The darkness around them began to go ever deeper as they stood from the ice cream parlour table outside the shop itself. Lupin got up from his table very quickly and pulled out his wand, dropping the ice cream and the book immediately.
"Both of you, get behind me." Remus said, wielding his wand as it lit up with, "Lumos."
Harry and Hermione did as they were told and pulled out their wands to light them up as well. They stayed very close together, then looked to Lupin for guidance. Hermione couldn't help but start feeling very cold. In fact, it started to feel like they were breathing in gasps of ice.
Hermione began to feel those eyes once again. As hard as she strained against the thought, her eyes began to feel the slits of the serpent as she started to whisper words through her mind in the serpent's language.
"Expecto Patronum!" She heard a distant voice shout as a blinding light beamed through the darkness in front of her. Before she knew it, the shining form of a large canine came forth from the shadow. The other shadowy forms began to fly away from it as the wolf charged!
Hermione did not feel well at all. Without even realising it, she had gotten in a terrible sweat and she let out a rattling shiver. Then, she saw Harry lean over as if suddenly struck dumb. "Harry!" She called out as she caught him before he hit the ground.
She held his head up as she eased him down to the ground. Then she looked up at Lupin, who was checking around them with his wand out.
"What are those things?" Hermione asked as she wielded her wand up. "How do you do that charm?"
"The Patronus Charm is very advanced. It's difficult even for the most experienced wizard." Lupin said as he looked around. "But if you are able to think of one, put the happiest memory in your mind and concentrate as hard as you can on it. Follow my movements." He said as he whipped his wand to the left and pointed it. "Expecto Patronum!"
Hermione looked down at Harry and it was quite easy to recall the most beautiful Christmas of her life. She followed the wand movement. "Expecto Patronum!"
She was able to bring about a small globe of shining silver, the size of an adult fist at the end of her wand. To her surprise, it took a great deal of energy and concentration to keep it generating, let alone trying to expand it. Hermione grimaced as the globe disappeared.
"That was marvellously done, miss, but we must get going. I'll carry–" Lupin offered but she stopped him.
"Wait, he's coming around." She put her hand on the side of his cheek as he began to stir. "Harry, can you hear me? Are you alright?" Hermione asked, seeing at he was also in a sweat.
"What happened?" He asked as he lifted his head from the ground and his eyes wavered.
"Not too fast, Harry. You passed out." Hermione said, then looked up at Lupin, who seemed to have read her mind.
"They are Dementors. They guard the prison, Azkaban and they are guarding Diagon Alley from the escaped prisoner, Sirius Black." He explained as Hermione was finally able to get Harry up to his feet. They took it very slowly but he seemed in better spirits. "Eat some of your ice cream, if you would please."
Both of them gave him a strange look and he nodded toward it in insistence. When they scooped large spoonfuls into their mouths, it was a very strange, but lovely sensation as their cheeks and their arms began to warm up.
"Chocolate helps the effects they give. Come on! Follow behind me very closely. Where are you staying?"
"The Leaky Cauldron." They both chimed and he nodded his understanding.
"Good, I know it well. Come on." Remus began leading them down the street toward their inn and keeping his eyes open as all of them kept their wands lit.
Hermione felt that horrible cold sensation once again as she kept behind Harry. As she heard the rattling breath once again and that horrible, cold sensation, she immediately grasped his hand. With his memories flowing through her, she whipped the wand around toward her back.
"Expecto Patronum!" She shouted, glaring toward a Dementor as it closed in on them. Her wand shined with another globe of light, and it thankfully held the Dementor back as they kept up their brisk running pace.
"Well done! Come on!" Remus said as he got to the door to the Leaky Cauldron and made sure to hold his wand up as he held it open for them to enter.
Both of them got to the lobby and began to pant as they leaned against two walls and sweat ran down their faces. Remus got inside with them and sat down in one of the wooden chairs beside a table as he looked at both of them.
"What is your name?" Lupin asked, looking at her and she gladly gave it to him. "Hermione, that was some of the fastest learning of the Patronus Charm I have ever seen in my life. I dare say, given the opportunity, you would have performed a full Patronus if driven to do so."
"Is that what you did? With the form of the wolf?" Hermione said, her breathing finally growing normal once again.
"Yes, yours will be different, as is everyone's. Keep practising and I will look forward to seeing what you conjure up." Lupin said as he started toward the door once again. "It was very nice meeting both of you." With that, he bid them farewell.
They dragged themselves to their bedroom and it was a struggle to get into their sleepwear. It was no struggle to sleep, though, as both of them felt like they had performed several feats of strength while under the influence of some sort of fatigue potion. They awoke the next afternoon just after lunch. Hermione was shocked to see that she had an hour before she had to see Ollivander about her appointment.
When Harry asked what appointment, Hermione sighed. This was going to be a very, very long explanation. What she told Harry next, she was not allowed to tell another soul outside of Mr. Ollivander, Professor Mcgonagall and her contact at the Department of Mysteries.
She explained in great detail that she was going to leave to meet Ollivander, who invited a contact from the ministry to meet them about a bit of an experimental opportunity. Ollivander had helped them decipher these strange things that looked like little winged gems that spun around tiny chains. They were what were known as Time Turners, and thanks to a recommendation from both her Head of House and the greatest Wandmaker in the world, she was authorised to take one of the very rare, very expensive items for the sole purpose of study.
After a very uncomfortable, very close analyzation of Hermione's grades, past, records and immediate family, the meeting had finally come to an end. She must have answered questions in the hundreds, but she finally revealed the small chain to Harry, who blinked as he looked at them.
"With this, I will be taking twelve subjects." Hermione proclaimed and Harry immediately went still and stared at her with the most furrowed brow he could possibly muster. "Don't even try it."
"There is absolutely no way. Hermione, you are a talented, gifted and powerful witch, but Sweet Mother of God, are you quite mad?" Harry stopped her from growing agitated with the statement with one single sentence. "Even with the normal amount of subjects, you take things to an extreme. Bunching up twelve subjects at once sounds like it is liable to kill you."
Hermione pursed her lips and couldn't really argue the point. Even if she tried to use Tom Riddle as an excuse for last year, the year before had not been any better. "Well, Harry, I'm sorry, but this is something I am going to give a try. I plan to take O. in every one of these subjects."
"You're taking them fourth and fifth year as well? Hermione…" He took her hands and pulled her closer to him. "Will you even be able to breathe?"
"Harry, if it gets to lethal levels of study and you see that I am on the verge of collapse, you are well within your rights to tell me. You always do. I am going to do this, but I do know the risks." Then she said something that made him flinch. "Trust me."
It was settled, but Harry made very clear that it was settled under strict protest.
The rest of the day was theirs, though, and it was not wasted. The two of them went to the local tea shop and remembered: Breakfast tea blend, two rose pedals, two sugars, honey and cinnamon.
Obviously, it wasn't their favourite, but it was good. Harry had to take out the rose pedals after a while so he didn't swallow them by mistake. Hermione took them out before drinking because she didn't like the texture but she did like the light bit of flavour it gave.
"So, I've determined that we met our professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts last night." She said, and he nodded, though, he did not speak. She knew what he was thinking about. The fact that he had gone unconscious was not lost on her by a longshot. She did not bring it up, though, as she knew it would probably be a sore subject now.
"What was that spell you used?" Harry asked and Hermione had surprisingly almost forgotten. Though, it was very easy to recall as learning it under duress had to be one of the best teachers for her.
She pulled out her wand and stood up, whipping it and saying, "Expecto Patronum!" She was able to produce another globe, though, she did not hold it for long. The energy it took was something she would need to adapt to. "You simply need a very happy memory to think about and you need to concentrate your energy at the same time. It is very difficult."
"You held them off with it in your first attempt." Harry noticed and she rolled her eyes.
"I hardly did anything else with it. Though, I wonder why they came so quickly. Even with a curfew, they should allow us some time to get back indoors." Hermione said, somewhat bitter that such horrific creatures came with so little notice. "I swear, I felt as if I were freezing from the inside and…" She remembered the eye and flinched.
"Harry! Hermione!" Both of them whirled around to see Ron walking up the street. His hair was down to his neck and nearly covering his eyes and he seemed much taller now. Still, lanky as he was after such a growth spurt, their friend was as cheerful as ever. Then, both of them told him the story.
"A giant blue slug? Are you having a laugh?" Ron asked, his face screwed up in shock. "Well, not that I'm too worried, but she didn't get digested, did she?"
"No," Harry would have said "thankfully", but he didn't. "The ministry took care of the whole thing and not a single punishment was given."
"Well, that's lucky." Ron furrowed his brow. He'd heard of kids getting howlers from the ministry and chastised for one single mishap. "Can't say I'm too surprised, though."
"What do you mean? That was a blatant breaking of the rules." Hermione said as she thought for a moment, thinking that she probably shouldn't do the patronus charm anymore for the sake of keeping a low profile.
"He makes the ministry look good, doesn't he? They can just at the public and say 'oh, look here, we saved Harry Potter. All is well!'" Ron waved to an imaginary public with a cheesy smile. "They'll have something to write home about."
Hermione hated to say it, but that did sound exactly like the thought process of a Public Relations department. Whether it be in the muggle world or the wizarding one, there is always a blatant opportunist. Fudge certainly fit the profile nicely. "Well, alright, but why all of the Dementors? What's going on with them?"
"Dad says they're anywhere the ministry is these days. They're getting desperate to catch Black. Even Dad's been sent out looking for him and he's not even in an Auror. We're talking about a guy who killed twelve muggles and a wizard!" Ron said and both Harry and Hermione widened their eyes at him. She had not read that anywhere in the papers. All they said was that he was very dangerous and a murderer. "Yeah, killed an entire street of muggles when he took down some wizard. There were loads of witnesses. Dad says it was the worst day the ministry's had right after the best day."
"That's horrible." Hermione said and Harry agreed. "How long has he been out of Azkaban?"
"It's well over a week so far and dad says they're getting nowhere with the searches." Ron said in a much lower, quieter tone. "Looks like we'll need to all learn that little charm you did last night."
"I don't think I'm allowed to–"
"Oh, yes, you are." Ron nodded. "All wizards and witches are authorised to use the Patronus Charm. Dad says Kingsley Shacklebolt, the ministry's best Auror, had them pass that little rule to protect the public. That includes underage wizards." He added at the end as she was clearly about to ask.
"Yeah, so go ahead and try one more time." He offered and Hermione shrugged, standing up and pulling her wand out.
As she showed them once again, Ron had pulled out Scabbers, his pet rat. Both of them gawked at the state of the rat. One look at him and it was obvious he was not his fat, happy, sleepy self. He had lost weight, in fact, and his fur was starting to thin, as she could see patches of his skin underneath.
"Yeah, he's not eating like he used to. Something's wrong, for sure." Ron looked a little more than worried about him. "I mean, he has been getting up there in the years. About twelve years old, I think."
"He's what?!" Hermione looked at him with the widest of eyes. "Shut up! That's ten years more than any other rat I've ever heard of."
"Well, we keep good care of him." Ron said and both of them gave him the most sceptical looks they could muster. "Alright, fine, I have no bloody clue." Ron admitted before he put Scabbers back in his pocket. He was obviously not in the mood for any of his crumpets from the tea shop.
"Ah, hello, hello!" Arthur Weasley, Ron's father, and his twin brothers, Fred and George came from down the street. Hermione was quick to rise and embrace Arthur as he smiled and returned it. "Keeping well, I hope? I heard there was a bit of a fuss with some very obnoxious muggles."
"Yeah, worst of the worst." Ron confirmed as Harry and Hermione gave no arguments.
"Then I also heard about a bit of a fuss last night with a mix up in the schedules. Apparently, Fudge took it upon himself to change up the curfew time upon your arrival last night. The official thought he meant today, not last night." Arthur sounded less than pleased. "I'm only glad to hear that you two had help last night with that mess."
"All of that was Fudge?" Harry asked, and Arthur nodded gravely. "Is he mad? Who would use those horrible things as guards for a prison?"
"As much as I agree with you, Harry, I'm afraid they were the most effective weapon we had against the Death Eaters. They're the reason there's only been one escaped convict since Azkaban's establishment." He said, and Hermione knew he referred to the dark wizards under Voldemort's command when he was in power. "Now, you only have a few days left until you're all back off to Hogwarts. Until then, I want all of you to stay together and look after one another."
"Oh, Dad, as if we do anything else." Fred finally cut in as he sat down beside Ron and pulled him into a loving embrace, much to his dismay. "Gotta protect Ickle Ronniekins! Don't we?"
"Get off!" Ron shoved him away.
"There they are. I told you we'd find them in the last place we looked." A dreamy, whimsical voice said from the side. All of them turned to see Luna Lovegood walking with Ginny Weasley. Both of them had ice creams. Ginny's was clearly chocolate with some crushed nuts while Luna had a blue ice cream that some eyed with odd looks. She was very quick to lean against Ron as Ginny sat beside Hermione at the little table. She looked at the menu and rolled her eyes at Ron.
"So, you came with them, Luna?" Hermione asked and Luna nodded.
"Oh, yes, I live right next door to the Weasleys. My father and I have a little house on the other side of the hill." She said, as if they weren't some five miles away from the Burrow. "I always walked to their house anyway, looking for plimpies and visiting the gnomes." Luna said as she licked her cone. "I always liked the gnomes."
"You two seemed to have grown close." Harry noted as he raised a brow toward Ron, whose ears grew pink.
"Oh, don't worry, I won't hold onto him too closely for much longer." Luna said before giving her cone a half-hearted lick and leaning onto Ron's shoulder.
"Well, she's paid me a visit or two." Ron said before Ginny interjected.
"Every single day. It's nice to have a sister but these are not the circumstances I had in mind." Ginny licked her own ice cream, getting down to the cone and biting it.
"Anyway, all I'm saying is that I don't want any of you taking any unnecessary risks. The ministry is cracking down as harder. They haven't taken this level of precaution since the days of You-know-who and right now, it's for our own protection." Arthur proclaimed, though it was clear that Harry and Hermione were not feeling very well protected. It was very hard to feel safe when dark cloaked creatures were floating around, sucking the joy from everyone in the vicinity.
"For Fudge's protection, more like." Fred said as he was fidgeting with something in his school bag.
"What is that?" Arthur looked and Fred held up a little vial of squid eyes.
"Just some squid eyes from the apothecary." He said in a casual innocent tone.
"Really? Because it looked like a fairy egg and I wouldn't like it if I found out that you were experimenting with dangerous elements for some sort of joke candy store or some rubbish. Your mother wouldn't like it either." Mr. Weasley said in a dangerous tone as Fred slipped the vial back into his bag.
Both twins gave their dad a reassuring smile as George patted him on the arm. "Don't worry, dear father, for we would never betray your trust."
Harry was absolutely sure he saw Fred and George both crossing their fingers.
Soon, though, as time went on with the Weasleys, it wasn't hard to notice that Arthur was paying extra close attention to Harry. He kept him within arm's reach, it seemed, and it was clear that this had to do with his job at the ministry. When Hermione brought this up while they were at the Leaky Cauldron's lobby.
"Yes, Hermione, it's no real secret, but I also didn't want to draw unneeded attention to it. Fudge knows that I am personal friends with Harry, and assigned me to watch him until tomorrow, when he will be escorted to King's Cross Station." Both of them were taken aback by this revelation.
"What, like, armed escorts?" Harry asked and Arthur nodded.
"Aurors, the best of them, in fact. Kingsley Shacklebolt is leading them and he has a very tight knit group among the ministry." He could see this was still drawing very confused looks from both of them.
"Why, Mr. Weasley? What is all of this about? I've never been treated like this, even when I was under suspicion of attack last year." Harry said and Arthur gazed at him, his brow furrowed, remembering all of the mishaps of last year as well.
"Well, Harry, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but come on. Lead me to your room, away from prying ears." Arthur instructed, and they did so. As they did, he got them drinks from their ice box and bid them sit down as he sighed. "I don't know how else to tell you this, so I will get to the point. We have reason to believe that you are being hunted by none other than Sirius Black himself."
There was a very long moment of silence as that sank in. That started to click into place, now that he thought about it. Cornelius Fudge himself waiting for him in Diagon Alley, the Dementors, the ministry being light on him and the escorts for his safety. Harry started to see all of it, and Hermione most assuredly thought it made much more sense now.
"But, why?" Harry asked and Arthur nodded.
"That is a fair question, Harry. The truth is that he turned out to be in league with You-know-who from the start. He is possibly even within his inner circle of Death Eaters. He was captured on the night you received your scar. We've reason to believe he thinks that if he kills you, he will bring back his dark lord and master." Mr. Weasley said, nodding to their looks of puzzlement. "I know how that sounds, but he is demented, unhinged. He spent the last thirteen years in Azkaban and anyone will tell you that some do not last a week without going utterly dismantled." Arthur said and this was all quite a lot to take in. Harry wasn't sure if he should feel scared or riled up that someone was coming to kill him. This was someone who killed thirteen people with one curse.
"So, will anyone be guarding me in Hogwarts?" Harry asked and Arthur bobbed his head from side to side.
"Hogwarts has brand new security measures being added. Aurors and members of the ministry will be there to look after the students and guard them from Black. There will also be Azkaban guards." Arthur said and both of them screwed their faces in shock and dismay.
"What?! Dementors?! Whose idiotic idea was that?" Hermione accidentally shouted louder than she meant to. Not to mention, she figured she already knew the answer.
"Cornelius Fudge insisted, however, Dumbledore refused to allow them entrance into the school." Arthur said, and Harry baulked.
"Is he mental?!" Harry nearly went into anger at the stupidity. "He would unleash those creatures on the students?"
"Fudge is desperate to find Black. The Demenstors are furious that he was allowed to escape and they are wanting to get their hands on him themselves." Arthur said and both of them looked at one another. It was hard to tell just how far someone would go for such creatures under his employ. "Alright, I just wanted to make sure you get all of the information. Both of you stay together and keep a group around you. My children are more than willing to fight but do not tell their mother I said that. She'll have my skin."
Both of them understood completely. If anyone could be counted on, it was the Weasley family. They were warriors and both Harry and Hermione trusted them with their lives. Arthur bid them farewell and the two of them began to wonder how many people were going to read that stupid line in History of Magic and assume Harry had Voldemort crumpled up in his luggage ever since Hallowe'en of 1981.
Harry said he wanted to go check out the candy shop before they left for Hogwarts the coming morning and Hermione bid him on ahead, so long as he was with Ron. Harry knew Arthur would escort him there either way. They hugged one another once and he was off.
Once he was gone, Hermione pulled the redwood wand she had carved over the holiday. Her hands were more callous than they had ever been, and there were more than a few cuts on her fingers, but Ollivander said that the more blood she bled for her art, the more her wands would mean to those who wielded them.
She made this one longer than usual, at twelve and half inches and she had it mounted to the wand rack. From her pocket, she produced the feather. Inside the wand was a small needle at the very tip. The needle slipped into the feather's hollow tip and slid out of sight, being plenty long enough. When she was sure the feather made perfectly good contact with the wand's tip, she picked it up from the rack, loosening it to wield it.
"Wingardium Leviosa" She said, bringing the empty bottle up to her hand. It was very forceful, though, and it even hurt her palm a little bit.
What was this she felt? While it wasn't loyalty, it wasn't refusal, either. Hermione felt the phoenix feather give the wand new life and she studied the finish she had painted it. The lacquer was a very special one, mixed with a potion that would keep the wood from ageing. That's when she felt it. It was picky in its choice, but Hermione would need to prove herself. She didn't know how, nor could the wand let her know. The third year student made it a silent promise that if there was truly a path she needed to walk, she would prove her place along it. The wand would see that for itself.