Self-Writing Parchment
But the Ides of March shall cast light in the darkness… Sybil Trelawny
The Ides of MarchAre Come… William Shakespeare
Firstly, I abhor violence and abuse toward children – anyone actually. I know that the abuse if hard to read – it is hard to type – but thank you for sticking with me.
I'm sorry for any and all typos – I'm owning up to them.
~beaweasley2
The Ides of March
~ o 50 o ~
Severus had risen early, really early; the clock in the sitting room had just struck five. Hermione had bid him a sleepy, "good luck," and then fallen back to sleep, much to his amusement.
He normally rose an hour before dawn's first light at six ante meridiem, giving him an hour to himself before he had to be in the Great Hall for breakfast at seven-fifteen. Unless Hermione aroused feeling amorous, that is. But the strains of the school, the demands of parents worried about their children's safety and their upcoming wizarding examinations, and the Dark Lord's edicts on discipline and converting the students to be obedient to him, kept him busy. That and the Department of Magical Education and the Wizarding Examinations Authority were threatening to repeal Hogwarts' accreditation if Hogwarts examinations were not up to their standards.
He wasn't too concerned about the examinations; with all extracurricular activities having been cancelled and the strict rules about loitering around the castle and grounds made the house common rooms and the library the only places for students to congregate. Also, Madam Pince had always been extremely strict about proper comportment within her domain, so naturally, the professors all reported that the students were doing very well in their subjects – well, except in Muggle Studies. Minerva, Pomona and Filius even reported that Amycus' inept teaching methods of the Dark Arts had the students learning as many defensive spells, counter curses and reversing spells as they could, inadvertently assuring their success in the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam.
But considering the portents given in Sybill's two prophecies, the one that led to the death of his first love, and the one she'd made in front of him the day after the students had departed for Winter break this year, Severus' main goal was to simply keep the students alive. Minerva still retained the school's magical registry, and the location noted for the missing students stated that they were in the castle, although it was irrelevant for the time being as long as they were still in the castle. He and Minerva decided to keep the fact a secret as long as the students were safe.
Severus knew that a standoff between Harry Potter and the Dark Lord was imminent – another secret carefully guarded from the Dark Lord. According to the second prophecy he'd heard Sybill make the day she had stopped him on the seventh-floor corridor after the students had departed for Winter break: "and in seventy-two more the one who wins will die by the wand of the one he defeated…" it would take place within a month or so.
But that line was essentially the same as Sybill's prophecy she'd given Dumbledore in the Hog's Head years ago; the line Severus hadn't overheard that fateful day: "and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…"Dumbledore had retained a copy of that prophecy in his office and shared it with him last year, when he had insisted that Severus be the one to kill him if the old headmaster should become too weakened by the curse on his hand – the one that had been spreading very slowly up his arm and would've killed him regardless by that summer. Severus had haunting dreams of that night on the Astronomy Tower. Through the communication Dumbledore shared via Legilimens the old man had consumed the Drink of Despair in some cave – and it had left the wizard weak and vulnerable and unable to defend himself.
Severus pushed those thoughts from his mind. He'd have to tell Hermione all of this at some point, but he still had some time – Potter would not come out of hiding until all the Horcruxes were destroyed. Well, all but one; the one Dumbledore had never told Potter about. Potter himself. Sighing, he reached for his boots and went to the sitting room.
Peren brought him his steaming hot cup of earl grey. "Peren," he said, making her stop, turn and look up at him. "I'm going to wake the men under the Draught of Living Death. I will need the oral swabs Hermione made."
She crossed one foot over the other and pulled on her ear. "But I's…" She lowered her head, eyes downcast. "Yes, Headmaster, master, sir, Peren will gets them for you."
Severus refrained from smirking at her disappointment, realizing she had expected to go with Hermione to do the task. "I also want you to accompany me," he added.
"Oh, yes, Headmaster, master, sir! I wills!" she said and vanished.
He went to his office and gently pulled on Professor Dumbledore's frame, exposing the space behind. The sword, leaning at an angle, gleamed in the pale light of his office. Beneath it was the jar of Wiggenweld Potion he'd procured. He then collected five empty vials from the Pensieve cupboard before Peren reappeared. The little elf was wearing a small pouch tied to her waist by a string.
"First, Rowle – in the basement corridor," he said and took her hand.
Peren nodded and apparated, taking him with her. They arrived outside Rowle's door with only a soft pop. She really is a remarkably capable house-elf, he thought, admiring her skill of near-silent apparition.
Severus opened the door and walked into Rowle's guest room. The man was sprawled across his bed on his back. Snoring.
The Wiggenweld Potion was not a quick acting potion; it entered the bloodstream through the tissues of the lips and mouth, but it's effect on the brain came on slowly. The alcohol the men had consumed would make it take even longer. But there would be stirrings, enough for him to see the memory he wanted to steal. Searching for a memory, especially a recent one, was easy when the person was incapacitated.
He handed Peren a vial to hold for him, then Severus opened the wide mouth jar, and Peren handed him a swab. Hermione's oral swabs were an ideal solution for the application of the potion. The small sponge tip didn't drip and held enough potion on the swab.
Using the Extraction Curse forcibly while in Rowle's mind was tricky, but well within Severus' abilities.
The memory he sought was the last memory the man had before falling asleep. It was quite clear to read – in the forefront of Rowle's mind. "Vim excerpo," Severus said softly, and the memory released, leaking out of the man's temple in a thin line attached to his wand. Severus drew it out and dropped the memory into a vial. "Eliminare Memoria," he said casting the charm that would erase any residual remnants of the pastry and make Rowle forget the student's visit entirely. Rowle's only memory would be his excessive drinking before he went to bed.
Done, he took the vial, capped it and led the house-elf out of the room. "Now, to the dungeons to take care of VanHalal," he said to Peren, offering her his hand.
~H~
Hermione woke to the sound of the bell announcing someone gaining access to Severus' office. Whoever it was obviously knew the password to tell the Gryffindor guardian – that narrowed down the possibilities of who it was considerably, but the possible prospects were alarming.
The Head of House professors always send a message to let Severus know they wished to see him – they never barge in. Cillian won't be back from his island, not yet at least; he isn't expected back until dinner, and none of my friends would be up at this hour. Rowle, Travers, VanHalal, MacCavish and Lestrange would not be awake yet – the Wiggenweld Potion takes up to an hour to revive those under the Draught of Living Death and the Carrows always sleep in on the weekends…
The clock in the sitting room struck six; an hour before dawn's first light – but also an hour since Severus had left with Peren to wake the Death Eaters. Rowle, Travers, VanHalal, MacCavish and Lestrange could be awake!
Shite! I'm alone! Severus said he needed Peren this morning – and he's not back yet! Frightened and wandless, she pulled the covers up to her chin. Ohmygod! Would Dobby come to me if I called him?
At that moment Draco called out her name.
Relieved it was him, she yelled, "Give me a moment!" It was cold as she slid out of bed, so she dressed quickly, putting on her brown cardigan with carved wood buttons over her full-length, long-sleeved lapis-colored dress, then pulled on her soft boots, and twisted her hair into a messy bun. She went down to find Draco pacing in the sitting room. "What has happened? Did something go wrong?" she asked, alarmed.
"Are you alone?" he asked.
Hermione exhaled in relief; if it was something bad he'd have blurted it out at once. "Yes," she replied. "Severus left to wake the Death Eaters." Draco looked a mess; his robes were rumpled, his vest had been pulled over what appeared to be his pajama top, his hair mussed, and he looked as if he hadn't slept at all last night.
He nodded, his gaze on the carpet. "You said it was a Horcrux – a real Horcrux."
"The cup; yes it was," she affirmed as she sat on the sofa.
"Six – you said six. The diary you mentioned, it was from when Riddle was a student here – that's what possessed Ginevra to open the Chamber of Secrets, right? It was a horcrux too, I presume?" he asked.
"Yes," she said with a nod and folded her hands on her lap.
"A Horcrux is – it's Dark Blood Magic, Hermione. Not just Dark Arts – it's creating a Dark Magical Artifact with Blood Magic. Only death may pay for a life," Draco stated as he paced, Hermione watching him. He stopped to face her. "So, the Dark Lord was alive when my father saw his corpse. It was a corpse was it not?"
"I can tell you what Harry told me the end of our first year."
He stared at her.
"Okay. Our first year – looking for the Sorcerer's Stone. When Harry reached the chamber where it was hidden he saw Professor Quirrell – with a face protruding from the back of his head, the Dark Lord's face stretching out of his skin. When Harry touched Professor Quirrell, the professor turned to ash, but the Dark Lord's soul separated from him… a grey, smoke-like bodyless shade that shot away like a ghost."
"And he was alive – as a bodyless apparition?" Draco asked, but then added, "So this is what Potter has been doing all this time, hunting down the Horcruxes?"
"Yes, Ginny and I have been helping him," she said.
"And you and Potter don't know what this sixth one is?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I don't know if Tom Riddle ever found anything that belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw or Godric Gryffindor."
"And of course, you've checked every known object of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's," he stated.
"Dumbledore's couldn't find anything of Ravenclaw's missing," Hermione said with a shrug. "Godric didn't have much in the way of possessions: his hat became the Sorting Hat; his sword remains in the castle – or returns to the Headmaster's office as you know. Some magical historians claim Godric wore a medallion, a gem or an amulet that hung on a cord or string, while other historians say it was a small pouch containing shells or a fossil or a small vial of potion. No one knows for sure. None of his images show it clearly; just something hung by a string worn under his robes. Gryffindor wasn't known for having possessions; he used what was available or transfigured what he needed at the time. Even his walking staff was said to merely be a branch he transfigured to suit his needs, and tales of his travels suggest he often used it as firewood if need be."
"Which eliminates any item of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's. So now what?" he asked.
"We have to work out what would have been important enough to inspire the Dark Lord to use it as a Horcrux – something he felt held significance," she stated.
"I want to go back to the Chamber of Secrets. Tom Riddle had been down there – maybe we missed something among his Potions equipment or in one of those chests," he said.
Hermione shook her head. "I agree with you except none of us could open the chests, remember? We used every spell we knew and couldn't open them – it's why we left them in there. Also, I don't think any of the Potions equipment is a horcrux. You, Ginny and I were touching pretty much everything in there. I remember Slytherin's locket; it was at Grimmauld Place the summer before my fifth year. It was pretty, but no one could open it, and it felt frightful to me. I hated touching it. Now that I know it was a Horcrux I know why – and nothing I touched felt that way down there."
Draco looked at his left forearm. "I could feel it in my Mark – the anger and animosity of the soul fragment, the prickly-stabbing sensation of dozens of needles and a freezing burn up to my elbow."
"Did anything make your arm feel that way in Salazar's potions room? Because I didn't feel anything from the items I touched," she said.
He stubbornly crossed his arms, but then sighed and shook his head.
"But if you want, we can ask Ginny about going back down. But I'd like to take Nott with us as well." He was about to protest. "He has sided with us, and he's Slytherin, too. He should see the Chamber – all my Slytherin friends should."
"Hermione—?" he started to say, but she cut him off.
"I think it would be good for them to see the Chamber – experience it themselves – and they might have a perspective we don't," she stated.
Draco replied, "Or maybe we take another direction: Salazar Slytherin himself."
"But we've—" Hermione started to say, but he smirked as he held up his hand and suggested going to the room where they'd stashed Salazar Slytherin's library.
She agreed. It was better than staying in the Headmaster's tower alone.
"So how have you done on translating all the old tablets?" he asked as they walked.
"Many of them are difficult, and I'll need time to manage them. I have started one of Slytherin's handbound books and some of the scrolls. One of the handbound books, more of a collection of writings, instructional diagrams and original spells, I believe was written by him, titled, Bestiaire of SnacaMageia in Alchymia, Nigromancy, Pharmaka, which translates to The Book of Snake Magic in Alchemy, Necromancy and Potions. The scrolls and journals I found related to the book delve into Salazar's beliefs in Snake Magic – something we don't learn about today," Hermione said.
"You don't learn about it. The snake makes a good totem animal to have around as a protector and guardian," he said offhandedly, then opened the door to their Slytherin library.
"What have you been reading?" she asked as he walked over to the table.
"Same." He opened one of the binders in front of him. It had multiple tabs, possibly made of his own design, filled with sheets of parchments of all sizes. He sighed heavily. "I've been sorting through all his correspondences and personal journals. I…"
"What's bothering you about them?"
He looked up at her. "In everything I've read blood purity is not mentioned at all – not once," he said, indicating his binder with a flick of his hand.
She gave him a quizzical look. He took a deep breath and continued. "In all his journals and the letters – never once did he, or the other founders, mention blood purity or pure-bloods – in fact they don't mention blood at all. They only referenced 'children of magical families,' and 'children of nonmagical families,' or 'families with a magical parent' – half-bloods, pure-bloods and Muggles or Muggleborn – they don't use those terms as we do now. Salazar Slytherin agrees on enrolling children from families with a magical parent as being acceptable if the magical parent had taught the necessary fundamentals. What he refuses to accept are children from non-magical families – period."
"But we knew this," Hermione said, confused.
"Then there are these," he said, handing her some parchments. "I found that first letter written from Wymond Peverell asking Salazar Slytherin accept his daughter, Lavendre, and son, Maurice, in his house, to be 'entrusted under his guidance and teachings.' Other letters dated many years later to Wymond Peverell seem to suggest that Salazar wanted to marry Lavendre, and she'd written back to Salazar herself a few times. Love letters. But whatever her father's answer was, I can't find it."
He passed her another parchment that had been handled so frequently it had tears, a burnt corner and a hole and was indeed quite faded. "I believe this is one of Miss Lavendre's letters."
She looked up at him. "I found mention of a Lavendre Peverell when I researched the Peverell family after reading The Tale of the Three Brothers from Tales of Beedle the Bard and found her name in a journal of Cadmus Peverell. He called her 'his dearest sister of whom we are so proud…' and mentioned her 'binding in marriage.' It's possible Salazar and Lavendre married."
"Do you know that the earliest mention of the epithets pure-blood, dirty blood and Mudblood I could find comes from The Enlightened Vision of Salazar Slytherin, a posthumous treatise I found among the journals, by Willelmus de Gaunte?" Draco asked. "He, Willelmus de Gaunte, pursued 'a woman fair', a maiden of Wyvernoak, called Morrigan Slytherin, 'beloved granddaughter of Salazar', who he wed in 1215. She was a Parselmouth and so was her boy, Maurice Gaunte."
"Gaunte? The ancestors of Marvolo and Merope Gaunt, Tom Riddle's grandfather and mother? Harry told me the Gaunt family claimed that they carried the bloodline of Salazar Slytherin and they had his locket and ring – the ones Tom Riddle made into horcruxes. Harry said the Gaunts had the ability to control' snakes," Hermione stated.
"Yes. The point is they – the Gaunte family – were the ones who spoke out about blood purity among 'the elite families.' Slytherin House is based on the prejudices of the Gaunte family – who took the requirements of Salazar Slytherin a step farther in deciding who was acceptable to be sorted into Slytherin. Maurice Gaunte, great grandson of Salazar Slytherin, became the first Head of Slytherin House after graduating from Hogwarts, 'having been well trained and educated'," Draco stated.
"But what about the basilisk?" Hermione asked. "Do you think they knew about the basilisk and the Chamber?"
"Hermione, basilisks can live up to nine hundred years. I tested the skin I collected before preserving it. The basilisk Potter killed was only a few hundred years old. Don't get me wrong – Salazar Slytherin had a basilisk, but according to his last journal he destroyed it before sealing the Chamber and leaving the school. However, how he obtained one was written in his journals."
He sighed and handed her a journal. "Meet Gormalaith Gaunt, daughter of Mordred and Maura Gaunt, pure-blood supremacist like most of her family. She killed her sister, Rionach Sayre and her husband, William, for their tolerance towards Muddleds, another word first used by the Gaunts."
Hermione speedread through the journal. "I read in Ilvermorny: The Great North AmericanSchool of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the account of Isolt Stward, who in the sixteen hundreds formed the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the events around the death…"
She reached a depiction in Gormalaith Gaunt's journal that stunned her. It was utterly sickening. She stared at the book, torn from wanting to hand it back or finish reading it; knowing her mind wouldn't rest until she'd read it and how much it would bother her if she did so. She looked up at Draco, then remembered what she'd been saying. "From The Cronica of Magicus Sorcerie, volume one, The Instituciouns of Magicus Academiae, and the Institutions of Distinguished Schools of Wizardry, Witchcraft and Enchanters. It's said that the snakewood tree on the grounds grew from Salazar Slytherin's wand…"
"It's best you read this with me so we can discuss her intense and extreme prejudicial beliefs of blood supremacy and her psychopathic delusions of grandeur," Draco said as he slid the book from her fingers and set it down.
"Similar to Gellert Grindelwald and Tom Riddle," she said, her thoughts coming back to the subject at hand.
"I want to finish this project so the truth of Salazar Slytherin can be told," Draco was saying.
"And you and I will," she promised spontaneously. But it didn't answer the pressing question: what was the sixth Horcrux?
Hermione saw Theo and Marek in the Entry Hall as she and Draco descended the stairs. They waited for her, and the three boys escorted her into the Great Hall.
Right away, Hermione could feel the tension in the Hall. Even with the Death Eaters missing, all seven of them, their oppressive presence prevailed. Everyone in the Great Hall was quiet, the students and staff subdued. But then, she reminded herself that there were many students there who sided with the Carrows and the Dark Lord.
All her friends were gone from the Gryffindor table and the Hufflepuff table was nearly empty. At the Ravenclaw's table over a third of them were gone as well.
Only the Slytherin table was still full. But even then, Hermione could see a segregation between the students – where the division became clearer – those who sided with the Carrows and the Carrow's favorites lumped together as those who didn't, and those who simply kept their head down, like Goyle had been doing.
"You're sitting with us," Draco said, pulling her along with him. She was about to protest when he added, "so I can keep an eye on you," loud enough for his housemates to hear. Several of them snickered at her distress. Leaning into her as he sat down he said, "None of your friends are here, so you'll be safer with us."
With Draco on her right, Marek on her left and Theodore and Goyle across from her he was probably right.
When the food appeared so did the food Hermione's plate, along with a mug of English breakfast tea with a dab of milk – just the way she preferred. "Afraid we're going to poison you?" Goyle sneered from across the table.
She ignored his barb and sipped her tea, inhaling the lovely aroma. She sighed heavily and took a bite of toast, mulling over what she knew – and didn't know – and what to do next. But so far nothing she and Draco discussed had been helpful.
"Hermione?" Theodore asked.
She looked up startled. "Huh?"
"I said, 'it's better if you're not seen today – the Carrows… What has you so deeply preoccupied?" Theodore asked.
"It can't be about her essays or any of her projects. She's ahead of everyone in her classes – she's even doing extra transfiguration sessions with Professor McGonagall, translations on ancient Byzantine for Professor von Hohenheim in Alchemy, and Ancient Mesopotamian Cuneiforms for Professor VanDerhauthe," Marek stated. "Thing is Greek, Latin, Egyptian, Drueidan or Daelic, Old English, Old Friesian, Old Norse and Old High German. Those are the acknowledged wizarding languages. So why the sudden interest in mastering Mesopotamian cuneiforms?"
"You know how she is – she's an overachiever with time on her hands now that Potter and Weasley aren't here," Draco pointed out, giving Hermione a sidelong glare. "It's better she spends her spare time studying and translating cuneiforms than defacing the castle walls."
She glared at Draco, who glared back at her intensely. But then the thought came to her; Marek's really smart, and his family are among the Dark Lord's supporters – and Theodore, his dad is an original Death Eater… She turned to Marek. "Do you really want to know why?" she asked.
"Ja," Marek said immediately.
"There is someplace I want to show you," she said cryptically and stood to go.
"Where?" Theodore asked.
"Have you finished eating?" Hermione asked. Marek and Theodore rose, but Draco, still glaring at her, mouthed the words, 'No. Don't.'
"Yes, I need their help," she said softly back to Draco, then turned and walked out of the Great Hall, Theodore and Marek hurrying to keep up.
~D~
Draco caught Severus' eye and signaled that he needed to speak to him. Urgently. He then left the Great Hall and met Severus in the corridor outside the staff room.
Severus led Draco inside and warded the door for privacy. "Now what's happened?"
"Bloody Gryffindor's. It's bad enough Hermine's involved with the search for the Dark Lord's possessions – excuse me – Horcruxes, but now she's including Nott and Schlinder," Draco said in exasperation. "I caught the thought from her mind before she led them from the Great Hall."
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled heavily.
Draco felt the same way. "Do you know if either one are Occlumens – proficient enough to hide secrets from the Dark Lord?" he asked, placing his hand on the back of a chair.
"Neither Thaddeus nor Tiberius Nott would consider such deceptions as necessary, and Günter Schlinder would've had no reason to learn – so no," Severus stated and closed his eyes for a moment. "Did your mother say if the Dark Lord seemed to notice the destruction of the cup?"
"She hasn't seen anything to indicate that he had, and Aunt Bellatrix hasn't left the manor since my visit. The Dark Lord keeps Nagini close, but only because he's using her to kill any of his followers that displease him. The death is slower than the Killing Curse and far more satisfying to watch them writhe in pain, contorting in spasms, and the grotesque swelling and tissue damage – it's quite a show, Draco said, his hand curling into a fist. "Why do you have my mother involved in this?"
"Dumbledore set the task of finding and destroying the Dark Lord's Horcruxes to Potter, believing that their unique connection would enable Potter to find them – and naturally Potter involved Weasley and Hermione. Dumbledore believed if the Dark Lord placed magical protections around Nagini, kept her close, it would mean that all the other Horcruxes have been destroyed. Your mother is in the enviable position to watch for the signs without suspicion," Severus explained. "Your mother has been extremely brave defying him as she has been – and paying the price for it."
"It's a good thing you and my aunt both taught her Occlumency," Draco stated.
"She came to see me twice before your sixth year," Severus stated and crossed his arms. "Her devotion was wavering when he Marked you so young, grew deeper when he moved into your home, but her admiration turned to disdain the moment he gave you the task to kill Dumbledore – something she couldn't forgive him for."
"And I could see her change that summer – even more so when the Dark Lord made me move in with you. No regrets there, I appreciate everything you've done, but…" He'd been shocked to learn of his mother's betrayal, now, knowing what he did, how horrible his life had become, he couldn't be prouder of her for doing so. Draco turned his head, then looked back at Severus. "So, what do we do now?"
"I'll keep those boys here in the castle at all costs, every conceivable excuse. It was bad enough to learn about their underground activities, far more astutely conducted than the Dumbledore's Army group, but still bothersome."
"Why did you allow it?" Draco asked.
Severus smirked. "Have you seen the reduction of the number of students favoring the Dark Lord? Even in Slytherin the numbers who would swear loyalty to him are diminished, compared to what they were when I was a student. And I expect more to turn in the near future."
"I'd only hoped more Ravenclaw students would have turned from the Dark Lord's side," Draco admitted, surprising himself that he cared.
"From what I've seen, most of them aren't siding with the Dark Lord; they are simply focusing on their schoolwork, prioritizing preparing for their O. and N.E. ." Severus uncrossed his arms. "You should go. Keep doing what you're doing. I have a feeling we're nearing the final confrontation soon."
"I wish I had your confidence in that," Draco said and turned to go. Damn bloody Gryffindor. Why Nott of all people and Schindler? He lifted his left arm and stared at where his Dark Mark was under his sleeves. Yes she'd turned him, swayed his allegiances to act on his own misgivings, pulling him into all this mess. Not that everything that was happening this year wouldn't have made him… Oh, who am I kidding. I'd have kept my head down and continued spying on Severus and the Rat. Not that Severus ever did anything suspicious or underhanded. That he saw. The consummate Slytherin, and the Dark Lord's… He scoffed at the thought. Loyal follower? The Dark Lord's spy at Hogwarts and Dumbledore's right-hand man. He'd played both sides so well even I was fooled.
But for all the time he'd been stuck with Hermione, why hadn't he had any influence on her? Yes, she was intelligent, resourceful and clever and a very capable witch, but she tended to react instinctively, viewing her way as the only right way without considering all the possible repercussions. And she didn't listen to him when he tried to warn her off. Neither Nott nor Schlinder were capable of handling the game at the level that he and Severus played. Goyle either, he'd be a liability.
He'd have to go up to their secret room, get to Hermione, Nott and Schlinder before things got too far, and find a way to handle things to keep Hermione from revealing too much.
~H~
Hermione had quickly led Theodore and Marek to the room where Salazar Slytherin's archives were now housed. She hoped that this wasn't a mistake; Draco had been quite angry at her for bringing them to the hidden room. But nothing in Salazar's papers were necessarily secret or dangerous, just eye opening. She was desperate to determine what the last Horcrux was and discover its hiding place. "In here," shed said, leading them into the room.
Sitting on the table in the middle of the room with the ledgers and binders of Salazar's letters Draco had been cataloging and the cuneiform tablets she'd been translating was Hufflepuff's cup, albeit damaged quite badly.
Theodore picked up the cup and examined it. "I've seen this before… It looks… familiar."
"It's Helga Hufflepuff's cup," Hermione stated.
"The corridor to the kitchens," Theodore said, looking up at her sharply. "But how did you get it?"
"What do you know about Horcruxes?" she asked.
"Why?" Theodore asked slowly.
"Do you know what they are?" she asked.
"Why do you want to know?" Theodore asked.
Marek was watching at her and Theodore with his arms crossed, but not engaging in the questions.
"I know they exist and I… Do you know what they are?" she persisted.
"Yes," Theodore said, his eyes narrowed. "What I want to know is why you're asking."
Hermione bit the inside of her cheek, studying him, wondering if this was a mistake.
"A Horcrux is an object that someone uses to hide a piece of their soul so that they cannot die," Theodore stated.
Marek stared at him, his eyes going wide. "They do what?"
Theodore ignored him. "There is a spell to put it into an object. The wizard or witch intentionally kills another person – it will tear their soul. But they have to do it without regret or remorse. You see, they must mean to do it, to intentionally kill an innocent without guilt for the act to tear their soul," he said, picking up a piece of spare parchment next to her tablets. "The piece of soul has to be significant enough to remove it…" He ripped a strip of parchment off the sheet. "So, they can place that fragment into an object." He rolled up, then flattened the piece and put it in the cup.
"What if they made more than one?" Hermione asked, her focus squarely on Theodore.
"Heilig Albuna!" Marek exclaimed. "Isn't one enough?"
"What if they made six?" she asked Theodore.
"Six? Kill six innocent people?" Marek asked, aghast.
"Six? They'd be insane to do so. They've intentionally killed someone innocent for an act of Blood Magic," Theodore said, and Hermione cocked her head. "To make more than one, they risk more than they think." He tore away another piece and set it down. "With each tear their fractured soul loses more of itself – it becomes weaker. Moreover, the fractured piece will have to find a body to inhabit or be put into something to hold it magically. The remaining fragment," he flicked the remaining piece held in his fingers, "will survive if the body is killed, but it cannot reconnect to the other pieces without sincere regret or remorse."
She nodded, following along with his explanation.
"But you've said he made six," Theodore stated.
"Yes," she acknowledged.
Theodore tore four more pieces off the parchment and set them down on the table – each piece a bit smaller than the previous one. The last piece was rather small.
Marek wrote numbers, two thru six, on the strips.
Hermione wrote down what she knew them to be. Diary. Ring. Locket. Nagini, his snake. _?_. The Cup piece was already in the cup.
"What happens to someone who is missing six pieces of their soul?" Marek asked in a strained, hushed voice.
"It's Dark Blood Magic," Theodore said. "I've only read of wizards making one Horcrux, and even then their personality changed. But to tear one's soul in so many pieces… with their soul split so many ways… And a bodyless soul – even a fragment of one – cannot be bodyless for too long."
"Theologically a person who tears their soul so many times and doesn't repent their actions could become demented and lose some of their common humane behavioral and psychological reactions," Hermione added, paraphrasing what she'd read. "I read that in Abhorrent Dark Deeds of the Most Notorious Criminals and Wicked and Cruel Deeds of Malicious Fiends." Two books she'd found on the Headmaster's bookshelves in the sitting room of their suite.
Theodore nodded. "Well, I agree with that… I suppose they would lose their humanity." He paused for a moment. His gaze slid unfocused to the wall behind her. "You're saying the Dark Lord made six Horcruxes?"
"You're looking at one – what's left of it," she said, pointing to the cup with the parchment 'soul fragment' inside.
Theodore stared at the cup. "When he came back… when I went home three years ago, my father and his friends were… were afraid – they all were. They spoke about the Dark Lord in hushed voices as if afraid to speak about how'd he changed, but they did. His appearance – well you've seen it. He was always powerful and had always spoken about wizard superiority, coming out of hiding – but this racial cleansing is new. To me he's a maniacal sadistic and demented wizard – but the way my father spoke of him before – he never mentioned… He is manipulative and narcissistic and incredibly power hungry – yes, he'd craved power, but more so now, I think. But I accredited that to his having escaped death twice now."
"So, this means that his soul has become fragile. The Diary and the Ring were destroyed before the reincarnation of his body; the Locket was destroyed during Winter Solstice and this Cup Saturday. Do you think he noticed?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know; like I said, he's more demented and sadistic than my father remembered from their early years and even father's closest friends from that time are all afraid of the Dark Lord's temperament. But I'd only met him after our fifth year, when my older brother was inducted into his fold," Theodore stated. "He was so eager to have us both, to have us follow in my father's illustrious footsteps and swear our loyalty. It creeped me out."
"We were both at Malfoy's home during Winter Solstice," Marek said, indicating him and Theodore, "with our families – with everybody. You said Potter destroyed the locket then?" he asked, and Hermione nodded. "I didn't see any indication he had felt anything – but he was seething with anger the entire time you were gone. Moreover, the Dark Lord wouldn't let anyone leave unless he ordered them to, and he was particularly cruel and malicious in his punishments toward anyone who displeased him. I'm surprised Mrs. Lestrange and Mrs. Morederk were not killed on the spot. But both had been Crucioed quite harshly."
So, if he was already enraged maybe he didn't feel the destruction of the locket, but did he feel the destruction of the cup? Hermione reasoned. But her thoughts were interrupted when Theodore asked, "What is the question mark? A Horcrux you don't know or one you're not sure he made?"
"Oh, we believe he made it – I'm not sure what the object could be," Hermione said.
"Is that why you brought us here? Is all this your research on Horcruxes?" Marek asked, indicating the room, but he sounded very skeptical.
"No. This is what Ginny, Draco and I brought up from the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said, and indicated the collection with her hand. "This is the contents of Salazar Slytherin's personal library – and these," she said, indicating the clay tablets, "are what I've been translating."
"And you think the answer is here?" Theodore asked.
"You were in the Chamber of Secrets – actually in the Chamber of Secrets?" Marek asked, gobsmacked.
"Yes," she said to Marek and then turned to Theodore. "I was hoping so. I was hoping for some clue, some remark that could lead to anything owned by Godric Gryffindor or Rowena Ravenclaw that Tom Riddle – the Dark Lord – might have found. But so far nothing. I've exhausted my research on Godric Gryffindor. Rowena Ravenclaw – almost everything is accounted for. I was hoping that maybe your family might have something – something you're holding in secret for the Dark Lord."
"No, but then our home isn't as large as Malfoy's," Theodore said, deep in thought. "It's – was a sixteenth-century stone and timber cottage and old mill, but there are extensions and various refurbishments magically added by my ancestors." He looked up at her. "I know every inch of my home and the grounds. But unless you know what the object is, I can't tell you if it's there."
"You said almost all of Rowena's possessions. How convinced are you that the Horcrux is something of Rowena Ravenclaw's?" Marek asked.
Hermione turned to face him and shrugged. "The only thing unaccounted for is Ravenclaw's missing diadem."
"Then let's ask someone who was alive when she was," Marek suggested.
"What? Who?" she asked, her mind spinning. Alive? When Hogwarts' founders were alive? A ghost—
"The Bloody Baron, Arthwg ap Bufton. The founders were his professors. He told me he'd been a student here when they were in the castle," Marek said.
"But the title of Baron wasn't used until after the Norman Conquest," she replied, confused. "It was introduced into the English feudal system by William I between 1066 – 1087… and Rowena Ravenclaw died before that – early eleventh century…"
"He was Welsh – from Gwynedd, and his father was a 'Beorn' – a warrior or knight as was his grandfather before him," Marek explained. "It's worth a shot, isn't it?"
Marek knew where to look for the Bloody Baron. Apparently, he'd formed a friendship with the ghost when he'd first arrived, and the Baron helped him learn to transverse the ins and outs of the school and his housemates. It took a few tries, but, surprisingly they found him in the tower room where the Slytherin girls had taken Hermione for tea.
"Baron Arthwg ap Bufton, madam," the ghost said, and bowed to Hermione's after Marek made their introductions.
"Marek told me you were here when the founders taught at the school. Is that correct, were you?," Hermione asked, taking in his gaunt face, several heavy chains and the huge, ghoulish, dark smear on his robes apparently stained with blood. He also wore a beautiful Anglo-Saxon sword in a heavily tooled leather scabbard on his hip.
"Yes, I was," he said proudly. "They were my teachers. I was selected by Mægisters Slytherin to be within his esteemed house of study, and I had lessons with Maistresses Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff as well as Mægister Gryffindor.
"So, you were here when Rowena Ravenclaw died? Was that in 1066?" Hermione asked, knowing the use of the title of Baron began after the Norman Conquest.
"My dear lady, she died in 1037, the same year I died."
"The same year as Rowen Ravenclaw?" Hermione asked, surprised. Maybe he was a Beorn, the son of a warrior or knight, if that honor passed to the next generation, and he confused the title with Baron? "May I ask how?"
"Unfortunate circumstances," he replied haughtily, but she tilted her head, her brows furrowed in confusion.
"I died in Albania on a quest," he said proudly. "Maistresse Ravenclaw was ill – gravely so unbeknownst at the time – by a slow acting distress. It was because of my being a baron that Maistresse Ravenclaw entrusted me with finding her daughter and bringing her home."
"Naturally, I went after Helena. I found her in a sizable village living as a beekeeper and alchemist, poor thing. I told her of her mother's wishes and proposed immediately as to elevate her standing. I knew that my lovely Helena desired wealth, status and enjoyed fine clothes, knew she coveted her mother's jewelry and prestige – things I could provide for her. But that was still not good enough for my beautiful Helena – she scorned me, refuted my advances," he explained. Anger showed in his ghostly eyes. "I could maintain her in the manor she desired. I had wealth – she needn't work for a meagre existence. But she refused! She refuted me! She scoffed at me and said that I was merely 'a warrior or knight who owned a hill.'" A bit of spittle appeared as he said this. Then he turned dramatically toward the wall.
"No, don't go – what happened?" Hermione called after him. He stopped, staring at the stone wall. "You and Helena – what happened? Did she return to the castle? How did you die?"
His shoulder sagged a little, his head lowered. "I killed her," he said with deep remorse. He looked up and squared his shoulders. "My grandfather fought for kings of Gwynedd: Rhodri Mawr – Rhodri The Great, Anarawd ap Rhodri – the King of Britton, and Hywel Dda ap Cadell – Hywel the Good. My father fought for Hywel ap Cadell in Æthelstan's in 934, and Llywelyn ap Seisyll of Gwynedd in 1018, and Rhydderch ab Iestyn of Morgannwg in 1023."
So, his title had been Beorn and at some point it changed – became Baron… Hermione realized.
"I had lands, wealth, title, looks, and a fine home – everything the ladies desired. But none of that was good enough for Helena!" Beorn Arthwg ap Bufton – the Bloody Baron stated sharply, growing angry. His chest swelled as his hands clenched in fists. "I was furious, enraged, I lost my temper – I stabbed her," he said through gritted teeth, his face contorted in rage.
Hermione recoiled in shock.
The Baron seemed to sense her fear, and his demeanor changed to that of sorrow. "When I realized what I'd done, shocked, mortified, in my despair, I killed myself. Moments later, I found myself floating above our dead bodies. But she, the most beautiful apparition ever seen, screamed at me – called me a murderer! She repudiated my declaration of eternal devotion, and she fled. She fled – from me! I followed her all the way back to this castle."
Hermione couldn't believe it. "Helena is here? In Hogwarts?"
"Yes, Helena is here. But she has avoided me all these years. I've been unable to gain her forgiveness," he replied, sorrowfully. "She is the ghost of Ravenclaw, the lovely Grey Lady." At that, he slipped away into the stone, leaving her with Marek and Theodore.
"Helena Ravenclaw is the Grey Lady – the Ravenclaw house ghost!" Hermione exclaimed as she hurried out of the room. She'd seen Helena many times; a scholarly and cultured young figure. She was frequently seen floating by the windows while reading or at one of the tables since she had the ability to move and hold the books and turn their pages – unlike other ghosts. She was also frequently seen reading or writing at the desks in the advanced Transfiguration, Arithmancy or Alchemy classrooms… She mentally mapped the most efficient way to check each classroom. Arithmancy and Alchemy classrooms were closest.
Arithmancy classroom required the answer to a question for magical properties of numbers. "If an equation contains variables, then the truth value of the equation depends on the values of those variables…" Hermione said and the door opened, but the room was empty.
She already had the pass for Alchemy in case she needed to enter the classroom to work on one of her projects. Kenneth Huh and Malinda Greenburg looked up when she opened the door. She closed it and turned to leave. "Not there," she said and walked between Marek and Theodore, who followed her.
Professor McGonagall had her three classrooms in the Transfiguration Tower: the third-floor classroom located in the corridor off the Grand Staircase platform, and first-floor of the Transfiguration Tower, and the ground-floor that used to open onto the Middle Courtyard in the inner part of Hogwarts Castle. Hermione ran toward the third floor with Theodore and Marek running behind her. At the door, Hermione tried "Alohomora," windlessly to no avail.
"McGonagall doesn't use Alohomora, Hermione, she uses Unloken nonverbally," Theodore said from behind her. Hermione turned around, confused. "She's Scottish – she fluent in Gaelic, Goidelic and Brittonic languages so I've heard her use Fhuasgladh-Fosgail and Oscailt-Dhíghlasáil on her classrooms, and she can also do them non-verbally." He tried, "Fhuasgladh-Fosgail,"and it worked, but the Grey Lady wasn't there.
"First floor then?" she asked.
When they entered the Grand Staircase, Hermione spotted Helena floating down the magically moving stairs and she hurried to catch up to her – or at least to see where she was going. But the stairs moved, separating her from the guys who got stuck on the landing. Hermione clung to the stone balustrade to keep from falling as the beautiful ghost simply descended easily downward through the moving stairs to the platform. Hermione leaned over the balustrade, trying to see where she was going and realized the ghost's advantage; she was floating downward, from one landing platform to the next as if the stairs hadn't moved. Frustrated and determined to catch up to the ghost, she wondered if she dared try using a Hoover Charm or Slowing Charm nonverbally on herself to follow the ghost.
"What the blazes are you doing?" Cillian demanded. She looked over at him. He was standing on the landing platform below her, across the massive square stairway tower.
"Cast the Slowing Charm on me," she shouted as she climbed up on the balustrade and flung herself off, thankfully hearing his, "Arresto Momentum," as she fell past him, and instantly her descent slowed down.
She saw the Grey Lady gliding past the third-floor classroom that opened a short way from the stairway platform, and then the second floor.
Hermione landed indelicately on the first floor near the first-floor Transfiguration classroom, but the ghost glide-walked down the stairs to Entrance Hall. Hermione ran after her, hearing Cillian demand that she stop and wait for him, but she had to speak to the ghost.
When Hermione reached the ground floor she saw that the ghost had slipped into the Transfiguration Classroom! "Bloody hell! I need my wand," she hissed in frustration. Hoping her wandless magic would work, she did the wand movement with her finger and put all her determination behind the words, "Fhuasgladh-Fosgail,"and the door opened.
The ground-floor classroom used to open onto the Middle Courtyard in the inner part of Hogwarts Castle, or more generally called the Transfiguration Courtyard (although other classrooms were accessed that way as well). However, since the change of the ministry, the induction of Death Eaters in the castle and Dementors hoovering in the skies above, the back wall had been modified to contain a new door.
"I told you to wait for me!" Cillian snarled from behind her.
She whirled around to face him. "I'll explain, really I will, but please open this door. I have to speak to that female ghost," she said pointing at the heavy oak door. "Try Fhuasgladh-Fosgail, please."She inhaled deeply, silently pleading, and he must have seen the desperation in her eyes and flicked his wand, casting the professors' Unlocking Charm.
She flung open the door and entered quickly nearly crying as the grey lady slipped through the closed door leading out into the cloisters surrounding the courtyard.
"The doorways and the windows facing that courtyard have been magically sealed for the safety of the students because the dementors drop into the courtyard during lessons," Cillian pointed out as she stopped in front of the door.
"I suppose you want me to open it?" Cillian asked, a bit sarcastically when she turned to face him.
"Yes, please! Cillian, please, hurry!" she said.
He flicked his wand and the door opened and Hermione rushed out. She spotted the lovely ghost standing in the romantic Gothic colonnade looking out at the courtyard.
Hermione approached the ghostly young woman. "Excuse me, but are you the ghost of Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady?"
The young lady laughed. "Oh, no. I am often mistaken as the Grey Lady, but I'm not the ghost of Ravenclaw house. I think it's because I greet the new students after the Sorting and check that all the students get into the common room before curfew – the riddles can be quite tricky. My name is Chiara Signorini, Signora Snape."
Disappointed, Hermione turned her head, and saw another ghostly lady standing serenely, looking at the overgrown garden, which appeared as if they'd been uncared for all year. The ghost was wearing a silverly-transparent gown with a wide neckline, long heavily embroidered sleeves that extended to her knuckles with a lovely overgown with very wide, long hanging sleeves and trimmed in fur, and a metal-worked belt, and a circlet over a net headdress – women's fashion reminiscent of the Middle Ages.
"That's not the Grey Lady, Signora Snape. She is Signorina Isolda Shareburg. She lived in Normandy in the early fourteen hundreds. She has an extensive knowledge of plants and their good uses and likes to visit with Professor Sprout – when the students aren't around."
"So, she didn't know Rowena Ravenclaw either," Hermione said and sighed dejectedly.
"No, she didn't," Chiara Signorini said, studying her reaction. "May I ask why you're looking for the Grey Lady?"
"Because I believe she is Helena Ravenclaw and the only person who can tell me what I need to know. I need to ask her about an artifact that I think the Dark Lord wants," Hermione stated.
"You seek Maestra Ravenclaw's lost diadem," Signora Signorini said. "It was lost a long time ago."
"Yes, in 1037, I believe," Hermione said, looking at the other ghost. "It's of great importance it's found before the Dark Lord does if Harry's to defeat him. Not for its acclaimed powers or estimated value, but because the artefact may have been cursed by dark blood magic and those curses have to be broken so Harry can defeat the Dark Lord once and for all."
Signora Signorini turned to face the courtyard. "This courtyard had always been so beautiful. Maestra Ravenclaw designed it and created the magical fountain. It's fed from a spring that flows beneath it. Maestra Hufflepuff planted the trees, herbs, flowers and vines… It used to be my favorite place as a student. When I was a student we thought the fountain held magical powers of insight."
Hermione stood, looking out at the strangled and overgrown garden courtyard she'd always loved as well. "Did you know a student called Tom Riddle?"
Signora Signorini looked at her sharply. "You know that awful boy?"
"He is the Dark Lord; that was his name when he was a student," Hermione said.
"I remember him – such a manipulative, cunning snake! I wish I could help you, but I don't know what happened to it – no one does," Signora Signorini said.
"I believe Tom Riddle found the diadem and cursed it – that's why I must find it, to break the curse. Harry can't win until that curse is broken, and I know how to do it. But I must find it," Hermione implored.
Signora Signorini nodded, but looked conflicted. "I wish I could help you. Helena is evasive, and she can be somewhat taciturn. She prefers secluded places and doesn't appear to or speak to most students, especially those who are not of her house. I think it's because people seek her out to ask about her mother and her lost diadem. So, she doesn't tell people about her past or that she was Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter."
Hermione looked up at Signora Signorini. "I'm really hoping that she will talk to me. She's my last hope," she said.
"I'm not sure she knows, but if you are seeking Helena, she will be where the Barron does not go – she especially avoids him. When I need to find her… there are two places I suggest: Freyja's magical garden accessed from the first-floor corridor through the fresco depiction of Freyja in her garden on the old wall fountain; or Ravenclaw's own secret library on the fourth floor, next to the portrait of Dalton of Littlewood. Anglo-Saxon dægeseáge meaning 'eye of day' is Freya's sacred flower. Dalton will ask a question, usually a puzzle or logic riddle. Oh, behind Glamis of Mingrey on the fifth floor is an iron trapdoor, that you cannot see, that leads through the fireplace of an old reading room. You'll have to use the Flame-Freezing Charm to enter." Signora Signorini glanced away for a moment. "She may not help you, but I wish you luck and hope you are wrong."
~S~
"Where is your wife?" Aleco screeched. "Did she escape you, Severus?"
Severus stopped and turned slowly, hiding his contempt for the witch. "My wife is presently in the company of Cillian in the Transfiguration classroom practicing her spells for her exams," Severus said coolly, grateful that Alecto hadn't seen – or heard – Cillian's message sent by his Patronus.
"She was not at lunch," Alecto stated the obvious.
"No, she was not." Severus maintained his cool composure, although why Hermione was running about seeking out ghosts was beyond him. She could've simply used the bell in his office if she needed to speak to any one of them. "And please tell me why our brethren, the school's security officers, were not at breakfast? Did you not think to check on them this morning, as is your responsibility as my Deputy Head?"
That ruffled her hackles: her chest and ears turned red. "They were hungover!" she spat, even emitting spittle.
"So, you condone them imbibing alcohol within the castle, becoming so inebriated that they are unable to perform their duties?" he asked pointedly. She opened her mouth to retort, but he cut her off. "I can assure you that under the supervision of Professor McGonagall not one of my staff ever became so irresponsible."
"Your Mudblood is to be supervised at all times, and wandless – unless she's in her classes."
He glared daggers at the witch's impertinence and rose to his feet. "Watch your language. My wife is under supervision at all times by those who serve the Dark Lord – those he trusts and has designated to watch her. And although she's not normally a meek young lady, she is obeying my edicts and restrictions and following that which the Dark Lord had set down for her – obediently. She is not giving me as much grief as you and your brother are."
"My brother and I were entrusted in seeing that the students were properly educated to ratify the loathsome lies being taught in this school," she said, clearly defending herself. "Amycus has been most successful in teaching the Dark Arts, and I have been properly telling the students the truths about Muggles and Mudbloods."
"And caused an insurgence of delinquent behavior in the school—" Alecto began to sputter, but Severus hardened his tone and continued, undaunted, "to the point that the Dark Lord sent in five Death Eaters to handle what you are incapable of controlling."
"How dare you—"
"Oh, dare. I tolerate you and your brother," he replied in an icy smooth drawl, "but do not think that you and your brother's actions have not been remarked upon by the Dark Lord. In fact, I'm not the only one who has commented on your brother's teaching methods and your abusive disciplinary practices. No, I strongly suggest you do your job before our master decides to make changes." With that, he turned and walked away, his robes billowing behind him.
In fact, Hermione's well-behaved and obedient actions (when she had been) and her submissive and agreeable manner both pleased and alarmed him. In truth, for six years she had been an impetuous, brash troublemaker, skirting about the castle and involving herself in Potter's shenanigans – not that he missed that side of her – but he did miss her strength of character, her know-it-all intellect, how headstrong and stubborn she used to be. She was vulnerable, he knew that, and she knew that the Dark Lord was allowing her to be at school because it suited his purposes.
And yet Severus had come to love her – really love her – but he wished she trusted him to help her with the horcrux quest, or any of her worries. She was still so bloody independent. At least she was confiding in Draco and Cillian. But that also gave him a twinge of jealousy. He wanted to be the one she turned to and he didn't know how to fix it.
~H~
Freya's hidden garden room was lovely and smelled divine, but Helena was not there. Glamis of Mingrey was overjoyed to have a visitor, but the well-appointed reading room was full of Ravenclaw students, so Hermione left quickly. The same for the Ravenclaw's secret library – which was not secret to the fifth and sixth year Ravenclaw students.
Marek suggested searching the winding stairs that led to the castle grounds. "The Baron never goes there; in fact, he keeps out of the Ravenclaw tower all together. I'm told Helena likes the beautiful stain-glass windows and there are a multitude of passages."
That didn't sound promising, but Marek pulled out his mirror. "But with the mirrors, we can split up and look."
"I'm not leaving Hermione," Cillian stated.
Hermione withdrew hers. "Good thing I have mine," she replied. "Just be careful; not all the Ravenclaws are on our side."
"There are more than you think," Marek stated. He led the way to the base of Ravenclaw Tower down a dizzyingly narrow Scottish Grampian granite and iron spiral staircase, illuminated by bronze floating chandeliers decorated with realistic thistle leaves and blooms. Each had six paterae holding lit candles and adorned with amethyst thistles on the bobeches.
Marek turned away from the carved oakwood door onto which Hermine guessed led to the fifth floor. "Nochd Homh Iad," Marek said, suddenly revealing a carved door in an archway under the stairs which opened onto the next descent of the Scottish granite spiral staircase, except here the chandeliers emitted an eerie glow.
Several flights down, Hermione saw a ghostly female figure with dark grey hair to her waist and wearing a long flowing cape. "Please wait," she called out as she quickly hurried to catch up to the ghost. "Are you the Grey Lady - the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower?"
She stopped but did not turn around. "I do not answer to that name," the ghost replied haughtily.
"No, I'm sorry, of course you…" Hermione didn't want to upset her, not after having finally found her. "I'm sorry. You're Helena, aren't you? Helena Ravenclaw. Rowena's daughter."
She still didn't turn to face her. "I used to see you with Luna Lovegood. She is kind, unlike so many of the others. You were friends, before you sided with the evil ones – the ones that bare his emblem."
"It was forced on me. I was caught and the Dark Lord made me his prisoner – I still am. He marked me, yes, but I loathe him—" Hermione inhaled deeply. "You're right, Luna and I are friends. I was hoping you might be able to help me."
Helena turned, and Hermione tried not to gasp at the long dark stain on her dress. "You seek my mother's diadem," she said condescending.
Hermione nodded, her hopes rising. "Yes, I am. I need to fund it to see if it's a—"
But Helena turned, saying, "I cannot help you," dismissively.
"Wait! Please!" Hermione cried out, following the ghost as she glided down the stairs. "I want to destroy it – if it is what I think it is."
Helena paused, turning slowly as she said, "I know what it is! He lied! He only wanted it for his own evil purpose."
"Tom Riddle – the Dark Lord," Hermione said. "He found it, didn't he?"
"Yes, him – that evil boy – who you now serve, Mrs. Snape," Helena said viciously as she swooped up at Hermione. Hermione recoiled in shock, nearly stumbling as her foot hit the riser of the step.
"I know who he is! I know what he's done! HE DEFILED IT WITH DARK MAGIC!" Helena snarled.
"Yes, he did, to cheat death," Hermione stated, holding up her hands in submission. "And I don't serve him. I am Harry Potter's friend, the one the Dark Lord fears, the Chosen One, the one who can defeat him – but only if I can find his Horcruxes – yes, horcruxes! The diadem is the last one. I can destroy it once and for all. That's what you want too, isn't it, Helena? You want it destroyed. But I can only do it if you tell me where he hid it. Do you know where he hid it, Helena? Please just tell me!"
Helena settled on the stairs below Hermione, her ghostly body seeming to deflate, sorrow or something similar on her face. "It's here, hidden in the castle in the room my mother created. If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask. But you have to know what to ask." With that she turned to go.
"Thank you," Hermione said after her. The Room of Requirement. But what would Tome Riddle have asked of the room? A place to hide it or something more specific?
Hermione heard the boots of the guys coming down the stairs. "You know, don't you?" Theodore asked, stopping a few stairs above her. "You know where it is?"
"Yes, and no," she replied and sat down on the step. "I know the location of the entrance. I don't know what to ask for."
"What does that mean?" Cillian asked as Theo sat on the step above her. She looked up at Cillian leaning against the wall, watching her.
"It's that room on the seventh floor, the one that the D.A. used our fifth year – the one they are in now," Theodore said. Hermione gapped at him in shock. "What, you think I don't know? I've known. Umbridge tried to get me on her Inquisitorial Squad – because of my dad – and we knew, we just couldn't get in."
"You were in the Inquisitorial Squad?" Hermione asked, astonished.
"We knew he was back – my whole family knew! My dad and uncle are Death Eaters, so is my brother. The Slytherin Underground was originally formed because he returned – because Umbridge and then the Ministry tried to deny the truth! We wanted to protect those of us who didn't want to end up on the wrong side – to keep things from going too far."
"I know, you've tried to tell me. I'm – you were doing what you are now, controlling from the inside," Hermione admitted, feeling embarrassed for her reaction. "I'm sorry, I should – I do trust you."
"Thanks," he said with a nod. "What did she mean, 'If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask.' Ask for what?"
"The room doesn't have a password, you have to ask it for what you need, and it changes to what you require. We call it the Room of Requirement – the house-elves call it the Come and Go Room. To get in where Tom Riddle hid it I need to know what to ask the room for. He could've asked for anything."
"Pardon me, Mr. Gwynek," Marek said. She and Theodore looked up, realizing Marek was trying to make his way down to her. "I've something to tell you," he said, adding, "Excuse me, Theo," as he stepped over his friend's boots.
He was holding a book Hermione recognized as one of Salazar's journals Draco had in his stack on the table. "It's about the Chamber of Secrets."
"What about it," Hermione replied, giving him room as Marek sat on the step below her. "It's not in there; Draco and I discussed it – and dismissed it as a possibility. Besides, Helen just told me where it is – sort of."
"Nein, not that. Sorry, it's off topic, but I think it is important. It's about the intent of the Chamber of Secrets – we've all been wrong. It's in here," he said with a flick of his hand holding the book. "I'd opened it while you and Theo were talking – until you mentioned Horcruxes, and well… I borrowed it. But I read more while waiting for you to talk to Helena. I assumed she'd not want to see us Slytherins. And well, I opened to the part of the failed experiment with the basilisk, and something about how snakes were needed, not the stone army that Gryffindor insisted on. In here he writes – Salazar, not Gryffindor – that there were too many spells that could destroy them – the castle's army – and he listed quite a few. I think he means all the suits of armor and the stone knights all over the castle – why there are so many of them."
Marek pointed to a page, holding it as if to let her read it, but she couldn't because of the angle in which he was holding it. "He thought he could use a basilisk to defend the castle from an attack from non-magical people – people who persecuted witches and wizards. There was a lot of that in our history. He mentions that he made snakes, lots of snakes, that could defend the castle through all the passageways into the castle. The spells to activate them and control them are in here. I just don't know if he ever made them."
"Oh, he made snakes," Hermione said, her thoughts still on the question she needed to ask the Room of Requirement. "There are rows of them; they make up the pillars to the ceiling."
"Wait, you've been in the Chamber of Secrets?" Cillian asked. "When?"
"Ginny, Draco and I went there," she answered dismissively, worried more about the problem at hand.
"The spell to activate the stone knight statues is Piertotum Locomotor, but it will only work for the Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts," Marek stated. "There is a similar spell here, I think – in the book – an ancient one. Well, it's in those ancient cuneiforms like the ones you're translating – I think."
"Wait – are you telling us the monster – Salazar's monster – was created to defend the school?" Theodore asked, stunned.
"Ja, or that was his intent. Salazar created the basilisk, but it grew too big, became hard for him to control, so he killed it and sealed the chamber to protect his secrets. The one that was attacking the students our second year was only a few hundred years old," Marek said.
"I think Draco said they can live for nine hundred years – that the one in the chamber was much younger," Hermione stated. "Basilisk skin is a very rare potion ingredient, apparently."
"So how did you come to know about the location of the Chamber of Secrets?" Cillian asked.
"Harry is a Parselmouth, he could hear the basilisk," she said. "The basilisk was using the pipes – the plumbing."
"So, let me get this straight? Salazar Slytherin created the Chamber of Secrets to defend the school?" Theodore asked.
Hermione exhaled deeply and turned to face him. "Yes and no. From what we've learned each founder had a special room for themselves. The Chamber was Salazar's. He conducted experiments down there – a workroom and a private library with all the things he'd collected over the years. Draco, Ginny and I brought everything from his library to that room I showed you. All his potions equipment and containers of his ingredients are still down there, as are the artifacts he collected. The carcass of the basilisk is still there as well."
"I want to see it," Theodore said.
"And I think you should, all of you," Hermione agreed. "But I've a Horcrux to find and destroy first.
~~o0o~~
Author's Notes:
The bits about Gormalaith Gaunt and her niece Isolt Stward and the Ilvermorny School of Withcraft and Wizardy, are cannon.
The Bloody Baron's name and history I made up fitting him in the same time period as Rowena and Helena Ravenclaw. He was born sometime in the tenth century and died in the 11th century. Here is my reasoning: Hogwarts is said to have been founded in the 10th century and the record seems to date sometime around fl. c. 993. By this I'm assuming the school was up and running, flourishing around 993 A.D. since the abbreviation fl. or flor. means: "Floruit" or "flourished" are the dates used to indicate the period when a historical figure, whose birth and death dates are unknown, was most active. This is true for events as well.
From what I found, a medieval teacher in Anglo-Saxon Old English was called a Mægister or Magister; female teacher would have been called Mægisteress or Maistresse.
My placement of the Transfiguration classrooms in the Transfiguration Tower might not fit cannon – but neither did the moving classrooms as explained – well brushed off – by JK Rowling as Hogwarts being a magical castle when asked by fans.
As usual I made up the spells not recognized in cannon. This time I used Old Gaelic, Nochd Homh Iad,to reveal the hidden door and McGonagall used Gaelic to secure her classrooms. This is because both Minerva McGonagall and Rowena Ravenclaw was Scottish. Rowena was from a Scottish glen at the time of Anglo-Saxon rule and Gaelic, Goidelic and Brittonic languages were spoken in Scotland.
The latest theory about the Chamber of Secrets presented in this chapter is not my own theory, but one I like and used in my story: A Harry Potter Theory Changes the Chamber of Secrets' Purpose, The Chamber of Secrets Was Made To Defend Hogwarts written by Nicholas Brooks and also Harry Potter theory: The REAL reason Salazar Slytherin created the Chamber of Secrets written by George Simpson. It does fit in with my own theory that Salazar Slytherin distrusted non-magical people (ie: Muggles) and did not want the magical offspring, Muggleborns, in the school.