Enigmatical Prince

14

When Hermione picks up the book and opens it, a piece of paper fell out of the pages. She picks it up and sees that it was a photo of Cepheus and Rigel. In the photo Rigel had a nonchalant and bored expression while Cepheus was grinning at the camera. The photo really showed the contrast of personality Rigel and Cepheus had.

She looks at the picture for a while, observing the differences between the two guys. They seemed like polar opposites. Rigel's nonchalant and bored expression compared to Cepheus's grin was such a stark contrast, yet they seemed to get along pretty well in the photo. It seemed that their different personalities made them work well together, as friends at least.

Hermione was starting to think that finding that photo was far too convenient for it to be a mere coincidence. Just as finding the yearbook was too convenient. It was as if someone wanted her to know more about the Drakes and was leaving clues for her.

Hermione puts the picture in between her potion text book, starts flipping through the pages of the book, recognizing its diary like appearance. She starts reading through the entries and soon realizes that the diary belonged to Cepheus. Her eyes widen as she reads about his time at Hogwarts and his life in general through his diary entries.

As Hermione reads through Cepheus's diary, she can't help but notice some similarities between him and Cygnus. Some of his ideas were brilliantly clever, while others were absolutely bonkers. It was clear to Hermione that Cepheus was walking the line between genius and madness, and it was equally clear that he and Cygnus shared this brilliant yet crazy personality.

The further she reads through the diary entries, the more Hermione could tell that Cepheus was far more talented than Cygnus. His ideas became more brilliant and more crazy as she continued to read. She could tell that the only thing separating him from absolute madness was his rationality and logic. However, the more she read, the more the line between genius and madness blurred became unclear.

As she continued scanning Cepheus's diary, a particular line caught her eye. 'The line between genius and madness is becoming increasingly blurred.' She pondered on the meaning of this sentence. It made her wonder if Cepheus was aware of his descent into insanity and if he was slowly losing his grip on reality.

She continued reading the diary, and a specific entry about Sirius caught her eye. It spoke of how their mother and father punished Cepheus, making him the new heir to the House of Black. As she continued reading, Hermione noticed that despite his new role, Cepheus appeared normal and rational in his writing. She made a mental note of this, realizing that Cepheus was entirely lucid as he wrote this entry. Additionally, the entry included a mention of the youngest Black son, Regulus. This intrigued Hermione, and she made a mental note to continue investigating that.

Hermione was so engrossed in reading Cepheus's diary that she didn't even notice the time passing by. It wasn't until the librarian came up to her and reminded her that it was almost curfew that she realized how invested she had become in the diary. Hermione leaves the library and heads toward the Gryffindor common room with Cepheus's diary safely in her bag. As she walks, she can't help but wonder what other secrets the diary holds, and what other information it could provide about the Drakes and their past.

The next morning, Ron and Harry approach Hermione at breakfast, their eyes filled with curiosity. "Mione, where were you last night at dinner? You weren't there," Ron asks with a worried look on his face. "I was just studying at the library, that's all Ron." She replies, trying to sound nonchalant. She figured it was too early to tell them about the diary yet and wanted to make sure her hunch about the Drakes was correct before sharing any information with them. Ron and Harry look at each other, unsure if they believe Hermione.

"Hermione, you're being awfully cryptic about this studying you're doing," Ron says with skepticism in his voice. "What are you not telling us?"

She smiles reassuringly at her friends, hoping they'll believe her. "I was just doing some extra studying for Transfiguration," she explains, trying to sound convincing.

Ron and Harry nod their heads, seemingly believing her. "Okay, if you say so, Mione." They move on to another topic, not suspecting anything odd about Hermione's answer.

Hermione felt a sense of relief as she watched Ron and Harry move on to another subject, seemingly accepting her lie about her studies. However, her moment of contentment was short-lived as she remembered that she had a scheduled tutoring session with Cygnus later that day before lunch.

Hermione couldn't help but remain cautious around Cygnus, knowing that her feelings for him could potentially cloud her judgement. However, she knew that she still needed to be open-minded and give him a chance if she wanted to uncover any hidden details about the Drakes. She decides to keep an open mind but be cautious in her interactions with him.

Hermione continues eating her breakfast, her mind still racing with the new information she had discovered about the Drake family. She couldn't help but wonder how all the pieces fit together. Could this all be connected? Or was it just a coincidence? As she continued eating, she felt a strong sense of determination growing inside her, fueling her desire to get to the bottom of this mystery.

The more Hermione thought about it, the more she was convinced that there was a connection between the Drakes and Cepheus Black. Even the diary that was written by Cepheus may hold the key to solving the mystery. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of secrets were hidden within those pages that could shed light on the enigma surrounding the Drakes.