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6 – Hermione & Hogwarts, A History

Snape was lying in bed, staring at the moon and looking for a return owl. After an hour of waiting, Harry decided it was a good time to return from the pensieve. He wasn't sure how long he'd been gone, and he didn't want Ginny to worry.

As the present reality restored around him, he was disappointed to see that all of the portraits in the headmaster's office were sleeping, though Dumbledore might have taken a quick peak to see who was in the room.

Harry made his way to Gryffindor Hall and was surprised to see that the party was still going strong. It appeared that Hermione and Ron had moved on to more advanced dance moves. From twenty paces away, Hermione charged towards Ron and leapt a few feet in from of him. Ron caught her and lifted her above his head, making her look suspended while doing a swan dive. "Harry, look at me! I'm having the time of my life! I've never felt like this before."

"Er—that's great, Hermione."

"You should try it. Ron is stronger than I ever imagined."

"I am, mate." Ron safely placed Hermione down and flexed for Harry.

"Oh brother. Have you seen Ginny?"

They pointed to the table where Ginny was obscured from view because she was laying on the bench sleeping.

"Where have you been, mate?

"Getting Snape."

"Oh." They said it at the same time together, and their mood came down a few notches. Harry felt a pang of guilt. He wasn't trying to spoil the fun, but Snape's last thoughts were starting to bother him—he had to know what happened and if it involved his mother. There were so many pieces of her life he didn't know, and this was a rare opportunity to potentially know her better. Not to mention the man who double-crossed Voldemort to try to save her.

Hermione asked, "Did it go okay? Getting Snape's body?"

"Yeah, but I have something to ask you. Have you ever heard of the Dark Tourist?"

Hermione placed her hands on her hips. "Oh my gosh! Did you ever read Hogwarts, A History? Ever?Of course I've heard of it, but it doesn't exist."

"What do you mean, it doesn't exist?"

She leaned in to Harry and waved a finger. "Because silly, they never found Willow Gorge or the doppelganger root."

Harry thought about what he'd seen in the pensieve. He was certain that Snape was headed there the moment Riddle sent him the return owl, but maybe Snape had been wrong. Maybe there wasn't a Willow Gorge, or doppelganger root, or an evil fourth curse. Maybe these last thoughts weren't heading to somewhere… tragic.

In the background, the Twisted Sisters announced that the next song was something they'd dreamt up tonight. "This one goes out to the boy who lived. We're calling it, 'The Ladies Find HP LV.'" The Twisted Sisters broke into lyrics that made Harry blush, but with all of the fire whiskey going around, he guessed that he was the only one comprehending their meaning.

Hermione and Ron ran off and plotted their next dance moves.

Harry moved to where Ginny was sleeping and ran his hand through her hair. She was completely out, and by the look on her face, she was enjoying the kind of slumber that comes when all seems right with the world. He scooped her from the bench and moved her to the floor where some of the partiers were laying blankets and pillows to catch some shuteye themselves. It seemed that no one wanted to be alone tonight. Once he had Ginny resting comfortably under a blanket, he made his way back to Hermione and Ron, interrupting an impassioned discussion about whether Ron should toss Hermione in the air for a single or double flip.

"Hermione?"

"What do you think Harry? I think Big Red can handle the double flip."

"Sure, the double should be no problem. But I wanted to ask you another question. What did you mean that they never found Willow Gorge?"

"Oh, well the author and a few other wizards went to its location on the Unofficial Map of the Forbidden Forest. Of course, no one has a full map because it would be too dangerous to go everywhere and map out everything."

"Of course," said Harry, though he wasn't feeling as if any danger existed in the world now that Voldemort was gone.

"When they went to where it was supposed to be, they found the gorge, but no willows or doppelganger root. It was just full of ash."

"Ash?"

Hermione was a bit slap happy. "Yes, silly. You know, the stuff leftover from a fire. So if there wasn't any doppelganger root, there couldn't be the Dark Tourist curse."

Harry paused for a minute and let this sink in. He'd seen the colorful picture of Willow Gorge in Snape's book. Unless it was all a fairy tale, Willow Gorge had definitely existed, but maybe somebody had destroyed it. "But why can't there be a Dark Tourist curse without the doppelganger?"

"Seriously. I'm making you read Hogwarts, A History over Christmas. Because, the rumor or legend was that you needed the root to make a potion to do the curse. That's why it doesn't really exist. What curse comes from a potion?" She tilted her head back and let out a shrill, un-Hermione-like laugh.

Harry thanked her and wished her luck on the double flip. "I need to go back to Snape, so tell Ginny when she awakes. She'll understand."

"Right, mate. No worries here." Hermione tried to imitate Ron's voice and fell into more fits of laughter.

Ron shrugged. "It's the fire whiskey."

"I figured. Well, thanks."

On the way back to the headmaster's office, Harry started to feel sure of one thing. Willow Gorge might have become barren, ash land, but Snape and Riddle had gotten their hands on the doppelganger root before that happened. He was certain of it. The only question was, how had they used the doppelganger and were they responsible for erasing Willow Gorge from the Forbidden Forest?

Outside the castle windows, Harry could no longer see fireworks lighting up the night sky.