Chapter Three
Once Hermione reached the library, she placed her bag on the table and pulled out some parchment, ink and quill. After setting up, she headed to the Muggle Studies section of the library and looked up the books on theoretical astrophysics, time travel and any books that may contain some mention about a Grandfather paradox. Finally she found a book that had a decent amount of information on the paradox. Hermione made her way back to her table and copied out what the book said.
The Grandfather Paradox: First described by the science fiction writer René Barjavel in his 1943 book Le Voyageur Imprudent (The Imprudent Traveler). The Grandfather Paradox is a paradox of time travel. The paradox is this: suppose a man traveled back in time and killed his biological grandfather before the latter met the traveler's grandmother. As a result, one of the traveler's parents (and by extension, the traveler himself) would never have been conceived. This would imply that he could not have travelled back in time after all, which in turn implies the grandfather would still be alive and the traveler would have been conceived, allowing him to travel back in time and kill his grandfather. Thus each possibility seems to imply its own negation, a type of logical paradox.
The grandfather paradox has been used to argue that backwards time travel must be impossible. However, a number of possible ways of avoiding the paradox have been proposed, such as the idea that the timeline is fixed and unchangeable, or the idea that the time traveler will end up in a parallel timeline, while the timeline in which the traveler was born remains independent.
'Well that's helpful.' Said Hermione, placing the parchment back on the table after reading the explanation over twice more. Sure she'd experienced time travel before but that was only for a few hours a day at most, no more than three hours during the whole Sirius and Buckbeak debacle. This was a whole different ball game now.
'And you talking to yourself isn't helpful, Granger. I mean some people are trying to read here so they don't screw up the timeline.' Sighing quietly to herself she turned to face her project partner who had his feet on the table in front of him while reading the booklet Dumbledore gave them.
'I'm surprised that you can actually read Malfoy. No scratch that. I'm surprised you actually want to read something that is stopping you from making sure Harry, Ron and I are ever born.' Malfoy's eyes narrowed slightly and if Hermione was kidding herself she could have swore there was a flash of hurt in his eyes.
'And why would I do that? I may be the son of a Death Eater but that doesn't mean that I want Potter dead. And that's the truth Ganger. As much as you three are the bane of my existence the world unfortunately needs you.' Admitted Malfoy grudgingly.
'At least we are agreed on something. You are the bane of our existence as well.' Hermione turned back to her study on the Grandfather Paradox. For once there was something that was boggling her mind. What did this mean? As much as she tried she couldn't make heads or tails of how killing any member of her family fit with what the Sorting Hat said.
'It doesn't necessarily mean that you will kill your grandparents you know.' Hermione was pulled out of her thoughts once more by Malfoy.
'What?' asked Hermione, momentarily stunned at the fact that he knew what she was thinking.
'The Grandfather Paradox. It doesn't mean that you have to kill your grandparents.' repeated Malfoy.
'Firstly; what would you know about the Grandfather Paradox? After all, Malfoy, it is a muggle term and you hate all things muggle. Secondly, how the hell did you know I was researching that particular theory? Thirdly, what do you mean by "It doesn't mean that you have to kill your grandparents?" And finally, why the hell do you care?' seethed Hermione. She would not be bested by him, not today.
Malfoy took his feet off the table and turned so he was facing her directly, leaning forward he answered her. 'To answer your questions Granger, I may not like muggles but some of the things they come up with can be useful. I knew what you were researching because you mumble things when you are frustrated at something, especially when it is something you are reading.' He paused for a second before continuing, Hermione could tell that he was contemplating something.
'With the Grandfather Paradox, what I mean is you don't have to kill your grandparents, for all you know you could be your grandmother, in a disturbing and twisted time travel sort of way. And to answer the first and last question, I'm apparently and Grandfather Paradox also, thus I have done some quick research on it before you came in. Although the Sorting Hat said did say something about me not being my great-great-grandfather or killing a family member or something of the sort.'
Hermione could have hit herself over the head with the book. Of course Malfoy was a grandfather paradox, he was her partner. He was the other person the hat was talking about.
'Fine, Malfoy. I concede for now.' sighed Hermione. 'I don't think I want to know too much about this paradox, I guess I'll just have to be happy with "going with the flow" for once.' Hermione thought for a moment, there was something that had to be done before the practical this evening.
'Malfoy, since we are partnered together, I want to make a truce. No name calling and no trying to hex each other until we get back, that is if we have magic. We also try to help each other out and make sure that we get through this assessment unharmed. Agreed?' she held out her hand expectantly. Malfoy looked at her contemplating the truce.
'Fine, I accept your truce. But as soon as we get back it all goes back to normal.' Hermione nodded, she didn't expect anything else. Malfoy reached out and grasped her hand briefly before letting go. She turned back to her books and parchment and put her notes into a neat pile so she could put them in her bag. Not realising that she left her bag open on the table, in full view of Malfoy, Hermione grabbed the books and went to put them back on the shelf.
When she reached the table again, she saw Malfoy holding an open box, eerily similar to the one her mother gave her. Hermione noticed the dark expression on his face and was slightly afraid. An angry Malfoy was something she didn't want to deal with.
'Granger, where did you get this?' he asked, still holding the box open, his expression still dark. Hermione looked confused, 'what is he talking about?' she thought. She headed back to her table and grabbed her writing equipment to return to her bag.
'I don't know what you are talking about Malfoy.' She huffed and made to grab her bag, immediately noticing that the box that her mother gave her was absent. She turned to Malfoy, horror and anger filling her as she realised that he had her present.
'Where did you get this?' He repeated. His voice was oddly calm but with a noticeable touch of malice. He turned the box around and showed her the necklace that she received over an hour ago.
'Give that back Malfoy. You shouldn't go through other people's belongings.' She held out her hand so he could hand it back to her, although he made no move to do so.
'I could say the same to you.' He hissed. 'This necklace is a Malfoy heirloom and has been missing for nearly ninety years. Where did you get this?' this time his voice was raised, scaring Hermione slightly.
'Not that this is any of your business, but my mother sent that to me this morning.' She rummaged through her bag to find the letter. She found the part that was relevant to the necklace and showed it Malfoy. 'Here, since I know you can read, read this part.' She pointed to the part where her mother wrote about the necklace and the Titanic.
When Malfoy read all he needed and wanted to read he waved the paper away. 'That explains what I already know to a degree but what I don't know is how it came into your family. So how did it?'
'I don't know Malfoy. I didn't even know this necklace even existed until this morning. And how the hell do you know that it belongs to your family.' Malfoy stood, put the necklace on the table and disappeared into the rows of books, returning with a book on wizarding families. He opened the book to the part on the Malfoy's and turned the book to face her. There were portraits of every member of the Malfoy family inside and around the neck of most of the women, except for the early Malfoy women and the last three Malfoy women, was the necklace that was on the table. Hermione sat down. Malfoy, however, remained standing.
'The la Coeur de la Mer has been in my family for centuries, since Louis XVI. It is given by the eldest Malfoy son to his bride-to-be to be worn on their wedding day. In 1912 the necklace went missing. The story goes that the youngest Malfoy heir in 1912 stole the necklace from his brother and ran away with the necklace. It is believed that the necklace, if used or taken by a younger Malfoy, is cursed, until it is returned to the older heir. My grandfather told me that the Titanic would have made it to the States if the necklace wasn't on board.' He looked at the necklace.
'How did he know that the necklace was on the ship?' asked Hermione, her mind was going a mile a minute, trying to piece the clues together, but coming up short of the answer.
'A receipt and refund was sent to my great-great-grandfather refunding the money that his brother paid for his ticket. Apparently he died when the ship sank. The last our family knew was that the necklace was at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. We still have the receipt as a reminder of how much it cost to lose something that was worth more than the Hope Diamond.'
Hermione was silent as she was trying to figure out the facts. Then something clicked.
'Malfoy, I think I know what happened. Hear me out on this. Your great-great grandfather's brother was on the ship and apparently so was my great-great grandmother. What are the chances that they met on the ship? 1 in 2,223 if you include all the passengers on the ship. How much did the ticket cost?'
Malfoy thought for a moment. 'It said £870 on the refund notice.'
'£870! That was one of the most expensive suites on the ship!' exclaimed Hermione. 'That means he travelled first class, thus limiting his contact with second and third class passengers to almost none, which means that the chances of him and my great-great-grandmother meeting are now 1 in about 690 if she travelled first class also.'
'Somehow I don't see her affording first class Granger.' Scoffed Malfoy. 'I mean £870 was and is a lot of money you know.'
'True, that is an awful lot of money but then again the cheapest first class tickets were about £23 for a first class passage. So it is entirely plausible that she could have.' Hermione recalled a small memory from when she was a young girl.
'I remember years ago looking through my grandma's books and papers and coming across a ticket for the Titanic and one for the Carpathia three months later. I went to talk to her about it but she took the tickets back and didn't say anything. I remember the Carpathia ticket saying about £500, which as you said was a lot of money back then. I just can't remember what the price was on the Titanic ticket.' Hermione looked at Malfoy, who was looking at the necklace still but was in deep thought.
He came out of his stupor. 'Wait, so you think that they could have met on the ship?' he asked, his eyes not leaving the necklace and Hermione was getting frustrated. She reached over and grabbed the box, closed it and put it in her bag, much to Malfoy's dismay.
'I think that it is highly likely. For all we know he could have given her the necklace before the ship went down.'
'Or she stole it.' Accused Malfoy, finally looking at her.
'My family doesn't steal Malfoy and don't you even think for a second that I would either.' Retorted Hermione, she went back to thinking out loud and to Malfoy's annoyance she stood up and started pacing. 'My great-grandmother was born on the 12 January 1913, which was exactly nine months after Titanic sank, which means that she was conceived while on the Titanic or around that time period. Great-grandma didn't know who her birth father was, although she was told stories of a … no it can't be.' Hermione stopped and looked at Malfoy. She almost ran to him. She grabbed the book he found on wizard families.
'What the hell, Granger?' he said and she yanked the book out of his hands and started to flick through it.
'Malfoy, what was your great-great-grandfather's name?' asked Hermione, not looking up from the book, whilst flicking through the pages trying to find the right page.
'Zander Malfoy. Why?' He asked suspicious and curious as to what she was thinking. If it involved his family, he wanted to know. Hermione didn't look up as she scanned the Malfoy family tree to find Zander.
'Give me a minute.' She finger tracing the family tree. 'Leopold Malfoy was born in 1868. Zander Malfoy was born in 1890. Scorpius Malfoy was born 1915. Abraxus Malfoy was born in 1933.' She looked up to the Malfoy in front of her, confusion on her face.
'What?' asked Malfoy, he was starting to get more than annoyed with her at the moment because she was keeping all the answers to herself.
'Are you sure this book is the most up to date and correct version?' she asked. Malfoy nodded. 'Zander Malfoy was an only child, Draco.' She ignored the use of his first name as there were too many Malfoy's in the conversation to call him by his last name.
'Wait, what? Zander had a brother who was 17 and died on Titanic. Every Malfoy knows that.' Said Draco. Hermione turned the book to face him and ran her finger down the Malfoy family tree.
'Leopold Malfoy. Zander Malfoy. Scorpius Malfoy. Abraxus Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. These Malfoy's are only children. They had no brother or sisters. Zander Malfoy didn't have a brother.' Draco's face was grim and he was confused. Both teenagers were thinking the same thing. Why would their grandparents tell them about someone apparently didn't exist, yet the proof was in Hermione's bag, and in extension, Hermione herself?
Hermione placed the book back on the table and dashed beck into the Muggle studies section of the library. Her eyes skimmed the titles until she found one on the Titanic and one that contained the census for January 1912. She carried the two books back to the desk and handed the Titanic book to Draco.
'See if you can find a passenger manifest in there and if there is check for the missing Malfoy and also check for Nastya de Selah. Check both the first and second class manifests.' She opened her own book and flicked straight to the 'D' section and started to read through the names. Malfoy grabbed the Titanic book and looked for any possible spelling of his last name before moving on to find the name Hermione had given him.
After ten minutes of looking, checking, and re-checking, even swapping books to see if the other missed anything, the pair came up with nothing.
'Argh! This is so confusing! Why can't we find anything?' exclaimed a frustrated Hermione. 'At least we found the Malfoy's on the census. But even then there is only Zander and not his mysterious brother.' She looked over to Malfoy, who was in deep thought.
'What if there wasn't really a brother, just someone who looked like the Malfoy's, acted like a Malfoy, and basically was a Malfoy, yet wasn't from there and then? What if I was the missing brother? What if I was the 'brother' that stole the necklace and went aboard the Titanic and gave that same necklace to your family? What if it wasn't a Grandfather Paradox, but a Great-Great-Grandfather Paradox?'
Hermione thought for a moment. 'It's possible. But that would mean that if you were the brother then I would be…' Hermione abandoned that thought and grabbed a parchment and quill and started to draw her family tree, working back from herself.
'I was born in 1980, to Anne and David Granger. Anne was the daughter of Mary and Nicholas Goldman and was born in 1956. Mary, my grandmother was born in 1936 and her parents were Elizabeth and Michael Kent and Elizabeth was born in 1913 to Nastya and someone from the Titanic. But there is no information on Nastya in the 1912 census so there isn't any way that we can trace that line any further.' She grabbed another piece of parchment and copied out the Malfoy family tree including a dotted line where the missing brother was.
'And what would drawing a family tree achieve Granger?' asked Malfoy. Hermione ignored him and continued to work. She drew arrows and added names and took out names by the end of the brainstorming she had redrawn the tree. She showed Malfoy. The two family trees were now one, with Draco and Hermione at the top and the bottom of the family tree.
'If what you say is true Malfoy, then this is what the family tree would look like. This means that you would be my great-great grandfather and I would be my great-great grandmother. I've gone over every logical possibility, with and without the paradox. I think you may be right. You might be the missing brother and if that is the case then I would be Nastya. Which would mean that if the Grandfather paradox were true then this assignment would send us back to 1912 which would cause you and I to be on Titanic but only one of us will survive. Oh this is so confusing!'
Malfoy didn't say anything. He just stared at the tree. 'You know if that were true then you wouldn't really be a mudblood. She would have been a half-blood at least.' He pointed to Elizabeth. Hermione sighed.
'And that isn't the problem at hand Malfoy. We have a bigger problem.' Malfoy looked at her confused. 'If we go back to 1912, then we will be on Titanic.' She stared at him, he was still confused. For someone who is supposed to be smart, he was acting like Ron.
'Malfoy don't you see? It's the Titanic. The Titanic sinks. Thousands of people will die and one of those people who will die will be you!' and being Hermione, the next thing she thought of was the assignment. 'You'll fail. You can't pass. You'll come back early.' That kicked Malfoy out of his brain fart moment.
'What? No way! I can't die.' he cried out, a bit too loudly, after all they were still in the library and Madam Prince was watching them carefully, debating whether or not to kick them both out.
'Malfoy shh! Look, to be fair you won't actually die. The potion will kick in and you will be brought back here before that happens but there's nothing we can do! We can't change the timeline. You have to go on the ship, you have the ticket! The necklace has to go on that ship. You and I have to meet on the ship. You and I have to… oh god no!' Hermione buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.
'We have to what Granger?' Hermione mumbled something through her hands, which she knew he didn't catch. 'What was that? I didn't quite hear you.' She lifted her face out of her hands and face Malfoy.
'We have to have sex.' She whispered. 'I have to get pregnant in order for me to exist. Like you said, for all we know you could be your own grandmother. It looks like that I am my own great-great grandmother.' Hermione was mortified but there was no other logical explanation. If Draco was the brother, then she would be Nastya, given that the necklace was passed down through the family. If she was Nastya, she had to get pregnant before the Titanic sank so she could exist.
Hermione grabbed her notes about the Grandfather Paradox and looked over them once more. Hermione could feelMalfoy reading over her shoulder. He suddenly snatched the parchment and edited it. The paradox can also mean that if one travelled back in time and there was no biological grandfather before they arrived, this could mean that the traveler is one of their grandparents. If they don't conceive then one of the traveler's parents and by extension, the traveler as well, would never have been conceived. This means that if the traveler wasn't born then the grandparent wasn't born and the two following generations would never have existed.
Hermione looked at the amendment and nodded sadly. What a horrible situation. She looked at Malfoy. 'Somehow I don't think that this would constitute as being a Grandfather Paradox anymore. Maybe we should call it the Granger Paradox.' She said sarcastically. Malfoy shrugged.
'Doesn't bother me what you call it.' The two sat in silence for a moment, making sure their new found knowledge was completely understood.
'Malfoy, you know that know one can know about this.' She watched him nod silently. 'I mean this is way too awkward for most people to understand. Heck I don't even know if I understand all of it. This is way beyond time turners and simple time travel theory.'
'I know.' Answered Malfoy, looking at the table and avoiding Hermione's gaze. Hermione felt sorry for Malfoy, he had to steal the most prized possession of the Malfoy's and give it to her and then die.
'Malfoy, look at me. I know this is hard but we will get through this and everything will go back to the way it was. I promise.' She said sincerely, trying to honestly believe it herself.
'I know. I was just trying to figure out something to do with the necklace that's all. I told you that only the eldest Malfoy heir can have it without being cursed right? In 1912, I would be the younger Malfoy, therefore I would be cursed. But in this time period I'm the oldest Malfoy, so that means that it shouldn't be cursed. So what's the truth? Am I cursed or not?' Hermione pondered for a moment.
'I don't think so. I think that it was pure coincidence that the necklace was on the Titanic when it sank. The Titanic wasn't the first ship to sink after hitting an iceberg you know. The only reason that it is more famous than other shipwrecks is because many of those who perished on the ship came from prominent American, British and European families. The glamour associated with the ship, its maiden voyage and its notable passengers magnified the tragedy of its sinking, hence why it is better known.'
Malfoy looked at her and Hermione could see that he was sceptical but willing to accept the explanation for now. She smiled and looked down at her watch. They had spent more than an hour discussing and theorizing about the past. The bell for lunch was about to go any minute.
'Well, this has been …' Hermione paused for a moment trying to think of a word to summarise the last hour or so. '… enlightening, Malfoy. But I have to go and return these books because the bell for lunch will ring in a moment and I don't know about you but I'm beginning to get a little peckish. I will see you this evening when we have the potion.' Hermione then picked up the books and her bag, making sure the necklace was still in there before heading back down the aisles to return the books. When she passed the desks on the way out she noticed that Malfoy had gone.