Note: I guess you’d call this a fan fiction as a request by my friend to put Emma Watson’s character in some sort of water peril. I’m not a serious follower of these characters, but I tried to put in some research to make it a reasonably enjoyable tale while endeavoring to use their English idioms. I suspect there is a lot that can be critiqued, so please be a bit gentle on this one. Thanks and enjoy!
Draco Malfoy pushed his way through his fellow Slytherin house classmates as he angrily strode into the common room. His constant companions Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle followed him at a respectful distance. The highest ranking male student of the Inquisitor Squad was not in a good mood.
He walked up to the high-backed chair he had claimed for himself, glaring at the teenager currently sitting in it. The young man saw him and wisely jumped up to find another seat before he could earn that infamous Malfoy wrath. Then Draco plopped into it with a disgusted “Bloody hell!”
Pansy Parkinson instantly noticed the fury on the face of the student she considered to be her boyfriend. “What happened?” she asked in concern, immediately becoming angry at whoever or whatever had crossed the path of her beloved.
“We tried to follow that nutter Looney Lovegood to see where she was going! When she stepped through a door, we chased after her! Would you believe it turned into a bloody broom cupboard?? She completely disappeared!!” He was obviously irate at having lost the Ravenclaw house student.
“They’re meeting somewhere; I just know it!” he added, clearly infuriated. “They’re obviously breaking decree number sixty-eight! They know they’re not supposed to be meeting but I know they are! We just can’t seem to catch any of them at it!” That’s when Pansy noticed the bump on his head.
“You’re hurt!” she cried out in alarm, reaching out for his forehead. “Are you all right?”
He angrily swatted her hand away as he gave her a dirty look. He wasn’t about to tell her they had all ended up falling head first into a doorway that had magically collapsed into a broom cupboard. “Leave my forehead alone, ok?” he demanded. She dutifully backed off.
“10 points deducted from Ravenclaw for Lovegood!” he declared. As a member of the Inquisitor Squad he had the authority to deduct points for the house cup at the end of the year. It was a pitifully small victory considering the humiliation he’d just gone through.
“I wish we could find out what they’re up to!” Pansy said in disgust. “I KNOW they’re breaking the rules!” There were grunts of agreement from the other Slytherin students sitting around in the common room listening in.
“Umbridge keeps calling them in to her office,” Draco snorted derisively, “but she hasn’t found out anything yet! She’s hopeless! We’ve got to find out what’s going on for ourselves!” Malfoy glared angrily at the students standing and sitting all around him.
He considered his failure at finding the forbidden organization’s meeting room a personal insult. Students were meeting without him, Slytherin house or Umbridge being able to find out where and when. He prided himself on being in the know about these things. It galled him that his house had yet to nail Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, that filthy mudblood Hermione Granger or any of the others.
Pansy was also frustrated by the whole affair. Obviously there was some sort of banned organization taking place in Hogwarts. She could feel the other students from the other houses talking and laughing behind their backs during mealtimes at their inability to locate the guilty culprits.
Headmaster Dolores Umbridge had given them unlimited power and discretion in their duties as members of the Inquisitor’s Squad. But so far that had resulted in nothing more than deducting house points and engaging in some enjoyable acts of cruelty. Perhaps it was time to step up their game… earn more power for themselves.
“I have an idea,” she offered with a sinister smile.
Draco was not impressed and he snorted in derision. “Well, Pansy… I’m sure we’d ALL like to hear about it!”
“Leave it to me and my girls, ok?” she suggested slyly, slinking up to her boyfriend and lovingly caressing his face. “I think we can coerce someone to tell you what you want to know, Draco!”
He eyed her with disdain despite being fully aware of her love for him. “Well, you’d better, Parkinson!” he replied contemptuously. “Do you know how much Umbridge and the Ministry would reward us once we uncovered this conspiracy?” She simply ignored his anger toward her, chalking it up to his latest humiliation with the broom cupboard.
“I know, Draco; I know. Let me and my girls handle this, ok?” Then she eyed her cohorts sitting around them with a knowing smile…
—
It wasn’t easy catching Hermione Granger all alone. Pansy had a couple of spies try to tail the mudblood each and every minute of every day to establish a routine. But the Gryffindor student often changed her pattern of behavior and was sometimes hard to catch all by herself. And when she disappeared for hours at a time it was clear she had somehow slipped away to attend that banned meeting.
Pansy finally tried the direct approach, coming right up to Hermione in the library one day while feigning having a problem in one of her classes. The Gryffindor girl was naturally leery of her. But Pansy made it a point to appear genuinely confused about getting a particular potion right, claiming that Granger was the best in class and was always good about such things.
Hermione was still suspicious, and was hesitant to offer any counsel on potions. It was the excuse the Slytherin girl needed to appeal to Hermione’s compassionate side. “I should have known you Gryffindor girls are bad about helping another student,” Pansy pouted. “All I wanted was a little help. I just can’t get the bloody potion right! But if you won’t help me then I suppose I’ll just have to fail the class and try again next year!”
The tactic worked when Hermione put up a hand to stop further speech. “All right – all right,” she sighed heavily. It was clear she didn’t want to help a member of the Slytherin house. But she just couldn’t turn away a student in need, even if it was someone she didn’t like very much.
“Follow me,” she said, secretly rolling her eyes the moment Pansy wasn’t looking right at her. Then she led her over to the section in the library on herbs. But when she rounded a corner she saw a handful of Slytherin girls already waiting for them.
“What’s this?” she wanted to know, stiffening in alarm. She turned to Pansy who had a hand out, palm up. Then she blew some dust into her face. Hermione tried to cry out in alarm, only to find herself blacking out almost instantly. One of the Slytherin girls caught her before she could hit the floor and make any noise to attract attention.
“Did I get it right, mudblood?” Pansy politely asked the unconscious girl with a sickeningly sweet smile. Then she instructed the girls to quietly escort Miss Granger out of the library without anyone noticing what they were up to…
—
Hermione slowly regained consciousness, only to find herself somewhere inside a dimly lit cavern with walls of a greenish hue. She discovered to her horror she was up flat against the rock wall, fully suspended off her feet. When she checked to see what was keeping her off the ground she saw hands coming out of the rock holding onto her wrists and ankles. To make matters worse, she did not seem to have possession of her wand.
She jolted at the horror of hands holding onto her. She tried to wriggle free, only to feel them tighten around her wrists and ankles. It creeped her out so much that she screamed bloody murder… “SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!”
Her panic lessened when she thought she heard footsteps. Then Pansy Parkinson appeared with several of the girls from her goon squad in tow. She felt better now that she was not alone… only now she was angry.
“Hey, mudblood; how’s it hanging?” Pansy asked cheerfully. The girls around her all chuckled at her pun.
Hermione had heard the insult her whole life and had grown accustomed to ignoring those who callously threw it her way. Besides, that wasn’t nearly as upsetting to her as having disembodied hands holding her up off the cavern floor. “Get me down from here right this instant!” she demanded.
“Certainly, mudblood,” Pansy answered politely. “…just as soon as you tell us where this illegal organization is meeting.”
Aha; so THAT was why they’d kidnapped her!
“Organization; what organization?”
“Don’t act dumb with me, Granger; it won’t wash. We all know there’s a secret organization meeting somewhere in Hogwarts. And you and Ron and Harry are all principal members. We know that for a fact; our spies are everywhere.”
For a moment Hermione stiffened in alarm. Then she appeared to relax. If Pansy’s spies were indeed everywhere then they would have no doubt discovered the Room of Requirement by now, an event that would have immediately been followed by the arrest of every member of the group. So it sounded like they still had no clue where they were meeting. That was a relief!
“I still don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hermione told her. “Now would you get me down from here? This is bloody uncomfortable!”
“Why don’t you just hang around awhile, mudblood,” Pansy told her. “Maybe being up there overnight in this cold, moldy cavern will change your mind and loosen your tongue.”
“I don’t know anything! Now get me down from here, ok? You can’t treat me like this!”
“See you around, Granger!” Pansy said with a cheerful wave as she turned to go. Her girls all laughed as they turned and followed her out, leaving Hermione all alone.
“Pansy, you come right back here and turn me loose this INSTANT! You’re going to be in so much trouble! My friends will come get me out of here; you’ll see! Then you’re going to get it good!”
“But your friends don’t have the faintest clue where you are, Granger.” Pansy’s voice seemed to echo from the cavern walls all around her.
Hermione screamed, if only to see if she could attract a friendly face to come investigate the noise. “Scream all you want, mudblood!” Pansy’s fading voice laughed. “No one is going to hear you down here!” There was more laughter from the Slytherin entourage, although it was getting faint. Then the cavern settled into uncomfortable silence.
Hermione struggled against the hands holding her to the rock wall. But they stubbornly clung to her with a disturbingly tight grip. She was unsuccessful in getting them to release her.
She let out a wail of frustration, thrashing about in their grasp. Then she settled down, realizing her struggles were useless. She was going to require some assistance if she was ever to get out of these caverns and get her wand back.
She looked all around, investigating her surroundings in the dim lighting. The walls, the floor; everything was tinted in various shades of green. There were passages that led off in two other directions besides the one Pansy and her girls had taken. So where was she being kept??
Hermione looked up at the ceiling above her, trying to see if there was something up there that could shed a clue. But there was nothing helpful to see. Then she thought she noticed a damp spot heading off down one of the tunnels.
She studied it and then looked up along the wall right next to it. The rock surface appeared to be damp. That’s when it hit her…
She was under Black lake. And if she remembered correctly, so was the Slytherin common room! Was she in one of the caverns off that very room? If she was then it was possible she might be too far deep in the caverns from the main room to be heard even if she did try to scream her bloody head off!
Hermione sighed and then tried to relax. It was probably going to be awhile. But once she turned up missing her friends would start a very thorough search. She decided she didn’t want to be anyone associated with the Slytherin house once Harry found out they’d been keeping her down here!
—
Ginny Weasley was the first to notice Hermione’s absence. The others didn’t think anything about it as their friend hadn’t missed anything important. But Ginny always made it a point to be somewhat aware of Hermione’s whereabouts. And the fact that she couldn’t find her anywhere was a little unsettling.
She began making the rounds asking if anyone had seen or heard from her. But no one had seen her recently. And no one seemed to know where she might have gone on such short notice. That’s when Ginny went to the one place she was sure she would find her friend.
She showed up at the library and started looking around all the familiar places Hermione might be studying. After all, it was a place the Gryffindor girl often frequented. But again, she couldn’t find her anywhere. And dinner was fast approaching!
She checked with the librarian… Yes, Hermione had been there earlier. No, she didn’t seem to be there now. And it was funny Ginny should mention it, because now that she thought about it she hadn’t actually seen her leave.
Ginny Weasley became alarmed so she started to pry, asking the librarian more questions… No, Hermione hadn’t appeared to be sick or anything. She seemed quite focused on her research and she was alone as usual. No, she hadn’t asked for any help or needed her assistance with anything.
When pressed, the librarian had to admit she hadn’t seen the door the whole time. One of the Slytherin girls had asked a specific question about a book on spells. It had required her to leave her desk and walk back with her to point out the tome in question.
Ginny would normally have thought nothing of that. But in this instance her friend was missing. And it was common knowledge the Slytherin house was assisting Umbridge in tracking down their illegal organization. It was nothing more than a couple of disjointed clues, but they were still a little troubling.
“Maybe I’ll go check the potions section again,” Ginny mused aloud. “That’s where she’s usually studying the most. Maybe I missed her.”
The librarian looked up and smiled brightly at the mention of potions. She suddenly remembered that a couple of students had walked by murmuring how odd it was that Pansy Parkinson was asking Hermione about potions. Perhaps she might ask the Slytherin girl herself as she might know the whereabouts of her friend.
Ginny froze, her heart racing. It seemed like another disjointed piece of information. But they were all starting to add up. Why would Pansy of all people ask Hermione for help on potions?? She thanked the librarian and left hurriedly.
With dinner fast approaching she spent the rest of her time trying to get close enough to eavesdrop on any Slytherin students she came across. She wanted to see if she could pick up something valuable… a morsel of information here or a tidbit of conversation there that might assist in her search perhaps? Surely by now Harry and Ron had also noticed Hermione was nowhere around and were just as curious as to her whereabouts as she was
It was about dinner time when she overheard snatches of a conversation between a couple of girls in Pansy’s goon squad telling each other of the guest they had down in the caverns beyond the common room. The one asked the other how long it might be before she talked. “Hard to know when you’re dealing with a mudblood,” the other replied. They both laughed as they went on to dinner.
‘That HAS to be where they’re keeping her!’ Ginny thought to herself as she listened from behind a pillar. ‘I’ve got to get her out of there! I’ll go get Harry; maybe he can help.’ Then she stopped herself.
The information was still hearsay, although it seemed reliable. But getting Harry involved might start a major incident. She knew for a fact he would do virtually anything in order to help Hermione out of a tight spot.
But what would happen if things blossomed out of control and went against them while trying to retrieve Hermione out of the Slytherin common room? Would Umbridge and the Slytherin house come up with some way of turning it around on them, maybe even getting Harry kicked out of school? She was much too fond of him to allow that to happen. Maybe she should try this one on her own.
Ginny carefully made her way in the direction of the Slytherin house dorms, trying to keep out of sight or to appear inconspicuous. Most everyone was heading off to dinner so they all but ignored her. Still, anytime she was seen out in the open she tried to have some legitimate reason of being where she was.
She made it to the Slytherin house and somehow managed to sneak inside without being spotted. It took a long time trying to work her way down toward the common room without being noticed. Several times she had to duck inside a room or hide out for several minutes waiting for voices to fade away. And she was really getting hungry! A growling stomach might give her away for sure!
She finally reached the entrance to the common room and peered inside. She fumed when she saw a couple of female students sitting on a couch eating together. Occasionally they looked back in the direction of a certain hallway. Was it possible they were standing guard?
Ginny suddenly started questioning herself, wondering if she was even on the right trail. Had she blown this all out of proportion? Even now Hermione might be at dinner asking where SHE was! Then she saw one of the Slytherin girls nod at the tunnel before asking, “Should we go give her something to eat?”
“No,” the other replied. “If she won’t talk then Pansy wants her to starve. Maybe that will loosen her lips.” Ginny’s eyes narrowed angrily; they were certainly talking about SOMEONE back in the caverns! Who else could it be??
“Do we have to stay here the whole time guarding the entrance and her wand?” the first one asked, nodding at an object sitting on the coffee table in front of them. “I’m not sure we should be keeping a wand that doesn’t belong to us.”
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s Pansy’s problem,” the other said. “If anyone asks, we don’t know a thing about it; got it?”
“Got it!”
That confirmed it! Hermione simply HAD to be somewhere back in those tunnels… maybe even incapacitated! It made Ginny’s blood boil as she came out of her hiding place and angrily confronted the two with her wand at the ready.
“Keeping a girl here against her will, are we? I’d say that’s a pretty big offense here at Hogwarts, wouldn’t you agree? I think you two are in big trouble for sure!”
“Ginny Weasley!” the first one cried out as both stood up and reached for their wands in unison. With a flash Ginny waved hers at the both of them. There was a double flash and a cry of surprise as two wands flipped out of the hands of their rightful owners. Hey, all that practice disarming each other back in the room of requirement had really paid off!!
“You’re going to be in so much trouble for that, Ginny!”
“And you two are going to be attending reformatory school for kidnapping!” she said angrily, aiming her wand right at them. That’s when both girls panicked and then bolted, circling around on either side of her before rushing out of the common room.
Ginny almost went after them before stopping herself. There was no use in going after them now. Besides, what good would it do? She had to go rescue Hermione and then get the two of them out of there!
She rushed forward and snatched up Hermione’s wand, grateful the two gits had identified it for her and then left it behind. Then she rushed down the tunnel. A moment later she found herself in a maze of caverns, wondering which way she should go…
—
Hermione’s stomach growled. She had no idea what time it was, but she was really hungry! It was obvious they had no plans on feeding her anytime soon. Were they simply going to hold her there against her will until she starved??
She heard a voice in the caverns and she turned to look. But this time it didn’t sound like Pansy or any of the other girls coming back. Then she heard an anxious voice cry out, a familiar voice… “HERMIONE? HERMIONE; WHERE ARE YOU?”
“I’M DOWN HERE, GINNY! I’M DOWN HERE! PLEASE HURRY!”
“WHERE ARE YOU? THIS PLACE IS A MAZE DOWN HERE!”
“KEEP GOING, YOU’RE GETTING CLOSER! KEEP GOING, GINNY; I CAN HEAR YOU BETTER NOW!”
“Hermione, where are you? I can’t find you!”
“Ginny, you’re almost there! You’re almost…”
And then Ginny stepped out from around a corner, staring in complete shock at what they had done to her friend. Hermione was never so grateful to see her in all her life!
“Hurry up and get me down from here, ok? They were trying to interrogate me about our meetings!”
“I can’t believe they did this to you!” Ginny gasped as she rushed up to her. Then she started pulling frantically on the hands to get them to release her. But the hands attached to the rock wall refused to let go of their prize!
“Use your wand – use your wand!” Now Hermione was wriggling and squirming again, anxious to be released now that help had arrived.
Ginny tried a couple of spells, but the hands remained unaffected. “The hands must be magically protected!” she gasped in frustration.
“Try the rock itself…directly behind them, Ginny! HURRY!”
“That’s a good idea!”
Ginny used a spell that made the rock wall start to lose its integrity by crumbling. Amazingly the hands came free as Hermione came crashing down off the wall. Ginny tried to catch her only for her friend to collapse right on top of her.
The two friends quickly stood up, Hermione dancing around anxiously while violently shaking her wrists and arms. The hands abruptly fell off from her wrists, having lost their connection to the wall. A moment later her ankles were free as well.
“UGH!” she blurted out with a shiver, staring down at the objects with disgust. “Those things gave me the creeps!” Then Ginny offered her wand to her… “I think this belongs to you?”
“Thanks!” Hermione gasped happily, feeling like she had just been reunited with a long, lost friend. “Now let’s get out of here!”
“I think it’s back this way!” Ginny gasped, pointing from the direction she had come. But before they could move they heard angry female voices coming down the tunnels…
“You mean you didn’t try to STOP HER??!!”
“She disarmed us, Pansy! What were we supposed to do??”
“You gits are USELESS!” Then they heard a familiar voice call out, “MUDBLOOD?? YOU AND YOUR FRIEND BETTER GIVE UP RIGHT THIS INSTANT!”
“I don’t think so!” Hermione called back, pointing her wand just as Pansy appeared. Bolts of energy flashed out in the direction of the Slytherin girl, only to hit the wall behind her. She was forced to duck behind an outcropping as chunks of rock splintered off the cavern walls from the blasts.
“You nutter!” Pansy cried out, pointing her wand and firing in return. More chunks of rock wall came loose from near misses near the two Gryffindor girls, driving Ginny and Hermione deeper down the tunnels.
“Wait!” Pansy called to the others who were now rushing forward with wands raised. “Stop right here, girls!” Then she hollered down the tunnel, “You gits had better come back if you know what’s good for you!”
“I don’t bloody think so!” the voice of Ginny replied, sounding like she was fading into the distance
“Bad move, Weasley; bad move! Are you sure you and that mudblood don’t want to give yourselves up?” A couple of zaps and the fracturing of nearby rock somewhere up ahead was the only reply.
“Suit yourselves!” Then Pansy called her girls back before waving her wand again… “Forcicus!”
A shimmer of light flashed right in front of the group of girls. Pansy smiled as she picked up a chunk of fractured rock and tossed it at the shimmering light. It bounced back from a crackle of energy.
“Are you two SURE you don’t want to come back?” she hollered once more. There was no response, causing her to smile sinisterly as she waved her wand again and cast another spell. Almost immediately there was a new sound coming from the caverns ahead from beyond the force field…. the sound of water cascading over rapids… or perhaps the sound of a waterfall!
“That should bring them back,” Pansy smirked, addressing no one in particular…
(to be concluded…)
© 2015 (written for JQPublic Aug 2 ’15 by riwa)
(Pictures found on the Internet and used for illustrative purposes.)