Dear Mr and Mrs Granger,
I'm sorry to inform you that earlier today Hermione was involved in an accident. She is currently in the hospital wing and although she will make a full recovery it would be best that you came to Hogwarts so I can explain the incident in person and so you can see her. I have attached the address of the nearest Muggle road to the school overleaf where I can meet you. Please send word back with this owl of what time you will approximately be arriving.
Yours Sincerely,
Professor McGonogall
Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Professor McGonogall sighed and put down her quill, closing her eyes. Immediately the image of the two girls lying immobile in the corridor came into her mind. She had been finishing off some work and had lost track of the time meaning that most unlike her she was going to be late to the Quidditch game. Now she thanked all her stars that she had been kept behind, dreading to think what might have happened if the two girls had been left lying there, unfound for hours. She remembered how even from the other side of the corridor she could discern Hermione's bushy hair on the smaller of the figures and her stomach had seemed to drop out of her body. She had sent a message to Madam Pomfrey who had come running within a minute and then had sped off to stop the Quidditch game.
She looked down at the letter again, this was now the second of these letters she had written and it was desperately hard to phrase, especially since the receiver of the letters were Muggles who could not understand what had happened just from a letter. Knowing this was all she could do she sealed the envelope and walked off to the owlery.
It was late afternoon when Mrs Granger saw a shape appear in the sky through the window where she had been stood, doing the washing up. As it came steadily closer Mrs Granger started to discern the shape.
"David," She said in a quiet voice. "There's another owl coming,"
Mr Granger looked up quickly and walked to his wife's side. By now it was clear the shape was an owl and as the watched it swooped into the kitchen and landed on the table.
"But Hermione sent us a letter just this morning, and we sent a reply back a few hours ago!" Mr Granger said, a worried feeling creeping over him.
The owl was standing stock still and holding out its leg importantly. As Mr Granger reached out and took the envelope he saw that the back was sealed with the Hogwarts crest. He showed this to his wife.
"What do you think it could be?" She asked.
Mr Granger shook his head and slit open the letter; together both the Grangers leaned in and read the letter, their eyes bulging.
"Hermione!" Mrs Granger cried, tears spilling down her face as she finished reading the short message.
Mr Granger's hands shook and he re-read the letter. What sort of accident could be bad enough that they had to be summoned to the school? What had happened to their beloved daughter?
"David we have to leave, right now." said Mrs Granger, still crying and stepping away from him.
Mr Granger shook his head. "It's over a seven hour drive Susan, if we left now we'd arrive at midnight!"
"I don't care!" She shrieked, running her hands through her hair. "I need to see her."
"And I do too but if we leave now Professor McGonogall won't be there to get us when we arrive." He said, frustrated. "Look we'll leave in the night – aim to get their mid-morning."
Mrs Granger seemed annoyed but nodded tersely, sitting down and burying her head in her hands. Mr Granger quickly penned a reply saying they'd arrive around ten o'clock the next day and sent it off with the owl. He then sat down next to his wife and took her hand.
The Grangers spent a sleepless night worrying, waiting until a time they could leave. At three in the morning they packed themselves into their car and drove for seven hours, thinking of nothing but Hermione.
At seven minutes past ten in the morning the Granger's car slid to a halt at the end of a tiny, winding country road where it began to peter out into a thin lane. Mist hung in the air around them despite it being mid-morning. They switched off the engine and got out the car. It wasn't until they looked around them that they noticed the tall figure standing to their right. Her face was blurred by mist but she stepped forward until it cleared, revealing Professor McGonogall who they had met over a year ago.
"Good morning Mr and Mrs Granger," she said, offering her hand. "I'm glad you could make it here so quickly."
They shook hands and Mr Granger swiftly got to the point.
"What's happened to our daughter?"
"I will explain everything once we are inside the castle, from here it is about a half hour walk. I hope you don't mind."
The Grangers didn't seem to have any other choice than to not mind and the three of them strode off not down the country lane in front of them but across a wild and deserted field. The Grangers could discern high mountains on either side of them through the mist. The party walked in silence over many more stretches of tall, knotted grass, steadily going uphill. Finally, panting slightly, they arrived at a lane and turning a corner they saw a crumbling set of pillars with huge, rusty gates that were open slightly. Professor McGonogall took them through the gap and they continued up the road until a huge shape loomed in front of them. It was a gigantic, old castle. The Grangers could now see that many windows were broken as well as a lot of large sections out the walls. It looked as though it was crumbling to bits and could fall any moment. As they reached the huge, rotting front doors they were met by a sign with read.
DANGER!
Keep Out
When they reached the door, Professor McGonogall turned to look at them, answering the question on their bewildered faces before they asked it.
"The castle is enchanted to have a desolate appearance towards Muggles so that if anyone manages to find it they won't enter,"
The Grangers nodded, normally they would ask curios questions about this but at this moment all they could think of was Hermione somewhere inside the enormous castle. Professor McGonogall pushed open the huge doors and together the three of them stepped inside. The sight when they entered the castle made both the Grangers gasp. A huge entrance hall greeted them, bigger than the entirety of the Granger's house twice over. Opposite them was a magnificent marble staircase with a balcony at the top overlooking the floor below. They glanced behind them and saw not the rotting doors on the other side but instead a set of gleaming oak ones. Professor McGonogall stepped towards the marble staircase and the Grangers hurried to catch her up.
"So what's happened to Hermione?" Mrs Granger asked as they began to walk up the staircase.
"Hermione was attacked…"
"Attacked!" Both the Grangers yelped.
"Well that's what we're calling the incident. She's in a state called petrification. Her body is completely frozen the way it was when it happened."
"When what happened?" Mr Granger said, growing more and more confused.
"We're not exactly sure what happened at the moment. We're putting all our efforts into finding out what could have caused this. As I said she is petrified meaning she cannot sense anything that is going on around her, she cannot move. She is stuck exactly as she was when she was attacked."
The Grangers looked at each other, utterly bewildered and scared. The whole drive up they'd been imagining horrid scenes involving blood and bruises and broken bones. This they couldn't understand.
"It will become clearer when you see Hermione," Professor McGonogall said.
Seconds later they had arrived outside the hospital wing and taking a breath the Professor pushed open the tall doors. The Grangers looked around quickly and spotted Hermione, rushing hastily to her bed calling her name. When they reached the bottom of the bed however, they froze – staring at her. She was completely stationary in an odd position. One leg was slightly off the bed and her right arm was raised to eye height. Her face held a look of complete shock; her eyes wide open but glassy – completely unseeing. Mrs Granger reached out a shaking hand and touched her daughter, she was completely stiff. She then let out a sob and sat down hard on a chair next to Hermione's bed, tears pouring down her face and she stroked her daughter's hair. Mr Granger however looked up from Hermione's immobile form to look at the other beds. In the one next to Hermione's was an older, curly haired girl, next to her was a boy about Hermione's age and next to him was a tiny blonde boy. All three were also completely frozen in place, their eyes wide and scared. Mr Granger felt anger rise up in him that he had barely ever felt – unlike his wife and child he did not have a quick temper and was an extremely calm and level-headed man. But now his hands shook and his brain seemed to fuzz.
"What kind of place are you running here?" He said in a low voice, turning to Professor McGonogall.
"I'm sorry," she answered, her brow furrowing.
"I SAID WHAT KIND OF A PLACE IS THIS! Not only have you got my daughter in some ridiculous state that she will be stuck in for God knows how long but there are also four other children, INNOCENT CHILDREN, lying on beds next to her." He yelled, taking an angry step closer to the Professor. "WELL?"
"Mr Granger I would ask you to keep your voice down – this is a hospital!" She said, drawing herself up to her full height. "Now we are doing everything in our power to catch whoever did this and we are putting all our efforts into making sure that this does not happen to anybody else. All students are now being escorted around the castle and extra-curricular activities have been banned. We are all prepared for the fact that if the culprit is not caught soon the school will close."
Mr Granger took a deep breathe, some of his anger draining away. "Well what about fixing her, what are you doing about that!"
"Our Herbology teacher is currently waiting for a special plant to become mature enough. When they do our Potions master will make a restorative draught that will wake these children up. It won't be too long now until the plants are ready but until then we can only put all our efforts into keeping them safe – all visitors have been banned in case the culprit tries to come back."
Mr Granger began to feel very ashamed as he looked at the pain in the Professor's face. She herself was clearly upset and worried and he truly believed she was doing everything in her power to fix this.
"I'm sorry Professor McGonogall," he said. "That was extremely rude of me to shout at you. Please accept my apologies."
She nodded. "It's quite alright Mr Granger; I can understand you must be very upset at the moment. I will give you a minute with Hermione."
Mr Granger walked back to the bed and sat down next to his wife, taking her hand. They both looked down into the frozen face of their daughter. She looked different than when they had waved goodbye to her over six months ago. Her hair was longer, her face slightly less rounded and although it was difficult to tell he was sure she was taller. He stared into her scared face.
"Professor?" he asked, turning in his chair. "Was there a reason Hermione was attacked?"
There was a heartbeat of silence before Professor McGonogall answered. "No, the incidents have been completely random."
Mr Granger nodded and turned back to his wife. "Are you alright dear, you haven't said anything?"
Mrs Granger continued to stroke Hermione's hair, staring vacantly into her face. "I'm okay, I'm just so sad we couldn't keep her safe.
Mr Granger put an arm around his wife and she leaned into him, drawing back from Hermione.
"When did this happen exactly, we got a letter from Hermione yesterday morning, your letter only followed by five hours or so." Asked Mrs Granger
"Yesterday just before eleven. Most people were at the Quidditch field, waiting for the game to start. Hermione was found near the library – we assume she'd gone there and was late heading down to the game."
Mrs Granger gave a shaky laugh, "Sounds just like her. She wrote saying she was excited about the match, that Harry was feeling confident and that she was looking forward to a few hours break from studying. You know she'll be so angry when she wakes up that she's missed so much revision,"
Professor McGonogall smiled sadly, that did sound just like Hermione. "Are you ready to leave now or would you like some more time?" She asked gently.
Mr and Mrs Granger both shook their heads. "No I'm ready," Said Mrs Granger
Both parents leaned down and kissed their child's forehead before standing up and following Professor McGonogall out of the hospital wing. When they reached the entrance hall they could hear a great rumbling from above and below them.
"Oh, it's lunchtime, all the children will be coming," Said Professor McGonogall.
First came the Hufflepuffs led from a door off to the side by a squat witch with flyaway hair. Next the Slytherins appeared from an entrance, led by a tall man in billowing black robes with greasy hair. Many of the students from Slytherin stared at the Grangers, some even glared. Then down the marble staircase came the Gryffindors with the handsome man who'd been signing books in Flourish and Blotts leading them. The Grangers and Professor McGonogall had drawn back against a wall to avoid the stampede of students. Mr Granger's eyes scanned the crowd until relatively quickly he spotted the flaming red hair of Ron Weasley and next to him the untidy black hair of Harry Potter. As he watched Ron glanced over at them, pausing and nudging Harry in the ribs. Separating themselves from the massive crowd the boys walked over to them, looking a lot sadder than when they had last seen them. They stopped in front of the Grangers but seemed at a loss for what to say. Finally Mr Granger stepped forward to shake their hands.
"How are you boys?" He asked, stepping back and letting his wife also greet them.
"We're okay … just a bit sad about Hermione." said Harry, sighing.
"Yeah, we're really sorry … you know for you two," Ron said, looking down at his feet.
"Thank you boys," whispered Mrs Granger "We're sorry for you two as well, it must have been horrible finding out."
Both boys nodded.
"Well we'd better be going if you all have lunch," said Mr Granger, trying to smile at the boys.
They both nodded and muttered goodbye before turning away.
"We're really glad you know," Called Mrs Granger, causing the boys to look back. "That Hermione made friends with you two. So glad."
The boys looked awkward and murmured a polite reply, turning away again and walking into the Great Hall.
"We'll leave you know," Said Mrs Granger, shaking Professor McGonogall's hand.
"Will you drive straight back?" she asked, now shaking Mr Granger's hand.
"I'm sure we'll stop for some lunch when we pass somewhere but yes, we're working tomorrow so we don't have a lot of choice."
Professor McGonogall nodded and escorted them to the door.
"Will you be able to find the road by yourself or would you like me to accompany you?"
"No, no, we'll find it." Mr Granger said.
The Grangers walked out of the castle. As they turned to look back at it, it still looked nothing but desolate from the outside and once they were just a short way down the lane it seemed to disappear into a fog that although must have been thick in front of the castle, no longer lingered over any of the hills or mountains.
AN: Tadaaa - my favourite chapter to write probably :) So from reading fanfic over the years I know quite a lot of people assumed that the Grangers didn't know Hermione was petrified. However I decided that they must have been told because any parent would go into complete panic if they stopped receiving letters from their child for months. I also thought that petrification was too difficult to explain in a letter and in OotP Montague's parents come to the school after he's injured from the vanishing cabinet so that's why I thoght they's ask the parents to come. Let me know if you agree with me or think that Hermione's parents never knew and what you thought of this chapter, it was interesting to write. x