The Way Back Machine

Narcissa looked at Hermione with intrigue, "I'm fascinated, but how does it work?" she asked.

Hermione took a deep breath before launching into an explanation, "The project actually started as a way to create a more accurate pensive. You see, a pensive relies on the memory of the person supplying the memory, which can be unreliable. Memories can be altered or distorted over time, or even by the person's own biases and emotions. It's not always an accurate representation of what actually happened."

Narcissa nodded slowly, taking in Hermione's explanation. "I see, so how does your device work differently?"

Hermione smiled, excited to share her knowledge, "Well, it combines a pensive with knowledge of cognitive psychology and time magic. The pensive is used to view the memory, but then applying what I've learned about how memory works to adjust for any inaccuracies or distortions. And with the use of time magic, we're able to view the memory as it actually occurred, rather than relying on someone's potentially flawed recollection of events."

Narcissa leaned back in her chair, taking it all in. "I must admit, I'm impressed. There are not many who would have thought of combining magic and muggle science like this."

Hermione grinned. "It's been a passion project of mine for years."

Hermione took a deep breath before continuing, "After the war, I struggled a lot with my own trauma, and I saw others around me who were struggling just as much. And I realized that there had to be a better way to help people heal and move on from their traumas."

Narcissa nodded in understanding.

Hermione continued, "That's why I started working on this project. The idea was to create a device that could accurately view memories without relying on the individual's memory. My hope is the healers at St. Mungo's can use it as a tool to help those who are still dealing with the trauma."

Narcissa listened intently, intrigued by the potential of the device. "It's an incredible idea," she says. "I can only imagine the impact it could have on the healing process for those who have suffered through such a traumatic event, such as the war."

Hermione nodded, her eyes shining with passion. "That's exactly what I was thinking," she said. "I've already had some preliminary discussions with the staff at St. Mungo's and they are very excited by the prospect. But unfortunately, there has been an unintended side effect that needs to be worked out before I can implement the device at St. Mungo's."

Narcissa raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "What kind of side effect?"

"Well," Hermione began, "the integration of time magic made it so instead of just viewing the memory, the person in the pensive is transported back in time to the moment."

Narcissa smirked. "Ah hence your answer about bringing back the ability to time travel."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, if they're viewing a memory of their own, they're transported as an observer in their past selves' mind. But if they're viewing someone else's memory, they show up as a new party in the memory."

Narcissa looked concerned. "That could be dangerous."

Hermione nodded gravely. "It is. The first time this happened, I had to quickly disillusion myself to prevent a huge change in the timeline."

Narcissa looked at Hermione, her brow furrowed in concern. "What did you do?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "Luckily, I had some memories my parents allowed me to duplicate. I had been interested to see what it was like for them growing up and they were more than happy to oblige. So I used one of my dad's favorite memories. It was a memory of the crowded FIFA World Cup Championship Game he had attended in 1966. Plus side, even with my unexpected presence, England still won."

Narcissa replied sarcastically. "Thank goodness. That could have been disastrous."

Hermione replied with a small smile on her face. "Yes, it could have."

Narcissa turned serious. "Even considering the potential consequences, this is obviously a powerful tool, and reaffirms my beliefs about reaching out to you for help. I know we'll be able to figure out what happened to Bellatrix together."

Hermione nodded, a determined look in her eyes. "We will. We'll get to the bottom of this, no matter what it takes. Now, shall we get started with our investigation"

Narcissa looked thoughtful for a moment and asked. "How do you suggest we go about investigating it?"

Hermione grabbed a notebook from a shelf. "Well, I think the first step is to use the device to go back in time and observe events as they happened," she explains. "But before we do that, we need to determine exactly when we should go back to."

Narcissa nodded, understanding the importance of pinpointing the correct moment in time.

Hermione leaned forward, notebook in hand, ready to take notes. "So, let's start at the beginning. Can you tell me about Bellatrix's early years at Hogwarts?"

Narcissa swallowed and began, "Well, Bella was always incredibly bright. She excelled in every subject, especially Defence Against the Dark Arts. But she was never one to flaunt her intelligence, like some of the other students did. She was always focused on her studies, and she didn't care much for socializing."

Hermione nodded, jotting down notes. "And how was her relationship with other students? Did she have any close friends?"

Narcissa hesitated for a moment, thinking back. "She didn't have many friends, but she was very protective of Andromeda and me. We were all in Slytherin together, and she made it her mission to make sure we were safe from any students with less-than-noble intentions."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

Narcissa considered what she wanted to say for a moment. "There were some students who had… shall we say, unsavory plans for us. But Bella wouldn't stand for it. She would hex anyone who tried to mess with us. She was fierce in her loyalty to us."

Hermione nodded slowly, processing this new information. "And what about her love life? Did she have any romantic interests at Hogwarts?"

Narcissa chuckled softly. "Oh, yes. She had a huge crush on Professor McGonagall. She would always go on and on about how brilliant and powerful she was. She was practically obsessed. And of course, McGonagall was completely oblivious to it all."

Hermione couldn't help but smile at the mental image of a young Bellatrix pining after her professor. "And what about her plans for after Hogwarts? Did she have any aspirations?"

Narcissa's expression became slightly melancholy thinking about how her sister could've turned out. "Yes, she had planned to become an Auror. She wanted to use her skills to fight against the Dark Arts."

Hermione raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? That's quite a departure from her later activities."

Narcissa nodded. "Yes, it was. But Bellatrix was always one to go after what she wanted, and she wanted to make a difference."

Hermione scribbled down a note about Bellatrix's ambition, then looked up at Narcissa. "Can you think of any particular event or change in behavior that may have marked the beginning of her descent?"

Narcissa furrowed her brow in thought. "Just before Easter break in her seventh year," she recalled. "She suddenly started dating Rodolphus Lestrange."

Even knowing Bellatrix married him, hearing about Bellatrix's sudden decision to date Rodolphus Lestrange caused Hermione's eyebrows to raise in surprise.

"That's interesting," she said. "Especially given her obsession with McGonagall. Do you think there was anything behind that decision?"

Narcissa shook her head. "I'm not sure. Bellatrix was always a bit impulsive, but that seemed out of character even for her. It was very sudden. I had never heard her speak of him before, and suddenly they were inseparable"

Hermione nodded, jotting down notes.

"And during that Easter break, she seemed to turn on Andromeda and parrot our parents' pureblood supremacy nonsense," Narcissa added with a hint of sadness. "That was the most disturbing part. She went from being her protector to her accuser practically overnight. It was like she had been brainwashed or something."

Hermione's mind focused on this fact, as she scribbled furiously in her notebook. "Brainwashed? That's an interesting theory. Do you think there's any possibility that someone could have influenced her thinking?"

Narcissa looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head. "I'll admit I am unsure. Bellatrix was always so headstrong and independent. I can't imagine anyone being able to sway her beliefs like that, but it was a drastic change."

Hermione nodded. "Well, we won't know for sure until we start delving into her memories. But I think we've pinpointed the time period when she started to change. It sounds like just before Easter break of her seventh year might be a good place to start."

Narcissa agreed, and Hermione suggested that they start by focusing on memories from that time period. She then led Narcissa over to the device and began preparing it for their investigation.

As she worked, Narcissa couldn't help but be impressed by Hermione's expertise and dedication to her work. "You're quite brilliant, you know," she said with a smile.

Hermione blushed slightly at the compliment. "Thank you. I just have a passion for what I do."

Narcissa nodded, her gaze lingering on Hermione for a moment longer than necessary. "I can see that. It's quite attractive, actually."

Hermione's blush deepened as she turned back to the device, trying to ignore the fluttering sensation in her stomach. "So before we start exploring any memories, we need to ensure the system is calibrated. Now, let me grab a memory to place in the pensive."

She pulled out her wand and pointed it at her temple, extracting a memory and then placed it in the pensive. Hermione proceeded to input some commands into the console. Once completed the display outputted some information indicating the calibration was complete with a variation value of 0.001%. Hermione retrieved the memory and Narcissa asked about the variation value.

"After my foray into my dad's past I added some safety features. I now track the variation of the timeline from the given moment of the memory until present time in order to prevent changes in the timeline," Hermione explained. "If the system detects too high a variation, it pulls the person back to the present in order to prevent changes. I just used the memory of our conversation to calibrate the machine."

Narcissa nodded, understanding the process. "I'm curious, can we try again with a random memory now?" she suggested.

Hermione agreed, and Narcissa thought back to a memory of sneaking out of the castle with Andromeda and Bellatrix in order to go to the closest muggle town to see a movie in the theatre. She placed the memory in the pensive, and Hermione began to show her the calibration steps. When the variation output was displayed, it read 98.94%.

Hermione was speechless. Her mind started racing with the implications of what they've just discovered.

"Umm…. that doesn't seem good. What exactly does that mean?" Narcissa asked cautiously.

Hermione's face still showed her obvious shock. "It means something really, really, not good," she replied seriously.