Disclaimer: No, they're not mine. Yes, you can give them to me for a late birthday present. I might even share them if I ever own them!
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Hermione leaned back against Madam Pince's desk and took a deep breath. She held it in for a few second before slowly exhaling. She rubbed her thumb along her quebracho wand as she studied the room around her. The Library had been her room to use this afternoon since she was on her own. Today had been very quiet. With everyone away, even Madam Pince who had gone to visit her sister in London, Hermione had pushed the tables to the side and practiced warding. Although she had only worked with small objects, but she now felt reasonably confident about her current abilities. She was still only a beginner but she was able to put up what she felt was a decent protection ward. She'd have to ask Professor Snape to have a go at it at some point and point out the flaws in it.
Hermione had even taken the time to work with both her quebracho and her walnut wands. Neither seemed to have an edge on the other at the moment, although Hermione would always call the quebracho when in public. It wasn't exactly common knowledge yet that she was now the owner of Bellatrix Lestrange's unique curved wand. As she thought, she summoned her walnut wand to her left hand and stood there comparing the two for a minute. She felt the same feeling of warmth and acceptance from both of them, and both seemed equally as eager to cast a spell for her. With a sigh and a shake of her head, Hermione sent both her wands to their respective places in her dual holster before pushing off the desk and turning to survey her work.
Various books and annotated pieces of parchment were scattered across the desktop, all relating to warding in general, or the Hogwarts Wards in particular. At several points during her practice, Hermione had also felt the 'eyes' of Hogwarts on her. She wasn't sure if the Castle just wasn't sure about what she was doing or if it was curious as to what she was doing. The old building's magic had reached and brushed against her own a few times during the afternoon, just as it had this morning when she left. As she had surmised yesterday, the Castle didn't tell her off for feeling her way into the Wards. In fact, it seemed mostly happy about her doing so at the moment. Probably because it understood she was trying to fix the problem, not make it worse. Hogwarts was, after all, the most magical of places.
Although she was not a direct part of the reconstruction efforts, she knew what was going on throughout the rest of the castle simply because it was her way to see if she was on schedule. The closer they were from finishing the repairs, the closer they came from having to deal with the wards. And Hermione wanted to be ready. Gryffindor Tower had been put off for the moment. The Ministry still had not responded to either Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape on the subject of sending out a few Wards Masters to help out with the Foundation Stones, at least. Hermione was doing her best to learn everything she could, but she didn't as of yet felt confident enough to handle such a difficult piece of warding. She was still anxiously trying to find a way into the Wards, to see if there was some kind of reset command. The Wards Map had hinted a few times that something - someone, actually - should be able to help, but Hermione had not understood the reference as yet.
With a frown, Hermione walked around the desk to sit down. She picked up a Sugar Quill as she looked at her notes. Bringing her copy of Basic Wards for Beginners to her, she bent down to re-read the passage that had caught her attention earlier.
As mentioned previously, most warders develop some signature arrays and wards that they use on many projects. Reset wards are usually part of these. Reset wards will allow a specific person to revert changes made to a set of arrays back to a predefined point.
True wards masters have always been in very limited supply. As such, they were not always available to repair or modify their work for past clients. Many people then took to trying to modify their wards themselves. While some of the most unscrupulous warders were happy to charge exorbitant amount of gold to come back and repair mistakes, others used reset wards.
Another use of reset wards is as a helping tool when casting extensive arrays. Some masters used reset wards to safeguard their works once they had managed to stabilize one section of their work. They would then build on the arrays, knowing that they wouldn't lose all their work if things went wrong. One ward master who often used reset wards this way was Perseus Draconis, who was famous for his extremely complex, multi-layered wards.
And there, right there, had been the confirmation that Draconis had had to have created a reset ward for Hogwarts. The Wards Map had shimmered each time she had asked to see the reset ward, but still hadn't showed her. And she couldn't find anything useful in any books about the school and Draconis. Even Hogwarts, a History seemed to assume the Founders had cast the wards. The only clue she had it was not so, was the Wards Map. It was just so frustrating at times.
With a shake of her head, Hermione pushed the Wards Map aside and out of her mind for now. She would concentrate on warding first then deal with Hogwarts. She scribbled a few more words on the parchment which she had used to decode a basic array from Basic Wards for Beginners, noting the similarities she had observed within the Hogwarts Wards. Although the scale was different, many of the foundation arrays were basic enough. They were simply bigger and layered with many different arrays designed for encryption and stability. She had even found several layers of offensive arrays. The Death Eaters had either knew exactly what they were doing, or they had gotten extremely lucky when they took on the Wards. A few more layers and the wrath of Hogwarts would have fallen upon their collective heads.
As she studied the Hogwarts Wards, she had started to think of the castle as sentient-like. The closest she could come to was an artificial intelligence. Hermione may be slightly out of touch with her Muggle roots, but she had read enough of Isaac Asimov's stories as a child. And her parents being an amazing mix of computer geeks and movie buffs helped as well when it came to these kinds of concepts. Basically, she thought of Hogwarts as a super computer. The castle had a huge number of rules to follow and many ways to answer a particular set of circumstances based on the Wards that dictated its behavior. The building appeared sentient to some because it may not react in exactly the same way, depending on circumstances that appeared the same to mere human brains. A single change, even something as insignificant as the weather, could alter how the castle would react. The Founders and Draconis had tried to think of everything when they created the Wards. This was of course impossible, but they had given it a very good try.
Working from the ground up, they had given a great deal of thoughts to the foundations with a wide variety of arrays designed to ground and strengthen the building. Many arrays took care of making the castle comfortable to live in, with waterworks, heating, and lighting all controlled through the School Wards. And weaving across all those were a large selection of arrays designed to stabilize the entirety of the Foundation Wards. Above those came less essential wards, such as those making the staircases move and the array controlling the ceiling in the Great Hall. And then came the defenses: arrays upon arrays of shields and curses designed to protect the school in its time of need.
The young witch nibbled on the end of her quill then shook her head as she looked at the mess of loose parchments covering the desk. As she delved deeper and deeper into her study of warding, the young witch had taken to writing down the basic arithmantic formulas for arrays she found useful. It quite amazed her what could be achieved by some determined warding. With a smile, Hermione called her quebracho wand and used the spells Madam Pince had taught her, the first gathering her research into an organized pile, the second binding the parchment to form a book of sorts. Most of the arrays in her new little notebook related to the Hogwarts Wards. She had of course copied the two Pince Wards that the Librarian had shown her. But there were a few in her notebook Hermione had simply liked. Like the one a warder with a passion for gardening had created to allow a tree to grow strong within his house - through the heavy flagstones that made up the flooring of his manor. She had simply loved that idea.
Hermione caught her quill between her teeth for a moment and stretched her arms overhead, wincing as she felt her vertebra crack. A quick glance at her watch confirmed that it was very nearly lunch time. Professor McGonagall had made sure every day that she would stop for lunch, ever since that first one when she had worked through the meal. As she finished tidying up her little experiments, she heard the library's doors open on two familiar arguing voices.
"And once more, I never did want the job, Minerva. It was supposed to be you!"
"But Albus chose you. And so it is."
"I am not worthy of that title. I have neither the knowledge, the wisdom, nor the patience to deal with this job. May I remind you that you were groomed by Albus from near on the beginning to take over his post?"
"Do not tell me you don't have what it takes," Minerva scoffed as she came to stand opposite Hermione. "You waited over a decade to see the man who had killed your childhood friend fall to the wand of her son. You preyed on his followers' beliefs and insecurities to ensure his ultimate downfall. And all the while, you remained true to yourself and your inner light while surrounded by darkness. If that does not make you worthy then I'm sorry to say that I am not worthy to even act as your Deputy!"
Hermione just stood there and watched her two favorite teachers argue. She was quite certain that they had forgotten she was in the room at this moment. And she was a bit afraid to remind Professor Snape of that fact, if she was perfectly honest with herself.
"The fact remains, Minerva, that you were trained to handle the administrative duties that comes with being the Head of Hogwarts. The Dark Lord removed most of these duties during my year as Head. I would not have the first idea where to start. Not to mention that it's highly likely that the Ministry will oppose my staying, in particular when public opinion finally realizes I'm alive and well, and people start to demand I be put in Azkaban for my crimes."
"That's not going to happen, Severus. Neither Kingsley nor I will allow it."
"You won't get a choice," Professor Snape sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "And you're dreaming if you think Shacklebolt will get to stay Minister. As soon as the dust settles, the old guard will be vying for the post."
Hermione looked back and forth between her Professors as they continue to argue the point. She was about to make a noise to remind them of her presence when her eyes caught a small flash of movement from the desk. The Wards Map was weaving what appeared to be a stabilizing array over the Library, where Hermione knew there was none beyond the Restricted Section. The young witch frowned slightly and the non-existent ward disappeared along with everything else on the map to be replaced by words.
The Headmistress and the Deputy Headmaster lead Hogwarts while the Dragon protects it.
Hermione blinked and the words disappeared. The young witch looked up to watch her Professors before she felt magic shift in the Library. The effect on the two Professors was immediate and both had their wands drawn, eyes scanning the area, before Hermione could even make a noise.
"I think Hogwarts is trying to tell you something."
Her words brought two wands to bear on her and Hermione smiled as she held her hands up. But she was somewhat relieved to feel the Wards shift into a protective array around her. Minerva was the first to lower her wand.
"Forgive us, Miss Granger. It seems we are still on edge."
"As you should be, Headmistress."
As she felt the Wards shift around her again at her words, Hermione couldn't help but smile.
"I believe Hogwarts would prefer you to keep the post, Professor McGonagall. With Professor Snape acting as your Deputy so he can take over when the times come."
"And how would you know that," Professor Snape said slowly as he finally lowered his wand.
"The Wards told me," Hermione grinned at her Professors as she tapped a finger on the Wards Map. "Just watch this. Tell me who leads Hogwarts," Hermione said as she tapped the map with a finger.
She watched with a smile as the words reappeared for McGonagall and Snape to read. Then the map went blank once more.
"I really wish I knew if the Marauders actually had access to this map in their time. The similarities between their map and this one are too much to be just a coincidence," Hermione muttered good naturally and the Headmistress could not help but scoff.
"I would not be surprised, lass."
Professor Snape said nothing but looked pointedly at the older witch.
"Fine, I'll take your role. But may I point out that you have just been elected to assume mine."
Snape scoffed but said nothing more.
"What's the Dragon?" Hermione asked.
"Good question," the newly-appointed Headmistress said with a frown at the Wards Map. "And I'm not entirely sure how I like this map being able to communicate this way."
"I have already checked it for Dark magic, Minerva." Professor Snape frowned at the piece of parchment. "This map is harmless, although we of course should make sure it is well protected."
"Well, I will feel much safer when we manage to get the Wards going again. How are your studies going, Miss Granger?"
"Slowly, Headmistress. There's a great deal to learn."
"Yes, indeed. And I am sorry to place the burden on your young shoulders, but it has to be done. When would you be able to present us with your initial plans?"
"I have a few ideas already, but could we wait until Monday?"
The Headmistress sighed and nodded.
"How are you getting on with the preparation for the reading of Mr Weasley's will?"
"It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Probably because Fred tried to make it as painless as possible for me. Everything is set for Sunday, invites have been extended and replies received. Now we just have to wait until the day."
"How was Molly?" McGonagall asked.
"She's not really coping," Hermione sighed. "She wants to pretend that everything is fine but she is literally smothering everyone who sets foot in the Burrow. George has taken to holing up in the shop to avoid her. And I think that's why both Ron and Harry are so eager to help here as well. Although I'm sure they would have helped anyway."
Minerva McGonagall nodded slowly and Hermione purposefully looked away when she saw a tear escape her Transfiguration Professor's tight control. A glance at Professor Snape told her that he still was very much in control.
"I was wondering if you needed any help with your warding, Miss Granger?"
The Potion Master had spoken in his usual voice and had looked very deliberately into Hermione's eyes.
"I'd be very happy for any help you can offer, Professor Snape. Even with all the books you and others have recommended, I fear that nothing will be as good as actual experience when it comes to warding."
"Very true, Miss Granger. If it is amenable to you, I would meet with you on Monday morning to discuss your ideas. I will also try to answer any question you may have about warding although you should remember that I am no master in the subject."
"I would be very grateful, Professor."
Hermione had carefully kept her eyes on Snape and let him lead their short discussion while Headmistress McGonagall recovered. The older witch now tapped her shoulder lightly and Hermione turned to look at her.
"I do not think I need to remind you of Professor Snape's health at this moment." The wizard in question snorted but the Headmistress continued regardless. "Please make sure to keep your meeting relatively short so he can rest. And I do not want either of you missing lunch in the Great Hall."
Hermione chose to nod at her mentor and ignore the dark wizard's obvious eye roll. The Headmistress looked between the two younger people in front of her and nodded to them.
"Keep in mind that your health is just as important as the Wards. I expect to see both of you at meal times."
With these last words, the Headmistress left rather quickly. Hermione looked after her mentor then startled slightly as she heard an odd noise coming from the Potion Master beside her. It sounded like a cross between a snort and a chuckle. She looked askance at the man and he shrugged with a smirk playing on his lips.
"She's hoping I'm too tired to realize I've effectively been made Deputy Head."
Hermione couldn't help her own chuckle at that.
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Hermione heaved a sigh as she stumbled into a chair. Opposite her, Snape took his own seat, a lot more gracefully Hermione noted.
"I'm amazed we weren't killed while on the run, Professor."
The Dark Wizard had led the Gryffindor witch out of the Library and into a classroom where he had proceeded to methodically destroy her original wards and point out flaws in her new ones.
"Explain."
"My wards - what I thought were wards - were more than inadequate. There were just a bunch of spells thrown together. We were lucky they were strong enough to last through the night. I dread to think what would have happened had Bellatrix or any of the high level Death Eaters come across us."
Professor Snape snorted as he settled himself more comfortably in his chair. "I saw your protections during my short visit in the Forest of Dean. I happen to think that your bunch of spells would have done the trick. None of the Dark Lord's followers were into curse breaking. Curse casting, yes. But not the opposite."
Hermione pulled her quebracho wand and waved it to summon a desk to her. She set her notebook and the Wards Map on it.
"Are you finally going to tell me what you have been doing?"
Hermione glanced up at her teacher with pursed lips. Although Professor Snape had obviously been trying, he was still a snarky git at times.
"I have the beginning of a plan. What I really want to do is find the reset button."
"Reset button?"
"Sorry," Hermione said. "Muggle term. It means…"
"I do know what it is, Miss Granger. I may be old, but I am Half-Blood."
Hermione blushed slightly and tried to clear her throat.
"Well, Basic Warding for Beginners mentions in a few places that many Wards Masters of old used a reset ward for some of their works. Warders were few and far between back then, and Masters even rarer. Their time was often in limited supply so they developed ways to allow non-warders to re-activate the wards in case of emergency. Given the isolation of Hogwarts and the fact that the Founders were already well-known by the time they started the school, I'm sure Draconis put a reset ward somewhere. I just need to find it and use it."
"And it would get all the Wards back up? Without any help or power boost?"
"Well, I suspect it would reset the Wards to their original forms. That is, the Wards Draconis designed and cast for the Founders. I suppose we would lose any protection that was added by the Heads over the past centuries. But yes, in theory this would simply snap the Wards back on without us doing anything more."
Snape nodded slowly. "I suppose it's a good idea. Do you have a back up plan?"
"Yes, but this is where it gets more complicated. If I can't reset the wards, it means re-casting them. Even if I spend all my time from now until the 31st August researching and learning, I won't have all the knowledge I need to have all the wards up. Even just the Foundation Wards would be a real feat at this point."
"Minerva has already asked the Ministry for backup. She has requested a list of wards workers the Ministry uses."
Hermione nodded once. "The problem is that we're still waiting for an answer. We need people right now. People with the knowledge we need. Or at least, able to point us in the right direction. I'm working on getting to know the School Wards through the map. With enough people knowing their stuff and able to provide the raw power needed, and me directing everyone, we should be able to get the Foundation Wards sorted and maybe even a few basic others where necessary. Hogwarts won't be as well protected as it used to be, but it'll be safe enough for the students to return."
Snape nodded slowly at that, and Hermione couldn't help but think this was probably the greatest accolade she had ever received from that particular Professor.
"Is there anything I can do to help in the mean time?"
"Plenty. Although neither of my plans really necessitates me knowing about warding, I still want to learn in case we can't find enough Wards Masters to help out. Anything you are willing to teach me about warding would be great. And if you are able, I'd love to learn any Prince Wards you're willing to share with me."
Professor Snape snorted. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Because you've known me for seven long years?"
Hermione internally cringed at her wise crack and was about to apologize when she saw the man smile. Well, it was simply one corner curling ever so slightly upward, but Hermione relaxed as she saw it.
"I suppose I can think of a couple for you. But may I ask why?"
"I have, I think, got the basics through my reading. But I need the practical knowledge to go with the theory. I don't have the time to experiment. So I've decided to learn by example. Basic Wards for Beginners made mention of Familial Wards, powerful wards, usually protective ones, passed down through generations. I am of course at the distinct disadvantage that I have no magical relative to call upon. But Madam Pince was already kind to show me two of the Pince Wards."
Snape nodded slowly and summoned his wand to his hand. Hermione leaned forward and opened her own hand in summon. She wasn't too surprised when Walnut answered her call. After all, the Prince were an old pureblood family of dark tendencies while wards were a form of magic primarily wielded as a mean of defense.
"I never thought I'd see that wand switch allegiance."
Hermione looked between the Potion Master in front of her and the length of dark brown wood in her hand.
"I cannot say I wasn't surprised when Mr Ollivander confirmed it. But Walnut is indeed mine. She and Quebracho are slowly learning to get along with one another. Walnut seemed determined to deal with pretty much everything that has to do with protecting though."
"You probably should not show that wand to too many people."
Hermione nodded her understanding. "I think both of them understand that. Quebracho is the only one who comes out in public."
"Try to keep it that way."
Hermione huffed and nodded again. She twirled Walnut around for a few moments then looked expectantly at her teacher. Professor Snape swished his own wand a few times, reciting an incantation under his breath. Red Elder Futhark runes shimmered in the air, forming a small circle on the stone floor. The reddish wavering light coalesced into interlocking lines, connecting the runes to each others. More runes appeared, mixing Futhark and Greek runes, glowing as their powers combined within the arrays. And Hermione watched and studied as best she could the play between the layers. Her mind dissected what morsels of arrays she could grasp, reducing them to arithmantic calculations of potential compatibility and failings.
"This is one of the very few Prince Wards my mother felt was safe to pass along to me. You must keep in mind, Miss Granger, that the Princes would have followed the Dark Lord had the pure line still been alive by the time of his first rise to power. I suppose they still did, through me. In any case, my mother had to be circumspect when came the time to teach me the Familial Wards. I can only assume that many of the Prince Wards were designed to keep out 'the vermin'."
Hermione glanced away from the gleaming ward to study her Professor's face. She had never heard him so… wistful. His face gave nothing away of his apparent discomfort and Hermione chose to look away and concentrate on the ward in front of her. Let it not be said she was one to poke the wounded bear without a particularly good reason. And preferably only with the backing of the Headmistress and the full might of Hogwarts behind her.
"You will notice that the arrays make use of more than just the Futhark runes."
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "I can only assume, given the base of this ward uses Elder Futhark, that it was created after the second century."
"Why not before?"
"Although the runes may have existed before that, they were not empowered until that time. To change the very foundation of complicated arrays such as these could throw them off, potentially causing the collapse of the ward. Unless your family has ever had wards masters in their employ, I think it's safe to say the foundation array has not been changed. However, it has been heavily encrypted."
"How so?"
Hermione squinted as she approached the ward, taking care to stay far enough to not trigger the defenses. With a few waves of her wand, she reproduced a section of the design, right down to its lightish-red color.
"These here," she said as she used her wand to subtly change the color of three arrays on her copy, "form the encryption array. Quite a nasty one, at that. The topmost layer is a feedback hook. It is designed to draw power away from the main array it is connected to. Said power is used to energize the layers beneath. This hook ward has been meshed with a… a… I can only call it a Notice-Me Charm."
"Notice-Me?"
"Well, it's the exact opposite of the Notice-Me-Not Charm, so I suppose it fits. The hook wants to be seen by the curse breaker. And taken on. The layer beneath it encoded with a mix of Greek and Egyptian. Hard enough to decipher in the best of cases but the real trap comes after. Because whether or not the curse or ward breaker succeeds in finding the solution, they will come face-to-face with a powerful Obliviate."
Hermione highlighted the memory spell in her replica model with a dark blue color.
"A fitting reward for the greedy."
Hermione couldn't help but smile at her Professor's words. Of course, he would think it was all right to lure someone into thinking they had managed to win only to erase their memories of it before they could even comprehend what kind of troubles they had stepped into.
"Would you be happy with me copying as much as I can?"
Snape only waved at her and Hermione settled down to her task. For the next few hours, Hermione worked on faithfully recording the arithmantic equations for the arrays she could break down from the Prince Ward. With Professor Snape's help, she went on to assimilate a few of the Prince's tricks into her own wards, such as that Obliviate hook. Hermione could calculate that her new ward would not last eternally, but it would be sufficient for a week or so.
She also compared the Pince and Prince Wards, trying to find the major similiraties and differences between the two Familial Wards. She came to the conclusion that one should not attempt to steal from the Princes unless they were willing to risk their very magic in the attempt. The offensive arrays on Madam Pince's Familial Ward were much tamer if more stable and better blended into the overall ward.
By the end of the afternoon, Hermione was mentally exhausted. She sent a Patronus to the Headmistress, warning her she would eat in her quarters, and made her way back to her guest rooms, her head buzzing with numbers and runes. With a sigh, Hermione took a vial of Headache Potion. And after taking care of cleaning her left arm and hanging her robes for the morning, she simply collapsed into bed.
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Author's Note: It's back to school for my monsters and back to writing for me. And editing my upcoming novel… God, I love my job :) I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. If I get lots of reviews and followers, I might even treat you guys to an early chapter!