Separation
The front door swung open and Hermione grinned as she recognized the witch at the door. Professor McGonagall surveyed all the students with her stern glare, before turning to look at Hagrid.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," Professor McGonagall pulled the door wide open for all of the students to shuffle in. Hermione craned her neck eagerly to see the place her mother had told her about for a decade.
The Entrance Hall was massive. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was taller than Ferndell House, and a magnificent marble staircase led to the upper floors. Hermione could see why everyone loved it. The architecture was truly brilliant.
The students followed McGonagall across the stone floor. The voices of hundreds of students came from a massive doorway to their right. McGonagall moved them past it to a small empty chamber off the hallway. The large group of eighty or so kids shuffled rather close together.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," McGonagall said. "The start of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.
"Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak and Ron's smudged nose. "I shall return when we are ready for you," McGonagall said. "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber.
"What exactly is the test?" Astrid whispered to Hermione.
"I don't know! My aunt refused to tell me. She said it's a tradition to leave first years in the dark. Do you think we'll need to know spells?" Hermione began to whisper all the spells she'd practised under her breath.
Suddenly, someone let out a shrill scream, making the students start. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. They were pearly white and slightly transparent. The ghosts glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first-years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a round little monk was talking. "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"
"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first-years.
Nobody answered.
Ghosts! Hermione remembered reading about all of the ghosts of Hogwarts. The 'Bloody Baron', 'Nearly Headless Nick', 'Fat Friar', and the 'Grey Lady' were the main ghosts. They all had quite unfortunate names, and no one apparently cared to call them by their real names other than the teachers, according to Dora
"New students!" the Fat Friar smiled around at them. "About to be sorted, I suppose?" A few people nodded mutely. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" the Friar said. "My old house, you know."
"Move along now," a sharp voice instructed. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.
"Now, form a line," McGonagall told the first-years. "And follow me."
Hermione squeezed in between Astrid and Halley, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.
The hall was magnificent. It was lit by thousands and thousands of floating candles that hovered above the four long House tables, on which the students were sitting. The tables were lined by golden plates and goblets.
At the front of the hall, there was a long line for all of the teachers to sit on. McGonagall led the first-years up there, and they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. Hermione looked upwards and gazed up at the ceiling, which was a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars.
"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History," Hermione whispered to Halley and Astrid, ignoring the eye roll from Ron she'd seen out of the corner of her eye.
McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Everyone in the Hall was now staring at the hat. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began tossing:
Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The whole Hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.
A hat? All you had to do was try on a hat. "Dora told me you had to fight another student," she mumbled, and Halley snorted.
McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abberley, Roland."
Roland paled, and Astrid smiled reassuringly at him. He walked slowly over to the hat, and put it on awkwardly. It fell down right over his eyes, and he sat down.
"RAVENCLAW!"
The muggle-borns applauded with the table second from the left. Several Ravenclaws stood up to shake Roland's hand as he joined them.
"Abbott, Hannah!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted.
The table on the right clapped this time cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. The ghost of the Fat Friar waved merrily at her.
"Bones, Susan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.
"Boot, Terry!" and "Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor and the table on the far left exploded with cheers.
Hermione zoned out for the next couple people, looking around at the students in the room. Oliver Wood didn't seem to care about the sorting, and was jotting what looked like Quidditch formations on a piece of parchment, to the amusement of the two girls next to him. The red haired twins were pulling faces at Ron, who ignored them. An older ginger boy with a prefect pin kept elbowing at the to shut them up, which encouraged the boys to strike up a conversation with a boy with dreadlocks in front of them.
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" Snapped Hermione out of her thoughts, and she turned to watch Justin put the hat on. After a second, the hat shouted -
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Justin went to go sit next to Susan, who began telling him about all the students on the table.
"Gates, Manaia!"
Manaia strutted up to the hat like the drama queen she is. The hat seemed to take the longest with her, and Hermione could see Manaia's lips moving as she conversed with the ancient hat.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Okay, that checked out. Manaia was reckless enough to fit that criteria.
"Goldstein, Anthony" went to Ravenclaw, and "Goyle, Gregory" headed for the Slytherin table before finally
"Granger, Hermione!"
Hermione hurried over and jammed the hat on her head quickly. She sat nervously down on the chair, her teeth digging into her lip.
"My my, isn't this interesting. Haven't had a mind like yours in a while. Not since-"
"Sherlock, I know," Hermione whispered, scowling
"You are more like him than you know, Miss Holmes. Now where to put you..."
"This scheme of yours is very Slytherin. You would do well in Slytherin..."
Hermione panicked. If she was a Slytherin, the pureblooded parents would find out about her mother soon enough. It would do her no good.
"Muggleborns don't go into Slytherin. It wouldn't suit me to go there," she whispered hurridly.
"Perhaps. You are well suited for Ravenclaw as well. The sharp mind."
Hermione hummed. Ravenclaw would be fine with her. Anything except Slytherin. She held nothing against the House, but it would not suit Hermione Granger know-it-all muggleborn to go into Slytherin. It would be fine for Enola Holmes
But Enola Holmes isn't here.
"Hang on, what is this?" The hat murmured. "You almost died saving a sheep from a cliff edge without any thought to your own safety? Better be GRYFFINDOR!"
That wasn't concerning at all.
Hermione moved to the Gryffindor table. "Second Gryffindor Black in a thousand years," she whispered to herself, before groaning quietly as she sat next to Manaia.
"Please don't tell me we're sharing a room. I don't think I could put up with your antics for seven years," she said to the girl.
"Rude. And what sort of antics are you referring to?" Manaia asked in a feigned obliviousness tone.
"Trying to kill yourself every five seconds by eating nuts which you are deathly allergic to. And I wouldn't put it past you to die my hair in my sleep."
"Seriously?" Lavender giggled.
"We had to physically restrain her last time," Hermione sighed.
"It'll be fine," Manaia shrugged as Geoffery Hooper took a seat at the table. "You're over reacting."
"You're under reacting," Fay Dunbar told the girl.
Hermione turned to look at the sorting as Draco Malfoy was called. The hat had barely touched his head when it called "SLYTHERIN!" and the boy swaggered to the table.
Maliana's took significantly more time. She was seriously debating with the hat while popping gum for a minute and a half, and the reason for the length became evident when the hat yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!"
That was a shock. Maliana was more like Sirius than she'd thought.
The hall was silent, Gryffindor applauding tensely after a few seconds as Maliana sat down.
"Good job," Hermione grinned at her cousin, who shrugged.
"My family will disagree," she murmured.
"It's not like you're the first. Besides, they can shut up. It's not like it's your choice, it's an ancient hat's. They can take it up with him," Hermione folded her arms.
Maliana laughed, covering her mouth. Hermione turned to watch Astrid on the seat. The hat took ten seconds before sending her to Hufflepuff with Justin.
"Isn't that the girl who yelled at you?" Lavender frowned at Manaia.
"She's one of the girls who stole Neville's toad. twice," Hermione explained, and Manaia shrugged, whispering something under her breath that made one of the red-haired twins cough loudly.
"What did you say?" Maliana asked.
"You don't want to know," Manaia grinned wickedly as the coughing twin whispered something to the other twin, who snorted.
The next person to join them was Halley Nott, while her brother Theodore went to Slytherin. 'O' saw Cölestin Ollivander and Rionach O'Neal, followed by Parvati Patil.
When 'Potter, Harry' was called, the hall reacted predictably.
"Potter, Harry!"
As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.
"Potter, did she say?"
"The Harry Potter?"
The Hall was full of people craning to get a good look at him. Harry looked embarrassed and tugged the hat on quickly. He took a long while to be sorted and seemed to be arguing.
Finally, the hat's 'mouth' opened again, shouting "GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry took off the hat and walked shakily towards the Gryffindor table. the red-haired Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down opposite the ghost. The ghost patted his arm, and Harry paled.
The next person Hermione paid attention to was Stickney, Hazel, who went to Ravenclaw after a few minutes.
Thomas, Dean joined Gryffindor, to Hermione's excitement. She needed someone else in her house to restrain Manaia.
Turpin, Elisabeth went to Ravenclaw, and then it was Weasley, Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. After a second, the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Welles, Kellah also became a Gryffindor, while Woodbridge, Aron joined Ravenclaw and Yaxley, Cordelia went to Slytherin.
"Well done, Ron, excellent," Percy said pompously across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise" was made a Slytherin. McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.
Dumbledore had got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.
Hermione had very mixed thoughts about the headmaster. From what her mother had told her, he was - and she quotes - "a manipulative bastard who always gets what he wants", and Hermione can see why.
Albus Dumbledore is beloved by many because of his defeat of Grindelwald. He favors Gryffindors above all and encourages inter-house feuds. He only protects what he can use.
A lot about Hermione learned from Bellatrix, who learned from Andromeda who learned from Sirius. Although he didn't express it with distaste, Andromeda was less naive about his behavior.
The inter-house rivalries grew while Dumbledore was Headmaster. He encouraged Gryffindors to hate Slytherins and ganged up on them, planting seeds in their minds that Slytherins were evil, which was bs.
Andromeda refused to name names, but she mentioned one of Sirius's friends was a werewolf, and he was allowed at school. Hermione and Bellatrix had no problem with the boy having twelve hours of being dangerous.
The problem was the timing. This was the time period when the war was beginning. A famous werewolf Fenrir Greyback is joining Voldemort and the Death Eaters. The werewolves were an asset to Dumbledore, and here comes along a sheltered werewolf wizard.
The boy is the only werewolf to be allowed in history. He would have a sort of obligation to Dumbledore since Dumbledore allowed him in the school when no other Headmaster or Headmistress ever had. Then the boy did exactly what he was manipulated into doing - he joined the werewolves as a spy for Dumbledore.
Sirius was the first Gryffindor in history, and the Blacks preceded Hogwarts. He held obvious distaste for Slytherin and his family. Dumbledore didn't even need to do anything, Sirius would've turned against them on his own. Then Sirius thought his little brother was killed by Voldemort, which encouraged him even further.
Hermione had never for a second believed that Sirius Black had betrayed his friends after he had been described to her. Because nobody is that good at acting. Sirius Black, who had been abused by his parents, who had defended muggles and muggle-borns at any opportunity, who got tortured to avoid the mark, who had promoted muggles, who had fought against his family and verbally hated them.
He left everything behind for James Potter. Nobody who knew him could ever believe he betrayed everyone.
Sirius Black was of no use to Dumbledore now. He was thrown into Azkaban without a trial, something which Dumbledore could've changed with his Supreme Mugwump position. But instead, he just let it happen for his own benefit. If Sirius was free, he would've taken Harry immediately and Harry wouldn't be as timid as he seemed to be.
Harry was dropped off at his mother's muggle sister's house, and Dumbledore clearly didn't check up on him. The boy was clearly malnourished, wearing clothes that swallowed him whole. He seemed to get a bit more weight on him in the month since Hermione had seen him, but that was probably from their fear of him and the connections he'd make more than anything.
Instead of getting a proper teacher as a guide around Diagon Alley explaining the wizarding world, he got Rubeus Hagrid, a man who got kicked out at thirteen and owes everything to Dumbledore and holds him in the highest respect.
Hermione didn't trust Dumbledore as far as she could throw her. And in the off chance that Voldemort does return, which according to her uncle is very likely, she would only side with him because of him being the lesser of the two evils
"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
Hermione's jaw dropped. Is he serious? She glanced around to see the younger kids confused while the older kids didn't look surprised in the slightest.
"Thank you!" He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered.
What in the hell is this?
Hermione opened her mouth to ask the prefect about it but was cut off with a small gasp. The dishes in front of her were now piled with food. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, mint humbugs.
Hermione piled some chicken, bacon, and vegetables on her plate, and looked around at her new Gryffindors. There was Lavender, Manaia, Halley, and Maliana, of course. Parvati had been sorted into Gryffindor, while Padma was in Ravenclaw. The other girls were Fay Dunbar, Kiera Breslin, Argent Kildare, Kellah Welles, and Rionach O'Neal.
The boys in her house consisted of Neville, Ron, Harry, and Dean, as well as Seamus Finnegan, Kevin Entwhistle, Geoffery Hooper, Cölestin Ollivander, and Eustace Fawley.
Down the table, Seamus, Harry, and Ron were talking with the ghost about the other ghosts and their families.
Hermione sighed, turning to look at the ginger prefect by her. "Hello, my name's Hermione Granger," she introduced.
"I'm Percy Weasley, I'm one of the Prefects for Gryffindor. Are you feeling ready for lessons tomorrow?" Percy asked.
"Oh yes, I'm so excited," Hermione nodded enthusiastically. "I do hope they start straight away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult."
"You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing," Percy assured her.
Obviously. Why would they start any bigger? Oh wait, this is the wizarding world, where logic isn't a thing.
Percy told Hermione all about the curriculum while they ate, something that the other red haired kids rolled their eyes at. What is wrong with Hermione having an interest in this? And there's nothing wrong with Percy.
"Ouch!"
The sudden exclamation stunted Hermione from her conversation about Arithmetic theories. Harry had a hand clapped to his forehead, and a tense expression on his face. He was looking up at the High Table where the staff sat.
"What is it?" Percy asked.
"N-nothing." Lies.
"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" Super discreet.
"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to - everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."
Oh yes. Severus Snape. Hermione knew all about him.
Severus Snape was still a useable pawn for Dumbledore. He was a Death Eater kept out of Azkaban and placed into the role of an unremovable teacher. Any and all complaints were never investigated and the teacher never suffered reprocutions.
But there were upsides to his behavior. And Hermione could respect the way he protects his own, that's for sure. The Slytherins were infamously dark, no matter how wrong the prejudice was. Severus Snape was playing the role of the one person, that one adult in the Slytherins' lives who would always, always be on their side--no matter how unreasonable and unfair it made him seem. Everyone knew Professor Snape would take a Slytherin's side over anyone else's just because he was a mean old bat.
Snape would sacrifice 75% of the school for the sake of his 25% without hesitation. He didn't care that everyone knew of his ire towards the other houses. He only cared that his Slytherins were fully aware they had at least one adult who was forever and unreasonably on their side for no other reason than that they were in Slytherin. That they would always have someone in their corner no matter if it made sense or not. And for a child who trusted no one, that was huge.
This gave him a reputation amongst the other houses, but none of these houses ever realized that the behavior was a necessary evil to make up for the way Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw treat the Slytherins - as if they are Satan's servants instead of children.
At last, the puddings too disappeared and Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent. "Ahem - just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.
"First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the red-haired twins.
"I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.
"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.
"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
I'm sorry.
WHAT!?
Hermione thought Dora was kidding when she droned on about Dumbledore's lack of ability to keep students safe. Hermione locked the information away in her brain yet chalked it down. It seemed she was wrong to. Dumbledore clearly had no idea how to keep children protected.
It was as if, after decades of teaching, he didn't understand that banning an area only encourages the desire to go to the area.
"-must be." Hermione turned to watch as Percy frowned at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere - the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us Prefects, at least."
So he didn't even tell the people responsible for student wellbeing about something concerning student wellbeing. That's not concerning in the slightest.
"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Dumbledore cried. He gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself snake-like into words. "Everyone pick their favourite tune," Dumbledore said. "And off we go!"
And the school bellowed:
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."
Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand, and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.
"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"
The Gryffindor first-years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. The people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, when the group came to a sudden halt. Hermione could barely keep track of where everything went.
A bundle of walking sticks was floating in mid-air ahead of them and as Percy took a step towards them they started throwing themselves at him.
"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first-years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice. "Peeves - show yourself."
Hermione had heard about him from Dora. Peeves the poltergeist was a menace. What was even more ridiculous was the amount of students who would get in trouble for attempting an exorcism on him.
A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.
"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"
There was a pop and a little man with wicked dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks. "Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle firsties! What fun!" He swooped suddenly at them, to which to the students all ducked.
"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" Percy barked.
Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.
"You want to watch out for Peeves," Percy told them as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us Prefects. here we are."
At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. "Password?" she asked.
"Caput Draconis," Percy answered, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs. It was truly beautiful. Hermione had never heard anything about the Gryffindor Common Room, since she knew nobody in the House.
Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. There were two girls' dormitories with the names on the doors, one a story higher than the other.
Breslin, Dunbar, Gates, Kildare, O'Neal, Welles.
"We're another level up. Yay," Parvati muttered.
Hermione laughed, hurrying up the stairs ahead of the others, sending a quick charm at the door. At the top of the staircase, the five girls found their beds at last.
Brown, Holmes, Malfoy, Nott, Patil.
Brown, Granger, Malfoy, Nott, Patil.
Inside the room, five four-posters hung with deep red velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up and sat at the base of each bed.
The girls changed and climbed into their beds. Hermione ran a brush through her curls, groaning dramatically.
"We should introduce ourselves. Properly. I'm Lavender," Lavender smiled.
"I'm Parvati Patil," Parvati chimed from the bed next to Lavender.
"Maliana Malfoy," Maliana said from the middle bed.
"Hermione Granger," Hermione grinned.
"Halley Nott," Halley drummed her fingers on her bed. "Now what?"
"Why don't we play two truths and a lie?" Lavender suggested.
"Sounds fun! How'd you play?" Maliana asked as she got up and began rummaging through her trunk.
"You tell us two truths and one lie about yourself, and we have to try and guess the lie," Lavender explained.
"I'll go first. Umm.. I'm really small, my eyes are green, and a huge building once fell on top of me almost killing me," Maliana said.
Hermione's eyes widened. She remembered the Festival Pier incident that Andromeda had mentioned in May.
"Uh, Malfoy, nice try, but it's going to have to be a bit harder than that," Halley laughed.
Hermione frowned. "Halley her eyes are blue."
Silence.
"A building what!?"
Lavender laughed. "My turn! I have a pet rabbit, my younger sister is named after Lily Potter, and my favorite animal is a unicorn."
Halley drummed her fingers on her trunk lid and glanced at Maliana, who was on the bed next to her still searching through her trunk, and then at Hermione, who was eyeing Lavender. "I'm going to guess rabbit is a lie," she decided. Lavender simply shrugged.
Maliana didn't look up. "Lily's the lie."
Parvati frowned but agreed. "Yeah, I'm going to go with that too."
Hermione pursed her lips, glancing over at Lavender's bedside table. "You have a picture of a rabbit sitting in your trunk, and photos of your parents, but no sibling photos. I'm going to say you do not have a younger sister named after Lily Potter."
Lavender smiled. "I am an only child," she giggled, and the other girls laughed.
"I'll go next. I am younger than my twin Padma, I used to be friends with Pansy Parkinson, and I've had my first kiss," Parvati said slowly.
"Pansy, I can not see you guys as friends," Halley laughed.
Hermione bit her lip. "You seem the younger sibling type, and I saw the glare Pansy shot at you, so I am going to say you have not had your first kiss," she guessed.
"I just want to contradict Hermione for no apparent reason, so I'm going to say you're the older sis- AHA" Maliana finally found what she was looking for, pulling out boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs, dumping them on her bed. "Help yourselves."
Lavender grabbed a box of Bertie Bott's and picked out a blue one. "Thanks. Ugh, mint. I'm with Hermione by the way."
Parvati smiled. "I have not had my first kiss."
"Surprising," Halley commented.
"My turn." Hermione thought to herself as she picked out another Bertie Bott's box. How would she go about this? She'd already planted the Sherlock seed, she may as well plant all the seeds now. "I have two sisters, I have two brothers, and I knew Sherlock Holmes when I was a kid," Hermione smiled.
"Sherlock Holmes are you kidding?!" Lavender squealed.
"It's totally a lie! He's a famous wizard, how would Hermione know him personally - she's a muggleborn," Parvati pointed out.
Yay, discrimination!
"So's Sherlock! But I am with Parvati on this," Halley decided.
"No sisters," Lavender nodded, picking out a pink bean. "Candyfloss."
"I'm going to say you do not have two brothers just to even it out a little," Maliana finished.
"Lavender is right. I have two very older brothers, the youngest one is twenty years older than me," Hermione told them. "I met Sherlock when I was little, he knew my youngest older brother."
"Cool," Halley grinned. "My turn! My parents are friends with Queen Elizabeth, my eldest brother taught Prince Harry how to play Quidditch, and I am older than Theodore, my twin brother," Halley raised an eyebrow mysteriously.
"Queen."
"Queen."
"Queen."
Prince Harry is seven, and he has his own older siblings. "The one about Prince Harry," Hermione said.
"Hermione's been right for everything, so I'm changing," Parvati decided, making the girls laugh.
"Smart choice. Me and Theo are the only children our parents had," Halley explained.
"Okay, Truth or Dare time!" Maliana grinned.
They played truth or dare until they were too tired to move. Maliana was the first to crawl into bed, and they all went to sleep soon after.
Hermione tossed and turned for hours. She couldn't stop thinking about what the heck she was going to do now. It was time for Hermione Granger to become Enola Holmes. She'd have to time it perfectly.
Now, she just needed to choose when she wanted her 'character development' to occur. Or more accurately, how long it takes Hermione Granger to become insufferable even to herself.
The next morning, Hermione awoke long before dawn. All of her roommates were still fast asleep and showing no sign of waking. Even after Hermione had taken a long shower and gotten dressed into her robes, they had not woken.
With maybe three hours to kill, she grabbed her sketchbook and pencils, going down to the Common Room. To Hermione's surprise and delight, she was not the only one awake at five in the morning. "What are you doing up?" she asked.
Oliver glanced up. "Quidditch runs. I've been named Captain, remember? Been working on these all summer," he told her. "You?"
"My usual schedule. If I was at home, I would be running around with my mother before we started the day's lessons," Hermione said, flicking open her sketchbook to a blank page. "I suppose I will have to get used to not doing that."
"Yeah, curfews are annoying," Oliver agreed. "But as long as we don't leave the Common Rooms, they can't tell anyone off."
Hermione nodded, before going back to her sketch of the room. They sat in silence for half an hour before two girls came down. The first girl was tall with dark skin, brown eyes, and long black hair. The second girl was tall with tan skin, curly blonde hair, and green eyes.
"Good morning," Hermione greeted.
The second girl yawned as she sat at the table. "Morning," she rubbed her eye.
"What are you doing up at this time?" the first girl asked. "Excluding Oliver, he has no sleep schedule."
"You mean good time management," Oliver corrected, not looking up.
"I mean no sleep schedule," the girl raised an eyebrow. "I'm Angelina, this is Alicia. We're on the Quidditch team with Oliver."
"Hermione Granger," Hermione smiled. "And I'm usually up and going for a run at this time, but curfew is a thing. What about you?"
"Well, thanks to Ollie here," Alicia glared at him. "Our sleep schedules are all muddled up. Why anyone would be awake if they didn't have to is beyond me. Nice artwork."
"Thanks," Hermione stood up. "Screw it. I'm going for a run. If they catch me, I'll pull the muggle-born card."
"Weren't you the one questioning muggle-born stereotypes and the way people treat them just yesterday?" Oliver muttered.
"Yes, I was. But if all of the teachers here have little to no experience with muggle traditions. If a teacher catches me, I will claim it is part of my schedule, which is true, and question their obliviation of muggle traditions in a subtle and cheeky way," Hermione shrugged, going upstairs. She dumped her book on her bed and changed into a baggy tee shirt and tights before going back downstairs.
"Where are you going to go?" Alicia asked from where she and Angelina were now standing over Oliver so they could see his Quidditch formations.
"Around the lake," Hermione checked the time. "You should really try it."
"Pass," the two girls chorused, and Hermione grinned.
The castle was quiet, the halls dark and barely lit. Hermione kept as silent as she could until she was outside in the fresh air.
Two hours later, Hermione returned to find the Common Room more full than when she'd left. The older students were awake, although Hermione could count the occupants on both hands and still have enough left for those who had been up since four.
After showering (again) to get rid of the sweaty stench and changing into her robes, Hermione exited to find that her roommates were nowhere close to waking up.
With a sigh, Hermione headed back downstairs alone. She was going to have to adjust her sleep schedule unless she wanted to spend hours bored out of her mind. If her mother was to be believed, the hall did not open for breakfast until 7:00. That gave her half an hour to kill.
Hermione flicked open a diary and began recounting the previous day's events. She hadn't the time to do it last night due to the time in which she went to bed, but she had all the time now.
By the time Hermione had finished, it was almost seven. Breakfast was a similar event to dinner, except it was much emptier. Excluding the handful of awake Gryffindors, she hardly recognized any of the other fifteen students other than-
"Hazel!" Hermione hurried over to Ravenclaw's table, sitting beside her friend.
Hazel grinned from where she was ladling several teaspoons of sugar into her coffee. "Morning Harriet. How was Gryffindor?"
"My roommates chattered for hours and showed no sign of waking. I have been awake since four this morning," Hermione grabbed her own coffee mug and dribbled some caramel coffee syrup into it. "I got bored out of my mind and went for a run around the lake for a few hours."
"I'm too lazy for that," Hazel shrugged. "I started reading a romance novel. Amanda Brocklehurst - one of my roommates - gave it to me." She held up a blue-covered book with a man and woman on the cover.
"Bridgerton: The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. Sounds like a gold digger," Hermione shrugged.
"It's the 1800s, everyone's a gold digger," Hazel flicked it open and plastered on a thick English accent. "There were rules among friends, commandments, really, and the most important one was Thou Shalt Not Lust After Thy Friend's Sister."
Hazel glanced up from her book with a very serious look on her face. "If you lust after my sister I'll kill you."
Hermione dissolved into giggles. "I will do my very best not to," she saluted.
"What have I walked in on?" Dean yawned as he collapsed onto the seat. Hermione slid across a fresh cup of coffee that he chugged in less than ten seconds.
"Hazel has found a romance novel and is threatening to maim me if I lust after her sister. Which sister is this?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Any. Do you want to be a child molester or child molested?" Hazel asked.
"Okay, I'm walking away!" Justin had been on his way over but promptly turned around and walked off.
"Bye Sebastian," Hazel waved, before flicking many pages forward. Justin frowned as he sat down next to Achilles Bossicar, another Hufflepuff first year.
"That's not how you're supposed to-"
"I've read this fifteen times this morning," Hazel interrupted Hermione's cringe. "Now Silence. His hands cupped her cheeks, holding her steady so that he might drink in the sight of her-"
"Stop, please," Dean covered his ears. "You're making my ears bleed."
"I'm going to have to agree with Dean. Why don't we go to our sane Gryffindor Table," Hermione smirked.
"Goodbye Haze," Dean waved as the two left to their house's table. Hazel winked cheekily as they did so before going back to their books.
The rest of the students filtered in slowly. When Harry and Ron came in, the idle chatter turned to whispers.
"There, look."
"Where?"
"Next to the tall kid with the red hair."
"Wearing the glasses?"
"Did you see his face?"
"Did you see his scar?"
"Ridiculous," Hermione rolled her eyes. "They are aware he is right there. They could walk over there and talk to them like normal human beings."
"I don't think these people know what normal is, M," Dean told her.
"Rude," Halley commented as she handed the timetables down. "But true."
"Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts are with Hufflepuff, Charms, and History of Magic, with Ravenclaw, and Potions and Transfiguration with Slytherin," Hermione whispered as she glanced over the roster.
"If Snape is so horrible to Gryffindors and favors Slytherins, why even bother putting them in the same class?" Ron asked from down the table.
"Because if we're in the same class we have a higher chance of learning something. The other potions class is neutral zone," Hermione told him, and the boy scowled. Why is he like that? He asked a question, she answered it. What's wrong with that?
This would be so much easier if she didn't have to pretend.
No it wouldn't.
This was the best way.
This was the best way, Hermione reminded herself with a yawn on Wednesday night while she was forced to re-study the night sky after she'd already spent her childhood learning about it, while the teacher spent more time on the muggle-borns than anyone else and automatically assumed she knew nothing.
Professor Binns, who taught (although that would be an overestimation of his abilities) was useless. He droned on and on while everyone hurried to scribble down names and dates, getting a few names muddled up.
Professor Sprout was a decent teacher, giving all of them firm warnings and full safety instructions.
Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class, he took the roll call. It was very clear when he reached Harry's name, as he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.
Professor McGonagall became Hermione's favourite immediately. She gave a lecture on safety as soon as everyone got into class.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
She gave a display of the more complex forms, turning her desk into a pig and back again. The class was all very impressed.
After taking a lot of complicated notes on safety and transfiguration theory, they were each given a match to turn into a needle.
By the end of the lesson, Hermione was the only one who had made any difference to her match. It had gone silver and pointy like a needle. Professor McGonagall showed it to the class and gave Hermione a smile.
The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story.
For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the ginger twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.
Hermione had heard many more terrible stories, none of which she believed. On Friday, the Gryffindors and Slytherins had Double Potions, which sounded like a recipe for disaster.
Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder down there than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.
Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the register, and paused at Harry's name. "Ah, yes," he said softly. "Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity."
Draco, Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses ... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
The speech was followed by more silence. Hermione doubted he was supposed to be insulting the rest of the school, but leaned forward to hear him better. Life would be much easier if she didn't had the Snape-bespowed reputation of a dunderhead.
"Potter!" Snape said suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Was he serious? That wasn't a first year question! It wasn't even in the book! This was the first day for god sake. Harry looked stumped, and Hermione raised her hand to answer the question for him.
"I don't know, sir," Harry said.
Snape's lips curled into a sneer. "Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything." He ignored Hermione's hand. "Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
Goat's stomach, easy. Hermione stretched her hand further, ignoring the three laughing Slytherins at the front.
"I don't know, sir."
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter? What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
Oh for god sake. Hermione stood up and stretched her hand towards the ceiling. Surely the blind man couldn't ignore her forever.
"I don't know," Harry said quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"
A few people laughed. Hermione rolled her eyes. "You could have avoided it if you just asked someone else," she muttered, sitting back down. Snape was clearly not pleased, and Hermione was beginning to see just how far he was willing to go.
"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione, who was sitting in her chair. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
"Because we weren't asked to?" Dean rolled his eyes, but reached for his quills and parchment anyway.
"And a point will be taken from Gryffindor house for your cheek, Potter," Snape added.
Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. Hermione was working with Manaia, who didn't seem completely hopeless. She was halfway decent if she actually focused on the potions instead of trying to make new cocktail flavours.
Snape swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like.
He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes.
Within seconds, the whole class were standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.
"Idiot boy!" Snape snarled, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"
Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose. "Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.
"You - Potter - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."
Harry opened his mouth to argue, but didn't say anything.
This was ridiculous, Hermione scoffed. If this was his way of protecting Slytherins and making sure they knew he was on their side, he needed a new technique.