Worthy Of Magic

Part 58 - The Placebo

The Tower of Elysium, London, Time Unknown

After Draco turned them down Daphne and Hermione agreed to find a room. This settlement was curious and both of them felt the need to know how one of the most important moments in Magical History turned out. What became of the Rebellion against pureblood supremacy?

The surge of the challenge of understanding the dynamics of this new world made Daphne put her quest to find Harry in the proverbial closet.

Hermione was the voice of camping out in the wastelands, roughing it out, and making inroads into the society of a post apocalypse London; but Daphne shot her down. They weren't going to stay long, and it was worth exploring the comforts of the tower of Elysium.

Daphne's argument swayed Hermione and she had to admit, the magic holding the tower in place in addition to its open layout, was appealing. The higher she went, the more she noticed the subtle upward spiral of the tower with every twist being larger than the one below. The blend of magic and physics blew her mind.

Their room was on the seventeenth floor and the view of a torn down dead city that looked more ethereal than tragic at such heights made her imagine how more floors were there and what perspective would be perceived at those heights.

The corridors were white with natural light streaming through the gaps in the floors. The doors however, were black. It was an odd choice of colours. If fact, it left like a deliberate absence of colour and Daphne felt it held a deeper meaning more in line with the possible mind of a reformed Dark Lord.

"Tell me how are we supposed to enter again?" Daphne asked Hermione.

"The lady in the lobby tapped our palms with her wand." The receptionist had been utterly unhelpful. She had just yawned and drawled out their room number. "There's no mark on the door but I guess we just have to press our hand against it. Like a fingerprint scanner," Hermione explained and then placed her hand in the centre of the door.

"You mean like how goblins used to open vaults," Daphne realised. The tower was goblin magic finally harnessed by wizards, she realised.

The door opened with a whisper of a click.

Daphne took the first step inside and the lights came on with gradual intensity.

Hermione followed, and her eyes widened in surprise. She looked at Daphne, who was fighting a smile.

"Maybe we should rethink how long we want to stay here," Daphne said with mild glee.

"Or maybe this is just how they make us drop our guards," Hermione added suspiciously, grounding Daphne to bitter possibilities.

Daphne headed straight for the couch plush with pillows and jumped in. "Good thing we're smart then," she said with a relaxed sigh.

"I need to get better at transfiguration," she said with a groan and leaned into the pillows.

She was asleep before Hermione could even think of a proper response.

Hermione laughed softly, and her stance mellowed. Daphne was right. Psychologically, they needed this offered comfort.

Her eyes turned to the well-stocked kitchen that looked way more high-tech than the one she remembered from home.

The floor tiles were polished marble and as Hermione walked towards the kitchen, the lighting improved. Digital display units began to light up on the perceived electronics.

Was this really the new magical world? Built upon the foundations of destruction? Could the Desert have broken the pureblood supremacy ideology? Hermione couldn't help but wonder the more she explored the apartment. And the more she thought about it, the more it became clear.