HPNS- Chapter 10

Read Chapter 9 here or start at the beginning


THE LULL AFTER THE STORM

Hermione felt herself going warm as she saw her mother arrive at the kitchen table with a bowl of her favorite cereal- ‘Sugar free Fruit loops’.

“Sweetie, are you sure this is all that you’re hungry for?” Mrs. Granger asked “you look as if you haven’t eaten properly for months”.

Quickly excusing herself for her lack of appetite, Hermione dug her spoon into her snack, “When will Dad be back from Mexico? I hope he’ll be back in time for my birthday” she said through a full mouth.

“Daddy will be here with Esme long before your big day” her mother replied, absent-mindedly running her pencil across the grocery list.

Drifting away into distant memories, Hermione recalled the cherishable times she had shared with her second-cousin Esmeralda De Sousa in their adolescence. She was Hermione’s age and something of an exotic creature, considered to be the most beautiful and eligible in the family. It had been ten years since they had seen each other and the last she had heard was that Esme had signed up for modeling. Although she was non- magic, her sister Ileana had already spent two years at Beauxbatons.

“I was reading the Daily Prophet the other day; the whole issue with Voldemort is quite ghastly isn’t it? I do hope you’re taking care of yourself, honey. Ron’s brother died only… when was it, three months ago?” Mrs. Granger patted her daughter’s back, voicing concern.

Hermione sighed deeply and said “Everything’s fine… we had a few Inferi attacks last week but that’s become more of the daily news now. Oh I’ve forgotten to tell you, the Ministry gave S.P.E.W permission to function and they’re leasing out some land for me to set it up. Pretty soon I’ll be able to start an actual campaign! I was planning on using the war as an excuse for House-elf liberation. I mean, if we could say that the house- elves might go over to Voldemort’s side like the giants if we don’t be fairer to them…”

Mrs. Granger listened dutifully to her ambitious, headstrong daughter babble on about her career. She had long gotten over her life-long dream of Hermione growing up to be a dentist, when nine years ago the letter from Hogwarts had arrived at their doorstep. She noticed how much more beautiful her little girl had become and felt a surge of pride flow through her veins. Hermione would turn nineteen in two month’s time, and Mrs. Granger wanted to give her the best birthday she could possibly make it… without magic of course.

At that moment when mother and daughter were occupied in pleasant memories and gossip… many miles away in a run-down apartment, Ronald Weasley waved the enchanted mirror in the air with frustration.

“HARRY POTTER, for the love of Merlin, will you ANSWER ME!” he bellowed at his own reflection in the mirror in his hand.

He waited in vain for something to appear… for someone. He continued to peer into the object while his breath steamed up the glass. The fiery blue gaze and freckled reflection did not metamorphose into the expected skinny face with green eyes. Five minutes later, Ron hurled the mirror onto his bed with a grunt of frustration.

He sat down roughly on the moth-eaten arm chair that occasionally cried abuses if sat on too hard. A clump of thick, straight red hair was clenched in both his fists as he moaned at the pain of solitude and ignorance.

“A Galleon’s wedged in your backside young ‘un!”, the armchair said in a wheezy furniture voice.

“Well you’re welcome to kiss my precious arse then!” Ron yelled savagely.

And then burst into a raucous peal of hopeless laughter. He regretted it though as the offended armchair toppled him onto the floor a second later, with the cushioning-fluff shredding itself angrily at him.

“That’s definitely the last time I accept Muriel’s old furniture…” he muttered darkly, rubbing his thighs from the unnecessary fall.

He suddenly jumped at the sound of a dull knocking at the window behind him. Turning around in his seat with wand drawn, he saw Hedwig tapping the frame with her small, sharp beak… a letter rolled up in her claws.

Ron tripped over some books that lay cluttered on the floor in his hurry to let Hedwig in. This was it, she was sure to have some news of where Harry was…

Hedwig flew in gracefully into the room, perched on the mantelpiece, groomed her feathers and stuck out her leg waiting for the letter to be removed.

Ron’s fingers fumbled as they made to relieve Hedwig while she looked around disapprovingly at the apartment that was messed up beyond repair.

“If you don’t clean up after your own crap, you’re not allowed to judge me!” Ron told her as he unfurled the parchment.

He ran his eyes down the long missive and then groaned. The minute, neat handwriting was easily reconisable as Hermione’s and not Harry’s, and then he remembered Harry having lent Hermione his owl for safe-keeping as he could no longer use her for communication.

Hedwig sailed over Ron’s lofty frame and tapped him on the head, evidently in wait for a reply or some Owl Treats. Having then received her share of the snack, she quietly preened her snowy white coat as Ron read Hermione’s letter on his armchair.

***

Rowena Ravenclaw was born as Rowena Biggerstaff into a poor home in Scotland. The precise date of her birth is however, unknown.

She was the youngest and brightest of her twelve siblings despite her father being a Squib. Her family was torn apart when she was five years old after her mother died of a common non- magic disease called Leukemia, which her incapable father couldn’t cure and afford to be taken care of by Muggle Healers. Despite having no formal education, Ravenclaw was an intelligent child who took a keen interest in reading books and texts of all magical significance. By the time she was thirteen, she escapedher estranged family and switched to a life of teaching orphans the tricks and different spells she invented. Finding companionship in these orphans with whom she lived in one of the Olde Streets of Scotland, she established an institution for their care and education when she was twenty. Soon after she met with her old father who asked her to shut the school for the orphans and return with her earned capital for the benefit of her family and for her eldest sister’s marriage. It was at time that she made new breakthroughs in spells involving memory modification. Evolving the simple spell which is widely used presently for the Obliviation of memories, she wiped her own father’s memory clean of ever having given birth to a thirteenth child.

At the age of thirty five she changed her name to ‘Rowena Ravenclaw’ taking the title of a great witch of the whose works she passionately admired. Handing over her school in Scotland to one of her brothers, she headed for Britain to meet up with the upcoming and popular wizard of that time – Godric Gryffindor. She admired his work on the properties and the uses of a griffin and had read many of his published books on the valuable use of other magical creatures. Gryffindor too had experience in teaching magic to the prisoners of The ‘War of Righteous Wands’ that was fought a decade before. Being a prisoner himself in the enemy camp, he had developed theories of transformation into animals and thus made significant contributions to the practice of turning into an Animagus. Gryffindor himself was one of the very first Animagi, with the ability of turning into a large tawny lion, managed to escape the rival camp by transforming.

After the meeting, they continued to travel together in the search of students both from magic and non- magic families with the view to establish a centre for formal execution of Magical learning and transmission of the discoveries they had made in magic…

Harry flipped the page with a grunt of impatience; it had been hours since he had tried to make some ‘breakthroughs’ in discovering a special object that had a link with Rowena Ravenclaw.

Days and days of browsing through texts and material, perusing spotty and yellowing old pages and he had absolutely no idea of any particular incident or object that was specially associated with her. Adjusting his wand’s light over the page once more, Harry coaxed his aching mind to read further.

From what it seemed, Ravenclaw had been pretty poor besides her extraordinary intellect and talent.

It didn’t seem very likely for her to have possessed any precious heirloom, or to have acquired any object of personal significance… anything at all… that Voldemort would have liked to convert into a horcrux…

It was in a dark cavern besides the Belgian waters that Harry lay hidden, having set up a small research area of his own. He had been hiding there for more than two months now, just like Sirius except that this was a self-inflicted imprisonment.

The cave was perfect… damp, dark, isolated, free from any human interference and with a regular supply of water Harry couldn’t swallow or use for human consumption. Zygroff bats and a few rodents were the only creatures to give him company, besides a huge, tottering pile of reading material that would have given Hermione Granger a run for her money.

Suddenly Harry looked up distracted by the complete absence of sound. For the past half hour he had been trying to block out the screeches and admonishes that Ron had been screaming at him from the enchanted mirror… it seemed like Ron had finally given up. Harry was inwardly thankful for this as he didn’t like the way Ron’s voice echoed through the stalactites and passages of the cave, the noise would prompt someone or something to investigate this would-be abandoned cave…

Harry convinced himself that this was the best way… the only way to go about it. If he ever picked up that mirror and communicated his location, Ron and Hermione would both be there in the wink of an eye to get him out of there, with fresh advice and consolation…

He didn’t want it… he didn’t need it. Isolation was the only way… and to get back on the trail for horcruxes… and get it over with before anyone else got hurt.

Deciding to skip his dinner for the third time that week, Harry Potter buried his nose into another dusty volume, as enormous as the previous while another sleepless hungry night awaited him…

***

Ginny Weasley examined her brother’s visage carefully, he seemed to have forgiven her for the little discovery he had made in his office regarding Josh Darlington, or at least he didn’t want to mention it… both of which suited her just fine.

She observed that Ron looked a little better since he had been attacked by Greyback, now that the whole procedure of covering up Greyback’s death was over. It had been pretty hectic for him to attend regular office and Order of the Phoenix sessions where more excuses were developed to cover Ron’s presence near Greyback that night… and his connection with the Goyle-Nott case.

Smiling to herself she wondered how her pig-headed brother was taking the fame all that had earned him…

Ron Weasley had become something of a celebrity once the Ministry officially announced a month ago that one of their Junior Aurors had finally disposed off the infamous Fenrir Greyback and also taken care of Walden Macnair, who had been involved in the murder of the boys at Hogsmeade. The Prophet had requested an interview with Ron, which he only turned down because he was having a ‘bad-hair day’ and the fan mail was pouring into Ron’s broken-down mailbox, from people all over who congratulated him for his achievement.

Not that all this was bad, but Ginny wished that Ron could have been spared all this publicity. She had already lost a brother and all this would definitely draw Voldemort’s attention to Ron, who was conspicuous enough as Harry’s best friend as it is. She knew that she was closer to Ron from any of her other brothers, even if he was a prat most of the times. Fred and George were a unit by themselves, Bill and Percy always treated her like a baby, and she knew Harry and Hermione only through him.

“So are you going to make it to Hermione’s party or not?” Ginny asked Ron, sipping her Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks where they both sat.

“Yeah, she wrote that she adjusted it on a Saturday night so that we could all come. Any idea who else she’s invited… Harry won’t be coming of course… he seems to be too busy even to respond to a conversation!” Ron said with a grimace, looking down at his bottle as though it had cruelly ignored him.

Ginny tilted her head to one side with a smirk and said, “At least he’s a lot smarter than you are when it comes to avoiding attention. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re the latest target on the Death Eater’s hit-list after all the pandemonium about Greyback and you”

“You’re just jealous because you haven’t been offered a reward of five- hundred galleons!” Ron retorted, his ears going red.

Rolling her eyes at him, Ginny got up to take leave of her irksome brother before saying “You’d better get her a nice present then for her birthday, since you’re all cashed up now. I doubt that the usual bag of dung bombs or Chocolate Frogs will work for you this time, Weasley” she said flashing her trademark devilish grin at Ron.

Read Chapter 11- The Sapphire Keystone here