Chapter 7
“I like you.” He’d been surprised when he said it, but only because he found it was true. That had been more than a week ago, and he found himself missing her. He had not expected that. Even his magic felt sluggish and mopey.
He still trained every day of course, it didn’t do to let discipline slack just because of feelings. He ran, showered, ate breakfast, and then made his way to the training classroom for some knifework before Charms class.
Exams were only a week away, so he had until the coming weekend to finish up. He took out two of his knives and began working patterns against a wooden log set up for the purpose, and stopped a moment later when she opened the door and walked in.
“Good morning.” He said.
“Good morning.” She replied. “I accept, however I do have some concerns.”
“Go ahead.” He said, he put both knives away and gave her his full attention.
“Will I be expected to take contracts and kill people?” Her voice was sharp, her eyes hard.
“No. The assassin who trained me had no choice, he was beholden to an organization. I am not, nor would you be - unless you wanted to be, I suppose. I am not clear on your motivations.”
She nodded once, and seemed to relax a bit. “Will I owe you anything for my education?”
He shook his head. “If you feel like you owe me, I can’t stop that, but you are not a business arrangement. You’re my friend, and that’s much more valuable to me. You are free to leave me behind any time you wish with no strings attached.”
She nodded again, and let out a big breath. “If I decide I want to kill someone - some new dark lord, for example, will you show me how to go about it?”
He nodded. “And get paid for it, if you want.”
“Good. Now what aren’t you telling me?” She asked.
He thought about it, running through what he knew of her, what she might want to know, and cross referenced that with what he wasn’t telling her. “Three things. One: This is my twenty-first contract, I’ve been a professional assassin for two years. Two: The payout for my current contract is fifty million sterling, that’s why I said I didn’t have to work again. Three: I can’t teach you everything I know.”
She flashed into an immediate frown at point number three. “Why not?” She demanded.
“Magic.” He replied, “A lot of the magic I use comes from my family specifically, and it can’t be taught to anyone who isn’t family. In order to teach it to you, we would have to be married.”
“Oh.” She relaxed. “I suppose we’ll revisit that point later then.”
“I sort of thought you would abandon me entirely, I’m surprised you decided killing people was alright.” He sat on the sofa, and she sat next to him.
“It isn’t. Killing people isn’t alright, that’s what makes Voldemort evil in the first place. Ironically, that’s what makes it alright to kill Voldemort. He needs to be stopped, and my father made a solid point. He said that ‘all evil needs to thrive is for good people to do nothing’.” She took his hand in both of hers, and looked him in the eyes. “I want to be a good person. I want you to be a good person. Apparently that means that sometimes we should kill bad people. My mum said that’s what the army exists for, to stop other armies just walking into our country and oppressing everyone. She said that everyone needs to take responsibility for their own freedom, and that it’s the civic duty of those with power to use that power for good, and I see her point.”
“One taught me much the same thing. He also said being able to kill doesn’t mean you have to. Sometimes it’s just the most correct solution.” He put his other hand on top of hers, and enjoyed the feeling of her magic touching his again.
She smiled back at him and visibly relaxed. She looked like she hadn’t been sleeping well.
“Alright, so... what’s next?” She asked.
“Would you rather start knife training, or help me set the trap for Voldemort?”
“Voldemort!” She half-shouted instantly. “I get to help kill the dark lord?! Brilliant!”
“Not just that, but we’re going to antagonize him first. Make him angry so he doesn’t notice the trap.”
“I probably shouldn’t be excited, but I am.” She grinned ear to ear, stood up and pulled him into a hug. “I’m glad you’re not evil, that would be horrid.”
“I’m just glad I get to keep being your friend.” He said, and hugged her back.
“Best friend.” She corrected.
“Best friend.” He agreed. “We don’t have much time left before classes, so meet back here after dinner?”
“See you then.” She let go and they both headed for the door.
When they arrived back in their training room after dinner, he showed her the family invisibility cloak, and they quietly made their way to the main castle, to the door on the third floor that Dumbledore had baited them all with at the beginning of the year.
“Stay very calm and very quiet.” He whispered to her as they crouched beneath the cloak. “There’s a huge three-headed dog behind this door. Please don’t wake it.” He silenced the door and used the first-year unlocking charm on it, then opened it so she could see.
Her eyes went wide and she clamped her lips shut when she saw the enormous thing, still chained to the far wall and snoring.
“See the trapdoor?” He whispered.
She looked at him, then back to the room, and then nodded. 80 closed the door again carefully, then cancelled the silence spell on it, and re-locked it.
“The trapdoor goes down to the next floor, so I just went to the second floor under where we are now. Anyone trying to get past the dog would be a complete idiot.” He said, and began the walk down to the second floor.
She was quiet for a minute. “How -” She started, and then stopped, and he could hear the incredulity in her voice. “How could anyone think that would be a good idea?!” She whispered venomously, “There’s a dangerous beast in a school with children, behind a locked door that the very youngest children are taught to unlock, and its very existence is absolutely redundant! Who came up with this?!?”
They reached the second floor, and he opened the door to a broom cupboard, then shut it behind them once they were inside. He went to the back wall, and tapped his wand on the wall, which obligingly slid aside. Beyond was a dusty room with the sound of dozens of flapping wings. He stood up and removed the cloak from them before stuffing it in the satchel he’d brought.
A ball of light sprang into existence above them, and he turned to look at Hermione, who smiled back at him.
“Nice.” He congratulated her. She hadn’t managed much wandlessly yet, but the rate at which she learned was impressive.
“What are those?” She asked, pointing to the flock of things that lazily circled the room near the ceiling.
“Keys.” He replied. “We’re meant to use the brooms there to find and catch the right key.”
She took her wand out and pointed it at the door, then looked disappointed. “Unlocking charm won’t work.” She said.
“No, it’s spelled against the unlocking charm.” He replied. “ Finite .” he gestured at the door. “Try again.”
She pointed her wand at the door, and the latch clicked. She walked to it and turned the knob, then walked through. He grabbed two brooms, and then closed the door behind him after he joined her.
“ Honestly .” She said.
“And...” He said, nodding at the huge chess set that dominated the room they were now in before he handed her a broom.
She half-sighed and half-huffed indignantly as she mounted the broom and followed him to the ceiling and then down again on the far side of the chess set. They left the brooms next to the door when they proceeded into the next room.
That room had the slowly decaying corpse of a troll in it. Hermione again tucked her nose into her shirt to avoid the smell. The next room had rows of potion vials, and a logic puzzle next to a wall of black flames that obscured the next room.
80 stopped her as she reached for one of the vials.
“That one to get in, that one to get out.” She said, and settled for pointing at the relevant vial.
“Logically, yes. Correct.” He acknowledged, “Assuming the setter of this trap is being honest about it.”
“Oh.” She said. “Right. So... what do we do then?”
“There are several solutions. What I did the first time was a flame-freezing charm.”
“Tch.” She made a disappointed noise. “I should have thought of that.”
“One of the first things I was taught about operational success was that you never do what’s expected.” He said.
“Now I have been too, I guess.” She flashed a disappointed, lopsided smile at him.
He smiled back, and hit them both with the flame freezing charm, then walked casually into the next room. Hermione joined him a few seconds later.
“It actually kind of tickles.” She said happily. “I hadn’t come across that one yet.”
“You can cast it on objects or the fire itself if you want it to burn nothing. If you leave it there too long though the fire won’t consume the wood and it’ll make people suspicious.”
“Good point.” She pointed into the room. “What’s the giant mirror in aid of?”
“Read the top of it.” He replied. “Dumbledore - Headmaster Dumbledore - charmed it to hide the philospher’s stone inside it. I don’t understand how he thought it was hidden though, It appeared in my pocket after two seconds of looking into the mirror.”
“You - the philosopher’s stone, really?” She stopped and looked at him half angry, half disbelieving.
He nodded. “I did a little research on it, and found that Nicholas Flamel - the only known person to successfully create one - is a former mentor of the headmaster’s. I sent a message to mister Flamel when I found out and told him all about what his stone was being used for and how it was protected. He was quite incensed.”
“I can imagine.” She snorted.
“I gave it back to him at the end of January, so it’s not in any danger. You can imagine why Voldemort wants it, and that would be why the headmaster was keeping it - and him - here.”
She frowned. “Why Voldemort wants it is obvious, but what does the headmaster gain by having it here, besides the presence of Voldemort?”
“Part of the prophecy said that I’m the only one who can kill Voldemort, and he’s the only one who can kill me.”
Her eyes widened as she understood. “He’s endangered hundreds of children just to see the two of you kill each other?! Nevermind that, he doesn’t know you can do the things you can, he thinks you’re just another firstie, he’s baited Voldemort here to kill you! That... that...”
“Amoral child murderer? This is the second time he’s arranged my death, if you recall.” He said quietly.
“The first time he got your parents killed. Bastard.” She growled the last word, and he could see she felt betrayed by the trust she’d had in Dumbeldore at the beginning.
“Professionally, I can almost respect it.” He said.
“What?!” She exclaimed incredulously.
“Think about it.” He explained, “Both times he would have been nowhere near the scene, with a solid alibi. The best assassinations are the ones you’re not even involved in. The only thing that keeps me from respecting the subtlty is the sheer incompetence. The first time was more airtight, but this... this makes me think he’s crossed the line into senility. This whole scenario is pure bungle from start to finish, even without considering the amount of collateral damage.”
Hermione sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Professional respect aside, what are we doing here now?”
“Right.” He said, and pulled several thin sheets of metal out of his satchel. Each one had a runic array etched into it. “You know the sticking charm, just attach these to the wall every seven feet at head height. I’ll follow after and make them invisible.”
She nodded, and took the stack from his hand. “What do these do?” She asked.
“Within the area of effect, they’ll stop time for about twenty-four hours. They’ll also notify me that they’re active. They’re set to activate when someone spends more than a minute inside the field area.”
“So it’ll let someone come and go if they’re just checking on the mirror.” She said as she stuck one of the plates to the wall.
“Exactly. As soon as Quirrell makes it here and starts trying to get the stone, I’m going to grab Snape and bring him here, to make it look like he and Quirrell have killed each other.”
“ Professor Snape.” She corrected absently as she strode ahead of him attaching the metal plates to the wall.
“Who is a Death Eater, and the one who told Voldemort the prophecy.”
She stopped for a moment and looked at him. “That actually explains quite a bit about him.”
80 cast disillusionment on the metal plate in front of him, and moved to the next. “I think I’m looking forward to finishing this contract. I didn’t have any kind of feelings one way or another about it when it was explained and I accepted it, but I think I will be... satisfied when I no longer have to deal with the lack of sense.”
Hermione paused to smile back at him. “When I started the school year, I was ever so happy at learning real magic. It’s part of why I was so excited to make the effort and do well. I mean... it’s magic . How could you not want to learn all of it as fast as you can? Now though... I think without you, this would have been a heartbreaking year. I’m definitely looking forward to next.”
80 smiled at that. He didn’t assume the facial features of a smile, it wasn’t the smiles he’d practiced to seem normal. This smile just happened to him, like it pushed its way out from within.