Chapter 13: Hermione Loses her Magic

Hermione sat across the table from Doctor Lopes, who had the tape recorder on the table and his usual clipboard ready to take notes. She wasn't really in the mood for talking. Her whole body hurt, and her hand and side were throbbing, but she had made up her mind last night that she was going to prove the good doctor wrong.

Reaching over to the tape recorder, Andrew pressed the record button down. Then looking down at his notes, he poised the pen over the clipboard as if in anticipation.

"We were talking about that scar of yours," Andrew started. "Now how did you know that it was in the shape of a lightning bolt?" he asked.

"I didn't," Hermione said, crossing her arms across her body.

"So you expect me to believe that this…" Dr. Lopes flicked through his notes briefly and read, "Harry Potter is real?" he asked, looking up at her.

"No, I don't expect you to believe me," Hermione replied calmly.

"And why is that?" Andrew asked curiously.

"Because you're a Muggle. You're not supposed to know about magic," she stated.

"Right, right, I'm a Muggle and you're a witch, I got it," Andrew said with a patronizing smirk.

"Don't you dare assume that you know everything there is to know in this world," Hermione spat back viciously at him. "There are things that your brain couldn't even begin to comprehend. You presume to think you know me just because you're in a position of authority. You are sorely mistaken." Hermione spoke passionately with fire in her eyes.

"Please educate me then," the psychiatrist replied. He was baiting her and she had risen to the challenge. 'Damn I'm good, if I do say so myself,' he celebrated in his mind.

Hermione, infuriated, did the only thing she could think of; stretching out her right hand she said in a firm voice,

"Accio wand!"

She waited like that for a while, but as the seconds ticked over to minutes, a frown fell upon her face. Doctor Lopes raised his eyebrows and then started scribbling on the clipboard feverishly.

Hermione's frown turned into intense concentration as she tried again.

"Accio wand!" she yelled with every ounce of breath in her body. Again, nothing happened.

She scowled as she slowly put her arm down. Doubt hit her for the first time in her life; doubt in her abilities, doubt in herself. She didn't want to believe it; she wasn't going to believe it. She raised her right arm again and whispered in a shaky voice, "Accio clipboard."

Nothing happened. Astonishment set in as she realised that she, Hermione Granger, couldn't even execute a straightforward Summoning Spell.

She bit down hard on her lower lip and found the pain was comforting. 'Maybe the doctor was right, maybe she had made the whole thing up,' she wondered. But it had seemed so real to her. Hermione was very confused.

Doctor Lopes gazed up from his notes to look at Hermione's face, observing her posture. The girl was slumped over the table, eyes drawn to a spot on the floor, her arms by her side. She looked defeated as though she had just come through some internal battle with herself and lost.

This was the first step to curing someone; you had to break them down to basics before you can remould them into an image fit for society. Andrew was feeling very pleased with himself. He deliberately cleared his throat before asking, "What did you just do?"

Hermione looked up as though just remembering he was there, and replied, "I just tried to call my wand, but it didn't work, and it always works." She looked completely baffled.

"Why do you think that was?" Andrew asked.

"I don't know." Hermione paused for a second looking over Doctor Lopes' shoulder.

The very foundations of her world had been shaken and Hermione was terrified. Her fear began to fuel a terrible anger, far worse than any normal fit of temper.

Doctor Andrew Lopes noticed the growing rage on her face and tried to defuse the situation.

"What don't you know?" he asked in an attempt to keep her talking.

Hermione didn't answer; instead she stood up with such force that she knocked over the chair and slammed her right hand on the table. Her body was tense and everything about her was threatening.

"Don't you get it?" she screamed at him, throwing her good hand up in the air. "If I can't do a simple Summoning Spell than I am as helpless as you!"

Andrew stood up and pressed the red button on his beeper. This situation had gotten out of his control and he needed the orderlies. They were right outside the door, so it shouldn't take long to get the wild girl restrained.

Hermione was furious, and all she wanted to do now was run off and cry, preferably somewhere no one could find her. Her hand was aching and her side was throbbing, but she didn't care. She had never felt so alone in her life.

The door opened behind her and she saw two orderlies rush into the room. One she recognised, the other she didn't. Hermione whirled around to face her attackers. They were both big men, but she was beyond caring at this stage.

"Don't you dare come near me," Hermione spat as her breathing picked up its pace.

The orderlies slowed down a little but kept on advancing.

"Come on, Hermione, there's a good girl, no need to get all upset," Robert Finn said in soothing manner.

Hermione backed up whilst keeping all three men in her sights. She was ready for the inevitable fight, because she was not going to be drugged and tied again. Throwing her hands up in a mock surrender, she stopped in her tracks, her eyes scanning the three men. She looked quite deranged.

Robert approached cautiously; he knew she meant to fight, but as she was so small, he thought he could wrap this up pretty quickly. His big mistake was underestimating Hermione; she may have been tiny, but she was full of rage. Finn wasn't looking closely enough, taking his superiority for granted. But if he had noticed the mad glint in Hermione's eyes and had any sense of self-preservation at all he would never have gone to her alone.

As the orderly Robert came within range, she kicked out with her right leg and caught his groin. She knew her knee would have done more damage, but she wasn't letting him that close to her. Robert hit the ground quickly and curled up on his side clinging to his crotch. She smiled. 'Let the games begin.'

Andrew was just standing there in a state of bewilderment. No matter how many times he had seen patients who were prone to violent outbursts, he would never get used to it.

Hermione was the last person who he'd have expected to fight; she was so small and frail. It was always the quiet ones who didn't seem like they could hurt a fly that you had to watch out for. They were usually the most deadly because they were often the most misjudged of all the patients.

Andrew detested violence; it reminded him of his childhood living with his mum and stepfather. His stepfather often got drunk and, when he did, he would always pretend to be a magician, then beat and rape Andrew's mother in front of him. He almost gagged on the memory.

Klaus Wintermeier, the other orderly, advanced on Hermione but she was ready for him and took him down using an upper cut to his jaw with her broken left-hand cast. It hurt like hell, but she was satisfied when she saw two of his teeth hit the ground. Klaus joined his fallen comrade and molars on the floor.

Shaking out her broken hand and wincing at the pain, the half-crazed girl turned her attention to Doctor Lopes. He was backed up into the corner trembling.

"Please don't hurt me," Andrew begged in a voice that was not his own.

'Okay. No threat. Doorway clear.' Hermione made a run for it. She dashed blindly down the corridor; with no idea what she was going to do next. But that didn't seem to matter so much. After being tied up so long, it felt good just to let loose and run. Hermione came to the only door at the end of the hall and tried the knob.

"Damn it's locked," she half-growled to herself, she was out of breath and her hand was killing her.

"Alohomora!" she yelled, pointing her hand at the door. But that spell, like the Summoning Spell, refused to work. 'Damn it, I can't perform that spell without my wand.' She could hear the loud thud of footsteps coming up the corridor. She looked around her eyes scanning the hall; there were no other doors, nothing. They were so close now and she doubted she could take them all. Even if she could, what could she do with no keys to open the doors? She made a quick decision and abandoned the door at a run.

Hermione was crash tackled by Robert Finn who had apparently gotten up off the floor and given chase. Although the wind was knocked out of her, she was still struggling for her life. Her mouth made contact and she bit down, ignoring the scream that Robert let out. She felt a fist make contact with her head, and the world went black.

A/N: What do you think so far? Do you want more? Let me know...

Disclaimer: The usual!