Hermione missed classes all day Thursday, sick.
"You've poisoned your magic!" Madame Pomfrey said, horrified. "How did this even happen?"
"Accident," Hermione said, her voice strangled. She leaned forward and retched into the basin in her lap again, vomiting more sludge-black slime. "Didn't mean to."
"Of course you didn't mean to, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen," Madame Pomfrey snapped. "How am I meant to cure this without knowing the cause?"
"'s fine," Hermione got out. "M'magic's burning it out – gotta throw it up—"
She vomited again, more creeping black slime, and Madame Pomfrey threw her hands up and stormed off to find Professor Snape.
Snape had only raised an eyebrow at her condition and commented that regardless of whatever foolish activities she'd been up to, Hermione's body was clearly working on purging itself of the toxin, so he saw no need to interfere. The glint in his eye told Hermione that he could help her feel better sooner, but Hermione was stubborn, too – she had no intentions of telling Snape what she'd been up to that had poisoned her magic.
By Friday, Hermione was feeling better, though a little weary. She was grateful that Moody had taken a break from drilling them on resisting the Imperius Curse to teach them how to treat the after-effects of the Cruciatus Curse instead.
Her relief was short-lived, however, when Moody told her to stay after class. With a sigh, Hermione dragged herself to the front of the room as her classmates gathered their things.
"Granger." Moody's magical eye was sharp on her, even as he nodded toward Millicent. "Bulstrode was quiet today."
"Millie usually doesn't participate much," Hermione said dutifully. "She prefers to take it all in and process what she learns first."
"I know." Both eyes fixed on Hermione, giving her a sharp look. "That's how I know it wasn't Bulstrode in class on Monday."
Hermione's heart stopped, lodging in her throat.
"I don't know what—"
"Oh, I think you do," Moody growled. "That was not Millicent Bulstrode in class on Monday. I have no way to prove it, and I know you'll deny it, so I'll only ask you this—" he walked around Hermione, so he was standing directly in front of her, glaring at her "—is whatever was possessing her handled?"
Hermione considered the matter delicately.
"Millie, if she ever was possessed, is no longer," she said carefully. "Any lingering matters will be resolved tonight one way or another."
Moody scowled at her, his warped face making the expression so much worse. Hermione stood very still, willing her heart to calm.
"Your coven handling the matter?" he demanded.
"They'll be there tonight, yes," Hermione affirmed.
Moody gave her another deeply suspicious look, then abruptly stomped to behind his desk.
"Dismissed, Granger," he said. "Get out of my classroom."
Hermione didn't need to be told twice, and she fled.
Hermione was venting about the encounter to Blaise later as they waited for the others to meet them outside.
"He already knows I've encountered a horcrux once. I don't know if he suspects me of trying to kill the Dark Lord or trying to resurrect the Dark Lord." Hermione groaned. "I don't know what to do."
"Well…" Blaise's lips quirked. "Aren't you kind of trying to do both?"
Hermione shot him a dirty look, and Blaise laughed.
When the other Shadows arrived, it was with supplies – textbooks, cauldrons, vials, samples, and a giant platter of finger sandwiches. Hermione stared.
"What—" she gestured at the assortment of stuff in front of her "is all this?"
"Supplies," Harry said helpfully.
"We don't know what we're going to encounter when we get there," Theo pointed out. "If we need to synthesize an antidote, having the supplies we need on hand will be helpful."
"And refreshments are always a good thing!" Tracey piped up. She grinned, lifting a bag. "I've got biscuits, too."
They'd arranged to leave before dinner ended, when they knew all the teachers would be in the Great Hall and in a staff meeting afterward. Hermione drew a rough map into the dirt.
"We're going to Exmoor. I managed to make a direct line, but there's another line that crosses at the Isle of Man, so be sure not to fall out at the node there." She stood up, dusting herself off. "Everybody ready? Alright, follow me."
Traveling via ley line was fast becoming one of Hermione's favorite methods of magical travel, especially now that she could connect places as she pleased at only the temporary cost of her health. The ley lines felt different today as well – smoother, easier to travel than they'd been on Wednesday.
They all emerged on the plains of Exmoor with a few holding their stomachs and moaning, but Hermione was pleased that everybody had gotten there successfully.
"Where are we?" Theo asked, looking around. "There's… there's nothing here."
"It's wilderness," Susan said, shrugging. "What did you expect?"
"Technically, it's called 'Hoccombe Combe'," Hermione corrected. "It's… well, it's nothing now, really. But there's an old set of astronomical standing stones around here, and it was as good of a marker as any."
Pansy snickered, but she quieted with a sharp look.
Once they'd all arrived, the Shadows spread out, searching the area and casting detection spells for muggles. There were none, not anywhere close to them, so they set about their duties. Theo set about taking samples of the soil, while Luna set about flying overhead, looking for significant landmarks. Millie and Tracey set out the snacks, Harry started a giant bonfire, and Blaise, Susan, and Hermione focused on feeling the earth with their magic.
"It feels sick," Susan said, her voice anguished. "It's—Merlin, I don't know how to even describe it—"
"When I made the ley line, it poisoned me," Hermione told her, grim. "Traveling here once the line was established – that was fine, which bodes well for the magic in the area in general – but I did not have a good time tearing through reality here."
They discussed if a purification ritual would be possible for the ground. The area was so large, they'd have to create a ritual circle composed of ley lines as the lines of the circle itself, which Hermione did not like the idea of.
"Once a ley line is in place, it's not like we can just rip it up and put it back," she argued. "I would really rather not have a giant ritual circle perfectly situated around the land. It would be incredibly easy for anyone who comes along to use and abuse."
Hermione would have to talk to the goblins, it was decided. Once they isolated the location of their caverns, they would have to systematically begin purifying the ground there, either via antitoxin or ritual, and they could spread out from there.
"The goblins will help you here, hopefully," Susan pointed out. "They only wanted the anti-toxin at the Wizengamot, right? They were prepared to do all the work themselves."
"The goblins like you, right?" Blaise asked Hermione, glancing at her sideways.
"I've earned at least some goodwill with them," Hermione said wryly. "Let's see how far it goes."
"Incoming!"
Hermione looked up to see several figures flying in, arriving on broomstick. She peered at them curiously, then laughed in excitement, running to meet them.
"You came!"
"'Course we came," Derek said, grinning. He winked at her. "Heard you were lookin' for Hedges to live here."
"Once it's safe," Hermione agreed, smiling. "How are you all?"
"Well enough." Clover stood at the front of their little group, composed of Derek, Clover, Jerran, and Worm. Argin and Aurican stood a little further back, looking around curiously. "We were curious to see what you planned to do with the place."
"As are we."
Hermione whirled around at the new voice. She hadn't heard anyone approach.
There were three new people that stood in front of her – teenagers, Hermione guessed, judging from their spots – each wearing long black robes, dark hoods, and holding a staff. Each staff had a gem at the top of it, and each one's gem was a different color.
"How d'you do tha'?" Derek demanded, awed. "I didn't hear a crack or nothin'—"
One of the newcomer's eyes flitted to Hermione, peering out from under the robe, and Hermione's eyes widened.
"Who are you?" Harry wanted to know, coming over and frowning. "We've never seen you before—"
"We were invited," one of them said, cutting Harry off. They took a step forward, extending a piece of paper clutched in a stained hand. Hermione took it, curious, and looked it over. It was torn from the Daily Prophet.
The House of Granger invites local residents
and aspiring residents of Exmoor
to meet their new landlord
and celebrate with her this Friday.
That was it.
"Who are you?" Harry asked again. "Do you live here?"
"How did you know where to come?" Clover wanted to know.
The robed person in the front glanced at Hermione.
"This place weren't here before," one of the newcomers said. "'s new. This nexus." The figure looked back to Clover. "That's why it's held today, innit?"
Hermione's eyes widened in comprehension.
"You hopped a line," she breathed. "That's how you got here, isn't it?"
The three robed figures all glanced at each other. While they exchanged looks, Hermione stepped closer, curious.
All of their robes were black but worn and stained. None of them wore wands or wand holsters. As Hermione got closer, she saw something tiny stitched over the heart of their robes – a tiny well, with two staffs crossed over it, one with a white crystal, the other with a black.
"You're from Blackwell," she realized, speaking aloud. She looked up to meet their eyes. "Blackwell's School of Spells?"
The figures nodded, and Hermione grinned, pleased.
"Welcome!" she told them, meaning it. "I'd been meaning to find Blackwell and visit, but I could scarcely find any information about it. Welcome, welcome – would you like any food?"
She bustled over to the table Tracey and Millie had managed to transfigure, gesturing to the food, and the Blackwell students all looked at each other carefully before suddenly sprinting toward the food, breaking into a full-out run. They descended on it ravenously, each cramming a sandwich into their mouth, hoods still up, before each person shoved their hood down as they swallowed, looking at her. They were three boys, two of which looked to be Luna's age or younger.
"Y'can't steal us away 'nymore," one boy told Hermione, defiant. "We ate your bread."
Hermione blinked. "Steal you away? You came here."
"You neither," the boy said, pointing at Luna, and Luna's eyes went wide. Hermione's mind was spinning, putting pieces together.
"Blaise, why don't you and Derek get set up for the equinox ritual," she said loudly, "and I'll talk with our guests."
She sat down on the ground, folding her legs in front of her. Luna drifted over to sit down by her side, and without discussion, Clover sat down on her other side, glaring at the newcomers. The three boys all sat down, placing their staves across their laps.
"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione introduced herself. "This is Luna Lovegood and—err—"
"Clover," Clover said firmly. "Clover's all."
"We're here because we're hoping to detoxify this land," Hermione explained. "It was poisoned a few centuries ago, during a goblin rebellion. We're also hoping to celebrate the equinox here." She offered them a smile. "Who are you?"
The boys all glanced at each other.
"I'm Andy," the boy in the middle said, the older one. "This is Gabbro and Ooly."
"Ooly?" Clover said, incredulous. "That's not a name."
"'S a nickname," the boy called Ooly snarled. "'s short for Oolite." He shot the middle boy a resentful look. "Not all of us got to pick good names from the bag."
Hermione blinked at them. "I'm sorry?"
"Andy is short for Andesite," the boy called Andy said, offering a crooked smile. "That's part of the initiation, at Blackwell. You let go of your old name, when you come to learn spells. And you pick a new name from the bag of rocks."
It was as absurd an entrance ritual as any other, Hermione supposed.
"And they teach you to hop the ley lines at Blackwell?" she asked.
"Kinda," Gabbro admitted, finally speaking up. "We learn about the lines, how to pull from them, how to store the magic. We don't often use them to travel, but when we do travel, they're what we mostly use."
"So we noticed when there was a new one," Andy said, interjecting. He gave Hermione a look, then looked at Luna. "There's a reason we were suspicious of you until you offered us food. It seemed like a faerie trick."
"Oh, no," Hermione hastily reassured them. "I made the ley line. I'm human."
The boys blinked, thrown, but that was nothing compared to Clover's reaction.
"I'm sorry," she said, leaning forward to turn her body sideways and look at Hermione pointedly, "but did you just say you made a ley line?"
Hermione winced. "I did."
"And were you ever going to tell us that you could—"
"We can discuss it later," Hermione said hastily. "Boys, if you're at Blackwell – did you sneak out? Why did you come?"
The boys all snickered, then started laughing outright.
"God, sneak out," Gabbro gasped out, wheezing. "We snuck out, d'you hear?"
"E'en just 'out'," Ooly said, laughing hysterically. "'Outta what?"
"I think," Andy said, trying to calm his laughter but still snickering, "that there's been a fundamental misunderstanding about what Blackwell is."
Hermione glanced at the other girls, but they both shrugged, and Hermione turned back to him.
"Well, then," she said, gesturing. "By all means, tell us: what is Blackwell?"
