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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 100: Cleanse
"Wake her up." Voldemort sat down in front of the girl.
Hermione had magical ropes tied around her body and was well secured to her seat.
Everyone around her was completely focused on the young witch, unsure of how she would react after the Stunning Charm was removed.
McGonagall pointed her wand at Hermione and removed only the stunner, allowing her to regain her senses, but the ropes remained in place, preventing any sudden movements.
At first, Hermione looked around in confusion, but soon enough, her emotions seemed to become muted, and she returned to a calmer state.
"Miss Granger." McGonagall called. "Do you know where you are?"
"The Headmaster's office." She responded.
"And… do you know why you are here?"
Hermione shook her head. "Where is Harry?… I was supposed to return home…"
"By home, you mean the one in North London?" the professor asked.
Hermione shook her head. "My home is… with Harry."
"Azkaban? Pff, that's some poor taste for a home." Bellatrix scoffed, not needing to be reminded of her long stay in that place.
"Miss Granger, do you know what happened to your real home?" Moody asked. "Do you know what happened to your parents?"
There was a clear twitch in Hermione's eyes.
"My parents… are dead."
"They are." Moody nodded. "Do you recall how they died?"
"Harry killed my mother during his visit. He said that she had annoyed him." Hermione's tone was devoid of emotion, but her hands were trembling.
"What about your father? Did Harry kill him too?" Snape asked this time.
"No… I did." The girl confessed. "I stabbed him with a kitchen knife."
"Why?" McGonagall asked. "Why did you do that?"
Hermione lifted her eyes to look at McGonagall. "Because Harry told me to," she responded without hesitation.
"Mmm…" Voldemort got closer to observe her and moved his wand around her. "There is some magic compelling her to act this way. It's blocking her emotions and twisting her loyalty to its limits. Very interesting..."
"More like horrifying..." Tonks scoffed, remembering how Harry had also manipulated her at one point.
"But what is it?" McGonagall wondered. "We already tested her for potions, and it doesn't look like she is under the Imperius Curse either."
"No, that's definitely not the Imperius," Voldemort said. "And that boy would not be stupid enough to attempt to control several individuals with potions and curses. Those have limited effects and require being constantly reapplied."
"What is it?" Sirius looked furious at the mere idea of what that monster had done to this poor girl. "What did he do to her?"
"This is the work of a dark artifact," Voldemort said. "And it must be somewhere in her body so it can maintain the compulsion of loyalty."
"Like a ring or a necklace?" Sirius glanced at Hermione but could not find an obvious culprit. The girl wore no rings, and he could not see anything tied around her neck either.
"I doubt it's something so obvious," Bella said. "Just take all her clothes. We'll find it."
"I will not do such a thing inside a room filled with people." McGonagall frowned.
"We can give her some privacy," Snape said. "We need to find that object and remove it as soon as possible."
"Oh?" Voldemort stopped for a moment when his wand was hovering around Hermione's neck. "There is something here… It's well hidden."
"An invisibility enchantment?" Tonks suggested.
"Mayhaps… let me try something." Voldemort tapped his wand on Hermione's neck.
At first, nothing happened, but a moment later, they all saw a spark of light.
"AhhhhHHhh!" Hermione let out a blood-curdling scream that startled everyone present.
"What did you do to her?!" McGonagall was just ready to push Voldemort away from her student.
"I believe I found it. It has some primitive security measures." Voldemort said.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" Hermione continued to scream until Bella stood up and pointed her wand at her.
"Silencio!"
The next scream died in Hermione's mouth as she could no longer produce any sound, but her expression of horror clearly showed that she was still suffering.
"Stop that!" Sirius exclaimed. "Are you trying to kill her?"
"Shut up and let me concentrate already!" Voldemort said. "I almost have it."
Sirius was not convinced by this, but then Moody placed a hand on him. "If anyone has a chance of removing a cursed artifact from that girl… it's that man."
No one could argue with that, so they allowed Voldemort to continue whatever it was he was doing while Hermione suffered in silence.
A very long minute passed after that, and when they were already starting to think that Hermione might not survive this endeavor… a smirk appeared on Voldemort's face.
"I got it!"
There was a loud snap, and then they all saw something black falling from Hermione's neck.
"A snake?!" Sirius said.
It really looked like it had been a snake at first sight.
But once it lay on the floor of the office and they could get a better look, they all realized that it was a black leather collar.
"A slavery collar… I see." Voldemort commented. "I have seen those before."
Their attention shifted to the girl, and they were relieved to find out that she was still breathing.
"We should call Madam Pomfrey to examine her," Tonks suggested.
McGonagall hurried to remove the restraints on her, as well as the Silencing Charm that Bellatrix had placed on her.
"Miss Granger… can you hear me?" The Headmistress held her student so she wouldn't fall from her seat as she appeared to be waking up from a trance.
Her eyes opened up slightly and moved around, scanning everything until they landed back on McGonagall.
"P-Professor… I'm sorry…"
"It's okay, my dear. You have nothing to apologize for." McGonagall tried to sound reassuring.
"You don't understand…" Tears fell from Hermione's face. "I have done terrible things… H-He… He made me. He…"
She was having difficulty speaking and was still in evident pain.
"We are going to take you to Madam Pomfrey first." McGonagall turned to Snape. "Help me carry her."
"I have questions for the girl." Voldemort said.
"Your questions will have to wait." McGonagall responded in a harsh tone, and for a moment, it almost reminded her of all those times when she had to say the same thing to Dumbledore.
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