Seventh Horcrux

Harry Potter vs. The Department of Mysteries

Hermione Granger woke to a rapping sound. She yawned, grumbling softly as she padded across her bedroom and opened her window. A barn owl fluttered inside and perched on her night table, a letter clutched in its talons.

Hermione waited a moment by the window, enjoying the breeze against her face, before following the creature. She murmured, "I don't suppose this could have waited for morning?"

The owl chittered angrily, and she smiled as she retrieved the letter. "I guess not."

She felt carefully for the flaps in the darkness, opening it slowly but without the slightest tearing – almost as if she were a spy sneaking a peek at someone else's mail. She unfolded the letter, then frowned. "Blank?"

Hermione turned to the owl. "You traveled all this way just to give a blank letter? Well, I suppose it might not have been that far. Then again, I was in Scotland this morning and traveling for hours. Were you following me all that time, or did you just know that I would be here when you landed? I mean, really, how do owls track people?"

"Don't overthink it. That's the reason why we had to switch to owls in the first place."

Hermione jumped, eye darting wildly around the room before settling on where I leaned against her windowsill.

"Harry! I didn't see you there."

I frowned. "Then who were you talking to?"

I think she raised an eyebrow, though it was difficult to be certain in the dark. "The owl, of course."

"That's crazy," I said.

Hermione raised a hand, pointer finger extended and quite ready to argue with me. She lowered it, however, upon realizing that she could never win. "Speaking of crazy, what are you doing here?"

"I figured we should break into the Department of Mysteries."

"Tonight?" she squeaked.

"The guard should be light, and there won't be many witnesses. It's as good a time as any."

"So, when you said, 'I'll get you when the time is right,' you meant tonight?"

I'm quite certain she raised an eyebrow that time.

I said, "Well, I wasn't originally planning on it, but apparently the Dursleys moved. I realized that I didn't have any place to sleep, so I decided not to. I'm thinking we'll head out now, get into the Ministry before dawn, and then go grab breakfast."

"Your family abandoned you?!" Trust Hermione to latch on to the least important part of my statement.

"They'll probably be back in a few weeks, so obliviated that they occasionally forget how to breathe."

She clapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide. I legitimately have no idea why anyone thinks she cares about things. Her acting is atrocious. "That's awful. Who would do that?"

"I dunno. Dumbledore? It's usually Dumbledore. I could find them first, I suppose, if I really wanted to, but I just don't like them that much. Now, about going to the Ministry…"

"Right, yes," she mumbled. "How did you get here, anyway? I didn't even know you had my address."

"I don't. I followed the owl."

Hermione stood there for a moment, blinking. "You what?"

"It's really simple, actually. You just write someone a letter, give it to an owl, and then fly behind them. The owl doesn't care, and they're more reliable than most tracking charms."