Time Has No Boundaries

That night, Hermione was feeling a bit better. Physically, that is. Mentally, she was a wreck. Realizing that she was responsible for ending two human lives, causing despair amongst their families and friends, made her feel like she was no better than the person who she had come to stop. In fact, Hermione felt lower than Tom Riddle. She was a murderer, and he hadn't done anything yet.

She lay in her bed, trying to complete her make up work. Professor Dippet said that she didn't have to do it, but she had insisted. She would need a strong education, especially in Defense Against the Dark Arts, if she planned on being an Auror. That was a career decision that she had only made recently. Anyway, keeping herself occupied had always helped her forget her problems.

She was so wrapped up in her studies that she was completely oblivious to the fact that someone had come in the room.

"Hello, Hermione."

In surprise, she spilt ink all over her parchment. The voice had come from the mouth of no other than her so-called "hero", Tom Riddle.

"Oh, great. I'm going to have to redo this whole paper!" she said, sounding very bitter.

"Sorry to scare you like that. I can fix it." He reached for his wand, but he could not find it. "Shoot, I must have left it in the dorm."

He stood there for a moment, wondering whether he should show her what he could do. He knew that she wasn't who she seemed. But being the natural show-off that he was, he decided to go for it. He hadn't studied for several years to have no one witness his accomplishment.

Hermione gave Tom a bewildered look. He was in a trance, staring at her paper. After a few seconds, she looked down to see that the ink stain was gone, and her paper was perfect again. Her jaw dropped.

"You-you-you know telepathic magic!"

***

Hermione had found the book during her 2nd year, when she had been spending countless hours in the library alone, searching for information on the basilisk. When she had nearly read every book in the library without any luck, she decided that her best bet was to look in the Restricted Section. She set out that night, hidden by Harry's invisibility cloak.

After glancing at about five books, she grabbed a dark purple one with gold lettering. She read the title: No Wands Needed: A Beginners Guide to Telepathic Magic

Intrigued, she flipped open the first page and read:

Welcome. This book contains all the necessary information on a one year introductory course to telepathic magic. You must be warned however, that it estimated that only a mere 1% of wizards and witches are capable of getting any results, even after years of study. Only the most intellectual, patient, and ambitious will succeed in mastering this powerful art.

She sat there for hours, reading in the dark by the light of her lantern. She couldn't stop; every word took her to a new high. At every page turn her hands trembled, a sign of her conscious telling her to stop. It wasn't for no reason that this book was in the Restricted Section.

In the middle of chapter five, she heard the door open. Finally taking her eyes off the book, she realized that it was morning already. Giving no thought to it, she shoved the book into her bag. She put the invisibility cloak over her and tiptoed to the door. She looked over to see that Madam Pince had come in to organize some books that had been returned. She waited, watching her disappear behind a bookshelf before she crept quietly through the door.

Hermione looked at her watch. Good, it's only 5 a.m. Hopefully no one is up. She hurried up to the common room, and the Fat Lady gave her a curious look when she told her the password.

"Have you been up all night, child?" the portrait asked.

"Uh... no." Hermione couldn't think up a good excuse quickly enough, so she rushed inside before she could be questioned any further.

She quietly made her way upstairs to the girls' dorm room, making sure to skip over the creaky step. Slipping into her pajamas, she looked around to see that everyone was thankfully deep in sleep. She took the book out of her bag and locked it in her drawer. She got into bed, instantly asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

She woke up two hours later, surprisingly feeling rather awake. She was thankful it was Saturday. She turned over and grabbed her giant dictionary of magic from off her nightstand. Flipping to the T's, she found a short paragraph on telepathic magic. She had remembered coming across it once last year when she had read the whole book, but didn't quite remember what it had said.

Refreshing her memory, she read:

Telepathic magic is very dangerous and powerful. Using only the powers of the mind, no tools or verbal spells are needed. Two years ago, telepathic magic was classified as a Dark Art and is now officially guarded by a strict code of ethics. It is illegal without a special permit from the Ministry of Magic.

NOTE: It is said that wizard children possess a slight degree of uncontrolled telepathic magic before beginning their education. It is usually mild and harmless. Once wand casting is learned most children lose this ability.

She closed the book slowly. They lose their ability? Hermione never lost hers, although it was much weaker and had become less frequent. Sometimes, all the pressure from trying to be perfect in everything she did would take its toll, and things would happen. Mirrors would break when she looked at her hair after someone had teased her about it. Books would shred when she had been studying too long. Those were uncontrolled. But somehow she always could fix them instantly. She suddenly realized that she was controlling those.

Could I possibly possess a natural gift for telepathic magic, something that even the most powerful wizards don't have?

On that thought, she smiled. She put the book back on the nightstand. Suddenly feeling tired again, she went back into a solemn sleep.

***

"Shhh! Don't say it so loud! Hardly anyone knows about it!"

"How did you learn it?" Hermione asked.

"A book," he said simply.

"But it's banned by the Ministry-" Her voice trailed off. She had forgotten that she was in the past. She quickly said, "Er, what book?"

"Some book I stumbled across once; it's called No Wands Needed. So, are you impressed?" Tom said with a coy grin.

She took a swing at his spirits. "Actually, no. I'm not impressed at all. That book is rubbish, only for beginners."

He looked taken aback at that statement, and this time his jaw dropped. "You know telepathic magic, too?"

"Yes, and I've gotten damn good at it," she said quite smugly. She probably shouldn't have chosen Tom Riddle to be the first bearer of her secret, but for some reason she couldn't resist showing him up. It was just in her nature to be the best at everything.

"Really? Would you like to back up that statement with some proof?"

He was asking for it. Hermione took a deep breath and focused her eyes on Tom. His feet gradually rose off the floor before he stopped to hover in mid air.

"Well!" he exclaimed. "I am impressed."

"Oh, I'm not done yet." Her tone made him worried.

"Then what are you- Hey!" he exclaimed as he was turned upside down.

Hermione laughed at his astonished expression. "How long do you want to hang like this?"

Her laughter ceased, however, when she saw what had fallen out of his robes. Her lost book was lying there, opened, on the floor below him.