Hermione froze. Not sure what to do. D'Arque had returned. She was sure of it.
She had already unlocked her door, but she knew she'd be caught if she tried to escape. She couldn't reliably summon magic at this point. Should she try to free Colette? Colette couldn't perform magic. No, she'd have to save herself.
Hermione had been able to summon the magic inside of her. The power was inside of her all along. She could do this.
Hermione breathed in and out. She focused on that sensation of power. She summoned it from within her and channeled it to her hands. Quickly, she relocked the door, hoping that Monsieur D'Arque couldn't hear the clicking sound as his footfalls descended the steps.
Hermione retreated back to the corner where she'd only recently been so full of despair. She listened to the shuffling feet of Monsieur D'Arque drew closer.
He was an old man. She could take him.
"Well, well," Monsieur D'Arque said. "It seems your enchanted castle disappeared. What am I to do with you then?"
He unlocked the door and strode inside. "You have magical abilities. That much I know, but that fool Gaston seems to want you. So perhaps you shall be my new test subject for removing magic. My current one isn't much left for the world."
He stopped in front of Hermione. "Get up. And follow me."
"And if I don't?" Hermione asked, trying to sound braver than she felt.
"Then I'll have to use this," Monsieur D'Arque said, withdrawing what looked like a small spear. "You won't like this at all."
If Colette was right and the Scourers had helped the witch hunters here, Hermione didn't doubt it. The Scourers were particularly cruel and invented wicked devices. They'd been known to torture their victims and even sell subjugated wizards as slaves.
"Okay," Hermione said, pretending to be defeated. "I'll come."
"Good," Monsieur D'Arque said. "Proceed."
He shoved Hermione in front of him. Blast, she thought. She'd hoped she could get to him from behind. She would need to time her moment carefully.
Monsieur D'Arque prodded Hermione back down the hallway and impatiently pushed her up the stairs to the main level. He brought her back into the room where he'd first tested her.
"Sit," he said imperiously, indicating the chair.
She did as he was told and he turned his back on her. Now! She thought and she sprang to her feet, summoning the magic. Petrificus Totalus! She imagined him petrified and on the floor. Like Neville Longbottom in their first year.
Monsieur D'Arque froze midstep. Then he laughed. "You think that simple magic will work on me?"
Hermione didn't let his words deter her. She renewed her focus and caught him by the arm, sending her power into his body. Petrificus Totalus!
His arms snapped to his sides. His legs locked together. His stunned eyes watched her as he fell backward onto the floor.
Hermione was elated. It had worked. "I did it, I did it!" she cried, dancing around the room. "But I had better do something to keep him bound," she said to herself.
Just as she finished saying that the doors burst open and the Beast bounded inside.
"Hermione!" he cried. "You're all right."
Hermione looked at him in shock. "You're…here?" she asked.
"Yes!" he said. "Porter saw that you'd been taken by that man and so we tried to find you. We discovered them snooping around the woods, we followed them as they came back from trying to find the castle."
Hermione had so many questions but now was not the time. Lumiere, Cogsworth, Porter, as well as a few other household staff she recognized filed in through the open doors.
"You're all here!" Hermione said, touched. "Thank you for coming."
"But of course!" Lumiere said. "Glad to see zat you're okay."
"You are okay, right?" Cogsworth asked, concerned.
"Yes, I am," Hermione said. "Luckily, he didn't give me the potion to suppress my magic yet. You won't believe what I found out, your mother is here, Adam."
"What?!" Adam roared. "Where?!"
"I don't know," Hermione admitted. "Colette, remember her? She was in the cell across from mine."
"Let's go find her," Adam said. "Now."
"Shouldn't we do something with him to make sure he doesn't escape?" Hermione asked. "I'm not sure how long my spell will last."
"Porter will watch him," Adam said, looking to the coatrack. Porter, the coatrack, bowed and assumed position above Monsieur D'Arque. "Lead the way."
"Let's find some light," Hermione said, looking for a candle. She spotted the one that Monsieur D'Arque used earlier. She summoned her magic and thought, Incendio. The candle illuminated. She handed it to Adam.
"You discovered how to do magic again?" Adam asked.
"Yes," Hermione said. "I'll tell you all about it later."
"You could 'ave just asked me for light, you know," Lumiere said, igniting the candle above his head and the candles on his two hands.
Hermione laughed. "Now why didn't I think of that?" she said. "Let's go."
Hermione retraced her steps back to the below-ground prison. It was much easier with the light from the candles. She led the way downstairs.
"Colette said that Estelle was somewhere around here," Hermione said. "I'm going to go ahead and rescue Colette, but why don't you look for your mother here."
Hermione left Adam and the others searching the immediate cells next to the staircase. Hermione summoned a ball of light to hold in her hand and hurried down the hallway.
"Over here," Colette said as Hermione approached. "Well done," she said.
Hermione placed her hand on the lock, thought the incantation, and the door opened. "I'm getting the hang of this," Hermione said.
"You had the power all along," Colette said. "You just needed to believe. Now, let's get everyone out of here."
Colette led Hermione to all the cells that had prisoners inside. Each were in varying degrees of weakness. Some could hardly stand. Some couldn't move at all. Some seemed more agile. Now that Hermione could see Colette properly, Hermione noted that Colette looked much hollower and more emaciated than the woman she'd seen in her dreams. She was shaky and moved slowly, but her determination for freedom seemed to spur her forward.
"We'll have to come back for some folks," Hermione said.
"Those who are more able-bodied can help," Colette said, directing newly freed inhabitants to help the others.
Soon enough, they reached the end of the hall where Adam was with the others. Upon spotting them, Colette froze.
"It's okay," Hermione said. "They're here to help. He's looking for his mother, Estelle."
"That's Adam?" Colette said, her eyes widening.
"Yes," Hermione said. "An enchantress transformed him."
"Oh, my," Colette said, stunned, taking in his large beast form.
"Have you been able to find her?" Hermione asked the others.
"Not yet," Adam said. "A lot of the people here are in the corners, laying down and it's hard to see them."
Colette pointed to a cell just behind Adam. "She's there," Colette said. "Let's save her, she's in bad shape."
Hermione rushed to the cell doors and opened them. "I'm going to let you go ahead and take care of her," she said as Adam rushed inside, Colette on his heels. "I'm going to free the others."
Hermione moved on to the other cell doors, opening them as she saw Adam carry his mother outside out of the corner of her eye.
"Everyone out!" she said. "Please help those who cannot walk themselves. We'll take care of you once we know what we're dealing with."
Hermione shepherded the newly free inhabitants up the stairs. She wasn't sure where they were going, but she knew they'd figure it out.
Once everyone had filed out, Hermione did a quick walk down the hallway, illuminating each cell to make sure she had gotten everyone. She was glad that she'd checked, because at the end of the hall, she found a little girl inside of a cell. Hermione opened the cell doors and kneeled before the girl.
"Can you walk?" Hermione asked.
The girl nodded. "Am I really going to get out?" she asked.
"Yes," Hermione said, rising to her feet and extending her hand. "Come with me."
The girl took Hermione's hand and together they walked down the hall and up the stairs towards freedom.