Beauty and the Beast

The Research

Published: 01. November, 2021

Hermione returned the mirror to S the next day, refraining from asking one of the many questions that went through her mind and that were all about S. His dark, mysterious aura intrigued her and she was determined to find out why he was stuck in a former school. This was a magical school, there was no doubt about it, but that made it only more confusing. There weren't many Wizarding schools and the few that existed were widely known in the magical world. So why hadn't she heard about this one in the Highlands of Scotland?

She started in the history section of the library, combing through the shelves that held books about the known Wizarding schools. A few days later, when she had found no clue about a mysterious castle in Scotland, she continued to try to find any sort of record of former professors that had taught here.

It's as if this place never existed, Hermione thought perplexed and put an old, tattered book back on its shelf. Why can't anyone have heard about it?

She let out an annoyed sigh. At this rate, she would never figure this place out. Perhaps the answer she was looking for was not to be found in the library? Although she had to scoff at that. She had always found her answers in a library.

The young witch let her eyes travel across the dusty bookshelf. Most books contained information about the landscape, muggle towns that were nearby, but nothing on-

An old, wrinkled newspaper at the back of the dark shelf caught her attention. It was barely visible, but a corner of the yellowed paper was sticking out of the shadow.

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows.
Mhm.

She reached forward and carefully tugged at the newspaper. A cloud of dust floated upwards in the shape of a mushroom, tickling her nose. She sneezed twice and rubbed her eyes to get rid of the itching sensation. Hermione shook out the paper until most of the dust had fallen off, then tried to unfold it without tearing it.
She gently smoothened the newspaper and held it angled towards the light.

MAGICAL DISASTER: GOBAL AMMESIA!

Hermione bit her lip and looked for the date. She found it at the bottom and realized, the article was eight years old. A memory crossed into her mind. The day it had occurred, people had felt magical tremors all over the world, leaving many with holes in their memories. Hermione, Ron and Harry could not remember where they had spent seven years of their lives. And they distinctly had the feeling that they were supposed to know some people, but they couldn't remember. Files in the ministry had disappeared, whole shelves with records that dated back until the twelfth century.

Hermione shook her head. That was not her problem right now. She needed to figure out why no one seemed to know this place and why she kept having déjà-vus-

Her eyes widened. Hermione's hand started trembling and the paper shook.

I can't remember where I've gone to school, she thought in a daze. But ever since I've arrived here, at this ABANDONED SCHOOL, I've felt as if I'd been here before.

Hermione felt nauseous.

I've BEEN here before! This was MY school!

The young witch felt as if her knees were about to give out. She leaned against the bookshelf and slid down to the ground, her grip on the old paper loosening. It fluttered to the floor.

Her thoughts raced through her head.

I accidentally called S 'Professor once...he actually was one! Wait, does that mean he used to be my professor? Or did he get the job after I was finished with school?