The Raven

Disclaimer: I do not own HP though I wish I had a Snape of my very own, but until that time ill barrow hers! LOL

The Raven

By: Bree McGregor

Chapter 9

Hermione sat in one of the comfortable chairs before the Headmaster’s huge desk. She tried not to fidget as she waited for Dumbledore to return to the room. After she and Professor Snape arrived, he told them both to wait as he had to get something, but he would be right back. She wanted to ask Snape what it was all about, but he kept to the shadows with his arms folded, looking menacing.

She thought better of bothering him, and just sat there thinking to herself that, even though she has been eighteen years old since September, she sometimes felt like a first year in the eyes of her teachers. But she didn’t want to be thought of as a child, especially by Snape. She had had a crush on him for over two years now, and she didn’t want him to see her as some child student dunderhead.

Snape watched her trying not to fidget. Seeing the nervous tension in her shoulders, he didn’t know why but he wanted to comfort her and say that everything would be alright, but he knew better. If she agreed to become the Maiden of the Mirrors, then her life will become far more complicated then she ever could possibly dream. He only knew that he had to make her understand the consequences for her doing this, without telling her what the dangerous task really involved.

“You must understand that life is far more complex than you may see,” he said softly from the shadows.

Hermione looked over at him, and tilted her head as if it would help her see him better.

“What does that cryptic message mean?”

“That what you will hear about from the Headmaster may seem to you like a good idea, or even a perfect idea. Know this: that there are consequences for all actions, as well as payment that sometimes is too high a price to pay.”

“Are you talking about the war? Is Dumbledore going to give me something to do finally?”

“Shut up, you silly girl, and listen to me. Do not get caught up the way I did. Do not make any decisions without seeing all the angles, and trust me, there are angles. Some angles may be seen, some unseen. Your desires to help are commendable, but know that some sacrifices are not worth your life, or even your soul.”

Hermione gasped at this… her soul? Was he talking about her or himself? Many questions were running around in her head, but before she could voice a single one the side door opened, and Dumbledore returned carrying a very pretty mirror. Hermione could tell that it was extremely old, and what struck her the most was that the mirror itself was black. There was not a reflection in it, as if there wasn’t any light within it to reflect.

“This, Hermione, is why I asked you to come up here,” the old wizard said as he placed the mirror on a chair, with the glass side viewing the room.

“Why is the glass black, sir?” asked Hermione, letting her curiosity get to her.

“This mirror is one-half of what is called the Deconoulus, or the Mirrors of the Void.”

“You forgot the other name, Headmaster. They are also called the Twin Demon Mirrors of the Soulless.”

“Soulless?” Hermione whispered. ‘This is what Snape was warning me about. Nothing is worth my life or my soul,’ she thought. “I’m sorry, sir, but what does this have to do with me?”

Snape heard the fear creep into her voice… ‘Good, nice to know that the girl listens outside of the classroom,’ he thought, ‘all one must do is separate her from Potter and Weasley.’

“Do you know anything about this mirror, Hermione?” Dumbledore asked gently.

“No, sir, I never heard of it,” she said dishearteningly. She had read every book she can get her hands on in the library and never ran into a mention of anything named Deconoulus, and the only books she was not allowed to read were the dark magic books housed in the restricted area.

“That’s not surprising,” Snape said, “since there are no books in the library or any bookstore you would have gone into. It’s very dark magic and very ancient.”

“Thank you, Severus, I was getting to that. Well, you see, my dear, I need someone of great intelligence and willpower that can control the mirror. Since you are the most brilliant witch of our age, of course I would look to you.”

“Why me? What does it do?”

“Well, as you may have guessed, Severus was not in Kazakhstan, but he was mortally wounded at a dark revel. His spying had been found out. We had to keep him hidden so they would not guess that he was still alive.” Hermione looked over at her professor with concern. “He’s alright now. We got to him just in time. A moment longer and there would have been nothing we could do for him. But all’s well that ends well.”

“But if they know he was a spy, and now they know he’s alive, won’t they try to kill him, sir?”

“Oh, most positively,” Dumbledore smiled at her, which only confused her more.

“Can we get on with this, please!” snapped the man in the shadows.

“Oh, quite right. Well, this mirror has a twin, hence the name ‘Twin Demon Mirrors of the Soulless.’ The twin to this one is now hanging on the wall of Voldemort’s stronghold. If we can discover what he is planning, then we can stop him from it.”

“So you need me to look into this mirror to see what is going on in the room where the other mirror is located?”

“Yes, Hermione, very good!” the Headmaster was overjoyed that she was catching on so quickly.

“Okay, what’s the catch?”

“What???” Dumbledore was thunderstruck by her question.

“Well, if we can see them, can’t they see us?”

“They do not know that the twin mirror is there or even what it is,” answered Snape.

“Okay, so again, what’s the catch?” this time she looked Dumbledore straight in the eye and dared him not to tell her.

Snape smirked in the shadows. Yes, she was growing up quite nicely.

“The ‘catch’ is its place in the room where they usually talk about their plans, which is also were they hold the dark revels. In other words, you may see things that would give you nightmares worse than you have ever had before.”

“Oh, is that all” Hermione said sarcastically.

“Unfortunately no, that is not all,” Snape said as his eyes met hers trying to make her understand the seriousness of this situation. “The other drawback is that if you are not strong enough or focused enough to control the mirror, your soul will be drawn into the void that is housed within the mirrors themselves, never being able to leave.”

Hermione looked within the smooth black glass of the mirror. Not even her reflection shined back at her. She wasn’t sure what frightened her more — Snape’s warnings, or the sheer emptiness of the mirror. Looking deeper into the mirror, a memory came to mind of when she was a small child. She had no siblings, but she did have older cousins. Two of them, Roger and Angus, lived in the Scottish highlands; they were known for their adventurous spirits. They reminded her a bit of George and Fred Weasley, though Roger and Angus were more cruel in their pranks then the Weasley twins.

She had been eight the summer when she and her parents went to visit her cousins. The boys took her to a rocky mountain hillside riddled with caves. All three of them went into one particular cave that they said was easy, since she was so young. All they had were small flashlights to show the way. They had told her that it was more exciting that way. At first she was afraid of the dark dank cave, afraid of the unknown and what may be lurking there. Somehow they got separated, for when she looked back to ask Roger a question the cousins were nowhere to be seen. She called out to them over and over, listening to her fearful voice echoing back to her.

After what seemed like hours of trying to find her way back, she finally admitted defeat and slid down against a wall, her face streaked with tears. When her tears subsided and all her emotion were spent, she looked up at the walls surrounding her. She could hear the sound of running water coming from her right, and remembered that where there’s water there should be a way out. Standing up with renewed hope, she followed where she thought the sound was coming from.

When she finally found the location of the water, the sight that greeted her was beyond anything she could possibly dream of. The cave opened up to a large cavern, its walls covered with little crystals sparking as if they were stars. To the far end was a small waterfall rolling into a natural lake that reflected the crystals, giving the illusion of even more stars below its still surface.

Gazing at the breathtaking images of Merlin’s crystal caves, as she named them, she doubted that anyone had ever been here, especially her cousins. She could just see them destroying it with pleasure, and the thought brought tears to her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, the eight-year-old Hermione set out to look around her hidden treasure. She noticed that her fear had vanished, and from that time forward she was never afraid of the dark, for the lesson she learned was looks can be deceiving. Just because something looked scary didn’t mean there wasn’t incredible beauty hidden deeply within; all one must do is not be afraid to adventure into uncharted territory.

She heard voices, and realized a search party was looking for her. She looked around one last time to commit the scene before her to memory, and left hurriedly toward the voices. She didn’t want anyone to find this place, for she desperately wanted to keep it the way it was… untouched.

~~~~

Back in the Headmaster’s office, she felt a hand on her shoulder, its warmth radiating though her. Looking away from the mirror, her eyes met those of Professor Snape’s. She was once again reminded of that cave she was lost in, and the lesson she had learned there, that “just because something looks scary doesn’t mean that there wasn’t incredible beauty hidden deeply within.” The thought shocked her to the core, as his eyes were like dark caves, deep and fathomless. A new thought came to her, as the two memories became intertwined.

“Are you all right, Miss Granger?” Snape asked concernedly, and then looked over at Dumbledore. “I told you this was not wise! She is too young to control the mirror. Albus, look at her face.”

“We shall see, Severus” the Headmaster looked at her with kind eyes. “Now tell us, Miss Granger, what you saw in the mirror.”

Hermione told them about her memory of being lost in a cave and the cavern she had found. The lessons she had learned from it… but then she faltered in her telling. She almost said that it reminded her of Professor Snape’s eyes, and she thought that was just too personal to share, though her hesitation did not go unnoticed.

“What are you not telling us, Miss Granger?” Snape’s stern yet darkly velvet voice spoke volumes, though it was barely above a whisper. Hermione couldn’t stop the thoughts of the cavern again when he spoke. Would she always be reminded of it now? Why hadn’t she made the connection before?

“Just that I haven’t thought of that memory since I set foot onto Hogwarts, not once, and it’s one of my favorite memories, Why now and not before?”

“I believe that its time for you to look into yourself, Miss Granger.” Dumbledore said. “Remember the lessons you learned that day — the way to conquer your fear of being alone in the dark, as well as the beauty that lives in the darkness. Not all darkness is evil, Miss Granger. If you think back, I’m sure you would have remembered small insects or animals living in this cave?”

“Yes, now that you mention it. There was a fuzzy little creature with very big eyes. Not much bigger than my index finger is now”

“And was this animal frightful to you?”

“I think it was more afraid of me then I was of it, especially when it ran off after my flashlight hit it.”

“That is because this type of creature cannot stand light. Its eyes adapted to the darkness so it can survive. This doesn’t make it evil; it is just only one of the creatures that happens to lives in that cave.”

“This makes sense, sir. I guess what you’re saying is if I can conquer the darkness as I have before, I would be able to control the mirror as I controlled my fear so long ago.”

“Very good, Miss Granger. Now, I will not expect an answer from you tonight, but I do want Professor Snape to teach you how to focus your mind.”

“When do we start, sir?” Hermione asked Snape shyly, the images of both him and the cavern still strong in her mind.

“Tonight!” the Headmaster said excitedly.

“Forgive me, Headmaster, but tonight is not good. I have young Mr. Weasley in detention this evening.”

“Getting back in the swing of things so soon, Severus?” Albus gave the young man a knowing look. He knew Severus was dying to pay back young Ron for his treatment of Hermione ever since he tried to advance himself on her.

“Indeed,” was all Snape said in reply to both the spoken and unspoken conversation he and the Headmaster was having.

Hermione tried but couldn’t suppress a yawn that escaped her. Seeing this, Dumbledore shooed her away back to her common room with a warning not to talk to anyone about this. After she left, the Headmaster spoke only one line to Severus before sending him away as well.

“Remember, the Weasley boy was under the influence without his knowledge.”

“Don’t worry, Albus, I will not kill the boy… yet.” With that, the door closed behind the Potions Master.

Snape walked down the corridor to his dungeons, thinking of what he should do with Hermione. It seemed to him that she had made up her mind that she was going though with the Headmaster’s horrid plan. There was only one way to find out: to pay her a visit as Mistoffelees. Looking up at the clock, he noticed it was still early — he had another hour and a half before Mr. Weasley’s detention, so he took off his outer robes and opened a window. Within moments, a jet black raven took to the sky.

~~~~~~

A/N Evil cliff I know what can I say I’m evil but HAY YOU GOT ANOTHER CHAPTER SO SOON!!!! Ohhh I can’t wait for spring brake next week! MORE WRITING!!!!! Ron is going to get his!!! Ohhh trust my twisted little head! I’ve been told I’m a natural when it comes to devious plans.

I’m not sure if I’m going to focus on Twin Link or just this one until its done then go to Twin Link… let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

And thanks again to my wonderful Beta June!!!!