************************************Sorry for being late. Was suffering from major writer"s block all day.
Trying to get next chapter out within the next couple of hours.
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Six Weeks Earlier - Hermione POV
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The next day after the nearly getting eaten by a giant three headed dog, Hermione went down to the Great Hall for breakfast where she found Harry and Ron sitting down talking about something. As she ate Hermione listened to Harry filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection. "It"s either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron. "Or both," said Harry.
Hermione just ignored them, she knew what was ever under that trapdoor was there was there for a reason.
As the day went by nothing major happened just regular cla.s.ses, at the end of the week was when things got interesting. When the post came a group of owls came in and delivered a large parcel to Harry. Hermione figured it was a broom given its size and shape and at the same time she didn"t really care. Both him and Ron were looking to get expelled anyways. She then noticed a rare sight: Nova getting a letter. She tried to see what it read but was unable to do to the fact Nova was able to make it disappear too quickly. This was one of the few things about Nova that annoyed her. How can one person the same age as her have so many secrets?
She then gave a small huff and went upstairs to finish her homework. The next day early in the morning there was a loud banging sound and then the castle started to shake, which immediately caused everyone to wake up. It had been happening a lot recently and Hermione was curious as to what it was. When it first started to happen, Hermione opened up Hogwarts A History in order to see what in the castle was causing the noise but the book didn"t say anything. And when she tried asking teachers, not even they knew. Hermione checked the library, the one reliable source of information in the whole school and still nothing. But after a few weeks it stopped and everyone seemed to think that whatever was happening was only temporary.
Over the next few days, the banging and shaking continued day and night, at a steady rate, which drove many crazy from trying to figure out where it was coming from. Especially the Weasley Twins, Fred and George, as both of them knew the castle inside and out but could still not find the source. Another thing that Hermione noticed was that Nova was missing. Which was even stranger than the castle issue. Nova never missed cla.s.ses, and when Hermione tried to find him, she couldn"t. Hermione checked all his usual places the library, the Great Hall, the common room, and she even went and checked the boy"s dorm. Well she had asked if he was up there, as she was unable to bring herself to fully enter. When she asked if anyone had seen him they said they hadn"t with happy smiles. Hermione took the smiles as happy ones, since she was sure most of the guys were still mad at the prank Nova pulled on them on the first day.
Hermione even asked Professor McGonagall, who told her that she was aware of Nova"s absence but didn"t know where he had went. When Hermione heard this she started to get worried, at first she thought he had gone home or gotten expelled for some reason, but after calming down, she knew this wasn"t possible. Nova couldn"t have gotten expelled since no one was talking about it, and as for going home it was impossible as Nova was an orphan her family had helped him.
When Hermione thought of this, her head began to hurt. It was a headache that seemed to want to tell her something. She tried to think about how they met, she couldn"t remember. After a few minutes the headache pa.s.sed, and she continued walking, not remembering what she had just thought about.
At the end of the week, the shaking stopped but Nova was still nowhere to be found. After a boring evening meal, Hermione went up stairs. She was having a tough week. First she was nearly eaten by a dog, and then was dragged around by the two idiots trying to get themselves expelled. Not to mention her birthday was today and had no way of celebrating it, she didn"t even get anything from her parents since they didn"t know how to reach her. And Nova had disappeared from the school, this was the biggest thing that upset her. Hermione was missing talking and interacting with Nova and having someone to be with, but now with him gone she was extremely lonely.
While laying in bed, Hermione heard a soft knocking sound on the window. As she go up and opened it a small owl flew in the room. Hermione watched as the owl landed on the table and looked at it closely. It was a very strange owl, it was a mechanical owl. It was bronze in color with gold and silver in areas around the wings. Hermione thought it was a wonderful bird. After observing it for a moment, she saw that it had a box in its talons. So she undid it and saw the card. It read: Happy Birthday Hermione. Sorry I am not there to celebrate it with you. Currently fixing the Sorting Hat. Will be done soon. See you in a month. Nova.
Hermione then opened the box. Inside was a golden quill. It was the most beautiful thing Hermione had ever seen. It was about the size of her eagle quill she was using now. It was entirely made of gold with a silver metal at the end. It had detailed designs and carving that seemed to shine when it hit the light. When she picked it up, expecting it to be heavy, only to find the exact opposite, it was as light as a feather. She then found a note attached to the it.
Hermione this pen is a small gift I made. But don"t be fooled by it looks, it is not just a simple quill for writing. It is indestructible and will act as a storage device for your ink. All you have to do is dip the tip into the inkwell and it will absorb all the ink in the bottle and will not go dry for many months. And because it is indestructible it will never go dull.
When Hermione read Nova"s note about the quill, she was amazed. She quickly got up and took out the inkwell and immediately tried out the pen and watched as the ink was sucked into the pen. When she looked at the pen closely she saw that the ink had flowed into small veins in the pen"s decorations. But when she touched the areas all she could feel was metal and no ink was on her hand. After putting the quill away, Hermione saw that the owl had left and she wondered if that was another thing that Nova had created. As she was falling asleep, Hermione had the thought, wait if Nova is fixing the Sorting Hat does that mean he is behind the banging and shaking in the castle? Hermione just decided to worry about it later.
After that day, Hermione seemed to find that her days were just fine on the education side of things. But she was still having a hard time with everyone else. Every day she was having more and more difficulty interacting with other people and she was trying not to let it bother her and just ignore it. Finally on Halloween things finally became to much for her.
It happened during Charms cla.s.s, while practicing spells.
She was sitting next to Ron, who was having a hard time with a simple spell.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
"You"re saying it wrong," Hermione snap. "It"s Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the "gar" nice and long."
"You do it, then, if you"re so clever," Ron snarled. Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads. "Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger"s done it!"
At the end of cla.s.s, Hermione overheard Ron talking to Harry. "It"s no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she"s a nightmare, honestly. "
Hearing this was just too much for her, and she felt her face go red. She quickly ran out of cla.s.s, trying to not cry.
Not realizing she b.u.mped into someone she heard, "I think she heard you."
"So?" said Ron. "She must"ve noticed she"s got no friends." This made her feel even worse, as she ran into a bathroom, she thought to herself. I have friends but it"s only Nova and I don"t even know him he just appeared one day. I don"t even know why he hangs around, he doesn"t even know why I bet. It"s not my fault I want to succeed and not get left behind.
The more she thought more upset she felt and soon the entire day had gone by, and finally stopped crying long enough to realize that she was hungry and it was time for dinner. But she didn"t feel like going. She didn"t want to look at the people who kept on insulting and judging her. She didn"t care if it was Halloween and the dinner was supposed to be grand.
Then she heard it, "UAHHHH!!!" It sounded extremely loud and close by. She decided to she what it could be, as she left the bathroom, she smelled this terrible smell, and felt something walking heavy on the ground. As she peeked around the corner Hermione"s eyes went wide. It was a troll. Hermione then watched as it turned its head in her direction and she quickly ran back into the bathroom, trying to remember everything she could about trolls.
She then heard a crash and saw the bathroom doors fly off the hinges being smashed into pieces as she watched through the stalls.
"Come out Little Phoenix! I know you"re in here?" the Troll suddenly yelled. "Come out and tell me where the Forger is hiding."
Hermione just stayed still, she didn"t know what the troll was talking or that trolls could even talk.
"Come out and answer me Little Phoenix!" the troll yelled. And then it smashed the stalls in the bathroom, stopping at the stall that Hermione was in. "I know you"re in there come out. Lord Samuel doesn"t wish for me to injure you, but I will if you do not cooperate with me."
The stall door slowly opened and Hermione stepped out. She didn"t know what was going on or any of what the troll was talking about but she did understand that it wasn"t supposed to harm her, well she hoped so at least.
"There you are Little Phoenix. Where is the Forger? I smell him on you." The troll looked down on Hermione.
"I don"t know any Forger." Hermione said in a small voice.
The troll lifted what looked like a morning star and smashed it on the ground, narrowly missing her. "DO NOT LIE TO ME LITTLE PHOENIX!!" It yelled, "I smell him on you. You carry something he made."
Hermione didn"t know what it was talking about. She then thought of the gift from Nova, and took it out.
"Is this what you are talking about?" she inquired. And showed them the quill.
"Yes this was certainly made by the Forger. Where is he?"
"I don"t know any Forger. This was a gift."
The troll squinted his eyes, " I have heard what you said. And you know what I think your lying. You do know the Forger. I will give you one more chance. WHERE. IS. THE. FORGER."
Hermione started to tear up, "I told you I don"t know anyone named the Forger"
"Very well since you claim to be ignorant. You can die for your ignorance."
"But you said you wouldn"t harm me." Hermione stopped crying and looked at the troll with fear.
"I know but I see no use for you anymore. So I will just kill you and move on to the next fragment of Lady Phoenix in this world. Until there is only one left that I can bring to Lord Samuel. Good bye ignorant child." The troll then lifted it"s weapon and brought it down.
CRACK
As the morning star came down, Hermione lifted her hands while still holding Nova"s gift, and a golden sphere appeared around her and repelled the blow. But it shattered after taking the hit.
When its blow was repelled the troll was forced a step back. Hermione saw this and looked down at the quill, it was now broken in two. And Hermione knew it was no longer usable. She then looked up and saw the troll swing at her again. This time she wasn"t scared, she accepted her fate, she knew there was nothing that could be done. This realization made her realize that she was crying again. Crying at the fact that all she could do was feel regret that she was too weak to do anything. The fact that she was alone and that no one was going to be able to help her. If only she had friends she knew that would be able to help her, but she shook her head, if she had friends right now with her they would be dying with her. And she didn"t want that.
Right as the morning star was about to make contact, she closed her eyes, then Hermione heard a "NO!" and felt something warm embrace her as she felt herself get thrown from the impact. But didn"t feel a thing. She wondered if this was death. As Hermione opened her eyes all she saw at first was darkness then she realized something was wrapped around her. Protecting her. When she looked up, Hermione saw a pair of amethyst blue eyes staring at her. When she saw the face she gasped.
It was Nova.