Hermione Granger and the Year Hidden from Hogwarts

Chapter 11

Hermione Granger and the Year Hidden from Hogwarts

Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 11

July 16th, 1991

"Wait! Hermione!"

"Dad, we can't! The music is getting louder." Hermione stared out over the rippling lake, topped with glittering moonlit diamonds. "Don't you hear it? You must hear it now!"

Cold water licked her bare toes as waves lapped the sandy shore.

"Hermione!" her dad called from a great distance. "Get away from the water!"

Other voices had joined in, but they were nearly incomprehensible.

She was wet up to her knees, and someone was shaking her shoulders. Twisting and wrenching herself free, she stumbled into the water up to her waist. "Let me go! Don't you hear that? I have to get to it!"

"Into darkness taking flight,

whispers on the wings of night,

follow me, my lovely tune,

as above the smiling moon,

Diddle-dee-dee, diddle-dee-doe,

not far now, not far to go..."

The moon disappeared behind cloud cover, robbing what little light there'd been to see with. Hermione blinked, the world lighting up in swirling blues and purples, weaving around her playfully, tugging her forward.

"So pretty..." she sighed, needing to tread water now that'd risen to her shoulders.

"Into twilight, into gloom,

sing the sound of dawdling doom,

follow me, my lovely song,

know that I can do no wrong,

Diddle-dee-dee, diddle-dee-doe..."

Furious angry clicks and squeaks sounded in her hair, and she batted at her ear, getting her thick curls wet. Something hissed and shifted before a sharp pain burned the side of her neck.

Hermione blinked, and the violet haze washed from her vision, clearing up to her normal metavision.

"D-Daddy?" she cried, realizing with her lightning fast mind the danger that she was in, but when she thought she was backing up, she'd actually slipped farther into the lake, dipping below the inky black depths.

The spell was truly broken now as her movements grew frantic. She fought the weight of her night clothes, hoping she was headed in the direction of the surface.

She was. As she broke free, her senses were assaulted, blinding spotlights, raised voices, and cold waves intermittently robbing her ability to breathe. Coughing wracked her body as she tread in place. Sound carried easily across the lake, making it sound as if voices came from all directions, further disorienting her.

"Daddy!" she spluttered when she caught her first full breath, only to have something wrap around her ankle and tug her below the surface.

Seaweed, she assumed until something glowing blue crawled down her form—the fire salamander—and lit the face of a terrifying, otherworldly creature with pointed features and sharp teeth.

Scared, her entire body erupted into flames, even underwater. Bubbles escaped the creature's mouth and it released its hold on her, allowing her to resurface.