Explaining to the goblins what she wanted was easier than it had been explaining it to her friends. Silversmite and his apprentices understood immediately.

"What metal would you have it made of?" Kunaite asked. "You would have many options to choose from our forge."

"Err—I don't know," Hermione admitted. "Maybe gold on the sun side, and silver on the side of the moon? Whatever you think would work best, really."

"It must be metal to flow with the magic," said Rustedge, the other apprentice. "Perhaps palladium for the shadow on the moon, and sterling silver for the moon itself."

"The sun would be gold, but to change it to an eclipse so it might glow would be a challenge," Silversmite mused. "I would oxidize and heat zirconium, perhaps, and would leave a thin band of gold around the side to help illuminate and glow."

"What would power these?" Kunaite asked. "The metal enchantments, I understand, but I would know what would cause a glow and power an artifact."

"That is not for us to know," Silversmite said, shaking his head. "We are goblins. We will handle the metal. The others would handle the rest."

Kunaite and Rustedge exchanged a look, but ultimately, they followed their teacher's lead and began sculpting things in wax.

It was difficult to tell the shape of things in wax, Hermione found – she could barely make out the details in the translucence of the material, but the goblins didn't seem to care. They cast each design they made in a cheap metal for her to see the design and give feedback on.

"These are neat," Hermione said. "The moon side is essentially just another circle, though, isn't it? Unless it's in the crescent stage, it will be hard to recognize as the moon."

Kunaite reacted suddenly, inspired.

"I would craft something new," she said, running to the forge, and Hermione watched in amazement as she began sculpting with an inhuman energy. Stunned, Rustedge stared at her before going after her.

Kunaite said something rapidly in Goblidon, and whatever she said seemed to energize Rustedge as well, and soon they were making a mold. When they poured the molten metals, they were both chanting over it as the mold filled, and Hermione wondered at just how goblin magic with metal worked.

They came back to her with another face of a pendant, but this one looked like the moon – it looked like an actual photo, with shading, pits, and white spots like she'd see in a picture, with a ring of jet black around it. As Hermione watched in astonishment, a shadow slowly passed over the moon, blocking it out entirely, and then receding until the moon was whole again.

"That's incredible!" Hermione exclaimed. "How did you do that?"

"Multiple silver alloys," Kunaite said wryly. "But it would be worth it, yes?"

"It would," Hermione agreed. "This is brilliant!"

Silversmite had been working on the golden face. He came over to show her what he had done.

"It would be hard for human eyes to see," he admitted. "But look. I have used different alloys to show the depth of the sun and its rays emanating from it."

He wasn't kidding – it was hard to see, but peering at it, Hermione thought she could see subtle transitions in color – some of it brighter yellow than other parts, which were darker and more golden. Overall, the effect was very cool – it looked like more than just a gold disk, though Hermione found it difficult to explain how.

"When you trigger it," Silversmite said, "this will happen."

He said a word, and Hermione watched as the circle gradually darkened until it was a deep, flat black, with a small ring of brilliant gold around it.

"A small ring of jewel around the seam of the sides would help it look illuminated," Silversmite suggested. "I would try fire opal, perhaps. But the core would have to be the energy source. This would be a complicated piece of magic, even without your beacon charms."

Hermione grinned sheepishly. "Believe me, I know."


By the time Neemey returned with a bargainer, Hermione had sketched out her ideas more fully.

First, she would have the master amulet. The follower amulets would each need to be forged individually – she couldn't duplicate the goblin magic that would need inlaid in each pendant. Using spells similar to the ones used by the publishing house, Hermione would then link all other amulets to hers by enchanting both the molds used and the metal as each came from the forge. This way, when Hermione changed her amulet to be an eclipse, all the pendants would do so as well.

Hermione was relatively confident she could learn to do this. The Protean Charm, what the publishing house seemed to use to link all books together, didn't seem impossibly hard – just like it would take some practice. It would be difficult, no doubt, but Hermione loved a challenge.

The tricky part was linking them to the master amulet's location, as well as having the other amulets turn into not-Portkeys. That was the part she needed help for.

Tolly sat next to Hermione as Neemey approached with the bargainer, goblins and House Elves alike watching on from a safe distance.

The Fae was tall, maybe six and a half feet, and lithe. Extremely pronounced, high cheekbones, as well as an incredibly sharp bone structure made the Fae's face look inhuman, to say nothing of the pointed ears. Whereas the previous Fae Hermione had encountered had looked like they might be able to pass for human, this one looked like it had taken the blueprint of a human, scoffed at it, and made improvements to it.

As they drew closer, Hermione was able to see what she'd assumed were shadows and hair were, in fact, not; the Fae's skin was a dark purple, and instead of hair, it had curved black horns, like those of a ram, curling over its head and around the sides.

Neemey and the Fae approached the circle in the moss that had been made and sat down, everyone watching silently.

"I welcome your presence," Hermione said carefully. She pushed forward a plate of bread and wooden cup of milk that the House Elves had procured from somewhere. "Please; eat, rest, and be welcome."

The Fae's bright blue eyes seemed to sharpen, and Neemey grinned, showing many pointy teeth. Wordless, the Fae reached down to take the bread and began to eat it, and Hermione relaxed slightly. She knew very little about the Fae, but she did know that they valued the laws of hospitality.

Or at least, they did in ancient legend…

After the Faerie had eaten, it looked to Hermione. It suddenly grinned, showing multiple rows of pointy, dark-blue teeth that made Hermione feel sick.

"I am told you want to bargain for passage through our lands," the Faerie said, grinning. "Is this accurate?"

Hermione bit her lip.

"Possibly," she hedged. "I want people to be able to use a magical beacon to guide them to me through the ley lines."

"The ley lines run through our lands," the Faerie commented. "That would mean you need passage."

"The existing ley lines run through your lands," Hermione pointed out.

There was a pause.

"Oh ho," the Faerie said, eyes narrowing and gleaming. "Go on."

"Neemey said that the Fae made the existing ley lines," Hermione went on, "when you all left this reality. If you did that, is it possible for a wizard to make one as well?"

"A wizard, no. A witch, perhaps." The Faerie's eyes glinted. "You want your friends to make a new ley line to you every time you call?"

"If that's what it takes?" Hermione said, blowing out air. "I mean, if there are some ley lines that stay in this reality and don't go through your lands—"

"You misunderstand the nature of the ley lines," the Faerie cut her off. "It is not a matter of destination. It is a matter of intention and creation."

Hermione faltered. "…I'm sorry, what?"

"Traversing a ley line means traveling via magic," the Faerie said, eyes gleaming. "It means partially leaving your material reality and entering ours. You cannot have a ley line that does not tread in our lands."

Hermione bit her lip. "Oh."

That kind of ruined things. Hermione did not want to have to deal with her followers getting kidnapped by the Fae. Not only was that an objectively terrible thing, but it meant she would also run out of followers fast, once word got around.

"Your disappointment is delicious," the Faerie commented, smirking, "but premature. I am here to bargain, Hermione Jean Granger. Are you leaving the table before the first offer is made?"

Hermione looked up, her glance wry. "Is there an outcome to this that grants my people safe passage through the lines?"

"There is," the Faerie said, tilting their head. The adjustment looked odd on the faerie, giant ram's horns tilting. "Can you find it, though?"

Hermione took a deep breath.

"What would you want from this bargain?" she asked steadily.

The Faerie's eyes gleamed, even as Tolly and a few goblins flinched.

"Your offer of making new ley lines is not a bad one," the Faerie commented, tracing shapes in the milk with one impossibly long finger. "If each of your people creates their own ley line, their magic will harmonize with the other lines. With their magical signature added in, we would have a way to know who is not trespassing in our lands."

"So long as they don't leave the ley line," Hermione guessed, and the Faerie grinned.

"Naturally," it said, teeth shining like sapphires. "You didn't think otherwise, did you?"

Hermione gnawed on her lip.

"I don't know how to make a ley line," she admitted. "Neemey said—"

"I will teach you," the Faerie said immediately, sitting up straighter. Its eyes were sharp. "If you would genuinely make this bargain, I will teach you how, so that you may show your people how."

"Really?" Hermione frowned. "Why wouldn't I want to make this bargain?"

"Making a ley line is no easy task," the Faerie said. It smiled savagely. "It is painful. It hurts. But it can be done."

"And in exchange, each person who creates a ley line would get free passage within them?"

The Faerie considered.

"Each person who successfully makes one," it bargained. "Failures may try again, but they will not be granted safe passage until they succeed."

"Fair enough," Hermione sighed. "And what do you get out of this?"

The Faerie looked at her strangely. "Get out of this?"

"Your side of the bargain," Hermione clarified. "I've said what I want. What do you want?"

The Faerie gave her a look as if she was very stupid.

"You will be making ley lines," it told her very slowly. "That is the bargain."

"Yes, I know, but—"

"The denizens of Faerie benefit by the existence of more ley lines," Neemey cut in, clarifying. "Your passage is not free, Hermione Granger. Each of your friends would earn theirs by creating a new line, which benefits the Fae."

Hermione hadn't realized that. She thought the making of ley lines was more a logistical requirement to assimilate magical signatures to the network as a form of identity validation rather than the Fae's side of the deal.

"Oh," Hermione said. "That's… good, then."

"Indeed," the Fae purred. "What else?"

Hermione withdrew her prototype pendants.

"I want to make these so they're magically powered enough to change and interpret a signal from mine," she said. "So people wearing them can touch them, hop a line, and arrive wherever I'm at."

The Faerie considered. "What is the metal these are made of?"

"Um," said Hermione. "Silver and gold, mostly. And black zirconium?"

The Fae nodded. "Those are not magnetic. They will be able to receive and transmit magic through the lines."

Hermione blinked. "Would them being magnetic mess them up?"

"Ferromagnetism does not play well with magic or our lands," the Faerie warned. "Try it at your peril."

"Oh," Hermione said. "Um. I'll pass – I have no desire to disrupt your lands."

The Faerie raised an eyebrow, and Hermione hurried on.

"Do you know how I can power them?" she asked. "Or would the initial enchantment be strong enough to work?"

The Fae scoffed. "It would not be strong enough to endure. And yes."

"Yes?" Hermione said. "Yes, what?"

"Yes, I know how you can power them," the Faerie said.

"Oh! Great!" Hermione exclaimed. "…err. How?"

The Faerie considered.

"Your blood is red, is it not?" it said suddenly.

Hermione faltered. "Err… yes?"

"Then not a blood crystal," it dismissed. "The iron would disrupt the energies."

"Is Fae blood… not red?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"Of course not," the Fae dismissed. "We cannot handle ferromagnetism the way humans endure. Our blood is inert, with copper carrying what we need."

Hermione wondered what color copper-based blood was. Goblins bled a different color, now that she thought about it, didn't they? What color did they bleed? She couldn't remember. Was it the same as the Fae?

"You could use my slough, but that's so indelicate," the Faerie sighed. "I was hoping each pendant could be tied to its wearer. But no, your blood is bad."

"What's needed to tie it?" Hermione asked. "Could we use anything else besides blood?"

"You need part of your body, without toxic parts," the Faerie told her. "Either part of you, or an issuance of your body."

Hermione blinked. She really didn't want cutting off a pinky toe to be required for this idea, or something else equally as grisly.

"Err," she said. "So… would a tear work? Saliva?"

"A tear would," the Faerie confirmed.

"Then… we could do that?" Hermione ventured. "Though I'm not sure how it would hold energy."

"You could drop it through the ley line," the Faerie said. "It would emerge as crystallized. Laden with magic."

"It would?" Hermione was surprised. "Is that how normal magical artifacts are made?"

"It is not," a nearby goblin said, warily. "Existing gems and crystals are used. No one would send part of themself through the Fae lands."

The Fae flicked its fingers lazily.

"If they create a ley line beforehand," it commented, "then there won't be a problem."

Hermione shook her head, trying to clear it.

"This is getting complicated," she said. "So, the plan is: each of my followers will make a ley line to get them access to travel the lines at will. Once they do that, they need to cry into the ley line, and the tears will become a magical crystal that can be used to power their amulet?"

"Yes," the Fae said. Its eyes gleamed.

"And in exchange, your people get more ley lines, which you want," Hermione went on. She paused. "Is there anything else that you want?"

"Plant mushrooms," the Fae said immediately. "Plant mushrooms and trees."

Hermione was taken aback.

"Err—we can probably do that," she said, mentally sketching out a sort of induction ceremony. "Any particular kind?"

"No," the Fae said. "But plant them. In circles, preferably."

Hermione blinked. "Okay. So… the next step is for you to teach me how to make a ley line?"

"The next step is for you both to sign the contract," Neemey corrected. Hermione looked over – she hadn't even realized Neemey had been writing this whole time. "Once a bargain is struck, it can then be carried out."

"Shouldn't we make sure I can even make a ley line first?" Hermione objected. "If I can't, then the deal—"

The Faerie cackled, cutting her off.

"You burned the dementors," it said, eyes gleaming. "You, Hermione Jean Granger, have nothing to worry about."