Chapter 78: In the Coffin
The Count of Trazkaban immediately answered the summons of the Earl of the North. The ring he wore that was connected to both Lord Polairix and Queen Xerina led him to the library in the Fortress of Nair'icaix. "You called, my lord?"
"Yes, I did." Harry said. "What do you know about the attack Voldemort conducted last night?"
Hiscophney shrugged. "Next to nothing. Representatives of the British Ministry were swarming all over the village by the time we arrived. I decided that it would be best to leave them to their job. May I ask why you're interested?"
Harry quickly explained the situation to the count. "Is there any way that we can perhaps rescue her or find out whether or not she's dead?"
"I'm afraid that would be impossible, my lord." Hiscophney said, doing his best to sound consoling- which was rather difficult since he had not had much practice. "We have no idea where Lord Voldemort's base of operations is and whether or not the girl is being held prisoner there or elsewhere. Even if we did, any decent Dark lord would have it under charms that would be quite difficult to penetrate."
"And if we tried anyway, we may force Voldemort's hand." Harry concluded before Hiscophney could move onto that aspect. "Thank you for coming, I'll let you return to what you were occupied with previously."
"Good night, my lord." Hiscophney said with a small bow, before departing.
Feeling weak and powerless, Harry let out a deep sigh and then uttered a silent prayer, hoping for the best for all parties concerned.
.....
Nearly three days later, Hermione finally woke up from her magically induced slumber and discovered she was tied down on something hard in pitch-blackness. Immediately, she could sense that important facts were missing from her memory- such as how it was that she had been knocked out and put wherever she now was.
As if looking for a missing possession, she retraced her steps in her mind. She had left the History test, gone to her dormitory, used the special Portkey to get to the village, and rushed out into the street when the attack began. Hermione could not remember anything after that.
Abruptly, one thought came to her mind. Harry was innocent! She couldn't remember how she knew or how it was that he was innocent, but she knew with an absolute surety that he was indeed innocent.
Immediately, Hermione was overpowered by an immense wave of guilt. If he was innocent, that meant that she had betrayed him. How could she have been so stupid!
An answer came to her fairly quickly. It was because she was a bad friend. Even the dumbest Hufflepuff would have stuck by Harry's side through such accusations against his character. Too bad he didn't really have any friends from Hufflepuff. They would have served him better.
With these thoughts overwhelming her, Hermione began to cry bitter tears. Harry Potter had been one of her first true friends in life. There had been none before Hogwarts. For five and a half years, she had luxuriated in the knowledge that she could depend on friends and could tell others she had friends.
Then what had she done? Thrown one of her most valuable friends away like a piece of trash. Not only had she hurt him, but also she had hurt herself. Accusing him of being a murderer like the killer of his parents was possibly the worse she had done, even worse than betraying him in the first place.
What should she do now? What could she do? Hermione immediately resolved to make it up somehow. She would have to try to counter the damage that her actions had done. Then maybe she could try to win his friendship back even if it took forever.
As the time passed, Hermione calmed herself by thinking of way to reverse her wrongdoing. Fudge and others would have to be told Ron must be convinced of the truth, as hard as it would be. The public would have to be told of her idiocy, even if it cost her reputation.
At some point, Hermione finally began to turn her thoughts outward. Where was she and how had she gotten here? If the village had been attacked, and it wasn't Harry, then she must be a prisoner of Voldemort.
Hermione tentatively attempted to move, even though she knew that she was tied down. Much to her relief, her hands were free enough to move a little. After feeling around a bit, she was able to determine that she was on a table of some sort.
Before she could began to wonder why she was tied to a table, a door opened. Instinctively she froze as two pairs of footsteps approached her in the dark.
A quiet voice hissed some sort of incantation and with dread, Hermione felt the ability to control her muscles sap away. Her vast knowledge of spells revealed to her that she had been hit with a highly illegal spell. The victim of the spell could hear, feel, see, taste, and smell- but not move. Death Eaters used it before raping or torturing their victims.
Hermione braced herself for the worse. However, the two people had other intentions. They used another spell to levitate her limp form into what seemed to be a long box.
With a thud, a lid was slammed on and Hermione heard the noise of a hammer at work. It was then that she realized the box was a coffin. Apparently they planned to bury her alive.
The instant the curse that held Hermione physically powerless wore off, Hermione let out an inhuman shriek and began to pound, push, and scratch at the lid that held her in the coffin.
...
Draco Malfoy watched Voldemort levitate the simple wooden coffin and then set it down in front of the Hogwarts gates. It landed with a loud thud.
An evil smirk passed over his face as the Mudblood inside began to scream and pound on the coffin's lid from the inside. The thud after several minutes of levitation had convinced her that she was now in a dug grave. If there had been any loose dirt nearby, he would have thrown some of it on the lid.
Without wasting another moment, Voldemort signaled Draco to Portkey back to the base. When the Portkey had done its job, Draco found himself in the lab where Hermione had been held. A moment later, Voldemort arrived via Apparition.
"I'm not sure I understand why we returned her to Hogwarts bearing the knowledge of Potter's innocence." Draco commented as humbly as he could, hoping for an explanation.
"She doesn't know 'how' Potter is innocent, neither can she explain who abducted her." Voldemort explained, to pleased with his handiwork to be offended at Draco's remark. "Dumbledore will immediately assume that Potter altered her mind. Even the girl will eventually have to admit that she was mistaken concerning Potter's innocence.
"I see." Draco said.
...
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