changes with this wizard and I don't believe you'd be able to do that from a distance, outside in the corridor."

The deputy didn't seem to like this, but acquiesced, anyhow.

Cedrella left him to the task of guarding the adult companion of the pediatric patients she'd just stabilized, returning to the pair of children across the hall.

The room was now quiet. The medi-elves stood watchfully at the end of each child's bed, waiting with sharply observing eyes to attend to their charges within a split-second, if needed. Cedrella found that a table had materialized in the corner, large enough for a service with her favorite green tea and fresh veggies and fruits to graze upon, should she needed - and, a neat stack of parchment. A small thrill went through her at the sight of the stack of paperwork that was clearly the reports that had been recorded as she'd been Healing the children and stabilizing them.

Those sheafs of parchment held the beginning of answers and understanding of their completely unfathomable mystery and she couldn't wait to get her hands on them.

Cedrella took a much-need drink of the warm, refreshing tea, before grabbing a couple of carrots and starting to read the reports.

She was not prepared for what she found.


Phineas Aurelius was already preparing himself for what would await him now that he was back at City Hall, as he walked up the steps of the modest, elegant building -

But, he didn't plan on being greeted by a panicked Cedrella right as he stepped inside of the wooden double doors of Hogsmeade City Hall.

"Uncle, thank Nimue, there you are - we need to talk. Now!"

Phineas Aurelius drew his wand, swiftly.

"What's wrong? Have any of the victims awakened? Have they attempt to attack - "

"No, Uncle Phineaus - no. Nothing like that," said Cedrella, urgently interrupting him. Phineas Aurelius narrowed his eyes, as she practically brandished a stack of parchment at him, declaring: "There is something terribly, terribly strange going on and I have to discuss what my reports found, before you go any further. Please, let's take this to your office, Uncle - it's really important."

Phineas Aurelius had no choice but to follow his niece to his own office, their booted footsteps sounding off far too loudly in the exceptionally silent corridors. Ordinarily, City Hall was bustling with activity of the staff and citizens of their village's singular government building - but, it wasn't the case, in the middle of the night as it was. Phineas Aurelius had to keep from flinching as his office door closed heavily, echoing down the corridor loudly in the silence of an empty executive floor.

As soon as he was behind his desk, Cedrella began talking - and Phineas Aurelius could hardly believe what she was saying.

"I haven't examined the adult wreckage victim, on your orders, because I wasn't sure if it was safe or not to take him out of stasis - but, I certainly took care of the children. While I was healing them, my medi-elf, Lolly, was taking report. Oh, Uncle, it's awful!" Cedrella was angry and sad all at once, as she brandished her paperwork again. "The boy is somewhere between twelve and fourteen years old, but there is strong suggestion of neglect or abuse, such as being malnourished, poorly healed fractures and broken bones, and significant damage to his organ system due to MCB."

Phineas Aurelis blinked. "MCB?" he asked, choosing to focus on the unknown, less horrific part of his niece's statement; his ignorance of the acronym was giving him time to process what sounded like an awful life for such a young child so far.

"Magical Core Backlash," said Cedrella, promptly. "It is a syndrome that occurs when a person experiences a traumatic magical event and their core must divert raw magic to the physical body systems to prevent death. It's the action that happens, which makes us survive human events that non-magical people wouldn't be able to."

Phineas Aurelius nodded, feeling further sickened.

The boy they'd found in the pasture among the wreckage had not only been abused and neglected, but he'd suffered a traumatic magical event - events? - well before this unexpected magical catastrophe. How could one be so young, but have experienced so much turmoil so soon? His mind dwelling on how the child did look particularly thin, as his body had been placed on the gurney out in the pasture, Phineas Aurelius shook his head as if to clear it.

"And, what of the young girl?" asked the Mayor, quiet and disturbed.

Cedrella shook her head, sadly. "The poor lass suffered the worst of the crash out there, Uncle. She has very serious magical burns on her face, throat, and chest. I spent at least thirty minutes removing debris and shrapnel from her head, eyes, and mouth. I'll have to wait to see when she wakes, if she'll need any level of rehabilitation or convalescent care, due to the seriousness of her cranial injuries and burn damage."

Phineas Aurelius swallowed thickly. "Merlin be with her," he murmured, shocked and saddened to know a child was in such critical condition. "Was there anything about her that suggested abuse or harm or neglect, as with the boy?"

Cedrella looked through her notes, quickly. "Well, yes and no. As far as her health, she is far better cared for than her wizard companion - no signs of undernourishment, she is of normal weight for her height and suspected age of thirteen to fifteen, and she has no illnesses or disease we could find. However, I don't know what to make of a couple of things I found - and what I do make it of it, it's deeply disturbing."

"Go on," urged Phineas Aurelius, worriedly.

"The child had metal wires and brackets within her mouth, welded to her teeth on both the top and bottom rows for whatever reason - and, when I went to remove them, it was warped and took several teeth with it, from the accident." Cedrella's voice was cold, as she demanded: "For what reason would a young witch have metal fused into her mouth in that most barbaric way?"

Phineas Aurelius glared, darkly. "I can think of a few reasons. Silence, submission, torture - " The Mayor of Hogsmeade shook his head darkly, as the information started piecing together a very dark picture within his mind. "What else, Ella?"

Cedrella glanced at her notes again, continuing: "Unlike her companion, the girl has only experienced one traumatic magical event. From the diagnostic spells, it appears that it happened a year ago, and it was a very Dark piece of magic that attacked her magical core to the point where it was atrophied for several months. I've never in my studies or my career so far come across Dark magic like the kind that its reporting as left on her magical core."

Phineas Aurelius sat back in his chair as his niece shook her head again sadly, neither of them having the words for a moment.

What in the name of magic had these children been through, where they were showing signs of abuse, neglect, torture, and attacks of Dark Magic?

"I can't begin to fathom where these children have come from or what they've gone through," said Phineas Aurelius, breaking the mournful silence between himself and his niece. "However, I do know where we can begin to find answers."

Cedrella straightened up, her shoulders squared firmly. "I'm not waking those children for another twelve hours, at minimum, Uncle. As you've heard, they've been through the unthinkable and need every moment of that rest - and more!"

"Of course not, Ella. I wouldn't dream of disturbing those children or putting them through any more than you've made it clear they've suffered from." Phineas Aurelius assured her. "What I am suggesting, however, is that one among them is awakened and questioned, so that we can begin to understand is happening." The Mayor of Hogsmeade got to his feet, a rarely seen dark look upon his face, as he shared: "The preliminary investigation Constable Spinnet conducted in the pasture has determined the presence of foreign, unknown magic. As the magic in question caused a magical catastrophe and coupled with your reports of the children involved suffering from exposure and assault of Dark Magic, I feel there is no choice but to declare this an attack of Dark Magic. It is my guess, though not my official report, that the wizard currently in stasis in the barracks is the one responsible - and, if we are to understand what is going on, why those children have suffered through this, and what we are to do next, we must wake him and demand answers. Immediately."

Cedrella wasn't unclear on what was being suggested, this time.

Someone had to be questioned and made to help them understand what was going on, before the Ministry for Magic had to be looped in and made aware of what happened.

After reading the reports from the Healing she'd had to do and what the diagnostic spells had revealed, Cedrella - like her uncle - couldn't imagine allowing either of the pair to have to do anything but rest and heal their young, broken bodies. They were children who were clearly involved in something beyond their control and beyond what they should have had to been exposed to, because of Dark Magic and a magical catastrophe.

The one who would give the answers would be the adult wizard in convict's robes.

Whether he wanted to or not.


Sirius didn't know whether or not he still had a body.

All he could feel was - nothing. Nothing at all. No pain, no fear, no anxious adrenaline thundering through his too-thin, too-weak body, but neither could he feel his hands or his feet or any other parts himself, the parts of himself that would let him get up and go in search of the two children he needed to protect and care for. The sensation of nothing was acute, irresistible, unable to be overcome -

But, somehow, suddenly, he didn't have to.

His eyes opened, sluggishly.

He still had a body, even if he couldn't feel it at the moment.

The only reason he knew he still had a body was because of the witch and wizard leaning over him, as only someone could when they were looking down upon someone prone on a hospital bed. The searingly lime-green robes that the witch wore certainly indicated something about a hospital, for only Healers wore robes of that unique shade of green.

"If you can hear me, please blink once."

The witch was staring at him, intensely.

Sirius blinked once.

"Very good. We are going to use one blink for yes, two blinks for no. Blink once if you understand, blink twice if you do not understand."

Sirius blinked once, hard.

The witch looked up at her wizard companion, asking a question Sirius couldn't quite make out.

He was still having a hard time staying inside of the body he knew he hadn't lost, every moment making something behind his eyes ache - a pressure that seemed to increase, the longer he focused on staying in his body and keeping his eyes open.

"Alright. What I'm going to do is use a very brief spell to stabilize your senses, so that we can determine if you're stable enough to answer our questions. When I cast this spell, you will be able to see clearly, hear clearly, and speak clearly only, for a total of sixty-seconds only. We'll see what that does, then go from there. Blink please, showing whether or not you understand.

Sirius blinked as hard as he could, once.

It took far more out of him than he realized to do something so utterly simple as blink. When the Healer's spell washed over him like a blast of cold air, Sirius found that the last of his strength was gathered, so that he could look at the pair of people above him with clear eyes.

Sirius was not the only one shocked to their very core, when he gasped with stunned horror:

"Grand-Uncle Phineas? Cousin Cedrella? What are you doing here? What's going on?"


[Author's Note: Well! There was a lot going on in this chapter, but for good reason. The plot has officially taken off and things start moving swiftly, from here.

I have always wanted it to be address just how much trauma and harm that Harry and his friends have experienced, being childhood combatants in a magical war. With this being a post-PoA AU, there is already a lot that Harry and Hermine have both gone through in terms of traumatic events and that has to have been a lot on their young bodies. Petrification and slaying a Basilisk are not small or meaningless experiences and we're going to get deep into that, in this fic.

With the crash having happened right outside of Hogwarts, this absolutely puts us into official proximity with Tom Riddle - and, that's exactly who appears next chapter. I will remind everyone ahead of time that this is labeled a Darkfic for a reason. With the introduction of Riddle in the next chapter, a lot of heavy topics and themes begin to appear, so be aware ahead of time. There will not be trigger warnings on chapters, as I feel they are backhanded spoilers; but, I want everyone to know ahead of time that the content gets heavy with the next update.

Next chapter will follow soon! Thank you for the reviews and follows/favorites for this fic. I do appreciate it!]