Disclaimer: JK owns all.
**
Harry looked from Snape to Dumbledore in an almost comedic parody of disbelief.
"When?" asked Dumbledore concisely.
"I'm not sure" said Snape. "Their next target is Hogwarts. I was not deemed worthy" he spat this word "to share in the exact plans. I suspect the attack will be launched in a week, maybe more. It will take them at least this long to assemble all their forces from the corners of the globe."
"Do they know you have betrayed them?" asked Dumbledore urgently.
Snape wryly gestured to his scorched scalp. "I think they may have worked it out." He said dryly.
"Severus, go to the hospital wing. Poppy will take care of you. I will join you shortly." Dumbledore radiated a quiet authority that it would be quite impossible to resist. Snape grimaced at Harry and then left the room.
"Hagrid, the task which I set earlier has acquired new urgency. Please be as quick as possible."
"Yessir" said Hagrid glumly. "Bye Harry, it'll be alright, just wait, yer'll see."
"Thanks Hagrid" Harry said warmly, grateful for the reassurance, if not entirely convinced.
Again, Harry and the Headmaster were left alone in the office. Harry gaped in Dumbledore's direction.
"Darkness is rising Harry" he said. "I had feared that Voldemort would come to Hogwarts, but I had not imagined it would be this soon. I have allowed myself to become complacent. When the expected terror did not follow Voldemort's return to power I felt, like many others, that something was holding him back. It seems I was wrong." Dumbledore added this last sentence with the confused tone of one who is not accustomed to being wrong often.
"Professor?" stuttered Harry, dreading the answer "Is he coming because of me?"
"I do not know Harry" said Dumbledore, shaking his head, "we cannot assume that. If only Xavier were not lost to us."
"Let us look into it!" said Harry abruptly, desperate to do something, anything.
"Harry, I admire your diligence, but the Order of the Phoenix found nothing."
"But they didn't have Hermione" said Harry simply.
"Indeed" Dumbledore said pensively. "I will share what I know with you Harry, but you must understand
that my prime focus must be the defence of this establishment. Too many young lives depend on my judgement. Do you
understand?"
"I do" said Harry firmly.
"The volumes which Magnus sought from me are a highly rare set of Early Wizarding History volumes. They outline myth, history and astrology from centuries ago. The volumes referenced in his intercepted parchment are seven to nine."
Dumbledore passed Bloom's letter to Harry. "I hope this will help. My only advice to you is that later authors sometimes cross-reference or quote these early volumes, but my hopes are not high Harry."
Harry took the scroll and tucked it into his robes.
"Professor, what are we going to do about Voldemort and the attack?" asked Harry tentatively.
"As you have heard Harry, we are recalling all our old allies. We will patrol the grounds and assemble our defences. Perhaps Professor Snape may be able to offer assistance on tactical matters. I will advise the Ministry of the situation but really Harry, I am afraid we must sit and wait. I ask you of course to keep this matter from the rest of Hogwarts."
I just can't wait around, thought Harry. The prospect of a task, however hopeless, was the shining beacon of hope in his future.
**
"So Snape had a black eye?" asked Ron enthusiastically. "Did it look like it hurt?"
"Ron!" chastized Hermione.
"Umm, it didn't look pretty" said Harry.
"Excellent" said Ron, with a smug smile.
"Ron!"
"Oh come on…he gave you a B once in Potions. Don't tell me you haven't wanted to give him a black eye!"
"Ron!"
"Alright, alright. So what's the plan Harry?"
"Umm, I don't have a plan" he admitted.
"We need to go the library." Hermione stated simply, compensating for his ignorance, as he'd known she would.
"Hermione, that's your answer to every problem. If the library was on fire, your solution to the problem would be to head there for some research" complained Ron.
This time she merely gave him a look. He hurriedly stood up.
"Harry mate, what are you waiting for?"
**
They had taken over one corner of the library. Ron's primary contribution to the vigil was to regularly visit the house-elves for snacks. Thus the team had one table for books, one table for pies. Ron was often to be found 'working' at the latter. Hermione had her nose buried in "Ye Olde Wizarding Lore - Abridged to make sense" which was roughly the size of her upper body. She was concentrating so hard that her nose almost grazed the pages.
Harry had "Goblins, Gobblets and all that's in between!" open in front of him but he'd been reading the same line over and over for the last half an hour. And he still didn't know what a Gobblet was. He'd been attracted to this volume by the appealing exclamation mark in the title but sadly the promised excitement had yet to materialize. Voldemort was planning to attack Hogwarts. Why? Why not snatch Harry from the Dursley's over the summer? Don't be silly, he chastized himself, perhaps he's after Dumbledore or Sirius. It's not all about you. Somehow, when the lines of the prophecy ran through his head, it was hard not to think that way.
"Dark will clash with light…two shadows fleet…never the one without the other…never the twain shall meet"
What did it mean? He and Voldemort had clashed many times and, while the Voldemort-creature of his first year could be described as a shadow, Harry didn't think he fitted in very well at all. The idea that they hadn't met was ridiculous.
"Pumpkin pie?" asked Hermione, breaking into his reverie. "Ron seems to think that we're running short" she said gesturing to the heaped banquet "so he's gone to ask for more!"
"Thanks" said Harry absently.
"I'm not getting anywhere" she sighed, frustrated. She tangled wayward curls in her fist as she leaned upon her right hand. "There are extracts and references but they're so scattered that we'd need a lifetime to track them down!"
"I know" he said glumly. He was transfixed by the motion of her fingers, twisting and playing with her curls. It was so strange. Ever since the Quidditch match, he'd found himself mildly uncomfortable in her presence. It was an odd kind of confusion. He didn't want to be near her when she caused him these stomach pangs, but he couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be. It was altogether horrible, reflected Harry.
"We've been here forever!" she sighed.
"I know" he agreed, watching her eyes dart frantically across the page. It was a habit he'd noticed from the first year - she could quite easily scan a book and carry out a conversation. It bewildered Harry.
"What are we going to do Harry? Snape said that Voldemort is coming here." Her face was pale, her voice shaky, and Harry regretted her being involved in this danger.
"We need to find out what Voldemort knows" said Harry grimly.
"We need to find an original copy of the volumes."
"The Order tried every library."
"Did we double-check with every library?" she said.
"We went through the whole list in the Purple Pages" confirmed Harry. "They all confirmed attacks had been levelled at this specific section."
"He's wiped out every copy in the wizarding world" sighed Hermione.
"What about the Muggle world?" asked Harry suddenly.
"They don't have magic volumes…" she countered
"No, not necessarily wizarding texts but Professor Dumbledore himself said that we share a lot of myth and early writing."
" And Voldemort would never think to destroy Muggle libraries" continued Hermione, warming to the idea. "He thinks that Muggles are beneath him."
"That's true" said Harry.
Hermione slammed her volume shut and beamed at him. "I think you might have done it Harry!"
"Well…we can't be sure. They may not have anything relevant" dismissed Harry.
"I've got a good feeling about this" she smiled.
He smiled back at her. Their eyes met across the table. It was a long and meaningful gaze. Without thinking Harry reached across the table and touched her hand. It was just a spontaneous show of affection and unity. She took his in her own and grinned at him.
"Abou' wha'?" came a muffled voice, as Ron came back into the room, his mouth obscured by a large doughnut.
The two jumped apart. "Hermione thinks that we should try looking in Muggle libraries" said Harry.
"Harry Potter!" squealed a different voice, and Dobby peeked out from between Ron's legs. "How is Harry Potter?"
"I'm fine" said Harry, trying not to laugh at the ridiculous outfit Dobby was wearing. In addition to his tea cosy hat, Dobby was now sporting a miniature leather jacket, too long for his body, and wide strapped sandals. Each foot was also clad in a brightly coloured knitted sock.
"We're going to the Muggle world?" asked Ron, bewildered.
"Dobby will come sir! Dobby will come!" he said, jumping onto the chair next to Harry's.
"I appreciate the offer Dobby, but I don't think it's a good idea."
"Dobby has displeased Harry Potter. Harry Potter does not want Dobby near him" said the little house-elf desolately. Lowering his head onto the pages of "Goblins, Gobblets, and all that's in between!" Dobby proceeded to slam the book shut repeatedly.
"Ow…ow….ow….ow…"
"Dobby, stop that!" said Harry firmly, pulling him away. "It's nothing like that! I just don't think that you'd fit in very discreetly in the Muggle world" he said awkwardly.
"Dobby could wear different clothes" said the house elf hopefully.
"It's not so much the clothes" said Harry delicately. "It's more…"
"Dobby is too ignorant."
"Not at all…"
"Dobby is too ugly.
"No, Dobby, just listen…"
"Dobby will fail you?"
"Dobby they don't have house elves in the Muggle world. They think that human beings are the only creatures that can talk. That's all." He said desperately.
Dobby hung his head so low that the bobble on his tea cosy touched his knees.
"But, err, Dobby would you mind bringing us some tea?" asked Harry desperate to cheer him up.
He perked up immediately. "Dobby would be honoured sir. Dobby will bring every variety of tea that he can find."
"Thanks Dobby."
As Dobby sped out of the library, jogging on little splayed legs, Harry turned to look at Hermione. She was buried in another book, "Muggles and Society, Edition 2" by the look of the cover.
The book was open at Chapter 12 ("Muggle Public Buildings: Swimming Baths to Shops"). The chapter was quite extensive and Hermione read at a speed Harry couldn't follow. She traced a finger down the page (under the heading "British Libraries") and at last muttered "A-ha".
"What?" said Ron and Harry in unison, who were by this time desperately gulping down the vats of tea that Dobby had sent up, so as not to disappoint him.
"Apparently certain Muggle libraries are assured a copy of every book printed in the United Kingdom. I think one of these may be a good place to start. Hmmm…" she said, staring at the list. "I think the most obscure would be Cambridge University Library. It's attached to a Muggle university but it's apparently often empty."
"We're really going to mix with the Muggles?" asked Ron, excited. "And I have simply nothing to wear!"
"I've only got an impending attack written in my diary, but I could re-schedule…" said Harry to his friend.
"It's a date!" said Ron, melodramatically.
Harry glanced quickly at Hermione as his face blushed.
"Let's go" he said quickly.
"Harry!" called Hermione. "Don't you think that you should tell Dumbledore what's happening?"
Harry was slightly bewildered. That wasn't a normal part of his plans.
"He specifically told me that he wouldn't be involved" he said, mildly irritated with the nagging.
"So that they know you're safe Harry. Please."
"Ok" he agreed, reluctantly. "But I'm going whatever they say."
**
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