Chapter 38 – Christmas Presents
The weeks that followed were chaotic at the ministry, as they were dealing with the leadership difficulties. A few days after Fudge and Umbridge were arrested, their 'newspaper' closed, due to the fact that almost everyone had cancelled their subscription. At Hogwarts, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were the only people that were still receiving the Ministry Chronicle when it failed. The Potter Press covered the trial of Fudge, wherein he refused to provide memories or drink veritaserum during questioning, while all the witnesses against him did. The same thing happened to Umbridge. In the end, Fudge was sentenced to ten years in Azkaban while Umbridge was sentenced to five. Amelia Bones became acting Minister of Magic, until elections could be held at the end of January.
Training progressed for the quartet. Both Neville and Ginny were able to conjure a patronus before the term ended. Neville's was a toad and Ginny's was a cat. Neville was embarrassed by his patronus, but was reassured that it would do the same job as a dragon Patronus.
A Yule Ball was announced, and Harry was informed that the champions and their dates would be the first people dancing at the event. Harry had no problem getting Hermione to be his date, and he soon found out Neville was going with Ginny. Hermione insisted that she teach Harry how to dance so that they wouldn't look like idiots during the ball.
After the first dancing lesson, Hermione's feet had to be soaked in a yellow solution of strained and pickled murtlap tentacles because of how much Harry had stepped on them. She still insisted on continuing the lessons, and by Christmas, she was confident that Harry would dance fine.
-MITAB-
On Christmas morning, Dobby popped from the manor to Hogwarts to visit Harry, Sirius, Remus, and Hermione. He first stopped by Harry's bed, waking him up, and gave him a present – a pair of socks. One of them had a pattern of snitches and brooms; the other had a pattern of newspapers.
Dobby declared, "Dobby is thanking Harry Potter, sir, for sending Dobby his present!" Dobby started crying. "Never before has Dobby received a Christmas present from a wizard! Harry Potter has given Dobby a full set of clothes, and Winky is being grateful as well for the present you is giving her, but she is crying too much. She is never receiving a Christmas present from Mr. Crouch, and is feeling guilty for believing that Harry Potter is being a better master than Mr. Crouch. Dobby is grateful for his presents, but the store is cheating Harry Potter. Both socks is being the same."
Neville, who heard the conversation, responded, "That's all right, Dobby. I'll give you another pair of socks, so you can switch them and have two pairs."
"Dobby is knowing that you must be a great wizard for being friends with Harry Potter, but Dobby is not knowing you is being almost as kind as his master," replied the elf, with tears in his eyes.
-MITAB-
Harry had received some nice presents from several people, but what stood out the most for him was what he received from the Granger family. Adam and Marissa had sent him some action movie DVDs to watch on his laptop. Hermione had given him an obviously expensive silver watch that had a normal time display on its face, but it could be opened up to show a miniature version of Mrs. Weasley's clock, and already had hands for Hermione and her parents on it. He briefly looked at the instructions and noticed that the watch's alarm goes off if one of the hands goes to mortal peril. He also noted that the watch was charmed to be unbreakable (even unscratchable) and waterproof.
He put on his new socks, Weasley jumper, and watch (along with other appropriate clothes such as pants), and walked downstairs. Before he got all the way down the stairs, he was greeted by Hermione with an affectionate kiss. When they separated, Harry happily said, "Happy Christmas, Hermione! Thanks for the watch! I'll have to call up your parents and thank them for their gift."
At that moment, Fred and George approached Harry and Hermione, looking overwhelmed. "Happy…" began Fred.
"Christmas," added George.
"We've just received."
"A cell phone to charm."
"From what must be."
"Every muggleborn witch and wizard."
"On the continent."
"We would really appreciate it."
"If you'd sell us the charm."
"For them."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other and grinned. Hermione took a deep breath. "Okay, we'll make a contract like last time. You may want Lee here for this."
"We'll also help you for a few hours if you like," offered Harry, "but only a few."
-MITAB-
Exactly two hours later, Harry and Hermione left the common room for a walk around the grounds. Hermione commented, "I didn't get the chance to thank you for the pensieve. I know it must have been expensive. How did you know that I've always wanted one?"
Harry shrugged. "Well, I thought that someone as brilliant as you, who knows so much about so many things, probably would want one of those."
Hermione blushed. "Th-Thank you, Harry. But I'm not so brilliant. I just…"
Harry put his right index finger on her lips. "You are brilliant. End of discussion." He then removed his finger and proceeded to kiss her thoroughly.
-MITAB-
Harry thought he would pass out when he saw how beautiful Hermione looked as she descended the stairs into the common room for the Yule Ball. He walked up to her and took her hand. "You-You look even more beautiful than ever," he stuttered, "I-I, er, didn't think that was possible."
Her smile made him feel very light-headed. "Thanks, Harry. You look very nice yourself." Harry was wearing dark green dress robes that matched his eyes, and Hermione was wearing an elegant gown that matched his robes.
At that moment, a very miserable-looking Ron walked slowly down the stairs in ugly dress-robes that Harry felt should be burned. "You'd think mum would send me nice robes with all the money she's making at the newspaper, but NOOOO! She wants to save it up for a bloody new set of furniture at the Burrow! I told her I'd keep my old bed if I could have decent robes, but she said I needed a new bed the same as everyone else! She says next year I can get new clothes!"
"Well," replied Hermione, obviously trying hard not to laugh at Ron's purple robes, which now matched his face, "You'll have to make the best of things, I suppose. I never asked you who your date is."
Ron looked down and muttered something unintelligible. Before Hermione could question what he'd said, Ginny came walking down the stairs, to be greeted by Neville. Harry smiled and remarked, "Ginny, you look really nice. Doesn't she, Ron?"
Ron looked at Ginny's brand-new-looking amber gown in shock. "Where'd you get that dress?" he demanded accusingly.
"I ordered material with money mum sent me. What are you doing here? I thought the dance was for only fourth years and above. You're in third year. Did you get a date with a fourth year Slytherin or something? I know you didn't get a Gryffindor girl from my year to go with you."
Ron looked down and yelled angrily, "McGonagall said that I could go because I was old enough and my grades were pretty good, even though I'm in third year, and NO, all right! I didn't get a date!"
"That's fine," assured Harry, "I'm sure lots of girls will dance with you." Harry had his fingers crossed as he made that last statement.
-MITAB-
When they arrived at the Great Hall, Harry and Hermione were led up to the round table where the champions and partners were to sit, along with the judges of the tournament. Viktor Krum silently glared at Hermione, until he saw her and Harry start to chuckle at him. Percy immediately joined them, bragging about his promotion, and how wonderful Mr. Crouch is. Hermione interrupted Percy. "Mr. Crouch is a mean, heartless man who put Sirius Black in Azkaban without a trial, tried to hex your brother, mistreats his house elves, and wears a moustache that makes him look like Adolf Hitler!"
Percy flinched at the way Hermione put down his idol. He raised his voice just a bit. "Mr. Crouch has had a distinguished career and is worthy of respect, Miss Granger!"
"Actually, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore, who was sitting nearby, pointed out, "I believe you are the only person in the wizarding world who believes that. Before Lord Voldemort was vanquished, Mr. Crouch was as cruel as Death Eaters, giving aurors the right to use unforgivable curses. His career plummeted and he lost most people's respect when his own son turned out to be a Death Eater. After he disowned his son and sent him to Azkaban, many felt he should have left the Ministry completely instead of just being demoted. The only reason he hasn't been fired is because they can't find a specific reason to sack him.
Percy stared at Dumbledore in utter shock. "Mr. Crouch's son is, is a Death Eater?"
"Was a Death Eater. I'm afraid he died in Azkaban several years ago, not long after he was put there."
Percy looked down at the table. "Well, with Mr. Fudge and Ms. Umbridge disgraced, and now this, who can I believe in?"
Albus looked Percy in the eye. "Don't just blindly trust anybody. The reason Mr. Potter bought the Daily Prophet was because we couldn't trust what was in the newspaper. That's the whole point of their story verification system. Just because someone is in authority doesn't make them right all the time. I'm headmaster here, but I've made my share of blunders. The former Minister of Magic did much worse than just make blunders. There were several people who blindly trusted him. You need to trust your own sense of right and wrong, and find out the facts before taking anybody's side. You have to have the courage to do what's right, no matter who is against you."
At that moment, the Weird Sisters trooped onto the stage, so Harry turned to Hermione and asked, "May I have this dance?"
"Absolutely!"
They walked onto the brightly lit dance floor and began waltzing, just as they'd practiced. Before anybody beside the champions had joined, Harry whispered, "Watch Viktor."
At that moment, Krum clumsily tripped on his partner's feet, causing them both to fall on the floor. Several people laughed. Hermione hissed, "You shouldn't have done that. He's been punished enough!"
"Not by me! He attacked my girlfriend and I never got him back for it. I figure I should at least be able to have a little fun with him."
"Well, I suppose," replied Hermione with a smirk.
As they chuckled softly he noticed Sirius nod at him with a broad grin as he and Adrianna Brooks walked onto the dance floor. After several dances, they took a break and got some punch. They noticed Ron sitting at a table alone looking miserable. "Maybe we can talk Ginny into dancing with him," suggested Harry.
Hermione chuckled, "That's so mean. But I don't think she's available anyway."
Hermione pointed toward a door where Harry saw Neville and Ginny walking hand in hand, 'either to talk or snog – or both,' thought Harry. "Maybe McGonagall will dance with him," Harry commented, earning a slap in the arm from his girlfriend.
"Maybe I should dance with him," suggested Hermione. "Would it bother you, Hero?"
Harry took a deep breath. "Well, Mine, truthfully I'd love to keep you to myself all evening, but if you think you should dance with Ron, I won't stop you."
She squeezed Harry's hand. "If you want, you can find a partner for the next dance while I ask Ron." She kissed his cheek and walked toward Ron.
Harry looked around thinking, 'Who do I want to dance with…besides Hermione?'
He saw a redhead from Hufflepuff he recognized as Susan Bones sitting alone crying. He decided to walk up to her. "Er, hi, Susan. Are you all right?"
She looked up for a second and then started wiping her eyes. "Oh, well, I've got a cold. Where's Hermione Granger?"
Harry answered, "Ron Weasley couldn't find a date, so she wanted to try to cheer him up by dancing one song with him. She suggested I find a partner for this dance. What do you say? Would you like to dance?" He held out his hand to her.
She smiled and took his hand. "I'd love to." They walked to the dance floor and began waltzing.
"You're very good at this," Harry complimented after about fifteen seconds.
"Thanks."
"Now, tell me what's really bothering you. I know you don't have a cold."
She kept dancing, but looked down. "I found out that the boy I came with wanted me to get my auntie to do his family a favor."
Harry was confused for a second until it clicked. "Amelia Bones?"
Susan nodded. "I can't believe it. I thought he liked me for me, not my family."
Harry half-smiled. "Welcome to my world."
She looked up at the Boy-Who-Lived and realized what he meant. "That must be awful to have so many people wanting to meet you all the time!"
He nodded his head. "I'm getting used to it now, but I'll never forget the first time I stepped into the Leaky Cauldron. Everybody stopped what they were doing and started shaking my hand. The first time I rode the Hogwarts Express, Draco Malfoy tried to make friends with me. It still hasn't stopped. Do you know about twelve different girls asked me to the ball even though I'm dating Hermione?"
Susan chuckled. "Only twelve? You must be losing your touch."
"Maybe so. Anyway, I've learned to be very careful about who I trust."
"I guess I need to do that too, huh?" asked Susan.
"Yeah, I guess so. Do you think you could do me a favor and ask Ron to dance after this song?"
Susan glanced at Ron and Hermione on the dance floor. "What is he doing in those ghastly robes?"
Harry chuckled. "He hates them, too. Just, as a personal favor to me, dance with him one time?"
"Oh, all right. How could I say no to the Boy-Who-Lived?" They finished the song and Susan kissed Harry on the cheek saying, "Thanks for understanding."
Harry replied, "You're welcome," and walked toward Hermione with Susan following. He asked Hermione, "May I have this dance?" and she took his hand and started dancing.
Hermione smiled at Harry. "I noticed Susan kissing you on the cheek. Should I be worried?"
Harry paled. "No, I swear, you have nothing to worry about, Mine. I'm in love with you."
Hermione giggled slightly. "I know, Hero. I also noticed she was crying before you walked up to her and now she's smiling. What was wrong?"
"Whatever git she came with, probably a Slytherin, only asked her here because he wanted to get Amelia Bones to do a favor for his family. She's learning what it's like for people to pretend to like you because of your status instead of personality."
"Something you can relate to a lot." Mine took a deep breath. "You are the nicest guy in the world to help a girl who's not even your date. I'll bet you're the reason she's dancing with Ron right now, too."
"Well, yeah I asked her to. I…"
"You are gonna be snogged out of your mind once this song's over."
He looked at her in surprise. "Not that I'm complaining, but why?"
"For being so caring. In one dance, you helped two people who really aren't close friends with you. And you think it's the normal thing to do. Oh, by the way, her date wasn't a Slytherin. He's a boy from Ravenclaw named Michael something."
Once the song ended, Hermione practically dragged Harry out of the Great Hall and behind a bush, where she started kissing him passionately. However, just a few seconds after they began, they felt the personal ward that said a Death Eater was near. They separated. Harry whispered, "It might be Karkaroff. Put up a shield anyway."
"No, he's too far away. Someone is…"
"Crucio!" came a voice Harry was really getting sick of. Both Hero and Mine dived without looking to see who it was aimed at. Once Harry saw Snape, he reached one hand toward his wand for show as Snape's new wand floated out of his hand. "Get her!" shouted Snape, distracting Harry from the greasy git long enough for Snape to portkey away.
Harry counted eight others that Hermione was beginning to struggle with so he joined her. He then noticed other people firing at the attackers. Within a minute, all eight of them were down. Harry glanced to see who was helping, and was pleased to see it was Neville and Ginny. He also noticed that they had an audience, and was glad he'd been holding his wand. He also noted that Hermione was holding hers. "Are you all right, Hermione?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm fine."
At that moment, Sirius, Lupin, Brooks, and Dumbledore burst through the doors brandishing their wands. Harry held back his laughter. "Er, guys, I mean, professors, you're a bit too late for the fun. You could dispose of these people, though. I don't think they're actually Death Eaters. Snape came with them, but he escaped again. You really need to do something about the security here. You can't even sneak off for a good snog without getting attacked!" At that point, almost everyone there started laughing hysterically. Even Dumbledore looked amused. Sirius, Remus, and Adrianna were doing a very poor job of holding back their laughter. Only McGonagall, who'd followed them, looked unhappy, although Harry could swear he saw laughter in her eyes.
Hermione then announced loudly in a very serious tone of voice, "We should stick to broom cupboards from now on," causing the old Marauders, along with Adrianna, to lose control and join in the laughter.
Just as the laughter started dying down, Ron came out holding Susan's hand and asked, "What happened?"
Harry made sure this attack was covered in the next day's Potter Press, and included both his and Hermione's quotes about snogging near the end. The article wasn't downing Hogwarts, just reporting the facts, mentioning the new wards that were the reason teachers arrived so quickly. After they'd been questioned under Veritaserum, it turned out that the eight captured attackers had been put under the Imperius Curse by Snape, so they were released. Neville and Ginny were highly praised in the article, which included an interview with Potter, Granger, Weasley, and Longbottom.
As Harry placed the new wand he'd taken from Snape into his trunk, he remarked, "At least Snape gave me a Christmas present."
Chapter 39 – Love
The staff spent the rest of Christmas break trying to make the castle more secure, and trying to figure out how Snape knew when and where to find Harry and Hermione. Harry had suggested that, "Maybe he just figured we'd come out there to snog at some point, so he was waiting for us."
Hermione disagreed. She didn't think Snape would wait out there all night, risking discovery, on a hunch that they'd snog at that particular place in the castle. "We could've easily chosen a broom closet instead, or even had an argument and gone straight to Gryffindor tower." Lupin, Black, Brooks, and Dumbledore agreed with Hermione, and believed that there was a spy at Hogwarts. Padfoot thought it would most likely be someone from his house, so he promised he'd try to see what he could find. There were too many people coming and going at the dance for the memory to be very helpful to the investigation.
-MITAB-
Harry and Hermione flew in their forms around the grounds of Hogwarts for fun a few times during the holidays. They even spotted Ron taking a walk with Susan Bones once while flying. When they'd changed back, Hermione asked, "Did you have any idea that Ron and Susan would start dating when you asked her to dance with him?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I thought he might be attracted to her red hair, but that's about it. I had no idea she'd end up liking him. I practically had to beg her to dance with Ron."
-MITAB-
True to Harry's prediction, on January 1st, Fleur's terrible acne cleared up, and soon she was back to her old arrogant self, going Harry-hunting. She still had no idea that it was Harry who had cursed her.
Just before school started, Harry and Hermione celebrated their one year anniversary with a private romantic dinner in the Room of Requirement. They had agreed not to buy each other gifts since it was so soon after Christmas, but each of them did something special. Harry conjured a single rose for Hermione, while she gave him a picture she'd taken in her pensieve of their first kiss.
A few days after school had started, Harry had gone up to the Head table during dinner to ask Sirius about a homework assignment from his class. On his way back, as he was passing the Ravenclaw table, Fleur, who was sitting there, put on her most charming smile and batted her eyelashes at Harry, who wasn't even paying attention.
"'Arry," she asked in her most seductive voice, "Why don' you sit 'ere with me?" She patted the seat next to her. "I 'ave not had ze chance to compliment 'ow you did against ze dragon."
"Er," answered Harry, "I've got to go back to my girlfriend. I'll see you."
Harry barely heard Fleur whisper to herself, "This iz not pozzible! 'ow can 'e resist?" Her face then turned mean as she stared at him icily. She then shouted for all the school to hear. "I VILL NOT ACCOMPANY YOU TO 'OGSMEADE! YOU 'AVE A GIRLFRIEND! HOW COULD YOU CHEAT ON 'ER LIKE THAT!?"
Harry didn't know what to do. He realized that even if he argued, his reputation was still ruined. He figured Hermione would believe him, and that's all that mattered. He walked intently toward the Gryffindor table despite everyone staring at him, keeping his face as expressionless as possible.
Before he'd taken five steps, he heard Cho Chang's voice shouting, "That's a lie!" He turned around to see her standing up. "Fleur just asked Harry to join her and he turned her down flat and said he needed to get back to Hermione! I heard the whole thing, and if you ask any Ravenclaw sitting around this part of the table, they'll tell you the same thing!"
"Miss Chang!" scolded Professor Flitwick, "The Great Hall isn't for you to make public announcements about people's love lives! Ten points from Ravenclaw!"
"It's well worth it to stop someone from unjustly ruining someone's reputation," countered Cho as she sat down.
Harry smiled at her and continued on toward his seat as everyone stared at Cho Chang, including her boyfriend, Cedric Diggory. As he sat down next to Hermione, Harry was facing the other tables, and noticed Madam Maxime was standing next to Fleur with an angry expression on her face. He watched as the part-veela followed her Headmistress out the doors with a worried expression on her face. "Hi, Hermione," greeted Harry, "Sorry I took so long."
Harry finally turned to look his girlfriend in the face. He was glad to see she looked amused. "It's all right. At least some entertainment was provided. I must admit I was surprised that Cho stood up for you."
"So was I. I can't believe Flitwick took points from her! She was only trying to help me."
-MITAB-
The weeks went by quickly, and both Fleur and Viktor avoided Harry and Hermione. Soon the lake was unfrozen, and Harry (with Hermione) used some of his extra gillyweed to explore the Black Lake ahead of time. One thing they noticed that they hadn't in the swimming pool was that the cold water seemed to warm up as the gillyweed took affect. They took note of where the grindylows were located, and managed to catch a glimpse of where the mer-people lived. Hermione said they were starting to run out of time, so they swam back to the shore. They stayed just below the surface and waited for their gills to disappear as they snogged without needing air. As they were leaving, they noticed Krum diving into the lake.
-MITAB-
January turned into February, and soon it was Valentine's Day, which happened to fall on a Friday. Hermione walked down the stairs to find that many couples were sitting together on the furniture showing their affection. She also found that Harry wasn't there. She decided to wait for Harry before going to breakfast. Before she'd waited two minutes, a model helicopter with a card clamped under it flew straight to Hermione. It hovered in front of her head until she took the hint and pulled it out. It was an index card that simply said,
'HJP requests that HJG follows the helicopter.
P.S. Happy Valentine's Day.'
Smiling brightly, she grabbed her book bag and did just that as the helicopter flew toward the exit. If students were watching Hermione following the helicopter through the halls, she didn't notice as she kept pursuing it happily, until she wound up in front of a picture of fruit. As she looked at the picture, it opened and the helicopter flew inside. She was surprised to see no house elves and a table set for two. She also didn't see Harry.
"Happy Valentine's Day!" came Harry's voice from behind, startling her. She turned quickly and saw Harry taking off his invisibility cloak with one hand and holding a remote control with the other. I borrowed the helicopter from Fred and George, and I've been following you all through the castle. I hope you don't mind."
She walked up to her boyfriend and kissed him thoroughly. When they separated, she replied, "I don't mind, but I'm surprised I didn't hear your footsteps."
He grinned. "I did a silencing charm on my boots. I think it would be a good idea if we all did that. Anyway, I thought we could have a private breakfast here." He then pulled out one of the chairs for her and she sat down. The moment he sat down, two plates filled with each of their favorite breakfast foods appeared along with silverware and glasses of pumpkin juice.
"Thank you for this, Harry. Where are the house elves?"
"In the next room. They told me I could use this room until our first class. I just wanted privacy to try to tell you how much you mean to me. I want you to know that I really do love you, Hermione. It's not just a phrase I use to get you to snog me." Hermione chuckled at that. "I noticed that our initials almost match, and hope that maybe one day they will." Harry blushed nervously. "But until then, I want you to know that I don't think I could make it through the day without you."
"Well, Harry. I'm thankful that you feel that way, because I know that I couldn't make it through the day without you." She took his hand in hers. "I love you more than I could ever say. I-I didn't really think you would ever…ever love me. You were this great celebrity, as well as the most caring and brave person I've ever met. And I was just the buck-toothed, bushy-haired know-it-all who…"
"I never thought of you like that!" insisted Harry earnestly, "Never! Not even when I didn't fancy you! Not even when we weren't friends!" Harry grinned. "I thought you were a bit annoying, but I always knew you were a nice person. The first time I met you, you were helping Neville find Trevor, and you'd never met him before. You ought to get a picture of that. You were always trying to help when you corrected people in their classes."
"If I get a picture of the first time we met, I'll have to get a picture of when you fought that troll for me."
"No, thanks! I'd rather not remember where my wand ended up," Harry responded, chuckling.
"Well," suggested Hermione, "As much as I hate to end this date, I think we'd better go now if we're gonna get to class on time."
"All right," agreed Harry, getting up, "but we're having dinner in the Room of Requirement."
-MITAB-
The rest of the day went by quickly, and they enjoyed their dinner date. They exchanged gifts at dinner. Harry gave her a Valentine's Day card that softly played her favorite love song when she opened it, along with a blue-green muggle teddy-bear that was wearing glasses and holding a book. She gave Harry a dvd of the movie 'Jaws' to play on his laptop, with a note to be careful in the second task.
Chapter 40 – Rescuing Hermione
Harry woke up early on the morning of the second task. He'd had a nightmare about Jaws. He wished he'd waited to watch that movie until after the second task was over. Hermione had been called away from him the night before while they were watching the movie together in the common room on his computer, and she hadn't returned by the time he went to bed. He got dressed and walked downstairs into the common room. He looked around for Hermione and noticed Ginny looking at him with an expression he couldn't identify on her face. She walked up to him, looking uneasy.
"Er, Harry. Can I talk to you alone?"
He regarded his friend with a puzzled expression. "Well, I guess so."
Without a word, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the common room and into the nearest classroom. She then turned to face him, her face red with embarrassment. "Er, well, I know it's none of my business, and I wouldn't have said anything, um, but Parvati and Lavender both noticed that Hermione didn't come to her bed last night."
Harry looked worried. "What?"
Ginny looked at the floor and continued. "I know you and Hermione are in love, and I'm sure Hermione took the, um, precautions, but you can't just…I mean you'll get in trouble, maybe even expelled if McGonagall finds out you're, well, spending your nights together." She said that very fast with a look that clearly said she was uncomfortable. "I mean maybe, with the task today you wanted, er, to relieve stress, but…"
"Ginny," asked Harry with a concerned tone of voice, "are you saying that Hermione didn't come back to your dorm at all last night?"
Ginny looked back up at Harry, and appeared to be angry. "No. Did you expect her to just leave when you were done with her?"
Harry shook his head. "You misunderstood. Hermione did not spend the night with me. While we were in the common room, McGonagall asked Hermione to leave with her. She hadn't come back before I went to bed. We did not spend last night shagging."
Ginny paled. "Oh my…I'm sorry…it's just when she didn't come…Lavender said she last saw Hermione with you and we sort of…"
"Assumed," finished Harry coldly. "So then she's missing? I've got to find her. Er, bye."
"I…I'm sorry I…"
"You were just trying to help, Ginny. I'm not mad at you, and I won't tell Hermione."
Ginny muttered, "Thanks," as he ran out of the room and back to Gryffindor Tower, leaving her behind.
-MITAB-
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry declared as he activated his map. He looked everywhere he thought she could be, the dorms, the girls' bathrooms, the library, etc., but still couldn't find her. He wasn't sure if the map showed the Room of Requirement or not, so he rushed down the stairs to check that room. When the portrait hole opened, he was surprised to see Lupin there, standing with Ginny, who slid past Harry with a relieved look on her face.
"Harry," said Lupin, "Ginny told me that Hermione's missing."
"Yes," replied Harry hurriedly, "Can you help me find her? I was about to check…"
"That won't be necessary," interrupted Remus. "This morning, Professor McGonagall told Padfoot and me that Hermione is taking part in the second task."
He stopped dead, his face turning red with fury. "We've taken what you'll sorely miss," he quoted. "They're right! I'll sorely miss Hermione, but I swear to God that if she gets hurt I'll tear Dumbledore limb from limb for putting her at risk! Then the school will sorely miss its headmaster!"
"Calm down, cub. Dumbledore isn't going to let anything happen to her or any other hostages in this task. McGonagall got his word on that before she collected Hermione."
Harry took a deep, calming breath. "All right. I guess I panicked. I know he won't let them die just because their champion didn't get to them in time."
"Good. Do you have your gillyweed with you? You've barely got enough time for a light breakfast before you have to go down to the lake."
"Oh, yeah," he answered, reaching into his pocket. He'd taken it with him when he originally came down the stairs, before he knew Hermione was missing. He was wearing a red sleeveless T-Shirt along with a pair of black trunks under a school robe. He had a wand-holster on his leg with one of Snape's wands in it. He didn't use wands anymore (except in class) and he didn't want to risk losing his own in the lake. He'd thought about wearing his basilisk armor, but really didn't want anyone to know about it. He did, however, put his best shield charm on himself and maintain it all morning.
-MITAB-
They went down to breakfast, where Harry forced a slice of toast, along with a glass of pumpkin juice, down his throat. He was nervous about Hermione's safety. He was glad that he'd practiced already, and figured if he hadn't, he'd have been even more nervous. A lot of people wished him good luck, including Susan Bones of Hufflepuff.
When Susan came up, Harry asked, "So, how are things going between you and Ron?" causing her to blush.
"Well, I've been meaning to thank you for that. I can't believe I was so shallow to not want to dance with him because of those awful robes." She chuckled. "He was so nice to me when I asked him to dance, and he's so funny. He has his own type of charm that…"
"I get the picture," said Harry, not wanting to hear how wonderful Ron was. He smiled and added, "I'm happy for you both."
"Thanks. Good luck," she replied, and kissed him on the cheek before leaving to find Ron.
"Should Hermione be worried?" came Cho's voice from behind.
"About Susan?" asked Harry after he turned to see Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory, "No, she has her own reasons to worry."
Cho took on a concerned expression. "Why? What's wrong?"
"This stupid task!" yelled Harry. "We've each got to rescue a hostage from the merpeople in the Black Lake, and mine is Hermione. McGonagall took her last night, and I've got to find her!"
"That's horrible!" exclaimed Cho.
"And ridiculous!" added Cedric. "I'm glad I wasn't chosen. I wouldn't fancy trying to find Cho at the bottom of the lake."
"I know! Why can't they just have us rescue another golden egg? Anyway, I've practiced and prepared as best I could, so I just have to wait until the task begins. Bye the way, Cho, I never did thank you properly for standing up for me when Fleur tried to ruin my reputation."
"Oh, it was nothing, Harry. I just know how much you care about Hermione, and would hate for a lie like that to come between you."
Harry smiled at her. "You really are a wonderful person. Cedric's lucky to have you."
"I agree," responded Cedric.
She blushed and replied, "Thanks," and walked off with her boyfriend.
-MITAB-
The whistle echoed shrilly through the cold, still air, as Harry dived into the lake, his mouth full of gillyweed. He felt the icy lake warm up as he grew gills, and started swimming as fast as he could in the direction of the mer-village he'd found with Hermione, carefully avoiding the grindylows.
It was about twenty minutes after he entered the water that he saw Hermione, as well as a male Durmstrang student Harry guessed was Krum's best friend and a little girl who appeared to be Fleur's sister apparently in a magically-induced sleep. He swam up to Hermione and saw that she was tied to the tail of a stone merperson. He looked around him and saw that the merpeople weren't interfering, so he pulled out his wand for show, and then magically loosened the rope binding his beloved. He put an arm around her and turned when he noticed the scariest thing he'd ever seen in his life.
A shark was swimming straight at him, and hit him while he was momentarily frozen in fear. He soon realized that he hadn't been eaten, and that the shark was really a half-transfigured Viktor Krum. He then realized with rage that Krum had purposely hit him, so he wandlessly enlarged Krum's trunks, causing them to fall down to the bottom of the lake while Viktor was figuring out how he'd loose his best friend without biting his hands off. The last thing Harry saw as he took off toward the surface with Hermione was Krum swimming hurriedly downward. Harry laughed as he continued upward.
-MITAB-
At the half-hour mark, everyone was surprised to see Hermione surface near the shore. She opened her eyes and saw the crowd applauding. She felt Harry holding her, but saw that he was still below the surface. She then realized that he must have more time before the gillyweed wore off. She swam ashore and was immediately met by Dumbledore, Ginny, and Neville. Madam Pomfrey rushed up and threw a towel around her. Hermione explained, "Harry's using gillyweed, so he can't come up yet. How long has he been under?"
"Gillyweed?" repeated Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eyes. "That's a great idea. He's now been under water for thirty-five minutes. I believe that leaves him twenty-five more. Don't worry about his score. It's based off of when you came out of the water, not him." She saw Karkaroff and Maxime looking very unhappy.
About five minutes after Hermione came to the surface, Fleur was brought up by a rescue team. It was announced that she couldn't get past the grindylows. Right after that, Krum's friend surfaced, missing several fingers and bleeding. Once his eyes opened, he started screaming in pain. Krum surfaced as the girlish screams began. He was holding his oversized trunks up with one hand while yelling in Russian at his friend, who made a fist, but then looked at his hands and yelled something Harry, who was nearby in the lake, believed to be an extremely vile Russian profanity. The student put down his hands and got out of the water. Madam Pomfrey immediately went to him. While she was still tending him, Harry resurfaced (to be greeted enthusiastically by Hermione), followed by the merpeople carrying Fleur's little sister.
-MITAB-
The scores were as follows: Harry got the full fifty points and Fleur got twenty-five. Krum had earned the fifty for getting back on time, but lost five points for every damaged finger on his hostage, so he ended up with twenty points. Both Krum and Karkaroff argued about it, but the other judges were adamant that Krum shouldn't have injured his hostage by using his shark teeth to free him. If he didn't have a knife or wand with him, he could've found a sharp stone at the bottom of the lake.
All of the champions and hostages were interviewed by Potter Press reporter Anna Jesse for what was sure to be a thorough description of the event, not the love-lives of the participants. After Hermione thoroughly rewarded Harry in a broom closet, they found a party – not in Gryffindor Tower, but in the Great Hall. There were not only Gryffindors, but Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Even some Slytherins were there who congratulated the hero of the Black Lake. Harry had earned an incredible head start in the final task!
Chapter 41 – Finding a Horcrux
The door to the Room of Requirement opened, and both the potions and defense teacher walked in. It was a Saturday morning, a week after the second task. They chuckled when they saw that the room had the same swimming pool it had contained when Harry had learned the clue to the egg. They walked to the edge of the pool and were slightly surprised by what they saw in the water.
Instead of just seeing Harry and Hermione snogging, enjoying the affects of gillyweed, they saw Neville and Ginny in another part of the pool doing the same thing. "I really ought to get Professor Brooks to come here," commented Sirius with a grin.
"As long as Tonks comes, too," added Remus. Recently, they had admitted their feelings and were now a couple.
A few comfortable chairs appeared for the men as Sirius explained, "Might as well be comfortable while we wait."
About fifteen minutes later, the teenagers started emerging from the pool one by one as the gillyweed wore off. Neville was the first one out of the water. He looked at the teachers and paled. "Er, um, are you gonna take house points for this 'cause I'm, er, sor…"
"We ought to give you house points for finding this creative way to snog," countered Sirius with a chuckle.
Neville blushed as Ginny came out of the pool. "Hello, professors."
"Hi, Ginny," replied Lupin.
-MITAB-
Harry and Hermione were soon to follow, and then they went to their respective changing rooms where they made sure to put on their armor as well as regular clothes. When they were fully dressed, the pool disappeared and was replaced by a few couches. The couples sat in them and faced the professors. "So, what's up guys?" asked Harry.
Sirius leaned closer toward them looking excited. "Professor Dumbledore has found a location that he believes contains a Horcrux, and he's agreed to let Harry and Hermione come with us."
The mentioned teenagers looked excited while the other two looked slightly disappointed. Moony saw those expressions and explained, "Ginny, Neville; it was hard to convince him to let those two come with us when he knows that they're more powerful than any of us. He's never seen you two dueling, and he knows how both Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Longbottom would react to you going Horcrux hunting."
"What about Hermione's parents?" asked Ginny.
"They trust Harry and me," replied Hermione.
-MITAB-
A few minutes later, Professors Dumbledore, Lupin, Black, and Brooks were in the headmaster's office with Harry and Hermione. They were all seated on conjured chairs and wearing muggle clothing as Dumbledore explained the situation.
"As you already know, I believe that I've discovered the location of another Horcrux. It is the remains of the orphanage where Voldemort was raised."
"You found it?" asked Professor Brooks, appearing to be astonished. "I couldn't."
"I had the advantage of having visited the orphanage myself, when I personally delivered Tom Riddle's Hogwarts letter. Although I must admit, it was hardly recognizable. I didn't get the chance to visit the location until after the second task, but when I did visit it, I detected magical protection."
"Which led you to believe Voldemort is hiding something there," deduced Sirius.
"Yes," answered Dumbledore. "I also believe that Mr. Potter and Miss Granger have earned the right to accompany us. Truthfully, I wouldn't want to duel either of you two."
Hermione blushed while Harry's ears went pink. "Thank you, sir," Harry replied, "but I am curious why you don't feel that Ginny and Neville are able to accompany us. I know they can't do wandless magic, but neither can most of you."
"They helped us fight the people that attacked during the Yule Ball," added Hermione.
The headmaster looked thoughtful for a moment. "I would like to personally evaluate them before asking them to join us, but I don't have time today. I shall evaluate them at the earliest convenience and consider inviting them to our next adventure. But for today, they'll stay at the castle. I've made a portkey that will leave in five minutes. Are there any questions?"
"I have one, sir," responded Hermione. "Won't Harry and I get in trouble for using underage magic?"
With a twinkle in his eye, Dumbledore answered, "No. You see, if they detect magic around us, the ministry will assume it's being performed by an adult. You see, they can only detect magic, not who's performing it."
"That's why I got blamed for Dobby doing magic in the Dursleys' house," remarked Harry.
"But, sir," asked Hermione, "does that mean that they only give warnings to children living in muggle homes?"
The twinkle left the aged professor's eyes. "Well, yes. According to ministry records, no pureblood witch or wizard has ever performed underage magic."
"In other words, it's another prejudiced law meant to give the ministry an excuse to stop muggle-borns from attending Hogwarts."
"Exactly," agreed Sirius.
"The Potter Press will definitely have to write an article about that," declared Harry with a smirk. Hermione, remind me to call Mrs. Weasley when we get back."
"Definitely," replied Hermione.
"Well," said Dumbledore with an amused expression, "If there are no more questions, I'd suggest we all grab hold of the portkey," and indicated a muggle tie that had pictures of Mickey Mouse on it.
-MITAB-
The group arrived in an alley with Harry, Hermione, and Professor Brooks falling on the ground while the others landed properly on their feet.
"What? Help!" shouted an apparently homeless muggle about five feet from them, as he started to run for his life.
Harry knew he couldn't be allowed to escape, so he put up an invisible barrier surrounding the muggle while Dumbledore stepped forward toward the man who was cowering in fear. The headmaster pulled out his wand and cast, "Obliviate."
The group quickly left the alley and followed Dumbledore to their nearby destination. It was a filthy abandoned building that looked like it should be condemned. Brooks commented, "I'll bet dear-old-dad put a charm on the building to make sure muggles wouldn't want to condemn this…place."
"Indubitably," agreed Dumbledore, "otherwise it would have been destroyed decades ago and replaced with another building."
"Moldyshorts has gone to some trouble to make sure the place is still standing," added Sirius.
"We've got to be very careful," cautioned Lupin.
"I'll go in first," said Brooks.
They all had their wands out as they entered the building through the doorway that had a door hanging on by one hinge. Behind Professor Brooks were Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione, Sirius, and Remus in that order (the kids in the middle). The place was completely full of dust.
Dumbledore pulled out his wand and muttered some Latin phrases before saying, "As I suspected, let's go that way." He pointed in the direction of Tom's old room. They walked into the room with no problem and looked around. There were some dusty old beds in the room, along with a few dressers and a trunk. Harry noticed something and walked up to the trunk.
He looked at the rusted carving of a snake and started hissing at it as the others watched. Brooks whispered to everybody, "He's telling the trunk to open," just before they heard its creaking locks release. "Don't touch it!" Brooks shouted as Harry reached for the handle. He pulled back his hand as she walked up to the trunk and opened it, shaking slightly as though she'd felt a chill. "It was making sure I'm related to Slytherin," she explained. "It would've probably paralyzed you," she explained to Harry. There was only one thing in the trunk, and it was standing in the center. Dumbledore exclaimed, "Hufflepuff's cup!" while Brooks took it out of the trunk. That's when it happened.
It felt as though an earthquake were happening. Brooks shouted, "I must have needed to do some kind of spell before removing it! Let's get out of here!"
They escaped the room while pieces of the ceiling began to fall around them, but it soon became clear that they would not be able to make it out alive. The whole ceiling collapsed above them. Harry saw this happening and without a word protected them all from the impact (causing everything to fall around them, bouncing off their bodies as though they were walls), but they were soon discovering that they were running out of air in the middle of the debris. All they could breathe was the dust that was now floating all around them. Hermione realized what to do before it was too late. In one moment she put them all under the bubblehead charm, giving them air to breathe. They managed to slowly make their way out of the wrecked building.
Albus spoke once they were clear of the wreckage. "I would create a portkey to go directly to Hogwarts, but I believe that after that, we all deserve a drink at the Three Broomsticks, my treat." He looked at Harry and Hermione, "Butterbeers for you two, naturally." They nodded. "Tell me, have you two mastered apparition yet?"
Adrianna Brooks answered, "I've taught them everything I could, and they've been able to pop all around the Room of Requirement. It might not be a bad idea to try them out from a greater distance. In this group, the ministry shouldn't be able to detect whether they side-alonged or not."
"I believe you are correct," replied Albus. "We'll apparate behind the building where no one should see us, just in case. Are you ready, Mr. Potter and Miss Granger?"
Both teens excitedly answered, "Yes!"
-MITAB-
With several small pops, the group arrived right behind the Three Broomsticks. "Everyone all right?" asked Lupin. "No splinching?" All the adults looked carefully at the very happy teenagers, who were nodding.
"Splendid," exclaimed Dumbledore.
"Well done," complimented Sirius, slapping Harry on the back.
"I knew you could do it," added Adrianna.
"If I might," advised Albus, "I suggest we make our way into the Three Broomsticks so we can give Madam Rosmerta our orders. I'm rather thirsty. Congratulations again on your first successful long-distance apparition. Just remember, you didn't learn it from a Hogwarts professor." The group chuckled and went into the pub.
After they'd gotten their drinks, Moony looked at the teenagers. "That was some incredible spellwork you did. Harry, how did you make us all solid enough to not be affected by the roof falling on us? And Hermione, I've never seen anyone perform more than one Bubblehead charm at a time, and you produced six."
Harry answered first. "I just knew what needed to be done and it happened. That's the way my wandless magic works. Sometimes, if I want to do something complex and there's a spell that already does it, like charming muggle devices, it's easier to do it with a wand, but simple ideas like, 'Shield us so we're not affected by the roof falling on us,' come easy."
"I agree with Harry. That's exactly how it is with me," added Hermione.
"Have you ever considered inventing spells?" asked Dumbledore.
"What?" asked both Harry and Hermione together as the teachers stared at them.
"Although many spells, such as Lily Potter's, originated as a combination of several spells that already existed, our base spells originated as wandless actions, and then the witch or wizard performed a ritual which made them into a worded spell that uses a wand. Surely you're aware that many of the things you do without a wand are actions that have been turned into spells."
"Of course, sir," responded Hermione, "I guess we just never thought of it."
"If you'd like, I can try to locate a book on that, although for the most part, base spell creation is handled by the Department of Mysteries at the ministry. It's not illegal to invent spells independently, although some people frown on it, as though the Ministry is some sort of divine institution that must always be in charge of all magic. The truth is that the ministry's only functions should be to keep the peace in the wizarding world and to make sure the muggles don't learn about us. Beyond that, they are overstepping their boundaries."
"Like when they say how thick a cauldron bottom should be," added Harry with a smirk.
"Exactly," agreed Dumbledore, chuckling. "They shouldn't interfere in any situation as long as no one's rights are being violated and muggles aren't involved."
"The laws should be very simple," suggested Hermione. "They should specify everyone's rights, such as the rights to life and property, and state that no magic in any form, whether originating from a person or a charmed object, should be performed in front of muggles, with the exception of those directly related to a magical person, such as my parents. Then it should suggest punishments."
"Exactly," replied Dumbledore, "Then our constitution could be just a few simple paragraphs, and life would be simpler. For example, why should it be illegal for me to create a portkey as long as I'm not doing it to break into somebody's house so I can rob or kill them?"
"One thing that should be in there is that no one should be put in Azkaban until they have had a trial," stated Sirius coldly.
"Naturally," agreed Dumbledore. "You see, in their efforts to regulate everything, they've forgotten to protect peoples' basic rights. Hagrid has yet to receive an apology for his unjust imprisonment in Azkaban two years ago. The only reason he was arrested is because he'd been expelled fifty years before because Lord Voldemort framed him for the crime at that time. And as we know, he's not the only one who's been thrown into Azkaban without a trial. They should have some other place for untried people to stay, where they're not subjected to Dementors."
-MITAB-
The conversation continued, and eventually they all walked back to Hogwarts, where Dumbledore destroyed Hufflepuff's cup in front of them. Harry noticed that when it was destroyed, it glowed green and seemed to scream. While the scream was still sounding, Harry's head, specifically his scar, seemed to feel heavy. Not exactly painful, but uncomfortable.
When Harry tried explaining what he was feeling, Dumbledore's expression grew very grim. The aged man finally, "I had hoped I was wrong, but it appears that your scar is a Horcrux, and now that there are only it and one more remaining, you are beginning to feel the weight of keeping Voldemort alive."
Chapter 42 – Experimental Magic
Suddenly everyone was staring at Harry, whose face had turned white. Hermione, with a horrified expression on her face, took Harry's hand, knowing that if he ever needed her support, it was now.
"Wh-What?" asked Harry, hoping he had misunderstood.
The gazes all shifted back toward Dumbledore, who replied with a sad expression, "You heard me correctly, Harry. Your scar is a Horcrux." The old man looked on the verge of tears. "I'm afraid that you'll have to die before Tom can."
"Wait a minute!" shouted several people angrily.
Dumbledore put up his hands. "I wasn't proposing we kill him now. We'd be as bad as Voldemort. I'm just saying that, while Harry lives, Voldemort can't fully die. We can try to delay his return to power, as Harry did with the Philosopher's Stone and the diary. I suggest we concentrate our efforts on the remaining unidentified Horcrux."
Sirius had to speak up. "Isn't there some way to destroy the Horcrux without hurting Harry?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "When a Horcrux is inside a living thing, be it plant, animal, or human, it survives off of the host's life force. As long as that life force exists, so will the Horcrux."
Harry took on an angrier expression than he'd ever had before. "That bloody son of a…"
"Harry," interrupted Hermione desperately. "Calm down. We'll find a solution." She then turned back to Dumbledore with a light of hope in her eyes. "Headmaster, is there a way to…transfer the Horcrux to something else?"
"I'm afraid not, Miss Granger. No spell exists to transfer a Horcrux."
"Then, maybe I can do it wandlessly, without a spell."
"To attempt to transfer the Horcrux from Harry without damaging him would be far too complex to do without a spell. There are too many factors to consider, the most important part would be Harry's mind."
"His mind, sir?"
"Yes, his mental health. He has hosted, however unwillingly, a piece of Voldemort's soul inside him. It has been a part of him almost his entire life. It is a part of him, infused in his magic and mind."
"You mean I get my powers from Voldemort?" asked Harry, still angry judging from how red his face was.
"Some of your powers, such as Parseltongue, but I don't believe all. Your parents were both powerful, so naturally you'd be powerful in your own right. However, some of your power may come from the Horcrux. However, it's just as likely that the Horcrux is holding back some of your own power."
"Holding back?" asked Harry, clearly not fully understanding.
Hermione explained, "Binding your magic. Harry, don't you remember what Professor Vector said in class a few weeks ago about magical potential?"
He blushed at momentarily forgetting his arithmancy that he'd worked on so hard to learn so he could drop divination. "Oh, yeah. If something is binding magic, the victim's potential is limited, so some of their spells will have less affect while others won't work at all. There are spells and cursed objects that can do that."
Lupin added with a smirk, "It's theoretically possible that if you lost the Horcrux you could lose some power and gain the same amount back."
"And come out even," finished Harry unemotionally.
"But I'm afraid that all of that is pointless speculation," stated Dumbledore firmly. He looked into Harry's eyes and said, "I'm very sorry, Harry, but as long as you live, Voldemort can't die."
"But that's not what the prophecy says, sir," Hermione countered. "It says 'neither can live while the other survives,' not 'the dark lord can't die while the other survives.'"
That put a spark of hope in Harry, which Albus shot down immediately by saying, "Prophecies can come true in many ways that we can't predict."
Hermione looked upset, but instead of yelling or arguing, she simply said, "If you'll excuse us, I think Harry and I need some time alone to talk about this."
"That's fine," replied Dumbledore in his grandfatherly voice. "It is a lot to take in."
"By the way," added Hermione as they reached the door, "Don't forget to try to find that book for me."
"Of course, Miss Granger. Good day."
-MITAB-
A few minutes later, Hermione had practically dragged Harry to the Room of Requirement. "I don't want to talk about it!" he declared once they were inside. He hadn't wanted to contradict his girlfriend in front of everyone, nor had he wanted to accidentally let the whole school know about the Horcrux in his head by arguing with her in the halls.
"But you need to talk about it!" she insisted firmly. "I can't imagine how I'd feel if I were you right now! I won't say I understand, but I will say that I love you and want to help!"
Harry had been ready to argue that she didn't understand, but she'd already covered that argument. He sighed as a couch appeared behind him, and sat down on the far right. He didn't say one word, instead looked in her eyes as she sat as close to him as possible without being on his lap.
After she felt she'd given him enough time to speak, she asked, "Can you try to tell me what you're feeling?"
He took a deep breath and gave her a small grin. "I suppose the only way I could get out of this conversation is by running away."
She grinned back at him. "You'll never go where I can't find you."
"I suppose not." He sighed. "I don't know what I feel. Violated, used, dirty, angry…scared. I guess they'd all apply. Does this mean Voldemort can possess me like the diary possessed Ginny? One day we could be snogging, then all the sudden Voldemort will take me over and I'll kill you because of his stupid prejudices. That monster used my body to keep his Horcrux! But how could he?! I would think my murder is what he'd use to split his soul, not use my body to house the fragment!"
Hermione's eyes widened. "What if that was his plan?"
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"What if he'd done whatever ritual was needed to make a Horcrux prior to the murder, before he came up the stairs. He shot his death curse at you, but your mum jumped in front of it, becoming the source for his soul split. At that moment, he knew he'd have to make another Horcrux quickly, and so he chose to hide his Horcrux in you. At that moment, he may have planned to kidnap you and raise you as his servant. Only, when he put the Horcrux in you after your mum died to save you, something went wrong because of the protection and he was vanquished." She gasped. "Maybe you didn't survive the avada kadavra curse like everyone believes! You and Voldemort are the only people alive who were there, you don't remember, and Voldemort isn't giving interviews."
"He marked me instead of trying to kill me!"
"As his equal…with a part of him inside you."
"But the last line doesn't make sense! He can't die while I'm alive!"
She smiled at him. "Not unless the Horcrux becomes irrelevant. If we can remove it."
"You heard Dumbledore!" he argued, getting frustrated again. "No spell can do it, and it's too complicated to do it without a spell."
"Like a computer program," Hermione replied. Harry looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "It's possible to tell a computer every little thing you want it to do one command at a time in what's known as machine language. That's similar to our working magic without wands. However, it's a lot easier to use programs, which are basically a set of commands. That's like a spell – a series of individual magic commands put together into one program. A wand acts like an operating system like Windows or Linux."
Harry was just staring at her, almost completely confused.
"Never mind. I was just comparing magic to a muggle programming book I read last summer. My point is that if we can figure out everything that needs to happen to remove the Horcrux from you, and we get that book from Professor Dumbledore, we might be able to create a spell to do that."
"So all we have to do is make a bunch of Horcruxes out of guinea pigs and keep trying to move them until we get it right?" he suggested sarcastically.
She glared at him for a moment, and then smiled wickedly. "Sure. Let's kill Snape for the first one."
He chuckled. "Sounds like a plan to me."
"Seriously though, I think we should find out everything we possibly can about Horcruxes and their affect on living things. Maybe how to detect souls. If there is such a test, you should register as having more than one soul."
"More like one and a half."
Hermione smiled. "Exactly. Detecting souls would probably be the first step in the spell. I wonder if I could do that now."
Harry took a deep breath as he paled. "You can try," he replied, a bit unsteadily.
Hermione got up and stood in front of Harry. She closed her eyes for a moment to focus herself. Then she looked at Harry, concentrating on seeing his souls. She could now see through his skull as though she were giving him a magical x-ray. Harry didn't feel affected at all as a small bright white ball of light appeared inside his transparent (to Hermione) head between his nose and mouth. Hermione thought to herself that 'The soul is close to the mouth. No wonder Dementors suck the soul out through there.' She also saw a much smaller, sickly yellow ball of light inside Harry's forehead, right behind his scar. Her stray thought of removing it right then caused it to glow brighter as Harry winced in pain and reached for his scar. She immediately stopped.
"Ouch!" Harry screamed as he rubbed his scar. "Be careful!"
"I'm sorry," she responded as she sat on his lap and began to rub his forehead. "I got overzealous after I saw the Horcrux and tried to remove it. I promise I'll be more careful, even if I have to do a few more experiments."
"Yes, Dr. Frankenstein, I do your bidding," replied Harry, bowing in a bad imitation of a servant in an old horror movie.
She slapped his arm. "I am not Dr. Frankenstein, you prat."
"No, you're Mine."
"Harry, I just remembered! We need to call Mrs. Weasley about the underage magic law!"
"I don't feel like going back to Dumbledore's office. Let's write a letter and send it with Hedwig."
-MITAB-
A few days later, the Potter Press ran an article.
Underage Magic Law Proven to be Prejudiced
By Anna Jesse
The law called the 'Reasonable Restriction of Underage Magic' has resulted in hundreds of Hogwarts students receiving warnings about it – five actually expelled. It is interesting to note that every single case has been a muggle-raised student – all but one of them was muggleborn. That exception was, of course, Harry Potter, who used to live with his muggle Aunt and Uncle. Some may say that this means that muggle-born children are out of control and can't stop themselves from using magic. The fact of the matter is that this is not the case.
The ministry simply cannot track who performs magic, only where it is performed. This means that any child who lives in a wizarding home may or may not be practicing magic outside of school, but will never get in trouble with the Ministry, if they do. This not only gives muggle-born children a distinct disadvantage academically over pureblood and half blood students that are aware of this (some may simply experiment one time and find out they weren't caught, and therefore get in the habit) because they can't practice during the holiday, but it also persecutes them unfairly.
All that it would take is for a muggle-born child to perform magic, which becomes second-nature during the school year, twice, and they'd be expelled. They are never allowed to show their parents what they've learned in school, which leads to their parents not really understanding what or even if their kids are learning at Hogwarts.
The 'Hogwarts' Happenings' article in this paper contains interviews with several muggle-born students about misunderstandings they've had at home because of this law. Some muggle-born students have even been pulled out of Hogwarts because their parents can't understand the point of learning magic if you can't use it at home. We at the Potter Press suggest that this law should be modified to allow magic to be performed in the home as long as it's only not in front of anyone who's not aware of magic. Of course, that particular offense would be covered by the statute of secrecy anyway, so there would be no point in the law at all… "
The article was distributed to nearly every student at Hogwarts at breakfast, who read it with much interest. Many of the students seemed both upset and happy about this information, as the conversations got louder and louder until finally, the headmaster felt he had to do something. He put down his fork, wiped his mouth, and walked up to the podium. "SILENCE!" he shouted, causing the whole hall to quiet down.
"I gather that the cat is now out of the bag. I can assure you that the reason we announce the underage restriction every year is because the Ministry tells us to. Many laws have been written by bigots who are against muggle-born witches and wizards. I have a feeling that this particular law will be modified soon. What I want to do is stress to you that even if you end up with fewer restrictions on your use of magic, you must exercise common sense and not hurt yourselves by performing dangerous spells. In the meantime, however, I must insist that you keep the noise level down to a low roar.
-MITAB-
A few days after the article came out, Hermione, Harry, Neville, Ginny, Sirius, and Remus were dueling in the Room of Requirement when Dumbledore walked in, carrying an old book. This round was everybody but Hermione, who was researching on her computer, against Harry. The room hid Dumbledore as he observed for several minutes as Harry fought, avoiding spell after spell until finally a stunner from Neville's wand got him when he was caught between all four wands.
"Bravo, bravo!" exclaimed the headmaster as he revealed himself. "Well done, Harry, for avoiding getting hit for so long, and well done, Neville, for finally stunning him. I must say, Mr. Longbottom, that you and Miss Weasley are as good of duelists as most of the professors here."
They both blushed at the compliments. "Thank you, sir," replied Ginny.
"You're most welcome, Miss Weasley. The reason I'm here is to loan this book to Miss Granger."
Hermione, who'd been studying from her laptop, looked up and smiled widely upon seeing the tome in the headmaster's hand. She got up and walked up to him. "Thank you very much, headmaster. Let me copy it onto my computer."
She took the book and performed the spell to scan it. "I've been wanting to speak with you, sir," she commented nervously.
"Oh," he replied happily.
"I want to create a spell for transferring Horcruxes and wanted you to tell me everything you believe would need to be done."
The aged professor sighed heavily. "I already told you that I don't think anything can be done for Harry. I…"
"Harry?! What about Harry?" demanded Ginny, who'd been standing nearby.
Dumbledore's face turned red. "My apologies, Miss Granger. I'd assumed you'd informed them."
"Well," explained Hermione as Harry walked toward them. "Harry's been sort of reluctant. He's afraid Ginny and Neville will be afraid of him and not want anything to do with us anymore."
"Why would I be afraid of Harry?" asked Ginny, "unless the…you wanted to transfer a Horcrux…why would you…unless." She turned to face Harry with a look of sympathy in her eyes as she looked at his scar. "D-Did Tom put a Horcrux i-in you?"
He hung his head in shame. "Yes," he mumbled.
Ginny walked up to him and hugged him with tears flowing from her eyes. "How can you think that of us? I'm the last person to judge you about that!" He returned the hug, and after a few moments, she let go of Harry and faced Albus. "Hermione is trying to find a way to help Harry and you won't help her?"
"I'm afraid I don't want to give Harry false hope. I…"
"SO INSTEAD, YOU WANT HIM TO HAVE NO HOPE AT ALL!"
"He may be seriously hurt or even die if Miss Granger attempts to…"
"I will die before Voldemort can if I don't do anything! If I'm the only one who can kill Voldemort, and he can't die while I'm alive, he's guaranteed to win! According to the prophecy, I have a fighting chance! There has to be a way to eliminate this Horcrux without killing me!"
"But dying while removing the Horcrux could count as dying by his hand!" argued Dumbledore.
"I want my godson to try this," insisted Sirius, joining in the conversation, "and I'd appreciate it if you help Hermione in any way you can, thus increasing the odds of her success. But with or without your help, we are going to do this!"
Albus saw the determined look on Harry's guardian, and sighed. "Very well, I'll tell you everything I know about Horcruxes."
-MITAB-
In between classes, Hermione worked relentlessly on first reading and rereading that book, and then on creating the spell. She barely even noticed the article from the Potter Press that said the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Magic had been revised to make it illegal for a minor to perform magic outside of their home or in the presence of muggles unaware of the existence of magic. Now muggle-borns could demonstrate magic for their parents, and practice all they need to over the holidays (not to mention do their chores magically). A house rule the reporter suggested is not to perform magic in the house if there's a visitor there.
After a month of Harry hardly being able to snog his girlfriend, where more often than not, when he was alone with her, she'd perform experiments regarding his Horcrux (that she'd stop the moment it got painful), Hermione announced she was ready. On a Saturday morning, Dumbledore insisted that they have Madam Pomfrey monitor Harry's life signs during the spell. She'd been told only that they'd discovered a dark curse inside Harry's scar, and that Hermione was attempting to remove it. A nurse from St. Mungo's was running the Hospital Wing while Madam Pomfrey, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Dumbledore, Black, Lupin, and Brooks were in the Room of Requirement.
Harry was lying comfortably on a bed, and Madam Pomfrey was standing beside him, not very happy that a student, no matter how bright, was performing the spell. However, Dumbledore had instructed her to allow it, and to do her best to help Harry afterward.
Hermione performed very complex wand movements while muttering an equally difficult incantation. A few moments after she began, Harry's eyes closed and he looked peaceful for about two minutes. At that point, his eyes opened wide as he screamed. He started shaking and sweating, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Hermione continued the spell. After five agonizing minutes, his body relaxed again and his eyes closed. About two minutes after that, his eyes opened and he started screaming. At the same moment, a green vapor started seeping out of his scar and into a Kleenex tissue Hermione had placed beside Harry. His scar began fading as the vapor left his body. When it was over, the scar was barely visible upon close inspection.
Madam Pomfrey ran a diagnostic spell on Harry, looking for anything that could be wrong with him while Dumbledore took the Horcrux tissue. "Well, he's stunned right now, so an enervate should wake him. It seems his magic is unstable as well. Professor Dumbledore mentioned the possibility that this curse had been affecting Harry's magic." She then revived Harry, who blinked and looked around.
"H-Hermione?" he asked when his eyes rested on his girlfriend.
"How do you feel?" she inquired.
He gave her a grin. "Light-headed." He put his right hand on his scar. "It feels, different. Does it look different?" Madam Pomfrey conjured a mirror and handed it to her patient. "It's a lot thinner and lighter, less noticeable," he remarked with a grin.
Madam Pomfrey asked, "Do you have your wand? I'd like you to attempt a spell."
Hermione handed him his wand. "What spell do you want me to perform?"
"We'll start with a simple first-year spell. Levitate this quill." She put a quill on a table.
Harry confidently pointed his wand at the feather, did the swish and flick with his wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa." Nothing happened.