Kolybel'naya
Chapter 12: Strangers to the castle
Hermione pushed the library's door open and poked her head out to see if there was no one who could run into her there. It wouldn't be wise to step into a rather crowded corridor while carrying a pile of books in her arms.
Ever since her meeting with Riddle, Hermione had tried to gather as much information as she could about controlling magic and wandless magic. She was rather surprised at how much nonsense she managed to come across while searching for books she could make a good use of – like a witch whose entire book talked about how magic was granted to witches and wizards by wind spirits that whispered gentle words into babies' ears – but aside from those strange and, she thought, useless books, she managed to find some good texts about the subject. Now she just needed to read all of them, select the pieces of information that could help her, and use them in her practices. Riddle wanted to meet up with her again in a week and she wanted to be able to fulfil any task he would give her.
As soon as she could, Hermione got out of the main corridor of the floor in order to avoid the incoming crowd of students – fourth or fifth years, from what she could tell – that were leaving their classes that afternoon. She stepped into a smaller and emptier corridor that, she knew, would lead her to the stairs that lead to her common room. The girl was lost in her thoughts about the few things she had managed to read in the books she had gotten from the library when a soft voice caught her attention. Her heart skipped. It sounded familiar and, yet, she couldn't remember who it belonged to, although she knew she had already heard it in her own time.
Slowly walking to a corner from where the voice seemed to come from, the witch hesitated, trying to make out what they were saying – "You shouldn't be afraid. Just do what you must!" - before turning to see who was the speaker.
"Ah…" Hermione couldn't hide her disappointment as she saw that the familiar voice belonged to no one else but a greyish ghost of a woman floating next to a window. The ghostly figure quickly turned around and stared at her. The girl had never been the target of those stern eyes before, and she decided that she did not like being in that position. "Hello, my lady." She bowed her head quickly, but the ghost didn't do anything. "How are you?"
"I'm as good as I can be in my situation," the Grey Lady's voice echoed, sounding hollow and bored as she turned to the window once again.
"At least you have someone to talk to…" the witch said quietly, already turning on her heels, and not seeing how the ghost's head snapped around to look at her.
"What did you say?"
"That you have someone to talk to," said Hermione, stopping and raising an eyebrow. "I heard that you were talking to someone, but don't worry. It was not my intention to eavesdrop on you, my lady, so I did not even get the subject of your conversation." The hard lines formed by the furrowed brows of the lady slowly softened as she watched the witch. "But it's good to see you have someone to talk to. Everyone told me you were rather lonely."
"I'm not," said the ghost, raising her chin as if to look superior. "I have a… friend."
"That's nice." Hermione smiled, trying to remember when she decided to start a friendly talk with the most reclusive spirit that inhabited Hogwarts Castle. "I mean, I also would like to have a friend if I… If I…"
"If you were in my situation," completed the woman, sighing.
"Yes." The girl smiled apologetically as she tried to come up with something nicer to say. "Is it the Fat Friar? Your friend, I mean. I heard the Friar is a really nice person…"
"I've known the Friar for years now and, although I do consider him to be a good man, it was not he I was talking to," said the ghost, casting a quick look to her previous spot near the window. "You do not know him."
"Oh, I see. It's a new ghost. And where is he now? Did he run away because I showed up?" she laughed quietly. "I'm sorry; it's just that I couldn't think of a shy ghost."
"Yes, he's shy. You are talking about this friend of mine as if he is a stranger to the castle, a stranger to you, but I do not recall seeing you walking inside these halls before," whispered the Grey Lady, narrowing her eyes as she approached Hermione.
"I just got here this year."
"So you are also new to Hogwarts."
"Yes."
"And your name is…?"
"Elston, my lady, Hermione Elston."
"Hermione Elston," the ghost repeated, as if trying to see how the name felt on her tongue.
"Erm, it really was a pleasure to meet you, my lady," sad Hermione, smiling. "Oh, and that friend of yours… Whatever he has to do, tell him to not to be afraid of doing it. I know this advice works more for the living, but you never know when it will be your last chance to do something."
The woman furrowed her brows while staring at her and, before she could say anything, the girl turned around and fled. Although she had rather enjoyed the talk with the Grey Lady, she still had a lot of things to do; books to read and homework to do, so she left quickly. In no time, she reached Gryffindor tower.
"Hello, Minerva," she said as she approached the table near the window where McGonagall sat with a pile of books by her side.
"Hm, hi." The other Gryffindor looked up from her book and laughed quietly when she saw Hermione putting her books on the top of the table. "Wow, is that all for History of Magic? I tell you, Hermione, if you got all of those books just to write a few pages about the witches of Salem…"
"You're one to talk, right?" The witch laughed, pointing at the books McGonagall had with her, as she sat down in front of her friend. "What's all of this for?"
"Transfiguration," Minerva said, showing her the cover of the book she was reading.
"Inner Animals: The Art of Animagic," read Hermione, smiling as she remembered the first time she saw Professor McGonagall become a tabby cat in front of her class. "Are you planning on becoming an animagus?"
"Why, yes." The witch smiled. "I've always been fascinated by them. I mean, can you imagine how useful it can be to be able to transform into an animal?"
"You're right… I heard it's extremely difficult to become one. Not only is it magically difficult, but the Ministry also has a really complicated process of becoming a legal animagus."
"Well, when you think that we have to learn how to modify our bodies into an animal's and still keep our conscience, trying not to mess up our minds and bodies… Yes, it seems like a pretty difficult thing to do." McGonagall shrugged, but a playful smile appeared on her lips. "But, come on, who's the best in Transfiguration in our year?"
"Hm, Tom Riddle?" Hermione joked, laughing when she saw the girl's eyes narrow.
"Riddle is good, but not the best." She puffed out her chest. "I usually don't like showing off my abilities, but Transfiguration really is my thing. It's what I love to do and what I do best due to how much I love it."
"I know, Minerva," the bushy haired girl smiled. "And I'm sure you'll become an animagus without even trying that hard."
"I hope so, Hermione, I hope so… Oh, and what are these books all about?" McGonagall grabbed the book on the top of Hermione's pile and looked at its title. "Understanding Magic: How is Magic Part of the Wizard and How to Identify and Control It" Minerva's eyes found hers as the girl stared at her with a curious look. "That looks pretty interesting."
"It is."
"Oh! Before I forget." Minerva bent over to grab her bag and pulled a yellowish envelope from it. "It arrived earlier. It's for you."
The girl quickly took the letter from her friend's hands and studied the clumsy handwriting on the envelope. Ollivander's handwriting.
"Thank you, Minerva," she said, getting up and picking up her books before leaving for the dormitory, hearing a slightly confused McGonagall say something like 'you're welcome' as she left.
As soon as she got to her bed, Hermione let the books fall on the top of it and drew the dark red curtains closed, as Florence and Cecilia were also in the room, talking as they sat on Cecilia's bed. The witch took her wand out of her pocket and whispered a 'Muffliato' before grabbing the letter and opening it.
"Dear Hermione,
I have good news for you. I finally found someone who will be able to help us when it comes to understanding time magic. His name is Horace Resande and you may know him for a few books he has written about the said subject. I ended up contacting him through a good acquaintance of mine who already had the pleasure to work with him. I still have to set a meeting with Mr. Resande, something I'll do as soon as possible. We'll be able to talk to him about everything. I must ask, are there any specific questions you may want me to ask him? Let me know, please.
I know it's not a great advance in our research, Hermione, but I thought you would be happy to know the first step is taken. Also, this letter is an excuse for me to send you your friend's letter.
I hope you're enjoying Hogwarts and that you're doing well.
Garrick Ollivander."
By the end of the letter, Hermione couldn't help but smile widely. As Ollivander had said, it was a small step, but still, it was better than nothing. She put the paper down and picked up the other letter that was carefully folded into the envelope.
"Dear Hermione,
It's good to hear you're doing well in school, dear. You're lucky you're there and not here in London. This place is becoming hell with the German attacks… You were so lucky we didn't have any raid during your staying here! Just last week I thought I would die if it weren't for your friend, Mr. Ollivander. Yes, I know, it's odd but let me explain: I had left the orphanage to buy a few things Dr. Mazarovski needed when the alarms on the streets went off. I had already experienced those attacks before, but only when I was at the orphanage. There I knew that the wisest thing to do was to hide in our basement until the raid ended but, while on the streets, I don't know what came over me… I guess I got scared and forgot everything I had to do. I was lost and had no idea where to hide when I heard someone calling me. It was Mr. Ollivander. He looked even crazier that day but, mad or not, he practically dragged me to the nearest subway station where other people were hiding. We stayed there until the attack was done and, thank God, nothing bad happened to us. I believe I must have bored him with the nervous breakdown I had down in the subway, the poor man… The next time you talk to him, remind him of how thankful I am to him, alright?
Now, on a happier note, here I am to give you good news! Martha is pregnant. Yes! Her and Dr. Mazarovski first child! Isn't that lovely? She's so happy and Alexei, ah! You have to see how he is! I even caught him humming a song one of these days.
Oh, yes, Martha asked me to ask you to tell the news to Tom. As I already told you, Riddle was really close to her a few years ago and he is pretty close to Alexei.
Please, write soon, telling me how you are doing at the school. I hope everything is alright.
With love,
Anna Parker."
Sometimes Tom felt uncomfortable with how much he saw himself in Hermione Elston. Sure, she was raised by loving parents from what he understood from her story, and she had been homeschooled by a magical family, but he could still see himself every time the girl raised her hand in class and waited impatiently for the teacher to call her, or when she managed to perform a spell the right way and puffed her chest, looking around with a satisfied smile on her face. It was Tom all over again… Maybe a younger Tom, when he was still in his first three years of Hogwarts, when he showed his pleasure at being awarded a point or two for Slytherin much more. It was rather addictive, those compliments and extra points he got from teachers, and he knew Elston also felt the same way towards these things. He could see it in her all the time, and it was rather relieving to know that there was someone else that took it seriously.
"Aguamenti." Riddle watched as Hermione managed to make a handful of water appear out of thin air without the aid of a wand and nodded as she looked at him, as if looking for a sign of approval.
"That's good," he said, moving his fingers and making the liquid that was dripping from her cupped hands take the shape of a sphere.
"We could move on from these wandless spells, don't you think?" asked the witch, watching as he played with the sphere of water. "Or at least try spells that are not so easy."
"Like duelling spells?" asked Tom, raising an eyebrow.
"Maybe… I mean, aren't those spells my wand seems to have problems performing?"
"Your wand does not have problems with performing strong spells, Miss Elston," explained the Slytherin, closing his fingers and making the water ball disappear. "The problem is that you can't control its intensity."
"Alright, the problem is with me, I get it." Hermione sighed, sitting down on the top of one of the tables, crossing her ankles. "I wanted to get a hold on it by the time of the next Defense class. This week I didn't do anything besides getting hit by Minerva's spells."
"You could have practiced with her…"
"Minerva is my friend and I don't want to hurt her like I almost did thanks to that wand," she said, shaking her head.
"Oh, so that's why you agreed with me helping you." Tom laughed. "It's easier for you to hurt the Slytherin snake instead of your dear Gryffindor friend."
"I did not say…" Hermione started to say, but sighed midsentence. "I accepted your help because you were right when you said teachers would expect me to have full control over my wand, because you are good at Defense and because you also own a Yew wand."
"If you say so, Miss Elston." Riddle got up from the chair he was sitting in and straightened his grey coat. "But we'll leave these duelling spells for next time, if you don't mind. I asked Professor Merrythought to make the next Defense class purely theory, and we have more important things to deal with right now…"
"More important things?" The girl narrowed her eyes as she watched the Slytherin walk over to where he had left his bag, taking a book out. "What is that?"
"Potions project. Today is Friday and we have nothing else to do this lovely night." He pointed to the darkening sky outside the window. "And, as we're already here, I asked Abraxas to join us in order to start working on this…"
"And you didn't even think about asking me if I agreed with this, right?" The Gryffindor crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"I knew you would be free today after History of Magic, otherwise you wouldn't be able to meet me for practice." Tom smiled and Hermione felt the urge to wipe that stupid smug smile from his pretty face. "Abraxas will be here soon…"
As if he had foreseen the future, the classroom's door opened and a blond head poked inside. The girl grimaced when she noticed how much Draco Malfoy looked like his grandfather as Abraxas greeted Tom and walked in.
"Good evening, Miss Elston," said Malfoy, smiling. She simply nodded her head in response. "Tom, I was reading about Amortentia and it seems to be quite easy to brew, I mean, when compared to the other potions Slughorn put in this project."
"Of course it is," Hermione said. "Or did you expect a love potion to be as complicated as the Polyjuice Potion? Amortentia is about creating an illusion of love while the other potions are way more complicated… Polyjuice is about literally changing a person's body; Mandrake draught deals with releasing the body from a petrified state; Felix Felicis works with the environment around the drinker and the drinker's thoughts, and Veritaserum is all about making the drinker confess the truth. They all have much more complex results than our potion."
"The way you talk, Miss Elston, makes me believe you didn't look up on Amortentia," said Tom, smiling at her. "You pointed out how all the other potions interact and change the drinker's body or his mind, but that's exactly what the love potion does."
"It's an illusion, Riddle. If I were a good Legilimens, which, sadly, I'm not, I could make you believe you were in love with me and have the same result."
"That's where you are wrong." Riddle's smile widened as he continued to explain. "An illusion messes up a person's ideas. It's not much different from me trying to convince you with simple words, you see? Amortentia is not only about that. This potion ties the drinker to the potion maker on a much deeper level."
"Weren't you the one who said this potion was boring as hell?" asked Abraxas, looking at his housemate with curiosity. "A potion for silly witches, as you said."
"Well, that's what it is," whispered Hermione.
"A stupid pre-concept I had of it before reading more about how it works, just like Miss Elston here," explained Riddle, approaching the other two and putting the book he was holding down on the table.
"Human Physiology?" the Gryffindor asked, arching up an eyebrow as she stared at the book's worn out cover. "You are telling me that Amortentia works its way within our bodies while messing up with our physiology?"
"Slughorn said there's still a lot unknown about the Amortentia. I thought it wouldn't hurt to look it up in this just to see if there was anything useful and, surprisingly, there was."
"Where did you get a Muggle book?" asked Malfoy, grabbing the book. He started to look through its pages, looking awed.
"Hogwarts has a few Muggle books in it." The blond promptly raised his eyes, surprised.
Hermione blinked, her attention drifting away from the boys' conversation. Lord Voldemort was reading a Muggle book and telling them they should use its information for a school project about a magical potion. Was that really what Riddle had just said? Voldemort, the man who hated Muggles, was giving them credit for something and wanted to use something written by them in order to understand a magical thing? She wondered if her travel back in time had changed something in the universe, and was now changing people's personalities or something of the sort.
"You and Miss Elston can work on the potion itself if you want to." Riddle's voice brought her out of her thoughts. She shook her head and looked at the two other teenagers. "And I can work on the research of the mechanism of action."
"I guess that'll work," said Abraxas as he put his hand inside his coat's pocket and took a pair of rounded glasses out of it, quickly putting them on his face. "Because I don't understand a thing about what they're talking about in this… What's a Broca's area?"
"It part of our brain. Is that all right with you, Miss Elston?"
"And you're not going to work on the potion?" asked Hermione, giving a quick look over in Malfoy's direction. Apparently Tom understood her worry about being left with Abraxas to work on a potion by the look on his face.
"I'll help you, don't worry. I just need the two of you to deal with the rest of the theoretical part of the project: the description of the brewing, introduction, objectives…"
"We'll do it." Malfoy smiled.
"Don't you think you're, ahm, seeing things where there is nothing, Riddle?" asked the Gryffindor. "I know you also didn't like the potion we got, so, maybe you're seeing a connection between physiology and Amortentia because you don't want it to look like a simple potion…"
"Or maybe it's you who is refusing to see the obvious."
"I'm just saying this because I don't want us to waste our time on useless research while we could be exploring useful points of the potion, like illusionist charms and other things that may be in the love potion."
"For Merlin's sake, Elston, it's not a stupid illusion!" growled Riddle, rolling his eyes.
"The chances of being an illusion are way higher than it being a complex reaction with the drinker's physiology! Everything we read about the Amortentia says that it creates an illusion of love, why do you want to insist on-?"
"Everyone used to say that magic didn't ex-" Riddle started to speak but quickly interrupted himself, swallowing his own words. "Everyone used to say that magic didn't make teleportation possible until Awyr Teithio proved them wrong and created Apparition."
"That's not the same thing."
"Of course it's the same thing-!"
"Miss Elston." Abraxas Malfoy's voice was almost muffled by their argument and it seemed that the boy quickly regretted talking to her when he saw the look on her face. "I think it won't hurt to let Tom do this research the way he wishes to do so. I bet he won't spoil our project."
Hermione looked from Malfoy's apologetic face to Riddle's now smug one and growled quietly. Why did she have to end up in a group with two stupid Slytherins? Of course they would guard each other's back, especially Malfoy, who would do anything to give his master all the reason.
"Whatever you say. It's not as if my opinion has great importance here," she growled. "Gather up the ingredients we'll need for that potion, will you, Malfoy? I think we should start brewing it soon. Amortentia can be stocked, so we can finish it before the presentation and it won't spoil until then."
A/N: Hey :D It's been some time, but here is chapter 12. Thank you so much everyone who reviewed the fic until now, you guys help me a lot with those reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too :) Also, thanks to Shadow6116 for beta reading the chapter.
On my tumblr there are a few things about this chapter, under the tag 'stuff for fanfiction'.