Slowly she had become more accustomed to reading the ancient text and could now understand what was being said in almost all instances. What she found was that, unlike the Ministry of Magic, the author did not consider all rituals dark or evil in nature. What they had in common was some benefit being provided as a result of a sacrifice. Sacrifice, she realized, was the one thing that all rituals had in common. That did not mean, however, that an animal or person had to die for all of the sacrifices (although that was the case in many of them). Sometimes the sacrifice required was a prized possession or even a body part. She had been excited to find a ritual that would increase a witch's intelligence until she found that it would require sacrificing her virginity to a goblin under a full moon. She quickly decided that she was not interested in that one. Hermione found it all quite fascinating and found herself questioning the Ministry's stance that all rituals were dark. Not all of them included harming others or would affect a person's morals or sanity, so why lump them all together?
The book ended with notes on a ritual that she surprisingly recognized: The Ritual of Heron. However in modern times it had become known as the Riddle of Heron. It was famous because no one knew what it was or how to do it and yet every century or so a new wizard would claim to have figured it out, only to be disappointed when his ideas didn't work. Over two thousand years ago the ritual's creator had left a series of cryptic notes that had long since fascinated those who read them. The intriguing part of this book was that the author insisted to that he had found notes on the ritual from the creator that others had overlooked. Using this he pieced together much more of the instructions than anyone else ever had (assuming his notes were real of course). The author, however, had eventually reached a point from which he could go no further.
Hermione had always loved both riddles and challenge and began closely studying the author's work on the subject. She found herself agreeing with his conclusions on the hints left by the creator. The ritual would need nine different materials and nine different runes, not the seven or eight of each that modern wizards thought necessary. The book's author was convinced he had determined which nine runes would be needed but he could not figure out which nine materials were necessary. Hermione was very interested to find that the hints tied in with her research on permanent conjuration when she read that one of the materials could not be conjured and the eight others could only be done so with great difficulty. The author believed that four of the nine materials were gold, silver, bronze, and copper while he suspected that one of the others was a liquid of some kind.
Hermione suspected she could narrow down the search for the five missing materials through her research, although she had no plans on actually going through with the ritual. It was much too dangerous, after all no one knew what it did or what sacrifice it would require. Besides, she told herself, she was only working on it to satisfy her curiosity. There was no way she was going to attempt any of the rituals, even the ones she didn't consider dark. A ritual that was done incorrectly could have horrible consequences and so it was far too risky.
"This is nothing more than an intellectual exercise." she reassured herself as she reached for a roll of parchment to begin her own notes. "Nothing more."
...
Harry was in Transfigurations class and had just finished turning a mouse into a kitten when a younger student came into the room carrying a note which he gave to Professor McGonagall. After thanking him and sending him on his way McGonagall read the note.
"Mr Potter." Professor McGonagall said when she was done. "After class your presence is required at the Quidditch fields." Harry nodded and looked back at his work, but his concentration had been broken. He wondered what it could be about although he suspected it had something to do with the Triwizard Tournament. Interrupting his day to break some kind of news to him seemed to be exactly their style. The rest of the class passed slowly but eventually it came to an end. When it did he told his friends good-bye with promised to tell them what was going on and headed out to the Quidditch field.
On the way Harry remembered what he had seen the last time he had been to the fields: they were completely torn up. At the time he didn't think it had anything to do with the Triwizard Tournament but now he was beginning to suspect it did. He had not been back since that day, the sight of the ruined fields was just too depressing for him. Now however a magical barrier had been constructed above the fields that prevented him from seeing what they now looked like.
....
Join my P*atreon to enjoy 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/ScarletRosee (Remove the *)
Free members can get 2+ advanced chapters FOR FREE.