2

2.

"Harry," Hermione said, her tone of voice getting a bit demanding, "I haven't gotten through the entire passage yet, but it's clear that there's a stern warning about magical creatures in Frogspawn Wood. It's tied to the lunar cycle in conjunction with the aligning of several planets. That exact alignment is happening tonight. You have to call off the mission."

"Call it off? After decades of wild goose chases and misinformation, we are finally given a chance to round up the last of the Death Eaters and you want me to call it off? I'm sorry, Hermione, but this mission is going to happen. We're going into the wood in four hours, and I'm not calling it off when you don't even know what the threat is."

"I'm working on it. The warnings are dire, Harry. They speak about Goblins being eaten alive."

"I understand. Even so, that book is older than the hills, you said so yourself. For all we know, the threat was some creature that died off long ago. Maybe it was a dragon that got taken to the reserve. You said that the only creature there in any numbers was probably Bowtruckles, and they don't eat people."

"What happens if the warning isn't wrong? You're going into that wood, into a dampening field, and you won't even be able to use magic if this threat manifests. Is it worth losing your entire team? Why can't you turn the dampening field on and wait for the Death Eaters to leave the wood? You can catch them without even stepping foot inside."

"No. I won't risk those bastards getting away. We'll leave a team of Aurors outside the field, but we're going in tonight. Unless you can give me some concrete evidence before the mission starts, I'm not changing the plan."

"You're so stubborn!"

"Look who's talking!"

The discussion went downhill from there, and Hermione soon fled Harry's office to return to her research. She had to find out more from the dusty old tome and she was running out of time.

Three hours and one headache later, Hermione wasn't any closer to understanding what the book was talking about. It was clear that the tome spoke of a rare creature that lived in clusters of extended family. Normally shy and harmless, the creatures lived to be over three hundred years old, and rarely procreated. However, certain astrological events encouraged in them a sort of mating frenzy. It was after this frenzy that the new generations of the creature were born. The book also warned that during the mating frenzy the creatures became ravenous, and would swarm over any living creature they found and strip it to the bones if not fought off. The description was much like that of a school of hungry piranhas, or a swarm of locusts that ate meat instead of plants.

If these creatures existed, the time for the mating frenzy was tonight. Under the light of a blue moon, while Jupiter, Venus, and Mars were visible in the sky in the shape of a triangle, the creatures would lose their little minds and go all crazy for protein.

Her main problem was that, for the life of her, Hermione could find no translation for the Goblin word "Sulmas-Dhaub." There was a literal translation of the phrase, "aggressive agony," which seemed apt under the circumstances, but it was clear that this was their name for the creature itself. Hermione had no clue what the name of the creature was in English. If it even existed. Perhaps Harry was right. She could be worried over a magical animal that went extinct decades ago.

The only other clue was yet another untranslatable phrase about what the creatures normally ate when they weren't attacking things in a mating frenzy. "Lavozagh Nagransham." The closest she could get to the meaning of that phrase was "tree-eater," and that didn't make any sense. One might call a giraffe a tree eater, but the book was clearly talking about a plant. What kind of plant could eat giant old trees?

Wait a minute. She'd seen it. When she visited the wood to look for signs of magic. She'd peered up into the tree canopy, trying to get a glimpse of what the magical creature detector had spotted. Standing at the foot of a massive old oak, Hermione had peered through its branches and seen the gigantic clumps of mistletoe hanging in the tree. While they would never consume the entire tree, they were parasitic. They bored into the branches and sucked water and nutrients from the host plant. Tree eaters.

In all her life, she'd only heard of one creature that ate mistletoe.

Her cozy flat had no fireplace. Hermione spun on the spot and apparated.

Stumbling only briefly on the pink and purple welcome mat she landed on, Hermione turned to the front door of the charming yellow and blue house and knocked loudly. In a moment, it opened.

"Hermione!" Luna Lovegood Scamander smiled at her warmly and waved her inside the cheerfully painted house. "Was I expecting you? Did we have an appointment? I swear, I can't remember anything these days."

Luna hadn't changed much over the years. She remained thin and ethereal, her voice retained its dreamy sing-song quality, and she still wrote articles for The Quibbler. Luna was the editor of the paper, now her father had retired. Over the years, Hermione had grown very fond of the odd woman, and she reminded herself that she should visit Luna more often. Her friend had seemed so shocked to find Hermione on her doorstep.

"No, we didn't have an appointment." Hermione gave her friend a tight hug. "I was working on some Ministry business and I need your help."

"How lovely! Come in, sit down, and I'll get us a cuppa."

"Is Rolf home?"

"Oh, no, not at the moment. He's gone over to Tullaroan to help with an infestation. Chizpurfles."

"What a shame. I hope he does a fumigation on himself before he comes home."

"I won't let him in until he does!"

Once the tea was poured, Hermione got down to business.

"Luna, what can you tell me about Nargles?"

"Oh, they are sweet little shy things. They live in mistletoe bunches, and they move from clump to clump so that they don't eat all of the leaves from any one plant."

"Have you ever seen one?"

"I did actually. Back when we were in school, I used to sneak out to go walking in the Forbidden Forest."

"Really?" Hermione was shocked the gentle Ravenclaw had broken the rules to go to the forest. "Wasn't it dangerous?"

"No, not really. I never went into the forest very far. Around the edges it's quite pretty. The more dangerous denizens stayed deeper in the wood. I think they were afraid of Hagrid."

"Probably afraid he'd want to keep them for a pet."

They had a good laugh before Luna continued. If felt wonderful. Since her divorce, Hermione had spent too much time with books and not enough with her friends.

"And you saw a Nargle if the Forbidden Forest," Hermione prompted when their laughter had died down.

"I did. I climbed this big oak tree to look for one. I wanted to make a realistic sketch for my dad to put in the paper. I had to search a few mistletoe clumps before I found one. It was a funny little thing. Rather like a Bowtruckle, with long limbs and fingers, only they're green and Bowtruckles look like brown bark."

"Did you touch it?"

"Oh, Merlin, no. They're shy, and they aren't aggressive, but they have very sharp teeth. Nargles have been known to nip people if they are messed with. I didn't want to get bitten. I'd have had a hard time explaining that to Madam Pomfrey!"

"I suppose so. Luna, have you ever read or heard anything of Nargles attacking people?"

"No. I can't say that I have. They are very shy and very rare. Most wizards don't even believe they exist. There's nothing in the lore that suggests they would hurt anyone."

Hermione stayed for a short chat, and then excused herself to return to her work. Time was running out, and she had one more task to complete before she decided if Nargles were a threat to the mission. It seemed too fantastical to possibly be true.

An astronomy book and several Arithmancy spells later, and Hermione had the last piece of the puzzle. The configuration of moon and planets happening that night had not occurred in recent memory. The last time had been over three hundred years ago. Back then, there were very few written accounts of natural happenings in the wizarding world. It was quite possible that Nargles had swarmed over three hundred years ago, and no written account of the event had survived. The information may have been spread by word-of-mouth and fallen by the wayside when the event didn't repeat itself.

The written history of the Goblins went back much further that human records. She had no choice but to accept the tome's warning at face value. Looking at the clock, she realized the mission was starting. She was out of time. Throwing a dark cloak over her muggle t-shirt and jeans, she rushed into the flat's tiny kitchen and grabbed a butcher knife. A quick transfiguration of a kitchen towel, and she had a sheathe for the impromptu weapon. Her wand was in its pocket, but if the dampeners had already been set, it would be useless. She wasn't certain how useful the knife would be against a swarm of Nargles, but it was better than nothing. Sliding the sheathe through her belt, she turned on her heel and apparated.

On the edge of Frogspawn Wood, Hermione saw an Auror nearby with one of the spheres that created the dampening field. There were ten spheres in all, circling the forest, every one aimed in toward the wood. The plan had been simple. Wait until after the secret Death Eater meeting was scheduled to begin, so that the Death Eaters could apparate to their meeting point, and then turn on the field so they couldn't apparate away.

"Excuse me, Spanton is it?"

"Yes, Ms. Granger, how can I help you?"

"Has the dampening field been engaged?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"You have to turn it off."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Ms. Granger. Order's from Mr. Potter himself. No matter what happens, we are not to turn off the dampening field."

"But there's a problem Harry doesn't know about. I have to find the taskforce and get them out of the woods before moonrise. I can't do that without magic."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but orders are orders."

Turning from the stubborn Auror, Hermione checked the sky. The sun was already fading behind the hills to the west. Her calculations earlier had pinpointed moonrise at less than an hour after sunset. There wasn't much time to warn the others. If they were to get any warning at all, she would have to do it herself. She must find Harry. Only he could give the order to drop the dampening field.

Double checking her wand and her knife, Hermione strode into the forest.

*******

A/N

A big, ginormous thank you to everyone reading so far, and also thank you for the kind comments. It's nice to be a part of the fandom again. I'd said last time that I would post a chapter every few days, but I seem to be too impatient. I think I'd rather do one a day.

I will add a short pitch for my novel, Descending. It's nearing the end of its Kindle Scout campaign. My campaign ends 12/15/2016. If you enjoy my writing, and want a chance at a free e-book of Descending, stop by Kindle Scout check it out, and nominate it if you like what you see. You can find it in the romance section. If it's chosen for publication, everyone who nominates it gets a free advance copy. Free books! Nothing wrong with that.