A/N: And the roller coaster reaches the crest of the first drop...
Recommendation: This chapter's recommended fic is "What Witches Really Want" by Almost Anonymous. This is a short, funny story in which several witches discover that Harry can give them exactly what they want most in life. Is this good news or bad news for him? It's definitely something Voldemort knows nothing about.
Chapter 46 - This One's for the Girls
Monday, March 8, 1995, Morning.
While Jasmine and Hermione were eating breakfast with their friends, Neville pointed out Hedwig entering the Great Hall with a small package dangling from her feet. "Oh," Hermione said excitedly, "That must be the books I asked my mother to send!" Once she had divested Hedwig of her burden and had plied her with plenty of bacon, she went to put the self-shrinking box in her bookbag when another owl landed in front of her.
"What's that one about?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know," Hermione responded as four more owls of different sorts landed around her. She removed their letters as quickly as she could, but more owls kept arriving, and by the time they were all done she had around two dozen letters. "I wonder what all this is?" she asked aloud as she opened the first letter.
"What?" she exclaimed. "You've got to be... that's just... oh! The nerve of some people!"
"What's wrong?" Jasmine asked worriedly.
"This is what's wrong," Hermione said as she threw the letter down in front of Jasmine and proceeded to open another. Instead of the expected writing, Jasmine found a message created from mismatched letters that had been individually cut from the Daily Prophet:
yoU wiCKed, deGenERate litTLe muDbloOD. hoW daRE yOu corRUpt thE giRl WHo liVed With yOur mUGgle Ways! Go baCk To youR deVIant mUggle fAMily aNd leAve DeCent, uPstaNding WIzards aLone!
As Neville and Ginny tried to read the note upsidedown from across the table, Hermione kept muttering about the other letters she received. "This one says basically the same thing... here's one that calls me a muggle whore... this person hopes a dragon burns me alive... oh, lovely, this witch is asking if I'm willing to share! Oh, the nerve of some people!"
It wasn't long before Draco Malfoy sauntered up behind them, reveling in the hate mail he had hoped would be the result of Skeeter's article. No one there except Jasmine noticed that there was something wrong with the last letter Hermione was opening — Malfoy was too focused on his gloating, Neville and Ginny were still trying to read the first letter, and Hermione was too annoyed to notice anything at all.
Whether it was her seeker reflexes or something else, Jasmine saw that the letter Hermione was holding had started quivering slightly. Just as it popped up in the air and out of her hands, Jasmine grabbed her bushy-haired girlfriend around her waist and pulled her backwards, sending them both crashing down to the floor in front of Malfoy.
The blond Slytherin normally would have found that funny and probably would have come up with some cutting remark about how they belonged at his feet like that, had he not been screaming in agony and trying to claw his own eyes out. Just as Jasmine had grabbed and pulled on Hermione, the envelope exploded outward, spewing some sort of toxic substance in the direction of the recipient.
Because of Jasmine's quick thinking, Hermione only got caught a bit around her hands, which had been flailing as she unexpectedly tumbled backwards to the floor. This left Malfoy in the direct line of fire. He caught most of the blast in his face, with some going into his open mouth; Crabbe and Goyle, occupying their usual positions to either side of Malfoy, also caught a bit.
As Jasmine stood, Malfoy dropped to the ground, still screaming and clawing at his eyes. Not knowing what else to do, she pulled her wand and stunned him, silencing his screams. "Ginny!" she barked, "You help Hermione. Ron and Neville, grab the bookends." She then levitated Malfoy's body, which still seemed to be twitching in pain despite the fact that he was unconscious, and started to move away. "We need to get everyone to the hospital wing!" She would have much rather helped Hermione herself and left Malfoy to his own devices, but since she was the one who had stunned him, she felt a bit responsible for ensuring that he got medical help.
They didn't even get halfway to the doors of the Great Hall before they heard a shout from the direction of the head table. "Potter! Stop what you're doing! One hundred points from Gryffindor for attacking a student!" Not in any mood to play nice, Jasmine immediately cancelled the levitation spell, letting Malfoy drop to the floor with a sickening crunch. Several of the students watching winced at the sound.
"Potter! What do you think you're doing!" Snape shouted as he caught up to them. "Another fifty points for attacking a student a second time!"
"Whatever do you mean, Professor?" she asked in an innocent voice that still managed to convey an undercurrent of contempt.
"You deliberately dropped him to the ground!" Snape fumed.
"Of course I did," she responded. "You told me to."
"Fifty points from Gryffindor for lying!" Snape said triumphantly. "I told you no such thing. I told you to stop what you were doing!"
"Exactly," Jasmine said with a sickly-sweet smile. "And I was doing two things: walking and levitating Malfoy. I immediately stopped both, following your instructions to the letter."
"That's not what I meant and you know it," Snape growled out.
"I'm sorry, Professor, but it's what you said, and I always get punished by you if I don't follow your orders precisely."
"Another twenty points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter," Snape hissed, the fury in his eyes only growing. "Now tell me why you attacked Mr. Malfoy so I can write it out properly on your expulsion report."
"She didn't attack Malfoy!" Neville protested angrily. "Malfoy was hurt by something in a letter sent to Hermione, so Jasmine stunned him to stop his pain."
"I never saw any of that," Snape said with a sneer, "so for now the point deductions stand, and I still intend to see Potter expelled. Let's get Mr. Malfoy to the hospital wing to get him treated."
"Funny," Jasmine muttered under her breath, "we'd be halfway there if you hadn't stopped us."
Monday, March 8, 1995, Late Morning.
When Albus Dumbledore arrived in the hospital wing, the others already present were separated into several distinct groups. Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle were sitting side-by-side on a bed, apparently waiting to be released. Mr. Malfoy was lying unconscious in his own bed with Severus Snape standing next to him, looking angrier than Dumbledore had ever seen the man. On the other side of the wing Miss Granger was lying in a bed being treated by Madam Pomfrey while Miss Potter and Minerva McGonagall waited. A little ways off, Mr. Longbottom, Miss Weasley, and Mr. Weasley watched everyone else.
He hated it when students entrusted into his care were hurt, but he needed to focus first on finding out what happened. As was Dumbledore's habit, he started out with Snape to get his version of events. Given the extensive bias against Slytherins which everyone else had, he found that Snape's reports provided necessary balance. He didn't want Slytherin students to believe that everyone would prejudge them or refuse to give them an opportunity to be forgiven for their mistakes.
Once he learned what happened from Snape, he approached the others rather slowly, already considering his options in this situation. "Miss Potter," he said carefully, "I've been informed that you attacked Mr. Malfoy. Is that true?"
"No sir," she said cooly, refusing to look the headmaster in the eyes. "I stunned him to stop him from screaming in pain. I thought I was helping him, but if that's what Professor Snape calls an attack, then I promise that the next time I see a Slytherin in distress, I'll ignore them and keep walking."
Dumbledore stiffened slightly at hearing that, but before he could respond, Madam Pomfrey snapped, "Don't you criticize her, Albus — she did the right thing. I've already told Severus this, and I'm going to tear strips off his hide for ignoring my statements when he talked to you." Because he was behind them, they didn't notice Snape sneer.
"Four students were hit with undiluted bubotuber pus," the Healer continued, "with Mr. Malfoy having been hit the worst — right in the face, including his eyes, mouth, and throat. The pain must have been excruciating. Stunning was the only thing that could be done just then. I'd have done it too, had I been there. He'll be here for at least a week while I try to regrow his eyes and tongue, and it will be another week before his voice is completely right again."
Dumbledore nodded. "I will of course restore all of the deducted points, then," he said, trying to appear conciliatory. If there's one thing that I have always been impressed by with Miss Potter, it's been her selfless, generous character, he thought. It would be a tragedy if she lost that because she started being punished for helping others — and someone like Draco Malfoy, no less! "In fact," he continued, "I award Gryffindor fifty points for helping a fellow student." Snape's expression only darkened further.
"And I'll be having a talk with Severus about jumping to conclusions before all of the facts are in," Professor McGonagall said, her eyes smoldering. "His quick threats to expel Miss Potter were completely inappropriate." Dumbledore had to look away when he saw her. Normally he tried to protect Snape from his occasional overzealousness, but this time he'd gone too far, too publicly. "You're quite right to do so, Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore said, surprising everyone — including Snape, who looked very unhappy when Dumbledore fixed him with a stern look.
"Do we know why these students were attacked with bubotuber pus?" he asked. "And by whom?"
"I received a bunch of hate mail," Hermione said. "It was all because of that horrid article in the Daily Prophet. I didn't even realize that one letter was boobytrapped, but Jasmine noticed something and pulled me out of the way. Malfoy was behind me, so got hit instead." Hermione looked at Jasmine and smiled when she said this, causing Jasmine to blush slightly and stare down at her feet.
Oh, dear, Dumbledore thought. It seems that the hate mail from the article is actually pushing them closer together, if that's even possible. It's certainly not pulling them apart!
"Perhaps if Malfoy didn't make a habit of coming to our table to insult us, this wouldn't have happened to him?" Jasmine pointed out. "It's his own fault he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a shame he was never taught that such behavior is unacceptable."
Dumbledore shifted uncomfortably before clearing his throat and saying, "Yes, ah, it seems, Miss Granger, that you are in some danger — and unfortunately others are in danger from being close to you. Perhaps it would be in everyone's best interests if you were to take a leave of absence from school for a little while. Just until we sort this out, of course. It would help ensure the safety of the other students, which I'm sure is important to you."
A cacophony of outraged protest suddenly erupted from the witches around him.
"Albus! You canna seriously be thinking—
"Never in all my life—"
"Are you out of your freaking mind?"
Only Snape seemed pleased, but he was smart enough to not draw attention to himself just then.
Dumbledore raised his hands to get everyone to quiet down. "I'm only thinking of the welfare of the student body as a whole," he tried to argue, but McGonagall shut him down quickly.
"Be that as it may, Headmaster, such a drastic step is hardly necessary," she said with a voice that betrayed just how angry she was. "There are many things we can do, such as screen the mail or even block it entirely. To deprive a young witch of her education when she's done nothing wrong is unconscionable!"
"I hope you know that I'd never deprive her of her education," Dumbledore protested feebly. "Of course she'd receive her schoolwork, and the professors would give her grades. Most classes can be done this way for a little while."
"And it's still unnecessary," McGonagall insisted. "You should be focused on catching and stopping the perpetrators, not punishing their victim."
"It's hardly a punishment..." Dumbledore tried to say before he was interrupted by Jasmine Potter.
"I'll go with her if she's sent away," came the young witch's declaration.
"What?" Dumbledore asked as he turned sharply towards her. "Why would you do that?"
"I was attacked in the same article," Jasmine pointed out. "I may not have gotten hate mail today, but it could be coming. If Hermione is endangering the school, so am I. That means I need to go with her."
McGonagall's lips twitched in something that could have been a smile.
"We don't know that you'll be targeted," Dumbledore said, not sure how his plan got turned around like this. This is the perfect opportunity to remove Miss Granger's influence safely, he thought irritably. Why are they making things so difficult?
"True," Jasmine admitted, "but it's a reasonable conclusion, and we don't want anyone else to get harmed like Draco was, now do we?" It was a politely worded question, but there was no politeness or warmth in her eyes.
"I'm sure that won't be, ah, necessary," Dumbledore stammered. "I have, however, received many owls calling for an investigation and even the removal of Miss Granger."
"And I expect you to shut those complaints down," McGonagall said forcefully. "They have no right to make such demands in the absence of any hard evidence — and an article written by an unreliable scandalmonger hardly qualifies!"
"I'll be happy to perform tests on both Miss Potter and Mr. Krum to verify that neither are suffering from any potions or compulsions," Madam Pomphrey added. "It wouldn't be any trouble at all."
Dumbledore sighed in defeat. "Maybe Professor McGonagall is right. Let's try less drastic measures first and see how they do." Turning to the young witch still lying in the hospital bed, he added sincerely, "I hope you have a speedy recovery, Miss Granger. We all know that you didn't deserve to be subjected to any of this."
He then strode out of the hospital wing, eager to avoid making things worse for himself. Snape stayed and scowled at everyone while Madam Pomfrey finished working on Hermione.
Fortunately only a few droplets of the bubotuber pus had sprayed on Hermione's fingers, so while they would have to be bandaged, it would only stay that way for a few days. Jasmine was already thinking about what kinds of things she could do to help her girlfriend, unspeakably happy that she hadn't been injured like Malfoy had been.
Monday, March 8, 1995, Night.
"My Lord," Lucius said as he entered the bedroom where the Dark Lord's bassinet was kept. He bowed low and waited until he was given leave to speak.
"What is it, Lucius?" he said dangerously. "Why do you disturb Us so late?"
"I just received a late owl from my wife, who received an important notification earlier today from Hogwarts," Lucius answered, sweating in fear at how his master might react. "It seems that my son was involved in a serious accident and will be in the hospital wing for more than a week. He will be unable to provide us with any more information or facilitate kidnapping the Potter girl.
"Dammit!" the baby thing cried out in its high-pitched, sibilant voice. "What happened to him?
Lucius recounted the circumstances Narcissa had given him, concluding, "My son was behind the mudblood when she opened it. She managed to duck in time, but he caught the blast in his face and is having his eyes regrown."
"Crucio!" the tiny Dark Lord said as he cursed Lucius for having a stupid son. "You're lucky that he was so observant before that he was able to provide Us with a great deal of information already. Now we will have to task Our spy to do the deed, even if it means that he might not be able to return."
"My... my Lord," Lucius struggled to get up from the floor. "I... I'm sorr..."
"Never mind, Lucius," his master said. "Get out of Our sight while you still can. We must think about this development and consider alternative plans. Again. Go!"
Lucius crawled out of the room as fast as he could, very glad that he was still alive and mobile. He wished desperately that he could be by his son's side. He wished even more that he could find the person who had sent that letter and hang them by their own entrails while roasting them alive. Instead, he'd settle for writing back to Narcissa and asking her to go to Hogwarts to sit with Draco.
At least, he'd try to do that once his hands stopped shaking enough for him to hold a quill.
Tuesday, March 9, 1995, Evening.
When Hermione arrived at their study group in the library at the end of her second day of hate mail, Jasmine was carrying her book bag while both she and Neville walked at her sides, acting as bodyguards. Only a few Slytherins had expressed any happiness about what was happening to Hermione, though their celebrations were muted given the horrible injuries suffered by Malfoy.
So while it was unlikely that there would be any problems outside of mail delivery, Hermione's friends weren't taking any chances — and she wasn't complaining. Although she generally preferred to do things for herself, she couldn't deny that it made her feel good that her friends were so protective. She was especially enjoying Jasmine's attentiveness, and she could only imagine how much more attentive her girlfriend would be if they could be open about their relationship. What Jasmine was able to do still managed to give her warm and fuzzy feelings, at least.
Everyone at the study group meeting was extremely supportive of both girls. They all wanted to see Hermione's fingers and expressed sympathy for her, since she couldn't use her fingers very well and had to rely on Jasmine not just for note-taking but also at meals. The note-taking was the worst, in Hermione's opinion, because she could barely read Jasmine's chicken scratch even on the best of days. Fortunately she could at least use her hands well enough to cast most spells, even if it required a slightly awkward grip.
Not a single one of them believed the story in the Daily Prophet, and the three Slytherin members were especially vociferous in their denunciation of Malfoy. They hadn't heard him actually admit to being behind it, but what they did hear him say made it pretty clear what had happened. Even worse, Malfoy had implied more than once that Snape not only had prior knowledge of the article, but had actually approved of it.
"Although we can't trust Malfoy to have been honest about that," Hermione noted, "it would help explain why Snape was so incensed when he was injured — it was a plan he approved of that led to his student being badly hurt. The fact that it was Malfoy's own actions that were the cause probably never entered his mind."
Once they were done with their assignments, Jasmine pulled out the one thing delivered by mail that week that Hermione had been happy about: the books from her mother.
"I still need to create copies of these," Hermione explained, "and that will be tomorrow night, but I wanted to give you all a sneak preview because my mother included some extra books."
"What sorts of books?" Padma asked excitedly.
"When I asked her for new copies of the books she had sent earlier," Hermione replied, "I told her a little bit about why they were popular. So she took it on herself to get a few more that had related information and which she thought young witches might find useful." By this point Jasmine had pulled them all out, so Hermione proceeded to read the titles as she handed them out for everyone to look at. "A couple of these books are pretty famous in the muggle world, for example: The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, and The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf."
None of the magically-raised students knew what to make of such titles, but as they read the descriptions on the backs they grew increasingly interested in the ideas, arguments, and information that the books contained.
"You said you'll be able to get all of these copied tomorrow?" Susan asked.
"That's the plan," Hermione responded, "though we have no idea how we'll go about distributing them."
"Why don't you leave that to us?" Daphne said quickly. "You've got a lot of other things to do, and we have here representatives of each of the four houses. Padma can go through her sister, thus relieving you of having to deal with Gryffindor, too."
"Are you sure?" Jasmine asked. "We don't want to put you to a lot of work."
"Oh, it's no trouble, is it?" Daphne asked the others, looking around to see if they had any objections. When they all agreed, Daphne continued, "It really would be easier for us to handle it. In fact, we can get started tonight and tomorrow night by asking around and seeing who will want the books. Then you give us the books on Thursday, and by Friday everyone who wants a copy will have them."
"And if we don't have enough," Hannah added, "we can let you know, so you can make more copies by next Tuesday."
"Well, if you're all sure," Hermione said slowly. When everyone nodded emphatically, she continued, "Thanks, I appreciate that. It was going to be tough even when I had full use of my hands."
The other girls were very reluctant to part with the books that Hermione had showed them, but knowing that they'd be getting their own copies in just two days made it a little more bearable. They also looked forward to telling their friends about what was coming, and then getting to serve as the source of these interesting and, in some ways, almost scandalous books.
Wednesday, March 10, 1995, Evening.
When Jasmine and Hermione entered Professor McGonagall's office to work on copying all of the books, it had been after three days of hate mail — three days without any letup. Fortunately, there hadn't been anything dangerous since that first day because Professor Dumbledore had adjusted the wards to block out dangerous mail. The reaction of everyone who heard that was to ask why it hadn't been done before. Thus far, the Headmaster had refrained from answering.
Minerva had already cleared off a table for them to use, so Jasmine went directly there with Hermione's bag and laid out the books. In addition to what Mrs. Granger had just sent, Jasmine included the copy of What's Happening to My Body? Book for Girls which she'd received earlier, guessing that the information in there might be helpful to the other witches as well. The Transfiguration professor took a minute to look over the books as her students watched, and she was surprised at what she found. "These sorts of books are common in the muggle world?" she asked.
"Well, they're among the most highly regarded in their subject area, so in that sense they're beyond the ordinary," Hermione replied. "They are, however, easy to find and buy, and there are plenty of other books with similar ideas and arguments, so yes, they're fairly common. That's not to say that there aren't still plenty of people out there who disagree with these ideas, but it's a lot better than it was fifty or even twenty years ago."
Watching her linger over some of the books, Jasmine added, "We can be sure to create copies for you as well, if you'd like." Their professor smiled and thanked them, looking forward to reading some of this material.
"To start off, let's practice the spell," Minerva announced. "It's a charm, but I doubt Professor Flitwick will complain about me intruding on his subject. The incantation is Gemino, and the wand movement goes like this..." After showing them a few times and letting them practice on some sample objects, they prepared to test it on the books.
"How long will the copy last for?" Hermione asked.
"It depends on the skill and the power of the caster," Minerva answered, "which means that yours should last for a while. The copies will, however, degrade over time. After having seen what you can do while practicing the charm, I estimate that you'll be able to produce copies of books that will remain in good condition for five years or so and then in usable condition for perhaps another five years. Beyond that, people will need to figure out how to buy their own originals."
"That's good to know," Jasmine said, "We'll have to make sure people understand this in case they like the books enough to want permanent copies."
Casting the charm on books was trickier than on other objects because books were so much more complex. In order to cast it successfully, the caster had to have a good idea of what the book was like — though fortunately it wasn't necessary to have read it, much less memorized it. Once the two younger witches understood what they were doing, Jasmine and Hermione started casting while Minerva levitated completed books into piles.
Finally, after a couple of hours, they had finished duplication of several hundred copies of each book, making the office look quite a bit more cramped than usual. "Now what?" Hermione asked, annoyed at not having thought of what to do in advance. She had focused too much on learning a new spell and not enough on what to do with their final products.
"Let's ask Dobby," Jasmine suggested. "He's always coming up with stuff we can use."
"Dobby?" asked Minerva.
"Oh, yeah," Jasmine said a bit sheepishly. "Hermione and I each bonded with a house elf to keep them from dying. They are working here at Hogwarts, pretending to be Hogwarts elves, but standing by in case we need them."
Minerva nodded, agreeing that that was a good idea. "But where have I heard the name Dobby before?" she asked.
"Aside from lunch after the second task?" Hermione asked. "Jasmine tricked Mr. Malfoy into freeing him at the end of second year. Dobby used to be the Malfoy family elf, and he was the one who kept trying to 'protect' Jasmine by doing things like sending killer bludgers after her."
"Oh," Minerva said, rolling her eyes. "That elf. I've heard of him from the others. Excitable and a bit mad, isn't he?"
"That's him," Jasmine replied with a smile. "Hey, Dobby," she called out, and less than a second later the house elf arrived in the office with a pop.
"Youse be calling Dobby, Missy Jazzy?" Dobby asked excitedly.
"Yes, Dobby, we have a problem," Jasmine said, and she proceeded to explain how they wanted to give copies of the books to witches in the castle but had no way to move so many books around.
When asked if he could help, he started bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, "Oh, yes, Dobby be helping!" and suddenly he was gone. A few seconds later, he returned with a tall stack of blue bags. "These be old wizarding bags that be much, much bigger on the inside than the outside."
And that turned out to be the perfect solution. Each bag was filled with one copy of each book, then the bags were tied off and inserted into another bag — one for each of the four houses. Each of those "house" bags was filled with nearly enough sets of books for all of the witches in each house — it was assumed that most, but not all, would end up wanting a set. It was more than was really convenient to haul around, but they'd be rid of them the following evening anyway.
Once they were back in their dorm and getting ready for bed, Jasmine visited Hermione and sealed the bed curtains around them. "What is it, Jas?" Hermione asked. "I thought we were going to skip practice tonight, what with all the work we put into copying all of those books."
"We are," Jasmine said, "but don't you remember what day this is?"
Hermione frowned. "It's... Wednesday? The tenth? What?"
"It's our three month anniversary, silly!" Jasmine said with a goofy grin before leaning in and giving Hermione a very long, smoldering kiss.
"Our anniversary!" Hermione exclaimed. "I forgot all about it!"
Jasmine shrugged. "We both forgot about our earlier anniversaries, too. We've gotten so busy with so many different projects that it's been hard to remember that sort of thing. I might have forgotten tonight, too, if we had done our usual practice."
"Well," Hermione said archly as she pull Jasmine into an embrace, "we're just going to have to find a way to make up for all those forgotten anniversaries, aren't we?"
Somewhere in Little Hangleton, Lucius Malfoy screamed...
Thursday, March 11, 1995, Afternoon.
As Barty Crouch Jr. watched the class of fourth-year students practice for their hex deflection test, he thought about the message he'd received that morning from his master. Something must have gone terribly wrong for such a drastic change in plans, but he dared not ask what it was. All he could do was prepare to snatch the Potter girl in a few days, just before the full moon.
Instead of using the Triwizard Tournament trophy as a portkey, which would leave him at Hogwarts with his cover intact until it was necessary for him to leave, the new plan called for him to personally grab the girl and get out of the school. There was a chance that he'd be able to get away with it and return with no one the wiser, but he couldn't count on it.
It was going to be a dilemma, though. He didn't think it would be difficult to actually get the girl unconscious and out of the castle; no, the dilemma was what to do with the real Mad-Eye Moody, currently locked in one of the compartments of the auror's own trunk. If I leave him alive, he considered, then I will still be able to use his hair for polyjuice potion if I can return. Except that I probably won't be able to return, in which case leaving him alive means leaving him able to work against my master's plans in the future. So I should kill him — but that definitely eliminates any chance of coming back!
It was when Barty almost twisted his peg leg, risking a fall, that he remembered that it wasn't necessary to kill Moody in order to prevent him from becoming a problem in the future. I can leave him alive, he concluded, but not necessarily in one piece, and certainly not happy to have been left alive, if it turns out that I can't return. I just need to look through his books to see what sorts of interesting curses I can use on him. Curses that won't kill, but definitely won't be fun for him. Fun for me, but not for him.
Barty smiled at the thought, then barked out a command for all the students to stop what they were doing and line up for their actual hex deflection test. While that was proceeding, he kept spinning his eye to look at Jasmine Potter. He didn't realize that Hermione Granger had noticed his interest, nor that it bothered her enough to keep her eye on him as well.
Thursday, March 11, 1995, Evening.
When Jasmine, Hermione, and Neville entered the library for their study group, they noticed that everyone else was already waiting, presumably anxious to get copies of the muggle books which Hermione had procured. Well, everyone except Blaise — as ever, he simply looked bored and disinterested.
When the Gryffindors arrived at the table, they set down four large book bags that were obviously stuffed tight. "Here are the books," Hermione announced with satisfaction, then went on to explain the bag-within-a-bag system they were using.
"And each individual bag has a piece of parchment with spells that can be used to disguise the books to look like a common history textbook," Neville added.
"Yes, that was Neville's contribution," Hermione said. "When he heard that witches felt compelled to keep these books hidden from professors, he tracked down a couple of spells that can be used to make a book look like something else."
Neville tried to shrug off the praise. "I just wanted to help. It's not right that you have to hide these things. I've only glanced at the books, but it's not like they're teaching dark magic or anything."
"Thanks, Neville," Susan said, "that was really thoughtful of you." She gave him a wide, friendly smile that would have caused Ginny to want to leap over the table and claw the buxom Hufflepuff's eyes out if she'd been there to see it.
Everyone oohed and aahed over how much work must have gone into creating so many copies and getting them all organized. "How long will these copies last?" Blaise asked. He seemed to have only casual interest in the contents of the books, but the magic behind the copying had caught his attention.
"According to Professor McGonagall," Jasmine answered, "the books should remain in good condition for about five years and usable for another five or so. If anyone likes the books enough that they'll want them beyond that time frame, they'll need to buy originals in the muggle world."
"Hopefully by that point they won't object to muggle books and ideas too much," Hermione added, causing the Gryffindors to share a grin. While they were doing this, they missed the surprised looks that the other students shot each other.
Jasmine and Hermione had agreed in advance that they wouldn't mention the role their magical power played in creating stable copies. They forgot, however, that they had a Ravenclaw in the group. Padma had researched the most common copying spells and had shared her findings with the others while they were waiting, so they already knew that skill and power were critical in creating stable copies that would last a long time.
They also knew something that the Gryffindors didn't because McGonagall hadn't shared it with them: a copy of something as complex as a book normally only lasted a few months, perhaps a year or two if someone were especially skilled.
The other students took a few minutes to examine the books even more carefully now, noting the quality and how sturdy they felt. None of them would have been able to tell that these were magically-created copies rather than originals. And to have done so many in one night….
"These are amazingly good for copies," Daphne pointed out, a bit in awe at what she was looking at now that she understood it better. If these copies lasted even half as long as Jasmine claimed, it meant that she and Hermione were quite a bit more powerful than anyone else realized.
How powerful, though, was anyone's guess. There was no spell that would give anyone a number or rating to compare against others. The one test that had been created to compare magical power was to cast a high-level spell over and over until you tired out; the wizard or witch who lasted longest was deemed the most powerful. Not only did this ultimately fail because it ended up testing more for endurance than strength, but desperate witches and wizards would cast until they exhausted themselves, even to the point of serious injury, making themselves weaker in the end. It was no wonder that such testing became prohibited.
In recent weeks these students had all been rethinking their past attitudes with regards to their new Gryffindor friends — and they indeed felt confident enough to call them friends now, even the Slytherins, who normally thought in terms of alliances rather than friendships. They sensed that changes might be coming, and that being friends would be beneficial in the long run.
One thing was certain, though: none of them would be underestimating these two Gryffindor witches any time soon.
Once the study group had broken up, everyone not in Gryffindor met in an empty classroom located near the library.
"OK, what's this all about, Daphne?" Padma demanded as she watched the Slytherin begin pulling out bags of books.
"Start emptying your bags," Daphne said in response. "We need to make changes to the books, and we don't have a lot of time."
Padma shoved her Ravenclaw and Gryffindor bags behind her back and said adamantly, "No, not until you tell me what's going on."
Daphne huffed a little and said, "Fine, have it your way." She pulled out a book from one of the individual bags, opened the front cover, and then started incanting what appeared to be a complex charm of some sort. When she was done, she showed it to the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaw. Displayed on the inside of the front cover was an image of a badge emblazoned with the words: "Girl Who Lived Tested and Approved!" The others simply gaped until Daphne tapped the badge with her wand and it shifted to read: "I give it an Outstanding! — Jasmine Potter." This sent them all into peals of laughter.
"I remember when she said that!" Susan said when she managed to catch her breath again.
Daphne smiled and replied, "I got the idea from those badges that Malfoy created and altered the original spell to use here. I thought it fitting that something once used to mock her should be used to promote her now."
"But that was only about the other two books, wasn't it?" Hannah asked.
Daphne shrugged. "She helped copy and distribute them all, that's approval enough for me."
"I know I agreed to this plan earlier," Blaise said, "but I'm a bit worried. I don't want to make her angry — I don't think we'd like it when she's angry."
Daphne dismissed his concerns with a wave of her hand. "She won't get angry. A little annoyed that we didn't tell her in advance, sure, but not angry. It's not saying anything that isn't true, and given how popular these books will be, putting her name to them will improve her reputation and social standing. She may not care about being popular, but like I told you before, in the long run it's in her best political and social interests to have a strong foundation of support. Especially among witches. These badges guarantee that witches in this school will know who to thank for what they'll be learning."
"Besides," Tracey added with a grin, "it'll be funny."
Padma cocked her head in thought, then said, "I never thought about it like that. I mean, I'd have agreed that she and Hermione would deserve some recognition for bringing us these books, but I wouldn't have put a political value on it."
Susan nodded as she and Hannah started emptying the Hufflepuff bag. "That's the Slytherin mindset — always thinking in terms of political value and consequences, both short-term and long-term. My auntie often complains about it in the Ministry, but it's hard to avoid in the political arena."
"It's impossible to avoid in Slytherin House," Tracey said. "It's why we appreciate this study group. We learn a lot from students who aren't always thinking in such terms."
"Why Jasmine, though? Why not Hermione — or both of them?" Hannah asked. "I mean, it was Hermione who got the books in the first place."
"Unfortunately," Daphne explained, "as a muggleborn Hermione has a lot less political clout. Even people who distrust or dislike Jasmine have a bit of respect for her because of her name and magical heritage. Her endorsement will do more for the books, and the popularity of the books will do more for her than they would for Hermione. It may not be right, but that's the way things are."
Soon the House bags had been emptied, and Daphne started teaching the others how to do the spell while Tracey and Blaise got to work, having already learned the spell while developing it with Daphne the day before. The spell was complicated in its execution due to the complexity of the final product, but it wasn't that hard to learn, and once they all had it down pat, they all got to work. With six of them casting diligently, they managed to get all of the books modified just in time to make it back to the dorms before curfew.
Distribution started that night and would continue through the next day. Essays, assignments, and studying all took a backseat over the following days, even among the Ravenclaws, as the books' contents were devoured. On Friday and through much of the next week, the professors observed a decline in attentiveness and the quality of in-class work among witches. Only Professor McGonagall had any inkling as to the reason for this — or she would have if she had been paying attention instead of being so focused on her own reading.
Hogwarts' witches did indeed learn very quickly whom they had to thank for all this.