The next few weeks passed quickly and Hermione still had heard nothing from Professor Snape. Soon it would be Halloween, which always came with its own set of challenges each year, without fail. Hopefully, this year would be different, but she wasn't holding her breath.
Hermione's mind was on other things during Defense Against the Dark Arts and it didn't get by the Professor.
"Miss Granger, can you repeat what I just said?"
Hermione looked up at Professor Snape and felt her face heat up as the rest of the class was staring at her as well. "No, sir."
"Perhaps detention will help you focus better in class. 8 o'clock tonight, my office."
"Yes sir," Hermione responded, nodding.
After class, Harry caught up with her on the way to the Great Hall. "Hermione, are you okay?"
She nodded. "I was just distracted in class is all. My mind was wandering."
"Usually Snape just takes points away. I feel that you don't deserve detention, especially since he's supposed to be helping us."
"Well, he can't give away his position, he has to act like he still dislikes us to an extent. Plus, I think it might have been a cover-up...maybe he has information on how to protect the colony."
Harry's mouth formed an o and Hermione laughed. "Want to come with me?"
"Can't," he said as they entered the Hall for lunch. "Dumbledore."
"That's okay, I am excited to hear about what else you learn tonight. We can exchange information when we both get back to the common room."
The rest of the day passed slowly and soon Hermione found herself outside Professor Snape's office at precisely 8 o'clock. She knocked and immediately was ushered in.
"Professor," Hermione said, nodding her head in greeting. She dropped her book bag to the floor and sat in a chair near his desk.
"Miss Granger." His hands were clasped in front of him, sitting on the desk. "I am sure you already figured it out, but this is not your typical detention."
"I thought so, sir. You figured something out?"
"Indeed."
He pushed a piece of paper toward her and Hermione immediately began to read the familiar scrawled writing.
Protego totalum protects areas for an extended period of time from intruders or spells except for the unforgivable curses. Protego totalum combined with runes carved into the protective shield will provide ultimate protection depending on the runes used. Runes recommended to use are:
Uruz (Ox) bringing strength and energy
Algiz (White Elk) bringing protection and support
Sowulu (Sun) bringing health, energy, success, and power
Teiwaz (The God) bringing strength, warrior, and duty
Ehwaz (Horse) bringing motion, energy, and power
Hermione looked up at her professor. "It's this easy?"
"I wouldn't consider carving runes into a protective shield easy, but yes, it's as simple as a protective charm combined with runes."
"When can we put this into place?" she asked eagerly, sitting on the edge of her seat. She set the piece of paper back down on the desk.
"As soon as possible would be ideal. But there is one other thing that I wanted to discuss with you beforehand."
Hermione raised a curious eyebrow. "What is it?"
"You can reach out to Atargatis at will since you are Daughter of the Sea. I think you should try to connect with her and see if she has any messages or wisdom for you. If you have any questions, she can answer them."
Hermione pulled the beads out from underneath her robes where she constantly kept them hidden. "It might be a little curious of me to be sitting in the Black Lake at the end of October."
"Perhaps try the prefect's bath. It's not technically a body of water, but with the Siren pictured there, it's worth a try."
Hermione nodded her head. "You're right. I will go tomorrow evening, perhaps underneath Harry's cloak." She paused. "When do you think we should place protection over the colony?"
Professor Snape paused for a moment before responding. "I think it would be best to go before Halloween. We all know Mister Potter's proclivity for trouble around Halloween...I wouldn't be surprised if the Dark Lord shares that same proclivity."
Hermione nodded in understanding. She had been thinking the same thing earlier that morning. "Too true."
"But…" Professor Snape continued. "I would like for you to come to me after you make contact with Atargatis, ideally the next day would be. If she has wisdom to offer, it's best if we know before we make our way to the colony."
"I'll bring Harry too, and we'll sneak down here as we have before."
Professor Snape nodded his head in agreement and stood from the desk. Hermione followed suit and picked up her book bag from the floor. "Have a good evening, Professor, and thank you" she said, as she walked out the door.
He didn't say anything, but she knew that he watched her reach the end of the hallway leading out of the dungeons. She knew it was for her safety and was grateful for his watchful eye.
Quickly, she made her way back to the Gryffindor common room to await Harry's arrival from Dumbledore's office. She was excited to reveal their new findings to him and hoped that his lesson with Dumbledore had been just as enlightening as her meeting with Professor Snape.
The next evening, Hermione carefully made her way to the prefect's bathroom on the fourth floor, covered by Harry's invisibility cloak. Her Atargatis chanting beads were around her neck as usual. When she reached the bathroom door, she whispered the password and slipped in, closing the door behind her, taking off the invisibility cloak as she did so.
Hermione made quick work of the taps and soon, the bath was full of bubbling water. She sighed as she relaxed in the hot water and took a few moments to enjoy it before changing into her mermaid form and wrapping her fingers around the beads at her neck. Shutting her eyes, Hermione let her mind relax, allowing any thoughts not pertaining to the task at hand to float away.
"Atargatis," Hermione whispered. "Atargatis."
She continued to chant, never raising her voice above a whisper, worried that someone else breaking curfew outside the room might hear her.
"Atargatis, Mermaid Goddess, Mother of the Sea. Your waters flow through my veins. Your love surrounds me. Atargatis, Mermaid Goddess, Mother of the Sea. Your waters flow through my veins. Your love surrounds me."
Hermione sat in silence after she chanted it, visualizing what she truly desired from the Goddess.
"My Daughter of the Sea," a soft voice called.
Hermione's eyes flew open and was surprised to see the Goddess had appeared — she was expecting to maybe just hear her voice. She held her chest and took several deep breaths, feeling relieved that her chanting had been successful.
"Atargatis, you came," Hermione smiled. "I am so happy to see you." She then found her mouth trying to spill anything and everything since the last time they spoke.
"Child, breathe."
Hermione nodded her head and took several deep breaths.
"I know of your troubles. I have been watching over you and your attempts."
Hermione nodded, feeling a bit reassured. "Is there anything else I can do?
"Do not worry about all of the colonies. They are yours to protect but not all of them are in danger. The Dark One is only interested in the main colony and the ones closest to home. Do not worry yourself...you are doing more than enough."
Hermione felt relieved, but also a bit disappointed. She was hoping for maybe a secret protection that she didn't know of...something more.
"What is it, Daughter of the Sea? What is it that bothers you?"
Hermione sighed. "There is just so much going on. I feel a bit overwhelmed." She paused. "And I was hoping that there was some secret mermaid power I could invoke to protect the colonies."
Atargatis smiled at her. "You are beautiful, intelligent, and kind. Give all of your worries to me, Hermione. Lean not only on me but on your loved ones, those closest to you. Everything will fall into place."
"That does make me feel better. It makes me feel like I am on the right track. Thank you."
"Trust your instincts, Hermione." Atargatis started to fade away after she spoke and Hermione closed her eyes once more.
"Atargatis, Great Goddess of the Sea, may your power flow through me like water. Bless my work. So mote it be."
Hermione felt a peace fall over her and her worries fall away after talking with Atargatis. She was eager to let Harry and Professor Snape know what happened and that their plan with the runes could continue as planned. When she fell into bed not much later, her mind felt clearer than it had in a long time. She smiled and turned to her side, falling quickly to sleep.
The night before Halloween, Hermione found herself once more at the edge of the Black Lake, Professor Snape at her side. It was late, and they were trying to go unnoticed by anyone who might be watching. Hermione used the invisibility cloak while Professor Snape could play off his leaving by saying he had been called by Lord Voldemort. Harry had been left behind again to attract less attention.
It didn't take long for them to reach the transportation portal, the guards letting them slip by. The unpleasantness of the trip wasn't any better than usual, though Hermione was getting used to the feeling and it seemed that Professor Snape was as well.
The guards nodded as they appeared. "Merchieftainess Hermione. Marsious is still up, his home is over there."
"Thank you." Hermione swam over to wear the guard pointed, Professor Snape close behind.
Hermione raised her hand and knocked on Marsious' door and it was only a moment later that it opened, revealing the merman.
"Merchieftainess, I wasn't expecting you this late."
"I apologize for the intrusion. Professor Snape has come up with a solution to protect the colony."
Marsious waved his hand in their direction. "No need to apologize. You are of course welcome at any time. Tell me of this plan, come in."
Marsious waved them into his home and Professor Snape didn't waste any time explaining the charm to protect the area with the runes carved in.
"Can it be done now?" Marsious asked.
"Yes, we feel it best to do it immediately. We've practiced and should be able to get it done within the hour," Professor Snape answered.
"And the other colonies?"
"I spoke with Atargatis and she bestowed some wisdom upon me. She mentioned not to worry about the colonies outside of Voldemort's reach." Snape flinched at the name of the Dark Lord, but Marsious seemed unfazed by it. It was unlikely that mermaids were as afraid of the snake-like man as humans were.
"Which colonies are you focusing on?" he asked.
"This one, and the one in Scotland are the closest. Atargatis did not believe he would put in the effort to go to the others," Hermione said, matter-of-factly.
"Very well." Marsious opened the door to his home. "I'll show you the borders of the colony and then you can take over from there."
The colony wasn't large but Professor Snape insisted on swimming to both sides of it, just to gauge how large the protective shield should be.
Professor Snape reached to his leg and pulled her wand out of his wand holster, his own already being in his hand.
"Thank you. Ready?"
He nodded and together they began to chant the charm, "Protego totalum." They chanted it several times over because of the large area they were covering. Once the protective shield was in place, they sat (well, as much as they could given they were in the water) at the bottom of the ward.
Together, they carved the five runes: Uruz, Algiz, Sowulo, Teiwaz, and Ehwaz into the protective ward, increasing its strength. Once finished, Hermione was out of breath. She was sure that if she hadn't been in water, she'd be sweating from the amount of power it took.
"Good?" Hermione asked Professor Snape.
"Miss Granger, I think I should be the one asking that question."
She grinned. "I'm okay."
"I am as well."
"It is done?" Marsious asked, having hovered near them for the process.
"It is," Professor Snape responded. They both got up from where they were kneeling and went over to him. "And we must be going. We hope to put the protective ward in place for the Black Lake colony tonight as well."
"Is it safe to do so?" Marsious asked, looking toward Hermione. "You are young still, your magical core…" He trailed off.
"Her magical core will be tired in the morning, but it will not drain her entirely. It would take a great feat to do so, especially now that her powers have increased by being Daughter of the Sea."
Marsious nodded. "I know that you will protect her. Good luck, Merchieftainess."
"Thank you Marsious, contact me if there is any trouble."
"I will."
Without another word, Hermione turned away, Professor Snape at her side. They quickly made their way to the transportation portal and within a few minutes were back in the Black Lake. Once they had informed Merchieftainess Murcus of their plans, they made their way to the outer part of the colony where they would begin to repeat the process of placing the protective wards.
"How do you feel?" Professor Snape asked.
"I feel fine," she replied. "I feel better than I did right after the enchantments earlier."
"Your magic is already starting to repair itself more quickly now that you have come of age. It will continue to do that until you have reached your full magical potential."
Hermione nodded in understanding. She had heard of that before but hadn't done much research herself. Pushing it to the back of her mind for now, she raised her wand. "Ready?"
Professor Snape lifted his wand and together once more they placed the protective enchantment and carved in the wards. Now Hermione really felt exhausted.
"Time to go," Professor Snape said, waving to the guards as they swam past. Once they reached the surface, he commented, "You need to get to bed."
"You do too," Hermione mumbled, forcing herself more awake. "School tomorrow."
For the first time, maybe ever, Professor Snape laughed genuinely. She whipped her head around and saw that he looked happy, more than she had ever seen anyway.
"Thank you for helping me," Hermione said. "And Harry."
If she hadn't been listening, she would have missed the whispered you're welcome. She smiled and when they reached the shore, he once again turned his back as she dressed and he slipped on his robe over his trousers.
"The cloak," he said. "Quickly."
Hermione threw the invisibility cloak over her head and together they made their way back to the castle.
"Get some rest," Professor Snape whispered at the bottom of the Entrance Hall stairs. "You might need it for tomorrow."
"Thank you again," Hermione whispered. She squeezed his arm to let him know she was leaving his side and he walked off toward the dungeons.
As she trudged her way to Gryffindor Tower, her legs became heavier and heavier, her mind too tired to process what they had just accomplished. Once she laid in bed, she drifted immediately off to sleep, intent on soaking up every hour she had left until her alarm.
Big thanks to HeartOfAspen for her alpha/beta help! I'd love to hear from you in a review!