The Rebirth

Back to the library

Five minutes later, Hagrid had made everyone a rather strong tea in ancient chipped mugs. Neville, Harry and Ron all held their cups, watching Hagrid intently.
"So, you've made us our tea. Now tell us what happened."
Harris sighed, fumbling with his sleeve. "Alrig' I'll tell you - but I'm not havin' no one judge me, if you were in my position you would've done the same thing."
Everyone watched intently as Hagrid tried to find the words to begin.

"I was at Azkaban, doing some Hogwarts business, when I hear somethin' near the trees. Now you know Azkaban, ain't no one living there, so I was worried. I stood there, waitin' for another sound, summat that showed whatever was there was ok to approach an' that.
An' that's when I heard it. A cry. A baby's cry. I ran towards the sound, and there she was - little baby Ivy. She looked no older than a year or two. Bundled up in nothin' more than a prison bed sheet, the poor little mite was freezin'! So I took her back here, and lay her, right there." He pointed to an old, broken wooden structure beside Neville: it looked as though it was a cot.

Averting his eyes away from the cot, Harry focussed his attention back to Hagrid. "Ok so you brought her here - that doesn't explain why she remembers you - after all, she was only a baby."
"That's because that's not the end of the story. I fed her, warmed her up and put her to sleep, and as I was doing this, I began to wonder who's child she was, and what she was doin' outside Azkaban. So I went back to Azkaban, determined to find Ivy's mother."

------

There were many things that Hermione knew - spells, potions, creatures, you name it, Hermione knew it all. Yet, with every visit to the library, although they had decreased considerably over the years, she learnt something new, and the magic that hummed from the ancient books never failed to welcome her back.
She entered Hogwarts library swiftly, not wanting to be seen by many. She knew it was lesson time now, so there shouldn't be too many students around.
"Hi Miss Granger!" A hufflepuff student wearing a golden 'library helper' badge waved eagerly at Hermione, causing them to nearly drop all the books they were holding in their other hand.
"Oh Hello! Just looking for a book if that's alright."
"That's more than alright! To your left is Historical and informative books, and to your right is -"
"Specific subject and the forbidden section two rows down." Hermione smiled as the hufflepuff girl blushed slightly.
"Of course, how could I forget? You know this place better than anyone. Well, if you need anything, I'll be down there." And with that, she rushed off with the books, her robes flapping behind her.

Hermione soon found what she was looking for - a navy book, with golden letters spelling "Muggle Studies Volume 2: creatures of the muggle world."
She began to flick through the pages, until she found what she had been looking for:
Vipera Latastei, a venemous viper species found in some parts of Southwestern Europe and Northwestern Africa...
Hermione's eyes scanned through the page; once finishing, she took the book and found the library helper, who had busied herself with organising the books.
"I'm going to need to borrow this, and all your books on Greek mythology."