Before Valkyrie could tell them about Darquesse, after she had spent hours working up the courage to find them, Hermione approached her, Harry, Ron and the twins close behind.
"Hey" Hermione said in greeting. Valkyrie looked at her. It wasn't possible that they knew she was going to find them, was it?
"Hey." Valkyrie said back, trying to swallow the nervous lump in her throat.
"So, are you ok?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, fine." She lied, then she sighed "Actually, I wanted to talk to you guys about something."
"We'd like to talk to you about something too." Fred said.
"You first." Valkyrie said quickly, gesturing. George shuffled his feet and shoved Ron forwards slightly. It seemed that a private conversation shouldn't be taking place in the corridors on a Saturday afternoon. But it was.
"Well, you know, during the lesson, Skulduggery said something about a sorceress…"
"Someone named Darquesse. We want to know more about her." Hermione finished for him. Valkyrie froze. How could they have known it, how?
"W-what do you know, already?" She stammered. Hermione raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
"We know she's strong, and she brought back the Sceptre of the Ancients – that's what Skulduggery called it anyway. But she sounds interesting." Valkyrie looked over her shoulder. The corridor was empty. She gestured for them to come closer, and lowered her voice to less than a whisper etched with danger.
"I wanted to talk to you guys about Darquesse too, but you've got to pay attention and never tell anyone, not a single soul, you hear me?" They nodded, their faces grave. Valkyrie took a sharp intake of breath. "Darquesse is…" she couldn't bring herself to say it, to whisper the words. Would they hate her? But if she stopped now, they'd know something was wrong, so she continued "she's one of the single most powerful sorceresses that's alive today. And she's dangerous. She's cold, and calculated and sadistic, and she wouldn't think twice about killing anyone. She sometimes gets called 'Darquesse the World Breaker'. A few years ago sensitives, like psychic sorcerers, started having visions of her destroying the world, and everyone and everything on it. She would kill you, and not even blink." Their faces had gone pale with the seriousness of the conversation.
"You have to listen to me" Valkyrie continued, looking at them all "If you ever, ever, see Darquesse you run. You run and hide and don't come out until she's gone. And for god's sakes don't provoke her, or challenge her, or even engage in conversation, just run."
"Why would we engage in conversation with someone who's going to kill us?" Harry whispered.
"Just don't do it, ok? And don't try to hurt her either, don't play the hero."
"Why not, if we got rid of her then the world would live, right?" George whispered.
"It's pointless" Valkyrie said harshly, feeling bitterness carve its way into her "she can heal herself. She's not restricted to a certain brand of magic like the rest of us, she can do anything she wants to, and she will. She's learned her true name. A long time ago she was just a normal sorceress, but when we find out our true name, a whole new world of magic is opened up to us. Only 8 sorcerers have ever done it, and most of them either died or killed themselves because of it."
"And that makes her invincible?"
"Pretty much, unless, you get her to revert back to her non-sadistic side, in other words, give her back her taken name."
"Well, what's her taken name?" Hermione asked quickly. Valkyrie felt her mouth go dry.
"I don't know." She lied, then she stood up straight. "Excuse me, but I have to go and find Skulduggery."
"Why, come outside, it's snowing." Fred protested.
"No, I have to go and see what's happening with my family. The reflection… killed, my cousin, Carol. Skulduggery was contacting the head of the Sanctuary to tell my family she's dead." Valkyrie took off her hat and looked at the ground. Before she could blink she felt arms around her, and she was smothered in a hug.
"We're so sorry." Fred and George said simultaneously.
"Why are you sorry? It's my fault. I shouldn't have let the reflection anywhere near them, and I certainly shouldn't have left it at home by itself." Valkyrie whispered.
"That thing was crazy" Ron stammered from somewhere behind Fred "You couldn't have known it would do that, or you wouldn't have left."
"Doesn't matter. What's done is done, and I can't change it. She's dead now." Valkyrie gently pushed the twins away from her and put her hat back on her head, the brim low over her eyes. "I have to go." She whispered before turning away and striding down the corridor, head low, trying to hold the sobs inside her breaking heart.
Hermione watched Valkyrie as she left. Although she felt sorry for her, what with her cousin being dead an all, she couldn't help but be suspicious. The way she had spoken about the sorceress Darquesse, although deadly serious, seemed to be missing a few facts. She didn't tell them what Darquesse looked like, or where she would be likely to show up, or what she did. Yes, Valkyrie said Darquesse killed people, but she didn't say where, or how or who. Was it just normal people? Other sorcerers? Personal payback? Muggles? Or just random people? Fred and George turned to Hermione, Harry and Ron and sighed simultaneously.
"Poor Val." George said.
"Yeah, I feel so sorry for her." Fred agreed sincerely.
"I'm going to the library to see if I can find out anything about this 'Darquesse' sorcerer. Anyone coming to join me?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head.
"I'm going back to the common room to try and practise some more." He said.
"I'll be your motivation." Ron nodded. Hermione scowled.
"Fine, I'll research on my own." She muttered. She was about to turn away when George began talking.
"Do you think we'll ever meet her, Darquesse I mean?" Hermione paused and they were all silent.
"Based on what Val said, I hope not." Fred muttered.
"I still don't understand why I'd want to talk to her, or why any sane person would want to talk to her, if she was gonna kill them." Harry shrugged.
"Well, dad said that you shouldn't try to find Sirius Black in third year, remember Harry? And we did end up finding him, and he turned out to be innocent."
"Yeah, I remember" Harry nodded "But I don't think Darquesse is innocent."
"What I think Ron means is" Hermione began "that there may be more to Darquesse than meets the eye." George sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I just hope we don't run into her. She seemed to scare Valkyrie pretty bad, and that girl's not scared of anything." He said. Fred nodded, and then looked over his shoulder.
"Either way, we shouldn't be talking about it now. I swear the walls have ears."
"Yeah, well. I'm going to the library. I'll see you all later." Hermione turned and left, not replying to the few silent 'bye's' behind her.
Her footsteps echoes on the stone corridor floors, and Hermione's heart began beating faster. She told herself she was being silly. There was nothing to be afraid of. Nothing in Hogwarts, except Umbridge. Could Umbridge be Darquesse? After all, she was high up in the Ministry, and she did hate a lot of people. Hermione doubted Umbridge would care if she killed any of them, and she could, Hermione knew she could. But was Umbridge cold, and calculated and sadistic? Could she heal herself? Hermione didn't think so. Surely if Umbridge was the murdering sorceress, the Ministry would have locked her up a long time ago. Besides, Umbrdige was a witch, not a sorceress. She used a wand, and hated non-wizards. Hermione doubted her own suspicions as she entered the library.
It had to be a sorceress, but the only sorcerers Hermione knew, or knew of, were Skulduggery, Ghastly and Valkyrie herself. And it certainly wasn't one of them.
