Chapter 10 - The Disillusionment Charm
XOXOXOX
XOXOXOX
XOXOXOX
"As it turns out," Hermione explained soothingly to Ron, Harry, and Ginny in the Gryffindor Common Room. "The Snuffling Potion does enhance smell, but not to the degree necessary for our operation. So I needed to make some divergences from the instructions to create this." Hermione held out the purple vial Ginny had prepared for her. "But- in theory, it should work."
Ginny was holding back a smile. As she'd been the one who'd brewed the purple vial of sleeping draught Hermione was holding, she was quite aware that Hermione was lying through her teeth.
"In theory…" Harry said skeptically. "This sounds dangerous, Hermione."
Great job Harry!
"Well yes," Hermione agreed happily. "In the muggle world, you know, experimental drugs are first tested on animals… On rats. It's a practice that saves millions of lives."
All eyes turned to Scabbers. The rat glared at the purple vial suspiciously.
"No," said Ron stonily. "Not on Scabbers. Why don't we catch some bugs outside or something?"
Scabbers squeaked happily, and climbed on top of Ron's shoulder. Hermione huffed. Ronald's childish infatuation with a pet was growing increasingly irritating.
"Bugs aren't close enough to human physiology to be useful test subjects," Hermione explained testily. "Listen Ron. I wouldn't ask you to do this, unless I was sure it would work."
"If you're so sure, then why even test it on Scabbers?" Ron asked, rolling his eyes.
Hermione forced herself not to snap. Instead she took Ron's hands. "Nothing will happen to Scabbers," she promised, staring deep into his blue eyes. "He'll be perfectly safe."
"Fine," Ron said, blushing and looking away.
Hermione's heart hammered. With that, the exam had begun in earnest. Was Scabbers truly Peter Pettigrew, or was he just an ordinary rat? In a few minutes she'd have her answer. Failure on this test could mean death- or worse, humiliation. And so, she started writing her answer on the very first question.
"Excellent," Hermione said, trying her best to speak naturally. "Here is our experiment. We shall take Scabbers to a room I have prepared, with three exits. I will give one of you three a rat treat. I will give the other two treats transfigured from dirt." Was this how she normally spoke? And her posture seemed normal right? "You will each leave from a different exit, and take twenty paces out of the room. You will then open your treat so Scabbers can smell it. I will give Scabbers a few drops of the potion and feed Scabbers a treat, like so," Hermione fed Scabbers one of the drugged treats she'd prepared last night. He ate it. Hermione forced herself not to let out a breath. "And should Scabbers run to the correct door, we shall know the potion was a grand success! Now- does everyone understand their role?"
Ron, Ginny, and Harry each nodded. Hermione quickly led them down to the first floor, to the room near Professor McGonagall's office where she'd prepared with booby traps. The chest full of swords, and the ice daggers transfigured into beads hung from the ceiling. She gave Ron, Ginny, and Harry the rat treats she'd prepared for them and they left the room. All she'd need was a single one of them to notice the directions on the wrapper, and once one of them went running it would no doubt alert the other two. Worst case she could always scream.
Of course, Scabbers was probably just an ordinary rat. In all likelihood, she'd be yelling 'butter mellow' for all her worrying and preparation. She'd feel quite sheepish explaining everything to Ronald. She was sure to have sounded dreadfully arrogant.
"Here you are Scabbers," Hermione said, holding the vial to the rat's lips.
She fussed about, and pretended not to notice him spitting up the potion. Her heart fluttered. But that didn't necessarily mean that he was an animagi- that he was Peter Pettigrew in disguise. Even if he was an ordinary rat, he might just dislike the taste of sleeping draught. The simplest explanation and all that. Still, caution was the prudent choice. She would give the sleeping draught some time to do its work. She would stall.
Hermione scooped up the rat.
"Let's give them some time to get in position, there's no need to hurry," said Hermione patiently. She sat atop a chest as if it were a throne and laid Scabbers to rest beneath her. "When I was little, my favorite story was a book called Matilda by Roald Dahl. You see Scabbers, Matilda's parents were the worst sort of people- salesmen," Hermione couldn't help but make a face, "they were quite dull and stupid. Matilda was ever so brilliant, she couldn't possibly be related to that lot. She could move things with her mind, she could add large sums in her head, and she read proper books while her dull family watched the telly. And in the end, Matilda got to live with the kind Miss Honey. Now my parents weren't horrid like Matilda's, don't ever think that Scabbers, but they were," Hermione swallowed- the words coming with more difficulty than they ought. "Ordinary… And then I learned I was magical, I learned of Hogwarts, and I learned of my father, Peter Pettigrew. But it brought me no peace… Because you see… While Peter was a little clever, he was nothing more than a tag-along. He always struggled to keep up with his best friends: Sirius Black and James Potter. His biggest accomplishment was being blown to bits in his one act of courage- confronting Sirius Black for betraying his good friend James Potter to the Dark Lord."
Hermione's sneer came to her effortlessly. "And so I thought- no, that man couldn't be my father. I could forgive a lack of magical talent, even a lack of courage, certainly a lack of loyalty- but such stupidity, fighting a more talented wizard without a plan…" Hermione shook her head. Scabber's beady black eyes were transfixed, starting to droop. "You see, I never related to Matilda for her magic. It was her brilliance. Her genius. Like me. I am a genius. I've never met a person smarter than me. Not Severus Snape. Not James Potter. Not Sirius Black. Not Albus Dumbledore. Not even the Dark Lord himself. I could forgive my blood for a lack of power, for cowardice, for playing games with loyalty- it is rather fun tricking people isn't it? But such dullness? Never. Never! I've been going to Eton since I was nine. That's the best muggle middle school in the country by the way. I was so gifted they had to keep moving me up grades…"
And Hermione continued to regale the rat with exaggerated tales of her intellectual exploits until he was fast asleep. She still wasn't sure if the rat was anything more- if not she would feel more than a little silly, surprisingly disappointed, and yes relieved as well.
"Petrificus Totalus," Hermione said, freezing the rat with a spray of white light.
"Ad Locum Tuum Cum Uitta Quocumque Ieris," Hermione said, casting a complicated tracking spell on the rat.
"Finite Incantatem," Hermione said, pointing her wand at each transfigured bead in turn, untransfiguring them into ice shards that hung from the ceiling on strings. She opened her chest full of swords and knives.
What was she doing? She was really going mad. This was a rat. If Scabbers were really an animagus, Headmaster Dumbledore would have thought of it. She was no genius afterall, no matter how much she yearned to be. She was missing something. And she'd given her word to Ron.
If she followed through with her plan, Ronald would be quite angry with her… But he would eventually forgive her...
And if she was right, she'd get an award, and everyone would be ever so proud of her... And err, she'd, uh, free an innocent man from Azkaban and uh… avenge Madam Pompom or whatever her name was.
For truth! For justice!
Hermione took Scabbers front paws in her hands, and squeezed them against the stone floor with her thumbs until she heard the bones inside pop and shatter.
Scabbers squealed in pain, wide awake. She'd been a foolish girl, he'd just been a rat afte-
Scabbers bulged, ballooned, his hair pulling back into his body, "Shite! Bloody cunt! Bint! Twat! Minging scrubber!" But she had nothing to fear, with his hands mangled he couldn't grip a wand. The short, fat man crumpled her nose with his left fist and smashed his right into her gut.
Hermione gasped and buckled, dropping her wand. She'd forgotten that people didn't need a wand to hurt you. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
"Cave Incinimum!" The man bellowed, his face scrunched in pain, gripping Madam Pompom's wand with his mangled hand, even with bits of bone sticking out from his fingers.
Bugger. She'd completely forgotten about that spell. There went her utterly reasonable plan of screaming for help.
But she just had to survive for a few more moments. Ronald would be coming with Professor McGonagall. She'd stalled plenty, and McGonagall's office was just a few doors away. Any moment now, the two would be bursting in. It was surprising really, that it hadn't happened already. Worst case, Ginny would come with Headmaster Dumbledore. That wasn't too far away. The only one who was truly far would be Harry getting Hagrid.
"Please," Innocent Hermione begged pathetically, crawling on the ground, spitting up blood, still gasping from his punch. "Have mercy. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just… I was scared..."
The fat man hesitated. Berk, she'd had her fingers crossed.
Hermione snatched up her wand. "Diffindo!" She cut the strings attached to the ice daggers above the man.
"Volitant!" The man said furiously, catching the falling ice daggers in a hovering charm.
"Eep!" Hermione cried.
The man glared down at her.
Hurry up Ron!
"As I was saying," Innocent Hermione pleaded again. "I am truly, terribly, deeply, sorry…"
XOXOXOXOX
Ginny took the treat Hermione had given her. She could already see that Hermione had written something on it, which would explain why Hermione had called her sleeping draught a snuffling potion and given it to Scabbers. Unless Ginny was quite off her guess, it would be directions to go running to Headmaster Dumbledore, because Hermione thought that Scabbers was the killer. But what about the note Madam Pomfrey had written about examining Scabbers, that had been Pomfrey's handwriting! Although if a wizard were skilled enough to be an animagi they'd certainly be skilled enough to cast a confundu-
"Ginny," said Ron. "We need to talk."
"Now really isn-"
"It can't wait," said Ron, plopping the rat treat down on the ground beside him. "Harry, you can complete the test without us. It shouldn't matter if we're not there personally right? This whole thing could be done without us, honestly, sometimes I wonder why she bothers to include me."
"I really think we should just follow Hermio-"
"Since when do you follow Hermione's orders?" Ron asked sharply. Ginny scowled as he dragged her into an abandoned classroom.
"Let go of me!" Ginny huffed, and tried to break free of Ron, but he wouldn't let go.
"No!" Ron bellowed. "This can't wait! I know you're the Heir of Slytherin Ginny!"
"Berk," Ginny sighed. "I'm not the bloody Heir of Slytherin Ron. Just because I let in one measly troll and we had a bit of a row doesn't mean that I've decided to go hunting muggleborns."
"One measly troll," Ron repeated angrily, his grip tightening around Ginny. "We all almost died!"
"If you hadn't interfe-"
"Who helped you get that troll into Hogwarts?" Ron asked, his blue eyes boring into Ginny's.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ginny said, trying to break free from Ron's grip. "Now listen here you sodding idiot, if you care about Hermion-"
"Don't you talk about Hermione," Ron snapped. "You remember what the note said. 'The Mudblood's Will Suffer His Wrath.' Not sure if you've noticed or not- but Hermione's muggleborn. Don't tell me you buy that rubbish about Peter Pettigrew?"
"I don't," Ginny said angrily. "Hermione's the only friend I've got- I don't want to kill her. I even made that stupid sleeping potion for her. I'm not the sodding Heir of Slytherin, and unless you've quite forgotten, the note said his not her. And what's this? I do believe I'm a girl. And it's not like I secretly want to be a boy either, not at all like how you want to be a girl. Then maybe Mum would want you, isn't that right Ronald?"
"Who. Is. It?" Ron hissed, his voice louder, angrier with each word. His grip tightened painfully. He hadn't taken the bait. "You're not this stupid Ginny! Of course I don't think you're trying to rid the school of muggleborns. But perhaps someone offered you a little dark magic, to impress the brightest girl you've ever met? To impress Harry?"
It was a little too close to home. Ginny bit him. Ron yelped, but kept a hold of her. "I get it now," she said viciously. "You're trying to impress Hermione Granger. You're trying to impress Harry Potter. You need me to be the Heir of Slytherin so you can catch me, and prove you're not their pathetic little sidekick. Well sorry Ronald, but that's all you'll ever be!"
Ron reddened. But again he refused to take the bait. "Imperius Ginny. You were put under the Imperius Curse last week. You're being used. You are the Heir of Slytherin and you tried and failed to kill Hermione Granger- the person whose existence disproves blood purism. And next time, maybe you won't fail. Now. Tell me who it is!"
Ginny opened her mouth. But she couldn't utter a protest. It was silly. Ron was wrong. She'd remembered exactly what she'd been doing on the night of the attack. She'd heard a rustling sound behind her, and she'd seen Mrs. Norris look into the puddle and petrify. She'd screamed and screamed and Neville had come running and then Hermione right after. If she'd been imperiused she wouldn't remember all that…
But of course there were false memory charms.
But that could apply to anyone. If you couldn't trust your own memories, what could you trust? Ginny wasn't the Heir of Slytherin, nor was Professor Quirrell. Afterall, if he were truly evil he'd either pretend to be nice or he'd be even crueler. He wouldn't be so… so helpful… so understanding… And it couldn't be Tom either… He was just Professor Quirrell writing back to her. He'd never said it, but she knew it was him. Just like- wait…
Couldn't she just tell him it had been Professor Quirrell who'd helped her with the troll and not tell him about the diary? Yes. So obvious. It was like a fog had been lifted from her mind.
"Fine Ron," Ginny said. "If you must-"
A scream tore through the room. Hermione!
She and Ron were out the door in moments. Where was the room again? Ron shoved her away. "Go get help! I'll hold off whoever's after Hermione!"
Ginny nodded and went running. Just before she burst into Professor McGonagall's office Ginny hesitated. Where was Harry? And suddenly Ginny knew. The killer had been Scabbers. He was an unregistered animagi and he'd killed Madam Pomfrey for discovering his secret. Hermione had solved the mystery and she'd been setting up a trap. That was why she'd fed Scabbers that vial of sleeping potion. But then why hadn't Hermione just told a professor? Because one of them was not to be trusted.
It was time to start following directions. She opened up the rat candy and read Hermione's instructions. She staggered. Go to Headmaster Dumbledore immediately.
How long? How long had she and Ron wasted arguing?
Ginny sprinted to Dumbledore. He'd be in the Great Hall.
Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew? It sounded mad… but, she hadn't heard 'Sunshine Daisies.' Which meant… Which meant… Which meant… That…
NOOOOOO!
Professor Quirrell was not Lord Voldemort.
The person who understood Ginny best couldn't be Voldemort!
Ginny couldn't be the Heir of Slytherin!
Because if she was, Mum would never love her again.
Ginny tore off the part of Hermione's note which mentioned Professor Quirrell. Hermione was wrong about him. She had to be wrong. She had to be wrong.
She was only a muggleborn afterall.
XOXOXOXOX
The short, fat man didn't curse Hermione. Instead he pointed his wand at his fingers, and said, "Reparo." Bones knitted back into place. The man screamed in pain. A distraction!
"Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione spat, spitting up blood from her broken nose. A white light sprayed from her wand and hit the man, freezing him. He'd almost broken the curse as soon as it hit him. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Hermione shouted, and the swords in the chest rose. With all her magic she threw them at the killer.
"Immobules!" The fat man slurred, overpowering Hermione's body-lock-curse, his wand trembling in his mangled fingers. "Shite!"
His Freezing Charm overrode Hermione's Wingardium Leviosa effortlessly, the swords static a few feet from him. Almost. As if by miracle, a single sword got through his charm and lopped Madam Pompom's wand in half.
Hermione choked on blood as she tried to catch her breath. She spat out the semi-coagulated stuff and gasped.
The killer held out his arm, and Hermione instinctively put both hands on her wand. A wandless summon jerked it, almost out of her grasp, but she held tight- like her life depended on it. She jerked her wand back to her, out of the killer's magic.
The swords clattered to the ground, the ice daggers shattered against an invisible barrier protecting the killer.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione cried, freezing the man once again. She spat out a mouthful of blood. "Wingardium Leviosa!" A single sword rose, Hermione slashed her wand, and blade chopped off the killer's right hand.
The fat man screamed.
Adrenaline kept her on her feet. She was freezing. Blood in her throat. Couldn't breathe. Darkness overtaking her peripherals. Stay awake. Stay alert. Survive.
Going well. Lucky to be alive.
Where was Ron? Professor McGonagall?
Stalled enough. Too much. Where?
The door burst open. There was her savior, Gallant Ron…
"You bloody cock-up!" Hermione cried.
That sodding idiot! Where was Professor McGonagall? Why was he alone?
The killer reached out his left hand. Ron's wand flew into it. Why couldn't that useless wanker have held on tight?
"Expelliarmus," the killer said. Hermione was thrown backwards, and the killer had her wand too. Hermione didn't have the strength to stand. She was going to die, and it was all Ron's fault. Why did he have to be so useless? If he'd just done as she'd instructed the killer would be quite finished and Hermione would have an award! She'd done bloody well for a first year, it wasn't her fault Ron was the stupidest bloody fool on the planet!
A burst of red flew from Pompom's wand and hit Ron in the chest. The stupid wanker crumpled like a paper bag.
"Reparo," the man said, pointing at himself. His stump of a right arm stopped bleeding immediately and the fingers on his remaining hand cracked back into place. Color returned to the fat man's face. All of Hermione's damage had been undone. He strutted to the door, stepping over Ron, and slammed it shut. "Cave Incnimum!" The man strolled around the room, cleaning it up with spells, putting the swords back in their chest, reforming the ice-blades and transfiguring them back into beads, returning everything back to the way it had been before.
It was just her and the killer. She had no wand, she was bleeding badly, and she'd used up all her magic anyways.
"Please," Hermione begged pathetically. "Spare me. Please! Have mercy! Have mercy!"
The killer regarded her for a moment. A wide, satisfied smile stretched across his face and he nodded for her to continue. "And the boy? My dear master Ronald? What if I demand one death for the trouble?"
"Spare me," Hermione grovelled. "Have mercy! Please have mercy on me at least!"
The killer's smirk grew wider. "And here I thought you loved him. I've seen how you stared at the boy... I've seen it before… With James to Lily."
"I do love him," Hermione cried desperately. "But I've no choice… I just want to live… What's wrong with… What's wrong with that Father?"
She played the final card in her hand. After she'd realized Peter Pettigrew was Scabbers she'd begun to notice things about the rat's behavior. How he followed her around everywhere, how he watched her in classes, how he sometimes even tried to help her with classes. What if he thought he really had sired her? As a precaution she'd hidden the photos of her Mum away and tried to endear herself to Scabbers.
"You're clever. It's astonishing you realized that the harmless Scabbers was really the killer. But to realize I was Peter Pettigrew? Incredible, simply incredible. But you've made a mistake. The same that Sirius did. You've underestimated me." Peter's expression soured. "Tell me Hermione, have you heard of the Fidelius Charm?"
Hermione nodded.
"Of course," Peter said warmly. "And so, upon realizing that I was Peter Pettigrew you must have pieced together what had happened. I was named the Potters' secret keeper and I betrayed them to the Dark Lord. Sirius knew and so I framed him and hid. As a rat. Regretting what I had done. Living in shame, forced to be Ron Weasley's pet. You thought that after I was made secret keeper the Dark Lord had found me and perhaps I was tortured, perhaps I was just scared to die, but ultimately Pathetic Peter Pettigrew broke. And so you tried this ploy, hoping it would spark my sympathy. Clever clever."
Peter strolled to her. "Reparo," he said, pointing the wand at her nose.
In moments Hermione could breathe again. He mussed her hair.
"Sirius and James never thought I'd have a daughter like you," Peter said smugly. "Nevermind that I was always the best with women. Nevermind that the only reason James ever managed a date with his precious Lily Evans was because of the advice I gave him. But now… Now my daughter is the most brilliant witch since Merlin and his son is thoroughly mediocre. I saw how you handled Snivellus when he tried to payback James through Harry, how you defended the poor, helpless boy. And I thought- that's my daughter, I made that. I haven't had many happy moments, Hermione, but that was surely one of them."
Yes. Hermione had always been good at making her parents proud. Awards. Excellence. Brilliance. They'd acted so upset about Hermione going to Hogwarts, she had such a bright future at Eton, don't you know? Then eventually Harvard or Oxford and then perhaps she'd become a powerful politician, or a famous scientist, or a wealthy CEO. And if she went to Hogwarts, then whatever would they have to brag about? Whose lives could they live? Surely not their own, they were just lowly dentists…
...But... At least they weren't rats or serial killers- she really ought to give them more credit.
"But your ploy will not work, because the Dark Lord never threatened me. I gave him the Potters location willingly, eagerly even. Because you see, for all the evil the Dark Lord had done, the Potters were far worse. Me, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin were once the best of friends. They were always better at magic, better at school, better at everything than me- but I never resented them for it, indeed I was proud they considered me their friend. James and Sirius always protected me, included me in every adventure, and if they occasionally put me down, if they sometimes tried their curses on me before giving them back to slimy Snivellus, well I ought to be grateful that they found me useful. And so I tried to remain useful. I infiltrated the Dark Lord's ranks. I even told them the Dark Lord was searching for them- at great personal risk to myself. I had proven myself a friend, good and true. And how did the perfect James and Lily Potter thank me?"
Peter's voice grew high and mocking. "Oh Peter, Sirius had such a great idea. Won't you be our Secret Keeper Peter? Won't you be tortured for us Peter? Won't you die for us Peter?" Peter cackled, so loud and hard that his body spasmed, convulsed. There wasn't a drop of humor in Peter Pettigrew's laughter- only pain and hurt. "And I realized that James and Sirius had never considered me a friend. Just a… A rat… A pet to be looked after, a thing to be experimented on, a shield for The Perfect James and Lily Potter. They knew what they were doing was wrong, that's why they never told Dumbledore about how they'd betrayed me. About how James Potter couldn't stand to see his best friend Sirius Black hunted down and killed, but if it was only Pathetic Peter Pettigrew then it was alright.
"So I told the Dark Lord exactly where to find them, I framed Sirius Black, and I've never, ever regretted it."
Author's Note: Thanks for reading. What a strange chapter title… I would read the next few chapters very carefully. If you don't like Hermione's actions in this chapter, remember that this story is far from over… And now onto the reviews!
Cheese12345 - Thanks! Humor is the main thing I'm going for in this story!
Iwik - Well... sorry about this chapter. Hermione and Ron's relationship takes a big hit here. I considered this a midstory quiz, which Hermione failed. Thanks for the review!
ViviTheFolle - ...Or in this narrative, placing herself in Slytherin:) The stupidity of this plan will be explored in the next chapter. Thanks for the review!
Gja03 - Me too. That's a goal of this fic.
Luiz4200 - Haha! Thanks for the review!