I do not own any of the characters.
This story is rated NC-17 for later chapters
THIRD YEAR: Periculum Bellati
"Honestly Harry I don't know how you put up with him," Hermione said primly.
Ron's face filled with anger as he sarcastically said "yeah Harry, it must be awful to have a friend who is so average at everything when you can spend your time with perfect Miss Know-it-all! No matter that you have been friends with him since you were babies."
She was completely livid, twisting her words around like that. "Weasley, that is not what I meant at all and you know it."
"Really! Since when? "
"Since I was simply commenting on how ridiculous it is for you wake up at odd hours and drag Harry into random expeditions after curfew. He really should be sleeping, so he can be rested to finish his assignments and be ready for class and quidditch! I said nothing about you being average. Plus I wasn't even talking to you!"
"Well, I'm sorry Miss Know-it-all, some of us like going to the kitchens at anytime and we like sneaking pass Filch to have fun, but you wouldn't know anything about having fun because you can't find that in book!"
Her face went completely pale and her brown eyes burned with unshed tears. She simply screamed "Stop calling me that!" and stormed from the common room up to the girls' dormitories letting the tears finally escape.
Ron stood on the same spot for what seemed like forever, he was shocked and his chest felt like there was something twisting inside it. Harry's yell woke him from his stupor, "Ron not again!"
He sat on the chair with his head down and in a low tone said "What?"
Harry noticed the slump in Ron's shoulders and knew the shouting wasn't helping. He sat next to him and said: "Why do you call her that? She hates it."
"I know,"
"So why do it then?"
"Dunno,"
"Well stop it!" Harry said annoyed, "look Ron, I know you two never got to like each other, but she is my friend and my mum and dad really like her. She helps me, and others, even Neville, with learning new things. She can nag, but she means well."
"I know Harry,"
Harry sighed and left to the boys' dormitories. Ron sat still for a long time and then a sad murmur came from his lips "She never helps me." He then also went to bed.
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The next morning, Harry and Ron sat by each other eating breakfast. Hermione sat with Neville and Ginny a few spots away. Ron noticed Hermione's eyes were a bit swollen and red and felt a twist in his chest. After eating their feel Harry and Ron headed to the greenhouses. They were walking closely behind Neville and Hermione until suddenly, they saw Hermione walk away.
Ron ran a bit ahead and asked "Where is she going?"
"Dunno. She said she heard something and wanted to see what it was. I told her we would be late, but she wanted to go. That way," Neville pointed.
"And you just let her go in that direction by herself! The forbidden forest is that way!" Ron exclaimed.
"The… the…"
"What's going on?" said Harry.
"Hermione just ran to the forbidden forest for no reason. Mental!"
"What? That's not like her! She would never want to be late! Neville?"
"I... I…"
"Neville go to class and if we're are not there in a few minutes tell Professor Sprout. Ron let's go!"
The boys ran in the direction that Neville pointed and spotted Hermione. She was quite far and they ran to meet her. As they went they passed her bag and books, which had been left behind on the ground. She was walking faster but somehow it looked like she was struggling. Suddenly she stopped in the middle of the forest. Then they saw it, a large beautiful purple and white flower was opening up and showing two large green thorns on top of its yellow core.
Hermione leaned to touch the flower and put her finger right into one of the thorns. Suddenly the flower grew and opened up. There were sparks of light and soft music surrounding the core.
The boys watched in horror as the flower turned brown and dreadful and it started to take Hermione's hand inside its core. They ran as fast as they could and Ron grabbed Hermione's free arm and struggled to pull her away. Harry grabbed the green trunk from the back and pulled it away from his friends. The effort was fruitless her entire right arm was now in the flower. Ron moved his arms to go around her waist and pulled with all his force. Meanwhile Harry found a large rock and began hitting the flower with all his might until Ron screamed "Finite!"
Then it was over. A nasty screech was heard in the forest and the flower turned black and dry on the spot. Ron fell backwards and Hermione landed on him. She was unconscious and they laid her on the ground. Her arm was covered with brown goo and something that looked like blood.
"Ron, stay here with her, I'm going to get help!"
Harry left running as fast as he could.
"Hermione, Hermione!" Ron repeated, but there was no answer.
"I'm sorry. Please don't die, I'll never call you Miss Know-it-all again, I promise."
Ron sat for a while just looking at her and feeling guilty. He made her cry last night and now she looked like the dead. Then he saw Harry with Neville and Professor Sprout right behind them. The professor conjured a stretcher and levitated Hermione back to the castle.
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Two weeks later Hermione was released from the hospital wing. Harry and Ron had visited her every day. Neville stopped by with them once and accidentally dropped a water pitcher right on Hermione's injured arm. They didn't allow him to come back with them again.
Ginny also came often and told her about all the gossip related to her accident. "Honestly, the things people come up with to spend their time" was all Hermione said.
She held many good memories of that week like her parents being inside Hogwarts for the first time. They were angry at her for her lack of judgment, but amazed at the magic of the school and so thankful to the two boys that saved her. Her parents also enjoyed spending time with the Snapes and learning about their rights in the wizarding world as parents of a witch. The Snapes had fought alongside Dumbledore for the right for Muggles to come into the castle if their children needed them until the Ministry finally passed that among many other laws protecting Muggle-borns eight years ago. Hermione was so thankful to have the professors get her parents and bring them to see her. Getting get-well-soon cards from most Gryffindors in her year was also a great memory.
And then there was Ron, Hermione Granger had become friends with Ron Wesley. That irritating boy saved her life and now managed to have somewhat civil conversations with her and did not call her names. The memory of their first conversation alone would last forever.
"Hi," said Ron in a very hesitant voice.
"Hi, where is Harry?"
"Oh, he stayed behind for a bit to talk to his mum and dad… about the flower again… I think. Mr. and Mrs. Snape had loads of questions."
"Oh,"
Then the room filled with an uncomfortable silence and Ron and Hermione avoided each other's gaze.
'This is ridiculous,' Hermione thought.
"Ron?" His ears went red.
"What is it?"she asked.
"Nothing, umm, you've never called me Ron... it's always Weasley."
"Umm, well... Ron... I never thanked you for saving me, so... thank you."
"Oh," Ron was now completely crimson, "no problem, that's what friends do."
A big smile marked both their faces and they began talking about everything. The homework from Astrology and the incident where Neville dropped too much boculus in potions and got the entire classroom filled with stinky green fog; they laughed about that so hard. Then they talked about the Herbology quiz that Sprout gave that morning, which made Hermione worry about when she would be able to study and make it up.
Harry joined them and they continued talking, joking and laughing.
"Yes, those were two good weeks," Hermione told herself as she left the girls' dormitories to meet Ron and Harry and go to breakfast. Ginny would be joining some girls from her year.
"Hi Harry, hi Ron,"
"Hi Hermione," the boys said in unison.
They walked to the great hall and then she knew it was time to finally ask. "So, Harry, what have your mum and dad found about the flower?"
"I don't know, but mum wanted you to stop by her office and talk to her about it again tomorrow after defence class."
"Ok, umm, haven't they told you anything?"
"Hermione, he just said he didn't know."
She rolled her eyes at Ron, but decided not to say anything.
Ron though was already exasperated and decided to turn the questions to her. "Why do you want to know? We pulled you out and everything is alright; must you always know everything?"
She looked down at her food and stayed quiet. Harry knew then something was going on. "Hermione what is it?"
No answer.
"What? Tell us already!" Ron exclaimed.
"Fine, but not here, meet me in the library after dinner. I'll be by the red corner window in the Magical Plants section."
"The library," Ron winced.
Hermione gave him a meaningful look; they finished eating and headed to their Potions lesson.
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The three sat together in potions which was one of the hardest lessons even though Professor Snape usually made it somewhat fun by showing the effects of certain potions on himself and then taking the antidotes. Hermione and many others were completely captivated by the lesson today as Severus gave himself an extra nose and then took it away. But, Ron and Harry had seen this trick from Harry's dad last summer when Ron visited, so they were still a bit bored and began trading chocolate frog cards and writing notes about the ones they thought they could get from other students in the class.
"Mr. Snape, can you tell me what some of the uses of Prunella Sanat are?"
"No sir,"
"Mr. Weasley?"
"No professor,"
"Ten points from Gryffindor for passing notes and I also want those cards on my desk for confiscation,"
"Yes sir," they boys said in unison before they stood to deposit all the cards on his desk while all the other Gryffindors looked at them in annoyance for losing points.
"Can anyone else..." Hermione raised her hand before he was done.
"Off course Miss Granger, go ahead,"
"Prunella Sanat is a very rare plant that grows abundantly in remote damp rainforests. It has lots of healing properties and can be used to heal cuts and other minor injuries. But, its most important use is in potions to restore organs, bone and tissue like skelegrow."
"Excellent! Twenty points to Gryffindor for that detailed explanation! Now, today, we will be learning how to brew Nasus Creserus, which is a simple organ growing potion that applies to the nose. Its main ingredient is..." he looked at the class, waved his hand and they understood what they had to say.
"Prunella Sanat," the group said like a united chorus and he smiled.
"Thank you! Instructions are on the board, you have about an hour and half left to brew. I'll be around for assistance, when you get done you can leave your vials on my desk and head to your next lesson. If you are done early you may take break in the great hall or library." He finished with a smile.
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After dinner, Ron and Harry found Hermione exactly in the spot she told them with books and parchment sprawled all over the table.
"Hermione, are you trying to learn about every magical plant there has ever been?" Ron said sarcastically.
"Honestly Ron!" she said. "Anyway the reason I want to know more about the flower is… because… well… "
"What?" The boys said in unison.
"Well it talked to me."
"Ummhh"
"It talked to me. It lured me, made me walk to it and then once I pricked my finger with the thorn it said my name and it told me to go inside."
"What? That's crazy; you can't have a conversation with a flower."
"It wasn't a two way conversation Ronald! It was like singing at first and then told me to come to a wonderful place and that's why I didn't struggle. It was like after I pricked my finger I would do anything that thing told me."
"Wait," said Harry. "There was music. Remember Ron when we were trying to pull her out, there were sparks and very soft music."
"Yeah, but it wasn't talking."
"Well I want to know what that flower was. That's why I started some research and I wanted to figure out what your parents know Harry. Your dad is the potions master, so he knows loads about plants and their properties and your mum teaches Defence against the Dark Arts so she knows ways to fight dark magic, so…" Hermione hesitated, she just though it was silly to say it.
"What is it Hermione? You are driving me mad here!" Ron said.
"Well… alright, once I was getting inside of the flower. My arm, it hurt and my chest hurt and I felt like crying, like the entire world had gone blank and I had no control over anything."
The boys looked puzzled and a bit scared. Harry spoke first, "Hermione, are you sure you are alright?"
"Yes Harry, I am fine now. It's just… I wonder what the thing was and if it was cursed with dark magic. Also, what if there are more of those at Hogwarts? What if another student gets pulled into one? What if a first year was attacked? What if there is nobody there to pull them out?"
"Alright, alright, give it here, we'll read some of the books and help you," Ron groaned reluctantly while Hermione beamed.
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"Urgh! It's been over a month, over a month, and nothing!" Hermione said full of exasperation. The boys had no response to her frustration; they had no idea how to help.
"Hermione we've gone through all the bloody books about plants, maybe…maybe there is nothing here."
"Ron, must you swear! And, I've already thought about that, but the last attack actually hurt someone."
"Hermione, there are no other books to look at. I want to help too, but…"
"But Harry, I'm sure your mum was onto something. When we talked about the flower it was like she knew exactly what had happened before I even said it. She asked me about the exact words the flower said and what the music tone was like, she was prodding into details that even I barely thought about and I was there, and she wrote it all down. I think your mum knows what it was and she just won't share the information, but she does have it in her notes."
"Hermione maybe mum and dad have it covered; you know they would never let anything dangerous hang about the school."
"Yes, but they can't keep an eye on all students and all over the grounds. That's why the attack on Christa happened, but she never got pulled out, and now she's sitting in the hospital wing in that thing. Having us know what it is could help."
Ron began to speak in a low and apologetic tone "Hermione... umm..."
Hermione shot him a nasty look and raised her eyebrow and he knew he had to talk.
"Well, you know... Christa... the Hufflepuff... she is muggle-born."
"What?" screeched the other two.
"Well you said to find out any similarities between you two, that maybe it wasn't something random, and well I found out she is muggle-born like you. I meant to tell you, but I just didn't want you to get more scared and mental. Sorry."
All three fell silent for a while, and Hermione looked angry, but then she took a breath and said "well we have come down to my last options." The boys looked at her puzzled.
"There are only two places we haven't looked for information, the restricted section and your parents' office."
"And what exactly makes you think we'll get permission to look in there?" Ron questioned.
"I never said anything about getting permission," Hermione said smugly.
They boys' eyes widened. Harry came out of the shock first and said "Hermione you can't seriously be thinking about getting in those places without permission. Madame Pince would give us detention forever if she saw us in the restricted section and my parent's office is charmed against intrusion."
"Well I figured you two seem to always get away with walking around after curfew without being spotted, so if anyone can sneak into the restricted section it's you, right? Well maybe your brothers can too Ron, but I think that if I act as a diversion while you two are checking in there we can get away with it."
The boys looked at each other and then nodded with their faces filled with pride at being compared to Fred and George on their rule breaking abilities.
"Your parents' office it's a bit trickier, but I think I have it figured out too. When I was explaining the flower incident to your mum I got her tell me more about their charm. She said that as long as the person coming in their office was invited, they can come in. So I... um... I went back to her office another day pretending to be a bit homesick and I got her to sign a note saying that my friends and I were welcome in there anytime."
"How did you manage that?" asked Harry.
"Well, don't be angry at me for tricking your mum. But, I made sure to stay in their office after hours and then I asked her to please sign a note explaining why I had been out late so that I wouldn't get in trouble if I ran into Filch or a prefect on my way back to the tower. I gave her a piece of parchment and she wrote it. Only I had prewritten a message in invisible ink saying that she approved me and my friends to come in and she signed onto that too, so that makes it a magical contract."
Hermione pulled out the parchment and muttered "Aparecium". And there it was, written in Hermione's neat handwriting 'I approve Miss Hermione Granger and those she trusts to come into Mr. and Mrs. Snape's office at any time,' followed by the signature of Lily Snape.
"Me? Angry? Hermione, I'm impressed, I can never get anything pass her!"
"So we can get in, but what if they catch us while we are in there?" said Ron.
"That is why again we need a diversion. Harry you are their son. You could come up with a reason for them to spend time with you somewhere else, while Ron and I get in and look."
"Bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed with a voice full of surprise, but also admiration.
Hermione beamed, but shook her head and said "you can't even give a compliment without swearing, but thank you."
They all laughed.
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They, or at least Hermione, decided it made more sense to check in the office first in case there was reference material in the restricted section that the professors pointed to in their notes.
Their first opportunity would be the Halloween ball. Every year the headmaster threw a beautiful masquerade for all students in 5th, 6th and 7th year and teachers would be either chaperones or help with patrolling hallways so prefects could go to the ball. Unfortunately, Harry found out that only his mum would be involved in the ball while his dad was to continue working on some project. Hermione was sure he was going to be working on something related to the flower and was extremely frustrated at the loss opportunity. So, instead of infiltrating the Snapes' office, they were served dinner in their common room and spent Halloween night playing exploding snap and having Ron beat them mercilessly at chess.
Two days after the ball there was another attack. A muggle-born Ravenclaw named Leah McDowal. Hermione was furious that they couldn't help and with the Halloween Masquerade opportunity gone, they concluded Harry's best shot at a distraction would be his parents' wedding anniversary on November 30th. Harry would throw them an anniversary celebration in their small flat in Hogsmeade since it was their fifteen year anniversary. They talked to McGonagall and after repetitive pleas she agreed to let Harry go to Hogsmeade to set-up the celebration, but she insisted to have a staff member walk Harry to the village to ensure his safety.
"No one deserves a gift like this from their child more than Lily and Severus. I'll ask Mr. Filch to take you," she said.
So, November 30th arrived and the trio was sitting in the common room.
"Alright Harry, I owled Madame Rosmerta and she will have the meal ready for you and Filch to pick up at the Three Broomsticks and then you can head to the flat. You have to be there at five sharp. Ron will give your parents the note at around five thirty and I'm sure they'll head to the village right away to meet you. If you can try to keep them there overnight or something, yes that would be best. But if that doesn't work..."
"I know Hermione, you need about two hours and I'll floo you a message into their office if I think they are coming back early. They usually go to their living quarters first so I should have a chance to beat them to their office anyway."
All three looked at each other nervously for a while.
"It'll be fine mate. Your parents will be thrilled and probably give you a new broom after pulling this one. I just wish I was there to see Filch's face when he walks you to Hogsmeade. I can see it already, his veins almost popping from having to do one of us a favour instead of giving us detention."
They all laughed wholeheartedly while thinking of the caretaker.
"Ok... I think I'm ready. I'm going to meet Filch. Good luck."
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"Alright they are gone, are you sure we can get in."
"Yes Ron, I have the note with me and I trust you."
She moved towards the door and it opened easily. They walked in and closed the door behind them. The office was quite large, with two desks facing each other and bookshelves covering the two walls behind the desks. There was a large window on the wall between the desks and a table with loads of vials and two cauldrons was set right by the window. The corners next to that table had shelves filled with all sorts of instruments and ingredients. There were four portraits by the entrance door, one of the Snape family and the others of people they didn't know.
"Wow! This is bigger than McGonagall's office! Look at all this stuff..."
"Ron! Focus, we're here looking for the notes Mrs. Snape wrote on the flower and anything else related to that flower that they might have. And of course the office is bigger, it is for two people."
"Alright, do you have any idea where to start? There are loads of books and stuff in here."
"Accio Snapes' notes of about the flower attacks," Hermione exclaimed. Suddenly several pieces of parchment came out of both desks, followed by a good number books flying from the shelves all landing by their feet.
"That was easier than I thought, they probably didn't think anyone could get in here, let's get to work," said Hermione.
"Hermione look at this one, I think it's the name of the flower."
"Periculum Bellati, I've never heard of that before, have you?"
"Off course I have, I am an expert on flowers that attack," he said sarcastically. Hermione looked at him and just rolled her eyes while laughing with him.
"Ok, I'll copy these while you write down the names of all these books."
"How are you…" But, Ron never got to finish the sentence he started, he simply heard Hermione say "Geminio Pario" and a new pile of parchment appeared which seemed to be an exact copy of what they got from the desks. He smiled.
"Alright you have a full list of the books, right?"
"Yeah,"
"I have a copy of all the notes, so now all we have to do is put everything back in its place. These came out of that desk; here you put them back, while I put the rest in the other desk."
"Hermione, how do we know where to put the books back?"
"Oh, Mrs. Snape is really organized so all the bookshelves are alphabetized, A through M behind that desk and N through Z behind the other one."
They began putting all the books back and talking. "How did you know these were all in alphabetical order?"
"Well last time I was here, when I got her to tell me about the charm on the office, I helped Mrs. Snape find some books on the topic we were talking about and she told me about her system."
"Do you ever not know something?"
"Yes, I am not an expert on flowers that attack," she said and they laughed and continued talking.
"Hermione, we better hurry, it's been over two hours."
"We're done except for the books that need to go in the higher levels. We can levitate those and put them in those upper shelves."
They levitated the books, but kept having trouble with actually inserting them in the shelves between the other books.
"Ron this is ridiculous, let's just put them back in the Muggle way. Bring that ladder from over there, hold it and I'll go up to put them back."
"Right,"
He got the ladder and Hermione started to climb. Everything was going as planned until Ron looked up. "Bloody Hell!" he said as he jerked a bit and Hermione clung to the ladder in fear of falling.
"What is it? Is everything alright? "
"Umm yeah... I... I just thought I heard the fireplace for a minute, but it's fine."
"Are you sure? You look a bit flushed."
"Yeah, yeah, let's just hurry and put all these books back," Ron said. But he knew his ears were probably completely scarlet.
'I just saw her knickers, white knickers. Merlin! I looked under her skirt, don't look again, don't look again,' he thought as they continued through their task and he continued to look up sporadically.
The walk back to Gryffindor tower was quick and quiet. When they crossed the portrait hole the common room was still buzzing with people.
"We can wait for Harry and go over the notes together once the common room is empty. He should be back here soon. He said even if his mum and dad decided to stay at their Hogsmeade flat, he would still try to be back by nine. "
"Yeah, we'll meet him later,"
"Alright, I'll put these away until Harry gets back. I'll bring down my transfiguration homework to do while I wait, you can bring yours down too."
"You want to do homework with me?"
"Yeah, why not?"
"Well, yeah, yeah that would be fine, meet you here in a bit."
Ron fetched his books and they did homework until Harry came back. They reviewed a few of the notes, but were completely knackered, so they decided to meet in the library over the weekend to finish.
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"Your mum and dad are incredible! Look at these. They are organized by date of incidents with notes on the side related to tests that your dad would run and then... I think this is a list of possible attack victims. This parchment talks about how they concluded it was Periculum Bellati. WOW!"
"You'd think she's looking at the best broom ever made the way she's looking through those, mental!" Ron whispered to Harry.
"Let's try finding the books from the list we made. If we can't find them here then I think we can summon the ones from their office."
"What! You want to summon stuff from there now. How are we supposed to return them? We had to put them back the muggle way last time, remember?" said Ron, with his hears turning red while he leaned over the table and gave Hermione a pleading look.
"Fine, let's look here first and then in the restricted section if we need and then we'll see!" she said leaning closer and rolling her eyes.
All three looked for the books and found a few of them, but it seemed like the majority were not in the library. They read through all the notes, but none of the books had information on the flower.
"Well, it's Periculum Bellati, but we knew that from just getting in the office, didn't we? And all this reading is pointless," Ron said in a tired and annoyed voice.
"Yes we knew that, but we didn't know what the Periculum did," Hermione answered, "the Periculum attacks any witch nearby and once the witch in completely inside the flower only the master of the Periculum can let her out. The witch that comes out of the Periculum though can never go against the master and is bound to any order he gives. This is awful! That flower is used to turn witches into slaves!"
"Yeah, but we didn't find that in the bloody books, it was in the Snapes' notes," said an irritated Ron.
"I know, but reading is not going to kill you is it?"
Ron and Hermione stared at each other with serious faces for while. Harry eventually cleared his throat and faked a cough and they looked at him instead.
"What I want to know is what those flowers are doing here and why only muggle-borns have been attacked. I am sure your mum and dad know why. Look, they even wrote a list of possible students that could be attacked in the future and it included Christa and Leah."
Sept. 29
The four?
Clarissa Johnson – Ravenclaw
Tonya Ness - Ravenclaw
Ziyi Lau - Ravenclaw
Leah McDowal - Ravenclaw
Camilla Reigner - Hufflepuff
Christa Moyne – Hufflepuff
Trista White – Hufflepuff
Estella Swanson - Slytherin
Hermione Granger - Gryffindor
"And you are still in the list," said Ron.
"I know, but that's because I already got attacked."
They all sat there quietly thinking.
"Well, this doesn't help. What we should do instead is figure out how your parents decided on this list of witches and why I'm the only Gryffindor and Estella the only Slytherin. We should be warning her. Plus this says something about the four, I wonder what that means. I say, let's figure out what all this witches have in common besides being muggle-born and warn Estella. And don't look at me that way, she might be a Slytherin, but she deserves better than being trapped in that thing," she said hastily.
"Ready for some air there?" said Ron with a smile.
"What?"
"I have just never seen someone say so much so fast before, you were turning purple."
They all laughed for a bit and with that they went further into research and decided to ask around about the witches in the list and warn Estella Swanson.
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The next morning the grounds were covered in snow, it was a beautiful sunny winter day. Harry, Ron and Hermione ate breakfast a figured out a plan to get Estella Swanson on her own and talk to her. It turned out it was quite easy to get her alone. Estella spent most of her time between classes, the Slytherin house and the library and seemed to only be close with her cousin and his girlfriend.
"She could be your best friend Hermione," Ron said as they entered the library that evening.
"Shut up Ron!"
"While you two quarrel, I'll go and talk to her. She's sitting alone at that table."
Harry approached Estella hesitantly, while Ron and Hermione found a spot hidden behind some bookshelves where they could overhear them.
Estella Swanson had fair skin, straight shiny black hair, and piercing blue eyes. She was very beautiful witch and was only one year ahead of them.
"Um, ah, hi" uttered Harry.
Ron whispered "smooth" with a mocking tone and Hermione shot a nasty glare in his direction.
"Oh, hello, you're professor Snape's son, right?" Estella said coolly.
"Yeah, my name is..."
"Harry, I know."
Harry stood silently for a minute looking at Estella and then sat in the chair next to her while she read her book. She seemed completely serene, almost impassive. How did she know him?
"So, I guess you are here about the Periculum attacks. You can tell your friends to come and sit too, I've been waiting for her for a while, and it quickly became clear that I would probably be meeting all three of you."
Harry was stunned; his eyes grew wide as saucers as he continued to stare at Estella. Ron and Hermione approached slowly and sat in the empty chairs.
"You must be Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor."
"How did you know about the flower and that we were coming to talk to you about it?" asked Hermione in a stern and brash tone. The boys watched as the two witches in front of them seemed more than ready to challenge each other.
"Well, I'm one of the witches that it attacked and everyone knows you got attacked, so it was only a matter of time before you came to talk to me."
"You were attacked! When? How come nobody knew about it? It's impossible to resist once it calls you, I know, I tried to fight back. Did someone pull you out? Who..."
"Hermione, bloody hell, she can't answer all at once," Ron interrupted.
"This is not the time Ron!"
"I wasn't budding in for fun you know, you should let her answer."
"Can you ever give it a rest?" said a frustrated Harry. At this Estella's lips curled into almost a smile and then she took her unemotional pose again and pulled a necklace from under her shirt. The necklace had a single silver pendant in the shape of a circle marked with intricate designs.
"So?" asked Harry.
"So, the reason I never got into the flower is this pendant. It is one of a few kyklos proctais left in the world. It..."
"It's a hoax, it supposedly protects two people from danger, but it's nothing but a myth." said Hermione.
"Well you ARE as book-smart as I hear! And that is partially correct, the circle of protection amulets will allow two people to sense if the other is in danger and locate them to help. My cousin wears the twin to this one and he came and got me the minute I got close to that flower. I barely pricked my finger," Estella said calmly as she showed them as small mark on her finger exactly like one Hermione had from the flower.
"But that's impossible; the kyklos proctais are a myth. No one has seen or written about them in ages!"
"And yet you know about them."
"Well I wrote an essay for extra credit on the history of protective symbols and objects for Professor Binns, but none of the books said they were real. Simply a myth within the ancient Greek magical community that was passed to the Celtic lords and then..."
"Hermione!" both Ron and Harry exclaimed. Estella seemed to want to smile again.
"I can tell you that it is real. Think about it, most muggles think magic, Merlin, witches and wizards are myths, but here we are. The kyklos proctais amulets are real and I have had this one since I was eleven and it's always worked. My family entrusted four of them to me. I wear one, Ely has its twin and the other two are for me to give when I find their rightful owners, which I believe I have. Now, before I go any further YOU get to give me some answers. Let's start with how exactly you found out about me being attacked."
Their faces blanched as they remained quiet.
"Well I see we won't get too far, but you should realize that I know that somehow you got your hands on your parents' notes. You see only a few people know about this and all research notes including mine were kept in your parents' office. So, you might as well confess to me instead of confessing to them."
She was so pretty, but had an imposing, almost scary presence. The two boys remained quiet and simply sat starring at her.
"Fine, so we broke into their office, got their notes and read about the name of the flower, the list of students to be attacked and all their research. We didn't know you had been attacked. We actually came to warn you about it. But, what was the point of asking all this if you already knew!" yelped Hermione angrily.
"I just wanted to know if you would let it slip out easy. But, I did have to pry it out of you, so I suppose you are somewhat trustworthy and since you are the other chosen witch that is still free and not in a Periculum cocoon, I am willing to answer another question."
"When did you get attacked and how come nobody knew?" asked Hermione.
"I was attacked the first week of school, about a week before you, and once Ely separated me from the flower I guess I was in a daze so he took me to see professor Snape."
"Which one?" asked Harry.
"Your father,"
"And how come they didn't warn the school?" asked Hermione.
"That is about three questions by now, so my turn."
"How long have you two known each other and been friends?" she asked pointing at Ron and Hermione.
"What kind of a question is that?" Ron asked.
"It is what I want to know, and either you answer or this conversation is over."
"Fine, we met first year, she got to be friends with Harry since then, but her and I just became friends a couple of months ago when we rescued her from the flower."
Estella looked at them with a thoughtful expression, almost like she was planning something.
"Our turn now, how come my dad didn't warn the school?"
"After talking with Professor Snape he explained what he thought had happened and told me not to mention it to anyone because he didn't want to create a panic and he didn't know if it would happen again."
"Boy was he wrong," Ron added and found himself on the receiving end of one of Hermione's glares.
"My turn again. Why weren't you two friends right after you met first year?"
"What does that have anything to do with the flower and the attacks?" asked Hermione.
"Either you answer or I'm gone."
"Fine, he was an insufferable prat that used to insult me and mock everything I did and..."
"What? You are the one that went around correcting people in class and acting like you were better than everyone and..."
"I might have corrected you to help you in class, but I never called you names!"
"You didn't have to, you would always be talking only to Harry and helping him with homework, only calling me Weasley and... hell I saved you from the bloody flower!"
"And I thanked you for that and Harry helped too and..."
"I get the picture, are they always like this?" Estella asked Harry.
"Sort of I guess. They had been better until you brought it up. Well our turn. How did you know who the future victims would be?"
"Well, I can't fully answer that since I didn't come up with the list myself. Your mum and dad did, they only asked Ely and me to check with a few people from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff about some traits these girls have, so they could narrow down the list."
"So does that mean the others in that list are still in danger?" Hermione asked.
"No, they are safe now, the four have been chosen and as long as at least one of us stays out of those things their plan should fail. Hopefully the professors find a way to get the other two out of the Periculum safely."
"Are you saying that you two will get attacked again?" asked Ron.
Estella nodded and their eyes widened as Ron and Harry now stared at Hermione intently.
"Well, you can't be alone then," Ron uttered.
"What?" she said.
"He's right you can't be alone. If one of us is with you and the flower calls you then we can hold you back," said Harry.
"That's impossible, we have different classes and I have to be alone in the girls' dormitories and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"
They all looked at each other again with worried eyes.
"That's where these come in," mentioned Estella as she pulled two necklaces with pendants exactly like hers, but in gold.
"Oh please! That is ridiculous! You are not seriously expecting me to believe that I should wear one and give the other to them."
"No, no! You can only share the amulet with one other person, so I'm asking you to share the other one with Ron. And for this to work he will put the pendant on you and you on him."
"What!" Ron and Hermione yelled in unison and then Madam Pince approached their table and sternly admonished them, "this is not a common room, you will keep your voices down in the library!"
"Yes Madam Pince," all four said quietly.
Then Estella sat-up and directed her gaze at Ron and Hermione.
"How about you two talk about this? I am giving you way to stay protected from the Periculum and it has to be Ron that shares the amulets with you because like I said the kyklos proctais must go to their rightful owners. If I give you one I have to give the other to him. I understand if you need to research on this, I would recommend "Ancient Protection Charms" by Levi Evanston, "Proctais Maximus" by Aethwy Padraig and maybe "Protection Spells and Objects" by Fionnghal Greshaw. Think about it and if you choose to use these I'm here every day after dinner. Though if I were you I would keep in mind that staying out of that flower is good not only for you, but for me and the other two witches in the hospital also. If they get all four of us, things will get a lot worse. Good Bye."
"Wait...but..." their calls seemed to go into deaf ears, within a few seconds she was gone.
"Bloody Hell! Worse than you that one!"
"Urrh, Ron shut up!"
"What?"
"Enough! She might be a bit strange, but not as maddening as the two of you. At least now we know there won't be any attacks on any of the other students in that list. So, figure out what you want to do about these amulet things. I'm going to talk to my parents."
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Hermione spend the two days between classes, the library and the common room reading and re-reading the books from the list they made in the Snapes' office, the books on kyklos proctais and her homework. Ron agreed to help her with research about the kyklos proctais and let Harry be, since he seemed to be sick of them. Harry was dealing with his parents being angry at the office break-in since he had confronted them and told them he broke in there on his own. He also had quidditch practices and even after Gryffindor won the match against Ravenclaw Harry was still in a foul mood because his parents refused to share any more information with him and told him that they were making sure Hermione and Estella stayed safe.
"Well, anything new?" asked Harry as they sat in an almost empty common room.
"All the books we got from the library that your mum and dad referenced have nothing on the flower. They cover only one subject, the history and legends of the four houses."
Harry nodded for her to continue.
"The Legend of the Four Witches is one of the most popular themes and everything Estella said seems to be right along that line. The legend says that a wizard powerful enough to attain four witches that represent the spirit of the four houses can use them to wake up an ancient magical power."
"That seems to make sense. Christa is one of the hardest working people in school, head girl and captain of the Hufflepuff quidditch team."
"I know Harry, she is the perfect representation of what Helga Hufflepuff wanted from students in her house. And Leah is one of the top students in her year, extremely smart. Actually, all the Ravenclaws in your mum's list were among the top of their classes. "
"So, Leah has the intelligence that Rowena Ravenclaw valued so much. You have the bravery of Gryffindor as proven by the fact that you had the guts to break into my parents' office and confront Estella. Then Estella Swanson must be ambitious and based on way she interrogated us, cunning might be an understatement for her. And it makes sense that she's the only one that is not muggle-born, because Slytherin wanted the students in his house to be pureblood."
"Well, that all seems to fit, except there are some pureblood Ravenclaws that have grades just as good as Leah's and are extremely smart, like Lisa Turpin or Su Li. Also, there are plenty of extremely brave and strong Gryffindors like Angelina Johnson or Alicia Spinnet, they're half-bloods right? Why weren't they picked Harry? Why was it all muggle-borns except for Estella? That's what I can't understand!"
"Because the wizard behind this must evil like the bloody Dark Lord was. That means he wants to hurt muggle-borns only, just like that sick bastard. He can't help having to use a pureblood or half-blood for Slytherin, but he must be using something to target muggle-borns for the other houses," said Ron.
Hermione looked at him bitterly and said "didn't know we had an audience Harry, good night." She gathered the books and notes and departed up the stairs to the girl's dormitories.
"What's that about?" asked Harry.
"What? She's completely mental!" Ron answered in a defensive voice.
"You two had a row again."
"I don't even know what it was about. Something stupid like me making fun of her bloody book, and how I shouldn't worry about the amulets and using them because she can take care of herself. First she asks me to research, and then she doesn't want to talk about them."
"So you haven't decided if you will take those or not."
"Well, she says it's a joke, so I dunno."
"I think you should get them."
"Why is that?"
"Because as much as Estella is a bit odd, I think she was telling the truth. I mean she told the truth about everything else. Nobody else has been attacked and my dad has been working with Madam Pomfrey on the two other students almost every day. I know because I've been following him there while you two are doing research. You should find a way to convince her."
"Right, because she always listens, especially me. YOU should talk to her."
Harry signed and then they both headed to bed.
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The next day Harry managed to convince Hermione to take the kyklos proctais and they met with Estella. As directed Ron put the amulet on Hermione and she did the same for Ron. Estella mentioned that only the person who put the amulet on could take it off as if withdrawing their willingness to help the other. So, now both wore the amulets hidden under their shirts as they departed for Christmas break.
The holidays were great for the Snapes. Harry felt relieved about spending more time with his parents and making up with them after the office incident. On a positive note his parents confirmed that all their findings about the four witches and the Periculum were true, but also made him promise to stay out of trouble and only focus on keeping Hermione safe.
They went to the Burrow for Christmas day and as usual ended up in the makeshift quidditch pitch with all of Ron's brothers, even though their mum yelled at them because it was way too cold. Hermione wrote to both Harry and Ron saying that she was having a great time in Switzerland with her parents visiting many libraries and museums. Harry chuckled as he heard Ron mumble "mental" when he read his postcard. They both enjoyed the muggle chocolates she sent and their respective books "Tips from the pros: A Guide for Becoming the Best Chaser" for Harry and "History of the Cannons" for Ron. After eating his own Swiss chocolates Ron moved on to eat some of Harry's and Ginny's, who easily got her brother chastised by their mum.
New Year's passed with no news and Harry soon found himself back at Hogwarts with his two best friends. The new term started without any news or attacks. Sadly, no progress had been made on the two students that were in the Periculum, who had now been transferred to St. Mungo's. The only thing that seemed out of place was Estella who seemed to work on catching Hermione in the library often and asked about how they were dealing with the effects of protective amulets.
"I don't think they work at all, nothing is different," was Hermione's constant answer.
This seemed to be the truth until the week after Gryffindor beat Slytherin to win the quidditch cup, it was getting close to Easter and many students were getting ready to go home for that holiday. It was late and Harry and Ron were engrossed in a game of chess. Harry even thought he had a chance to win, when suddenly Ron stood and his face went pale and his eyes wide open. Ron ran out through the portrait hole with Harry right on his tracks.
"What is going on?" Harry asked.
"Hermione is in danger, that way!" Ron pointed. They ran down several corridors and seemed to be making their way to the lower levels of the castle.
"How do you know that she's in danger Ron?" Ron simply pulled out the kyklos proctais and Harry noticed that a glow surrounded the pendant. The light surrounding the amulet seemed to change from gray to black to yellow.
"So it works,"
"I guess, she's scared, kind of a mess really. But, I know how to find her, this way, let's go!"
They ran and trailed down stairwell after stairwell until they were in the dungeons. Finally, they heard footsteps and hurried after the noise.
Then they saw them, a tall older boy with dark skin and black hair was hauling Hermione on his shoulder. She was moving and kicking, but no sounds came from her. The boy stopped by a large suit of armour and said "patefacio" and the suit moved to the right and allowed a doorway to become visible. Soon the boy and Hermione had gone through and the suit of armour moved back into place. Ron ran to get in, but Harry grabbed him.
"Wait Ron we need to ask for help,"
"What?"
"We don't know what's in there! If we go in, we might not even be able to help at all."
"Exactly! We don't know what's in there! What if she's being hurt while we get someone! Harry she's really scared."
"I know. Do you remember the sending spell from Flitwick's class?"
"What?"
"The sending spell, we can quick send a note to my parents and head in."
"Mitto misi… I don't know! This is why we did Hermione! Bloody hell Harry let's go!"
"Wait, the patronus charm! My dad taught me the patronus during Christmas break and how to send it as a warning! I'll send it and then we'll go." Harry raised his wand and screamed "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" and a large silver doe appeared and soared up the stairs. "Let's go!"
Ron opened the doorway exactly the same way as he had seen the older boy do. They walked into a dark corridor and they could smell dirt and leaves. They continued to walk down the hallway until they arrived into a large room that looked a lot like the potions classroom in the dungeons with dark walls and no windows at all. But, this room was filled with green, there where plants everywhere and to their horror they saw the boy drop Hermione right by a huge batch of Periculum Bellati. She started walking towards the flowers with her arm stretched out.
"No!" Ron screamed as he leaped forward to stop Hermione. The kidnapper turned around and now they could see his face. It was 7th year Ravenclaw, Samuel Roberts, and he was raising his wand towards Ron. Harry noticed this and soon tackled Roberts to the ground and made his wand fly into the air. Roberts' eyes were completely impassive and he whispered "yes master."
Ron came to help Harry, but stopped as he heard Harry say "He is bewitched! Go on, help Hermione!"
Ron turned to her and saw her walking ready to prick her finger with the thorn. He ran like his life depended on it and right as she touched the flower he grabbed her waist and pulled her back. She began to fight with him, flung her arms and kicked. He turned them around so she couldn't see the flower anymore, but she pushed with all her force and he tumbled backwards right into the patch of Periculum.
"NOOOO!" a female voice screamed.
"Harry!" Lily yelled as she saw her son on the ground, bloody and defending himself against Sam Roberts.
"He's cursed! He can't help it!"
"Incarcerous!" yelled Severus and Dumbledore and suddenly Roberts found himself tied with ropes from neck to toe.
"Are you alright?" asked Lily.
"Help Hermione!"
The professors moved to look at the Periculum, it was dying. Then they saw Hermione and Ron on the ground while a ray of red came in their direction. "Protego!" screamed Hermione, over and over as more rays of red and blue came their way.
Severus and Dumbledore ran towards the figure that was throwing the curses.
"Miranda!"
" Severus!"
"Miss Talassee, were you the one behind this attacks?" asked Dumbledore calmly.
"No, I simply have faith that you couldn't put all these young witches in danger."
"This is not about them, the mudbloods don't matter! It's my duty! I have to do this!"
"Miss Talassee, you are free to do as you wish. You can stand back and let us know what happened."
"Never!" she screamed as she raised her wand.
"Expelliarmus!" exclaimed Dumbledore and the witch flew to the ground while her wand landed neatly in Dumbledore's hand. "Severus?" said Dumbledore and the potion's master pulled out a vial with a clear liquid in it.
"She's conscious, she is taking it" said Severus as he gently pushed the vial into her lips and made Miranda drink the liquid.
Meanwhile Lily had approached Ron and Hermione. They were both conscious, but Ron had blood coming though his robes on the left shoulder.
"What happened?" Lily asked.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I fought him, he was trying to save me and I shoved him into the flower and he's... he's hurt" Hermione said in between sobs.
"It's ok, I'm ok," assured Ron in a tired voice as Hermione rubbed his hand.
"Yes dear, it will be fine, I'll get Severus and Madam Pomfrey and they can heal him."
"What about the flowers?" asked Harry who had ran after his parents and now sat by Ron and Hermione.
"They are all dead dear. The Periculum Bellati cannot stand a male's blood, that's why it only opens up and shows its thorns to witches. When the thorn pricked through Ron's shoulder the flower died and since all the other ones came from the same soil they all died. Ron, can you walk?"
"Yeah,"
"Well then you three can head out of here and to the hospital wing."
"What? No mum! I'm staying right here to find out what this is all about. Don't tell me I can't because the three of us just risked ourselves and we have to know what is going on."
Ron and Hermione looked at Lily with the same determined expression. She nodded and they moved towards Severus and Professor Dumbledore who had caught the attacker.
"Now Miss Talassee, how did you get into the castle?" asked Dumbledore kindly.
"I apparated into Hogsmeade and then took polyjuice potion and came into the castle looking like a student."
"Which student Miranda?" asked Severus.
"Roberts,"
"How long were you impersonating Mr. Roberts?" asked Dumbledore.
"Since the beginning of the year until yesterday,"
"What made you send him out today?"
"I ran out of potion and I was running out of time so I put him under the imperious curse and sent him to get me the two witches I needed."
"Why did you bring the Periculum here?"
"I brought it to catch the four witches and deliver them."
"Why?"
"The four witches can awaken the army of Afrit and the wizard that commands that army will be invincible! We will win! Purebloods will rule!"
"Miranda who sent you?" asked Severus forcefully.
Miranda simply shook her head and worked on clamping her own lips.
"You took a good dosage of veritaserum, you will tell the truth! Who sent you?" asked Severus again.
"The Black Hand!"
"What is the Black Hand?"
"We'll destroy you. You picked that mudblood over me! The Black Hand will kill her!"
Harry got scared; he had never seen his father so angry before. His eyes were filled with fire and his knuckles were going white from the fists his hands were making.
"Severus!" said Dumbledore, and Lily came over and placed a hand on Severus' shoulder, then they moved towards Harry together.
"Was there someone from the Black Hand that sent you here Miranda?" asked Dumbledore serenely.
"Yes,"
"What is the name of that person?"
"Luscious Malfoy and M...MM...Marc..." mumbled Miranda until her body began to shake uncontrollably and her eyes closed. She was dead. Dumbledore lifted the sleeves of her black robes. On the left arm he noticed the mark of a black hand entwined in a snake and above it two black knots.
"She made an unbreakable vow and broke it, she's gone," he said.
Everyone in the room was quiet, shocked to know someone had just died until they heard someone moving and mumbling. The sounds were coming from the dead Periculum. Severus rushed to the area while Dumbledore and Lily stayed holding back Ron, Hermione and Harry.
"Miss Swanson!" exclaimed Severus, as he moved to take the gag from Estella's throat.
"Where is Ely? Help him!" she said weakly.
"What happened?"
"They took us. Roberts took me and when Ely came after us a witch came and immobilized him. Where is he?"
At that same time a voice came from behind the dead flowers.
"Ella, Ella?"
"Ely!"
Ely Swanson came running to check on his cousin. He had bruises on his face and Estella seemed very weak but no major damage. The entire group was now standing around the Swansons.
"Oh Ely, you look awful, your girlfriend is going to kill us," said Estella in a weak amusing tone.
"Are you both alright?" asked Dumbledore.
"Yes sir, they just stunned me for while and tied me. I could hear everything, and saw when they put Ella by the Periculum and she went in and then suddenly the ropes were gone," said Ely.
"I went in the Periculum!" said Estella with a force that seemed incredible given her weak state.
"Yes Miss Swanson, you did. But, now that the source of the flower is dead, you are free. You are quite weak, but I believe Poppy will have you back to your normal self and you will remember the flower incident in a week or two."
"Professor...umm,"
"Yes Miss Granger,"
"Does that mean that Christa and Leah are free too?"
"Must certainly, I will contact St. Mungo's myself to follow-up on their progress, but they should be just fine."
Dumbledore conjured three stretchers for Ron, Ely and Estella and all three professors began levitating the students out of the secret dungeon towards the hospital wing.
Right before they reached the door to get out professor Dumbledore spoke to his four students.
"I want to tell you all that you have done a tremendous service to the school and magical community. If it wasn't for your efforts they might have succeeded in trapping all four girls and giving them to the Black Hand. Now before going into the Hospital Wing, I must have you all promise that you will not mention the incidents of tonight to anyone," Dumbledore looked at all the students and they nodded in agreement.
"Also, Mr. Roberts won't remember much, so I would appreciate if you let me fill in the gaps for him and not talk to him about these events either."
Again they agreed.
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It was now the end of the year. The entire school was still gossiping about Harry and Ely's beaten faces, Estella and Ron's week and a half in the hospital wing and the sudden friendship of three Gryffindors with an older Slytherin and Ravenclaw. The best tale yet was that Ron had beaten Harry and Ely up and they had stabbed him in retaliation while Estella got on their way and now they were all pretending to be friends to hide their love interests.
"Honestly, my roommates should be novelists! The junk that they come up with, it's ridiculous!" said an irritated Hermione as they sat in the Hogwarts Express on their way home.
"It's alright Hermione. Those two are closer to discovering the cure for spattergroit than finding out the truth about what happened," said Ron with a smirk on his face. Harry, Ron and Hermione all laughed at that and then continued to enjoy the ride home, even though they were all concerned about the Black Hand and the future of good magic.
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Future sections for this story:
SUMMER 1
FOURTH YEAR
SUMMER 2
FIFTH YEAR
SUMMER 3
SIXTH YEAR
SUMMER 4
SEVENTH YEAR
AFTERWARDS
EPILOGUE