Enter for the Quidditch League Competition - Round 1 - Puddlemere United - Beater 2
Prompt: Yawning – Write about someone being possessed.
Optional prompts: 7. [colour] green; 13. [object] feather
Word count: 1918
Warnings: Canon Divergence
Hermione Granger loved magic. It spoke to her, made her feel alive. It lived in everything around her, in the air she breathed, in the trees and grass. It was the one constant in her life, the thing that never changed.
She had always been able to feel it, feel how it wrapped itself around her. She could feel how her spells moved and interacted with everything they encountered. Hermione knew that feeling magic was rare these days. She had read that in ancient times, many wizards and witches were able to sense magic. It was rumored that some people could also see magic, but that had never been proven or studied. She had a suspicion that Luna Lovegood could see magic, given her odd way of explaining occurrences with invisible creatures that no one had ever heard of, but she had no way of proving her theory.
The first day she had set foot at Hogwarts, unimaginable power had swirled around her, encased her and completely intoxicated her. Luckily for her, no one had noticed, too excited during the Sorting and the Welcome Feast to take note of the strangeness of her actions. The magic of the school was vibrant, playful and energetic. It was alive and reverberated in every part of the school, from the highest tower to the very depths of the dungeons. The students' magic fed into the constant stream of the school and made it more intricate and powerful.
Upon meeting the Headmaster, Hermione had felt his magic mixing with that of the school. It was as though the Headmaster's magic was intricately connected to that of the castle itself. It had seemed strange to her at the time since every individual at the school had their own magical signature; however Dumbledore didn't.His meshed with that of the school. That fact alone had made her wary of the old man, and she later on realized that her first impression was correct.
The headmaster was siphoning magic from the school, using it as his own magic supply. It was genius but, at the same time, terrifying. No one should be able to possess such a great supply of magic. Power was intoxicating and magic even more so.
During the war, Hermione had watched and felt as the school lost its magic, little by little. It was as though the more the war progressed, the more Hogwarts was deteriorating. She had theorized that the Headmaster was drawing on the school's magic more and more as the war advanced. Her theory was proven right when in her fifth year, when the headmaster had been ousted, the school had started reacting and interacting more.
But with the war reaching its peak, the school had received unimaginable damage. Hermione feared it might never recover.
In the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione had been devastated by the state of the school and the little magic it held. Too many walls had collapsed, the wards had been completely obliterated, and the magic that was still there was being used to heal what remained of the structure.
The war was over now, but the damage that had been done to the school seemed irreparable. Hermione could feel the magic leaving it. She tried to infuse some of her magic into the walls, but she knew that it would not be enough.
Come find me
I've been waiting for you
Hermione
Hermione
Hermione
She was losing her mind; she was sure of it. She was hearing voices just like Harry had with the basilisk. A strange force was pushing her and leading her towards something. She slipped away from the commotion in the Great Hall and started walking without much thought. With the magic leading her, she wandered through a maze of corridors without knowing her destination. She passed by the library but soon her surroundings changed and she entered an unknown hall.
I'm waiting for you
Suddenly, she stopped. She was standing in front of a large green door. It seemed strange and out of place, almost like the elusive entrance to the Room of Requirement. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was, but she was at a loss. She had been led to somewhere she had never been. Magic here felt different, more pronounced, serious.
Stranger still, the color of the door seemed to reflect the feel of the magic, although she couldn't explain why. Hermione was sure that if she could see the magic, it would be the same shade of green as the door.
The voice spoke again.
Open it, I'm waiting
Against her better judgment, Hermione placed her hand on the door handle and turned it. The door opened easily, as if by an invisible force. As she peered into the darkness behind the entrance, trying to make out the contents of the room, magic wafted onto her and held on to her. It wrapped itself around her and pulled her further inside until she stood in front of a floating green feather. Wave after wave of magic emanated from it and Hermione felt her hand move against her will and reach out of the the levitating object.
Hermione panicked. She had no idea whether or not this strange force was to be trusted. What if the feather was cursed?
She tried to resist, but it was in vain; her body refused to cooperate. Instead, it moved by its own volition. A spine-tingling chill coursed through her, and the blood rushing in her ears sounded like the waves of an angry ocean crashing upon the shore.
What was happening to her? Why was her body moving without her consent? Why was magic invading her and controlling her so completely? That had never happened to her before.
She watched helplessly as her arm made contact with the feather. The second her fingers brushed it, magic moved and danced around them, and her fear melted away. She could sense its happiness, its power, its needs. And at that moment, it needed her.
With that last thought, magic entered her, racing through her body. Her cells vibrated, and her blood sang. A strange force was taking over her body and she was helpless to stop it.
"Hello, Hermione." The voice was now in her head. Her heart beat faster, fear taking hold of her being once more.
"What's happening?" she stammered out, desperately trying to figure out what was happening to her. "Who are you? Where are you?" "You do not need to fear me, child, for I do not intend to harm you. I quite like you, in fact."
The voice was that of a woman; it was deep,soothing, and sounded wise. With every word spoken, magic seemed to calm her. It was strange. Her feelings weren't her own, but at the same time, they were. It was as though she was being controlled, possessed.
Possessed! That was it! When she had touched the feather, whoever had been residing inside had taken hold of her body and transferred its consciousness into her. A very powerful being at the feel of it.
Hermione had not spoken aloud, but yet, the voice answered.
"Quite smart, aren't you, child? I thought it would take you longer to figure it out. My name is Morgana Le Fay, if you must know. I am now, as you have just guessed, in your head." Hermione might not be able to see it, but she could feel the smirk covering Morgana's lips.
"Get out of my head!" Hermione all but screamed.
"I cannot do that. I have taken over your body for a reason. I need you. Hogwarts needs you. You are its only chance of survival."
"What do you mean by that?" Anxious energy was building in Hermione's stomach, her mind was overflown with thoughts. She wasn't sure what to do, what to feel. Morgana had completly violated her, taken over her mind and body. As her heartbeat kickened and her fear rose, warmth and love envaded her. Love that she couldn't understand comming from a being she didn't know. All that love and warmth was directed towards her and she was at a loss.
"You can feel magic. Tell me… What did the school feel like to you moments ago?"
The words came tumbling out before she could stop them. "It's dying."
"Yes, the magic of the school is dying out as we speak. You are the only one that can prevent that from happening now."
"I don't know how to do that."
"You don't, but you will learn. I will teach you. First, you need to see magic in order to understand what is happening around you."
After Morgana uttered those words, Hermione's vision went black. Panic once again took hold of her, and a terrified scream escaped her parted lips.
After a couple of minutes, her vision started to clear, but it was different. What she had once believed to be only a myth started to form in front of her. The magic that she had always felt coming from the school was now dancing in front of her eyes. It was a vibrant green that covered everything around her.
"What you are seeing now is Hogwarts' magical signature. It is also mine. I'm sure you know that every being has its own magical core. No two magical signatures are perfectly alike; likewise for their colors. Years ago, when this castle was built, I infused it with my own magic. Every stone, every brick was imbedded with magic. It was my greatest creation, the greatest feat of magic ever accomplished."
Hermione's mind spun, trying to make sense of this new information.
"I thought the founders built Hogwarts?"
A shrilling laugh enveloped Hermione's mind.
"Oh, that's what they wanted people to believe," Morgana answered, the mocking tone evident in her voice. "But Hogwarts was my creation, my magic. They could never accomplish what I had been able to. They had tried to siphon the magic of these walls, similarly to what the last Headmaster did. I'm certain he learned that trick from one of their journals." "So I was right!" Hermione exclaimed. "The Headmaster was stealing magic from the school!"
"Yes, the old fool, he did not understand the consequences of his actions. My magic was not compatible with his and slowly killed his magical core."
"What about my magic then?" asked Hermione, horrified. "Are you destroying my core as we speak?" The last sentence ended in a high-pitched squeak.
There was no way she could take back Morgana's gift, and Hermione wasn't even sure if she wanted to. Would she face the same fate as Dumbledore, slowly rotting from the inside out?
"No, dear, you will be fine. I chose you for this for a reason. Your magic is compatible with my own. Eerily similar to it. I have waited a long time for you; hundreds of lifetimes may pass before two witches as similar as us two are born. Why do you think you have always been able to feel my magic, since the first day you stepped foot in this castle? The magic residing in every stone called to you. That is why you are the only one that can help me save it. You are Hogwarts' last hope."
Hermione couldn't comprehend everything so quickly. Morgana was placing a lot of faith in her, faith she didn't know she deserved. Before she could say anything else, Morgana took over her body.