Last time Ron figured out a common link between the victims, a link that Hermione shared. Now Ron can't find Hermione. Where is she? Is she already dead? Read to find out. On with the show!
Chapter 4: Hermione's Game
Hermione woke up to near darkness, her head pounding like she had drunk several pints of Firewhiskey. As she tried to gain her bearings, Hermione remembered what happened to her. She had apparated from The Ministry to her home, when something grabbed her from behind. A foul smelling rag was held against her face, and the obvious sleeping potion knocked her out.
Well, thought Hermione, here's a fine mess I'm in. She moved her hands around to feel if she was going to bump into anything, when her hand touched an object that felt like a book. It was a book, for at that point the lights came on.
Hermione blinked furiously for several seconds as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. When she could see clearly, Hermione saw that she was in a room filled with books. Thousands of books were stacked haphazardly around the 15 X 20 room. There were no windows and only one door. On one wall was a clock; the time was 8:47 p.m.
She stood up and tried to open the door. Of course, it was locked. Hermione then saw that on the door was an old style rotary combination lock with numbers ranging from 0 to 60. No problem, thought Hermione as she reached for her wand. Yet her wand was nowhere to be found.
As she frantically searched the room for her wand, Hermione saw something that sent chills down her spine, a blue recording crystal. Oh no, she thought, not me. She picked up the crystal an a voice began to speak from the crystal, a voice that Hermione couldn't tell if it were male or female:
"Hello Hermione. By now you're awake and wondering two things; where you are and why you are here. Where you are isn't important. What is important is why. The answer is both simple and complicated at the same time. The complicated part is that you have spent the majority of your life reading books. Even after six years at Hogwarts and assisting in the destruction of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, you still prefer to spend your free timed reading books, when so much of the world passes you by. In short, you are wasting your life on the written word."
Hermione wanted to shout to the killer that he didn't know anything about her, yet she knew that yelling at the crystal wouldn't do anything productive. She listened as the voice continued:
"The second reason is the simple one: I want to play a game. Since you prefer to spend your free time reading instead with friends and family, well here's your chance to spend the rest of your life among books. There is only one way out of the room you are in; a locked door. I'll tell you how you can open this door in a minute. Beyond the locked door is a second door that will remain open until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Beyond the second door is your wand and freedom. If you have failed to open the first door by 6:00 a.m., the second door will close and lock permanently from the inside, and this room shall become your tomb.
"Your only chance of escaping alive is to program a seven-digit combination into the lock on the door. But before you start imputing random combinations, be warned; the lock is enchanted to permanently lock if you input three wrong combinations. Three wrong guesses and you die in this room. Yet there is a solution to this game you are about to play. I've hidden the combination all around you."
The books, thought Hermione, he's hidden the combination in the books.
"If you're thinking that the combination is in the books, you are correct. In seven random books I've placed the seven digits of the combination, as well as which order the numbers go in the combination. They're written in bright colored ink to make them easy to spot. If you wish to live, simply read though the books.
"Now a final warning: I've coated the pages of the books with a corrosive potion; harmless to paper, yet highly toxic to humans in large doses. The more pages you turn in your search for the combination, the more of the poison you absorb into your hands and fingers."
Hermione had already touched several books and turned several pages. She violently recoiled from the books as if they were snakes.
"You'll feel nothing at first, but soon your hands and fingers will begin to tingle, then itch, then burn. Eventually the pain in your hands will be so great you'll barely be able to hold a book, let alone turn a page. Eventually you'll have absorbed enough of the toxin, you'll have lost all motor control in your hands.
"My question is this: Are you willing to sacrifice your hands in order to save your life? Or is your obsession with books stronger than your will to survive? If that is the case simply do nothing until you die from dehydration. If you wish to survive, start turning pages.
"Live or die, it's your choice.
"Let the game begin."
"Well," said Hermione out loud, "This is a fine mess I'm in." She then picked up a random book and began turning pages.
The end of chapter 4. Next chapter we switch back to Harry and Ron as they search for any clue as to where Hermione is. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!