Chapter 40
Chapter 40:
Hermione had a strange feeling upon waking up this particular morning. She couldn’t place where it was coming from but she knew enough to not question a womanly intuition. She was extra careful getting ready this morning and made sure she wasn’t missing anything as she headed out of the office. Taking Malfoy’s advice, she wrote a bride note to leave on her desk.
“Thank you for the gifts. I would like to show my gratitude in person. To whom shall I send the invite? -HG”
It was simple to the point and not asking too much.
However, when she arrived to check up on the office it became a moot point. On her desk were three boxes and a much larger glad jar. Next to them was a scroll. Hermione debated what she should open first and decided to read the scroll first.
In that same elegant script, the note was longer than before and it didn’t have good news for her curiously.
“Miss Granger, it’s bittersweet our arrangement must come to an end, but alas all good things do. For your bravery during and after the war, I’d decided to gift you items of value that serve no use to me and mine but I knew within your hands could garner not only positive outcomes for the wizarding world but also your personal satisfaction. I’ve chosen to remain anonymous to you because I would like the focus to remain on the object and its value to your research. I have seen and read the account of your advancements and it’s everything I’d hope. Enclosed are the last four objects' values I have in my possession. I trust you will use them to great effect. I have had many privileges in my life, and these privileges have allowed me access to a great deal of treasures. Treasures though they are they merely collect dust in my keep. In these boxes you’ll find a flame from the Eternal Flame kept by the first coven of witches in France, I shan’t need to tell you its significance. Secondly, you’ll find a tome of ancient alchemy many feared lost to history, but one copy did remain and now it is yours. Thirdly, I’ve included a rather rare find but one that’s not as exciting, but it is a vial of ancient Mead from Mount Olympus. I can’t be sure of its proprieties, but I hope you find use in it. Finally, and most importantly, I leave you Pandora’s Box. This last one was the hardest to part with for it has been in my family for eons. Passed from offspring to offspring, but as I have no heirs and wish to produce none, I find it more helpful to bequeath in my lifetime and see its benefits realized.
Miss Granger, I urge you to use these gifts well as you have the others, be careful of thieves and those who will seek to take advantage of both your natural gifts and these material ones. You will not hear from me again directly but know that I am grateful to be a small part of the great history you have written.
Kindly Yours.”
Hermione read the letter three times before she made to look at the boxes, those objects described cannot be real. And most importantly, the letter didn’t leave too many hints on the identity of the giver.
With timid hands Hermione made to open the boxes and inspect the contents, when she arrived at the final one she couldn’t contain the force of her feelings, she sat down and sobbed.
She sobbed in earnest for two reasons. One, with these she was going to change the world and secondly, she never felt more seen or understood by anyone as much as she had been understood by this kind stranger. This stranger, unlike all others, saw that she wanted to change the world not in high-powered positions or through touting her wartime valor, but by doing what she did best, study, innovate, and solve problems.
She’ll have to tell Draco that they need to find the well, but she doesn’t need to find out who this person is. It’s best to keep some secrets.