Chapter 3
Hermione awoke with a start, as she jerked awake she felt a jolt; Viktor had landed on the lawns of Krum Manor. As he gently lifted her off the broom she could see that the sheer size of the manor took up most of the cliff that they were perched on. He kissed her gently and she grinned inwardly as his warm lips touched her own.
"Ve are here, did you sleep vell?"
She nodded and closed her eyes remembering the dream she had had; she had been walking down some steps led by a bodiless voice. As she reached the bottom of the steps a pair of oak doors that extended from the ceiling to the floor had opened and a person had stood in the doorway. The face of the person was obscured by the storm outside therefore all she saw was their silhouette. The person had spoken in Parseltounge and she had understood. This frightened her as she only knew of two people who could speak this dark and mysterious language: Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. She sincerely hoped that it was the latter, for if it were she would be in grave danger. Hermione had not noticed that while she had been daydreaming, a person had walked down the steps and begun to take her trunk and Krum's broom to the great marble steps that led to the huge wooden doors that marked the front entrance to the Manor. Krum gently put his arm around her shoulders and began to follow the butler.
"Velcome to Krum Manor, Herm-own-ninny. Our Manor is unplottable so you vill find no strangers knocking at our door. The Bulgarian minister for Magic himself is also our Secret Keeper, only a select group of elite people know vere the almighty Krum family live."
Hermione felt as though she was being fed information that was related to a prison of some sort but she quickly brushed the feeling aside.
Upon approaching the steps, the butler disappeared along with the luggage so they were alone; walking up to the doors, Hermione could see that they were made of oak and her stomach lurched as she realised that these were the doors from her dream. She examined them and saw that they had the Krum family crest engraved on each door, a Bulgarian Horntail (distant relative of the Hungarian Horntail that Harry faced at the 1st task of the Triwizard tournament) with two swords crossed above it. The words underneath read, 'Aurom Protestas Est.' meaning 'Gold is Power' in Latin. She wondered why people might want such an abominable motto associated with their family. As Hermione stared at the doors, they suddenly began to swing open of their own accord.
As they entered the hall, the sheer splendour of it made Hermione gasp with surprise. The floor was made up entirely of marble; each slab looked about 5 metres in size and upon each of them, there was the Krum family crest in the centre. The crest itself was about half a metre in size. Hermione thought this very vain as she wondered who would want their family crest covering almost the entire floor. She thought Viktor's parents to be quite narcissistic after seeing all that she had. Looking up she saw the staircase of her dream and as the grand oak doors flew open a high pitched laughter pierced the night as a large figure entered in the doorway behind her...
Hermione awoke with a start, as she jerked awake she felt a jolt; Viktor had landed on the lawns of Krum Manor. As he gently lifted her off the broom she could see that the sheer size of the manor took up most of the cliff that they were perched on. He kissed her gently and she grinned inwardly as his warm lips touched her own.
"Ve are here, did you sleep vell?"
She nodded and closed her eyes remembering the dream she had had; she had been walking down some steps led by a bodiless voice. As she reached the bottom of the steps a pair of oak doors that extended from the ceiling to the floor had opened and a person had stood in the doorway. The face of the person was obscured by the storm outside therefore all she saw was their silhouette. The person had spoken in Parseltounge and she had understood. This frightened her as she only knew of two people who could speak this dark and mysterious language: Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. She sincerely hoped that it was the latter, for if it were she would be in grave danger. Hermione had not noticed that while she had been daydreaming, a person had walked down the steps and begun to take her trunk and Krum's broom to the great marble steps that led to the huge wooden doors that marked the front entrance to the Manor. Krum gently put his arm around her shoulders and began to follow the butler.
"Velcome to Krum Manor, Herm-own-ninny. Our Manor is unplottable so you vill find no strangers knocking at our door. The Bulgarian minister for Magic himself is also our Secret Keeper, only a select group of elite people know vere the almighty Krum family live."
Hermione felt as though she was being fed information that was related to a prison of some sort but she quickly brushed the feeling aside.
Upon approaching the steps, the butler disappeared along with the luggage so they were alone; walking up to the doors, Hermione could see that they were made of oak and her stomach lurched as she realised that these were the doors from her dream. She examined them and saw that they had the Krum family crest engraved on each door, a Bulgarian Horntail (distant relative of the Hungarian Horntail that Harry faced at the 1st task of the Triwizard tournament) with two swords crossed above it. The words underneath read, 'Aurom Protestas Est.' meaning 'Gold is Power' in Latin. She wondered why people might want such an abominable motto associated with their family. As Hermione stared at the doors, they suddenly began to swing open of their own accord.
As they entered the hall, the sheer splendour of it made Hermione gasp with surprise. The floor was made up entirely of marble; each slab looked about 5 metres in size and upon each of them, there was the Krum family crest in the centre. The crest itself was about half a metre in size. Hermione thought this very vain as she wondered who would want their family crest covering almost the entire floor. She thought Viktor's parents to be quite narcissistic after seeing all that she had. Looking up she saw the staircase of her dream and as the grand oak doors flew open a high pitched laughter pierced the night as a large figure entered in the doorway behind her...