Flight of the Stars

Chapter Fourteen

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, since I'm not J.K. Rowling. In all honesty, that's probably a good thing, since I'd take so many liberties with the characters that my readers wouldn't even know what was canon anymore. Now I can do it for free! :D

A/N: I'd recommend Queen by Loren Gray and Confident by Demi Lovato.

o-0-o

Hermione healed rather quickly, but her pride was still bruised beyond repair. The attack had given her new purpose, and as soon as she was released from the hospital wing, she pushed herself harder than ever in her studies, determined to refine her skills and surpass her classmates. In addition, she spent nearly every waking minute that she wasn't in classes browsing the Restricted Section. As she was a seventh year, she had free access to it, and she made the most of her new privileges, checking out books such as The Imperius Curse: How to Effectively Protect Yourself, Occlumency and the Mind, and Animagus Transformations: Meditation Exercises to Discover Your True Form. If the librarian suspected anything, she didn't show it, but simply stamped the library card in each book she was handed.

After curfew, Hermione also read some of the Darker books that she knew would raise questions, books that detailed brewing instructions for advanced potions, incantations for spells. She knew she could give an excuse if she was asked about them, but it was far easier to read them by wandlight when the library was closed and empty.

Of course, her increased studying took a toll on her, much as it had in her third year when she had taken the extra classes. She drank a Sleeping Draught each night before bed, but it still affected her overall appearance. She found she didn't care, though. She had a limited amount of time before the school year ended and once she graduated, she wouldn't have access to the library's seemingly endless resources.

It showed in her schoolwork, too. She was walking in the corridor one day, around a week after the attack, when she heard some of the professors talking in an empty classroom. Ducking behind a column and performing a Disillusionment charm on herself, she strained her ears to listen.

"– and my word, I've never seen a child so ambitious in all my years at Hogwarts! And I've been here a considerable time, as you might remember."

"Except, perhaps, for Tom Riddle. A pair if I've ever seen one. I'm not quite sure which is the more powerful of the two."

"I'd say Mr. Riddle, but it would be a very small margin."

"Their magical skill is quite impressive, especially for children not quite graduated. They'll go far, I'm sure of it."

"A pity the only jobs available are Hogwarts and the Ministry. Working for the school or working for the government. A right shame."

Their conversation turned to other things, and Hermione smiled. The professors' opinions on the Ministry seemed to coincide with Slughorn's. Maybe her chosen path wouldn't be as difficult as she and Tom had originally assumed. Taking care to step softly so they wouldn't hear her, she abandoned eavesdropping and made her way up to the Room of Requirement for a dueling session with Tom.

Instead of sitting in one of the armchairs, she found him browsing the books in one of the bookshelves. He nodded when he saw her. "Today we will work on wandless magic."

Wandless magic? She stared at him, astonished. "But that's incredibly advanced."

"And I know you can perform it," Tom said quietly. He walked over to her and took her wand, turning it over in his hands. "You were attacked. What was the first thing they did? They took your wand. Without a wand, almost all witches and wizards are as helpless as Muggles, with the exception of Dumbledore." His mouth twisted for a moment, then he continued, "If you can perform magic without a wand, it will guarantee that you will always be able to defend yourself."