Hermione Granger and the Year Hidden from Hogwarts

Chapter 10

Hermione Granger and the Year Hidden from Hogwarts

Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 10

July 10th, 1991

It'd been six months since Dr. Wang brought over Invisibilus to study, and Dr. Hampton hadn't really recovered. They'd had six missing persons cases come up that she could help on, and she'd needed the help of Charles to get him to accept the jobs on her behalf. None of the cold cases she'd been reviewing at a rate of two to three per week by taking readings on the evidences had crossed her desk since.

It was as if the world had unveiled this hidden area, and Dr. Hampton had grown obsessed with discovering what else was out there.

That's how, when Dr. Hampton approached her parents with an eager gleam in his eye about a job in Northern Russia, Hermione knew it wasn't a run of the mill ghost hunt, despite the way Dr. Hampton presented it as.

"Russia?" her dad blurted, taken aback. "Look, I know we let her go to China, but Russia? That's..."

"She'll be fine. We'll have a team with us this time, MI5 agents as well as MSS."

"MSS?" her mum gasped. "Chinese intelligence? Russia's okay with Britain and Chinese intelligence pairing up together for a mission on their lands?"

Dr. Hampton waved them off. "It'll be fine. They have lots of intelligence agencies in their borders right now to help get their newly elected president off the ground and running. It's the perfect cover."

"Beg your pardon, but did you just say 'cover?'" her dad asked. "Look, I make a lot of jokes about this being MI5 and all, but there's no way we're going to send you into a politically unrest Russia with our daughter under false intentions!"

"No, no, I didn't mean cover—well, not in the way you're thinking. We have permission, direct from the Kremlin building, to be there, but the nature of ghosts and paranormal, well, that's not something any government wants their tax payers knowing they funnel money into, let alone one not even a decade old. We have the full backing of President Yeltsin to be there for generic science reasons, but the true nature of our visit will be known to only a handful."

Her dad didn't look impressed. "President Yeltsin? That's a load of codswallop! You honestly think he has any actual power? He was sworn in to a brand new position less than a month ago. Blimey, Russia was still the SSR two years ago. You think everyone is okay with that transition? The KGB probably already has their hand up the President's—"

"Richard!" her mum gasped, interrupting his tirade. "Language."

"Sorry, Emma, but honestly, there's just no way—"

Dr. Hampton held up his hands. "Please, I beg you. Before you finish that statement, the KGB will actually be in charge of escorting us."

"Is that supposed to make us feel better?" Dad slapped his knee. "Golly gee, the KGB will be leading us into the frozen Siberian wilderness. Everything's all hunky dory!"

"I..." Dr. Hampton faltered. "Yes, it should be. We'll be escorted by a team of highly trained locals."

Dad shook his head. "Dr. Hampton, you're brilliant but so very thick if you can't see the draw your expedition team would pose to a shaky, unstable KGB. Intelligence is their currency, and that translates to power. They'll have to fonts of information from two big foreign agencies at their fingertips. That makes a nice little cush for them in these uncertain times, especially with talks of their program being disbanded in the very near future. There will be quite a few powerful people looking to silence them for what they know."