Chapter 268: Miscalculations

Chapter 268: Miscalculations

If you want to support me check out my patron at /athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 15 chapters ahead as a bonus.

I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

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9th February 2013, Malfoy Manor Read latest chapters at nov(e)lbin.com Only

(Hermione Granger POV)

She watched fascinated as the woman effortlessly rescued her sister and started breaking the members of the ritual. She even blocked a Killing Curse, somehow. No, not blocked, she froze it in midair and returned it to its castor, Malfoy, killing him.

And the worst thing was the emptiness in her eyes as she did all of this. She just looked so bored, so apathetic to the misery that she was condemning these men and women into, even those who had protested Rose's kidnapping.

Things were getting too far; Hermione couldn't afford to let Jasmine kill the members of the Court, since the less they are, the less powerful the ritual will be. Steeling herself, Hermione reminded herself that the lives that she will take that day were for the greater good. They would be used to defeat a vicious monster, a true threat to the magical world, and it would bring her closer to her goal of an equal magical Britain.

Hermione Granger simply walked to the door and activated the ritual, confident that it represented a giant leap of progress in the magical world.

The Muggleborn witch held her breath as the ritual started taking place. She admits that she has very little knowledge of soul magics, and most of it was due to the Peverell Grimoire, whose writers seemed to be masters in the subject. She didn't know if her modification to the Peverell ritual could take place. It wasn't much, she just removed the summoning aspect of it, which happened to be the most complicated part. It was very impressive that they had found a way to summon anyone or anything using a small connection, and for something as powerful and old as Death itself, the name was more than enough to do so. Names have power, after all.

But at least the bindings should hold out against Potter without issues, should her calculations be correct. Hermione Granger looked at the mirror once more and relished in the screams of the members of the Court. It was beautiful to see first-hand the agony that these arrogant fools felt at this moment. She only wished that she could've been there to watch it in person.

The Court of Shadows was a good idea, and it was a shame to watch it be destroyed, but it was also made up of her most oppressive opponents. They looked down on her because of her birth, because of her ideas, that they called idiotic. No, Hermione was a revolutionary, and today was the day she conquered magical Britain.

All of her ambitions seemed to evaporate when she heard a familiar scream. She knew this sound, she had heard it throughout her education in Hogwarts, during her foolish adventures. This was Nathan, but that didn't make any sense. Nathan wasn't supposed to die, he wasn't supposed to have been affected by the ritual.

The ritual was supposed to be powered with the life force of the members of the Court, marked by their rings. She had used the enchantments on the rings as a reference for the ritual to target them. It was why Hermione had declined her invitation to this meeting, claiming to have fallen ill.

Hermione's heartbreak must have shown on her face, because the woman burst into laughter, "You didn't mean to, did you? Oh, this is precious. You killed the only person who valued you as a human being, the only person who trusted you unconditionally, just to get more power. What a great start to your reign, Hermione Granger, performing a massacre, enslaving a woman, and killing your only friend."

The Muggleborn witch didn't want to think about it. Yes, she had made mistakes, but it was for the greater good, to make sure that magical Britain moves forward to a more progressive path. For some reason, Hermione didn't feel like she had won, like she was the one in charge.

In the end, the Muggleborn responded by glaring at her captive and yelling out, "Shut up! I did not enjoy doing this, I did not enjoy killing them, but I had no choice. I did this for the people of magical Britain, for their joy and happiness, to live in a society free of discrimination, one based on equality and not privilege."

The woman gave her a vicious grin, "Are you sure about that? You just killed off the main financial and politically active men and women in the country. I was planning on making them have scandal after scandal until they are not even paupers, which would get someone else to rise in their place. But you, dear girl, just killed off, in a single day, the pillars that made up magical Britain, without a second thought. And don't lie to me, I can feel it inside you. You enjoyed hearing their screams, their painful groans, vindictive at the ways that they dismissed you and your ideas, at the way they kept looking down on you, like you were nothing more than a mere peasant."

Why were this woman's words rattling her so much, why did she not feel in control. She had won, she had killed her enemies, she had bound her only remaining threat. Nothing was in her way of conquering magical Britain and shaping it in her image, towards her dreams and ambitions.

Then why was she feeling so bad? Why did she feel like she had a large weight on her shoulders? Like her hands were stained in blood that she couldn't just wash off?

She retorted back, "I made sure to steal their contacts, I have the wealth of the Court at my side, from the treasury we use to hire mercenaries or buy out lands. I am ready to take over, to shape Magical Britain in my hands."

The bound woman didn't seem impressed, "That's smart. You've been planning this from the beginning, to get rid of both me and the Court. To be free of our manipulations and power and becoming the master of your own fate. You have succeeded in paving your way to power, now tell me, Hermione Granger, how do you feel with your hands being forever stained in blood? How do feel now that you realize the monster that you've become, killer of friends and foes alike."

"SHUT UP!"

"You're just trying to justify it to yourself, say that it was for the best. But what you did today was wrong, and you know it. Deep in your heart, you realize the monster that you've become in your mad quest for equality. There's no such thing as true equality. The world is not fair, and all you're trying to do is take away the property of others to give to the general public, without even giving them an equal compensation. You're trying to steal their legacies and offer nothing in return. And when the old families oppose you, and they will, what will you do? Will you massacre them as well? Will you keep killing and killing until the only people left in this country are your supporters and you?"

Hermione had enough. With a scream, she leapt into the air, arms raised, trying to punch the bound woman, only to go through her. Jasmine Potter wasn't bound, and she turned, revealing the woman, unbound, sitting down on a conjured chair, "Well, aren't you going to answer my question?"

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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 15 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.