Scrying
The Order held a meeting first thing on Sunday morning at Hogwarts. Only a select few members were there as it was such short notice. Only the people who Hermione's disappearance affected most were asked to come, and those that could be the greatest help. Harry, Ron and Ginny were the only students present, each insisting that they be a part of it. The meeting was held in the Room of Requirement, which was Harry's suggestion. It was the only place in the school that was big enough to hold the Order members and stay private.
Dumbledore started the meeting by explaining to the horrified witches and wizards in front of him about Hermione's disappearance from the school and the faked note from Harry, asking her to meet him at the quidditch pitch. Harry sat through this with a blank expression on his face, staring vacantly at the opposite wall. He was slumped in his chair, feeling totally hollow and useless. He had had a sleepless night, thoughts bouncing around inside his head, not allowing him to sleep. He couldn't help thinking that he could have prevented this. If he had realised on Saturday morning that Hermione wasn't in school, this meeting could have happened a lot faster, they would already be searching for her by now. And why didn't he think to use the Marauder's Map? He should have looked at it yesterday morning to see where Hermione was! Now she was gone, and he was certain that he knew who took her. Who else could it be? Rookwood he thought, rage burning through him as the image of that beautiful, cold, cunning witch came into his head. The anger coursed through him until threatening to explode. How could he have let this happen?!
He jumped as a load of books thudded to the floor next to his chair. He quickly picked them up and put them back on the bookshelf along with all the other books about finding lost objects that had magically appeared when they walked into the room. He sat back down and realised that almost everyone was looking at him. He ignored them. He knew why they were staring - the books falling to the ground had not been coincidental, it was caused by wandless magic. Caused by him. He had got so angry that he had once again made things happen that he had no control over. It had happened before; the lock on the cupboard at number 4 springing open when he needed his trunk, and of course the incident with Aunt Marge. He just stared moodily at the wall, not caring how amazed the others were at what he had done.
Kingsley was asking Dumbledore questions about Hermione's dream so Dumbledore had to explain Dreamwalking to them all. Harry stopped listening and scanned the titles of the books, looking for something, anything, that could help to find Hermione. His eyes rested on a leather bound volume 'Of spying and scrying' By Mandy Muggelwort. He took it off the shelf and opening it carefully, the edges of pages crumbling under his fingers. He chose a page at random and read the title of the chapter he had found; 'Scrying for beginners'. He skimmed over the page, then read it again more carefully. It seemed to suggest that by looking into a reflective surface, like water or a mirror, you could cast a spell and be able to see an image of someone far away. Harry read the whole chapter and made sure he had understood it completely before raising his head and looking up at Dumbledore. "Professor?" he called out, interrupting a sobbing Mrs Weasley, who was in the middle of question about how the kidnappers could have gotten into the school grounds. Dumbledore turned to him, eyebrows raised questioningly. "Sorry to interrupt Professor." Harry continued "But I think I've found a way to find Hermione." he went on to explain about scrying. He finished his explanation and waited for Dumbledore's response.
It was Snape, however, who replied first. "Scrying will not show you where she is, Potter. It will merely show us Granger and a limited area around her" he said derisively. "It will not show you her location. What an utterly useless person you are…" he trailed off.
Harry glared at him. "Well actually, professor, scrying would show us the condition of her health wouldn't it? So at least we'd know that much. And if we saw even a small area of her surroundings it could help narrow down the search." he replied. Snape just glared hatefully back at him and remained silent.
The next half an hour was spent discussing scrying, involving a lot of extracts from books being read out and doubts being voiced. Finally it was decided that Dumbledore would cast the spell, and the others would watch to see if it worked.
The next hour was spent in preparation for the complex ritual of scrying. Muggelwort seemed to have a liking of obscure objects and ingredients and candle-lit rituals as a build up to the actual spell. Dumbledore, with Snape's help, distilled the process substantially, cutting through the pre-scrying meditation and totally irrelevant potions that Muggelwort was so fond of. By the end of the hour everything was ready. The assembled witches and wizards cleared a large area at one end of the room and Molly placed a cup of water in the centre of the space. They stood in silence as Dumbledore spoke the first incantation and pointed his wand at the cup. The water within it rose up and spiralled from the cup and into the air, increasing in volume as it spun. Dumbledore made a shimmering wall out of the water, making it stretch to fill one end of the room from floor to ceiling, wall to wall.
Harry watched as Dumbledore began the next complicated spell. Suddenly, the whole wall of water turned as black as night. Harry saw an image begin to materialize in the centre, then slowly enlarge. He saw the figure of a person huddled against a stone wall, hands wrapped around their legs, the person's head resting on it's knees. As the picture grew larger and brighter, Harry could recognise the bushy hair, the pretty face. His heart tightened painfully when he saw the tears falling down her face, cutting channels through the dirt on her cheeks. "Hermione" he whispered, tears welling up in his own eyes. Hermione looked up suddenly, almost as thought she could sense him watching her. "Harry?" she mouthed. She suddenly turned her head towards the door, fear dancing in her eyes.
The image abruptly winked out, and the wall of water exploded, drenching them all instantly.
~*~*~
The door of her room burst open, and Azalea Rookwood stalked in, eyes blazing. The feeling that Harry was watching her quickly disappeared and she felt the hopelessness overwhelm her again. Azalea circled the room, muttering spells as she walked. She abruptly turned to face Hermione, a dark glint in her eyes, a sneer marring her beauty. "That fool Dumbledore will have a hard time doing that again!" she said angrily. "Whatever he was using to scry for you will have just exploded in his face!" she informed Hermione. "Oh I do hope it was glass." she added, then grinned suddenly. "A shard of glass might have pierced his heart, or sliced open an artery…you never know…" she said hopefully, face brightening at the prospect. Then seeing Hermione's horrified look she added "Oh come on! You can't say you actually like the fool?" she asked incredulously.
Hermione replied angrily "Professor Dumbledore is a great wizard!"
Azalea just yawned widely. "Yeah yeah. Well I gotta run, I was in the middle of something before I was so rudely interrupted… I'll be back later though, there's something I need your help with." Azalea said, a cruel smile playing her lips.
Hermione sighed with relief as the door slammed shut again. She was not look forward to what ever Rookwood wanted her 'help' with, by the look on her face and the way she said it, it seemed like Azalea was really happy about something, which meant that what ever it was, it couldn't be good. Not for Hermione anyway.