She'd succeeded in getting Grindelwald to sit down at the big desk in the living area and had forced him to let her fetch every book he needed. She'd read once that Hogwarts was built on a ley line, and she'd also witnessed how despite every other ward falling, the muggle repelling charms and the masking charms that made it unplottable had remained standing. Gellert quickly confirmed that he'd also built Nurmengard on a ley line because they were believed to increase the powers of a seer.
Gellert then verified that wards were usually all linked to the same source, including the masking charms. Hogwarts: A History confirmed that the other wards had been added after Salazar Slytherin had left. The other founders had feared that he would return to exact vengeance and had built the other warding without his assistance.
Her theory was that Slytherin had built his wards to power off the ley lines, which possibly explained why they had lasted without being recharged. They'd confirmed her theory with Dumbledore's portrait and he'd been able to tell them that there was a wardroom in Hogwarts. Hermione then sent a patronus to McGonagall to ask permission to speak to the Hogwarts founder's portraits in the headmaster's office.
With permission granted, she compromised with Gellert and side along apparated him to Hogwarts. They appeared in the headmaster's office, which had been almost fully repaired. Many of the portraits were missing, being restored by several experts from around the world. Fortunately, one of the founders was still intact. Helga Hufflepuff sat alone without her peers, the bright spaces on the wall highlighting where Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw had once rested.
The witch watched them, along with all the other remaining portraits.
'Ms. Hufflepuff?' Hermione asked, trying to hide how she'd hoped for Ravenclaw.
'Miss Granger.' The dumpy witch said curtly, then she looked at Grindelwald and scowled. 'and Mr. Grindelwald. We do not appreciate your type here.' He looked surprised that he'd been recognised. 'Oh don't look surprised, you were in the papers on that desk enough times.'
'Because I'm from Durmstrang?' He asked innocently and Hufflepuff sniffed.
'How can I help you Miss Granger?' The lady asked, the smile which graced her face as she addressed the Hogwarts students looking far more suited to her.
'We were wondering about the original warding at Hogwarts.' Hermione began and Hufflepuff's face immediately closed off.
'There are students at my castle which need protection.' Grindelwald interrupted her, turning from the books he'd been looking at to look at the portrait. 'We're only interested in the muggle repelling charm that Mr. Slytherin used.'
He really was a brilliant manipulator. Hufflepuff's face softened slightly as soon as he mentioned students but to her credit, which really shouldn't have surprised Hermione because she was still a founder, she seemed aware that just because they only wanted the innocuous wards didn't mean they couldn't alter them to harsher ones.
'You plan to use it to build a ward to protect students?' She confirmed suspiciously.
'I'm sure you're aware that the war with Voldemort left many orphans. My castle seems to have become an orphanage. Traditional blood wards are just not suitable in the modern climate, especially around children.'
Hufflepuff seemed to be struggling not to cave in completely when he mentioned orphans.
'You have a silver tongue Mr. Grindelwald. Rowena and Salazar would have been at each other's throats to supervise your education.' Hufflepuff sighed, 'Salazar's wards were powerful, advanced magic. He spent months researching and only just managed to complete the warding before he left. He always kept his research in his secret chambers which is why we couldn't do the same with the later wards.
'Brilliant!' Hermione exclaimed, sending a patronus to summon Harry as Grindelwald thanked the portrait politely.
Harry appeared with a pop, claiming that he was glad to get away from the castle for a bit before they were all shut in. He hugged Gellert, much to the dark wizard's discomfort, and slapped him on the back several times as a masculine expression of how much he'd missed him.
Neither of them explained to him why Harry was necessary, so he trailed behind them as they led the way down to the bathrooms. He faltered when he saw the sign, looking between the door and the two ex-students incredulously.
'Salazar Slytherin's secret chambers are in a girl's bathroom?' He asked incredulously. Uncharacteristic fear painted his features and Harry ducked back out of the bathroom. He took one look at Grindelwald's expression and elbowed Hermione in the side.
'Told you he'd rather die than enter a girl's bathroom.' He laughed and Hermione chuckled. Gellert scowled at the young man.
'That's because I was brought up in a civilised time, unlike you modern hoodlums.' He retorted, striding past them and into the bathroom. Harry laughed as he followed him, heading straight to the sinks. Grindelwald pointedly looked only between the floor, ceiling and windows, studiously avoiding looking at the cubicles. Of the three of them, only he looked glad when he could finally jump down the dark slimy hole and into the chamber.
It was exactly as she remembered it, the circle of Harry and Hermione's wandlight illuminating slimy bones and pebbles. Hermione, who had visited more recently quickly led them off in the direction of the chamber. She hated the constant sound of dripping down here and always feared that someone would flush a toilet at exactly the wrong time.
The massive rock slide wasn't hard to find but there was no clean way to climb through, Harry slithered through the tiny space, needing a push to get through. Then he pulled the larger framed Grindelwald through and they both pulled Hermione's arms without thinking of the consequences of her not having hands to catch herself with.
She hobbled her way towards the massive metal door at the end of the tunnel, leaning on the shoulders of the two very apologetic men for support. Harry hissed and Hermione waited impatiently for the elaborate locking system.
'Where in here would be dry enough for books?' Hermione finally realised as they stood in the massive chamber. Their wet shoes demonstrating her point as the snake head fountains gushed into the reservoir.
'And somewhere were Voldemort wouldn't have found them.' Gellert added, picking up a stone and tossing it over the heads of one of the fountains. It clattered against a stone wall and splashed into to water.
'The snake came from that statue's mouth. Maybe that's where you can find his books, the basilisk would have taken up all the space when Voldemort was alive.' Harry suggested and Hermione grinned at him. Fortunately Grindelwald stopped them before they could try and enter, reminding them to check for wards. They found one which was easily deactivated by a simple parseltongue word from Harry. The checks also revealed a set of concealed stepping stones in front of the lake, which kept the trio considerably drier as they hopped across them and clambered into the mouth of the massive statue.
They followed the passage upwards for about five meters before it split into two corridors. The one on the left was drier and warmer, meanwhile the one on the right curved back down a little and she could hear water dripping from somewhere down it.
They took the left, which quickly opened into a lavishly furnished room. Hermione flicked her wand to light the candles, illuminating a very refined study. A massive dark oak desk was covered in dusty parchments but the books in the two bookshelves were protected by a stasis charm. Hermione quickly pulled out her beaded back and began loading books into it carefully. Harry checked the furniture over – a comfortable armchair in front of an empty fireplace, the tapestry on the wall and under the rug. Meanwhile, Gellert looked over the papers on the desk.
'This is fascinating.' He murmured. 'He'd worked out a form of Prior Incantatem that traced the magical signature rather than the wand.' Grindelwald shook his head and stacked up the papers carefully, carefully storing them in one of Hermione's plastic portfolios. He pulled the objects out of his desk draws less carefully, there were several pots of ink and a handful of quills, a couple of notebooks and some spare parchment. One draw was full of a seemingly random assortment of items, which Gellert declared to be full of dark magic and deposited intact in Hermione's bag.
With everything of interest plundered, they made their way out of Hogwarts and back to Nurmengard.