Chapter 2: Table of Contents and Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I own the plot, nothing else.
You may only know one chapter at a time. Upon finishing the book, then all of the chapter's will be reveled in this area.
This was very powerful magic, she knew, if the book wouldn't tell her what she was reading. Hermione tried to flip to the back to see what lay ahead, but the pages were blank. The spot where the second chapter should have been had another inscription;
Reading ahead will get you nowhere, this book is meant to be read one chapter at a time.
Now this was indeed powerful magic. She had heard of books like these, that teachers would assign to students like her, to make sure they stayed with the class instead of reading ahead. Hermione thought it was pointless, until Professor McGonagall assigned one, she then understood how it would be easier for her to help her classmates study. She then didn't become a Know-it-All as bad as she used to be. Reading only the one chapter assigned plus being able to go back and read everything before it, allowed her to explain everything to Ron easier too.
She flipped back to the first chapter and read the heading;
Chapter 1: The Theory of the Truth
The theory behind truth reverts back to three things;
1. Do you believe it
2. Who are you telling
3. Do they believe it
These things are the center of truth, and without them Truth can not exist. In this chapter, those three will be taken apart and show why they are the center.
She was now intrigued by this strange book. Hermione always thought that the theory behind truth was that as long as you told it, it was up to the other party to either trust you, or just stop trying to get them to believe it. Glancing at her watch again, she figured she only had another hour to read before dinner would start, and the boys would return from their practice.
The first one is if you believe it, for the truth to be true, you must know that it is and believe that it is. Many wizards and witches don't believe in their own truths, which then blinds them from what is in front of them. This is most commonly found in relationship between a witch and wizard. The witch may think she loves a wizard and then later realizes that she only feels friendship or family love towards him. By this point it may or may not be too late for her to realize that she has feelings for a different wizard who could already be taken by another witch.
The same is true for a wizard with just one minor difference, any witch that he has a strong feeling towards tends to only be a lust filled feeling. When he does find a witch that he can envision as the caretaker of his home. She will be the one who he will be willing to come home to every night, want's his dinner from, and eventually be bonded for life and bear his heirs. The sad thing is, he will find her, before she will notice him.
She couldn't help but to glance up at that last sentence. The Wizarding world had yet to cease to amaze her, and she found herself thinking about why a wizard was more attuned then a witch. Gilderoy Lockhart popped into her head and it suddenly became clear. Witches were easily distracted by a wizard with good looks. Wizards were distracted by a witch with the same quality, but when they found a particular one, all other's fade into the background.
Hermione found that it was getting dark and realized dinner had already started. She placed the book carefully inside of her bag and then got up to dust herself off. She jogged across the grass and hurried inside the huge double doors. She sat down with only ten minutes to spare before dessert would appear. Harry and Ron looked at her weirdly as she started to stuff her face like Ron normally does. It wasn't until her fourth bite of mashed potatoes, that she noticed the looks. She quickly swallowed and asked, "What? Can't a girl eat without being stared at?"
They shook their heads and glanced away hurriedly, it was then that she looked around and noticed that her friends weren't the only ones looking at her. From this far she couldn't tell which twin was staring at her, but she felt as if she was the only one in the room. Later she would understand why, but for now it was a nice feeling. Forcing herself to turn away from his gaze, she continued to eat and after dessert had finally cleared away, walked up to the common room with the boys to help them with their work.
That night she sat in bed with a candle on the nightstand, the book propped open on her legs and continued to read about the rest of the things. She had just begun to read chapter one and was already thirsting for the knowledge of what lay ahead. She flipped through the pages to where she had left off and felt herself being pulled back in by what she was about to learn.
The second part is who you are telling, this is vitally important, for if you tell the wrong person your truth it could get twisted into a lie to hurt you. When you tell someone the truth, you are giving them power over that truth and trusting that they won't turn against you because of it. Many wizards and witches have lost their lives over telling the truth (see Salem Witch Trials for more information) and yet still trust many Muggles with their secrets. With that being stated, the Ministry has had to obliviate these Muggles so they do not breach the stature of Security.
The most common truth is though, the truth of love. When a witch tells a wizard she loves him, it is the truth. However, that love can come in many forms, varying on who it is that she is telling. Love from a witch varies between Platonic (Family/friends) and Romantic (Significant Other). She may love her closest guy friends as brothers and may mistake one of them as a romantic love, when this happens though, it leaves an uncomfortable barrier between the two, when they realize that they are not meant to be.
Now, when a wizard tells a witch that he loves her, it could go either ways. He may love her Platonically, Romantically, or is just telling it to her so she will stop badgering him about it. However, when he tells the witch that he is romantically in love with, that he does in fact love her, she will be able to tell it's the truth and not something made up. If he does not in fact love her, her heart will automatically start to push him away even though her mind tries to keep the relationship going.
Between the wizards and witches it is easy for one to get confused on where one stands in a relationship, but the heart never lies, for it is old magic that goes back to the beyond the founding four. With that, it is now time to explain the final theory behind truth, Do they believe it…
It was so much to take in that she had to stop there for the night. The book opened her eyes to how she loved Harry, Ron, Ginny, and all of the Weasley clan. It was purely a Platonic love that she could never hope Ron would get out of. Hermione had always thought the two of them would get married one day and start their own version of the Weasley clan, but now, it looked like she would only even love him as a brother. Thinking back on it, she never carried the notion of kissing him or anything like that, but there was one Weasley boy that she did imagine about.
She heard a noise outside her curtain and quickly blew out the candle while stuffing the book under her pillow, after a while there was no other sound, so she rolled over to look out the window next to her bed. From laying down, she could see the moon and most of the big dipper, but beyond that it was just darkness. The book had given her a lot to think about, but just as the creatures who lay slumbering outside her window, she too would have to sleep and leave it for the morning.
She awoke slowly, coming out of a wonderful dream, involving her with a certain red haired boy and a broomstick ride around the Quidditch pitch. Only with him did she feel safe enough to get on the death trap, as long as his arms were around her, protecting her from falling. As she started to get ready for the day, she noticed the others were still abed, still sleeping peacefully. Hermione finished dressing and made her way down the stairs, book in hand, to read in front of the fire while she waited for everyone else to get up. Quickly finding her spot, she sat in one of the armchairs and continued on, not noticing that someone was watching her read.
Do they believe it, the final theory behind the truth is if the person you are telling the truth to, believes it is in fact the truth. When the truth comes into question it causes the person telling it to put their guard up and pretend it actually is not, or hold their ground and be more forceful. With this, those that didn't believe it the first time are less likely too the second. The same can be said when telling the person you love that you love them. They may disregard it at first, laugh, or even burst into tears, on occasions it has happened that the other party may get angered over finding out that a specific person loves them. The fact remains though, eventually they will have to come to terms and accept it because they are already bound in soul through old magic.
The souls of wizards and witches are constantly calling out to each other, trying to find their other half. Whether it's a close family friend, or a very distant pen-pal, they are constantly communicating, trying to find their match. There are times where one will not be patient and let it happen naturally, and instead marries someone who is not their match, destined to spend the rest of their life in torment and agony, feeling as if a piece is missing.
However, it is not strictly to wizard/witch relation. The soul calls to it's pair, it does not care if it is wizard or witch, as long as they have the other-half, they are then complete. Society tries to frown on this, but no form of government can try to stop the souls from connecting, or else have to face Circa herself. With this, thus ends chapter one and allows you to read chapter two.
Right before her eyes, the pages for chapter two appeared. Just to make sure it was in fact true, she turned back to the Table of Contents. Chapter one stood blazing underneath the warning, looking as if it had just barely been written. Hermione smiled to herself and closed the book, placing it in her bag before looking around to notice that Harry and Ron were coming down the stairs. "Good morning," she replied happily to them. The boys just grunted in response before following her out of the portrait hole and down to breakfast. If she had been paying attention, she would have noticed that the person who had been watching her read was following closely behind.