Magic Never Dies (Harmione)

Chapter The Last

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Harry's "allergy" to magic remained unabated, but once he had regained consciousness Madam Pomfrey's anxiety eased considerably and she seemed to find his care something of an enjoyable challenge. Hermione was helping her research her methods and she had to admit the theories involved were fascinating. They seemed to be looking at the very line between what physically defined witches and wizards from muggles, a grey area that had long been argued but insufficiently studied. It was a chicken-and-egg argument; did the presence of magic within them alter the structure of their physiology, or was there something inherent in their bodies that called out to magic?

Hermione was shocked to discover that the most useful and clearly thought out work on the subject she could find in the library, which was one area that thankfully remained mostly untouched by the battle, was written by none other then... Severus Snape.

From the look of it, the Half Blood Prince must have been curious about what made one magical for a very long time. Hermione would have been unsurprised to have learned that he had been working towards a counter for the magic draining potion almost since its creation, but she had only her suspicions to guide her. Had he thought that he himself would someday be forced to drink it by the madman he'd created it for? Certainly he must have long held suspicions that Dumbledore or one day Harry - wizards both powerful enough that Voldemort would have sought to destroy their magic - would be exposed to it.

Perhaps that would, in part, explain more of his long disdain for Harry? Distancing himself emotionally from a child he knew was more than likely to face the greatest loss a wizard could sustain, one he himself had both created and dreaded? Had Dumbledore known? Had Dumbledore perhaps left Harry at Privet Drive in part to force him to learn to survive amongst muggles against the chance that this might one day happen?

There was no real way of knowing, she doubted either Snape or Dumbledore's portrait would tell her the truth, and what did it really matter? If she had learned nothing else these last seven years she knew now that nothing about this particular battle between good and evil was ever simple and few things were in the end truly what they seemed.

If the struggle thus far had been based in some part on symmetry, as Lily Potter had suggested; if nature or old magic or the creator of all was at work balancing forces, was there any real justice in leaving Harry without magic after he had struggled so hard and sacrificed so much? Hermione understood better now that evil had to be equally ruthlessly met and squashed, and she knew that Harry had been born and bred to fight it one way or another. Was this really his destiny, or just another product of the fight that might be countered by those that loved him? Or better still, by one that hated him? Perhaps Snape's chance at redemption was Harry himself, but Hermione found herself wondering then if Snape was still at a loss for a counter to the potion. He certainly wasn't acting the way she might have expected if he was confident that he could undo what he had done.

Or as one that actually sought redemption would.

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The continued presence of the Ministry (Scrimgeour had gone, but left a party of petty officials behind) suggested that the rebuilding of Hogwarts was amongst its top priorities in the new post Voldemort era. From its coverage, the Daily Prophet certainly seemed to think so. The Quibbler, however, begged to differ, and ran long stories enumerating the ways in which the bureaucracy was hobbling progress. Its value as a dissenting voice had greatly raised its subscriber base, and Ron and Hermione knew the balance there was one of the few factors that kept Scrimgeour's ambitions toward Harry in check. It bought them time, and for this they were eternally grateful to Luna and her father.