Chapter 21: Interrogation and New Horizons

Date: Tuesday, 9th November 2010

Time: 7 pm, Malfoy Manor

The entire group of people, including Hermione gathered in a special magically enlarged room in Hermione's Room #4. The 1st Wizards War generation along with Celia were comfortably seated in 12th Century luxury chairs with Dudley standing behind Celia. Others including Hermione were standing in a large semi-circle surrounding the now awake Natalie, as she confidently faced her captors. The room was complete with 200 visible and 515 invisible security personnel and also 3 House-Elves. The only person who bore a stern expression was Adena, as she bore dagger like looks.

Hermione opened the act, "Good evening Natalie! (Natalie nodded with a sweet teenage smile that nearly melted every heart in that room) We tried to keep you comfortable up to this point of time and in the coming hours, how comfortable you feel is entirely your choice. To summarize, the current position is that you are our hostage and a bargaining leverage against the so called Dark Forces, who Adena partially controls. You are also our valued guest. You can be rest assured that while we may want answers to the questions we ask, your refusal to answer them will not compromise your physical and mental well-being at any level. A gesture like this sounds too kind, even to my own ears. Your friends killed Jack, who died trying to protect me, and he succeeded. Our group here is not noble ascetics. We are in all respects, flesh and blood human beings, Magical or Muggle. We feel anger and we also feel immense pain. What separates us from your cold blooded killer friends is the fact that we are cool thinkers with emotions. We recognize those same traits in you- that is why you fought to give me a quick hero's death. You knew that a horrible torturous death to me will not serve any purpose and will take away any chance of your group peacefully taking over power. That is the reason we will talk in a decent manner-one good human being to another. The main reason we will avoid violence is that violence will have no impact on you."

Adena intervened, "How do you know that, Hermione?"

Hermione smiled as she replied, "Adena, I see in her a reflection of my teenage days. When a person is totally committed to a cause, they will protect their ideals to their dying breath. Pain and torture do not matter to a person, then. The same thing happened to me in this very manor, back in 1997, when Bellatrix tortured me with the Crucio curse, to make me reveal the identity of Harry and the Horcrux we were chasing. If there is a greater parameter of pain, I do not know about it. I felt that every single nerve cell of my body was on fire. I was dying from inside but my mind kept telling me that it was better to die than to compromise Harry and Ron. (A strand of tears escaped the eyes of Draco and Narcissa.)"

Hermione's slender neck suddenly supported two pairs of arms and her either shoulder now supported the heads of Harry and Ron, as they emotionally embraced Hermione. All three of them were in tears.

Harry spoke for them all as he said, "Hermione, you were physically burning inside and your shouts were mentally burning us, below in the cellars. We knew you were strong and would never give us away but we wanted you to become weak, at a point of time. Your suffering was becoming unbearable for all of us."

Hermione managed a smile, "All that kept me going then was an absolute faith in our friendship. I was prepared to give up my life for our joint cause. My parents were already safe in Australia, so there was no stake, whatsoever."

Harry exploded in anger, "What the hell do you mean by that Hermione? Are your parents the only people who mattered in your life then? What about us? Do you think that your death would have helped us savor a victory over Tom? (After hearing Athena's story, they decided to call Tom Riddle by his birth name, rather than his adopted name.) We would have been mentally crushed forever, Hermione."

Hermione replied, "I know that. You do not need to say that aloud. Events in the recent past have made you repeatedly open up your emotions to me. I appreciate your love for me but you are simply repeating what I always knew. Still, it feels really good to see you so transparent, as regards your emotions."

Ginny laughed, "Athena has totally changed him. Even at home, he exuberantly expresses his love to his family. He jokes and he shares emotions. It is as if his parents' killer left him a silent healing blessing. Every person who matters to him, now gets his complete love and attention. The biggest surprise has been his professional life. Earlier, he was rigidly reserved but in the past few months, he openly shares information from his workplace, when they concern my sports team or hobbies. I feel like his life partner now, rather than a decorative wife. Hermione was absolutely right in 2002. Each of us fulfill unique roles in his life and we must respect our boundaries. If he opens up to us, we must embrace that but we must equally respect his silence. We trust his judgement."

This time it was Ginny's turn to receive the emotional embrace from Harry and Ron.

Hermione called for attention, "We have digressed. The moot point is my complete empathy with Natalie. If a teenager is assigned the risky job of putting an experienced witch like me under Imperious Curse, she must have a set of special talents, including emotional stability. I had that as a teen and also earned Harry's absolute trust, hence I was privy to the most vital secrets in Harry's life and I am sure, the same holds true for Natalie. Natalie, I am not playing god here. If Jack was my friend, the people on the other side were your friends. If I feel crushing pain on witnessing Jack's death, you must be feeling the same unspeakable pain as you learn that all your friends in that mission died. Irrespective of moral standing, every life is precious. If it holds true for subjects, it holds even truer for humans, irrespective of their allegiance. I empathize with your pain, Natalie, but they are all dead, so we gain nothing by weeping about the past. All I wish to know from you is what they want to do with the yellow box, who has the power to do something with it, when and where and finally, if we can get it back, through force, trickery or negotiation."

Natalie spoke in her Texan accent, "Thank you for reading me so well, Hermione. Before answering any questions, I would like to give a very brief introduction. I was a Muggle prodigy, born in Texas and completed my degree in American Board Certified Internal Medicine by 14, a full 18 years before any other person. That was when I started to notice my magical abilities, as I tried to help my patients. My parents negotiated with the French School to hold off my admission, until I finished my Muggle education. Then they turned my age back to 11, using a special time turner device and I started my Magical education with other students with equal maturity but far superior intelligence. I was instantly specialized in Potions and Healing and from my 4th year, Age 14, I practiced Muggle medicine for 140 hours a week, 60 hours of sleep and 30 hours of Magical Studies. It was followed by 58 hours of non-academic socialization and team relaxation with my fellow students, something that I absolutely loved. Basically, I was packing in 12 days into 7 days, thanks to the time turner. There was also a natural time difference between Texas and France. It was a rather stressful adventure but I loved every minute. Later in my 6th year, I shifted to the academic track. Currently I teach muggle medicine as a full paid Professor and rarely do I clinically practice it so my Muggle hours are about 30 hours a week. Another 20 hours are my niche research area that has both Healing and Muggle medicine applications. It was destiny that a person of my talents is hard to keep hidden. At the end of my 7th year, my grades in overall healing NEWTs were the highest in the history of the school in Healing and only Athena had better overall grades."

Natalie continued, "One summer afternoon in my 18th year, I was called in a restaurant by 2 biologists- a bio chemist from Canada and a Genetic Robotics specialist from Japan. They praised me in glowing terms before revealing their true motive. They wanted me to join their team, even while staying put where I was. My compensation was astronomically high, with my quarterly earnings equaling a decade worth of combined salary and earnings from my patents, both in Muggle and Healing medicine. They identified my primary weakness: Animals. Just like Hermione, Veena, Athena and Adena but more like Luna, I love animals. My research was to reduce human dependence on natural resources, specifically animal resources. I knew how to program human metabolism cells to store and burn energy without using animal resources. Our planet is at a knife-edge now and that is the point which they were making, very effectively. Hermione knows about the situation, but she was doing nothing to prevent the carnage, despite being in power. I had to step in and take matters into my own hands."

Hermione replied, "I do care for the planet, Natalie. So do most of the people here, including Adena and Athena. We were doing as much as possible to influence Muggles without interfering with their decisions. Quoting a very pragmatic explanation by Celia this morning, every life form is here as a gift of Mother Nature. We must act our part to the best and leave the rest to Nature. If we were meant to control Muggles, we would be Muggles and vice-versa. We can do up until a threshold and leave the rest to Nature. My heart bleeds for the animals but I can't go beyond a threshold. It would mean, going against my basic nature as a witch, which always ends badly. Tom thought he could rule over Muggles and Wizards, but he failed because, he went against his basic Nature. Tom's life is a lesson board for all of us, especially more so, after learning the full background from Athena. We must always respect our basic nature, Natalie."

Natalie sneered, "I beg to disagree, Hermione. We have been given superior brains by Mother Nature, in an endeavor to protect her own future children. To quote Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility. Our brain power makes us responsible for many future generations of Wizards and Muggles."

Hermione smiled, "I can't agree more on that but we have our limitations. We must push those limitations, slowly and steadily, instead of at one go. Anyhow, can we get some answers to the original questions now, Natalie? While we do appreciate your background, time is of an essence. We are facing a tremendous challenge and would truly appreciate a direct response now."

Natalie returned the smile, 'If I could, I would have, Hermione. It is critical that you have with you some background information, before I give a direct response. Please have patience and give me 10 more minutes on this vital background information. (Hermione nodded her agreement.) Thanks a lot, Hermione. My past background was to help you know my inner Nature. My second piece of background information consists of our mission yesterday (at this the relaxed posture of the listeners turned into rigid attention). Adena, your esteemed colleague Jack's death, was never a coincidence or poor luck, it was a doctored agreement between him and myself."

Adena's body went rigid, 'What does that mean, Natalie?"

Natalie's carefree laugh again warmed all hearts, "You all now appreciate that I am a highly intelligent person. A side gift of intelligence in medicine is an intuitive sixth sense, a tremendous asset in research experiments. I was a junior member who had orders to follow, delivered by my mentors, but I knew the possible consequences of my actions. I had no great affinity for Hermione a leader of the opposing camp. However as a woman, I can say that this generation and all of the others to follow, will eulogize her name forever because, she has taken our gender status to the top level. Hermione, as a person, you represent hope and glory for our gender. I am not enough of a cynic to ignore my basic instincts as a woman. Like, Veena, I idolize you but not to that extent. However, I could not see you die. If you did die, hope in our gender would die. I knew my Canadian mentor was planning a nasty death for you. To prevent this, I followed my instructions to the letter and then sent a thought message to Jack, explaining him the situation AFTER I placed you under imperious curse. After Jack sent you away from the Waterfall, I met him. To save you, either of us had to die. He decided it was better him than me. I was the one person on the Dark side who sided Hermione. I was also young and bright. He was already retired. Considering all stakes, he was the chosen one to die that night. We decided on the method to accomplish this. I was to negotiate a Hero's death for Hermione with me casting a killing curse at Hermione, if Kim agreed."

Draco was perplexed, "If you were to cast a killing curse at Hermione, how was it any different from them killing her?"

Natalie smiled, "Here is where my background information comes in handy. Hermione is not the only intelligent healer among us, here. My sole research success after years of research is to cast a killing curse in such a manner that the heart stops for 96 hours and the body attains a state of frozen coma. I would have sent Hermione to a pre-determined destination and asked Jack and you guys to pick her up. I was never given that opportunity and I find myself here today."

Despite themselves, the whole room gave Natalie a standing ovation. Even Hermione with all her brilliance, had to admit that finding a solution to the killing curse was the ultimate healing medicine zenith.

Natalie continued, "Now you have access to all the background information. Jack and Lucas agreed to make Hermione their partner in progress. I also had the same ambition. Killing Hermione was never an optimal solution. I argued a lot about this but they never agreed and my friends paid the price with their lives."

Tears escaped the eyes of Natalie, despite her rigid self-control.

Hermione immediately stepped forward and kindly hugged Natalie. This gesture had the biggest impact of Natalie and she freely cried on Hermione's shoulder for a full minute.

Hermione consoled her, "There, there, Natalie. Compose yourself. We never wanted to kill your friends but Jack was left with no choice. Any action he could have taken earlier is mere speculation. If he announced his presence earlier and tried to plea bargain, we were 2 against 15. They could have called in Magical reinforcements and roasted us on the spot. Jack did the best he could. In this respect, I disagree with Celia. Sometimes, peace is just not the correct option."

Natalie regained her voice, "Thank you, Hermione. Jack told me a lot about your kindness and I am glad to be one such recipient of your unconditional love. Despite that, you must know one thing. I am always a part of their side and I cannot divulge any of the information that you seek because it concerns the core of our mission. I want to consult my direct superior and my boyfriend, the Canadian mentor's brother, before I give any direct response. I would never have the courage to ask this from anybody but even as a hostage, your kindness as a captor, encourages me to ask a question: can I communicate with my superior without any surveillance from your end? Needless to add, I swear upon my Healing Practice that I am going nowhere. It is just that I am not disloyal. Neither was Jack, because he told Lucas about his plans to defect to Athena."

Hermione said, "I believe you, Natalie. You can use Room #8, a special magical room that is used as a bonding venue between Erwina and myself. It is her room. None of us will listen in, upon our own honor. You can freely communicate with your people from there for as long as you want, but after 3 minutes. Patrick, pick up Erwina and bring her to my bedroom cot. Pernie, please see that she is fed because she gets hungry, if woken up suddenly. After you both are back, Natalie can use the bedroom of Erwina. To reassure you, that is the only room without Magical Surveillance. We totally trust children. 3 best Y Grade Officers guard the door for extra security because adults might try to take advantage of vulnerable innocent children. In that room, I go with my elite Z* security force and no other cover. It is the only place I feel like a normal human being. The purity of babies remind us of an innocent era, long gone from our lives."

Patrick and Pernie went about their duties and Hermione sent Kreachera to prepare for an evening snack for all of them with the other 2 house-elves to join her after finishing the current task.

Natalie spoke, "You are a wonderful person, Hermione. That is why God has gifted you with a golden girl like Erwina. She spoke to me and asked me if my golden curled hair was natural or artificial. She had seen wigs in Muggle TV. She is beauty and intelligence, personified. After ages, I felt like a normal human being and I laughed like an angel. She is a real angel, Hermione."

Hermione gave a proud smile, "I know that, Natalie. I am biased because I am her mother but she is a golden child. You should be able to use the room now. Pernie gave me the all-clear."

Natalie smiled and exit the room.

Adena spoke, "We should eavesdrop, Hermione. I would have done so anyway but this is your home. Your authority is final. We might be able to attach a bug and get the location and identity of her colleagues. All the breakthroughs we achieved after your Picnic are now in the graves. We need to identify more faces. Let us use this golden opportunity to spy on her. She is our hostage, so all tactics are warranted."

Hermione shook her head, "As much as my mind agrees with you, my instinct says no and I always trust my instinct. We can gain a lot of information from Natalie, but only from her good faith and trust. A person with her advanced ability can easily detect a bug. She might not reveal it to us but she will lose her faith in us. She is also our guest and we can't deceive our guest. We must take things slow and blossom our relationship from a bud to a full grown lotus flower with all the layers of complexity and beauty."

Natalie entered Erwina's room and sent a visual thought message to her superior, Nathan.

"Reveal thy thoughts, Nathan."

Quickly came an angry response, "Reveal my &$! Where the hell were you? I was worried sick. Every other person in the Mission is dead and we are having an official mourning for a week."

Natalie calmly replied, "You know perfectly well where I am. It is the utter kindness of my captor who has allowed me to talk to you."

Nathan was somber, "I know about all that but we have protocols, you know that. How are you doing? Are they torturing you?"

Natalie denied it, "They are treating me like a guest, with kindness and respect. They asked me 4 questions but before I answer it, I had to discuss that with you." Natalie repeated the 4 questions.

Nathan replied, "You can answer about the first 3 questions. Do not answer the 4th."

Natalie disagreed, "I will give them clue B12."

After a heated exchange and fierce hard negotiation, Natalie walked into Room 4 with a smile.

Natalie spoke first, "I am pretty impressed by your principles, Hermione. I negotiated with Nathan about giving you some answers but that was if and only if your people kept their end of the bargain. Nathan will now inform this to his superiors so that they can take additional cover. I used advanced magic to check monitoring spells and found nothing during my conversation with him. I will answer the first 3 questions and give a riddle based clue on the 4th. You have a chance of securing the yellow box with a 90% success rate, if you solve the riddle in 3 days. After that the probability drops to ½ %. You see, our seniors are officially mourning the 15 people we lost in the Mission for the next 3 days. They will rejoin active duty after that. By the way Hermione, you had a divine retribution. One of the 16 members was the Estonian National, who tried to kill your son."

Hermione was surprised, "How do you know about that?"

Natalie laughed, "Observant women can learn a lot when men drink, either in celebration or frustration. He became a laughing stock after a baby boy displaced his wand. He was #5 in the young people ranking within our group. I heard his frustration and rant no less than 15 times."

Hermione shook her head in sadness, "I do not appreciate death, Natalie. Even a person who tried to kill my baby Aurey was himself a son, brother or friend to others. The greatest victory would be to ensure permanent love and peace. Coming back to the current issue, what can you reveal now?"

Natalie replied, "Jack told me about your analyses on what they want to do with the box. It is absolutely correct, so there goes your first question. They want to make your genetic copies and circulate them like fake currency. However, no one in the organization CURRENTLY has the power to execute this plan. Jack removed the cream of the brain power. I could have taken it to the stage of 70% completion but I am here with you. They have a backup mind bank system but it will take them no less than 2 months. An experiment like this is highly risky in terms of poison or fire and none of us are immortal. So you guys have a cushion of 2 months in the minimum and Nathan, my boyfriend, has agreed to share information ONLY on this aspect, provided I provide him information in return, the content of which I will discuss with you. As regards when, where and if you stand a chance of retrieving the yellow box, it all depends on you solving the clue B12 within the next 3 days. Now, about this clue. There are 3 parts to this clue and each one needs to be solved to find an effective solution. The solution tells you all you need to know. Hermione gets the first part, Adena & Luna the second part and finally, Athena, the third part. Rest may split between these 3 as per Hermione's free choice. There is a deduction phase and an execution phase. The execution phase is easy, if you solve the riddle. Once the riddle is solved, I can't give you any further information until Nathan gives a green signal but if you do decide to let me go, I will almost certainly be assigned the task of completing the experiment of my Korean mentor. Are my terms clear?"

Hermione smiled, "They are absolutely clear, Natalie. If we solve the riddle within 3 days and have a 90% chance of securing the Yellow box, our immediate and long term aim are met. We will still keep you here for an extended period of time, before we vote on when and where to release you. Till that time, you are our valued guest. We are now magically unsealing all the rooms. You can communicate freely, from any place within the house and we will never listen in, as long as we approve the content of outbound communication. Neither, we will press you for any further information. We wish to ensure that by the time you leave us, this will be the best possible experience of a hostage. We want to build the trust level with you to such an extent that you will by yourself volunteer future information, just like you did when you warned Jack."

This time Natalie initiated the hug and she warmly embraced Hermione, "This is already the finest day in my life. You are my Hero, even if we are in opposite camps. Now, I want you to listen something very carefully. All codes and clues are programmed in our memory to be reproduced just ONCE. Once I say the clue, the memory will self-destruct. It is vital that you have someone here to not down ALL words in correct order because a single error will ensure your failure. I will not be able to clarify on the clue again. Please remember, the first part is for Hermione, second for Adena and Luna, third is for Athena."

Hermione worriedly asked, "When you say, code will self-destroy, will it adversely affect your brain? If that is the case, we do not want to risk your life. We will cope without the information ourselves." Adena, Athena, Luna and Harry nodded in agreement.

Natalie again smiled in genuine appreciation, "It does not work that way, though I am truly touched by your concern. This blue jewelry on my forehead has a transmitter that connects to our department's central server and extracts the wording of the clue. Once the clue has been read out, the main computer will reject all further attempts to access it with this existing chip code. I can't get a new jewel because I am a hostage here."

Hermione nodded, "We understand now. We select Penelope as the person who will not down the clue. She has the best ear, eye and hand coordination and we are 100% confident that she will note things with complete accuracy. We will try to solve the riddle in 72 hours after the riddle is read out but if we fail in our challenge, we will not press you for any other information."

Natalie drew in a long breath after Penelope indicated that she was ready with Parchment and Quill. She began,

"A journey is enjoyable, if only undertaken in a threesome company.

3 Angels hold 3 keys.

Angel 1: In this time period, summer rapidly approaches the Southern Hemisphere, before Thanksgiving

This is a moment of mourning in the commercial capital of South Asia, an anniversary of tragic Muggle failure

Angel 2: 8 Jewels adorn the ring, Geography and History complete the aura thing

This flower silently absorbed the highest Buddhist Preaching, A temple dedicated to it is no surprising thing

A Mythical Goddess makes it her seat, a graceful swan completes the feat

Angel 3: A gas derived from the liquid of life becomes an agent of death, comparable in toll with the 2004 Tsunami

The potential for combined mass killing much worse than the worst wars of History, a shuddering confirmation by merely looking at the Hiroshima Wreath."

After reciting the poem, Natalie slumped down her seat.

"Are you Okay?" a concerned Celia asked.

Natalie nodded, "I am fine but this experience of directly reciting from my memory, makes me tired. I would like to rest. Can I take your permission and retire to my room, Hermione?"

Hermione gave a surprised look, "This is your house now. You can come and go wherever and whenever you please. I am concerned about your health, however. Why don't you dine with us first?"

Natalie shook her head, "We have a severe paucity of time. You people should start working on the clue ASAP."

Hermione added, "You remain our hostage, hence we can't allow you to leave the house. 3 of our Z guards will be stationed outside your room at all times. I must approve any sensitive outbound communication. I am available at your beck and call, day or night."

Natalie nodded, "Thank You, Hermione. I do have a request. If it does come down to war, can you devise a method of capturing Nathan alive? He is my only friend left. My parents died in the Air France 447 crash last year. I have no other person in the whole wide world who loves me more than he does."

Hermione nodded, 'We promise you, he will be alive. Please rest now. Please remember, you also have new friends. Technically, we may be your captors but informally, we all love you."

Tears fell from her eyes as Natalie waved goodnight.

Hermione looked at Adena, Athena and Luna, before splitting the rest of the intelligentsia, as they set about solving the biggest riddle since their Hogwarts Days. A riddle like this opened up a new horizon of hope amidst despair, possibility of peace among devastation. A wave of optimism engulfed them all, as they set about their task after a light meal.

A/N: A big thanks to all the viewers and followers. A critical time is here for Hermione and Group. It is their once chance of success against the dark world, who have created so much havoc in their lives. They also have a new friend from the other side. There is plenty to smile about but a lot of work remains.