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The Apprentice	By : Nerys Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 62961 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 22
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The Apprentice

Chapter Twenty-Three

Hermione checked out the new environment with interest. She’d seen the inside of the Weasley broom shed before, but Professor Dumbledore had clearly done some casting prior to their entering. Previously, it had been a crammed space filled with rusty gardening tools, old racing brooms, numerous muggle knickknacks, and loads and loads of spiders. All those things were still there, positioned along the walls of the shed; but the shed had turned into a Tardis – much more spacious on the inside than the exterior would make you expect it to be.

A whole circular area of free space had been created. In the centre of this clutter-free environment, there were two chairs and a little table in between, which her trunk lay on. Automatically, Hermione walked toward it, while her eyes roamed around. She took notice of the telltale signs of wards being set and frowned, worried.

Turning around, she asked, ‘Why such heavy warding?’

Professor Dumbledore closed the door with a flick of his wand. ‘Muffliato!’ he cast out loud, before replying, ‘For everyone’s safety.’

‘Oh,’ she responded softly, looking at the wooden floor, wondering if the boards would be rotten and crack upon their combined weight. They didn’t seem very solid to her. The stupid song, she had deliberately stashed in her mind an hour before coming here, danced through her mind, while she wondered if he considered her a threat due to her little “lawn mowing” demonstration.

‘Have a seat, Miss Granger.’ Dumbledore gestured to the chair nearest to her. ‘I need to check your luggage if that’s alright with you?’ he asked, while she sat down.

‘And if it is not?’ she countered coldly.

‘Then, we have a problem,’ Dumbledore replied seriously; blue eyes watched her expectantly over a pair of half-moon glasses.

Hermione sighed and hauled up her shoulders, disengaging their eye-contact. ‘Fine, knock yourself out,’ she muttered, waving at her trunk dismissively.

She was pretty sure Voldemort wasn’t that obvious. She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms over each other, while she watched Albus Dumbledore cast at her trunk and rummage through it magically. It was a familiar sight. Hermione hid her broad grin behind her hand, as she recalled how Lord Voldemort had done exactly the same thing to her beaded bag.

‘No Tracking Charms, Portals, or other potential dangers to the Order,’ Dumbledore muttered.

Hermione giggled.

His eyebrows raised, he looked at her.

‘Sorry,’ Hermione said, stifling her laughter. ‘Too much deja-vu.’

‘Ah,’ Dumbledore replied understandingly, and his eyes twinkled. ‘I see.’

He whipped his wand at the trunk again, and with a loud clatter, a pile of books tumbled out. The pile, Lord Voldemort had supplied her with. If the floor would crack and swallow her now, she wouldn’t mind.

“Ancient Curses, A Comprehensive Study”, “Stretching Magical Boundaries, The Dark Arts”, “Exceptions to Transfiguration”, “Compendium to Medieval Sorcery”, “Isis, Her Life and Knowledge”, “The Unthinkable, Taboos and Prohibitions in Magic”, “The Dark Magic of Potions”, “Controlled Casting, Illusion or Reality?”, “Mind the Laws, or not!”, and last but not least “Magick Moste Evile” landed on the tabletop next to the trunk.

Hermione’s cheeks turned bright red. Crap. First, the illegal jinx and now those books, this was all going great, just great.

But surely, he would know the books were not hers or scold her for having them? She sincerely hoped he wouldn’t confiscate them, because she had no idea how to explain to Lord Voldemort she no longer had his books.

‘Hmm… This could become a problem if found by the wrong person. Several of these books are highly illegal to own,’ said Dumbledore, surprising her by the lack of any objections to the inherent dark volumes.

He tapped the top of the pile. One by one, the book’s leaves turned and changed into Fifi Lafolle’s “Enchanted Encounters” series. Hermione leaned forward, interested. She picked up a book. The moment she had it in her hands the original title became visible and she flipped through the pages of “Ancient Curses, A Comprehensive Study.”

‘Some sort of Glamour Charm?’

Dumbledore shook his head. ‘It’s a mild adaptation of the Befuddlement Charm. Even when you read one, it will befuddle others into seeing nothing but a harmless romantic novel.’

‘Mrs. Weasley is a fan of the “Enchanted Encounters” series,’ Hermione said doubtfully.

‘If she picks up one of your books, she will read Fifi’s writings,’ Dumbledore said reassuringly. ‘Only you and I will be able to see through the charm. Oh, I forgot about Alastor. Make sure to keep these books away from Alastor Moody’s magical eye, too.’

Hermione scratched her head and placed the book back on the pile, unsure her friends would believe these kinds of books were hers.

‘It’s not perfect, but better than no protection at all,’ said Dumbledore, while the books flew back in her trunk and it slammed shut.

‘I suppose,’ Hermione said with a hint of doubt.

She had planned to hide them away and only read them when there was nobody around. Something she still considered the best protection. There was no way she’d take such a huge risk of them being discovered in her possession.

‘Did Tom put anything on you that could be hazardous?’

Hermione stilled in her chair. Her eyes averted; her mind automatically flew to the pendant, which hung around her neck. She’d wanted to give it back to Voldemort after they’d arrived at the outskirts of the Weasleys’ orchard, but he had blatantly forbidden her to take it off.

‘I can’t walk around with your marked necklace in sight.’

He’d smirked and tapped the green pendant with his wand, turning it into a seemingly innocent pitch-black onyx stone. ‘There, no mark in sight.’

‘That’s not the point,’ she’d growled and grabbed the necklace and was about to haul it over her head, but he’d grabbed her wrist.

‘No doubt you’re going to run around with silly boys at places you shouldn’t be and I can’t be everywhere at once all the time. This will protect you from harm should you run into my followers.’

‘Miss Granger?’

With a half-smile, she looked up briefly. ‘I–I am sorry, but I did sign a magical confidentiality agreement.’

‘You can talk freely here. The wards block everything, even magical vows. What you say will remain between the two of us.’

Thàt removed the smile from her face. ‘How convenient,’ she replied slowly; her mind stirred into overdrive, putting the song at the back of her head.

‘Did Tom do anything to you that could compromise the safety of the Order?’

‘Is this why you made me his apprentice?’ asked Hermione sharply. ‘Because you had a method around the Keepers’ security measures?’

‘He told you it was my choice to make?’

‘He let it slip right before bringing me here,’ Hermione said with a deep sarcastic undertone, glaring at Dumbledore when he corroborated what Voldemort had told her.

She’d hoped it had been a lie. She knew Lord Voldemort had deliberately chosen this exact moment to tell her in order to make her pissed at Dumbledore right before they would meet again, and despite her knowing about his machinations, it had been successful. Surely, Dumbledore could have prevented this. If only he would have told her when she had asked him for a change of guides, he wouldn’t have given Lord Voldemort the satisfaction of shaking her trust in her Headmaster even further.

Dumbledore just stared at her. His silence was beyond irksome; it was infuriating.

‘Aren’t you going to answer my question?’ she snapped.

Dumbledore sighed and sat down in the opposite chair. Folding his hands in his lap, he started to explain. ‘I picked Tom, because he is without a doubt the best dark Keeper out there. I want you to succeed at this, Hermione. And I knew you’d be able to make him see beyond your blood and get him to really teach you. It’s obvious from the way you’re occluding me without having to concentrate on it that you’ve already learned a lot. Nice Beatles’ song by the way.’

Hermione’s jaw dropped. She checked his hands, but there was no wand in sight. Aghast, she said, ‘Nice song? Nice song! My dad used to drive me crazy with Obladi, Oblada. It’s why it sticks so easily in my mind. But what’s with the Legilimency? Don’t you even see how disrespectful it is to go through people’s minds without their permission?’

‘I don’t do it on purpose.’

‘Yeah, right, it’s accidental,’ she sneered. Life goes on, bra. Lalala, how life goes on.

Dumbledore smiled sadly. ‘It’s actually more of a curse. Picking up random thoughts of others, people you care about or even strangers, it’s not…’ He sighed. ‘Well, it can be overwhelming, and sometimes, it can be too much information. You hear things you wished you never knew.’ He stared into thin air.

Hermione frowned. She could understand that. She surely wouldn’t want to know what everyone was thinking all the time, but… ‘Why perform the spell if it bothers you to find out what people think?’

‘I don’t perform the spell consciously. Stage One Legilimency comes to me without effort. For Stage Two and Three, I need to cast the spell with a wand, but Stage One just happens.’

Hermione’s eyes widened. ‘Always?’

‘When people make eye-contact with me, yes,’ Dumbledore replied, nodding.

‘Ugh.’

Dumbledore chuckled. ‘Ugh, indeed.’

However, this new bit of information on Stage One Legilimency made her quite uneasy. Voldemort had never mentioned that “it just happens”. Not that he hadn’t seen pretty much everything that was in her mind during their practise sessions anyway; but still, why had he kept this from her? So, he could peruse her mind at any time without her being suspicious about it?

‘Professor?’ she started hesitantly, looking at the tabletop.

Dumbledore leaned forward in his chair, folding his fingers in front of him, waiting patiently for her to continue.

‘Does,’ she halted, realising she couldn’t quite ask it this way. ‘Have you – er – when – no, that doesn’t work either,’ she muttered to herself. Suddenly, she knew it and her head snapped up joyfully. ‘Does Stage One just happen with every Master of Legilimency?’

There, that was general enough to not inflict with her vow. And surely, Dumbledore would understand what she meant.

‘Ah, ermm… well, there aren’t that many Masters around,’ Dumbledore replied thoughtfully, stroking his beard. ‘I know for a fact Volkova has the same problems, but Li and Grindelwald need to cast to perform Stage One with or without a wand. As for Nathaira and Voldemort, well, they haven’t kept me informed about their capabilities.’

Hermione giggled. The visual of Voldemort informing Dumbledore about anything was quite amusing.

Dumbledore smiled at her. ‘I can tell you that I wasn’t always capable of doing it continuously without effort. And I believe gaining the ability to do it like this comes with the combination of age, practise and will. Tom is about the same age now as when it first started happening to me.’

Great, she was screwed.

‘I wouldn’t worry too much about it with your mind, Hermione. Your defence is quite adequate and if he didn’t prepare you for this attack, chances are he is unaware of the possibility. Besides, Li and Grindelwald are older than him and unable to do it, despite that their skill at Legilimency is quite equal to mine. Not everything is always cut and dry in magic. There’s a lot we don’t know. And I take back what I said before. You’re quite right – Desmond and Molly are incredibly irritating,’ he ended humorously.

‘Sorry ’bout the song,’ she said with an apologetic smile, knowing how undoable it was to get “Obladi, Oblada” out of your mind.

‘I’ll live. But Hermione, I really need to know if he did anything to you that could compromise the Order during your stay here.’

Hermione buried her head in her hands. ‘Don’t you think it compromised the Order to make me his apprentice? I know an awful lot about Harry.’

‘Did he find out anything?’ Dumbledore inquired again.

‘I didn’t specify that. I said that I know a lot about certain things and that I couldn’t perform an ounce of Occlumency before the summer holiday started,’ Hermione replied cryptically.

‘I wouldn’t worry about it. Most of it, he’d probably found out already.’

Hermione shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t know.’ She wasn’t falling for that old trick.

‘I will have to know if it’s safe if you stay here. If you’re not telling me, I have to find out otherwise.’

Brilliant, just brilliant. From the snake’s pit to this spiders’ invested hole, threats seemed to be the latest fashion everywhere. ‘I understand.’

‘I am not sure you do. This could be dangerous to you,’ Dumbledore said seriously.

You’d think?

‘I will find out anyway,’ he continued kindly. ‘And everything you say will remain between the two of us. So, why not tell me? Has he got into your head too much? Have your loyalties-’

There it was. The dreaded question she feared would come up. And it was totally uncalled for, she had not betrayed anyone. Her guilt flared at remembering what she had done with the Dark Lord. But she replaced that guilt with anger to hide her true emotions. No way was she informing Albus Dumbledore she’d fucked Lord Voldemort.

‘I am not supposed to tell you or anyone else anything,’ Hermione interrupted angrily. ‘You told me that yourself. An apprentice is supposed to keep the secrets of her guide. It’s what lies at the very foundation of the apprenticeship, the knowledge the guide has he or she won’t be compromised by the very presence of the other. It’s what keeps both apprentice and guide safe. Even if I wanted to tell you everything and could, which I don’t,’ she folded her arms defensively in annoyance, because in her mind there was only one person on this planet who she might break her vow for and Harry wasn’t sitting in the chair opposite of hers, ‘I still have to think of what it would mean to future candidates. If I blurt out what I know, no one will ever be safe. I can’t risk it.’

‘Very well,’ Dumbledore said and rose from his chair. His wand was suddenly in his hand and he pointed it at her.

Hermione bit her lip. Did she wear a bull’s eye these days or what? Scratch burning the Sorting Hat, she was going to rip it to pieces with her bare hands, stamp on it, and disintegrate every thread of the cloth one by one by one. Life goes on, bra.

‘I’ll try a simple identification spell first; hopefully, it won’t give too much of a reaction on you.’

Yeah, hopefully.

Hermione turned her head away and braced for the impact. From the corner of her eye, she saw the jet of light speed towards her when the pendant turned hot against her chest. It rose out from under her shirt and burst into a green light around her. Dumbledore’s spell collided into the green bubble around her and it seemed to add energy to it, for it expanded rapidly and crashed into him with a vengeance. He flew through the air (a silvery shield in front of him) before he smashed hard into Arthur’s muggle stuff collection. She couldn’t withhold the brief upward curl of her lip as he crashed to the ground, while numerous items tumbled down on top of his head.Poetic justice.

Not much of a reaction, indeed. Well, not on her anyway.

‘Well, that was not unexpected,’ Dumbledore’s muffled voice spoke ironically from underneath the giant muggle speaker that covered his head entirely.

The pendant, slowly, ceased its green glow and she felt the temperature of the stone drop before it descended back against her chest. Frowning, she curled her fingers around the silver chain and raised it, examining the stone. It was emerald green again and the smoked outline of his mark bellowed in and out of focus violently. But the smoke turned darker and darker, spread outward, and obscured the skull and snake’s figure, until nothing remained but an onyx-looking pendant. She wondered how that worked.

‘Would it do that every time someone casts in my direction, Professor?’ asked Hermione, worried. He’d seen it now, so she wasn’t revealing any secrets and she figured this violent reaction could become problematic for her to hide.

Dumbledore had lifted the speaker of his head and scrambled to his feet. He readjusted his squashed hat back into shape, while walking to Hermione, who held out the chain to him, so he could see the pendant more closely.

‘Interesting, very interesting. Maybe it will?’ he replied thoughtfully. ‘Or there could be a discriminating factor in it, which decides whether or not it activates.’

He raised his wand at the pendant, which caused Hermione to quirk an eyebrow. Really, did he enjoy being tossed around?

Professor Dumbledore moved his wand around the pendant carefully. ‘This contains a lot of magic,’ he mumbled, a hint of disturbance in his voice. ‘A lot. Far too much to be a mere protective piece.’ He looked up, while lowering his wand. ‘Have you been hearing voices or felt the need to do things you otherwise wouldn’t?’

‘I can’t tell you anything,’ Hermione said with an impatient growl. How many times did she have to say that?

‘My inquiry was not about Tom. It was about you,’ Dumbledore replied with a small smile.

Hermione smirked. ‘Clever,’ she said.

‘Thank you,’ Dumbledore said with a courteous head-bow. ‘So, have you?’

‘Have I what?’

‘Heard voices or done odd things?’

Hermione made a face. ‘Ermm… no,’ she said.

‘Didn’t find yourself in places you couldn’t remember how you got there or had other gaps in your memory?’

‘Nope,’ she replied, frowning. That sounded mighty familiar, as in Ginny familiar. ‘It’s not a journal, Professor,’ she added, after a moment of silence between them.

Dumbledore eyed her cautiously, while plucking his beard. Hermione stared right back, singing the song in her mind, waiting for his reply.

‘In order for me to really understand what this is and does precisely, I will need to cast upon it again,’ he finally said, giving her a serious look, while ignoring her remark about the journal, which didn’t go unnoticed by Hermione.

‘Okay,’ Hermione replied, shrugging. Your funeral.

‘Can you take it off?’

‘Sure.’

The chain was still in her hand, and she tried to lift it over her head; but it slipped right through her fingers. She made another attempt to grab it; but this time, it didn’t allow her to take a hold of it. It was like she reached into nothingness, like it wasn’t even there. Alarmed, she looked down and tried again. It was a fine hologram. She could see the necklace, but to touch it was an impossible feat.

‘Oh dear,’ Dumbledore said, concerned. ‘Just hold it out then.’

‘I can’t touch it anymore,’ Hermione said, looking up aggravated. Surely, he had seen that.

‘Perhaps if you just hold it out, you can?’

Hermione tried, and behold, the chain was in her hand. Quickly, she moved her hand up to give it another go, but the chain fell through her hand and landed against her chest.

‘Obviously, it has an Anti-Removal Curse on it,’ said Dumbledore.

‘Obviously,’ she growled. And He had the nerve to call her a control-freak? She’d obladi him next time they met.

‘I’d rather not cast those spells while you are wearing it,’ Dumbledore said, turning away. ‘Some of them are quite powerful and if we don’t know what that is…’

‘But you said you could only determine what it does by casting on it,’ Hermione squeaked panicky. The fact that she was unable to take it off had severely diminished her cool. What could possibly be so important about the necklace to him to make sure she had to keep wearing it?

Nothing good, she decided.

‘I am not risking your health,’ Dumbledore replied with his back turned to her. ‘We just have to make up some excuse as to why you can’t stay here.’

‘No, I want to stay. Just do whatever it is you need to do,’ she said hastily. She’d only seen Harry and the others briefly and she couldn’t stand the thought of leaving so soon.

‘Hermione,’ Dumbledore said sadly, turning back to face her. ‘The spells I need to use could kill you if that pendant is what I fear it is.’

‘But he can’t kill me,’ Hermione replied, frowning.

‘He won’t do the casting. I will be the one to kill you, which gives him the option of killing me. It’s quite ingenious of him actually,’ Dumbledore shook his head. ‘I may be an old man, but you have your whole life ahead of you.’

‘Those spells are not lethal on their own merits, are they?’ Hermione asked crafty.

‘No,’ he answered, watching Hermione with interest.

‘So, basically, if I die when you cast them, it will be his necklace causing my death, which would mean you could kill him,’ she ended, smirking.

‘Technically, one could see it that way,’ he replied doubtfully. ‘But it’s a huge gamble to take with your life, Hermione.’

‘Well, it’s mine to take, isn’t it?’ Hermione said, gritting her teeth. ‘I can’t keep walking around with this near Harry if we don’t know what it does.’

‘Very well,’ Dumbledore said, raising his wand.

Merlin, what was wrong with her?

He took a cautious stance.

Sure, Granger, lets give everyone and their pets the okay to cast you into oblivion.

A white light burst from his wand and formed a bright sphere, hovering in the air. With one last, concerned look at Hermione, he waved it toward her. Immediately, the pendant turned hot against her skin again and flew up, bursting out green smoke as Dumbledore’s charm tried to envelop it. Hermione didn’t know where to look first. It was quite the show. The pendant tried desperately to avoid being surrounded by Dumbledore’s bright sphere and danced rather comically around her neck, and her Headmaster had a hard time avoiding the much more volatile defensive reaction the pendant had sent back and he swirled around the shed equally fast as the pendant did on its chain.

The only one getting no exercise at all was Hermione.

The green smoke bounced off the shed’s walls with amazing speed. His wand flashed bright, diverting the smoke’s path away from him. But it was just a brief reprieve, because it kept coming and coming. A complicated swirl of the Elder Wand dispersed the smoke, and for a second, Hermione thought Dumbledore had won, but then, it merged back together and hurtled back to him. The sheer concentration on her Headmaster’s face worried Hermione sincerely.

But Keepers couldn’t kill each other, she reassured herself.

Then, her eyes got blinded by the white sphere that chased the pendant. She heard a sickening slashing sound and a pain-filled cry, followed by a splash of warm fluid against her face and body. You didn’t have to be a genius to figure out it was blood.

‘Professor!’ Hermione yelled fearfully, batting at the sphere like you would a bothersome fly, because she needed to see what happened.

However, the pendant had moved to her back, so the sphere followed suit and she gasped, seeing Albus Dumbledore on his knees, pointing his wand at the green cloud which charged him again, while his other arm pulsed out blood so fast, she was sure a major artery was hit. She took a step in his direction to help.

‘Stay there!’ Dumbledore ordered.

Hermione froze.

A low hum came from his wand and darkness erupted from it. Rapidly, it charged Voldemort’s green cloud and smashed into it, dead centre. She was reminded of her previous thoughts of a spiders’ invested hole, because Dumbledore’s curse acted like a web. She saw dark tendrils spreading outward, grabbing on to the cloud and holding it together – the smoke caught like a fly would have been. The web hovered there, halting the forward motion of the cloud, and then, it imploded, leaving strands of darkness floating almost serenely to the floor, harmless.

Had Albus Dumbledore – champion of the light side – just used the Dark Arts in front of her?

The very moment the green cloud disappeared, the pendant seemed to be under the illusion it was safe and stopped moving. Hermione averted her eyes, as the white sphere surrounded the emerald and glowed even harder. ‘Professor!’

‘It’s all right, Hermione. I am right here.’ Dumbledore’s voice came from behind the white light. ‘You’re going to be fine. It is not what I feared it could be.’

‘Your arm?’

‘Already healed it.’

In her peripheral vision, Hermione saw his wand moving around the sphere. ‘What is it, then?’

‘Hmmm… oh my.’

‘Oh my what?’ she squeaked.

‘Very unexpected. Didn’t see this coming,’ Dumbledore mumbled.

‘See what coming?’

‘Just a moment, Hermione,’ he whirled his wand around the sphere and it turned bright orange.

‘I see,’ Dumbledore said softly.

He tapped the sphere and it vanished. A second whip of Dumbledore’s wand caused his blood on her face and clothes to disappear. Hermione noted the necklace did not react to this. Apparently, it discriminated between spells. The pendant crashed against her shirt, and slowly, turned black again. Hermione waited expectantly, while Dumbledore looked down, seemingly watching his fingertips tap against each other.

And when nothing was said, she waited some more and more, until she couldn’t take it anymore.

‘And?’ she inquired, tapping her foot.

‘You can stay at the Weasleys. It won’t harm the Order,’ Dumbledore said quietly, and he turned away from her abruptly. She had not got a chance to get a glimpse of his expression.

‘Then, who will it harm?’ she retorted quickly.

‘Whoever tries to attack you,’ Dumbledore replied after a moment of silence, his back still turned.

Yeah, right, sure, that was everything. She felt so safe now. ‘You said, you hadn’t seen something coming,’ Hermione tried.

Slowly, her Headmaster turned around. His face was completely devoid of any emotion and his usual twinkle absent. She couldn’t get a single clue from his expression. He looked at her over his half-moon glasses and asked her, ‘Is there something you wish to share with me, Hermione?’

‘I want to know what this thing does,’ she replied, exasperated.

‘It’s a protective device,’ he repeated, sitting down calmly.

Hermione growled. ‘You said there was too much magic for that.’

‘It is,’ Dumbledore said, rubbing his blackened wandhand. ‘But Tom has always been thorough.’

‘There is something you’re not telling me.’

‘Like there are things you are not telling me,’ Dumbledore retorted with a small smile.

‘I can’t,’ she growled, throwing her hands in the air.

‘Won’t,’ he corrected.

‘Won’t,’ she admitted.

‘I can’t tell you either,’ he replied.

‘Won’t,’ Hermione blurted out.

Dumbledore grinned and tilted his head courteously. ‘Indeed, we find ourselves at a rather nasty conundrum due to Keeper regulations. If I tell you what I know, it will be grounds for your expulsion as a candidate. The pendant’s powers are for you to decipher by yourself. It was very clever of him to add that one characteristic. I am sorry, Hermione.’

She plumped down in her chair, disappointed at not getting any answers and somewhat apprehensive about the thing around her neck. Well, at least it wouldn’t hurt Harry, she learned that much.

‘Now that we’ve established it’s safe for you to wander around here, I’d like to know the full extend of your Occlumency skills,’ Dumbledore continued casually. ‘Clearly, you’re doing fine with Stage One. What about the other stages?’

Hermione shrugged, not knowing how to respond to that question. ‘Okay, I suppose,’ she mumbled; her mind going over the pitfalls this conversation could lead her to.

‘Can you block a Stage Two attack fully?’

‘I can’t answer that.’ Gee, would he keep trying to get her to break her agreement?

‘I ask what you can do, not what Tom can.’

‘But since he’s the one who taught me, it stands to reason if I tell you I can or can’t block an attack, it would mean he can’t or can enter my mind,’ Hermione replied tiresomely. ‘Whatever which way I look at it, I will still give you information about my guide I am not supposed to give.’

She looked at her hands, so she didn’t see the brief impressed expression on Dumbledore’s face.

‘Very well. Lets make it a theoretical discussion then,’ he continued cheerfully. ‘We can do that, can’t we?’

‘I suppose,’ Hermione said suspiciously, making Dumbledore laugh.

‘What are the defences against Stage Two and Three Legilimency?’

Hermione weighed the question, but decided she could answer it. When she was done naming them all, Dumbledore had a huge smile on his face. ‘Very good, I won’t need to test your capabilities in them. I am sure you wouldn’t be here if Tom thought there was even a slight chance of me breaking through your walls,’ he chuckled again.

Not a chance in hell, Hermione thought, thinking back at Voldemort’s practically obsessive teachings on the subject, smiling.

‘However, my inability to get inside your mind tells me nothing about Tom’s. He taught you Occlumency. Hence, he’s much better aware of where your boundaries lie. He most likely will be able to breakthrough your defences with a Stage Three Strike, which is a problem for the Order, so that puts me in a bit of a dilemma. I am sure you understand.’

She understood perfectly, but eh, it wasn’t like she had picked him or hadn’t requested another guide.

‘So,’ Dumbledore said, pausing briefly, ‘we will just have to make sure he won’t dare to invade your mind ever again.’

Hermione raised her eyebrows. Make sure he won’t dare? This was Lord Voldemort they were talking about, wasn’t it? Not Malfoy? Or Desmond who takes a trolley to the jeweller’s stores.

Dumbledore chuckled at her expression. ‘Do you know what the greatest risk is of performing Legilimency?’

‘Hearing something you don’t like?’ she guessed jokingly. She hadn’t come across any real risks in any of the textbooks.

He shook his head.

‘Getting a headache? Being hexed by your opponent? Being bored to death by unoriginal thoughts?’ she speculated loosely.

Dumbledore roared with laughter. ‘No, but those can be a nuisance. No, the greatest risk for a Master of Legilimency is coming up against someone who has the ability to compartmentalise her mind, someone like you,’ and he stared at Hermione with proud, twinkling eyes.

Stunned, Hermione stared back at him. ‘Why is that?’ she finally asked quietly.

‘Because unlike anyone else, you can turn Occlumency into a weapon,’ Dumbledore answered. ‘Normal Masters of Occlumency are capable to keep us out, to not make us suspect or be able to contradict they are lying, but they can’t harm us with their mental defence. Someone with the capability to compartmentalise can lure a Master of Legilimency into their mind, and then, shut the exit once they’re in deep enough, making sure said Master is stuck inside their mind indefinitely.’

Hermione’s jaw dropped. ‘But-but…’ she halted, not sure what to make of this bit of information and what to ask first. ‘Does that mean I can trap someone inside my mind if they perform Legilimency on me?’

‘After sufficient practise, yes,’ Dumbledore said simply.

‘And would that stop the attack?’

‘If performed correctly, it would stop everything for the attacker. He’d be completely incapacitated.’

‘Completely?’ Hermione repeated disbelievingly.

‘It takes a lot of mental power to perform higher forms of Legilimency. You need to concentrate for it, set your whole mind to the task. You can’t do anything else beside it. It’s not something you can do multitasking. If you succeed at trapping Tom inside your mind when he’s performing Stage Three Legilimency, he’s completely helpless for however long you’re able to keep him there. He won’t be able to move a muscle, call for help, cast another spell, perform wandless magic, or whatever.’

‘There’s got to be a catch,’ Hermione muttered. This sounded too good to be true.

‘There is,’ Dumbledore replied seriously. ‘It’s all fun and games if someone is unaware of what you are doing. Then, it won’t cost you a single drop of sweat. However, I doubt Tom will remain unaware of what’s happening. He’s too good a wizard to miss something this big. And it’s not easy to keep someone in once they notice what you’re doing. It will become a mental battle inside your head and that can become quite painful if your attacker is a powerful sorcerer. He will try to mentally breach the walls you’ve erected around him, while you have to concentrate on keeping them whole. That fight won’t be pleasant for you, Hermione,’ Dumbledore warned her. ‘But if you want to learn how to do it, I can teach you.’

Now as much as that sounded like a very tempting offer to Hermione, she still saw a few problems with Dumbledore’s suggestion. ‘Erm, sir, er…’

‘Yes?’ he asked kindly, while he banished her trunk to Ginny’s bedroom.

‘Won’t that cause trouble in the Council if you teach me? I mean you’re not my guide, so…’

‘I am teaching you Occlumency to protect the Order, Harry and yourself. It has nothing to do with your assignment or the Council.’

‘I doubt the others will consider it that way, especially since I am your candidate,’ Hermione retorted. She could so see the huge hullabaloo this could cause.

‘Ah,’ Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling mischievously. ‘But they can’t forbid it even if they wanted to. I am your Headmaster and as such it is within my privileges to hand out additional assignments to students of Hogwarts. You’re a Hogwarts student; I am giving you an extra curricular activity.’

Hermione smirked. ‘Have you ever given anyone an assignment during the holiday before, Professor?’

‘Why, can’t say I have,’ he grinned. ‘But it’s never too late to pick up a good habit, wouldn’t you agree, Miss Granger?’

Hermione laughed. ‘No, sir, never too late.’

‘Enjoy your stay with your friends, Miss Granger, let that assignment lay for awhile and get some rest.’

Dumbledore watched amused, as Hermione clearly struggled with the concept of letting something lie.

‘I mean it, Hermione,’ he said softly. ‘It’s imperative you leave it be for awhile. Tom can be quite intense. If you take a break from the assignment, you take a break from him. It’s important you gain some distance. Do you understand?’

Hermione nodded, though part of it went above her head. She also wondered if daily lessons with Dumbledore weren’t in complete contradiction with her taking a break from Voldemort, seeing he was the reason for the lessons.

‘Now, enjoy your lunch and I will see you soon for your lessons. Oh, before I forget, here are your O.W.L. results,’ Dumbledore added casually, holding out an envelope. ‘The others received them some time ago, but I figured you’d rather read them without someone else present.’

She stared at the envelope as if it was an invitation to hell. Trembling slightly, she accepted it and just looked at it. Somehow, opening it in front of Dumbledore wasn’t a very attractive idea. What if she failed all her classes? And she had forgotten to mention the possible minority outcome in question four of her Arithmancy test. Oh, oh, oh. Quickly, she walked to the door, determined to find some alone space where she could quietly check her grades.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow then, Hermione?’

‘Yes, Professor,’ she replied, distracted. ‘Till then.’

And she walked out the door, not realising Albus Dumbledore did not follow. He let out a deep sigh when the door fell shut behind her.

‘Well, that was a very impressive Occlumency performance,’ a soft female voice spoke out of corner. The air rippled, quickly showing an outline, before Ljudmila Volkova fully materialised in the shed.

‘You didn’t get anything from her either?’ Albus inquired.

Ljudmila shook her head, smiling. ‘Quite extra-ordinary, I like her strength of character. Most candidates fail the first time we test their abilities to keep their guides’ secrets. And she actually has more reasons than anyone else to spill the beans on him. She also was quite clever in ditching your traps. She didn’t fall for the guilt trip you tried by questioning her loyalties or the good old “it’s safe to talk behind these wards” trick.’

Albus nodded. ‘I noticed.’

‘Well, Tom was the only one who ever passed this test on a first try, so it’s not surprising his apprentice is doing the same. Aren’t you glad she passed? You seem somewhat gloom, my friend.’

‘I am glad she passed the test, Ljudmila. It’s that pendant, which is worrying me. He slipped a bit about her path in it, so I couldn’t tell her everything else that horrid thing does since it is all connected.’

Ljudmila shrugged and sat down in the chair Hermione had vacated. ‘You worry too much. The girl handled herself admirably so far. And it’s her path, Albus.’

‘It’s the wrong path, Ljudmila. I did it again. I picked another Nathaira.’ Dumbledore shook his head and stared at the closed door.

‘Nathaira is an excellent Keeper. I prefer her over Kollberg any day.’

‘Gunvald has never neglected his Keeper duties. He’s a stable Keeper of the Light,’ Albus objected.

‘Stable yes, but he is not very creative, is he? Kollberg is a fine wizard, but not extra-ordinary. I understand you were shocked by Nathaira’s sway to the dark side and that after it you were more cautious in your candidate choice, but really Albus, I am glad that you didn’t repeat this reserve. Both Li and Nathaira are top of the line Keepers, but Kollberg… well, I am glad that you took a risk again with Hermione. I prefer a powerful dark Keeper over a mediocre light one any day.’

‘You can do that if all you look at is the Council,’ Dumbledore retorted.

‘Well, I have to. Olsen’s death has left a huge power vacuum on the light end. Part of that is due to too much mediocrity slipping into our Council. You nearly got yourself killed during our last trial. And I am an old woman, Albus; we really can’t lose another light Keeper at the moment that’s not me,’ she added; glancing at his injured hand shortly, while she spoke those last four words.

‘I know how you feel, Ljudmila, I know,’ Dumbledore said, silently cursing the old lady’s sharp observational skills.

He’d made an excellent cover story for his hand, but he didn’t think she had bought it. The witch knew him too well, had seen through every one of his schemes when he was still a teenager, and had warned him to do something about some of his more questionable trades when she put him forward as her candidate all those many, many years ago. He wasn’t sure she had ever been completely satisfied with the changes he’d gone through; he knew he wouldn’t have been if he were her.

‘Good, I trust you will keep that in mind, because we can’t keep screwing around like this,’ Ljudmila said seriously. ‘It will only get worse, until the seat is filled again.’

‘I don’t think the light side is the only one in trouble at the moment. We need to start looking at the defence on the other end as well.’

Volkova snorted. ‘I think Tom’s got it covered, and if he hasn’t, Sharasvati can pick up the slack. She did it for years when both he and Gellert were unavailable.’

‘That last blast almost finished Tom off and he is the most powerful of them,’ Albus said doubtfully. ‘Something seems to be altering significantly. Sharasvati is good, but she is not in his league. I don’t think she could pick it up now if for some reason Tom were to be incapacitated.’

Ljudmila Volkova raised an eyebrow at that. ‘Got any plans to incapacitate someone?’ she asked, amused.

‘Lots, none valid enough at the short run though,’ Albus admitted, disgruntled. ‘But I am trying to say we need to start considering other methods to secure it. We’ve become too dependant on individuals, I believe.’

‘Albus, you’re forgetting this always happens when we reach the stage of apprenticeship.’

‘No, it feels worse this time around. The magic is wilder, more unpredictable and a lot quicker in shifting from dark to light and back again.’

Volkova shook her head. ‘Albus, darling, I’ve been doing this for more than two-hundred-something years and I am telling you, I’ve seen this before. There are times when it is calmer, and then, there are times as these when the powers seem more volatile,’ she shrugged.

Dumbledore looked at Volkova thoughtfully. ‘You are absolutely positive about that?’

‘Yes.’

‘You’d bet your life on it?’

‘I am, ain’t I?’ she replied, amused. ‘Come on, trust your old mentor and relax for a second, will you? You look like you’re trying to carry the weight of the entire world on your shoulders.’

Albus sighed. ‘There is a lot going on, Ljudmila, a lot.’

‘You’re too concerned about Hermione Granger.’

‘It doesn’t worry you at all she may choose the dark?’

Volkova leaned forward, her face supported by one of her hands thoughtfully. ‘Perhaps,’ she said slowly, looking Albus right into his blue eyes. It still unnerved him when she did that. ‘Perhaps not. Nothing is set in stone yet. You worked out your demons pretty well with Mephistopheles as your guide and I daresay he could give Tom some lessons in darkness.’

Albus Dumbledore looked down, staring at the floorboards. Those weren’t pretty memories.

‘I take it the girl has some dark demons inside to conquer, and it is why you picked him?’

Slowly, his head moved up and down in a doubtful nod. Abruptly, he shook it and threw his hands in the air. ‘Was I wrong, Ljudmila?’ he asked suddenly. ‘Should I have – maybe Dubois or Gellert? Oh, I don’t know-’

‘It’s always a risk, Albus,’ Ljudmila said softly. ‘You can’t tell the outcome beforehand. If that were the case, choices would be easy.’

‘What if Hermione becomes another Nathaira? I made this mistake before; why did I do this again?’

‘Isabella made her choice; it was her decision to embrace the darkness.’

‘But I knew – I knew she had it in her, and now, I have taken the same risk again, only it’s worse, because can you possibly imagine Hermione and Tom…,’ Albus trailed off, shaking his head.

‘You took the same risk with Li Mei and that paid off.’

‘Yeah, but Gellert was never as intense as Tom.’

Ljudmila snorted. ‘Really, Albus, you dare make that statement to me?’

Albus turned red. ‘I-I meant with women.’

‘Glad you cleared that up,’ Ljudmila said, laughing loudly at his faux-pass. ‘You took an educated risk with Hermione, and you would’ve been a fool not to choose Tom. He is the only one qualified to guide her, as was Mephistopheles the only one qualified for you. I do remember the scolding I got from the others when I made him your guide.’ She grinned.

‘A very well-earned scolding, if I may put my one Sickle in. That man nearly destroyed me.’

‘Well, I suppose you have a right to complain about my choice back then. However, this worry you’re feeling about Hermione, it has nothing to do with you being afraid she will turn out like Nathaira.’

Albus Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. ‘Of course it does. Her darkness, don’t tell-’

‘Stop lying to yourself, Albus,’ Ljudmila interrupted sharply. ‘You’re not doing the girl any favours with it. You’re not worried she will be the next Nathaira – Hermione reminds you of someone else and it isn’t Nathaira’s kind of darkness she holds. It’s something a lot more powerful than that. It’s someone a lot more powerful than Nathaira.’

Albus turned pale in the subsequent silence that followed.

‘You’re right,’ he finally admitted. ‘I am not worried Hermione will turn out like Sharasvati. I am worried she will be another…’ he stopped talking, unable to say it.

‘-you,’ Ljudmila finished.

‘Yes,’ Dumbledore whispered.

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The Apprentice