Fourth year at Hogwarts pt. 2

Hermione tore across the hall, running as fast as she could to ensure she wouldn't catch any last words from the pair of snakes. She sprinted over towards the trophy case tucked in the corner of the hall. She only knew this place existed because Harry would frequently come to look at the picture of his father with the quidditch team from (1973). She ducked behind the case listening for any familiar voices.

"What were you really doing in the library, Theo? said Malfoy in a muffled voice

"I was looking to read"

"We both know you are too idiotic to read Nott"

"I'll have you know I can read extremely well"

What an absolute load of nonsense, Hermione rolled her eyes at the unnecessary banter between the two. Sometimes the pair of them argued as if they were siblings.

"So did your father tell you anything about the meeting?" Theo asked excitedly

"We both know he did, you know he asked me to join at the next one, it's during Christmastime break" Draco declared

"So fill me in" Nott begged.

"All I can say is they are planning on showing a lot of these fools how the world really ought to look like.

"What do you mean? Like without mudbloods?

"Not just that, no filthy creatures allowed at all, and the true master of the wizarding world will finally be able to ascend" Draco said, as if he were reciting lines from a script.

"You have to tell them to invite me to the next meeting. Can you ask Lord Malfoy to ask my father and see if I can come with you?"

"I'll think about it, I may get a mission next time, perhaps you can join me"

"Please Draco, I want to join." Theo begged

"Nott, you know the death eaters only take the best, are you sure you're good enough to join?"

"Yes! I am Draco, I'll show you, I'm going to join and be of higher rank than you, you wait. Theo declared, sounding like a child trying to get his way.

"Whatever you say not" Draco replied unconvinced.

They passed by the hidden nook where Hermione was ducked in, she remained undetected.

Hermione sucked in a breath, she knew that the parents of the boys had extremely polarized views regarding muggle-borns. But a genocide of all muggle-borns was terrifying. And the death eaters and talk of the dark lord ascending into the role of a dictator. How could they hate her that much? Tears began to well up as she thought about how convinced Draco sounded when he spoke about how she and "her kind" were the scum of the earth. She went to school with them and yet all they thought of her was that she was meant to be dead.

She got up slowly and made her way back to the common room.

Thankfully the fat lady seemed to sense her mood, she swung open without any words. Hermione knew that Harry and Ron were most likely out on the lawn further researching the last task. Usually, she would join them, but the altercation between her and the two Slytherins left a bitter taste in her mouth and she quite felt like sitting alone.

She pulled out a charms book and started reciting spells.

"Accio" with the swish of her wand the cup flew into her hand, she pointed her wand to the water in the cup "Depulso" the water vanished leaving her with an empty cup. After warming up with the easy exercise Hermione flipped to the chapter that she needed to study for the assessment tomorrow. Each student would have a door to Lock and break open as fast as they could. She knew that most students would use a simple "Reducto", but she knew that that may not be powerful enough. Hermione decided she was going to use a "Bombarda", it was mildly risky because it intended to detonate the target in a small explosion. She knew that Flitwick would be very happy with this choice if she executed it correctly.

As she began to practice the locking charms on the door to the girls 'dormitory her mind fluttered elsewhere. She couldn't help but think about Draco and Theo and their plot to join the death eaters. Also, what was it that they were saying about a mission, what if Hogwarts was a danger to students? She lingered on the thought, was she to go to Dumbledore or McGonagall about it? Should she tell Harry and Ron?

Hermione decided that she didn't have enough facts to effectively "snitch" on Theo and Malfoy. She also knew that if she told Harry and Ron they would jump to conclusions and Harry would probably do something (BRASH). She was going to keep an eye on Malfoy and Nott and if she saw anything suspicious she would then think about the next steps.

She ran up to where Harry and Ron's beds were situated. Thankfully no boys were in the dormitory. She looked around the room for Harry's trunk. She knew that technically it was frowned upon to steal from your best friend but this was desperately urgent. She muttered an "alohomora" and heard the lock click. She pulled open the trunk and rustled inside trying to feel for her desired object. Her hand reached for a piece of paper. She pulled it out, perfect. Was Harry going to be (angry) about his map going missing, yes, but the map was also the only effective way to track Malfoy and Nott.

Hermione cast a "Gemonio" attempting to copy the map to avoid Harry noticing its absence immediately. She gasped as she saw a message appear on the blank map...

Miss Hermione Granger, what are you doing?

Moony says that Miss Granger is a sneaky little swot who is trying to take things that aren't hers.

Padfoot says that Miss Hermione Granger needs to invest in some more Sleekeazy's hair potion.

Prongs says that Hermione should spend her time working on a better acronym than SPEW rather than committing theft.

Wormtail hopes that Miss Granger fails her charms exam.

Have a horrid day :)

Sincerely, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

She heard voices coming from down the stairs

"Wow mate I do not know how Hermione does it for fun"

"I think I may spontaneously combust if I so much as look at another book"

"Fair enough"

"I'm going to go change and then we can play a round of chess" announced Harry

Shite! Harry was coming. Hermione quickly pocketed the map and closed the trunk making a run for the female dormitories across the hall.

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They were 1 day out from the final task. Hermione felt a bundle of nerves in her stomach. She knew that they had no idea what the task could be. She glanced at Harry who was sitting across from her in the great hall, he was wolfing down his plate of berries, eggs, and sausage while talking to Dean and Seamus. She didn't know how he and Ron could act like they weren't worried about this. Potentially it was her competitive spirit, or maybe it was because she wanted Harry to succeed and remain unscathed through this last challenge.

"Hey Harry, do you want to go to the library to look for any clues?" she asked.

"Nah Mione' I don't think so, whatever the challenge is, they want it to stay a surprise. Maybe we should just let it go?" he responded.

"Well, what are you planning on doing instead of giving this your all?" Hermione said, flashing them a glare.

"Hermione, ye have to understand, not everyone wants t'know everything about anything" Seamus replied.

She could not help but give him a look of confusion.

"Hermione, not all of us want to be know-it-alls," Ginny said from next to her, letting out a giggle.

"Yeah we know you love to do that, but all I want to do is play exploding snaps with my friends, I don't even know how my name got into the goblet, so why should I care about winning?"

"But we've worked so hard to figure out every little detail Harry?"

"Hermione, I think it's time that we let this one go, whatever happens happens," Harry replied with a small smile.

She glanced down at her bowl of oatmeal in a crude attempt to look unbothered by her housemates' comments.

"Mione'?"

"Huh?"

"Did you hear what I said? Harry said, looking concerned.

"Sorry I was lost in thought"

Why don't you join us? We are just going to go to the common room to play exploding snaps and some rounds of wizard chess"

"I'm desperate for some competition since Quidditch is canceled this year", Katie Bell announced, swinging her arm around Hermione's shoulder.

"I don't think I can join, I have some homework to do." Hermione responded, she added on "You guys can't be surprised, I know you're all used to me being an absolute bore"

The Gryffindors surrounding her mouths dropped open.

"Hermione, we didn't mean to hurt your feelings?" Ginny murmured reaching out for Hermione

Hermione put her hand up to silence the girl.

"I'm going to go to the library," she said, abruptly getting up and walking out of the hall.

She made her way back to the lion's den. Did she lie about going to the library? Yes. But she had a better idea rather than working on an assignment that wasn't due until later next week. She bounded up the spiral staircase to the girls' dormitory. She crouched down and pulled out the little locked box underneath her bed. Her box was hidden discreetly, not even Harry and Ron knew about her box. She mostly kept her precious objects like her necklace and earrings from her mum. She took the key that hung off of the chain around her neck and inserted it in the box. At the top of the box lay the marauders' map. The message from last night was still displayed on the forefront of the page.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good" whispered Hermione

The map of Hogwarts appeared; the map included every hallway, secret passage, and classroom. In addition, it also showed the exact location of every person within the castle and its grounds, even the ghosts.

She glanced down at the map looking for Malfoy and Theos' location on the map. Malfoy was in Professor Moody's classroom, and Theo was in the Slytherin common room.

Maybe Malfoy had detention? But with moody? Earlier in the year Professor Moody had turned Malfoy into a ferret. She let out a giggle while recounting the memory. Theo was most likely just spending time with his housemates, but Malfoy was definitely up to something, she was sure of it. She grabbed her bag and made her way across the castle so she could get to the small dot with the banner saying Draco Malfoy.

She heard whispers behind the doorway.

"mischief managed" she breathed.

"Let me help, the dark lord told me that if I prove myself to be worthy to him I would be tasked with something important soon"

"You are nothing but a spoiled little snake. This is my opportunity to show him my worth. I am not going to let some spoiled little brat take this from me" replied the cross voice of Professor Moody.

Hermione gasped and stumbled back reaching for the wall. She just needed to ground herself. She just needed to calm down. The door swung open and Hermione snapped her head up and saw the sharp grey eyes of Draco Malfoy looking down at her.