Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Maintanence:
Thought
"Normal speaking"
"Spell"
Nonverbal Spell
"Parseltounge"
Sorry it took so long to update, but this little thing called AP Calculus kept getting in the way.
This chapter won't be as long as I wanted it to be because I broke it into two parts. I wanted to give you guys something while I work on the end of Hermione's second year. Fear not, though, I will update faster!
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Everyone was in a panic in the week preceding the holiday break.
The younger students were terrified of the unknown monster that struck their schoolmates without warning, the older students had noticed that only muggleborns and a muggle supporter had been attacked, and the teachers were tight lipped about the whole thing.
Breakfast the morning after Ron had been Petrified and the other Gryffindor boy, Alan Pickney, had been discovered dead in a hallway on the second floor was a quiet affair. The Gryffindors were especially morose since two of their house members had been attacked.
Dumbledore knew he couldn't keep it quiet any longer, so he stood to explain what was happening and what was going to happen, "Students, could I have your attention please," everyone turned to look at the Headmaster and the room remained as deathly quiet as it was before. "As you all have noticed, something is dreadfully wrong with the castle. As of yet, we don't know what it is, but the professors and I have decided that it is not safe for any of you to remain in the castle over the holiday break. Accommodations will be made for those students who do not have a place to stay. We appreciate your cooperation and ask that you follow the rules that we have outlined in order to keep you safe" Dumbledore's eyes glazed over everyone's faces, and rested on Hermione for a moment.
He must know about our training in the Room of Requirement. Hermione gave him a brief nod to show that she wouldn't venture out after hours anymore. Snape noticed the exchange and wondered what Dumbledore knew.
"Break will start at the end of the week, and I ask that no one remain out after curfew, whether you are with someone or not. Detentions will take place during meals to assure that no student will have to stay out late. The professors, myself, and the Aurors will be in the halls in between classes and we ask that if you notice anything suspicious that you tell someone immediately. Hopefully this will be resolved by the time you return from your break" Dumbledore took his seat and the meal began.
Throughout the meal, Snape noticed as well that the students in the other Houses continued to throw dirty looks at the Slytherin table. Of course, he thought wryly, something bad happens and it must be a Slytherin's fault. Although the two students who died were Muggleborn, and the Weasley's are known as blood traitors throughout the pureblood world. He pushed these thoughts from his mind and distracted himself with a mental list of potions that the Hospital Wing would need.
The Prefects led the students back to their Common Rooms, having been given a free period while the teachers discussed what was to be done for the week.
The Aurors came to the Head table and looked to Dumbledore for instructions. As he opened his mouth, Sirius said, "Headmaster, I think that Miss Granger knows what's going on."
The other professors looked shocked, and Dumbledore inclined his head to Sirius, indicating that he should continue.
"When I brought Ron Weasley to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey tried to revive him. Miss Granger said that it was no use, since he was petrified. I asked her how she knew that and she said that she heard something and followed through on it. Is it possible that she could find the information from a teacher or a book in the library?"
The question was directed at Dumbledore, but it was McGonagall who answered, "No, there are no books that mention the Chamber of Secrets in the library that a second year could have access to."
Snape looked pensive as he said, "She might not need a book, per say, although I am fairly certain that Hogwarts: A History at least mentions a Chamber. She could have gotten the information from a professor."
Tonks looked confused, "But who would tell her. We all know the truth, but we all have enough sense not to tell a student anything."
"That's true, but not all the teachers are accounted for, Nym- Tonks" Remus said, quickly correcting his slip up.
"Who's not here? All the teachers come to meals in the Great Hall, everyone's here" Tonks said, looking around.
"My God" McGonagall said as she realized who they were talking about.
"Professor Binns has no idea what is going on and would have given her more than enough information to add everything up" Kingsley said in his deep voice.
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"Hermione, you know I would offer my house to you for the break, but I can't risk anyone finding out about my family. No offense, but having a Muggleborn over for Christmas might just set the warning bells off in Tom's head" Harry smirked at the thought of bells dancing around Voldemort's head and then turned to Hermione as she waved Draco off.
"I know, Draco. Don't worry about it" Hermione didn't want to go back home for Christmas, but it looked like she was going to have to do just that.
"Remus already told me that you could come stay with us if you wanted. I think it would be better than you going back home" Harry said carefully.
Hermione looked at him and saw that he understood why she was holding back. "You won't be a burden and I'm not offering because I feel sorry for you. I'm not stupid enough to do that; you could hex me too well. I'm asking because you're my friend and I want you to be there" Harry looked at her, hoping that she would agree.
Hermione thought it over. It would be nice to spend the holiday with someone who cared about me; I just don't want to get in their way. Although I would be able to use magic over the break and Harry and I could train. Hermione looked up at Harry and nodded, "If it's alright, I'd like to spend the break with you."
Harry smiled brilliantly and Draco even gave her a warm smile. The moment was short-lived, however, when Snape came through the portrait hole and announced that Hermione needed to come with him.
Draco and Harry gave her a sympathetic look, but she waved them off, Snape's really not that bad. He was really nice last Christmas when I was stuck here and even let me help him make some potions.
As they left the dungeons, Hermione looked to her professor and asked, "Sir, where are we going?"
"To the Headmaster's office" was all he said.
Hermione didn't let her emotions show, but she was curious as to why she was going to see the Headmaster. Maybe he wants to make sure I won't go out after curfew. He seemed to know that Harry, Draco, and I were out most nights.
Snape noticed that she didn't let anything show on her face after he told her they were going to see Dumbledore. She is much too composed for a twelve year old. I purposefully didn't assure her that she wasn't in trouble to see how she would react, but I never expected to see her so controlled. I wonder how much she knows or suspects about the current situation.
They came to the Headmaster's office and Snape whispered the password, both to keep the password secret and to save himself the embarrassment of having to say a Muggle sweet out loud.
She followed him past the stone gargoyle and into the Headmaster's office, keeping her face neutral. She looked around the room, noticing that Sirius was in the corner of the room and that he didn't seem upset.
"Ah, Miss Granger. Don't worry my dear, you're not in trouble. I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions, nothing too drastic, I assure you. Auror Black mentioned to me that he thought you knew what was going on in the school. Is there anything that you'd like to tell me?" he asked, careful to keep his tone friendly.
Is there anything you'd like to tell me? she silently fumed, but maintained her outward façade. "No, sir. What I meant was that something is obviously going on in the school. I heard some students in the hall talking about-" she broke off here, pretending to be distraught- "You-Know-Who, saying that he was attacking the school from the inside."
There, I've given him the idea without making it seem like I know what's going on. He can carry the idea further and arrive at the conclusion eventually. I should get an award for my acting skills. But if the attacks continue, though, I'll tell Professor Snape.
Snape and Sirius both narrowed their eyes; She's hiding something.
Dumbledore, however, seemed completely unfazed, although his mind was in overdrive. It's not possible for Voldemort to enter the school. I won't believe that he's in the school. Someone else must be pulling the strings. He tried to probe Hermione's mind to find the identity of the students, but to his surprise he was met with solid defenses. How can a twelve year old be this accomplished at Occlumency? I must speak with Severus. She could grow out of my control very quickly.
Hermione mentally raised an eyebrow. What was the Headmaster trying to pull? I guess he didn't know about my mind shielding abilities. Which makes me wonder why Professor Snape didn't tell him. I need to learn more about Legilimency, though. Maybe I can find a way to reverse the process back on the intruder.
She remained silent for a few moments, and then said, "Headmaster, may I go back to the Common Room?"
"Of course, of course. Auror Black will escort you back since I need to speak with Professor Snape for a moment." He dismissed her with a wave of his hand, and Hermione had a brief feeling of irritation that the old man would try to manipulate her and read her mind without permission.
Sirius walked alongside Hermione silently until they were out of view of the gargoyle, then he said, "Look, Hermione. I wasn't trying to get you in trouble or anything. But my job is to protect this school, and if you know something then it's my job to find out what you know."
"I understand, Sirius. I promise that I will tell someone what I think is going on if the Headmaster doesn't figure out what's going on. And don't worry; I'll keep an eye on Harry."
She entered the Common Room and went straight up to her room after seeing that the boys already went to bed. She pulled a box out of her trunk and enlarged two of the items from it.
She looked over the two way mirrors appraisingly, these could come in handy for later, except that I need another one. Maybe Ben had a spell to copy something.
She pulled his letter out and flipped to the page of advanced magic that he had left her. She scanned the page until she saw something that could work.
"The effingonis spell is extremely advanced magic that is used to make copies of any inanimate object. The wand demonstrations are illustrated below and the incantation is 'effingonis' this spell cannot be used to make copies of anything living and to attempt it would spell death or extreme magical backlash for the caster. (Hermione- you are never to use this spell for anything that is alive- plants, animals, humans, anything. I mean it!)"
Hermione smirked when she saw Ben's warning and went through the wand motions for several minutes before she carefully pronounced the spell and attempted to cast it. On her fifth try she managed to get a spark of yellow light and resolved to try harder. This is really advanced magic. I wonder where Ben found all of these spells?
She was beginning to get tired but she continued until a bright yellow light shot from her wand and hit one of the mirrors. A bright flash followed and Hermione fell back onto her bed, unconscious from the effort the spell took.
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In the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore started as he felt a powerful magic pulse and then die; he looked out his window as Fawkes gave a cry of confusion.
At the same time, dozens of miles away, Voldemort smiled as he pet Nagini, "Sssuch power" he determined to try and turn the child dark before killing him.
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Hermione woke up in the middle of the night and glanced around confusedly. What happened? I was trying to copy the mirrors…Oh!
She sat up in her bed and looked around for the mirrors quietly, so the other girls would remain asleep and unaware. The mirrors were at the edge of her bed and she saw a third one off to the side. It worked! Now I need to make sure they are all connected. That can wait until tomorrow, though, since I need to give them to Harry and Draco.
She put the mirrors back in her trunk and went back to sleep.
She woke up refreshed and quickly cast "lumos" her wand tip lit up and she was satisfied that her magic was completely restored. She changed and put on her robes, then placed the mirrors in her pocket and walked down to the Common Room.
Draco and Harry were already up, Draco was teaching Harry how to play Exploding Snap, and almost all of the other Slytherins had already gone to the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Morning Hermione" they called and she smiled as she walked over. "Hey guys, I have something I need to give both of you."
"Hermione, you can't give us gifts now, you have to wait until Christmas" Harry said, although he was curious as to what she was giving them.
"It's not really a gift, per say, but it's really important and it can't wait until Christmas" she said as she pulled two of the mirrors out. She handed one to each of them and then took hers out as well.
"They're two way mirrors," Hermione explained. "Then why are there three of them?" Draco asked as he examined his.
"Ben had another set so I took one of those" Hermione said dismissively. She knew Draco wasn't fooled, but she hoped he would let it be for now.
"Anyway, you need to open it and place the tip of your wand in the center of the pad and then say your name so the mirror recognizes you" she waited while they did as she said.
"Why do we need our wands? Sirius told me about these a while ago, but he never mentioned that you needed to use a wand" Harry asked.
"Using your wand will key the mirror to your magical signature so that only you can open the mirror" Draco was the one who answered Harry and Hermione looked surprised that he knew.
"Ok, now one of you go up to your dormitory and I'll go up to mine. We need to make sure that we can all talk to each other" Hermione explained before she walked up to her dormitory. Draco stayed in the Common Room while Harry went up to their dorm.
Hermione opened her mirror and said "Draco." His face appeared in her mirror when he opened it. "Call Harry and then tell him to call me" Hermione instructed. Draco nodded and called "Harry."
Draco looked down at his mirror as Harry's face popped up next to Hermione's. "Hermione it works for both of you" Draco said.
"Ok, good. Have Harry call me anyway. I can't directly communicate with him yet."
"Harry, call Hermione in yours" Draco said. Harry nodded and called "Hermione." Hermione looked at her mirror, satisfied that they worked, before closing it and walking back down the stairs.
"Let's go to the Hall now" she said as they waited for Harry to join them.
Draco nodded, he looked like he wanted to say something, but he held it back.
Hermione mentally sighed, I know I'm not fooling him at all, he suspects something. I don't want to keep anything from them, but it will be better for them if I keep some things to myself.
They walked into the Hall and sat down at the end while filling their plates with all sorts of breakfast food. They had their regular classes today, starting with Charms, so they made their way to Professor Flitwick's room after they were finished.
It was a fairly boring lesson about the theory behind levitation charms but the lesson was cut short by the appearance of a silvery phoenix that flew to Professor Flitwick.
Hermione looked at it, wondering what it was. She turned to Draco to ask him but he was already answering her unspoken question. "It's a Patronus" he said.
Draco was about to explain more when Professor Flitwick said, "Everyone is to return to your Common Rooms now and wait for your Head of House."
Hermione stuck close to Harry and Draco, wondering what was going on as they walked back to their Common Room. Along the way, she heard some older students talking.
"That's what I heard Alianne say." "She's in Gryffindor, right?" "Yea, that's her. She said three students from her House are missing." "I heard that two are gone from both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw."
Hermione looked away and tried not to hear anymore. Two are already dead and Ron is Petrified. Now there are seven other students missing. I need to tell Professor Snape everything. I think I can trust him.
They came to the Common Room and were very glad that the Slytherin dorms were spread out so much. There was a second Common Room that only the older students used, so that the main Common Room was less crowded.
Hermione, Harry, and Draco sat on a couch and waited for the news. Harry and Draco continued their Exploding Snap game while Hermione pulled out a book. I hope no one sees through the glamour I placed on the book. I think someone would get suspicious if they saw that I was reading a book about the Dark Mark, but I want to find out more about the mark that Harry has.
She read for a while before the Common Room door opened and Hermione quickly put her book away.
Snape looked at his Slytherins and took a deep breath before making his announcement, "There are seven students missing. The teachers just searched the school and they have not been found. If anyone knows anything about this they need to step forward now." Snape looked around, not surprised that no one stepped up, Slytherins aren't exactly famous for giving themselves in.
"You all need to pack your things right now, the train is coming tomorrow morning and you will start your break early" he held up a large sheet of parchment. "Your assignments for break are on here. Each year's work is listed so you have no excuse for not getting the work."
Hermione got up under the pretense of checking the assignment sheet, but then she walked out of the portrait hole.
"Professor Snape!" she called, looking around for him. He walked out of the shadows silently, but Hermione spun around to face him.
Interesting. I didn't make a sound, and yet, she knew where I was.
Hermione gave him a cheeky grin. "I knew you would hide there."
He fixed his face into a scowl, "Did you need something, Miss Granger?"
Her face fell instantly, "Could we talk in your classroom, sir?" She wouldn't meet his eyes and he wondered what she needed to talk to him about.
Of course! She must not want to go home for the break. But she can't stay here, and she can't go with Draco. Maybe she could stay with Black.
They walked to his classroom in silence and Hermione composed herself before walking through the door. Just tell him the truth.
Snape leaned against his desk, arms crossed, and looked at her expectantly.
"Sir, I think I know what is happening in the school" Hermione began.
So it's not about the holiday break then. I finally get to find out what she wouldn't tell Dumbledore earlier.
He remained silent, giving her time to find the words she wanted to say. "I heard someone mention the Chamber of Secrets before and I couldn't find any book that mentioned it, not even our History of Magic book. So I asked Professor Binns about it and he told me what it is. He mentioned that it was made by Salazar Slytherin and that only he could control the monster that was in the Chamber" she paused and chanced a glance at Snape.
He was looking at her impassively, so she continued. "When I asked Professor Binns what the monster was and how Salazar could control it, he mentioned that the ability to speak to animals was a trait that some wizards acquired. From there I did my own research and found that Salazar could talk to snakes, which makes sense because of the House crest, and then I found that the only snake that could kill someone without leaving a mark on them is the basilisk."
Although Snape was surprised at both Hermione's tenacity at finding out about the Chamber, and the identity of the monster in the Chamber, he kept his face neutral. A basilisk would explain why the students died without a mark on them, since their gaze kills instantly, and it obviously explains why the Weasley was Petrified. But it doesn't explain the missing students. There has to be something more going on here.
He looked at Hermione and said, "Thank you for telling me, but I am curious as to why you told me and not the Headmaster."
Hermione's voice became tight, "I don't trust him."
Snape did show his surprise at that, "And why not?"
Hermione weighed the consequences and decided to tell him, "When I told him about the Chamber the first time he tried to get into my mind. I could feel the intent behind it and it wasn't just to see what I knew. He tried to influence my thinking. I blocked him out, though." Her eyes became hard and began to resemble ice, "I don't like being manipulated."
Snape had nothing to say to that, so he asked if she wanted to go back to the Common Room. Once more they walked in silence, and once Hermione was safely inside Snape was alone with his thoughts. He followed the same route back by habit, since his mind was preoccupied.
"Interesting that she thinks that she is being manipulated. Granted, Albus isn't as innocent as everyone would like to believe. He has a bad habit of letting people figure things out for themselves, even when it might be too late. Albus mentioned to me that he used Legilimency on her and that she blocked it, but he never said why he used it in the first place.
He reached his classroom before he realized that he had to talk to the Headmaster, and turned around the way he came.
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Hermione packed her things slowly, although it didn't take long since she didn't have many personal items beyond her clothes. She rarely took out the things that Ben left her because she didn't want to explain them to her roommates. After she was done, she curled up under her blankets and took a few calming breaths.
I know it's silly to worry, but I'm scared that Harry will take back what he said and I'll have to stay with my father. I wouldn't blame Harry, though; I'm so different from everyone. I don't even fit-in in this world.
She wiped away a few angry tears and decided to go to the Room of Requirement to blow off some steam.
She crept along the hallways silently, using the classrooms and other alcoves along the way to hide from the occasional ghost. She wondered why there were no teachers patrolling the hall as she walked into the Room of Requirement.
She started with her physical training; fifty pushups and sit-ups later found her jogging a mile on the track that appeared for her. She sat down, breathing hard and still upset, so she decided to work on some offensive spells.
"Reducto" she cried at a dummy. It burst into pieces before reassembling in front of her. She suddenly felt something grow hot in her pocket and pulled out her mirror.
"Hermione, where are you?" Draco sounded panicked.
"I'm here Draco, I'm in the Room" she said softly.
"What happened? What's on your face?" he asked, no calmer now that he noticed she had been crying.
"It's nothing" she said thickly, wiping the tear smudges away. "I needed to practice so I came here."
"Hermione," Draco said quietly, looking at his friend's face. After a moment he said, "You should come back. The Prefects announced that the Heads will be coming around soon to check that everyone's here and packed."
She nodded, and then closed the mirror with a snap. She took a moment to compose herself before performing a quick cleansing charm on herself. Before she walked through the door she cast a revealing charm on the corridor to make sure she wouldn't run into anyone.
Once the coast was clear, she walked through the door and stealthily made her way down to the Slytherin Common Room. The portrait gave her a glare before she walked through and quickly fled to her dorm.
Logically she knew it was silly that she would think that Harry and Draco would abandon her after being with her for their first year, but she had been alone her entire childhood.
Hermione closed her eyes against the memories that threatened to engulf her and concentrated on clearing her mind like the book on Occlumency had taught her.
She felt herself being shaken and a voice say, "Come on Hermione, wake up. Professor Snape is here and needs to check that the students are here."
Hermione hadn't yet cleared the fog from her mind, so she had trouble obeying the voice.
Katie got a wicked grin on her face before she cast a simple charm, transfiguring a pillow into a bucket, and then filled the bucket with water.
She poured the water over Hermione's head, and Hermione came to with a gasp. "What was that for?" she asked crossly.
Katie grinned, "Nothing personal, just that you were next on my list."
Despite herself and her current attitude, Hermione asked, "What list?"
Katie allowed herself a small smile for snapping Hermione out of her mood before she answered, "Well, I'm trying to do that to all of our Slytherin yearmates."
"Pour water over their heads? Good luck with that" Hermione said with a snort. "Who else have you done it to?"
"No one, you received the honor of being the first one I pranked" Katie smiled again. "Now come on, Professor Snape will be in the Common Room in a minute."
They walked down the stairs together and waited as Professor Snape walked silently into the room.
He looked to the Prefects, "Is anyone missing?"
"Not so far, sir. We've checked the upper years already and we only have the first and second years left" answered the closest Prefect.
"Do so now" he ordered. Several Prefects walked among the first and second years, looking for their charges.
It was times like this that Severus Snape was glad that he had structured his House differently. While the other Houses only used their Prefects for enforcing the rules, Snape assigned first and second years to each Prefect. The students were instructed to see their Prefect if they had any concerns, and the Prefects were responsible for keeping their students in line and teaching them about Hogwarts.
By third year the students were familiar with the castle and they were assigned a sixth year student as their buddy. The seventh years were assigned a fifth year student, since they both had exams to take, and the fourth years were paired off with either each other or any extra students from the other years.
It's no wonder that Albus gave everyone the night off. Minerva and the other Heads must be having a hard time taking role for each year by themselves, he allowed himself a smirk as he turned to the Prefects.
"Everyone is here, sir" they reported.
He nodded and looked at his House, "Make sure you are packed. You will be leaving after breakfast tomorrow. No one is to leave these rooms for any reason. The Prefects know how to contact me, so go to them if there is an emergency." He turned smartly on his heels and left the Common Room, robes billowing behind him.
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Breakfast came slowly, as everyone was afraid that the monster would make some last ditch effort to kill as many students as possible before they left for break.
Hermione stayed up most of the night looking over the spells that Ben left her to practice. She had tried to keep practicing, but the recent attacks and restrictions on free time meant that it wasn't easy to sneak off to the Room of Requirement frequently. She had managed the odd day every now and then, but not enough to really feel prepared.
Dumbledore stood as the morning chatter died down and announced, "Students, please follow Mr. Filch out to the train. Do not wander from the path for anything. The House Elves have already taken all of your trunks to the train and your families will be waiting for you at the station. Have a safe holiday."
With that he turned and walked out of the room, using a back door so that the students couldn't see where he went. The Heads of Houses walked among their respective tables, making sure that the students were leaving, and walked out with them to the platform.
Hermione found herself walking next to Professor Snape so she took the opportunity to glance over at him, making no effort to hide her gaze.
"Something troubling you, Miss Granger?" Snape asked with a lazy drawl.
"Sir, I know this will sound silly, but please stay safe over the holiday" Hermione said quietly, too embarrassed to look at her Head of House.
Snape hid his surprise at the comment and answered, "You should not be concerned for me" before he swiftly walked away.
Hermione was confused by his actions, but said nothing. She boarded the train with Harry and Draco and tried to find a compartment for the three of them.
She watched as Hogwarts faded into the background before it occurred to her that she should give Draco his Christmas gift now.
She pulled out a small package from her robes and enlarged it before handing it silently to Draco.
"Um, thanks?" he said, looking warily at the package.
"It's not going to explode, you know" she said with amusement.
"I don't know. I got a quill once from Fred and George, but they made it explode when I tried to write with it. Scared the pants off me, but they found it rather funny" Harry recalled with a sort of grimace, as though the memory still caused him discomfort.
"I thought that since I'll be staying with Harry over break I should give you your gift now. I didn't think that sending it to your house would be a good idea" Hermione stated.
Draco wrinkled his nose, "That's probably a good idea. I won't open it until Christmas, though. I'll just keep it in my room until then." He shrunk the package once more and the conversation turned to the homework that was assigned to them for the break.
"Harry-" Hermione began, but then stopped, as if she were unsure how she wanted to continue. "You're sure that me staying over break isn't a problem? I could stay with, with my dad. It wouldn't be a problem. I've spent my other holidays with him, it really wouldn't be that bad." She was rambling now, but she couldn't stop.
Harry quickly moved so that he was next to Hermione and put a hand on her shoulder. She repressed a flinch at the sudden contact and looked at her green eyed friend.
"Hermione. I promise you that you staying over is not a problem. My house has a lot of room and both Sirius and Lupin would love to have you. Besides, Lara seems to get along with Hedwig; they could keep each other company" Harry smiled at her and Hermione felt some of her worries slowly fade away.
The rest of the train ride passed quickly and Hermione was in much better spirits as the train pulled in. Draco said goodbye and quickly disappeared into the crowd, but Hermione spotted his father standing off to the side, watching Harry and her.
Harry pulled her over to Sirius after they had found their trunks and Hermione pulled Lara's cage out with her, as did Harry for Hedwig's cage. Sirius came over and helped them with their trunks before leading them out of the station and to a deserted alley.
"I have a Portkey that will take us to an alley near the house. From there the two of you will wait while I make sure the coast is clear, and then we'll get into the house as quickly as possible. Ok?" Sirius looked at them, waiting for their nods of consent before pulling out an old shoe and tapping it with his wand. "Hold on tight."
Hermione felt a pull and then felt her feet lift off the ground. She could hear the wind whipping past her and saw only a swirl of colors before landing hard on her feet and fell over from the shock.
Sirius helped her up and then reminded them that they were to wait for him. Hermione barely restrained her gasp when Sirius transformed into a large shaggy black dog and trotted off.
She looked at Harry, noticing that he didn't seem surprised at all. Well, obviously he knows that his guardian can turn into a large black dog Hermione thought.
Harry returned Hermione's look and simply said, "I'll explain it inside. Don't worry."
Sirius-the-dog returned after several minutes and transformed back, "It's all clear. Hurry though."
Hermione dragged her trunk behind Harry while Sirius grabbed both of the bird cages and walked behind her. She followed Harry up the steps and into a house without pausing to look around.
Only when Sirius was in and the door was shut did she allow herself to look around. The house was very large, Hermione could tell that it was old but well-kept, and there were lots of pictures of Harry. As she looked around the house more, she noticed several antiques, obviously old, and most looked valuable. Then there was the thing that stood in hall. She didn't know what it was, but there were velvet drapes blocking it from view, and someone had stuck Muggle "Caution" tape over it.
Before she could ask, Sirius turned to her and said, "Welcome to 12 Grimmauld Place, Hermione. Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix."
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Thanks to Darkness-Lightness for pointing out a mistake
Alright, I just decided to change my earlier plans. The next chapter will be the holiday break and some of the rest of Hermione's second year- it will be a short chapter compared to the rest. But then there will probably be another chapter for year 2 which will have the climax (for this year)- that will be longer.
Again, I apologize for taking so long to update.
Always,
Sinkme