Research

Chapter 2:

Over the next few days, Hermione spent all of her time searching the library for any reference to the Old Ways and Wizarding Etiquette in general. The only thing she found after days of searching was a copy of Savoir Vivre, with basically the same content as any Muggle book on etiquette. Every time Snape was in the house, she studied him from a distance. He snapped at everyone who tried to speak to him, and the only person he seemed to be able to stand was Mrs. Weasley. Hermione noticed that Molly acted differently towards Snape than she did with everyone else; she held herself differently, moved her hands in a slightly different way. To Hermione, it looked like some sort of ritual. Molly would always keep a respectful distance from Snape, and after a few moments, she would greet him with a nod of her head. She would keep her palms open towards him, and when she served him tea, she would always do it holding the teapot slightly to her right. Sometimes Molly would not walk directly towards him but would move in a beeline, always passing through the centre of the room.

Hermione soon found the opportunity to ask Mrs. Weasley about it. Molly was surprised, as she didn't think anyone had noticed the way she acted towards Snape.

"Indeed, dear. I am using some little rituals that derive from the old manners. However, I do not know anything more about the Old Ways, just what you saw me doing. The old manners have been completely abandoned for more than a century, and even before then, only a handful of people used them over the last three hundred years. My grandmother had a friend, and when she came to visit, this is how my grandmother acted towards her. Long ago, something in Severus reminded me of this friend of hers, and I thought to give it a try. And it worked," Molly explained.

"Maybe I should try it too. Despite his demeanour, I respect him and want him to feel appreciated".

"I don't know, my dear. The Old Ways were so complicated; something could easily go wrong, and he would end up being furious," Molly cautioned.

Hermione's stubbornness won through Mrs. Weasley's reservations, and she eventually agreed to teach Hermione the few movements that she knew. Two days later, Snape arrived in his usual ill temper. Hermione approached him with a cup of tea and started following the patterns that Molly had taught her. The next second she found herself sprawled on the floor in the opposite side of the room.

"How dare you?! You will never insult me like this again! Now get out of my sight before I curse you into next week." She looked up to see Snape towering over her, wand in hand. He had moved so quickly that Hermione couldn't work out how she ended up on the floor. She scrambled to her feet and fled the room, tears streaming down her face.

Once again Hermione ended up in the library. She went straight to the portrait of Phineas Nigellus and shouted accusingly:

"You should have told me that the Old Ways were only accepted among pure-bloods. See what happened now? I only tried to please him, and he got insulted because I am Muggle-born, or, as you and he would say, a Mudblood." Hermione spat the final word at the portrait, her voice filled with revulsion.

"Stop talking nonsense, girl, and tell me what happened. Where did you learn any of the Old Ways?"

"Mrs. Weasley knows a ritual that she uses when speaking to him. I copied her movements exactly, addressed him in the same way, but he would not accept it from me because I am not pure-blooded."

"Did he tell you as much?" the portrait enquired.

"He just shouted at me to get out of his sight. But it is the only explanation since I did everything exactly as Mrs. Weasley showed me."

"Sometimes you should look beyond the obvious in order to discover the true motives of a person's reaction. And in order to spare me your endless questioning, let me tell you that you made a serious mistake in copying Mrs. Weasley. The old manners have many different rituals. The one you followed was most likely a rite to be performed between equals, while the correct one would have been a ritual addressed to someone older or superior to you. Before attempting something like this again, you should be aware that using the wrong ritual can be taken as a serious insult or even an attack against a person. You should consider yourself lucky he didn't kill you," the portrait lectured her sternly.

"How was I supposed to know that?!" Hermione was now beyond tears. She was angry. "I have tried to research; I can't find a single book about the Old Ways."

The portrait looked sceptical for a while. "Why is it so important for you to learn the Old Ways?"

"Professor Snape has sacrificed everything for the Order. Respecting him is the least we can do."

"Yet another Gryffindor speech about noble causes. Don't you ever get tired of it? Never mind about that, just go up in the attic. On the floor covered with some sort of green velvet is the portrait of Lady Altamira Dumbledore. I don't know whether she will help you or not, but she is the only one who can."

Hermione, however, had just learned the hard way that taking the advice of the former Headmaster of Hogwarts at face value was not a very good idea.

"What's the trick this time?" she asked suspiciously.

"Ah... Typical Gryffindor insolence. How will you master the Old Ways when you can't even be polite by the low standards of the present manners?"

Hermione looked angrily at the portrait and mused.

"If I burned this portrait, then you would not be able to visit, and you'd miss all the gossip of what goes on around here. I'm sure we could cope without you hanging around."

"Are you trying to blackmail me? A very poor attempt, I must say. However, for your effort, I shall tell you this: The portrait in the attic is the only portrait of Lady Dumbledore in existence. She has been stuck in that frame of hers for over three hundred years. Do try not to stare at her ugliness too much. If you are good enough, she may decide to help you. Just don't let anyone else see her portrait."

With these words he disappeared from the frame, possibly going back to his portrait in the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts.

Hermione, still shocked by her recent experience with Snape, decided to think about what Phineas had said before going in search for the portrait. However, later the same night, she found herself unable to sleep and tormented by her curiosity. She stood up, taking care not to make any noise so as not to wake Ginny, and ascended to the attic with only the light at the tip of her wand to guide her. Finding the portrait was not difficult, but she found herself hesitating to remove the velvet cover. What if the portrait started to scream like so many portraits in this house? And why were no other portraits of her apart from this one in the attic? Assuming that Lady Dumbledore was related to the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, why was she covered and not hanging on a wall?

Summoning her Gryffindor courage, she pulled the cover away to reveal the most ugly portrait she had ever seen. The woman in it looked like the wicked witches in Muggle fairy tales. Hermione quickly dropped her eyes, not wanting to offend the woman in the portrait by staring at her, and greeted her formally.

"I apologise for disturbing you at such a late hour, Lady Dumbledore, but I have some questions that only you can answer".

Hermione had expected the woman in the portrait to be disturbed by her presence after being alone for so long. She was surprised, therefore, when a very soft and kind voice asked her what kind of help she needed. Hermione looked at her, and without being to restrain herself, she immediately started to talk:

"I came to you for a selfish reason: I wish to learn the Old Ways so that I can show someone important to me how much I respect them. I've searched the library, and I can't find a single book on the subject. I tried using a ritual Mrs. Weasley taught me, but he was insulted when I used it. I thought it was because I'm Muggle-born, but the portrait of Phineas Nigellus told me that this is not the case. Will you please teach me?" Hermione finished and immediately reddened. She had not planned to tell the portrait so much. She had expressed all at once her confusion, her frustration and her feeling of guilt for disturbing the old lady in the portrait.

Lady Dumbledore smiled. It was not a pretty smile; what few teeth she had left were blackened and crooked. She looked even more ugly now, but somehow Hermione knew that she could trust the old woman.

"Don't fret, my dear. People who talk to me are forced to speak from the heart and are unable to tell a lie. This is the reason why my portrait is not hanging on a wall. Well, my dear nephew, Albus, says that it is because I am so ugly, but he is only teasing; the portrait of my identical twin sister, Alba, is hanging on the wall of his office." Hermione could not help but smile at the portrait. She could see where the Headmaster had inherited his kindness.

"My dear, Hermione, I have been in this portrait for over three hundred years. Every now and then, one of my relatives comes to visit and tells me what's happening in the outside world. There were times when people forgot about me, and I went years, or even decades, without a visitor. But that is not important. When I lived, the Old Ways were not so old, and every wizard and magical creature used them. However, much has changed since then. And there was a good reason why they were abolished, and why there are no books to be found. My nephew fought, when he was young, for the abolition of the Old Ways and for the destruction of every book on the subject."

"Headmaster Dumbledore? But destroying books is terrible! Why would he do something so appalling?" Hermione was so shocked she could barely speak.

"Calm down, my dear. There were reasons, important ones: The Old Ways were misused in order to enslave people, and Albus felt that emancipation could only come if the Old Ways were forgotten. And so, he destroyed every text he could find. Maybe one day he will explain everything to you."

"So is it forbidden to learn the Old Ways?" Hermione was trying to absorb everything the old woman told her.

"No it is not, but very few people alive know about them. Albus is one of them, but for obvious reasons, he would never teach them to anyone. And there are certain magical peoples who use them: The centaurs, the mermaids, the vampires, and also creatures such as the unicorns. The Old Ways come naturally to them," the portrait explained.

Hermione stood up and stretched tiredly. "Thank you very much for answering my questions, Lady Dumbledore. I have a lot to think about. Would you mind if I visited you again?"

"Of course you may, my dear. Good night and sleep well."

*** ***

Ginny woke the next morning surprised to find Hermione still asleep; she was usually up and making breakfast before Ginny even got out of bed. She roused her friend so that she would not miss breakfast.

"What happened to you? Did too much studying finally get to you?" the redhead teased.

"I just couldn't sleep and it was late before I finally managed to doze off." Hermione had decided not to tell anyone of her conversation with Lady Dumbledore; the words of the old lady had puzzled her. What could be so dangerous in the Old Ways? And more importantly, if they had been abolished for so long, why did Snape still use them? Were they used amongst the Death Eaters? He obviously didn't belong to the creatures still using them, as he was neither a mermaid nor a centaur, and although the boys had often called him an overgrown bat, he couldn't be a vampire; she had seen him outside daylight on many occasions. Still troubled, she followed Ginny to the kitchen. Harry and Ron were already there eating breakfast.

"Hey, 'Mione, you okay? We heard about Snape attacking you yesterday. Remus Flooed the Headmaster and told him everything. Dumbledore actually defended Snape and praised him for remaining calm. Can you believe that?! "

"Ronald Weasley! You will stop this nonsense right now!" Mrs. Weasley intervened, and Ron remained silent, not wanting to risk making his mother lose her temper.

"Hermione, how are you feeling today? Professor Snape's response was most unfortunate, but I did warn you that he might not react well."

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley. I'm fine, thank you." Hermione greeted the older woman warmly. She did not want Molly to feel guilty for teaching her the ritual.

That was when Hermione made her decision. "Harry, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, there is something I wanted to discuss with you."

Ron looked offended and got up to leave the room.

"Oh, no, Ron, please stay. I asked them because this is Harry's house, your mother looks after the sleeping arrangements, and Ginny is sharing my room. I wanted to ask for a favour."

All four of them looked at Hermione and waited, unsure of what favour she was going to ask for.

"I'm having trouble sleeping at the moment. I'm under a lot of stress from studying, and the only way I seem to be able to fall asleep at all is if I doze off whilst reading. Ginny, I really like having you as a roommate, but I know you can't sleep with the lights on. Therefore, I would like to ask to move to a different room."

"Hermione, I would really like to help you, but with so many people in the house at the moment, there just isn't anywhere else for you to sleep." Mrs. Weasley still felt responsible for what had happened the day before and wanted to help in any way she could.

"I thought about that all last night, and I thought of a room that is unoccupied; I would like to stay in the attic."

"Wouldn't you afraid to be up there on your own?" Molly asked.

"Our 'Mione isn't afraid of anything," Ron said proudly.

"Well, if you're sure. As long as Harry thinks it's okay, you may move up there. But you'll have to clean it yourself and get rid of all the rubbish that's in there at the moment. I simply won't have time with all these people staying here."

A few minutes later, having received everyone's approval, Hermione headed towards the attic. Her friends saw her smile as she left the kitchen and thought that would help her forget the incident with Snape. The boys kept in mind that they would have to drag her out into the atrium from time to time if they didn't want her to spend the entire summer in the attic reading.

....

It took Hermione a couple of hours to clear everything out of the attic and clean the walls and floor. When everything was tidy, she pulled the velvet cover off the portrait. The old lady blinked in surprise at the newly cleaned attic.

"Good morning, my dear Hermione. I see you decided to move in here."

"Yes, Lady Dumbledore."

"Please, call me Altamira. I prefer it"

"Altamira, I need to ask you a huge favour." Hermione thought that she hadn't asked any favours from anyone for longer than she could remember, and suddenly she had asked for two in the same day. "I would like to learn the Old Ways."

Altamira looked like she had expected the question, but asked, "Why?"

"There is a professor at Hogwarts. He is an excellent teacher, but his demeanour leaves a lot to be desired; he is sarcastic, mean, and biased, but he has made a lot of sacrifices for the Headmaster and for us all. He knows the Old Ways, and I wish to learn them so that I can treat him with respect in a way that he would understand.

There was silence for a while. Hermione waited for the answer in nervous silence. Finally the lady in the portrait spoke:

"I will teach you."

TBC

...

Thank you, Ellie.

(I do not own HP)