For a second, it felt like everything would be over.
There was Neville, valiantly standing against Nagini, the red rubbies of Godric Gryffindor's sword glinting as he slashed her neck. On another side, Harry crawled as he reached for his wand, hoping to end Voldemort once and for all. Their spell connected once more, a deadly green met blazing red, and Harry, dear Harry, smiled as he came out victorious.
Their victory lasted only for a moment.
There was an explosion of darkness, one even more severe than an exploding curse. This explosion had happened once, on one Halloween night at Godric's Hollow. It was the sound of a severed soul, teared to pieces as it was pulled by its anchors.
And Hermione was caught in the darkness.
.
She could only feel cold after that. An emptiness, a sense of wrongness. Hermione walked through the halls of Hogwarts and found it empty. No signs of battle was to be seen, no life nor death.
Hogwarts felt wrong.
Is this hell, she wondered? Is she to spend an eternity here, at her most beloved place, only for her heart to always compare it with how lovely it was before?
"You are not to spend an eternity here."
She took a step back, alarmed at the sudden voice.
The voice seemed to be echoed from all around her so she looked around, yet she could not find the source, as it was as empty as it was before. As her curiosity was larger than her caution, she inquired to the empty air, "Is this not the afterlife?"
"We are Hogwarts," came the simple reply.
She looked up, the wall of Hogwarts looked gloomier than ever. "I see." She did not see.
Perhaps she was imagining things. Was she hallucinating or was she dead?
"You died," Hogwarts once again read her mind. "We too will die."
The solemn answer sobered her, the lull of false peacefulness was lifted as if a curtain had been opened, clearing her view. It was then that she realised she didn't understand their words. "What do you mean?"
"There is a foul magic, leeching in our ground. The darkest magic."
Her mind, already used to hearing the phrase 'the darkest magic' came to one conclusion.
"A horcrux? Are you saying Hogwarts is a horcrux?"
"Yes," Hogwart sighed. "We do not have much time."
"I don't understand," she frowned. "How could Hogwarts be a horcrux? There are wards-"
"The wards has fallen by the time the battle began," Hogwarts cut in, making Hermione felt chastened.
"I- of course. Stupid," she shook her head, trying to get her mind frame all the information she should have known. There were so many dark spells and dark creatures entering Hogwarts ground at the battle, of course the ward had fallen down by then.
"You are not stupid, Hermione Granger. You are the farthest from it." It failed to reassure her.
"But then how did you become a horcrux?" She asked, because it didn't make sense. Voldemort should have died. They had made sure that he would die. All the running and scraping for food- It was all for the sake of making the Dark Lord mortal once more.
"The prophecied fight failed to fulfil its purpose. The Dark Lord clung to the land of living," Hogwarts explained, pushing Hermione's mind to connect the dots. Prophecied fight... Clinging to the land if living...
"So we didn't get all the horcruxes?" Hermione yelped. "But there were six! We had comfirmed it meticulously! Voldemort planned to make 6 because-"
She stopped.
Then,
"Oh," the sound escaped her.
The answer was glaring now in her mind. "Voldemort didn't plan for it. Harry- Harry came back. He came back after he had gone to meet his death. He was- he was saying that it was meant to be. That he was always meant to die."
The dots started to connect. Harry was a parselmouth. Harry had a connection with Voldemort. He could feel what Voldemort felt. He could see what Voldemort saw, as Him, or even the snake, a known living horcrux! Harry was meant to die, because a part of Voldemort soul lived inside Harry... Harry was an accidental Horcrux, probably made at that Halloween night when Voldemort gave him that mark... But he came back! The horcrux should have died when Harry sacrificed himself. But Voldemort was not dead. His soul broke again, and this time... it made Hogwarts its horcrux.
"Yes." Hogwarts comfirmed her thoughts with certainty. "We sensed the dark soul broke into pieces, pulled towards its anchors' directions one by one and leeching to the nearest magical objects and beings."
Hermione tried to process what being said, her eyes staring emptily at unknown distance. The conclusion came upon her. "That night.. halloween 1981, Harry wasn't the only horcrux accidently made."
"And now Hogwarts," Hogwarts hissed, "have became the house of the foulest magic, belonging to one who slaughtered our children, no less. Now Hogwarts' magic, one of the core of the world's magic, will lose its stability.
"There will be no future here."
Hermione felt her eyes started drowning in tears. They failed. She should have researched into horcuxes more. Horcrux turned out to be more than just a tool to keep the soul in the mortal world. It has a mechanism. From what Hogwarts said, it seemed like it pulls its original soul as it leaves its body. So that Halloween night, when Harry rebounded his curse, Voldemort's soul was breaking, pulled to all of his horcuxes.
Harry was just one of the accidental horcruxes.
That was why Harry was pulled to visit Godric's Hollow, that christmas night. There were other horcruxes there. But Hermione didn't think of finding horcruxes there. No, she was stuck on searching the Gryffindor sword simply because she was the one who figured out its importance in destroying horcruxes. She should have thought of it. She should have paid more attention to Harry, that night, at Godric's hollow..
They failed.
-And she was the one who was responsible to figure these kinds of things.
She failed.
.
At first it was the horror that dawned to her. So many death because of her carelessness. Even Hogwarts paid the price for her mistake! A sob escaped her, as the hopelessness of the situation finally settled in her chest. How could she be so arrogant, thinking she could make all the difference? Book, cleverness, so much for that! She couldn't even research the most important matter properly! She felt her chest tightened, the guilt of it finally crushed her. She should have asked for help! She was arrogant, thinking she could find all the answers! Her pride went over her head again, and now the consequences were more dire then she could have ever imagined. There will be no future-!
"Strengthen your self, Hermione Granger. It is not all lost," Hogwarts tried to reassure the now wailing girl.
"Hogwarts has come to aid."
She looked up at the familiar words. It was supposed to be comforting, yet it made her sadder than before. Then that sadness quickly turned into anger as she remembered who liked to yap around with false promises of aid.
Dumbledore. He must have known that Harry was an accidental horcrux! If only he told them about this-!
No, if only he told them all he knew about horcruxes-!
Wait. No.
If he knew about the horcruxes from the beginning, then he should have started hunting the horcuxes earlier! Or better yet, assign it to adults who has more experience! It was all Dumbledore's fault!
(No it wasn't. You're guilty too.)
Her cheeks felt wet again. Tears. She supposed she could only cry now, she choked on that thought. She did not bother to wipe them off her cheeks.
Hogwarts seemed to not mind her emotional turmoil. "Prevent this tragedy. Prevent any unaccounted anchors of the darkest soul."
Prevent.
Her cries slowly stopped as she processed what Hogwart had said. Prevent this tragedy. Prevent any unaccounted anchors of the darkest soul. Prevent. She could only guess that it means she would have to go back to the past. But all the time turners were destroyed. Perhaps she could learn how to make one, but... "How?" She questioned, her head held high as she spoke to the room. "How am i supposed to help? As you said, I'm dead."
"It will require the greatest sacrifice."
"I'll do anything," she cut in, her voice absolute. Anything is what she has been prepared to do since she chose to follow Harry, after all. The wizarding world depended on them. "We can't fail, we can't."
"Then so be it. We do not have much time. Our magic has became more tainted by the second."
Hermione stood straighter, her mind already back in her war-honed mode. Hogwarts has been her home since she came to the magical world. She made the happiest memories here, with Harry and Ron. So she will save Hogwarts. She will save the future.
She will save magic.
"Hogwarts will send you to one of its children," Hogwarts continued. "One who had her place in Hogwarts but died before she could fill it."
Her mind whirled to a stop as she took in what Hogwarts just said. Send her to a child. She gaped.
"I- how could a child be of help? Wait, what do you mean sending me to a dead child?"
"There is no time. Good luck, Hermione Granger."
Just like that, Hermione Grange is gone.
