Chapter 115: Guests
I blinked in surprise...
"Hermione, stop."
"I don't have time, Malfoy..."
She said it in a tone that made me realize I had screwed up somewhere.
"I said stop! Since when the hell did I suddenly become Malfoy? And why are you dressed in Gryffindor colors at all?"
I grabbed her shoulder, turned her toward me, and with my other hand caught the fist she tried to punch me in the jaw with.
"What happened to you?!"
"Get off me, Malfoy!"
"What happened to you?! You're shouting, walking around in a Gryffindor uniform, even though you're in Ravenclaw..."
"What nonsense are you spouting..."
Letting go of Hermione, I quickly drew my wand and paralyzed her. She could only widen her eyes in shock and fear, and then I lifted her with a spell and carried her to the hospital wing.
"Mr. Black?"
Poppy greeted me with slight confusion.
"Madam Pomfrey, please examine my friend. I think someone has seriously been digging around in her head."
"And what led you to that conclusion?"
Poppy frowned, because accusations like that were extremely serious.
"Well, to begin with, she's dressed in Gryffindor colors. Second, she called me Malfoy several times and is behaving as if I'm her number one enemy. Of course, it's possible this is all some foolish joke, but I don't think Hermione is that good an actress, not good enough to pull off something like this."
"Hmm..."
One wave of the wand, and Hermione, who had been lying on the bed, could move again.
"You attacked me!"
She tried to jump off the bed, but one short spell from Poppy made her collapse back onto it.
"Miss Granger, I ask that you not move. Mr. Black has given very strong reasons for his actions. So lie still."
"What Black? He's Malfoy! The son of a Death Eater!"
I blinked, and my gaze sharpened slightly.
"Now then..."
Poppy frowned and passed her wand over Hermione a couple more times, while Hermione watched her warily and made no attempt to get up again.
"...who are you, miss?"
"Um?"
She stared at Poppy in shock.
"Madam Pomfrey, what are you talking about? I... you fixed my teeth recently, right after his spell!"
She jabbed a finger in my direction.
"I fixed the real Miss Granger's bite in first year, while you, as you correctly noted, had your bite fixed recently. So, who are you?"
"What, are you on his side too?!"
I waved my wand, and a Patronus appeared beside me, making Hermione shut up and stare at it in shock.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, please come to the hospital wing. Someone has infiltrated Hogwarts disguised as Hermione Granger."
The Patronus immediately bounded away, and a couple of seconds later, I cast another one.
"Hermione, could you come to the hospital wing?"
The Patronus froze, turned slightly toward Hermione on the bed, shifted uncertainly from foot to foot as if sniffing the air, then turned and ran toward the hospital wing exit, growing more confident with every step.
Literally three minutes later, the fireplace in the hospital wing flared, and Dumbledore stepped out.
"Headmaster! This... Malfoy attacked me!"
Hearing Hermione's cry, Dumbledore frowned slightly.
"Miss Granger, if this is a joke, it is not funny..."
Hermione widened her eyes and blinked in surprise a couple of times.
"...but first, you should introduce yourself, since your disguise has clearly failed, and we won't let you go until we learn the truth."
"Headmaster?"
There was a note of panic in Hermione's voice.
You're wearing Gryffindor colors even though you're in Ravenclaw. From your expression, you clearly dislike Mr. Black, even though you've been friends with him since first year, and you call him by his late father's surname, even though after his death, Narcissa née Black returned to the House, and Draco rightfully bears the name Black.
"What nonsense?"
I saw that she wanted to shout, but couldn't bring herself to. One look at the serious Headmaster deterred her from making any demands.
"This is not a trivial matter, miss, so it would be better for you to introduce yourself. Otherwise, we will be forced to act more harshly, perhaps even cruelly."
"Headmaster..."
Panic rose in Hermione's voice.
"...but I... he attacked... this is..."
"Very well, you don't want to do this the easy way, so we'll do it the hard way..."
While the Headmaster was talking to Hermione, I stepped slightly aside and made my projection.
"Headmaster, do you mind if I leave a projection here? I have a lesson now..."
I looked at Dumbledore with a bit of doubt, and he nodded, after which I hurried to leave the hospital wing.
"Draco?"
The moment I reached the stairs, Hermione came out to meet me, and with a sigh of relief, I examined her carefully.
"Safe..."
"Huh?"
Confusion flickered in her eyes.
"Where do you live?"
"Um... in Ravenclaw Tower..."
"And outside Hogwarts?"
"Draco?"
"Just answer."
"Well, all right..."
She shrugged.
"...in your quarters."
"What happened to your father in France?"
She frowned.
"He was injured and had to pay for expensive treatment. If not for you, we wouldn't have managed it, and Father would probably have stayed crippled for the rest of his life."
"Good. What is my name?"
"Draco..."
"Surname?"
"Black... are you going to tell me what's happening?"
Yes. I caught your double.
"Double? Is that some kind of joke? Or a play on words?"
"No, not a joke. A girl who looks almost exactly like you... only... Ha, I didn't even notice right away. She's much more disheveled, damn it, like you were in first year before we met..."
Hermione flushed with embarrassment because, for a time before she learned cosmetic charms, she had been very, very disheveled. Her hair was unruly, after all, and difficult to care for.
"Um... so what should I do?"
"What should you do? Go to the hospital wing. The Headmaster should be there now, along with my projection. Maybe your appearance will get that person talking."
"Uh-huh..."
Hermione nodded and headed back toward the hospital wing, while I decided to hurry to my lesson.
*** Hospital Wing. ***
"Hmm..."
"What happened?"
Hermione looked at me with shock, disbelief, and a kind of horror.
"I just met Hermione. She's on her way to the hospital wing. She'll be here in two minutes."
"What nonsense? I am Hermione... or..."
At that, Hermione's eyes widened in shock.
"No! That can't be allowed!"
"And why is that?"
Dumbledore smiled.
"Headmaster..."
She glanced in my direction, clearly not wanting to speak in my presence.
...Professor McGonagall gave me an artifact. I am not allowed to meet myself!
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
The Headmaster looked at Hermione in surprise.
"Well... I signed up for all the extra classes, and to be everywhere at once, the professor gave me an artifact..."
"What nonsense?"
I blinked.
"All the extra classes? No one would have allowed you to sign up for those classes, because some of them happen at the same... same time... No..."
I shook my head.
"...no, no, and again, no..."
"Draco?"
"Headmaster, the Time-Turner..."
Dumbledore's eyes widened in confusion and disbelief.
"Wait, Draco. The Time-Turner is certainly an interesting artifact, but that does not explain this girl's presence here. Besides, such an artifact is not issued without my knowledge, and I gave no permission for it."
Hermione stared in shock first at me, then at Dumbledore, and then, when the door creaked, at her exact copy, but in a Ravenclaw uniform.
"Um... Draco, Headmaster Dumbledore..."
She gave a short nod, then looked at her almost identical copy, who was still lying in the bed.
"Miss Granger..."
Dumbledore nodded to her, then shifted his gaze to Hermione lying in bed.
"So, Miss Granger... have we understood correctly that you were given a Time-Turner so you could attend all your classes?"
"Y-yes..."
"No..."
The answer from both Hermiones came at the same time, and they stared at each other in shock and confusion.
"Now... but... as you correctly noted, that is not how this works..."
I shook my head.
"Granger..."
I looked at Hermione in the bed.
"...take out your Time-Turner."
No!
"Miss Granger, do not force me to intervene. Take out the Time-Turner and hand it to Mr. Black."
"But Headmaster..."
With a trembling hand, Hermione pulled the Time-Turner from under her clothes, removed it from her neck, and held it out to me.
"...it's... he..."
"Right... Tippy!"
I didn't take the artifact right away. Instead, I called the house-elf.
"Tippy is here, great wizard Black!"
"Tippy, bring me the red chest from my room. It's in the wardrobe, in the area where the girls and I work."
"It will be done!"
The house-elf disappeared immediately.
"You use slave labor!"
I blinked.
"Damn, was I really this stupid?! Slave labor? Listen, have you ever even wondered why creatures who can cast magic without wands haven't rebelled and slaughtered wizards?"
"They were enchanted!"
"Enchanted..."
Hermione nodded at her copy's words.
"...except there are several reasons for that, and the main one..."
What followed was a short lecture, during which the newcomer changed color several times. It was clear that she had not known any of this and did not want to believe what our Hermione was telling her. But the glances she kept throwing at Dumbledore, and his confirming nods, did not allow her to start arguing.
"And do you know the funniest part?"
"What?"
Granger's voice was dazed.
"That almost all of this information is freely available in the Hogwarts library, but you never even bothered to read about the so-called slaves."
Granger lowered her head. Meanwhile, I had already taken a sealed suit from the chest that had been brought, put it on over my everyday clothes, and only then did I take the artifact that had been hanging in the air.
"Very prudent..."
Dumbledore nodded.
...using an artifact suit that prevents other artifacts from detecting a living person's touch... Prudent.
When working with unknown artifacts, most of which are cursed, a suit like this greatly prolongs one's life...
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