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Chapter 14
The rest of the day passed off rather ordinary for Hermione. She spent the afternoon with her friends, read a book and got some homework done. But unusually, after diner, Hermione waited for the sun to go down and went alone outside the castle, making sure no one followed her. When she got outside, the fresh air surprised her and made her shiver. She took her mysterious card out of her pocket and read it again.
"Your presence is requested in exactly 24 hours where the moonlight will lead you"
She looked up and watched the bright moon shining in the sky surrounded by thousands of stars. It was beautiful. As she was admiring the starry night, she noticed a light at the corner of her eyes. She turned her head to see what it was. For a moment she thought someone was here using a Lumos spell, but there wasn't anyone. No, it was only a little source of light, floating in the air, similar to a fairy. It started turning quickly around her and once the light got all her attention, it changed its direction and started to move forwards leading her away. She hesitated for a moment but decided to follow it. It was probably what the card meant by "the moonlight will lead you". The little lighting led her all the way to the dark forest near the lake. It turned around a large tree at the edge of the wood and finished its run by colliding against a thick trunk's tree. Once the light disappeared, she waited for a few seconds and nothing happened. What was she supposed to do now, she thought intrigued? She moved forwards and touched with her hand the area of the tree that absorbed the light. As she touched it an opening magically formed on the tree. She gasped out of surprised. The opening was large enough to let her through and she could see that it was leading to spiral stairs going down to who knows where.
She hesitated for a minute, starting to wonder what could possibly be waiting for her downstairs but she took her courage in her hands and got inside the magical tree.
"Come on Hermione you can do it" she said aloud to herself.
She got down the staircase and she was led to a door made of solid wood and beautifully sculpted with the symbols that was inscribed on the mysterious card. She opened the door and entered in a large circular room. Four chairs were placed in a circle in the middle, and a fire was crackling on the side. On the walls were mural paintings of four animated Greek goddesses that were smiling to her. The roof was made of a massive stained-glass window which was breath-taking, and you could see through it the troubled waters of the black lake.
She was absorbed by the beauty of the room when a voice took her out of her thoughts.
"Well I guess this is the fourth and last person we were waiting for, it's about time"
Hermione turned her head to notice three girls standing in one corner of the room. According to their uniforms one of them was from Slytherin, the other from Ravenclaw and the last one from Hufflepuff. She recognized them for being in fourth year with her.
"Don't be so rude Pansy" said the Ravenclaw girl. "Hi, nice to officially meet you, I'm Cho Chang and in Ravenclaw" she added with a smile.
"And hi Hermione Granger! I'm Susan Bones and I'm in Hufflepuff really nice to meet" added the Hufflepuff girl moving forward to hug Hermione.
"Oh hi" said Hermione hugging her back and feeling awkward by the sudden proximity. "It's nice to meet you all, I'm Hermione Granger and I'm in Gryffindor"
"Obviously we already know that Granger" said the Slytherin girl annoyed.
"Pansy seriously make an effort" said Cho poking her slightly with her elbow.
"Okay, okay sorry. Nice to meet you I'm Pansy Parkinson and I'm from Slytherin but I guess you already know that since we often had class in common" she said annoyed.
"Nice to meet you too" answered Hermione. She looked around the room admiring once more the beauty of it "Do you know what's happening? What are we doing here? Like, is this coven thing not supposed to be a legend?" she asked intrigued.
"Actually, we too don't know! We all received a card that asked us to come here, but I guess by the look of it this seems legit" answered Cho.
"I can't believe the witches' coven is real and we have been chosen to be part of it! We are so lucky, that's amazing!" said Susan enthusiastically.
"This is a great honour" added Pansy "If the rest of the legend is true, it would mean that we have been chosen as the coven's members for the next four years. So, until we leave Hogwarts"
"Exactly that's correct miss Parkinson" said a fifth person.
The four girls surprised by the sudden intervention, looked at the direction of the voice's owner. Floating in the middle of the room was the translucent body of the Grey Lady smiling to them.
"Good afternoon girls and welcome to the Witches' coven" said the ghost "Take place please" she added, showing them by a movement of her hand the four chairs that were placed in a circle in the room.
They all took place, looking curiously at each other, excited and intrigued by this whole situation.
"You were gathered here tonight because you had the great honour and privilege to be chosen as potential members by the ancient sorcery of the Witches' coven. You heard me right you are no members yet, but only candidates. Candidates, to the greatest secret society that the wizarding world has ever known. In fact, several covens were created in many magical schools everywhere in the world. All these covens have one common original goal, to protect witches' interest as women against the male wizard's oppression. But this goal has grown and surpassed the limits that our founders have established. Today we are looking for the interest of all the wizarding world. We act in the shadows to make sure that security, equity, freedom and ethics rules on earth. Our discretion and great values are our strength and you are all of you bind to secrecy. You cannot under any circumstances reveal anything that is linked to this coven, do you understand and promise it?" she asked ceremoniously.
The four girls nodded in return.
"Good. But you must know that even if you wanted to, the magic of this place will stop you from revealing anything. So be careful, the consequences could be harsh. Do you have any question?"
Hermione was feeling worried by this unknown world she was now immersed in. But she was mostly feeling excitement and curiosity. She never was an elite seeker kind of girl, but she recognised herself in these secret society's values, fights and engagements. She could thanks to the witches' coven help people, help the wizarding world to be a better place.
"If we are candidate, how do we become an official member?" asked Hermione.
"Good question Miss Granger" said the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw. "You will follow in this room, a training and education. I will personally teach you what being a member of the coven means and over time I'll decide if you are worth being an official member of our coven or not. If you are to become a member, and I'll be the only judge of that, a ceremony of nomination will be held in your honour before you leave this school. This way a new generation of witches' will join our ranks"
"Did a witch already failed at being nominated?" asked Susan anxious.
"Not that I know of. You will realize that you were chosen for a reason and that the old magic enclosed in this place is rarely wrong. It is in fact originated from the magical core of the two witches and founders of this institution that is Hogwarts" answered Helena smiling. "Now do you have any other questions?" When no one answered anything, she continued "Then it is time for you to make a choice; do you accept to join our rank and training?"
"Of course, we do! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, how could we say no? I accept and it will be a great honour to follow you teaching" answered Pansy lively.
"Me too!" answered the others in unison.
"Good" said Helena "Now I will leave you. The next meeting will be communicated to you. Good evening girls"
"Good evening Lady Ravenclaw" they all answered. The ghost vanished through a wall and the four girls found themselves alone again in the room.
"Wow! This was unexcepted" said Cho bemused.
"Yeah but how lucky are we? This is such a great privilege; we will be members of the witches' coven and have access to so many power and opportunities" said Pansy.
"And we will be able to use this power to change the world and do something good" added Hermione.
"Yes of course. This coven goes beyond our own person. This is incredible!" said Cho excited.
"I hope we will be able to complete our nomination and training though" said Susan slightly worried.
"Of course, we will! Don't be so defeatist Bones" said Pansy rolling her eyes "You need to remember that we were selected among all fourth years, we are literally the Hogwarts' elite now. Too bad we cannot brag about it" she added mischievously.
"We absolutely can't Pansy! Remember what Lady Helena told us" said Cho
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Chill girl, I was only joking" Pansy answered pouting.
"And you don't want to discover the harsh consequences she was talking about!" said Hermione serious.
After spending some more time chatting together, they decided that it was late and that they should all go back to their dormitories.
Now that Hermione got her answer on her mysterious card, she realized that another problem was still unsolved: the date she had tomorrow with Malfoy. Shit what could she do about it? She had no choice but to go, she promised.