บท 131: Salutations!
The Aurors drew their wands. The Order drew theirs. Centaurs drew their bows and took aim.
"Lower your weapons!" Fudge demanded.
"After you!" one of the centaurs shot back.
"There's no need for any of this," Dumbledore said. "Let's all calm down—"
"Dumbledore, you're under arrest!" Fudge snapped. "As soon as those things drop those primitive weapons, we'll—"
"Primitive, are we?" the lead centaur shouted. He rose up to his full height, towering over the children.
Ron looked from the centaurs, to the Order, to the Ministry, then back to his friends. Sally-Anne needed help immediately. It was simple to reattach her hand, but he was more worried about the blood she was losing. Luna and Hermione needed attention sooner rather than later. Hermione hardly moved, and there was no telling what that curse Lestrange had hit Luna with was doing to her.
"This is Ministry land!"
"This is our forest!"
"Everyone calm down!"
"What are those things doing here?"
"If they try anything—"
"—we'll strike you first if—"
"This isn't helping! If everyone just—"
"One of them's going to fire!"
"Everyone just—"
"QUIET!"
The scream was physically painful to hear. Everyone that could clapped their hands to their ears. Everyone that couldn't winced at the sound.
Ron, and everyone else, turned to stare at Luna. The usually quiet girl was red faced and panting.
"Thank you, Ms. Lovegood," Dumbledore said. He turned back to the Order. "Lower your wands. We don't need them just now."
Without so much as a questioning glance, his assembled troupes followed his orders.
"Magorian," he said, turning his attention to the lead centaur, "why are you so far out of centaur territory?"
"We're looking after our own."
"You're the only halfbloods here!" Umbridge snapped. "If you don't—"
"We are not only loyal to centaurs," Magorian said. "But what would a simple-minded human know of loyalty?"
"You—"
"I called them," Luna said, raising her voice ever so slightly. "They're here for me."
Ron frowned at Luna, knowing better than to look at a centaur the wrong way. Centaurs were proud creatures. They'd exiled Firenze for teaching at Hogwarts. Since when did they accept a human as one of their own?
"Don't be ridiculous!" Umbridge said. "These—"
"Losha is a creature of this forest," Magorian said. "She has earned our loyalty. We will take her back to our camp and tend to her."
"You can't!" Neville shouted. "She's not— I mean—"
"It's alright, Neville," Sally-Anne panted. "With her eyes like that, there won't be anything we can do anyway. Trust me, Viktor's eyes looked exactly like that, but there's a chance they can help her."
No there isn't, Ron thought. Centaurs didn't heal crippling wounds like that. They exiled the cripple. It was a weakness, and a weak centaur was considered a worthless centaur. If it was the same curse that had taken Viktor's eyes, like Sally-Anne had said, then the only thing they could do was to cut out her eyes.
Worse yet, according to Firenze, the centaurs believed Luna to be some sort of spirit. They must've realized by now that she was human.
"They won't hurt me," Luna said. As she spoke, her face turned too wood, and features of a mustached man formed on it. "I'll be fine."
"No one's going anywhere!" Fudge shouted. "As of this moment, you are all under arrest for crimes against the Ministry!"
Ron froze, not sure what to do. It seemed like it'd be better to wait and allow events to play out, rather than antagonize the Ministry.
"You gau halak!" Taltria shouted. "You saw Voldemort here not ten minutes ago!"
"I didn't see anything," Fudge said.
"Only a fool denies the evidence of his eyes!" Magorian shouted.
"He attacked us, Minister," Sally-Anne said, holding up the stump that had once held her left hand. "He took off my hand, destroyed Ginny's wand. He tried to kill Harry, he… one of his followers… killed our friend, Alavel."
"Nonsense!" Umbridge again.
"Ms. Perks, as highly as Headmistress Umbridge has spoken of you, you must be—"
From there, people began shouting again. Magorian threw insults towards Fudge about his leadership, Moody tossed a few scoffs around, and Ron himself nearly lost it.
Then he got a better idea.
"Article Five of the Decree for the Humane Treatment of Underage Fugitives!" he shouted.
At first, judging by the blank stares he received from many of the Aurors, he wondered if none of them knew about the DHTUF. It was obscure enough that he'd only happened upon it by chance.
"'Any injuries must be tended to before passing judgment'," Kingsley said, stepping forward. "He's right, Minister. These children need treatment before we take this any further."
"A minor detail," Umbridge said.
"If you don't follow your own rules," Sally-Anne said, nodding towards the centaurs, "why should they?"
Fudge stared at Magorian for a moment, but was overruled by one of his own.
"Anderson," a voice that sounded an awful lot like Madame Bones said, "tend to that girl, the one that just spoke. Stabilize her, then get her back to the castle. They've got better supplies there."
"If you—" Umbridge hissed.
"We're out in the field, so I outrank you," Bones shot back, shoving her way to the front of the pack. "And for the record, I saw Voldemort here tonight, and I'm not about to stay quiet about it." She turned to one of the Aurors. "Anderson! I gave you an order!"
One of the men pushed his way through, careful to avoid the gaze of Fudge and Umbridge. He crouched down beside Sally-Anne and tenderly examined her arm.
"Magorian!" Bones shouted, careful not to look the centaur in the eye. "If you would be so kind, I believe Losha needs you."
Tutela trotted to Luna's side and led her to Magorian.
"No one—" Umbridge shouted, but Tutela cut her off with a loud bark.
"I'd be careful if I were you, human," Magorian said with arrogance in his voice. "I've seen that dog bite clean through an acromantula that crossed that girl, and she shrugs off arrows as if they're mere twigs." A cruel smile formed on his face. "So by all means, try and stop us."
Umbridge glared at Magorian as he turned to leave.
"Moon!"
Neville ran to her side and took her hand.
"I'll be alright, Toad."
"But they—"
"They know I'm human. They have for some time. Centaurs are superstitious, but they're not stupid."
Ron glanced at Bones and saw her glaring at Umbridge, daring her to say something.
Luna's mask melted back into her face, and she smiled at Neville. She laid her hands on his face, then leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I'll see… I'll be back soon."
She walked off with the centaurs, leaving Ron's group, the Order, and the Ministry to fend for themselves. After watching them for a moment, Ron moved to Sally-Anne's side.
"Will she be alright?"
"I hope so, because she's still here," Sally-Anne said.
"She'll be fine," Anderson said. "It's a clean cut, so we just need to get her to Madame Pomfrey. Should be easy enough to reattach her hand."
"Brilliant," Sally-Anne said. "Would you please check on Hermione? The unconscious girl right over there."
She motioned towards Hermione's unconscious body, where she lay next to Harry. By then, Sirius had found his way to Harry's side. Anderson followed suit and checked over Hermione.
"That was brilliant," Sally-Anne whispered to him. "How'd you think of that article?"
"Just something I've read," Ron said. "I'm glad I was finally able to use some of it." He motioned towards her hand. "Are you alright?"
She smiled weakly. "It hurts, but I'll be alright. Once they finish shouting at one another, we'll move to the castle, and they'll take care of me there." She glanced over at Hermione when the girl stirred. "I'm really not the worst off."
It took time, but they were finally relocated to the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey reattached Sally-Anne's hand, tended to Ginny's arm, and checked them all over for good measure.
"I'm fine, it was just a sleep spell," Hermione whined when Madame Pomfrey kept looking her over.
When she was finally left alone, she returned to the matter on her mind: Lux. How did she have that locket? How'd she know to put Hermione to sleep? It was the only thing that worked on her with favor of the martyr.
Hermione stared at the ceiling until the sun peeked through the windows of the Hospital Wing. She didn't understand how Lux could have the locket. It couldn't have been the same one Rose had. Rose's body was unreachable, buried under waves somewhere in the Arctic Circle. No one knew where her body rested.
Worse was that she knew that name. Aurora Lux was a doppelganger from Rose's world. Travel between their worlds was impossible. Had Lux been there all along? She was likely powerful enough to use discern location, and, having met Rose, she'd be able to locate her body.
She's a Factotum. What can a Factotum do?
She wracked her brain for information on Factotums, and came up with a troubling answer: anything. They weren't as powerful as Artificers, or even Wizards, Clerics, or Druids, but they could fill any role. That's what Rose had told her. They used intelligence and cunning to replicate other abilities, even spells.
With magic items, anything was possible. Discern location and mountain hammer would've helped her find Rose's body, break open the coffin, and steal whatever she wanted.
Except that didn't make any sense either. Lux had run with the Exalted for a time. She knew their equipment only functioned for them, even though she hadn't been told who'd made it. To be a Factotum, you had to be clever, and Aurora Lux was one of the best. So why get into Rose's coffin at all? She must've known there'd be nothing inside of use to her.
Adding to her turmoil was Taltria. Hermione had caught her muttering under her breath about the "smug jato", which is what Rose had always called Aurora Lux. That meant she'd recognized her face, which meant it really had been the same face.
A knock on the open door to the Hospital Wing distracted her from her thoughts.
Fury coursed through her. She prepared to defend herself.
"Well, now," Umbridge said, "all of my worst students in one place. How fortunate for me, wouldn't you say?"
"Get out," McGonagall said, rising slowly from her bed. "These children have been through enough."
"Whatever do you mean?" Umbridge frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry. Have they been telling you more of their lies? They are awfully naughty children. They ran right into the forest to escape punishment."
"There were at least 50 witnesses last night that saw Voldemort in the forest," Hermione said. "You can't keep it quiet now!"
Umbridge's smile told her she had every intention of keeping it quiet.
"Oh, but I can, Traitor. The Ministry controls everything."
"You can't!" Ron exclaimed.
"Headmistress, people need to know!" Sally-Anne added. "To protect themselves!"
"The Ministry will protect them. They needn't do it themselves. Could you imagine what would happen if everyone tried? It'd be chaos."
Hermione narrowed her eyes. Something was off about her. Hermione had spent months glaring at that smug face, but it wasn't the same. She smiled as if she were in control, but she wasn't as well kept as she'd been. Something was making her nervous.
<Harry, does something look off about her to you?>
Across the room, Harry quit his staring contest he was having with the bed sheets and glanced at Umbridge. A few seconds later, he nodded to Hermione.
"All of you are required to stay at Hogwarts over the holiday," Umbridge said. "I will oversee your education personally from now on. Minerva, you will be moved to St. Mungo's. You no longer work at Hogwarts. Effective immediately."
Hermione heard footsteps from behind Umbridge. It was more Aurors, she knew it. Come to enforce the will of their so-called headmistress.
"I do hope, Dolores, that I didn't hear your voice just now," a new, female voice said. "It'd make it awfully hard for me to do my job if you're intimidating my witnesses."
A short, older woman with long black hair stepped into the Hospital Wing. She adjusted the spectacles she wore as she surveyed the students.
"Of course not," Umbridge said. The honey-smooth condescension disappeared from her voice, and contempt took its place.
Hermione had no idea who this woman was, but Umbridge hated her, so Hermione decided she liked her.
"Good morning, everyone," the woman said. "My name is Monrotia Ins. I'm with the department of internal affairs at the Ministry of Magic."
Hermione could hardly control her laughter. It was happening! Somehow, someone had triggered an investigation into Hogwarts! It was the one thing she'd wanted more than anything else in the past several months. That, or Rose to come back to life.
Be careful what you wish for, she told herself.
"As of this morning, I'm conducting an investigation of select individuals." Ins turned to Umbridge. "Individuals who should've received an owl this morning about my investigation, and thus shouldn't be speaking with anyone in this room."
Hermione realized she knew exactly who'd triggered the investigation. She glanced at Sally-Anne and realized she'd been telling the truth.
"This is a waste of time," Umbridge said. "Hogwarts is running smoothly and efficiently."
"Your transfigurations professor is lying in that bed over there," Ins said flatly.
Hermione pressed her lips together. It was all she could do not to smile.
"I will be speaking with each of you in turn," Ins said. "Professor McGonagall, that includes you as well. If anyone apart from me associated with the Ministry attempts to speak with any of you, tell them nothing, and find me immediately. I've already settled myself in, and I've gotten an account of the past 24 hours from several of your staff."
"Have you had something to eat yet?" McGonagall asked. "If you'd like, we can talk in my office at once. There's always tea and biscuits waiting."
She began to climb out of bed when Madame Pomfrey materialized and seemed to grow three feet taller. Her glare could've made a basilisk weep.
"That won't be necessary," Ins said, adjusting her spectacles. "But I appreciate the offer, nonetheless. After Madame Pomfrey believes you all well enough, I'll speak with you. If you don't recover before we all need to leave, then I'm sure we can make other arrangements."
Ins turned back to Umbridge.
"Dolores, if you would please leave us."
Behind Ins's polite voice was a menacing look that dared Umbridge to try defying her.
Umbridge scowled, looking a lot like Malfoy, then left the Hospital Wing.
Hermione decided she'd found a new hero.
Sally-Anne had a strange feeling walking into the Ms. Ins's office. A woman seated behind a desk was offering her tea. A Ministry official, no less.
"Ms. Perks."
Don't do that.
"Would you prefer Ms. Perks or Sally-Anne?"
Under normal circumstances, Sally-Anne would've preferred to be called Ms. Perks, but these weren't normal circumstances. After everything she'd been through with Umbridge, she welcomed a little informality.
"Sally-Anne, please."
Ins nodded, and a quill started scribbling on a piece of parchment.
"Sally-Anne, you were considered Umbridge's right hand. Would you agree?"
Sally-Anne frowned at the thought.
Ins picked up on her discomfort.
"I'm not here to pass judgment on you. The information you provided was crucial in aiding my investigation. Most of my job now is simply confirming what you've already told us."
"Then why talk to me?"
"Umbridge made you her lieutenant. Do you know why?"
Sally-Anne had little intention of assisting any further than she already had. It gave her a bad feeling, and she just wanted it all to be over.
"No."
Ins wrote something down independently of the quill.
"Can you recount the events of the past few days?"
Sally-Anne walked her through the past few days, starting from the time she'd written the letter. She included everything, up until the moment she and Hermione escaped Hogwarts. It became harder when she reached that part. The thought of Umbridge, the woman she'd trusted, trying to torture her friends. The image of Lux ripping Alavel apart. She hadn't been able to get any of it out of her head.
"And then?"
"We ran into the forest, encountered Death Eaters, and they killed Alavel."
"But you survived?"
This was another reason Sally-Anne didn't want to talk. There was so much she couldn't explain, and she didn't want people to put everything she'd gone through under a microscope and tell her it was all a lie.
"Obviously."
Ins wrote something else on her parchment.
"Ms. Perks, I'm not here to question what you told me. There were enough reports from other students about what Umbridge did, and I've already spoken with the staff. They all confirmed that they were required to refer to certain students as 'Traitor' or 'Criminal'."
"That's Hermione Granger and Harry Potter, respectively."
Ins held her glare on Sally-Anne, then wrote something without looking away.
"I'm not questioning that you saw He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in the forest. But I want to make sure I've got the whole story."
Sally-Anne held up her hand and pointed to the scar on her wrist.
"Voldemort could've killed me. He could've killed all of us, but he only cared about Harry. So he cut off my hand to stop me from helping Harry."
Ins nodded.
"That will have to wait." She looked down at part of her notes and circled something. "Can anyone collaborate on Umbridge using the Cruciatus Curse on Hermione Granger?"
"In that room with me were Hermione herself, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle… I can give you the list, but you should already have it. It's just the Inquisitorial Squad."
Ins made another note by hand.
"But you said she recovered."
"You'd have to ask her. She told me something about some spell, but I can't recall it."
Sally-Anne struggled to stay sitting up straight. It'd been a long day. All she wanted to do was go home. The thought of her own home, her bed, it was all so welcoming. It wouldn't be any better; it wouldn't change what she'd done, but at least she'd be alone.
"I'll have to speak with them," Ins said. "Thank you, Sally-Anne, for everything you've done. You may go."
Sally-Anne smiled as well as she could, then got up to leave. Her hand was on the doorknob when Ins called her.
"Sally-Anne?"
Sally-Anne turned back.
"I can't speak to whether Umbridge was wrong, but Ministry officials have lied before. I hope you won't blame yourself for what she did."
Sally-Anne shook her head.
"I don't. I only blame myself for everything I did."
She left the makeshift office, dreading to think which glaring, accusing face it would be waiting to go in. It'd been nonstop as far as she could tell, and she couldn't bear the thought of facing one of her friends.
To her delight, it was the one person in all of Hogwarts that didn't hate her.
"Hello, Malfoy."
Malfoy stood up and looked at her.
"Perks."
Sally-Anne smiled.
"I never got the chance to say it, but thank you for letting me and Hermione go."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
His face looked almost exactly like his father's. Then he grinned.
"But if I did, I'd say it was to repay you for making me realize I didn't have to tolerate Parkinson."
A strange warmth came over her.
"I don't now what you're talking about either," she said, although she was certain it sounded better when he'd said it. "But if I did… I'd say my friends call me 'Princess' or 'Sally-Anne', not Perks."
At least, they did back when I had friends.
"Alright… Princess."
She smiled, even though she was sure he was mocking her.
"What about you? What do your friends call you?"
"I haven't got friends."
She frowned.
"What about Crabbe and Goyle?"
"They're just henchmen. Father says it's important to have henchmen, but not to be attached to them. That way, you won't feel bad about getting rid of them if necessary."
"That's an awful way to look at it. If you treat them as if they're disposable, they'll feel like you're disposable. Muggle servants heard everything that went on in their estate. They were privy to all the horrible secrets their lords and ladies held, but the clever ones understood that. Henchmen are probably the same way. They pick up on more than they let on. If you treat them with dignity, they'll be loyal. The best servants would probably outlast torture to protect their masters."
Malfoy stared at her while chewing on her words. She could almost see his mind churning away, considering the possibilities of what she'd said. That, or he was about to have an existential crisis and pass out like she had when she'd found out about the Dementors' Kiss.
Remember, Sally-Anne, she told herself as she'd done many times since, it's God. Magic can't bypass God.
"Call me 'Draco'."
Sally-Anne returned her focus to Malfoy.
"Only when no one's around," he added quickly. "I can't have people thinking I've gone soft on a mu— Muggle-born."
Sally-Anne caught herself before she laughed.
"And don't you dare call me 'Butterhead'!" he snapped.
It took everything in her not to burst out laughing.
"Have a good summer… Draco."
When Ins kicked Umbridge out, most of the school gathered to watch. Hermione hoped Colin was taking pictures. She wanted to remember that moment forever.
Umbridge was furious. Her calm, controlling demeanor was gone, and she looked like the gremlin she was.
The students crowded around her as she walked out, followed closely by Ins. Hermione imagined Umbridge in handcuffs, and it made her smile even more.
As she walked by, Umbridge caught Hermione's gaze.
Hermione winked at her and dispelled the illusion she'd kept in place for months.
The word "traitor" faded from her forehead, along with any traces of dignity Umbridge had left.
Umbridge clenched her fists and glared at Hermione. Her lips curled back and she snarled one word: "mudblood".
"We don't use that language in Hogwarts," Professor Vector said from her place behind Hermione. "I'll add it to your list of transgressions against Hermione here."
Hermione knew it'd been a bad year when the sound of Professor Vector calling her by her real name became euphoric.
Umbridge held her glare on the pair of them.
Ins cleared her throat to nudge Umbridge along.
With a final glare at Hermione, Umbridge turned towards the door. Once she and Ins left Hogwarts, the doors closed behind them.
Roars of applause filled Hogwarts. It was as if the castle itself was happy to see her go. Celebrations lasted well into the night. That was fine with Hermione. She was happy to celebrate with everyone. Because the following day, the real work would begin.
The moment breakfast ended, Hermione ran straight up to the top floor and arrived at Professor Dumbledore's office.
"Move!" she shouted at the gargoyle.
It didn't budge.
"Two years ago, Rose Peta-Lorrum smashed you to bits because you were in her way." Hermione flung her hand at the wall, and the wall exploded. "I'm giving you something she never did: a warning."
The gargoyle glared at her, then dove aside to allow her passage.
"Much appreciated."
After everything that had happened the past week, she wasn't sure she was going to find Professor Dumbledore in his office. Whoever she found, she figured she could convince them to tell her where to find him.
To her pleasure, she found Professor Dumbledore talking with Kingsley Shacklebolt, a recovering Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape.
"I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore alone."
For a moment, she wasn't sure that they'd heard her. They just stared at her as if she were a ghost… or something that didn't teach classes at their school.
"Please," she added.
"Excuse me, Ms. Granger?" Professor McGonagall said.
"It's important. I'm really not exaggerating when I say the fate of the world could quite literally be at stake, and Professor Dumbledore's the only one who will truly understand why. I'd explain it now, but it'd take far too long, and there's a lot no one else should know."
Kingsley looked to Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall drew herself up, and Professor Snape rolled his eyes at Hermione. None of them were taking her seriously.
"Rose is alive, and I can prove it!"
That got their attention. They all looked like they had questions, although Professor Snape looked like he was ready to laugh her out of the room, but she ignored them and spoke directly to Professor Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore, you asked me about a locket over the summer. You said if it turns out to be something, that you'd love to hear about it. Now I know for sure that it's something."
Dumbledore considered her words for a moment.
"Albus, you can't—" McGonagall said, but Dumbledore cut her off.
"Does it involve Rose's friend?"
"It does."
"I see." He turned to the other adults in the room. "Give us 20 minutes."
The other adults exchanged glances, then slowly shuffled towards the door. One by one, they left, leaving Hermione alone with Dumbledore.
"We shouldn't talk here," Hermione said. "Sylvia could overhear."
"And if we have this conversation outside of Hogwarts, someone else will overhear," Dumbledore replied. "I'm afraid whatever it is you've learned, you'll have to explain it here."
Hermione explained what she knew about Lux. She spoke slowly at first, examining the walls for anything moving. As she got more comfortable with the idea that Sylvia wasn't about to kill them, she spoke faster, frantically trying to get everything out of her head.
"And you're sure the locket's not the one from Grimmauld Place?" he asked when she was finished.
"There's too much coincidence around her. Taltria recognized her face. She had the same name as the doppelganger from Rose's world. The same face. But the real Aurora Lux is too clever for that. She never holds onto a face longer than she needs to. She's a Factotum! You need to be clever to be a Factotum. So either she got sloppy, which makes no sense, or whoever that really was wanted us to recognize her. Rose only ever told me that name. Then there's the locket. The locket her friend shielded. Only you, I, Professor Snape, and Voldemort can see it. When Voldemort showed up, she kept it hidden so he wouldn't recognize it."
"I'm curious: Why would he have recognized it?"
Hermione explained the Horcruxes as Rose had explained them to her.
"I can't explain why she's collecting them, otherwise Sylvia will overhear, and that's assuming she's not about to come out of the walls and kill us both. The point is that the locket 'Lux' has got is the same one Rose had. Exactly the same. A name she knew I would recognize, with a face she knew Taltria and Alavel would recognize. Alavel's wise, but not particularly clever. Taltria's just got Charisma. They won't put it all together. You would recognize the locket, but not realize its significance. But Lux went straight after me. I wasn't remotely the biggest threat out there. Alavel was dismantling any threat that came near Harry. Apart from knocking Lestrange down a few pegs, Lux didn't need to go after me. She wanted me to see that locket. She wanted me to know it was her."
Dumbledore folded his hands in front of his face and frowned at his desk. Every time Hermione opened her mouth again, he shook his head to silence her. Hermione let her mind wander, drifting through the possibilities.
"I find your argument hard to deny," he said at last. "But I regrettably don't know anything of this. If you're hoping that I'm going to tell you that I sent Rose into deep cover, you're going to be disappointed."
Part of her had wanted to hear that, but she didn't feel disappointment.
"If you'd known, you would've told me by now. She knew you didn't know. But… why tell me at all? Why would she want me to know?"
"I wish I could tell you, Ms. Granger, but I can't. We're now faced with the possibility that Rose will come after the people inside this school. The wards don't stop her. So I���m going to need to know everything you know about her."
Hermione shook her head and glanced nervously at the walls.
"I don't know what's safe to tell you."
"I only need to know about Rose herself. What can she do? What have you seen her do?"
Hermione didn't know what to do. Some part of her felt it was wrong to run down the list of everything she knew about Rose.
"It must've been the only way she could get a message out," Hermione said. "And she paused! Before destroying Alavel, she held her wand to him! There's a chance she didn't actually destroy him! She was probably telling him something over the telepathic network!"
Dumbledore sighed, and Hermione knew at once that she didn't believe her.
"Ms. Granger, I've been here before," he said. "Many, many times before. I made excuses for a dear friend of mine for a long time before finally realizing that he'd become corrupted. By then… by then it was too late. I will not stand by and watch you make my mistakes."
"But—"
"Going forward, you and I will operate as though Rose is the enemy. She may go after you or your friends, so they will need to be on alert as well. They must be informed that Rose is alive, but not that she is against us. They must be on alert, but need not know that she may have fallen."
Hermione tossed his words around for a time. Rose was still her friend, she was sure of it. Something had happened, something Sylvia had done. Could Sylvia bypass mind blank? If so, why hadn't she just taken over Hermione herself? Unless she had, and Hermione just didn't know it yet.
Her influence doesn't extend outside of Hogwarts. She can't be controlling Rose directly.
Rose would never harm one of them of her own free will. Even more sacred to Rose were her creations. Ron had nearly died because Rose refused to dismantle the first task. The only logical conclusion was that Rose hadn't destroyed Alavel of her own free will.
"Ms. Granger, please. Whatever is going on, it isn't good. As you said, the fate of the world could potentially be at stake, and Rose may be against us. We won't go after her until we know for sure, but until then, we must be able to defend ourselves."
Hermione sighed.
"Alright."
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