Hermione shares with her Father just how she was able to get into the Department of Mysteries and the two begin to plan.

So here’s the chapter explaining how Hermione was able to get into the Department of Mysteries.

The next morning during breakfast, Severus had indeed confronted Hermione about the prefect position in front of her the Dark Lord. While excited about the possibility, Hermione wasn’t fooled either. This was a blatant attempt to force her to relocate back into the Slytherin dormitories.

When she’d said as much, Severus just sat there expressionless while her Father just smirked at her discomfort. Snape tried to make his case that having the additional responsibility of being prefect would look favorable, and serve to discredit Dumbledore further when the time came for her to put her plan into motion.

While she thought the argument weak...

Her father did not, and all but told her that he’d expected her to do her duty to her House, as she was Slytherin’s Heir after all.

Draco was rather pleased with the turn of events, as it would allow him to spend additional time with Hermione. A point he was quick to make when they were alone in the library later on.

“I’m glad you’re happy about the situation, Malfoy! But I had no intention of returning to the dorms this year.” She complained petulantly.

“This is a good thing, Granger! I can help you with whatever plan you’ve hatched with your Father. You deserve the prefect position. You’re the smartest in our year by far! Don’t you want the position?”

Sighing, Hermione wrinkled her nose in that way Draco found adorable. “It’s not that I don’t think I deserve the position, and I’m not afraid of the additional responsibility, I just don’t want to be in the dorms with a bunch of people who barely tolerate me. The sad thing is if they knew my heritage, they’d all be fawning over me. Is it wrong to want people to like me for who I am, and not just because of my blood status?”

“I understand, and I wish we didn’t have to hide your identity either, but Slytherin is where you belong. Dumbledore is not an idiot, and if you’re back in Slytherin House, you’ll have the benefit of necessary alibi’s should you need them. It’s common knowledge amongst the other houses, that you don’t have many allies within Slytherin, so Dumbledore would never suspect anyone of lying to protect you.”

Hermione considered that thought, and she begrudgingly admitted that Draco had a point. “Fine. I’ll move back into the dorms, but I swear to Merlin! If one person pulls any stunts like they did in second year, Malfoy, I’ll not be held responsible for how I retaliate.”

Snickering at his witch and her penchant for vindictiveness, Draco smiled, “No one would expect you to, love. In fact, I would be more than happy to throw a few hexes in anyone’s direction, should they become a problem.”

“You think I need your protection, Malfoy?”

Shaking his head and smirking, he replied, “I think nothing of the sort, Granger. But you can’t expect me to sit back if someone tries to hurt you. I won’t.”

Hermione came over and sat next to Draco, who took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her knuckles. “This is torture, Granger! I want to kiss you so badly right now, and I can’t, because your bloody snake is somewhere around here acting as a lethal chaperone. Lucky for us we are back in school in a couple days.” Draco grinned, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“And what makes you think I’m going to let you snog me, Malfoy, once we get back to school? I’m going to be awfully busy this year, studying for O.W.L.S. So, it’s doubtful I’ll have much time for socializing.”

“I’ve told you before, Granger, about my ability to multi-task.”

“You only do so when you want something, Malfoy.” Hermione tsked, while Draco just winked at her knowingly.

“True enough, since in this case I’ve made my intentions perfectly clear.”

Hermione just shook her head and smiled at the arrogant prat. She could admit, only to herself of course, that she missed kissing Draco as well. She missed the way he made her feel, all out of control with wanton lust. But she needed to focus this year on her task, and that wasn’t going to be easy to do if she allowed the gorgeous wizard sitting next to her, the power to distract her.

She was also distracted from commenting further, when her Father entered the library, effectively scaring Draco off for the time being.

Hermione watched Draco leave the library, then turned towards her Father. “Good afternoon, Father.”

Voldemort nodded at his daughter, and sat down across from her. “There are a few things I wish to discuss with you, Daughter. Some of which, I’m sure will displease you. However, the decisions I make going forward will be with your best interests in mind.”

Hermione nodded her head, “Of course, Father.”

“As I’m sure you’re aware, Hermione—as your adoptive parents are Muggles, you have no true legal magical guardian. In cases such as these, your Head of House takes on that responsibility. I have spoken with Severus and he understands that whilst I may trust him, his proximity to Dumbledore makes it untenable for him to remain as your magical representative.”

Hermione’s eyes widened in understanding. “You’re going to have Lord Malfoy take on that duty, aren’t you? Even though I blackmailed the man and his son wishes to court me?”

Smirking at the quick intellect of his daughter, the Dark Lord just nodded in agreement.

Hermione however, sighed in frustration. “Did you make this announcement after I left last night?”

“You are quite intuitive, Daughter. Yes, I did ask Lucius to take on the role, as I cannot currently. He did suggest however, I speak to you beforehand. Something about not wishing to get hexed, nor blackmailed. I think you’ve sufficiently managed to ruffle dear Lucius feathers, something I’m sure I’ve never seen.”

Hermione lips twisted at the thought. “If you’re looking for an apology, I’m afraid I don’t have one to offer.”

Voldemort shook his head, “No, Daughter. I’d be disappointed if you did apologize. On the contrary, I’m proud of your ingenuity and resourcefulness. I do have a question however.” Hermione nodded and motioned for her father to continue. “You’d mentioned that the wards of Hogwarts are attuned to Dumbledore, and he would sense anyone trying to dismantle them, I would assume that would include anyone trying to access, or leave the castle in any fashion? If you were able to gain access to the Department of Mysteries, even through the Room of Requirement, he’d have been alerted to your comings and goings. And I’m most intrigued how the room was able to create a passage from Hogwarts to the Ministry.”

Hermione smiled triumphantly. “Yes, that’s true to an extent. Did you know in third year, Sirius Black gained access to Hogwarts? Got through the protective wards, undetected?”

Voldemort steepled his hands and nodded once, wondering where his daughter was going with this.

“He was able to do so because he is an animagus. It’s how he was able to break out of Azkaban, how he stayed relatively sane living under dementors for 12 years. They can’t sense animagi, and apparently, neither can the wards at Hogwarts. Loopholes are interesting things, much like curse-breaking. Find the exception to the rule, and you can bend the rule.”

The Dark Lord looked at his daughter in astonishment, which seemed to be happening on a daily occurrence.

“Are you trying to tell me, Daughter, that you, a fifteen year old witch, are an animagus?”

Hermione nodded, stood up with her wand and shifted into her animagus form. She curled up and hissed at her father in parseltongue. “So what do you think, Father?”

Voldemort laughed uncontrollably. He’d never thought in a million years that anyone could surprise him, but his own flesh and blood continued to astonish him in new and interesting ways.

“You are amazing, Daughter, but I’d much prefer it if you returned back to your normal state.” He hissed in return.

Morphing back into herself, Hermione smirked at her father, who just shook his head in wonder. “Does anyone else know you can do this?”

Hermione nodded, “Only Mrs. White. She was the one who helped me perfect my transformation earlier this summer.”

“Then I highly suggest you keep this between us, as there is no reason for anyone to become aware of your animagus form.”

“Of course, Father.”

“And the passage?” Voldemort inquired.

Hermione smirked once again and took out a small book from her beaded bag and handed it over. Voldemort gazed at the markings in the book and raised an eyebrow in understanding.

“These are cuneiform and hieroglyphs.”

Hermione nodded her head emphatically. “I found this in Salazar’s library. I was able to create a temporal portal using the information within this book. The only reason it worked, was due to the fact that there is a space chamber of some kind within the Department of Mysteries. It took me nearly a full year to create a stable passageway.”

Voldemort gaped completely gobsmacked at his child. “Would you be able to replicate it?”

“Potentially, although it did require quite a bit of magic to activate and left me quite drained for several days afterwards.”

“I see.” He replied sternly. “Whilst I appreciate your ingenuity, Hermione, I’d rather not have you tax your magic again. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Father.”

The two of them spent the remainder of the afternoon plotting on how to best utilize Skeeter and how they were going to bring Dumbledore to his knees.

Hermione felt rather pleased with herself.

Her Father really seemed to value her opinion and was proud of her cunning and intelligence. She would need to make sure she kept exceeding his expectations. She wasn’t foolish enough to suppose that he wouldn’t push her to excel, but she realized that perhaps she needed to be a bit more careful just how much of her brilliance and cleverness she allowed him to see.