"Harry!" a voice echoed distantly through his consciousness.
Harry groaned as his mind floated on a hazy cloud of contentment. What was this pesky thing bothering him?
"Harry!" the voice called with a much more insistent tone this time.
Harry's eyes flew open as he finally snapped out of whatever trance had been gripping him. Hermione's tear stained face came into focus as she hovered inches above him.
"Oh Harry," she sobbed, "I couldn't hear you, it was like you were dead."
"What happened?" he asked weakly. Hermione kissed him urgently before hugging him tightly again. He stroked her hair gently as she brought her emotions under control.
"I don't know Harry, I was worried because you didn't dream last night but time passes differently in a dream, especially when you're not there to give it any perspective, so I woke up before I realized it was morning. Then I waited for you downstairs and everyone else left for breakfast, but you didn't come down. I've been trying everything I know to get you to wake up but you wouldn't budge. I only knew you were alive because you were breathing." Hermione babbled hysterically. Harry wrapped his arms around her to continue to try and sooth her.
"It's ok Hermione, I'm fine, I'm not going anywhere, let's just figure out what happened ok?" Hermione nodded and he could feel her spirits lifting as their link reestablished itself. "Now the last thing I remember is coming in here and getting ready for bed. I came over and touched the sheet…"
Harry pulled them back from the bed. "I touched the sheet and that's the last thing I remember."
Hermione whipped out her wand and began performing revelation charms on the sheets to see if they had been cursed.
"I left my hat downstairs, where's yours?" Hermione asked when nothing showed up.
Harry grabbed the wand from off the nightstand and summoned his hat. With a flash he was tossed back against the wall. Hermione shrieked as ran to him and began casting healing charms immediately.
"My hand, so cold," Harry wheezed as he gripped his wand hand. "Some kind of jinx."
"Death's Touch jinx," Hermione muttered, hysteria beginning to grip her again, "we're lucky you were just summoning something. A real spell would have flash frozen you…."
"I think that's helping," Harry said as he felt warmth return to his hand. "Now we know why I was knocked out. Someone wanted the opportunity to try and kill me."
"That doesn't make any sense Harry, if they wanted to kill you they could have used lethal poison or avada kedavra on you instead of just jinxing your wand." Hermione reasoned.
"Can the jinx be lifted?" Harry asked as he looked warily at the wand.
"Probably, but I don't have any idea how yet," Hermione replied as she prevented Harry from reaching for the booby-trapped item. "It's my wand, I'd better do it, I know all of its nuances better than you."
"Hermione this can't be a coincidence," Harry said suddenly. "Think about it, Dumbledore and three aurors are watching the tower last night. Then I get knocked out and my wand is jinxed just a few hours later."
"Yes, I agree, there's something more going on but none of it makes any sense. If Dumbledore suspected something like this would happen then why leave before thwarting the attack? How did the attacker get into the tower to poison you and then get in again to jinx the wand? What's the point of just jinxing your wand instead of killing you outright?" Hermione said, rambling off questions rapidly as her mind went into overdrive.
"I don't know," Harry said, shaking his head. He went over and retrieved his hat by hand. "Let's see what was put on my bed."
"It's some variant of the dreamless sleep potion," Hermione said after using a discovery potion on it. "Only its faster acting and obviously transfers by touch instead of needing to be ingested."
"Should we should dispose of these," Harry asked, "or keep them for further analysis?"
"It won't matter, the potion is dissolving the sheets, it will be like none of it ever existed in a few more hours," Hermione said. "Seems like a lot of trouble to go to."
"This makes less and less sense by the minute." Harry agreed. "I'm going to get dressed."
"Right, I'll wait for you outside this room, if you're not out in five minutes I'm coming back in." Hermione said sternly.
"Actually I was hoping you could just conjure my clothes since you have a working wand," Harry replied. Hermione rolled her eyes, but waved her wand. Harry's clothes switched and he was in his protective robes instantly.
Hermione scooped up the jinxed wand and tucked it behind her belt as they walked down the stairs. The common room and the halls were deserted as they walked toward the Great Hall for breakfast. The hall was buzzing lively with the usual friendly chatter of the morning when they made their way to the Gryffindor seats. Hermione had wanted Harry to go to Madam Pomfrey but he convinced her that he was fine. Also, until they knew what was going on Harry thought it might be wise to say nothing to anyone before talking to Dumbledore. Thankfully Dumbledore was sitting at the front of the room eating so they would be able to corner him after the meal and finally get some answers hopefully.
Harry took his usual seat next to Ron with Hermione sitting across from them. Hermione looked at Ron oddly before asking a tentative question.
"Ron, did you notice anything strange last night, like say Harry crumpled up next to his bed?"
"Er, no, I mean yeah, but he falls out of bed from time to time, why?" Ron asked.
"Someone poisoned him and jinxed his wand," Hermione hissed. "Did you notice anything strange or not?"
"Nope, not a thing, came in, went to sleep, got up, that's all I remember," Ron said nonchalantly. Hermione looked positively venomous at his casual attitude so Harry tried to smooth it over.
"It's ok Ron, you're a heavy sleeper and like you said, I do fall out once in a while."
Hermione shrugged, but Harry could tell she was still miffed, and took out the hexed wand. Hermione began running a jet of soft yellow light all over it to reveal the jinx and hopefully dissolve it.
Harry leaned in close so he could see what she was doing. Hermione's delicate spell work was beginning to make some headway on removing the jinx afflicting the wand. It looked like little hairs were shedding off of it as the destructive spell was eaten away. Harry jerked back as a platter of sweet rolls popped into existence right in front of him. He took one unconsciously as he continued to watch Hermione work.
Hermione felt an uncomfortable tingle in her chest suddenly and glanced up half way expecting to see a dark curse flying towards her. The light being emitted from her wand, Harry's wand actually, was not only a tool for unraveling harmful spells but it also detected and identified such spells. In addition it made the user hyper sensitive to the magic that surrounds them at any given time. Something was definitely wrong.
Hermione flicked her wand and let the light spill around her like a searchlight trying to find something illusive in the dark. The yellowish glow fell on the platter of sweet rolls that had just appeared. Hermione's eyes widened in terror as she stared back at a ghastly black skull that looked roughly like a dementor preparing to perform the kiss.
"Harry, don't eat that," she yelled as she lunged at him, but it was too late, he had already taken a bite.
"What are you doing…" Harry's question died in his throat as he convulsed and fell to the floor rolling in agony.
Hermione jerked her wand frantically and moved the table aside. People were yelling and scrambling away from them, Dumbledore had lurched to his feet uncertain of what was happening. With a thud Hermione crashed against the table behind her. Groggily she looked around to discover what had happened and saw Ron, his wand pointed at her, standing over Harry. Rom dropped a small round object onto him and immediately Harry vanished.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, echoing Harry's last words as she groped for her own wand.
Ron laughed hysterically, eerily, "I'm not doing anything now, it's already done."
"What are you talking about Ron? Where's Harry?" Hermione asked again, still bewildered. It was like the world had turned inside out. Nothing was making sense anymore.
"The Dark Lord has him now," Ron said nastily.
"No, Ron, you couldn't, you didn't," Hermione whined, but she knew he did. She could see the truth staring out at her from behind his eyes.
"Oh yes, right now the Dark Lord is getting ready to perform a ritual that will make him invincible and I'm the one that will be rewarded," Ron cackled. "There's nothing any of you can do. You will never find him before the ritual is complete, not even with all your power Hermione."
"quadrifariam aculeus," Hermione shouted, momentarily losing the mental clarity that it takes to perform silent magic. Four flashes of blinding light seared into Ron from different directions causing him to drop his wand and fall to the floor whimpering.
People scrambled to get away from Hermione as she seemed to morph into a demon of vengeance. Her hair and robes flapped as if in a strong breeze. Most terrifying of all were her eyes that seemed to literally burn with her favorite element, fire.
"Betrayer," she whispered, then shouted, "Betrayer!"
Ron tried to crawl backward but Hermione wouldn't allow escape as she advanced on him with deadly intent.
"Avada…" she began.
"Miss Granger, NO!" came a shout from the front of the room. Dumbledore had finally caught up with events that were spiraling out of control. A tendril of flame shot out of his wand and tried to wrap itself around Hermione but failed, instead only managing to ensnare her wrist. It was enough.
"Kedavra!" Hermione finished, but her wand was no longer pointed at Ron. The fiery rope that Dumbledore cast had pulled her hand up into the air. A huge angry burst of green light slammed into the enchanted ceiling causing it to rain down masonry. The other teachers leapt into action to freeze the huge chunks before they could crush anyone.
The rope of fire vanished in a flash and Hermione turned her wand on Dumbledore. "Why did you stop me..."
"Ron is under the Imperius Curse," Dumbledore said calmly. Hermione swayed in place as what she had nearly done impacted her. She turned around and flung herself at the stricken boy she had tried to kill only moments before.
"Oh Ron, how could I have been so blind," she whispered as she hugged him, "I should never have doubted you."
Ron was unresponsive, still chuckling slightly, and Hermione surmised that he had reached the end of his controller's orders. Without hesitation she conjured a stretcher and levitated him onto it. Suddenly her thought process caught up and realization slammed into her conscious mind. A fresh stab of rage twisted through her guts causing her to spin around toward Dumbledore again.
"You knew!" she accused scathingly at Dumbledore, "you knew all along and you let it go on!"
"I had no choice," Dumbledore said firmly, "we were trying to apprehend the person controlling him and there was no way to do anything without tipping them off."
Now it was Hermione's turn to laugh hysterically. "So you decided to let someone under the Imperius Curse just run around, not to mention his Death Eater, when you must have known who they were. There are only a handful of new people in the castle with the ability to pull this off and they all wear auror cloaks."
"I admit that I made a mistake in not foreseeing this, I had anticipated something different," Dumbledore started.
"YOU DON'T COMPREHEND WHAT YOU'VE DONE IN THE SLIGHTEST," Hermione screamed at him. Everyone was staring at them both now, mostly in shock and bewilderment. Hermione continued in a deadly calm voice. "I'm taking Ron to the hospital wing now and when I return you will accompany me to rescue Harry. You had better hope that we get him back or else you'll wish that Voldemort had you under his wand instead of me."
"Miss Granger please," Dumbledore said, "We'll do all we can to find him but that may be difficult…"
"I can find him," Hermione said, "As soon as he wakes up from whatever was in those rolls."
"No one is going anywhere," a voice called from the big double door entrance. "With any luck He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will be dead within hours."
Seven aurors led by the surly Gangstrom and Langley were blocking the door with wands drawn.
"What are you babbling about," Hermione hissed, "Get out of my way or everything will be lost. You're meddling in something you cannot possibly understand."
"That's rich coming from a silly little muggle born girl," Gangstrom sneered. "We've found a way to fulfill the prophecy. Those rolls that Potter ate had a nullification potion in them. After the ritual the Dark Lord will simply cease to exist."
Realizations again pounded mercilessly into Hermione's brain as she absorbed the auror's words. A nullification potion had to be ingested before it could begin to negate someone's very existence. Then the potion acted against someone's magical essence, not just their physical form. That could only mean that Voldemort somehow planned to absorb who Harry was, his life force, and in the process these aurors hoped he would absorb the potion that would even now be killing Harry. They hoped that the potion would fulfill the requirements of being the power Voldemort would know not and cause him to die.
Even more horrifying though was the knowledge that they had to have been privileged to in order to have concocted such a scheme. Five people knew the prophecy but only one would have told the Ministry.
Disgust and contempt burned in Hermione's eyes as she faced Dumbledore once again. "You told the ministry." She said in disbelief, but it wasn't a question.
"It was necessary…" Dumbledore began.
"Necessary for what? You needed a little alliance with the likes of Fudge? Have you forgotten everything that he's done to undermine our cause? Are you blind to his excesses in the name of this war?" Hermione raged, her wand pointing at Dumbledore again.
"The Order has suffered too many losses," Dumbledore said pleadingly, "The Ministry was compromised, we needed each other's help…"
"So you just trotted into this compromised Ministry and handed Voldemort the one thing he needed to win!" Hermione shouted. Students and teachers alike were gaping at this exchange. They felt like strangers looking in on a private dispute and in many ways they were, "Even worse, you didn't feel the need to tell Harry about any of this after you promised to keep him informed."
"Precautions were taken, Fudge couldn't have disclosed…" Dumbledore began but Hermione cut him off.
"Precautions?" she snapped, "Look at the results before you, your precautions did nothing. The only way Voldemort would kidnap Harry is because he thinks he can absorb his soul and become invincible. Who knows, it might even be possible."
Now their audience was turning pale with fear, not wanting to believe what they were hearing. It didn't take a genius to catch the direction that these revelations were heading in. The aurors were torn between annoyance at being ignored and mirth at the great Dumbledore getting chewed out by a muggle born student.
"He trusted you Dumbledore, he believed in you," Hermione said, her voice shaking for a moment. "Do you know what the last thing we fought over was? I wanted him to confront you, he knew you were keeping secrets, but he wouldn't do it, all he'd say is that if he trusted you then you know who would still be alive!"
Hermione didn't want to say Sirius' name out loud since the idiotic Ministry still considered him a criminal. Dumbledore looked like she'd slapped him, his knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of the table to keep his feet. Hermione wasn't finished though.
"Now, not only have you given Voldemort what he died to protect, you've given him his godson too," Hermione said. New vehemence filled her voice as rage continued to throb through her heart at what had been done to Harry. Hermione spat out her last words. "If we don't get Harry back I'll kill you myself, or turn you over to Voldemort, I'm sure he'd love to. We might as well all walk through the veil if we lose Harry now."
The students and professors stood rooted in place unsure if Hermione's proclamation was more shocking or Dumbledore's seeming acceptance of it as just. The aurors all stiffened as Hermione levitated Ron and prepared to leave.
"Have you forgotten that no one's leaving? Your little tirade was amusing child, but the Dark Lord will be dead in a few hours. Not that you could find him anyway." Gangstrom said.
Hermione flicked her wand and Ron was sent floating to one side. "You can't stop me. This is your last chance to get out of my way." Hermione intoned dangerously.
Gangstrom just laughed but his laughter died on his lips as Hermione's stunner smashed into his chest. The remaining aurors howled in anger and conjured shields. Their training was superb, as was their tactics. Before Hermione could react they had paired off into three teams of two and taken up a triangular formation around her.
Jets of red light bounced off of Hermione's gilded silver shield or missed her all together as she moved to try and break out of their trap. The formation moved with her though and in the limited space of the Great Hall she was kept corralled. Her clothes whipped as if in a strong breeze again and her eyes glowed with power fueled by rage at the auror's interference. Hermione summoned a cylinder shaped barrier shield around her to intercept the newest round of hexes and curses the aurors were firing. As soon as they shifted for a better position Hermione waved her hand causing the barrier shield to crack into dozens of tiny jagged fragments. The aurors huddled behind their shields but the flying crystal like pieces still ripped into any exposed clothes and flesh.
Hermione picked two aurors she deemed to be the weakest and advanced on them rapidly firing off breaker spells the entire way. Light flashed as hammer blows rained down on their swiftly cracking shields. One of the auror's shields broke apart suddenly exposing him to attack. He attempted to summon another but silver spikes slammed into his hands and shoulders impaling him against the wall.
Hermione staggered and wailed when a Cruciatus Curse hit her in the back but instead of falling to the ground in her agony she retaliated with a hail of silver spikes. She summoned a new cylinder barrier shield as the aurors, now doubly angry for losing two of their ranks, pounded her from all sides with their most potent curses. Dumbledore had been observing the entire time and now decided that action must be taken.
"Severus, Minerva, Filius, we have to lend Miss Granger a hand," he said with a clipped tone.
"Headmaster?" Snape replied dubiously, "It appears that the aurors will subdue Miss Granger momentarily. Perhaps it might be wiser if she were unconscious for a while seeing as how distraught she is right now."
"No Severus," Dumbledore said sharply, "Miss Granger is not about to be subdued, as you put it. She has been holding back out of desire not to hurt people unnecessarily, but if she arrives at the conclusion that there is no other way to win she will start killing them."
"Surely not," McGonagall said, horrified.
"She knows we're all dead anyway if she fails. This isn't open for discussion, help her now," Dumbledore shouted as he let loose with a powerful spell of his own. The four professors blind-sided the aurors who were all focused on the unexpectedly tough Hermione. Within seconds they were laying scattered about the floor stunned. Hermione summoned Ron and stalked out of the room angrily without even a glance at them.
"My office, now," Dumbledore said, then added, "run, time is short."
The three bewildered professors ran along as quickly as they could behind Dumbledore. McGonagall gestured wildly at the prefects and ordered them to get all the students to their dorms before following.
Hermione walked briskly into the hospital wing looking grim. Madam Pomfrey bustled over immediately asking a myriad of questions about what had happened to Ron.
"Ron is under the Imperius Curse," Hermione said. Madam Pomfrey looked appalled that a student could be under such a spell. "Get a cure for the nullification potion ready immediately."
"But why?" Madam Pomfrey asked, looking up from her care of the stricken red head.
"Harry has been poisoned with one and kidnapped by Voldemort. If we get him back he will need the cure immediately. If we don't I suggest you flee England as soon as you can. I can't explain Madam Pomfrey, take care of Ron," Hermione said over her shoulder as she walked back out. She forced down all the fear, doubt, and grief that threatened to consume her. Hermione still couldn't feel Harry in her mind but she adamantly refused to consider the possibility that he might already be gone.
The staircase descended behind Dumbledore and the three professors as they entered the Headmasters office. The pictures were all in an uproar over what they had heard, some were shouting insults at Dumbledore, and others were shouting accusations of disloyalty at the critical paintings. They all settled down, albeit reluctantly, when Dumbledore shushed them with an unmistakable tone of urgency.
"As you've no doubt gathered I have made some rather grievous errors, even for me," Dumbledore began. "As Miss Granger indicated in her rather lucid recriminations if Harry doesn't survive and come back to us we're frankly doomed."
"But how can that be?" McGonagall whispered. Her eyes were wide and a little wild as she grappled with too many things happening too quickly.
"The prophecy that Voldemort tried to capture was not lost. I heard the original and in short it says that the only person who can defeat Voldemort is Harry." Dumbledore explained.
"Preposterous," Snape sputtered, but Dumbledore silenced him with a sharp look.
"Now is not the time Severus. Any moment now Miss Granger is going to come up those stairs. She and I will be leaving to attempt a rescue of Harry assuming we can find him. If we fail it is likely none of you will ever see me again. Miss Granger or Voldemort will kill me I'm afraid."
"You can't be serious," Flitwick squeaked.
"I no longer have the power to stop either of them," Dumbledore said sadly, "nor would I even try. If Harry is gone I have failed and this life would be too burdensome for me any longer. Not to mention pointless."
"We need you still Albus," McGonagall said shakily. "You can't abandon us now."
"I will never willingly abandon you Minerva, but the choice may be out of my hands." Dumbledore said. "That is why you all need to prepare now in case I do not return. Severus you will alert the Order to begin a full out offensive on all known Death Eaters and their support base. If we strike now we may be able to evacuate more people. Filius you will coordinate said evacuation of the general population with the Ministry. Set up port keys and take everyone you can, civilians first, to the United States if they will accept us or at the least to the continent. Minerva you must get the children out of Hogwarts and then destroy the castle behind you. We dare not let such a powerful magical structure fall to Voldemort. I will empower the wards to accept your instructions."
A grating of stone on stone announced the fact that Hermione was at the door. She didn't have the password so she promptly forced her way in. Even Snape was impressed as the stairs extended upwards at a far more rapid rate than usual with a still irate Hermione perched on the top step. Without pause or glance she marched into the room, slapped a wand onto the desk, and began performing an incantation on it.
"The wand was jinxed?" Dumbledore asked softly. He recognized the spell that Hermione was using.
"Yes, brilliant job on watching the tower last night by the way, I'm sure I'll sleep good with your eagle eyes on the lookout." Hermione said sarcastically.
"You saw me?" Dumbledore asked with surprise.
"Your feeble invisibility charm can't hide you from a real witch or wizard," Hermione said scathingly. She was exaggerating of course, they could only barely see Dumbledore when thusly disguised, but her rage was so great that she felt like being condescending. Considering what Dumbledore's poor judgement had caused Hermione considered mere condensation to be rather charitable.
"While you were busy running around someone got into Harry's room last night and jinxed his wand," Hermione said. "Now I've got to finish lifting this sabotage before we go so that I will have a wand I can use against Voldemort."
"What are you talking about?" Snape interrupted derisively.
Hermione glared at him. "Harry and I switched wands. We figured that since I can't defeat Voldemort it only made sense for me to have the wand that Voldemort can't duel against. Harry took my wand so he would have an effective weapon."
"Your wands work for each other?" McGonagall said with surprise.
"The power he knows not," Dumbledore said in a hushed voice.
Hermione looked at him sharply. "Harry had the power he knows not before he ever met me. He showed me what happened when he was possessed at the Ministry."
Dumbledore didn't say anything, instead he simply watched as Hermione continued to demolish the spell affecting the wand. Hesitantly he broached the topic that he had feared to mention ever since she arrived.
"Hermione," he said gently, "you said you could find Harry…"
"As soon as he regains consciousness I will know where he is. Don't even bother to ask how I won't tell you." Hermione answered shortly. Snape bristled but settled down at a frantic gesture from Dumbledore.
"Maybe we could help if you told us what you were going to do," Dumbledore said soothingly. Hermione looked up at him and felt a pressure just behind her eyes.
"Don't try to get in my mind for more secrets to give away," she said angrily as she expelled him.
With a tiny wisp of smoke the jinx on Hermione's wand finally dissipated. She breathed a sigh of relief and sat back. Now all that remained was for Harry to wake up. Sitting there in Dumbledore's chair, eyes closed, as the four adults watched her, it was almost peaceful. Hermione thought that under different circumstances she would have enjoyed herself.
The image of a ramshackle cottage flashed into her mind. She felt as Harry's presence begin to assert itself and along with it his magically enhanced perceptions of the entire area around which he was being held. Voldemort was there, but none of his followers. A flash of insight washed across Hermione's mind. The ritual Voldemort planned must incapacitate him for long enough that he dared not risk having his followers nearby for fear of them taking the opportunity to overthrow him.
"I know where he is," Hermione said, "Voldemort is there too and there are wards to prevent apparation or portkey access. I don't believe the wards are strong enough to allow discretionary access either so Voldemort will have to drop them to call in reinforcements."
"It doesn't matter if they are, we have no choice," Dumbledore said resignedly.
"Let us go with you," McGonagall said pleadingly.
"No," Hermione said firmly but politely, "You would only slow us down. I'm sorry Professor."
"Miss Granger is correct Minerva and if you'll recall you already have things to attend to," Dumbledore reminded her gently.
Hermione conjured a rod shaped like a capital letter T so that eventually each of them would have a place to grasp the port key. It shimmered blue as she transfigured it to a location outside the effects of Voldemort's wards. Wands at the ready she and Dumbledore grasped it for a few seconds before disappearing.
Harry felt like he was being ripped apart from the inside out. He was hanging chained to the wall in the basement of someplace he knew no one was aware of. The last thing he remembered was sitting with Hermione at breakfast and then waking up in his current dank location. The shackles that bound him somehow served to block whatever limited powers he could have otherwise called on without a wand. A heavy constricting feeling told him that apparation was impossible.
Harry felt despair well up in his chest as he realized that no one could know where he was. He pictured Hermione's face in his mind as he sadly considered that he would likely never see her ever again. He wouldn't have long left at this rate. He had failed everyone. Voldemort would win, everyone he cared about would die, the world would be enslaved to the darkness. Silent tears dropped down Harry's cheeks as unconsciousness claimed his beaten body once more. An instant before the darkness engulfed him he registered a strangely familiar voice echoing through his thoughts. All it said was "I'm coming."