Six

After her little bit of introspection had passed, Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon curled up with the latest edition of Charms Quarterly. She took notes for a possible response to one of the articles and toyed around with the idea of finally writing that essay about communication spells she'd planned for years. The raven had settled again on his favourite spot on her bookcase. Every now and then, he fluttered down onto her coffee table. It almost felt like he was checking on her. Or so Hermione thought until he picked up one of her quills and dropped it on the floor. When she glared at him before she Accio'ed her quill, he swept back up to his place on the bookcase.

She was so comfortable on her sofa that she contemplated skipping dinner. After the sumptuous lunch she'd had at the Three Broomsticks, she didn't feel particularly hungry, anyway. But then, in the present situation, it would probably be a good idea if as many teachers as possible were present at meals.

With a groan, Hermione rose and went to her bedroom to change into a robe suitable for the Charms mistress. When she returned, the raven was sitting on the sideboard next to the door, looking like he was waiting for her.

He tilted his head when he saw her, and Hermione couldn't help the feeling that he was giving her a once-over.

'Like what you see?' she teased.

The raven's caw sounded almost approving.

'Well, come along then.'

*****

After dinner, some students left the Great Hall, but quite a few lingered. As it was Saturday, curfew was an hour later than on weekdays, and the Great Hall was a popular meeting place for students from different houses to play Gobstones, Exploding Snap, wizard chess, or other board games, or simply to chat.

Horace leant over to Neville. 'How are those Moonflower blossoms you promised me coming along?'

'They should be nearly ready to bloom,' Neville answered. 'I'll check on them and bring you some later.'

'That would be greatly appreciated, Neville m'boy,' Slughorn said.

Neville left for the greenhouses soon after.

'We're off to the Three Broomsticks.' Michael gestured at himself and Angelina. 'Anyone else fancy a pint?'

'No, thanks.' Hermione wasn't keen on another trip to Hogsmeade today.

The older teachers declined as well, though Hermione suspected that they had their own Saturday evening entertainments. At least if the hung-over looks of Horace and Aurora on many a Sunday morning were anything to go by.

She was just getting up to go back to her quarters when Angelina, Michael and Neville returned.

'Back so soon?' Hermione quipped; then she noticed that the three looked rather annoyed.

'Minerva, did you order a lockdown of the castle?' Angelina asked and instantly had the attention of the complete High Table.

Minerva paled. 'I certainly did no such thing. Did you try to leave by the main doors?'

'Yes,' said Michael.

'I tried to use the door to the courtyard; it's locked as well,' Neville added.

Horace asked, 'And now?'

Minerva appeared to be thinking very quickly whilst the other teachers waited.

Hermione noticed that Angelina, Michael, Neville and Aurora had their wands out.

All the other teachers had their hands near the places where they usually kept their wands. When she looked down, her own wand was in her hand as well, though she wasn't aware that she had taken it out.

Finally, Minerva said, 'Please check all entrances to the castle as well as the windows on the ground floor. Those of you who know about the hidden passages, please check those, too.' Her eyes rested briefly on Hermione and Neville.

'Please be discreet. I don't want the students to panic.' The apparent "yet" remained unspoken.

'Aurora, if you would keep an eye on things in the Great Hall?'

'Of course.'

'We'll reconvene here as soon as we're done.' Minerva briefly nodded at the rest of the staff and then led the way, wand in hand. The other teachers lingered for a bit before they left the Great Hall in pairs or on their own. As Neville and Hermione walked down the aisle between the house tables, the raven flew down from his look-out. For some reason, Hermione felt a bit less anxious when the familiar weight settled on her shoulder.

'Classrooms first?' Hermione suggested.

Neville nodded. 'Good idea. I think all the exits are covered.'

They walked in silence to the row of classrooms on the ground floor. None of the windows opened. The handles couldn't be moved, and Alohomora didn't have any effect at all.

In the last classroom, Hermione pointed her wand at the glass panes. 'Confringo.'

Nothing.

She looked around her. 'Neville, do you see anything heavy? Like a brick or something?'

Neville stared at her for a moment with round eyes before he caught on. 'That's brilliant, Hermione.'

'Only if it works.'

There wasn't a brick, but there were plenty of chairs.

'Accio chair leg.'

With a satisfying crunch, the leg disengaged from the wooden chair and flew into Hermione's hand. The raven quickly soared to safety on the top rim of the blackboard as Hermione swung her arm and smashed the chair leg into the glass.

Nothing. Not even a crack.

'Fuck! Do you want to have a go?' She passed the chair leg-come-club to Neville.

Neville's attempt had exactly the same result as Hermione's: none at all. 'Merlin's buggery bollocks,' he swore.

To which Hermione added another "Fuck."

'And now?'

'Now we check the secret passages.' Hermione refused to give in to the feeling of desperation that threatened to engulf her.

They went to check the two remaining passages, the only ones left after the war, but neither the one behind the one-eyed witch nor the one behind Gregory the Smarmy would open.

Neville leant against the wall, frustration evident in his eyes. 'It's a shame the room of requirement is gone,' he said quietly.

'Yes. It's too bad that it's the one thing that couldn't be repaired,' answered Hermione. 'Let's go back to the Great Hall. Perhaps the others have found something.'

'Maybe,' said Neville, but he didn't sound very hopeful.

They were among the last to arrive back in the Great Hall. One glance at the others' faces told Hermione all she needed to know.

Minerva looked at her with a hopeful expression; it crumbled when Hermione shook her head.

'I want everyone in the staff room. Now. We have to discuss our options, and I want to do it in private,' Minerva announced.

'Er, I think I can offer a quicker solution,' Hermione said. 'And this way, we don't risk anyone getting lost.' She cast Muffliato.

'Nifty spell,' Aurora commented.

'Thank you.'

'I knew there was a reason why they appointed you as Charms teacher,' Michael whispered into her ear.

'Not exactly a standard spell, is it?' Minerva said. 'But useful.' She looked haggard. 'Suggestions?'

'Have we checked the Floo?' Septima asked.

Minerva nodded. 'I did. It doesn't work. Floo powder doesn't have any effect whatsoever.'

'Windows and doors on the upper floors are locked as well. Wouldn't budge,' Wilhelmina added.

'It seems we're effectively trapped,' Minerva said.

There was silence around the table until Hermione said, 'We may be trapped...' She snapped her fingers. 'Blinky.'

As usual, the house-elf appeared almost instantly. 'How can Blinky help?' When she saw all the teachers, she looked worried, and her ears began to droop.

Hermione said quickly, 'Blinky, sorry to bother you so late, but Professor Slughorn has been telling us wonderful things about Rosalyn's oak-matured mead, and I wondered if you could quickly pop over to the Three Broomsticks and get us some?'

Blinky beamed. 'Yes, miss. Right away, miss.' She disappeared.

Whilst they waited for Blinky to return, nobody said a word. Even the raven on Hermione's shoulder seemed to hold his breath. Hermione was memorising every detail of the table, the walls, the sconces on the walls, the floor tiles. She had counted about half of the candles floating beneath the enchanted ceiling when Blinky reappeared, a bottle of mead in her hand. A wave of relief went around the High Table.

'Thank you, Blinky. That will be all,' Hermione said.

'Very good, miss.'

When Blinky had disappeared, Minerva said, 'Good thinking, Hermione. At least we can get messages out.'

'Here is what needs to be done. Heads of houses, I want you to address your houses in the common rooms tonight. The official message we'll give is that we're having a small magical difficulty. It will be dealt with soon. And there is no need to worry. For security reasons, everyone is being kept inside the castle, and no student is to go anywhere on their own. Apart from that, things will go on as usual.

'I'll send a message to Mr Potter tonight. As our current head of the board of governors, he'll be able to reassure any concerned parents. I want to avoid a panic, but I think we can all agree that the situation is serious.'

There was general nodding around the table.

'I also want patrols of the castle 'round the clock. Aurora and I will draw up a roster and put it up in the staff room. There'll be two people on each watch, including the ghosts. As we can't communicate by Floo, we'll have to resort to using our Patroni. Whilst they can't leave the castle, as Aurora found out earlier, they can move within the school. I trust you can all cast a Patronus?' Minerva looked at everyone. 'Good.

'As I said before, for the sake of the students, we need to keep running things as smoothly and normally as possible. Anyone who is not teaching or on patrol, please keep looking into possible causes. Whatever this is, we have to get to the bottom of it.'

'Hear, hear,' said Horace, sounding suitably impressed by Minerva's crisis management.

She gave him a brief, tense smile. 'Any further questions or comments?'

Hermione said, 'I'd like everyone to write down what they can remember from all the incidents; also, if you could keep notes if anything else happens that would be good. Maybe there is a pattern.'

'Yes, that is a good idea. Now, if there isn't anything else, I need volunteers for tonight's patrols.'

Angelina and Michael raised their hands, Michael muttering, 'Nearly as much fun as the pub, this.'

'Thank you.' Minerva nodded at them.

'Actually, there is something,' Wilhelmina said. 'Need to talk to Hermione. And you too, Minerva.'

Wilhelmina had avoided her eyes all evening. Hermione tried to quell the queasy feeling in her stomach.

Hermione cancelled the Muffliato spell, so that Minerva could announce to the students still in the Great Hall that they had to return to their common rooms early tonight. There was a lot of murmuring and whispering as the student shuffled out.

Finally, everyone except Minerva, Wilhelmina and Hermione had left the Great Hall.

Now Hermione's stomach was definitely unhappy. It didn't help that the raven had disappeared to his preferred alcove.

Wilhelmina looked after him before she said, 'Something's not right with that raven. Bird turned up around the same time this mess began.'

'Hm,' Minerva said.

Hermione wanted to take the raven and run with him to safety. Instead, she said, 'There's nothing wrong with him. Besides, I don't want you poking and prodding him.'

'Don't be daft, girl,' Wilhelmina snapped. 'Could be an Animagus. Or worse.'

Hermione had drawn breath to inform Wilhelmina what exactly she thought of that ludicrous suggestion when the raven solved the problem by sweeping down from his look-out and landing on the table right in front of Wilhelmina. His caw sounded distinctly annoyed.

Hermione looked at him, a tiny pang in her heart. He was her friend. She didn't want him to be hurt.

Wilhelmina had been observing the raven closely. Now, she slowly took out her wand. 'Just going to check you over,' she said soothingly.

The raven sat quite still in front of her.

'I've already done that,' Hermione said. 'There are traces of magic, but very faint. I couldn't even tell if he's a magical bird or not.'

Wilhelmina was obviously concentrating on her diagnostic spell because she didn't answer. The queasy feeling in Hermione's stomach was now trying to creep up her throat.

'That one's magical, all right,' Wilhelmina said, peering at the bird, then she frowned.

'Hm,' she said, then pointed her wand at the raven, which became engulfed in a flash of blue-white light as Hermione shouted, 'No.'

When the spell had finished, there was still a raven sitting on the table, but his plumage was ruffled, and he was trembling.

'Was that really necessary?' Hermione glared at Wilhelmina. 'I hope there is a good explanation for what you just did.'

The raven beat his wings and hopped a few inches, then he stopped, looking miserable.

'Definitely a wizard in there,' Wilhelmina announced.

Hermione had the feeling that the ground was shifting beneath her feet. 'You mean, he is an Animagus?' she asked.

''fraid so,' said Wilhelmina. 'But he can't transform back. Cursed, I suspect.'

'Just what we need: another mystery,' Minerva muttered staring at the raven. 'There is something familiar about him. Odd that I've never noticed it before.'

'Cursed?' Hermione asked. Her mind felt completely blank.

Wilhelmina answered, 'Yup.'

Hermione looked at the raven, then at Wilhelmina, then at the raven again. 'What do we do now?'

Wilhelmina stared at her as if she'd grown another head. 'You're the Charms mistress. Should be something in those books of yours.'

'Oh, yes. Books. Right.' She looked at the raven again, feeling the prick of tears behind her eyelids.

He was still sitting on the table, looking back at her. He looked so familiar. And yet he wasn't. Hermione felt like she'd just lost a friend.

'Hermione...' Minerva began.

'No.' Hermione shook her head. She sniffled a little. Straightening her shoulders and drawing a deep breath, she said, 'Well, I better sort this out, then.'

She got up and marched off. The raven didn't follow her. At the door she turned around. 'Well, are you coming? Unless you prefer to stay here, of course.'

The raven beat his wings a few more times before he took off and flew to the house table nearest to her. As Hermione left the Great Hall, she heard Minerva calling after her, 'Be careful.'

The raven continued to follow her as she walked to her office. He didn't land on her shoulder as he usually did. To Hermione, it felt like part of her was missing.

Get a grip. For all you know, he could be a former Death Eater or something similar. But somehow, she didn't believe that. Yes, Scabbers had been a faithful familiar to Ron for years before he showed his true colours. But her raven – she couldn't yet stop thinking of him as her raven – wasn't Scabbers.

Whilst Hermione was arguing with herself, they had reached her office. She barely took the time to close the door behind her before she hurried over to her bookshelves. They covered three of her office walls, and she walked along them, selecting every book that might hold a possible clue to the counter curse she needed. By the time she was done, her desk was covered in stacks of books.

Hermione dismissed the more standard books on curses and counter curses quickly and concentrated on the more obscure volumes. The raven had taken up his usual spot on one of her bookshelves. Hermione occasionally glanced at him; he was sitting very still, appearing to be in deep thought. Which didn't sound as ridiculous as it would have a few hours ago.

It was four o'clock in the morning by the time she picked up a slim, battered-looking volume she had found in a second-hand bookshop when she had been on holiday in Brittany a couple of years ago. She scanned the table of contents. There it was: a whole section on animal Transfiguration and ways in which it could be used. She thumbed through the chapter and started when the raven landed on her desk.

'Do you think we're on to something here?' she asked.

The raven hopped closer to the book. 'Cr-r-ruck.'

And then she found it, at the very end of the last page of the chapter: a counter-curse for those trapped in their animal form through "intent moste evile".

Hermione read the spell three times and then a fourth to be sure. 'I think this is it,' she said to the raven.

He tilted his head.

Then she said something, which she had been on her mind earlier. 'You know, I can either try to lift the curse or, if you prefer, I'll find a place to hide you until we can get out of the castle, and you can leave then and go wherever you want. It's your choice.'

The raven remained sitting were he was; he looked almost like he was weighing his options. After a while, he hopped forward another few inches and tapped the page that contained the counter curse once with his beak.

'All right, then,' Hermione said.

She glanced around her office before she pointed to the rug in front of the fireplace. 'I think this is really the only place to do it.'

The raven took off and landed in the middle of the rug. Hermione took out her wand and set protective wards around the area on the floor.

'Sorry about this,' she told the raven. 'But I'd rather be on the safe side.'

She took the book, reminded herself that she really, really wanted the raven to be able to change back, pointed her wand and started reciting the lengthy incantation. Waves of light emanated from her wand: first light blue, then dark blue, then green, red and finally pink until the raven was completely engulfed in a swirl of multi-coloured light.

When the magic cleared Hermione gasped.

Severus Snape was lying naked on her office floor.