Hermione practically inhaled her omelette, not even savouring the rich flavour like she normally did. She had skipped dinner yesterday, instead opting to study for a Charms quiz today. She knew all the stuff, but she couldn’t sleep until she had reviewed every last subject on the practice sheet.
Which, as it turned out, took all night.
After swallowing a pot of coffee and hexing herself to stay alert, she felt like she had gotten an adequate amount of sleep. Hermione felt herself start to review the subjects again, and quickly shut them out. She knew as well as anyone that she needed a quick break- it would help her cool down from the studying bout. Beside her, Harry and Ron seemed to have no such concerns, picking away at their shared toast while having a deep conversation about whether you could turn your own wand into something else, using your wand. Hermione rolled her eyes- obviously you could. A wand was merely a vessel.
She threw back her head to down the rest of her too-sweet orange juice, planning to stand up to go and finish her ‘the properties of Boggarts’ essay that the boys would undoubtedly steal, but a flurry of movement stopped her as owls started pouring in from the roof. She sighed, leaning back in her chair. There was no way she was going to fight through a flock of owls- she would just wait until they were all gone and then leave. The Boggart essay could wait, it was an extra credit assignment that technically wasn’t due until next month. And today was the third.
“Hey, look!” Ron exclaimed, pointing up at his ragged-looking owl struggling to set down. The owl collapsed in the juice bowl, desperately drinking it in as Ron just managed to save the letter. He tore it open, and smiled.
“Charlie’s coming back for a visit!” He smiled. “He said he’d bring me a souvenir, so it better be good.”
“Good for you, mate,” Harry said, ignoring his few fan letters hoping to talk to Harry Potter. Hermione knew she wouldn’t get any letters- so as everyone was finishing up breakfast and the owls diminished, the loud squawk made everyone look up. A huge black owl was gliding on the air- beelining right for her. It landed softly right on top of Ron's letter, to which he protested and tried to yank it back, and held out its leg. A red envelope was knotted to its claws, and the students around them turned to stare as Harry leaned forwards in interest.
“Why’d you get a Howler?” He asked, leaning forwards in interest as Ron stuffed his fingers in his ears. Hermione untied it with a shaky hand and open mouth, holding it gingerly.
“You better open it,” Ron warned loudly. “It’s starting to smoke.”
He wasn’t wrong. White smoke curled from the envelope, blackening the edges.
“I know, Ron,” she snapped, instantly regretting it as Ron leaned back. She shook it off and slowly tore the top off, cringing back. She had no idea what it would say, but whatever she might’ve thought it was, it wasn’t this.
“Never gonna give you up.” It was extremely loud, and everyone turned their heads as people started laughing. “Never gonna let you down.”
Bewilderment rose up inside of her- but with a sudden flash of realization, Hermione groaned and slammed the heel of her hand into her forehead. Everyone giggled at the fact that someone got a Howler, haha- but it was the Muggleborns that laughed the loudest as snorts rang through the Hall. But the Howler wasn’t done.
“Never gonna run around and desert you,” it shouted in a baritone. During the beat of silence, Hermione watched Muggleborns look to each other, grinning and taking a deep breath.
“Never gonna make you cry,” the Muggleborns all shouted. “Never gonna say goodbye.”
The pureblood and halfbloods started back at the sudden burst of singing. Ron looked confused and like he wanted to join in too, and Harry was grinning as widely as he could. The volume amped up by a lot, causing some of the previously-not-singing muggleborns to join in, including Hermione and Harry.
“Never gonna tell a lie, and hurt you,” they all yelled, standing up and towering over the astounded purebloods. Just at that moment, the bells signalling for class sounded, causing half the student to swarm out in a burst of conversation, and the other half to laugh at her for being… what was it called? Rickrolled? The people standing on the benches got down with no little amount of reluctance, but Hermione could still hear a faint chorus of people continuing to mumble the following verse. The Great Hall was a flurry of movement as the collective energy broke up, leaving everyone a little bit empty. Ron turned to her, clearly wanting answers, but she quickly departed, leaving the charred remains of the Howler on the table.
She had to get to that Charms quiz, after all.