Journey

Chapter 3: Journey

“You’re from their world. Have you ever wondered why the non-wizards are not bothered by werewolves and vampires?”

Her first thoughts were that it was denial, but if there were enough incidents, then it couldn’t be denied. She next considered that either the non-wizards weren’t as vulnerable or they didn’t live in close proximity as wizards did or some combination of the two. But, finally, she didn’t know. She looked at him and shook her head no.

“Retaliation,” he said.

She reflected for a moment. “Okay, we stir up the monsters, they attack the humans, the humans retaliate, and the wizards of Central Europe are too embroiled with a war against the vampires and werewolves to be a threat to England.”

I’m disguised as the perfect tourist, she thought as the escargots à la Bourguignonne arrived.

“Can we afford this?” she asked.

“We’re on a bloated war budget. Wait 'til you see our battle brooms complete with code words.”

“Code words for battle brooms?” she asked.

“If things get dire, say, ‘Tchaikovsky,’ and a 105mm howitzer pops out.”

There was a pause before she said, “That rings a bell,” and was able to return to her lunch with a peaceful mind, proud that she had not hexed a snail up his nose.

“We could have rented a car. It would be more flexible. We wouldn’t have to fight the crowds at the rail stations,” she said. “Aren’t you tired of cities? Wouldn’t you prefer a country inn?”

“Didn’t take you long to get spoiled. Besides, who wants to drive thousands of weary miles?”

“I can handle it,” she said.

“And what’s so romantic about country inns?”

“You said it, not me,” she replied.

“How, exactly, are we supposed to rouse the vampires and werewolves against the general population? And don’t give me that 105 howitzer bullshit.”

“Surely, you’ve guessed.”

“That’s terrible. Think of the innocent lives.” She paused. “Oh, no, it’s worse than that, isn’t it? We’ll have to provoke both sides.”

“It calls for daring and cunning,” he said, “and some people think we’re not capable enough.”

“Not capable!” She paused again. “Let me think about this.”

They may have sent the right girl, he thought.

“We’ll have to check the references. Where’s the best library?”

“Okay, I know how non-wizards kill vampires and werewolves, and I know how to fake a vampire or a werewolf killing a human, but I don’t know if I can bring myself to do either one.”

“Things are more desperate now than during our civil war,” he said.

“More desperate than facing a Dark Lord?” she asked.

“He may have been one of the most powerful wizards ever, but people followed him out of fear, envy, and hate. It was never a cohesive, effective group.”

Can’t we decide not to do this?” she asked.

“If we don’t carry out the mission, the people who sent us will conclude that we are going to betray them, and they will send a team of assassins after us.”

“Can’t we join the other side for protection?” she asked.

“We’re dealing in treachery. The other side won’t trust us, and they will kill us.”

“Isn’t the other side trying to do the right thing?” she asked.

“That makes them more dangerous,” said Severus. “They’re not going to make a long speech justifying their actions that gives us a chance to escape. They’ll immediately do the right thing and eliminate us.”

Hermione wondered how it was that she was an agent provocateur instead of being someone trying to stop a bloody war between humans and vampires. She wondered how close she had come to being on the other side and how much of morality was a justification for the accident of being on one side or the other.

“I’m not very sexy,” she said.

He sighed. “Okay, what did I do wrong?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said.

“I thought you liked it.”

“I loved it,” she said.

“I thought you had a good time.”

“I had a great time,” she said. “It was wonderful.”

“Then you’re sexy,” he said.

“I don’t get very excited, and I know I don’t make much noise,” she said.

“It’s a deep and personal experience for you,” he said. “At least, I hope it is.”

She nodded. “Yes,” she said.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better,” he said as he put his hand on top of hers.

“It’s magical here,” she said.

“Perhaps you just like breathtaking mountain scenery,” he replied.

“No, I mean ordinary life has a magical quality about it.”

“Well, you’ll have to be satisfied with that while we’re here. We can’t leave any trace of magic as we go about our work.”

“Ah, yes, our work,” she said. “Do you think they will let us back into normal society after this?”

“You rejoined normal society after the civil war,” he said.

“That was different,” she replied.

“It might have been different for you because you were young and there seemed to be only one right choice. Now, you’re older and confused.”

“Okay, we’ve located two girls with leukemia, two with incurable tuberculosis, and one with a broken heart. Is that a big enough batch? And why do we have to arrange their deaths within one week of each other?”

“It’ll be easier for us to ignore our consciences for a short period of time. We may crack under the stress anyway,” he said. “Besides, it will have more impact. The human mind responds to large deviations.”

“I’ve been watching, Severus.”

“Yes.”

“The four girls we’ve picked out with fatal diseases have someone who loves them, and they either know or don’t know that their loved one has a limited time upon this earth, and at least two eligible wizards wish the heartbroken girl would notice them.”

“And your point is?”

“The world doesn’t need a love-potion; it needs a cure-for-love-potion.”

“Would you take it if there were one?” he asked.

“Do vampires love each other?” she asked.

“Now that you mention it, our plan will go better if they do,” he said. “I was counting on retaliation, but a vampire revenging a loved one will create more havoc.”

“Then we should attack beautiful or handsome ones,” she said. “If vampires have any trace of humanity left, that increases the chances that another is attracted to them.”

“When this is over, will we be able to stay together, knowing what we’ve done?”

“I don’t know.”

It was cold. Very cold. The sun was bright. Every blade of grass cast a sharp shadow. Wrapping the cloak tighter did no good; the cold inside was sharper than the cold outside. The trudge up the hill was over sharp and unforgiving rocks.