Chapters 221-230

The X of the Equation

‘Have you any idea what happened to them?’ Alina insisted. ‘Hermione? Professor Snape? Harry?’

Professor Weasley shook his head again. ‘When reinforcements arrived at the White Horse, only—’ He swallowed hard, but Alina glared at him. Her Professor inclined his head—he hadn’t forgotten his promise. He went on: ‘Only the dead body of Madame Dubois, the dead Aurors and Ron’s arm were there.’

‘You did put the arm away somewhere safe, right?’ Alina asked almost automatically. ‘You can do all kinds of nifty things with your own bone and blood—’ She stopped, realising that it was maybe less than polite to speak so matter-of-factly of the limb the boyfriend of her mother and the brother of her professor had just lost.

Professor Weasley just shook his head. ‘Yes, we did. Don’t worry. There—there’s an emergency plan for situations like that at the ministry.’

Alina nodded. She’d expected no less. After all, the Ministry were not complete morons. Draco worked there, and Ms. Tonks-Black. Or was that Mrs? She was never quite sure. And Harry, of course.

‘What about Harry?’ she asked again. ‘And Professor Snape?’ She couldn’t help feeling that Professor Weasley was trying not to answer that particular question.

The way her Professor grimaced proved her right. She took a shivery breath. She felt so cold inside. So scared. A memory whispered in her mind.

‘…No matter what happens, you must not forget your weaknesses or your strengths…You’re born a Necromancer, Alina. You will always be a power to be reckoned with. But it will be up to you to decide on which side of the equals sign your power will be added…’

‘They—’ Professor Weasley swallowed visibly. ‘They have not returned yet. We don’t know what happened to Hermione. The Aurors have only discovered the broken remains of her wands. She has disappeared without a trace.’

Alina clapped a hand to her mouth, stifling a gasp. She barely noticed her teacher’s grimace. Only when he offered her the little guilty smile she knew from his brother (the exact same expression Ron used on her mother when he didn’t want her to know that he’d done something magic with Alina he wasn’t strictly allowed to do), Alina realised that Professor Weasley had already told her more than he’d intended to. She did her best to school her expression to impassivity and took yet another deep breath. There didn’t seem to be enough air around for all the deep breathing she wanted to do. ‘Thank you, Professor, for telling me.’ She shuddered and added, ‘I just hope…’ Her voice quavered. ‘I just hope…’

She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence. She hoped that everyone was okay, but she already knew that Ron was not okay, and wherever Hermione was, Alina rather doubted that she was okay. And Harry and Professor Snape? Imprisoned in Death with no way out? ‘Okay’ was certainly not the term to describe their situation.

‘Well,’ Professor Weasley said. ‘That is all I know right now.’ He studied her intently. ‘Are you going to be able to sleep? Or do you need that Calming Draught?’

Alina almost wanted to laugh. She was supposed to be able to sleep, knowing that her favourite Professor and Harry Potter were lost in the Realm of Death and that Hermione had disappeared? But she’d rather eat a broomstick whole before she’d admit to that and take the Calming Draught. She’d need her wits tonight yet, of that she was sure.

Madame Dubois had feared that something like that would happen. That was why she’d removed Alina’s tattoo even before the curse was broken. Alina balled her hands inside her robes. If she was not very much mistaken, tonight she’d have the chance to throw her powers into the equation and to find out just how much they mattered.

Out loud she said—and she was quite proud of the mixture of shakiness and calmness she managed to imbue her voice with: ‘No, thank you, Professor. I—I doubt I’ll sleep well. But I’m really exhausted, so I guess I’ll sleep no matter what. And if—’ She hesitated. ‘If my mother needs to wake me—I’d rather not take a potion, just in case.’

It was not just an excuse, Alina knew that. Just as she knew that her professor had lost already a brother not too long ago. She felt so odd: cold and hard at the same time. And not as scared as she supposed she should feel. In fact, when she thought of Madame Dubois’s words, a strange kind of excitement coursed through her.

I’ve got power, Alina thought with determination. And I’ll add it somewhere tonight and if it’s the last thing I do.

oooOooo

Hermione screamed in the darkness of her mind. No, no, no—Harry—Severus—noooooooo! She screamed and screamed and screamed until, even in the silent confines of her mind, her voice gave out. But even when she couldn’t scream anymore, the physical knowledge of what she had done stayed with her.

She had broken her wands.

She had severed the Sempiternal Connection.

She had killed her husband and her best friend.

Suddenly she could open her eyes—and she did. Her eyes felt dry and hot, as if she was running a fever. Her stomach lurched with what she first thought was vertigo. Then she realised that she lay in a small cubicle and that at least a part of her queasiness was due to the fact that they were moving. She was on a train or a ship. A man that looked vaguely familiar sat at her side. He was dressed in black robes. But there was something wrong with those robes. They were not wizard’s robes, she noticed. Her heart sped up, but before she could move or attempt to say anything, she felt the sharp pain of a needle in her left arm, and darkness descended once more.