CHAPTER 6
"If nothing else, our escapade at least meant that there was no more denying the return of Tom Riddle. Cornelius Fudge was ousted as Minister and Madam Bones," Hermione looked apologetically at Amelia, "was murdered by Death Eaters that summer. Presumably to prevent her becoming the new Minister, as she would have been a formidable opponent. Instead Rufus Scrimgeour was appointed Minister but, unfortunately, he seemed to be more concerned with trying to make the Ministry look good than with actually doing anything constructive. He was determined to get Harry to support the Ministry publicly but Harry wasn't interested in doing so—quite understandably, given his previous experiences with the Ministry.
"That summer, Professor Dumbledore had Harry stay at the Dursleys for as long as was necessary to charge the wards and for no longer. He himself collected Harry and took him to the Burrow. We weren't using Headquarters because, even though Sirius had left everything to Harry, there was still a concern that the Black inheritance could only go to a Pureblood. Even though Harry was a Black through Dorea Black Potter, he was a Half-blood. Lady Hogwarts, please can you show what happened when Professor Dumbledore came to collect Harry from the Dursleys, up until the Headmaster left Harry at the Burrow?"
Everyone watched as Dumbledore sat down to talk to Harry in front of the Dursleys. They all noticed Vernon Dursley's interest in Harry's inheritance from Sirius; all the Blacks and Potters present growled in response, all privately resolving to make sure that if Harry should end up with the Dursleys again, Petunia and Vernon would never be able to touch Harry's inheritances. When they saw Dumbledore's withered hand, everyone gasped and looked at Hermione but she only shook her head, so they returned their attention to the scenes playing out before them, realising that Hermione would explain what had happened to Dumbledore only when she was ready to do so.
"If Horace came back to teach potions, what was Mr Snape doing that year?" Minerva asked afterwards.
"He was teaching Defence. Of course, we initially assumed Professor Slughorn would be teaching Defence, since we didn't know what his subject was and, of course, Defence was the only subject needing a new professor. It was well-known that Professor Snape had applied for the Defence position every year but, even though it was undoubtedly exasperating for him to see idiots like Gilderoy Lockhart in that position year after year, I'm not sure how much he actually wanted the position. I have a feeling he was applying more for form's sake, since he needed to be at Hogwarts and could not risk being ousted after a year. I also think that given Professor Snape's expertise in this area and his knowledge of how Death Eaters fight, the Headmaster waited to put Professor Snape in this position until the time when it would do the most good. Riddle had spent all of the previous year hiding while he tried to access the prophecy. Now that it was known he was back, he returned to his previous ways of death and destruction."
There were a number of nods from people round the room, most notably the Aurors, as they could understand the value of having the Severus Snape they had seen in these memories teach Defence when he was most desperately needed in that position.
"What were my private lessons with Harry about?" Albus asked curiously.
"They weren't exactly lessons, sir. You had spent years finding out all you could about Tom Marvolo Riddle and you showed Harry your memory of visiting him to give him his first Hogwarts letter, of memories you had collected from other people regarding their interactions with the Gaunts, your interactions with Riddle and anything else you thought could be useful.
"There isn't much to show about that year. There were only a few significant things that happened. The first is that when we were in Diagon Alley getting our school things, we followed Draco Malfoy to Borgin & Burkes. We heard him talking about something that needed to be repaired but didn't find out at that time what it was. Harry became convinced that Draco had taken the Dark Mark but Ron and I didn't think so. I thought Draco was too young, as he had only just turned sixteen that summer. Harry was right, though. Lucius was among those arrested at the Department of Mysteries and to punish Lucius for his failure, Riddle made Draco take the Dark Mark and gave him a task which he fully intended Draco to fail, namely to kill Professor Dumbledore."
There were more gasps of horror at this news. "Draco did try but he didn't succeed. Narcissa had understood the Dark Lord's intention and during the summer she visited Professor Snape to persuade him to help Draco. Professor Snape already knew of Draco's task and he agreed to make an Unbreakable Vow to that effect. He tried to get Draco to confide in him during the year but didn't succeed. Draco was too scared to ask for help, especially as it seemed that Professor Snape was high up in the Dark Lord's ranks while Lucius had fallen to the bottom. Apart from a couple of half-baked ideas to try and kill the Headmaster, Draco spent much of his time here in the Room of Requirement. We didn't know what he was doing and merely asking the room to show you what someone else has been using it for doesn't work. You have to ask for something specific.
"This was the year when Professor Dumbledore finally told Harry how Riddle had been able to return after being defeated when Harry was a baby. He also explained the significance of the diary that Lucius Malfoy had planted on Ginny in our second year." Hermione suddenly looked very grave. "I need to make it very clear that you will not be able to talk about this. Lady Hogwarts has placed wards so that the subject cannot be discussed, not even amongst yourselves. What Riddle did was the foulest of Dark magic and it is not something that should be common knowledge."
Hermione looked around the room. Some were curious, others looked concerned—perhaps even fearful—and Dumbledore looked like he wished to interrupt. She decided to address him first. "Headmaster, I know you're not going to approve of me sharing this information but it's necessary," she informed him resolutely and he nodded reluctantly.
"You may or may not have heard of an Ancient Grecian Dark wizard, named Herpo the Foul," she began. Some of her listeners already had dawning understanding and horror of their faces, while the rest just looked confused. What could an Ancient Grecian wizard have to do with Voldemort?
Hermione explained. "He was one of the most powerful and influential Dark wizards in history. It's said that he hatched the first basilisk. What is certain is that he created the first Horcrux. A Horcrux is the most vile and evil piece of magic ever to have been invented."
"Surely not," scoffed Lily Evans. "What about the Unforgivable Curses?" she huffed, looking around expecting agreement and was surprised not to receive it. While it was clear that many present did not know what a Horcrux was, those few who did looked sickened.
"Lily, you don't know what a Horcrux is," said Sirius weakly. "Don't dismiss Miss Pevensie's description of it."
"And you do know what it is?" she asked, incredulous that the careless young man who was none too diligent with his studies would know something that she did not. Hermione, who did not particularly like what little she had seen so far of Lily Evans, was not impressed by this similarity between Lily and herself. 'At least I've grown out of that attitude,' she consoled herself. 'It's amazing what fighting a war will do for your sense of priorities.'
"I'm a Black, Evans. We're taught Dark magic in our cradles," said Sirius wearily.
Lily looked inquiringly towards Andromeda Tonks, who nodded. "Why do you think Sirius and I both got out?" she asked the other girl baldly.
"Hem, hem," Hermione interrupted, cringing internally as the sound reminded her of the odious Dolores Umbridge. When the attention was back on her, she continued. "A Horcrux is a vessel containing part of your soul. Another description for a Horcrux is a soul anchor, because it anchors your soul to this spiritual plane, preventing you from dying. I don't know how they're made—nor do I want to—but I do know that it requires both murder and the foulest and most obscene of rituals. Killing someone by use of the Killing Curse fractures your soul, thus allowing you, with the aid of this ritual, to break off a piece of your soul to store in the Horcrux."
"And Riddle made one of these Horcruxes?" asked Augusta Longbottom bleakly.
"No," replied Hermione, equally bleakly. "He made seven of them." The silence in the room was absolute, as everyone tried to comprehend the horror of what Riddle had done.
Hermione nervously cleared her throat again and continued. "He actually only meant to make six," she commented.
"Oh, well. That makes it all so much better then," interrupted Sirius sarcastically and Hermione grinned appreciatively at him.
"That was the other reason the Headmaster brought back Professor Slughorn and gave Professor Snape the Defence position. Professor Slughorn had been Tom Riddle's Head of House and had given Riddle information about Horcruxes when asked; Professor Dumbledore needed to find out exactly what Professor Slughorn had told Riddle—Slughorn had only handed over a doctored memory when Dumbledore asked—and the Headmaster hoped to use Slughorn's fondness for Lily to persuade him to give Harry the full and complete memory," Hermione continued.
"Anyway, Riddle was obsessed with the magical properties of the number seven and so decided to split his soul into that most magical of numbers, creating six Horcruxes and retaining his original soul piece in his body. Seven pieces of soul. The extra piece, as it were, was an accident, although we didn't find out about it until much later. Professor Dumbledore's purpose in sharing bits of Riddle's life with Harry was to help him try and work out what the Horcruxes were and where they might be hidden. The Headmaster found one of them during the summer between our fifth and sixth years. It was a ring, which was regarded as the ring of Slytherin. It actually had an older origin, though, one which Riddle didn't know about, and when Professor Dumbledore realised exactly what it was, he couldn't resist putting it on. Unfortunately, it was badly cursed and I can imagine Riddle adding Compulsion Charms to ensure that anyone stealing the Horcrux would put the ring on and so succumb to the curse. Professor Snape helped the Headmaster but he couldn't cure the curse, only slow it down. Professor Dumbledore, knowing that he was facing a very unpleasant death, and being aware of Draco's mission, made Professor Snape promise to kill him instead of Draco. He felt Draco's soul was worth saving but didn't seem to care too much about Professor Snape's."
Hermione glared disapprovingly at Professor Dumbledore and then sighed. "Of course, it wasn't as straightforward as that. Professor Dumbledore was the only wizard Riddle ever feared and he was the only thing preventing Riddle from taking over. With Professor Dumbledore's death, things would become very bleak indeed. Professor Snape killing the Headmaster put him high up in Riddle's ranks and that was rather important because after the Ministry fell, Riddle gave Professor Snape Hogwarts, making him Headmaster. The other alternative would have been Bellatrix Lestrange, I believe, and that crazy bitch would have tortured all the students into insanity, if not killed them all, within a matter of weeks. Probably less. Things were bad enough as they were, without that. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm not going to show you much about our sixth year, except for the events at the end of the year. Lady Hogwarts, please could you show what happened when Professor Dumbledore and Harry went after the Horcrux in the cave, and also the events back here in Hogwarts that night."
Lady Hogwarts did as Hermione requested and showed the events of that night, interspersing what happened in the cave with events back at the school, concluding with the death of Albus Dumbledore. Everyone watched intently and there was none of the banter that had been previous during the earlier parts of the story.
Hermione wiped away the tears that were flowing silently down her cheeks. "Professor Dumbledore was not begging for his life. He was reminding Professor Snape of his promise to complete Draco's task and grant him a quick death. Unfortunately, Professor Dumbledore had bound Professor Snape to secrecy and left nothing behind to let the Order know that he had planned his death with Professor Snape, that it was assisted suicide rather than murder. After that, I think Professor Snape became the most hated man in the wizarding world, after Riddle, of course."
"Somehow, I don't think I was any too popular even beforehand," commented Severus, with a surprising show of humour. His normally sallow cheeks were very pale, probably due to the shock of what he had just seen. Merely hearing that you had gone to the Dark and actually witnessing yourself killing someone as revered as Albus Dumbledore were two very different things.
Sirius and James started up angrily at Severus' joke and Hermione's wand was instantly in her hand. "Don't you dare!" she warned the two Marauders. "I told you that this was arranged by Professor Dumbledore. Now, sit down and leave Mr Snape alone," she instructed them, an unmistakeable note of menace in her voice.
"Do as she says," said Charlus wearily. "I guarantee you can't stand up to Miss Pevensie in a fight. What we've seen is only the beginning, isn't it, Miss Pevensie?"
She nodded. "It gets much, much worse. I'm tempted just to jump ahead to how we can end this war and skip over the next year but I think you all need to see just how bad it gets."
A number of people looked uneasy at the thought of seeing even worse scenes than they already had until now. Molly Weasley, looking at those who were still in school, looked to be about to object but Arthur intervened. Hermione had noticed over the years that despite the ridicule the Malfoys and their ilk made of Arthur Weasley, he actually commanded a lot of respect—perhaps the reason why the Malfoys were so determined to disparage him, in an effort to lessen his influence.
"If Miss Pevensie can bring herself to watch this after having already lived through it, then I think we can all watch it too," Arthur said firmly and nodded at Hermione, who nodded back gratefully and addressed the room.
"First of all, I'm going to list the Horcruxes," she decided. "The first created was his childhood diary. Riddle murdered Myrtle to make that Horcrux; he was seventeen at the time. The second created was the ring, which Riddle stole from his grandfather. Riddle murdered his father and grandparents to create that Horcrux and framed his uncle for the murder; it was not long after the murder of Myrtle. I'm not sure about the exact order and all the murders for the next three. Those are Slytherin's locket, Helga Hufflepuff's cup and Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem."
"He can't have used the diadem, it's been missing for centuries," Lily protested, looking superior.
Hermione sighed. "The Grey Lady, the Ravenclaw ghost, is actually Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter," she began to explain, only to be interrupted by Lily.
"How ridiculous!" Lily scoffed.
"What's ridiculous? And why?" asked Hermione, with exaggerated patience.
"Your claim that the Grey Lady is actually Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter, of course," the red-headed witch replied.
"Really? And have you ever actually spoken to the Grey Lady, Miss Evans?" Hermione inquired. The Slytherins in the room all quietly snickered at Hermione's thinly veiled sarcasm, which went right over Lily's head.
"Well, no. She doesn't speak to anyone."
"Actually, she does. Just not to very many people. Especially not after Tom Riddle deceived her. The Grey Lady is indeed Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter. She stole the diadem from her mother and Tom Riddle tricked her into revealing where she had hidden it. He retrieved it after he finished school and turned it into a Horcrux before he returned to Britain to apply for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position. While he undoubtedly would have liked the position, I can't imagine he genuinely believed Professor Dumbledore would have given it to him. His application for the position was more of a ruse to get him into Hogwarts so that he could hide the diadem here, after he had turned it into a Horcrux."
"Here?" Professor Flitwick sat up, looking excited.
Hermione nodded but did not elaborate. "The diadem was turned into a Horcrux some time prior to Riddle's job interview in 1956. I don't know who he murdered to create that one. Immediately after school, Riddle had worked for Borgin & Burkes for a time—I think he was using that position to find Founders' items. As an orphan, Riddle regarded Hogwarts as his home and this was reinforced by his discovery that he was a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin. His connection to Hogwarts was very important to Riddle, something which Harry understood, given that he wasn't welcome at the Dursleys and therefore regarded Hogwarts as his home, too. It was Harry who realised that a Horcrux would be hidden here, because of that similarity between him and Riddle, one which I believe Mr Snape shares?"
Snape nodded tersely and Hermione sympathetically did not dwell on the subject any further. "The Smiths are direct descendants of Helga Hufflepuff. Riddle murdered Hepzibah Smith, framing her house elf for it, and stole the cup. He used Madam Smith's murder for the creation of that Horcrux. That was round about 1946. As direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin, his locket had been in the possession of the Gaunts. After Merope Gaunt had been abandoned by the father of her child, she was desperate for money and sold the locket. She was cheated, of course, and wasn't paid nearly its worth. Riddle tracked it down some time over the two or three decades after he left Hogwarts but, like the diadem, I don't know who he murdered to create that Horcrux. The diary, ring, cup, locket and diadem are the only Horcruxes in existence at this time. The next Horcrux was the accidental one. Riddle had gone to Godric's Hollow with the intention of murdering the Potters on Halloween 1980. We believe he also intended to create a Horcrux that night and had begun the ritual to do so prior to arriving in Godric's Hollow. When Riddle lost his body that night, he didn't realise that a piece of his soul, which was very badly fractured and unstable, split off that night and attached itself to the only magical thing in the room, namely Harry. It lodged itself inside Harry's scar, which explains the connection between him and Riddle and also explains why Harry could speak Parseltongue. It wasn't really Harry who could speak it, rather it was Voldemort's soul piece in his scar. Professor Dumbledore realised Harry was a Horcrux but didn't share that information until the last possible moment. Not realising that Harry was a Horcrux, Riddle pursued his intention to create what he thought was the sixth Horcrux, and when opportunity presented itself in 1994, he murdered a witch named Bertha Jorkins to turn his familiar, Nagini, into the last Horcrux."
"How are Horcruxes destroyed?" asked James Potter bleakly.
"How could Riddle make the snake Horcrux if he was a disembodied spirit?" asked Severus Snape at the same time.
"The snake was turned into a Horcrux after Pettigrew rejoined his Master. Pettigrew no doubt assisted with the aspects of the ritual that would have needed a corporeal form to perform, such as the actual murder," Hermione explained to Severus. Turning to James, she added, "The only ways Professor Dumbledore knew of were to destroy the Horcrux with basilisk venom or with Fiendfyre. The Headmaster took a bit of a gamble with the Horcrux in Harry, but I'll come to that later.
"We begin the story of the Horcrux hunt just before Bill Weasley's wedding," Hermione continued and Lady Hogwarts projected the Battle of the Seven Potters, including the return of each team to the Burrow, minus Mad-Eye Moody who had been killed. Lady Hogwarts showed the conversation between the Trio as they tried to plan their getaway and as Hermione explained to the boys how she had comandeered the Headmaster's books regarding Horcruxes. Lady Hogwarts included the delivery of the items bequeathed by Dumbledore to Hermione, Harry and Ron and then skipped to the end of the wedding, with the announcement of the fall of the Ministry, the ensuing panic and Harry, Hermione and Ron's escape.
This was followed by their encounter with Death Eaters on Oxford Street and their arrival at Grimmauld Place, the discovery of the identity of RAB and Kreacher's story exonerating Regulus Black. Sirius, Regulus and Andromeda were all deeply upset when they learned the terrible fate that had befallen Regulus and the three Blacks gathered together to give each other comfort.
"You did a good thing, Regulus," said Hermione quietly. "You betrayed Riddle and you tried to destroy him. Of course, you couldn't have known that was only one of several Horcruxes." Regulus nodded at her, still too stunned to speak.
"After Sirius' death, Mundungus Fletcher, a less than savoury member of the Order, had raided Grimmauld Place and had stolen many items to sell."
"Let him!" said Sirius hoarsely. "There's certainly nothing there I value."
"The only problem with that was that he had also stolen the locket, not knowing it was a Horcrux. Harry sent Kreacher to find Dung and we discovered the locket was in the possession of Dolores Umbridge. Not knowing where she lived, Harry, Ron and I made plans to sneak into the Ministry under the guise of Polyjuice to get the locket from her. My Lady, if you could show what happened?"
Everyone sat in silence, watching as the three children invaded the Ministry. They saw the horror of the Muggleborn Registration and trials, they saw Harry rescue Moody's magical eye, they saw the children snatch the locket and make their getaway, with Yaxley tagging along, and the children apparating away safely from Grimmauld Place.
"We couldn't return to Grimmauld after that," said Hermione sadly. "Professor Dumbledore made it so that when he died all of us who had been let into the secret all became Secret Keepers ourselves. That was what enabled me to take Yaxley through the wards of the house and, once having done that, it was no longer safe for us. Fortunately, I had a wizarding tent in my bag of supplies and we spent the next several months camping, moving from site to site so we wouldn't be found. I put up protective enchantments and Harry took first watch. He dozed off and had a vision from Riddle, who was torturing the wandmaker, Gregorovitch, for information regarding something that had been stolen from him some years before."
"What was it that had been stolen?" asked Kingsley curiously.
Hermione shook her head. "Later," she said. "Harry, Ron and I didn't really have a clue what we were doing after that. We'd focused all our planning until then on the locket. Now we had it, but we didn't know how to destroy it, nor did we know what the other Horcruxes were or where to find them. We spent a long time moving round, desperately trying to find clues that would help us. Harry had insisted we take turns wearing the locket so we wouldn't lose it and it had a bad effect on each of us, making us miserable and depressed—it enhanced any negative emotions we were feeling. We were cold, tired, hungry, worried about everyone we'd left behind, worried about completing our task and worried about what Riddle was doing in the meantime. That all culminated one night…"
Lady Hogwarts showed the conversation the trio overheard between Ted Tonks, Dean Thomas, Griphook and another goblin. Everyone watched as Hermione and Harry then questioned Phineas Nigellus' portrait, finally realising that they needed Gryffindor's sword to destroy the Horcruxes. They watched as Ron fought with his friends over the fact that they now had another artefact to obtain, in addition to the Horcruxes, and stormed out.
"Of course that was why the Headmaster had tried to leave the sword to Harry in his will, before the Ministry interfered, but it was just one setback too many for Ron," said Hermione brokenly. "Ron's departure had a strong impact on us. It was so hard anyway and then Ron leaving us… it was devastating. After that, Harry kept waiting for me to leave as well. He never said anything but he knew the burden of destroying Voldemort was on his shoulders and he thought that one day I'd come to my senses and leave too. Of course the fact that I was Undesirable Number Two, a Muggleborn witch who was Harry Potter's best friend and was whose very existence was an affront to the Death Eaters, meant that I couldn't leave but Harry wasn't exactly in any better spirits than I was at that point.
"We spend the next several weeks floundering about," Hermione admitted. "We still didn't know what to do. Harry eventually said that he wanted to go to Godric's Hollow, to his parents' grave. I was hesitant because of the danger but I agreed that it could be valuable to do so. We took our time, planning the visit and taking whatever precautions we could. We stole some hairs from a couple of Muggles and Polyjuiced ourselves."
Lady Hogwarts showed the visit to Godric's Hollow, and Hermione and Harry's narrow escape. "When Nagini attacked Arthur, he nearly died because the wound wouldn't clot or seal. When she attacked Harry, it was easily controlled with Dittany. I think it's because Riddle told Nagini to hold Harry, not kill him. Riddle wanted to kill Harry himself and Nagini was apparently able to control whether or not she released her venom, so she didn't poison him.
"The next significant event was Ron's return, partly because he brought us news but mostly just because he was back. We were always better as a trio. Harry forgave him much more easily than I did but he completed us."
Lady Hogwarts showed Ron's return. Everyone watched as Harry retrieved Gryffindor's sword from the bottom of the lake and Ron saved Harry from drowning. They watched Ron destroy the locket and Hermione's furious reaction when she saw Ron again. They realised from this that Hermione and Ron had feelings for each other and Molly reached over to clasp the girl's hand. Lady Hogwarts jumped around a bit, and showed Ron explaining about the taboo and the trio listening to an edition of the pirate radio station, Potterwatch, run by Lee Jordan, Fred and George Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Remus Lupin. They also watched as the trio visited Xenophilius Lovegood, trying to get more information about the Deathly Hallows, and realising that Luna had been captured.
Hermione swallowed nervously. "Lady Hogwarts will show you the rest without pausing in between for explanations. It was bad enough living through it the first time and I'm not sure I'll be able to carry on watching if we pause for any reason. If you could just save your questions until after it's all over."
At this, the people gathered together in the Room of Requirement looked very apprehensive. What they had seen so far had been bad enough. How much worse could it become?
The horror was absolute as they watched. First Harry breaking the taboo and the trio getting captured and taken to Malfoy Manor. The boys being taken to the dungeon and finding other captives there. They heard Hermione's screams and saw the boys frantically trying to get out of the dungeon to rescue her. Then the view skipped to Hermione being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. Hermione, as she had done earlier in her long story, sat with her feet on the edge of the chair and her head buried in her knees. Her fingers were in her ears, as she tried not to watch or listen.
There was a collective sigh of relief when Dobby managed to rescue them all and take them to Shell Cottage. They all watched silently as Harry buried Dobby but smiled when Remus turned up to announce the birth of his son with Nymphadora Tonks, much to both Remus' and Andromeda's surprise and Sirius' glee. James saw this and gave his best friend a swat to the back of his head. This was not the time to tease Remus. From there, they watched as Harry, Ron and Hermione realised that there was a Horcrux in the Lestrange vault in Gringotts and made plans to break in and steal it. There were gasps of admiration when Hermione Polyjuiced herself as the foul woman who had tortured her. Growls emanated from many when Griphook betrayed them but the Marauders and Prewett twins cheered and applauded when the trio escaped on the back of a stolen dragon. It was a much-needed release of tension. Finally, they witnessed Harry realising that Voldemort was checking his Horcruxes.
Lady Hogwarts showed the trio making it to Hogsmeade and being helped by Aberforth Dumbledore. She showed the conversation with their fellow students in the Room of Requirement, as they told of how bad things had been in Hogwarts that year and how Neville, Ginny and Luna had led a rebellion. She showed Harry realising that the Ravenclaw's diadem was a Horcrux and the trio searching for it in the Room of Lost Things, being interrupted by Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle and their escape from the Fiendfyre. She showed Ron and Hermione visiting the Chamber of Secrets to retrieve basilisk fangs and destroying Hufflepuff's cup. Finally, she showed the Final Battle, Snape's death, the memories he gave the trio, Harry realising that he was the final Horcrux and that he had to die, Voldemort killing Harry, the young man's meeting with Dumbledore in Kings Cross and then coming back from the dead, Neville killing Nagini, Harry challenging Voldemort and explaining all the pieces of the puzzle to the sociopathic man—exonerating Snape in the process—and then their duel. Lady Hogwarts showed Harry killing Voldemort, only to fall himself immediately after. Molly and Arthur witnessed the decimation of their family. Remus, Andromeda and Ted saw Tonks fall with her husband. They all watched in stunned horror as countless numbers died and Hogwarts itself was destroyed. The scale of the devastation was almost incomprehensible.
When the memories finally faded, Hermione spoke numbly, unaware that tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Hogwarts wasn't rebuilt. There weren't enough people do so, nor were there enough children to attend Hogwarts in any case. Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, St Mungo's, the Ministry… they were all destroyed as well. Most magicals in Britain either died in the war or left Britain as soon as possible afterwards. There were very few magicals remaining in Britain when Lady Hogwarts summoned me so that she could send me back in time. At that point, I don't think that British magical society was ever going to recover. That destruction and devastation is what I'm here to prevent happening, no matter the cost to me personally. Whatever magic demands of me for changing history can't be worse than what I've already lived through."
"There will be no further price to be paid, my champion," Lady Hogwarts assured her. "You have already paid the price, do not fear on that account."
Hermione nodded mutely. Taking a deep breath, she spoke to her shell-shocked companions, many of whom were also silently weeping. Hermione was worn out and emotionally drained by this time but she wanted to complete all she needed to say that night, as she could not face having this carry over to another weekend. It was simply too painful for her to dwell upon her past.
"I know it's very late but I'd like to finish up tonight. There's not much more to say at this time. After the Final Battle, I returned to Grimmauld Place. There was no one left who could attack me. Besides, although I accidentally brought Yaxley through the wards, he wasn't a Secret Keeper himself, so he couldn't take other Death Eaters into Grimmauld Place. He died in the Final Battle, so I knew I was safe there. Not that I actually felt safe, since I didn't own the property and so was unable to access and augment the house's wards. I added some of my own but the main wards were denied me. With nothing else to do, I spent my time reading in Grimmauld's library. There I happened to come across books that most certainly aren't in the Hogwarts library, not even the Restricted Sand that weren't in Professor Dumbledore's collection of Horcrux material. This is where not sharing information and not asking for help is about to bite you in the rear, Headmaster," Hermione said, looking at him severely.
There were a few chuckles at Hermione's description but Dumbledore looked suitably admonished, and the petite witch continued. "In the library of Grimmauld Place, there is a book which describes a ritual to reunite fractured soul pieces into one vessel. Admittedly, the ritual intended the vessel to be the original body, but that isn't actually specified in the ritual—only the word 'vessel' is used. This means that if we have one Horcrux in our possession when we perform the ritual, then that vessel will be the locus and all the soul pieces will be combined within the vessel housing that particular Horcrux. And since Ravenclaw's diadem is here in the Room of Requirement, we have all we need to perform the ritual. It's not a Dark ritual and it won't endanger anyone performing it, although it may exhaust them magically. The only thing I'm not sure of is whether or not the soul remaining within Voldemort himself will join the pieces in the Horcrux. It'll fight to stay within his body but he'll be so weakened by the loss of the rest of his soul that there's a chance it may be drawn out of his body. Even if it remains within him, he'll be mortal at that point and he'll be weakened from the fight to retain hold of that final soul piece. If we strike immediately after completing the ritual, we can end this war once and for all."
Dumbledore gaped at the petite witch. Deep down in the back of her mind, Hermione was amused to see the Headmaster dumbfounded. "If you had shared information about the Horcruxes, this information might have been found when it could actually have been useful. Sirius was trapped inside Grimmauld Place, extremely frustrated because he was unable to do anything to help fight the war. You could have set him to doing research in the Black library at Grimmauld Place. It would have given him a purpose and, more importantly, he would have found the information about the ritual, so that you wouldn't have been cursed by that ring, and Harry wouldn't have needed to sacrifice himself. The war would have been over almost before it began and all the death and destruction could have been avoided. Headmaster, I've already said this, but I repeat: you are a very wise and powerful wizard but you're not infallible. You need to learn to share information with those you trust instead of hoarding it to yourself," she chided and the elderly wizard nodded in acknowledgement. Hermione could see that he had been affected by all he had heard and seen this weekend; it just remained to see if this would change the Headmaster's future behaviour.
"The ritual should take place here in Hogwarts," Hermione explained. "The castle was built at the point where two very powerful ley lines, one running north to south and the other running east to west, cross. The ambient magic in the atmosphere here is enormous and we should perform the ritual at the point where those two ley lines intersect. The ritual requires the traditional elements: earth, air, fire, water and spirit. Hufflepuff embodies earth, Ravenclaw embodies air, Gryffindor fire and Slytherin water. The Heads of House of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor should therefore represent their elements in the ritual. For water, it would be better if Mr Snape represents Slytherin. As I said earlier, Professor Slughorn helped Riddle learn about Horcruxes and then tried to lie about it; he came back to Hogwarts in my sixth year not because he wanted to do the right thing, but because he was scared and thought he would be safer here. Professor… Mr Snape is the quintessential Slytherin and Lady Hogwarts has already expressed her desire that he should represent Slytherin in this ritual instead of Professor Slughorn. As for spirit, that will be represented by myself."
"I think perhaps I should represent spirit, Miss Pevensie. After all, as Headmaster of this institution, I represent all the Houses," said Professor Dumbledore genially.
"Except that you don't, do you, Headmaster? Otherwise Mr Snape wouldn't have suffered so much over the past six years," Hermione said pointedly, her eyes flashing with barely concealed anger, and the Headmaster had the grace to look ashamed. "According to Lady Hogwarts and the Sorting Hat," Hermione continued more benignly, "although I was sorted into Ravenclaw, I actually epitomise all the Houses, so I can easily represent spirit. Don't forget we might need to go to battle immediately after the ritual and while you can command forces to follow you, Headmaster, I cannot. I'm an unknown quantity to all outside this room, and still young, meaning that no one would follow me. Whoever participates in this ritual will most likely be too magically exhausted to fight. Therefore, it's best that I perform the ritual and you lead our forces."
There were various nods of agreement around the room. Even Dumbledore could not argue with Hermione's reasoning. "When should this ritual take place?" the elderly wizard asked. "We'll need time to prepare the attack—we need to know where Voldemort will be and round up our forces."
"Samhain would be best but with the school in session, that isn't practical. Send all the students home for the winter holidays—if need be, Lady Hogwarts and I will create some kind of accident to justify your having to close the school during that period—and we can perform the ritual on the winter solstice. Do you think that will give enough time to prepare?" Hermione asked, looking primarily at Dumbledore and the various Aurors. They all exchanged looks and turned back to the bushy-haired witch.
"We'll aim for the solstice," they agreed.
With that, Hermione called the meeting to an end. "I'll share the details of the ritual at a later date, we still have almost four months yet," she declared firmly. Pausing only to teach everyone her super charged Stupefy spell and its counter-spell—with strict instructions to the Marauders not to abuse its use—and to add Dumbledore and Amelia Bones as Secret Keepers for the spell, the weary young witch slipped off to her rooms, where she fell into an exhausted sleep, too tired even to dream.
.o.O.o.
Hermione spent the next few weeks resitting her OWLs and sitting her NEWTs, all under the name of Maia Pevensie, receiving Outstandings in them all, much to her delight. She had discussed with Professors Dumbledore, Flitwick and McGonagall the fact that the Hogwarts curriculum was more advanced in her time and they all agreed she should not give away how much more advanced than the average student she was, lest she bring unwanted attention to herself. They drilled her on her practicals to ensure that she would have tight control of her magic during her exams. However, despite holding back somewhat in her exams, the young witch's results still rivalled those of Albus Dumbledore himself.
Hermione also found the time to have the promised duel with Alastor Moody. She was summoned one day to the Room of Requirement, to find Moody, Amelia Bones, Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Prewett twins, Charlus Potter, Augusta Longbottom, Professors Dumbledore, Flitwick, McGonagall and Sprout, the Marauders, Frank Longbottom and his fiancée, Alice Wood, Lily Evans, Severus Snape and Regulus Black all in attendance.
The duel began with Hermione facing Moody and the Prewetts. The plan was that anyone Hermione knocked out of the duel would be replaced by one of the other adults watching: Amelia, Kingsley, Augusta, Minerva or Filius. Moody had taken her challenge to duel him with two others at the same time as a personal insult and was determined to test Hermione to the max. Every single person she would be duelling was a formidable opponent, but half of them did not yet have the battle experience of the witch from the future; Hermione also had the additional advantage of knowing many spells that had not yet been created in 1977. It was therefore deemed that although Hermione would be facing uneven odds, the duel was not unfair. Only Professors Dumbledore and Sprout and Charlus Potter had declined to participate in the duel, and after all they had witnessed when Hermione shared her story with them, no one was willing to allow the students to duel with the battle-hardened warrior she clearly was. By the time Professor Dumbledore called an end to the bout, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, Amelia Bones, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Minerva McGonagall had all been knocked out of the duel by the petite, young witch. It had taken a concerted effort by Alastor Moody, Filius Flitwick and Augusta Longbottom to overpower Hermione. The students, all of whom had been watching in star-struck awe, applauded loudly at the end of the match and Hermione bowed tiredly.
"I apologise for misjudging you, girlie," said Moody, striding over to shake Hermione's hand. "I didn't think you'd be able to duel Death Eaters but you've proved me wrong. I'd be glad to have you beside me in a fight, any time."
"That's quite a compliment," said Amelia Bones drily, grinning at Hermione. The woman who had been Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in Hermione's past looked young and girlish, and the younger woman suddenly realised with a startled jolt that some of the adults she had previously looked up to when she was a child were now her contemporaries, or nearly so. Amelia and Kingsley were not much older than she in this timeline¹.
"I know," agreed Hermione impishly. "I'm honoured, Auror Moody," she said sincerely, and he harrumphed and stomped away in embarrassment, as Hermione and Amelia shared an amused look.
Hermione soon settled in again at Hogwarts. Between her apprenticeship and planning the upcoming ritual with Dumbledore, she was very busy. Sirius and Regulus had reconnected, and Hermione brokered peace between the Marauders and Severus Snape. Admittedly, initially it was more because the remaining Marauders were scared of her temper and her ability with a wand, but while they would never be best friends, with time the truce became genuine. The Marauders could not deny that although the Severus Snape of Hermione's original timeline might have been a deeply unpleasant, bad-tempered, bitter man, Severus truly was a better person than they. Hermione had several long talks with the Marauders and explained just exactly what Severus Snape had done for the cause and how much he had suffered along the way. In face of that, and knowing that he had done all he could to protect Harry, they could not continue their grudge against him. Besides, they had all concluded that Maia Pevensie was one scary witch, and she had threatened to hex the living daylights out of them if they did not call a truce!
Hermione also grew close to Frank and Alice. In her previous timeline, Ginny Weasley had been Hermione's closest female friend, but that was due more to circumstances throwing them together than because they had much in common. Alice Wood and Marsali McGonagall were both women Hermione could relate to and they soon became her best friends. Hermione's first opinion of Lily, however, did not change. As far as Hermione was concerned, Lily Evans was superficial, shallow, swollen-headed and vain, and Hermione could not understand how she had come to be so revered. Neither did Hermione understand why Lily was appointed Head Girl. 'Even if Dumbledore didn't want to appoint Marsali as Head Girl in case he'd be accused of favouritism because she's Professor McGonagall's niece, Alice would have been an excellent Head Girl, and would be far more popular,' Hermione grouched to herself. The only justifiable reason Hermione could conceive of for Lily's appointment was the other girl's grades. 'Unless Dumbledore's trying to make a political statement by appointing a Muggleborn as Head Girl,' she considered.
The Charms Apprentice also took the opportunity to have a quiet word with Severus Snape one day. Once Hermione and Dumbledore had worked out the details of the ritual, they had to spend time with the representatives of each House who would be participating. It was easy for Dumbledore to rehearse with Professors Sprout, McGonagall and Flitwick but it would be too obvious if the Headmaster spent that much time with Severus, and so Hermione had offered to rehearse with the young man instead and, over time, they became friends. Severus was very grateful for Hermione's championship of him, and was honoured by her belief in him.
"Severus, there's something I need to say to you and there's no tactful way to say it, so I'm just going to come out with it," the curly-haired witch began.
"That sounds ominous," he commented, his black eyes gleaming with humour.
"Not ominous, merely uncomfortable and possibly embarrassing for you," she replied.
Severus went still. He had found it deeply embarrassing when Hermione had shared so much about him while she told the Order her story, but in the end it had been for the best, as it had changed many people's opinions of him. Severus had even received apologies from Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall for not reining in the Marauders more. After a moment, he nodded curtly, mentally gearing himself up for whatever Hermione was about to spring on him.
"I believe that in my previous timeline your apprenticeship was paid for by Lucius Malfoy, under Riddle's orders. It's possible that Dumbledore may feel guilty enough over his actions regarding you to offer to waive the apprenticeship fees if you undertake your apprenticeship with Slughorn, but I don't want to see you indebted to Dumbledore again. I'm willing to pay your fees for you to apprentice with Slughorn, or another Master, if you prefer. It isn't charity," she hastened to add when she saw Severus bristling. "You're a brilliant Potioneer and it would be to Britain's detriment if you didn't attain your Mastery. Besides, I owe you for all you did to protect me during my childhood—you stood between me and a transformed werewolf! You can regard it as thanks for that, or it can be as a loan if you prefer—although I insist on the loan being interest-free. Guilt free, too! I don't want you to feel indebted to me because of this. You can repay me once you've completed your Mastery studies. Anyway, think about it. I want you to have more options than just Dumbledore."
"Thank you," Severus said gruffly. "I'll think about it and let you know."
"There's no rush," Hermione assured him easily. "Take as long as you like to consider it; my offer will still stand." Hermione left it at that. There was no point in embarrassing the man any further; she just hoped Severus would take her up on her offer because she truly did not want to see him beholden to Albus Dumbledore.
Shortly after that, Hermione paid a visit to the Burrow, which left her feeling torn. On the one hand, the familiar sense of homecoming was very welcome but, on the other hand, it just emphasised what she had lost by leaving her old life. Bill, who was nine years older than her and had been her protective older brother, was approaching seven years old in this timeline; Charlie was not yet five and Percy was a baby of a year old.
While there, Hermione discussed Ron with Molly. Although it would be two and a half years before the youngest Weasley boy would be born, Molly had brought up the subject.
"Ron was obsessed by two things: his first love was Quidditch and his second love was chess. Unfortunately, unlike Charlie, the twins and Ginny, Ron was only a mediocre Quidditch player—admittedly, in part because of his nerves—but he was an absolute genius at chess. He outclassed all his siblings at that; Ron was simply unbeatable. Did you know that in the Muggle world, there are chess rankings, not just up to Master but to Grand Master? I realise that there isn't a wizarding Mastery of Chess, but there's no reason why Hogwarts can't introduce a chess championship. After all, Quidditch only involves seven students from each House, but anyone who wanted could enter a chess competition. I fully intend to suggest that to Albus, as not only would it be a good way to get the students from different Houses interacting more, but inter-school Quidditch and chess competitions will be far safer than resurrecting that damned Triwizard Tournament!
"Molly, you wanted the boys to follow Arthur into the Ministry—possibly because you felt it would be a more stable and respectable career—but the twins actually made an enormous success of their joke shop, and I think Ron could do equally as well with a chess and games shop. There are many other strategy games in the Muggle world, which I think would also appeal to Ron, so he could sell them in his shop as well. Ron truly is exceptional at chess, and a career where he'd be doing something he enjoys and at which he can shine, would mean a lot to him. He'll just need to be encouraged in that direction," Hermione suggested². "Oh, and if Ron wants to enchant his own chess sets or other games, he'll also need to be encouraged to take Ancient Runes at school, instead of Divination! He'll need both Ancient Runes and Charms, but Charms is a core subject so he'll be taking that anyway. Ron wasn't the most academic of people but if he can see that taking Ancient Runes has a practical purpose with regard to his career plans, then he'll be more inclined to take that subject."
Molly looked very thoughtful at this. There was a good deal of sense in what Hermione had said, especially her idea for an alternative to the Triwizard Tournament. Molly had no desire to see students competing in the tasks she had witnessed in Hermione's memories. While opening their own businesses was not a career Molly had envisaged for her sons, the idea definitely had merit. "Thank you, Maia," she said gratefully. "I don't want Ron to feel inferior, so I'll do my best to encourage his chess skills if it'll help his self-esteem issues."
Hermione smiled ruefully at Molly. "Ron and Harry were very important to me. It'll be strange to be so much older than them, but I'll do whatever I can for them."
"And for your younger self?"
"I really hope she'll be their friend again," Hermione agreed. "Once Riddle has been safely dealt with, I'm going to contact Granny. She's a Squib, so I won't be breaking the Statute of Secrecy. When my younger self starts doing accidental magic, she can freely explain it to my parents. I'll ask her to let me know once she's told them, and then I can take my parents and my younger self under my wing."
"Well, you'll be welcome to bring them to the Burrow at anytime," Molly smiled.
"Thank you," said Hermione. "There's one other thing…"
"Yes?" Molly prompted as Hermione hesitated.
"Err… is Xenophilius Lovegood married yet? I know he has a daughter, Luna, in the same year as Ginny, and that the Lovegoods lived near here but I don't know when Xeno and Pandora actually married."
"I'm not sure," Molly pondered. "I'll ask Arthur; perhaps he'll know. May I ask why you want to know? Is it to do with the war?"
"No, it's something else altogether. Pandora Lovegood died in an accident when Luna was nine. Mrs Lovegood experimented with spell-crafting and one of her experiments went wrong. Luna was with her mother when she died—she witnessed the accident. Xeno and Luna were both somewhat eccentric and Luna suffered from a fair amount of bullying at Hogwarts because of that. The problem is that I don't know when the accident actually happened, so I don't think I'll be able to prevent it. If anything should happen to Mrs Lovegood, would you mind keeping an eye on Luna and help her out? I'll do it myself if I can but I don't know where I'll be at that point. You're nearby, though. Luna badly needed a mother figure, even if only to help her dress like the other girls, and I can't think of anyone better than you."
Molly teared up at that compliment. "Thank you, Maia. I'll do my best to be there for her if need be," she promised.
Despite some heavy and emotional subject matter, Hermione spent a very enjoyable afternoon and evening entertaining the children and chatting to Molly and Arthur, grateful for the opportunity to get away from the castle and the war plans for a while. Although she knew it would soon be over, the brown haired witch had been fighting for a long time and was very weary of war. Fortunately, however, Hermione's apprenticeship was a good distraction. The young Charms apprentice had always liked Filius Flitwick and had respected his abilities as a teacher. As his apprentice, Hermione was getting to know the Charms Master on a different level and her knowledge and skill were improving by leaps and bounds. Although Hermione still missed the people she had lost from her previous timeline, all-in-all, she was happy and looking forward to the future; she could not remember the last time she had felt so optimistic.
.o.O.o.
¹ We don't actually know Amelia's age but her niece, Susan, is in Hermione's year in Hogwarts. The Marauders, Lily etc were all born between 1 September 1959 and 31 August 1960. Assuming Susan's parents are close in age to the Marauders et al, then her parents were most likely born in the late 1950s—probably not after that, given that Lily and James were only twenty when Harry was born. I've already made Amelia older than the Marauders et al, since she has already finished school and is working in the DMLE; so there won't be an enormous age gap between Amelia and Susan's father, I'm going to make Amelia the same age as Sian Thomas, who played her in the films. Sian Thomas was born in September 1953, meaning that when this story takes place Amelia will be 24. Hermione is nineteen at this point, and very mature and world-weary for her age, so she could easily form a friendship with Amelia—besides, five years between Amelia's and Hermione's ages isn't so great.
² I know I used this idea in my story Moving On, but I truly feel that being encouraged to develop his biggest talent, one where he's not in his brothers' shadows, would have done an enormous amount for Ron's self-esteem.