Chapter Seventeen: Obliviations Undone
Diana was smiling at the animated conversation between Fleur and Hermione. It was obvious that the two were close friends – their conversation switched back and forth from French to English to French in an easy flowing style that suggested a great deal of comfort and ease between the two young women.
It was still only two days since the latest bombshell had been dumped on the Wells family with the revelation that Hermione was the closest magical Potter relative to Harry. Yet it was a measure of how little Harry identified with the Potter name and legacy that he hadn't even blinked at the news, but instead embraced Hermione, saluted her as the new Head of the Potter family and then had laughingly gone on one knee to await her ladyship's pleasure.
To Diana, it was clear that the thought of all that wealth and the position that came with the Potter title had not sunken in with the bushy haired brunette yet. Instead, the two witches were discussing down below fashion – and how to possibly market these unique fashions to a fickle city above.
She could sense her husband approaching – his fatigue radiating from down the spiral staircase. She still marveled that after several years of marriage she could sense him as well as she could. They may not have the bond that existed between him and Catherine, but their ability to sense one another's thoughts and moods was a real gift in itself.
It was as he approached the door to the Commons and passed the torch near the entrance that he stopped and she felt a sudden spike of alarm in his emotions. He had sensed something.
At the same time, the flow of conversation had suddenly halted with Fleur worriedly calling out Hermione's name. "'Mione, Mione, ca va? Ca va?"
Diana turned around and saw Hermione sitting stock still, her eyes on the commons entrance and her face frozen in a rictus of fear. She looked towards the entrance and saw Vincent's shadow, made larger and more grotesque by the flickering flames of the torch in the tunnel outside.
She moved quickly to the young woman's side and laid her hand on Hermione's arm. Fear, panic, a sense of relenting terror were radiating from her and her eyes were frozen on the sight of Vincent's shadow on the wall. Her eyes were large and clearly out of focus.
"Hermione, Hermione," Diana began gently, but eliciting no response, she called out to her husband, "Vincent, move back please " Thankfully, he heard her and the grotesque shadow disappeared.
It took several seconds for Hermione's eyes to refocus and then the young woman visibly started. "What….where…am !?" She was clearly confused.
Signaling to Fleur to take Hermione's other side, Diana took hold of Hermione's right arm and guided her to a table in the center of the commons dining area, but ensuring it was far from the entrance.
Once Hermione was again seated, Diana looked at her carefully. From her light touch on the young woman's arm, the sense of blind terror had vanished to be replaced by a sense of confusion, and surprisingly, a sense of shame.
"Hermione, Hermione? Are you with us?" she asked steadily and calmly.
Understanding was flooding back into Hermione's eyes and her cheeks were now turning bright red. "It happened again, didn't it?" she turned to Fleur, ignoring Diana.
"Oui, Mione, oui," Fleur replied. The red tinge on Hermione's face deepened.
"Is this something you want to talk about, Hermione?" Diana asked.
The young woman at first shook her head. "I'd rather not…"
"Hermione, you froze when you saw Vincent's shadow on the tunnel wall and you've had no earlier difficulty with my husband before. Something's going on – something that concerns me," Diana replied.
The blush had deepened again. "It doesn't happen often – just at times, I see something – a shadow, a smell, a sound – and then I suddenly freeze.
"And I don't know why. And I try to figure it out, but I know I can't. And it eats at me."
"How long have you been fighting this?" Diana gently prodded.
Hermione's face tightened into a grimace. "Since my first year at Hogwarts, the magical school in Britain."
"Did anything happen to you there?"
"No, not that I can remember – not during my first year anyhow. However, my parents tell me that I changed after the fall term – I began suffering from panic attacks and intense anxiety. I event went to a psychologist, but we couldn't find anything."
Warnings flashed in Diana's mind. She had had experience with children and even adults struggling with repressed memories and her sudden freezing at Vincent's shadow suggested seeing his shadow had triggered something.
"You mentioned that your behavior changed after your fall term and I just heard you trying to remember something," she said in a calm low voice. No sense to panic the young woman. "It appears to me that you are coping with a memory issue.
"Is there any kind of magic that could suppress memories?"
The two witches looked at each other, then burst out in one voice, "Obliviate." At Diana's blank look, Fleur explained.
"Obliviation is a standard spell to make people forget something – an event, a person or a crisis. It is usually used when a non-magical sees a magic act and is applied by various obliviator squads by magical governments to ensure that the Statute of Secrecy is respected."
"Hermione, is there any way that you can find out if you were obliviated in your first year?"
Hermione began to say something, then closed her mouth. Her eyes turned inward for a moment, then turned back to Fleur and Diana.
"Why would you think that?"
"The symptoms you described usually are signs of repressed memories. Panic attacks, anxiety, freezing at sudden stimuli – all are possible signs of trauma and repressed memories. But then you mention that you are trying to figure it out – as if you deep down know something is missing, but you don't know what.
"That suggests that maybe someone removed something – something that I assume magic can do.
"I would suggest that you go to someone magical that you trust and ask them to check it out."
Hermione nodded her head in understanding and then looked to Fleur with raised eyebrows. Fleur nodded and the two girls embraced for a moment before Hermione tremulously smiled.
"Thanks, Diana, and please make my apologies to Vincent.
"So you suspect an Obliviation?" Sebastien Delacour asked Hermione as she sat down in the chair he offered.
"Diana Wells said the symptoms I have been living with since the fall term of 1991 sound like repressed memories, but I don't remember anything. Yet I somehow feel that there is something I'm missing."
Waving his wand over Hermione, Sebastien was conversational. "One of the things many Legilimencers forget is that when you do an obliviation, you only cut a memory off from other connections in the mind. You don't remove it nor do you remove the emotions that may be generated or associated with those memories. So let's see what we can find – with your permission?"
Hermione nodded.
"Legilimens."
"Ah, Mille Granger, a well ordered mind. Definitely the mind of a scholar and a budding young healer…ah, this is a surprise….a large surprise….let's just reverse this severing here. There, there and – oh my – Mon Dieu – that is a memory – let's see if we can guess the identity of our unknown obliviator.
"Mon Dieu – you old goat!" the last word was said harshly even as Hermione let out a scream, then put her head into her hands and began sobbing.
Fleur ran to her friend and put her arms around her. "Papa, was it bad?"
Sebastien's face looked old and tired. "Oui, ma Cherie. It was bad. I have to ask myself what kind of school the old goat is running. A twelve foot mountain troll nearly killed your friend here – and all he can do is obliviate her.
"All to keep the reputation of his school intact – Salaud!
"Help her Fleur. Maybe Diana can be a listening ear. But we must proceed carefully here.
"Very carefully."
Diana listened carefully to the frightening story as the now twenty-one year old woman tried to tell her a story of a frightened twelve year old girl facing a probable death in a girl's washroom only to be rescued and then obliviated to preserve the name of a school. Her best friend sat beside her, her arm holding Hermione tight even as the tale was told through sobs and curses.
"I hate him. I hate him. If I could kill him, I would." These expressions sprinkled Hermione's telling of the tale.
It was all Fleur and Diana could do to keep Hermione from trashing the library near Father's office while Sebastien looked at her with sadness in his eyes. Then the fury seemed to burn brighter as she reached the end of her tale.
"I could kill him.
"I should kill him.
"I want to kill him.
"Almost ten years I've suffered with these panic attacks, fears, depression, worrying about a memory lapse, a memory hole – all because a white haired old goat decides he's going to play God with his students.
"I want so much to kill him. Mum and Dad got worn to a frazzle trying to help me calm down, dragging me to therapists – all because he didn't want me to leave the school. Can't afford to have bad publicity.
"But I have to let Mum know," she concluded, feeling wrung out and spent.
"She stood by me all the time I visited various therapists and psychologists to try to find out what was wrong. She needs to know."
Diana nodded her head. "I agree. She – and your dad – need to know. Let me help to set that up." She gave the young woman a tight hug and wasn't surprised to feel the woman hug her back.
"And maybe, just maybe, we can come up with a way to get the old fool back."
"Do we tell Harry now?" Fleur wanted to know.
Hermione let out a slight watery giggle. "Well, if Diana tells Mum about the obliviation, Mum's going to tell Dad and Dad's going to want to know who Diana is and by extension who Harry is anyway.
"I've been keeping Mum up to date on what has been happening between Harry and me – at least to the fact that Harry is one of my friends. I suspect Mum thinks Harry is more – I've never had a male friend before and she is intrigued with the connection between Harry and Dr. Peter. There have been hints lately that Harry should 'come by' and meet the family, but she knows me well enough that she will wait for me to bring that about when I'm ready.
"It's more Dad I am worried about - Dad has always said that he would torture any boy interested in his princess.
"So maybe, Harry shouldn't hear about it right away – at least until after our date next week?"
The three women laughed despite the situation and Diana, chuckling still after several seconds, said. "Let's begin with your mother."
A/N: Events will start to move a little faster now as we begin the unraveling of the Dumbledore machinations to the 'controlled' unveiling of the existence of Harry Potter to our white haired old Headmaster in Hogwarts.
We stopped this chapter here, even though it is short, because meeting the family can have some rather interesting complications – especially when Mum and Dad Granger meet the whole family and find out that they have been interacting with members of the world below for some time. So stay tuned.