different coven when they're 11
A secret pact of three young souls, bound by courage, curiosity, and magic—witnessed under flickering candlelight by a professor who saw their potential before the world did.
📚 Setting: Hogwarts, First Year – December Night
The air is cold, the common room fire dimmed to embers. Hermione has found a passage in an old library book about "friendship circles"—an old, pre-Hogwarts bonding ritual among young magical folk. She proposes they try it. Harry agrees instantly. Ron is mostly in for the snacks.
They sneak into a forgotten antechamber near the Astronomy Tower—a circular stone room with windows like a crown and leftover candles from some ancient ritual.
But as they're setting up... they get caught.
🧙 Who’s the Witness?
Professor McGonagall.
Not angry. Just there. She’s been following odd reports of candles floating in unused classrooms and first years whispering in old tongues.
She walks in on them setting up their “coven circle.” Hermione freezes. Ron drops a biscuit. Harry instinctively tries to hide a toadstone behind his back.
“And what exactly do you three think you’re doing?”
Her voice is sharp, but her eyes are... curious.
They explain, stumbling through the idea of forming a “magical group for trust and protection.” Harry says something about not being afraid if they stick together. Hermione’s eyes are shining. Ron mumbles that it’s “just a dumb little ritual thing, really.”
McGonagall pauses. Then she sits down beside them.
🕯️ The Ritual (With McGonagall as Witness)
She says nothing at first, but with a flick of her wand, she lights the candles for them—three small flames.
“There was a time when forming such a bond was considered sacred. Forgotten magic, perhaps—but magic still.”
She lets them lead.
They hold hands in a triangle.
Hermione reads a poem she wrote (bad rhyme, good heart).
Harry offers a small rock from the lakeshore: “For strength.”
Ron gives a sugar quill, broken in half: “To share even the sweet stuff.”
Then Hermione says:
“We promise to protect each other. Always. Even if we fight or mess up or get caught by Filch.”
“We promise to listen. And to believe each other—even when nobody else does.”
“We promise to be brave. Together.”
McGonagall raises her wand slightly.
“Then let the promise be heard,” she says.
The flames lift, swirl together, and briefly glow gold.
And just like that—it's not a game anymore.
📜 McGonagall’s Gift to Them
Before she leaves, she reaches into her robe and hands Hermione a small piece of parchment.
“This used to be part of an older Hogwarts tradition. Lost to time, like many good things. Perhaps you’ll bring it back.”
It’s a Coven Charter—blank, except for the title:
“The Circle of Three”
The rest is meant to be written by them.
She leaves without another word, but they hear her mutter, almost fondly:
“Mischief managed indeed.”
🔮 What the Charter Becomes
Over the next few weeks, they write in it:
Silly spells.
Secret messages.
A log of adventures.
A section titled “Things We’re Afraid Of” that they update often.
The magic of the charter? It only appears when all three are in the same room.
💫 Little Touches of Magic from McGonagall
The parchment glows warm when one of them is in danger.
New pages appear when they learn something important together.
In their seventh year, when they’re far apart, it glows gold again—just once—to remind them: they were never truly alone.