"I have not altered the contract from the standard Wizarding one, Miss Granger, but it… suffices to know that you were being adequately suspicious, on your second read-through. It is actually illegal to alter this contract, although many Potions Masters and Mistresses have done so," He scowled. "to their own advantage, in the past. I have had my taste of law-breaking, Miss Granger."
"So you can't change this?" Hermione said, stunned.
"Having second thoughts, Miss Granger?" Snape sneered.
Hermione refrained from reminding him that it was he who advised her to take an apprenticeship. Instead, she chose to stare at the line over and over again.
"So I will be an equivalent of your slave during the time that I am your apprentice?" Hermione said, still in shock.
"Basically, yes, Miss Granger. I'm afraid that there are so few who take apprenticeships, or even have the ability to take one, that the Ministry is very vague on the details. But you must remember that I do have Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall under the same roof, and I am not fond of having my head placed on a silver platter for taking… inappropriate actions against you."
Hermione felt a little more relieved. She picked up the quill next to the parchment and paused, unsure of what to do, when suddenly, she yelped in pain, dropping the quill on her lap. She quickly yanked her necklace out of her top and gasped as she clutched her chest, where the crystal had heated up a few minutes before.
"Merlin, Professor, did you want to kill me just now?" Hermione gasped.
She held onto the chain and the crystal spun in the air.
"I did not want anything of that sort, Miss Granger." Snape said angrily
"So who…" Hermione trailed off.
She drew out her wand and stood up shakily.
"Professor, Death Eaters are in the vicinity." Hermione said shakily.
"I will speak to the headmaster about this, do not move."
Snape threw a handful of floo powder into the fire and spoke to Professor Dumbledore as Hermione cast a cheering spell upon herself and gently tapped the crystal three times and called for Harry and Ron. Snape stood up and brushed off little flecks of soot, and looked at her.
"Professor Dumbledore says that there have been no change in the wards, so you have mistaken, Miss Granger."
Just then, there was a knock on Snape's door.
"Come in." Snape snarled, grinding his teeth.
Harry's head popped in and looked from Hermione to Snape.
"My apologies, sir. Hermione, did your crystal—?" Harry said.
Hermione nodded.
"Do you have the map with you?" Hermione asked.
"Yes."
"And your cloak?"
"No."
"Go get Ron and your cloak and check if any Death Eaters are around. If yes, be happy. If no, then… go back to Gryffindor, I suppose."
Harry nodded, and left. Snape looked at Hermione with an expression of scepticism when she said 'be happy'; why would someone want to be happy when there were Death Eaters nearby? Turning back to the parchment, Hermione signed it wondering why she felt this imminent sense of doom lingering above her head. Snape smirked and waved his wand. The contract folded itself and flew into a small see-through container that sat on the mantelpiece. Hermione sighed.
"Thank you, Professor."
"You will wish to begin your apprenticeship after your exams, I presume."
Hermione nodded.
"We will begin the day after your last exam."
Hermione knew a dismissal when she saw one and she muttered a good bye before departing the room. Suddenly, she felt extraordinarily happy. Then, the dread began to settle in. Harry had seen a Death Eater. Just then, there was a huge shudder in the building. The wards were being attacked! Hermione sprinted up to the Entrance Hall. Seeing a few startled students she began to take control again.
"Everyone! Return to your common rooms immediately. Tell that to anyone you meet in the corridors. Alert your house prefects to assemble everyone in the common rooms. If anyone is missing, alert the head of house."
The students scattered. Hermione then yanked open the school doors. Peering out she could see spells being cast in the far distance, by the gates of the school. Once the wards fell, then the whole of Voledmort's army would be able to apparate to any part of the school. It seemed that the Death Eaters were entering into the grounds. They had broken one of the wards. But they did not know where the other wards were centred. Or did they? Hermione immediately began her work.
She drew runes all over the area in front of the main doors, hoping that no one would see her. Unfortunately, that was thrown out the window when a killing curse missed her. She cast the activating spell on the runes and locked and bolted the doors. Then, she cast spells after spell at the door, warding it, placing traps on it, and anything else she could think of. She then drew more runes in the area just after the door and activated those. She drew a faint black line around the area of the runes, hoping that anyone with eyes, other than the Death Eaters, would be able to see it. She then drew more runes, around the large semi-circle of protecting runes, which would cause anyone beyond the line to be invisible to those on the other side.
She knew that she had just effectively sealed one of their exits, but it was necessary, especially now that Death Eaters were upon them. She was soon joined by a panting Harry and Ron.
"Hermione! They'll be at the school any minute, what should we do?" Ron gasped.
"I think that we should gather everyone and fight." Harry said determinedly.
"Harry, we will be fighting the whole of Voldemort's army."
"I want to get this over and done with. By the end of tonight, either I or Voldemort, will be dead." Harry said.
Hermione sighed.
"I'll go and get the DA." Harry said. "We'll meet back here."
"What should I do?" Ron asked.
"Hermione!" Will's voice cried.
"They're here, aren't they?" Phoebe said.
Both of them materialised at the end of the corridor.
"We need to get the school to safety. Ron, you get the Gryffindors and Amethysts. Will, you get the Slytherins and Emeralds. Phoebe and I can handle Ravenclaw, Diamonds, Hufflepuff and Topazes." Harry said.
"Don't try the floo. It'll be blocked." Hermione said.
"We can portkey from the tunnels." Harry said.
"I need to make a few portkeys then." Hermione said.
Make sure the ones who want to fight, and are above fifth year, stay behind." Harry told the others.
They huddled in a group as Hermione pulled out what little items she had in her pockets. Where were the teachers? She ignored that for the moment and concentrated. Where should she send them to? Hogsmeade will probably be overrun by now. Then it hit her. It may be a ruin, but at least the students should be out of harm's way. She charmed the five items into portkeys.
"Okay, Hermione, we're ready." Ron said, bravely standing up tall.
"Here, take one portkey for each house. I have an extra portkey for those who stay behind in the battle, in case…" Hermione looked at Harry. "Anyway, I'd advise you to use the portkeys while you are in the tunnels, or, if you want to come back, which I know Ron does, get someone trustworthy to operate these. It's the same as last time. Oh! Sorry, Ron. To activate the portkey, tap it three times. Go, all of you."
"What about you, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"I just remembered something, I need to go to the library."
"You're going to the library at a time like this?" Ron said sceptically.
"I think I've thought of a way… I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before! Well, I'm the only one… What are you doing? Go!" Hermione said ushering them off.
They all ran in different directions, and Hermione made her way to the library, the wards should hold for a while until the central force holding them together falls. She hurried into the library, frowning when she saw no Madam Pince, and went into the Restricted Section. She may as well take advantage of the lack of authority figures while she could.
She hurriedly looked through the books and found what she was looking for. Ritualistic Magic. She flipped open the book and frantically perused the pages. She had to find it. Time was running low, she could feel it. Especially when it was so quiet. Where on Earth were the teachers? She stopped her hand movements. She was staring at a page with a picture of a five pointed star. She found it.
The Power of Five. Often a forgotten power, since it is presumed that the Power of Three is more efficient and therefore more powerful. However, the Power of Five united provides a stronger power. Each person must be able to trust the other four. By arranging the five persons in a formation similar to the one in the diagram above, where each person is at a point, they can trap and completely destroy or revive a person who stands in the central pentagon. However, one cannot revive a person who is dead. Total destruction of the intended victim requires very strong power. Once the star has been cast and joined to all five persons, the victim will be trapped and unable to escape. Complete destruction requires only one person to remain standing until the very end.
Hermione quickly memorised the incantation and movements required before rushing out of the library. To her horror, the Death Eaters were already destroying the door. It had already been twenty minutes since she and her friends parted ways, yet no one was here! Then, Hermione felt her blood run cold. What if they had all gone without her? What if the teachers had forced everyone to go, and had left her behind? Where was everyone?
Grunts of annoyance floated to her ears and she smirked, at least she would be able to feel satisfied that her spells had detained the entrance of the Death Eaters. Her smirk died away. What would she do? Alone she was very vulnerable. She immediately decided to go to the dungeons, they were the nearest anyway. However, upon her arrival, she found that Snape's office was empty. The glass that Snape had been drinking from was now on the floor, smashed. Strange, that was also the last place that she had seen Snape. What was going on here? She went to the fireplace and tried to get into contact with the headmaster.
"Professor Dumbledore! Professor Dumbledore!" She shouted through the flames.
It was no use. No one was there. She tried the Gryffindor Common Room. It was empty. At least Ron had done his job right. She ran back to the Entrance Hall. Five minutes had passed, and she could see a few Death Eaters had entered into the threshold of the Entrance Hall. They could not see her, but they were all staring at the runes with looks of exasperation.
"More of them!" One growled.
"They're all over the floor! It'll take an age to get rid of them this time!" Another one added.
"It's a good thing we got rid of the teachers." Someone snickered. "The students will be completely helpless now."
There words chilled her to the bone. What did they mean by 'got rid of the teachers'? Hermione stared at the Death Eaters in horror. There was no one to protect the school! She tapped her crystal three times and whispered Harry and Ron's name, hoping they would sense her fear and come to find her. Then, she straightened up. She was still here, and she would fight. But she carefully slipped the portkey into her bra and changed the activation. As long as she yelled the password, it would activate itself, so that she would be transported out of there. Hopefully the wards would not stop her from portkeying. She knew that you could only portkey from Dumbledore's office, and hoped…
She shook her head clear. The Death Eaters, although it was taking time, were clearing away the runes she had drawn. She had made it more difficult this time, and you have to find the correct spell to erase each rune – each rune was different, and if the incorrect spell was said, the Death Eater who cast it would receive double what he cast. So, there were already a large heap of Death Eaters being put off to the side. Hermione pulled out her wand and sighed quietly. Perhaps Phoebe would be able to become Snape's apprentice after all.
As soon as they were approaching the line, Hermione began stunning and hexing them running around to make it seem as though there was more than one person. The Death Eaters tried to retaliate, but they could not, since they were fighting an invisible enemy, or so it seemed. Suddenly, it struck Hermione. The ghosts were missing. Where was everyone? She continued her fight, and the pile of Death Eaters grew higher and higher. Since many of them were concentrating on destroying the enemy, many of the Death Eaters cast the wrong spell at the runes, causing them to fly back and knock anyone they touched unconscious. That was the extra spells that Hermione had placed. She estimated that, about fifty Death Eaters, at the least, were down, so she only needed to get rid of about fifty more.
Hermione stopped firing spells, and made more runes. At random intervals, she would put more invisibility runes, but she did not have enough time. There were three paths available from the Entrance Hall, and all three had to be covered. It took a long time, but because the Death Eaters thought they had vanquished the enemy, they became somewhat more relaxed and went slowly and more accurately. Once Hermione was done, she was satisfied that the Death Eaters would be hindered for at least another half an hour (she had literally covered the entire room with runes) she departed for the Owlery.
When she arrived, she was dismayed to see that Voldemort's army had grown since the attack on Phinxgild. Those seventy or eighty Death Eaters that now lay unconscious, until a St. Mungo's Healer came along, only made up less than half of his army. Hermione hurriedly wrote a note to Dumbledore, saying that she had sent the students to safety, but could not find anyone. She did not want to leave until she was sure there was no one left in the school, but the ghosts had disappeared as well. Once she had sent two owls, both carrying the same message to the same person, she was struck with a brilliant idea. She ran across the school until she found him.
"Sir Cadogen! Please, have you seen the students?" Hermione asked breathlessly.
"Ah! Dear Lady! The students have all departed by portkey."
"So there's no one left in the school?" Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.
"My dear Lady, there is a small group who got left behind."
"Can you take me to them? This is urgent!" Hermione said frantically.
"Of course! Anything to aid a damsel in distress! Forwards ho!"
And he galloped off. She ran after him, trying to keep up. Unfortunately, he disappeared from sight about ten minutes later, and she cursed. She noticed that she was being led towards the Hospital Wing. Of course! She hadn't thought that there would be people there! Hermione hurried and finally made it, bursting through the doors. There were about ten students, all huddled together, crying. Most of them were first or second years. All were from different houses. Hermione approached them.
"Why are you crying?" Hermione asked.
"M-madam P-pomfrey vanished!" The smallest girl cried.
"Vanished?"
"She was just talking to us, but then, like she was using a portkey or something, she just disappeared. She looked really shocked when it happened." A boy said calmly.
He was an Amethyst, and Hermione sighed. Why did some people have to go through this nightmare twice? A crash sounded below and most of them burst into tears once more. Even the boy looked fearful. Hermione tried to calm them down, but found that she could not. They were all in hysterics now, screaming in fear.
"Shush! You need to keep quiet, or they will find us."
Hermione flicked her wand, causing the doors to shut and lock themselves. She knew it would not be long before the Death Eaters would get through. She picked up a pillow from one of the beds and charmed it into a portkey.
"Hold on! All of you!"
She tapped it three times. Nothing happened. The wards were still up, which meant that they could not portkey out.
"Follow me!"
She ran to the fireplace and they all took a scoop of it each. She put them through to Dumbledore's office in pairs, giving the pillow to the last boy. Just then, the doors burst open and a crowd of Death Eaters appeared.
"Hurry! Get into Dumbledore's office and tap it three times! Do not leave anyone behind." Hermione said to the Amethyst boy.
There were still four students left. Hermione covered them, casting spells at the Death Eaters and directing their attention away from the younger students. When she was sure all four had gone through, she turned to go. Unfortunately, a spell hit her back, and she fell, unconscious, to the ground.