Hermione walked anxiously in front of the Room of Requirement. "I need somewhere to study horcruxes, I need somewhere to study horcruxes, I need-" she broke off as the door appeared. She shifted her heavy bag on her shoulder and reached out to open the door. Once in the room, she looked around expectantly. In the middle of the room sat a large table with chairs around it, plump cushions resting invitingly on the seats. Bookshelves lined the walls, with magical knick knacks scattered along them. Hermione looked around in amazement. The selection of books was incredible! So many rare, old manuscripts that she had only heard of. She walked further into the room. She saw what looked to be a particularly interesting book and moved towards it. As she did, she passed an alcove in between two of the bookshelves. She gave the alcove a brief, cursory glance before moving past it. She had already pulled out the book that had drawn her attention and started to flip through it when she heard a voice say, "You know, that book is rubbish."

Hermione gasped and looked up in surprise. There was no one there. She pulled her wand out. "What do you mean?" She looked around the room, bewildered. "Where are you? How did you get in here?"

The voice laughed. "Over here." Hermione moved over to where the voice had come from, holding her wand out in front of her. She moved past the edge of a bookshelf and in front of the alcove that she had walked past earlier. Hanging on the wall of the alcove was a painting of a woman. She looked to be in her early twenties, wearing a medieval-looking dress.

Hermione's brow furrowed. "What did you mean about the book?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "I would have thought that my meaning was fairly obvious. Don't bother reading it. It's nothing worthwhile; just a bunch of beauty tips."

"How do you know?" Hermione asked. "Have you read it?"

The woman laughed. "Yes, I've read it. And I also know the woman who wrote it. She could have been a brilliant enchantress but wasted all her time and magic to improve her appearance. She learned magic with my mother." She smiled. "So what kind of book are you looking for?"

Hermione bit her lip in thought. "I need to know about souls, specifically about-" she paused, "about splitting them. I couldn't find anything in the Hogwarts library that would help me."

The woman's eyes hardened. "I will not help you create one of those abominations. Those- those things desecrate the very fabric of magic. You will-"

"No, no, you've got the wrong idea," Hermione interrupted. "I don't want to know how to make them, I agree with you that they're abominations, it's just that there is a dark wizard who has made a few and-"

"What?" the woman gasped. "He has made more than one? Is he insane?"

"Actually, yeah, he is kinda insane. Anyway, we need to know how to destroy them, and anything about them that we can use to find them." Hermione looked up at the painting with hope. "Do you know of anything that might help me?"

The woman looked carefully at her before seeming to come to a decision. "I never went near anything to do with soul magic. It's what caused my parents' death. But if this is where the Room brought you, then the book you need must be somewhere in here. This is the Camelot room; all the books in here were written during Camelot's renaissance."

"Camelot? Really?" Hermione muttered, looking around the room more carefully.

"Yes, and the person most likely to know about soul magic is my great-aunt. That's her book over there." She pointed at a book sitting in the middle of one of the tables. It was large, with a leather cover. Hermione walked over and picked it up off the table, running her fingers over the spine. She walked back towards the painting with the book in her hand and opened the cover. Her eyes flitted up in shock. "It says that it was written by Lady Morgan. Lady Morgan of Camelot."

"Yes," the woman said reminiscently. "Great-Aunt Morgan. She taught me most everything I know about magic, as well as everything my mother knew."

"But-" Hermione sputtered. "Morgan, as in Morgan le Fay, King Arthur's half-sister and mortal enemy?"

"Half-sister, yes, but I don't know where you get the idea that she was Arthur's enemy. She wasn't always the nicest person to have around, but she also wasn't what I would consider evil. And she'd never have hurt Arthur. Her sister Morgause, on the other hand, is a different story." Her face had grown dark.

"Huh," Hermione frowned. "That's not what my book on Camelot said. It didn't even mention Morgause. I wonder what else they got wrong." She looked up. "So is Morgause also your great-aunt?"

She shook her head. "No, Morgause was my grandmother."

Hermione almost choked in surprise. "What? Your grandmother tried to kill King Arthur?"

The woman laughed at her surprise. "Yes, but my father and most of his brothers forsook their mother and swore loyalty to Arthur." Her face darkened. "Morgause was the one who killed my parents."

Hermione winced. "Oh, I'm sorry." The woman shrugged. "It's fine. It's been more than thousand years since it happened. I've had time to get over it."

"Look," Hermione said. "I feel like we've gotten off to a bad start. I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Hermione Granger, and I'm a sixth year student at Hogwarts."

The woman smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Hermione. I am Lady Luneta."

Hermione smiled, turning back to the book. "So do you know what part of the book I should read?"

Luneta shrugged. "Like I said, I never learned anything about soul magic, and I haven't actually read that book. Morgan taught me before she bound her spells together into book form, so I don't know where she placed it. My best guess is that if she included the information then she would have either put it in the middle or near the end. And there may be some kind of enchantment that you have to get past before you can read the most powerful section."

Hermione looked up in surprise. "Is that possible? I've never heard of anything like that before."

Luneta nodded. "Oh yes, Morgan was very keen on not letting the unworthy read her words. You'll likely have to prove that your intentions are good and you won't use the information to empower yourself."

"How do I do that?"

"I've no idea."

"Thanks, you're a lot of help," Hermione huffed.

Luneta smirked. "Well, I try."

Hermione glanced down at her watch and jumped. "Oh, no, I have Potions right now! Thank you so much for the help, is it alright if I take the book out of this room?"

"As long as you return it when you are done, then yes."

"Yes, yes, I'll do that." Hermione rushed out the door. Luneta watched her leave, smiling to herself. "I do hope she does return; I haven't talked with anyone besides the other paintings since the first wizarding war."