The next time all five of them managed to meet up - as a sort of trial run for Ron, to see if he was serious about trying to be friendly with everyone and not just Harry - was the following Saturday, shortly after lunch. At Hermione’s insistence, they met in the library, to both catch up on their personal lives and do their homework.
Harry doubted any homework would actually be done, but it seemed rather rude to say that.
There was a nice table in the back of the library, right between the History and the Divination sections; no one ever came over there, judging by the slight layer of dust.
Well. No one but Hermione, and now also Harry, Neville, Ron, and Draco.
They sat down, spreading their books, scrolls, and quills all over the table… And that’s about as far as they got.
“So,” Draco said. “The trap door under the Cerberus.”
Hermione’s eyes gained a dangerous glint, while Neville groaned loudly.
“What trap door?” Ron asked. “What Cerberus?”
“Right, you weren’t there,” Draco said, before launching into an enthusiastic retelling of the failed duel.
“So… you want to go through the trap door to see what it’s guarding?” Ron said by the end of it.
“I do wonder what could be so important as to trap a wild creature within a tiny room,” Hermione said, somehow materializing a Magizoology Atlas. “I’ve read that they require at least a mile of walking per day to keep healthy. I can’t believe the Headmaster would just ignore that!”
“Does that book say anything on how to get past one?” Harry asked, trying to get a look inside. Hopefully it wouldn’t, and they could just forget about the entire thing...
“Not really,” Hermione said, “but I saw a Taming the Beast volume the last time I was in the Care of Magical Beasts section, let me just go get it really quick…”
Pushing the chair back in a rush, Hermione accidentally knocked one of the books behind her down. With a gasp, she quickly bent to pick it up.
“Huh,” she said, staring at the cover. “Magicae Familia?”
“That’s blood rituals,” Draco supplied. “Magical adoptions and the like.”
“My mum’s got a copy,” Ron said. “She always says it’s got the best spells for pregnancy troubles.”
“It’s also illegal,” Neville added dryly. “My gran would probably kill me herself if she ever found me reading it.”
“Illegal to buy,” Draco said, “not illegal to own if it’s a family heirloom.”
“Shouldn’t it be in the Restricted Section then?” Harry asked.
“It definitely shouldn’t be in here,” Hermione said, still frowning at the book. “The Magizoology section is right next to the Restricted Section, I’ll just drop it off there.”
She skipped off, leaving the boys to discuss whatever they wanted - probably not their homework. Possibly the Cerberus, or maybe differences between things illegal to buy and illegal to own.
Hermione didn’t have high hopes though. She was probably going to return to the four of them discussing Quidditch.
The Restricted Section was first on her list - then, with her hands free, she would climb the shelves to get Taming the Beast.
She forgot about one little detail though: the Restricted Section was, as the name suggested, restricted.
Hermione stood by the rope hanging across the shelves, worrying her lip. On one hand, she wanted to return the book where it belonged… But on the other hand, students were most definitely not allowed to enter that section without a teacher’s permission.
YOU ARE READING
"Sorry, Aunt Petunia."
Fanfictionit's @/emily_elizabeth_fowl 's work. summary in the prologue. happy reading :)
