Chapter 2: Maledictum
The next day, Leta showed Hermione her library, which comprised books on various subjects.
The girl had immediately fallen in love with the room; it was clear she was a bookworm who had not seen books for quite some time. But very soon after this initial reaction, the girl had questioned her about why she had shown her this room.
"Because I want you to read up on some things," Leta had honestly replied, "those books in particular," she motioned to a pile of five books on a side table. They ranged from light magic being used for dark intentions, to dark magic.
Hermione had stubbornly shook her head, "I won't be turned to the dark side, I don't want to read those books."
Leta was not scared to be harsh, so had replied, "You will read those books. I wouldn't advise you to inspect any other ones here, since they are spelled with rather nasty hexes and a few with curses you wouldn't be too happy to encounter. You will stay in this room until you have read those books: the first two I want you to have read tonight; I will then talk with you about them, this evening. If you fail to do this, you will be stuck in this room until you have read them, and starting tomorrow, you will then start feeling quite uncomfortable, I can imagine," Leta had warned, without further elaboration about the reason for discomfort. "I do not wish to hurt you, but as I already told you, you will have to comply with my orders, if you want your stay to be pleasant. And my orders aren't that bad, as I'm sure your rational mind can easily figure out."
Hermione had had her arms crossed and she had been frowning. Her enthusiasm about the library was gone.
"See you later, Hermione," Leta had said to her before she left.
She had felt the wards the woman put over the room come down as soon as the door closed: she was stuck.
She now decided, after some time in which became clear the woman would not return, that she would have a look at the first two books, to evaluate whether they were not too dark and she could read them. Hermione was intrigued with the subject – both were about situations in which light spells turn dark due to their caster's intentions – but worried that the books would alter her view on the Light.
She decided she would be able to handle whatever Leta would send her way starting tomorrow, and settled in an armchair, starting to debate about how she might escape this place. Likely Harry and Ron had returned to the Order to tell them of what had happened, and all were now probably planning on how to get her out. However she had seen and understood Professor Snape's reaction to her being with Leta: it would be much harder to rescue her when being held here, at a house who knows where and surrounded by wards who knows how strong.
In the evening, when dinner was ready, Leta went to the Library door and checked by way of magic whether Hermione had read the books, or even touched them. She found out the girl had indeed touched the two assigned books, but only long enough to see what they were about. She wasn't all that surprised. Thankfully, the girl had also been smart enough to not touch anything on the shelves, Leta's diagnostic spell told her. Sighing, she opened the door.
"Since you have not done as you were told, you will face the repercussions. Unlike at noon today, you will not get food until you have read those two books. You will stay hydrated by magic, and will get a kind of supplements through the same way so you won't get sick, but you will be hungry, along with the not-so-nice feeling that will begin creeping up to you starting tomorrow – all these elements have been implemented in the wards I put on this room. Good night."
Admirably, it took Hermione two days before she succumbed to the spell Leta had warned her about. At first, she had been sitting in her chair, every now and then unconsciously swatting at something she seemed to feel on her skin. Later, this feeling had become more frequent, and she had become aware of it: she had started looking whether a wayward hair was annoying her, but she hadn't found anything. That's when she realised what was going on: this was the progressive curse Leta had cast to make her comply. Hermione thought this was manageable and didn't understand why Leta would use this as a persuasion technique.
Four hours later, she started to understand: by now, almost constantly she felt like there were bugs crawling over her, but still she did not give in.
By the end of the second day, though, she was ready to scream: she had not slept, and now she was seeing the first few bugs as they crawled under her skin. She hit the things, but only hurt herself.
She was literally rolling on the floor, trying to squish them, when Leta found her.
"Get them off, make it stop," Hermione begged her as soon as she saw the woman.
Leta stood tall next to the squirming figure, emotionless. "Will you read the books?"
"Yes, yes, anything, please just make it stop."
With a wave of her wand, and a Finite, Leta cancelled the spell. Hermione curled up in a ball, still occasionally shuddering, exhausted. Leta crouched next to her and caressed her hair.
"Shh, you will never have to experience that again if in the future you heed my warnings."
Hermione was too relieved and tired to care much about anything at this point, and just nodded, oddly enjoying the firm yet soft strokes of Leta's hand. She didn't protest when Leta helped her up and into the sofa, sitting next to her and allowing Hermione to lean on her. The girl fell asleep from exhaustion soon, and Leta stood, laying the girl down in a way she would be comfortable. She then put the two first books on the table nearest Hermione's head, and left her to rest.
She was smiling when she walked out of the room: step one was complete.