2
Stepping out into the halls of Hogwarts, Hermione felt immense relief. No one was looking at her, whispering about the nerdy know-it-all or Harry Potter’s best friend. There were no Slytherins or Malfoy bigots snickering and shouting “Mudblood”. She was just another student, another nameless face melding into the masses with minimal effort.
Walking through the throng of students enjoying their Saturday afternoon, Hermione realised she was able to see much further at her new height, and was barely even noticing her long limbs or larger feet. In fact, now that her bushy mane had been cut short, the hallway looked brighter, and the faces of fellow students felt less obscured without her curls in the way. She felt so much lighter and freer without the hair on her shoulders. Or perhaps that was more to do with the lack of responsibilities she now faced as she left Hermione Granger’s worries behind her.
Her steps naturally took her towards the large entrance way of the library. Hermione’s haven and sacred ground to her since she first arrived at the school. Heading towards her regular secluded table Hermione stopped short. Why should she study and read and hide herself away as she would have done just this morning? She didn’t carry those responsibilities as this other person. He clearly didn’t study much anyway, else she would have recognised him as a regular of the Library. No. Studying now was not the time. She had less than an hour to see life from another’s eyes and she didn’t want to waste it studying. Besides, she’d already promised herself she would stay an hour later tonight anyway if she had been with Harry and Ron. Decision made, Hermione swiftly turned around and decided to simply walk around in her temporary new body.
Hermione entered the courtyard, passing by several students who gave her an odd look. Briefly panicking that the potion’s effects had ended prematurely, she touched her face, only to realised she was beaming. The wide toothy grin that stretched her new face muscles must have looked quite demented to others passing her by. Confident that the mask was still in place, she decided to head towards the Black Lake for some privacy. It was December and no other students would be near the freezing water. Her mind whirled as she thought of studying her new body. Perhaps she could test this boy’s fitness levels or spell work. Would her wand even work in a Polyjuiced body? Or would her magic still respond - her mind was still her own after all. Maybe she could only –
“Oof.”
Her - or the boy’s body - crashed into a much smaller, slimmer one that she had barely noticed with her new height and racing thoughts. Her gangly arms and legs flailed as she came down crashing on top of the poor person below her. She struggled to gain balance, apologising profusely and extended her hand much faster than she intended, slapping the other’s hand in the process. God she was so clumsy now, she felt like Neville in first year. It was only as she helped pull up the tiny girl that she noticed the long red hair that belonged to Ron’s sister.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I – Ginny? What are you doing out here? It’s not safe for a first year to wonder the grounds alone.”
“I - I –.”
The girl, who still seemed rather dazed, quickly shoved a small book back into her satchel before her head snapped up at the sound of her name. She gave a startled look towards Hermione. The book still clutched in her hands now firmly pressed against her chest. Her wide eyed stare made her look both horrified at being caught and also deeply terrified. Hermione couldn’t understand what had freaked the girl out so much and went to press a hand on the girl’s shoulder in an effort to calm her down. It was only in raising her arm that she remembered. She was not Hermione right now. She moved her hand away and tried to think of something to smooth over her blunder.
Before she could even open her mouth to try to explain away her knowledge of Ginny’s name, the girl had taken several hasty steps backwards before legging it back towards the forest. Hermoine watched her until she was out of sight, deciding it was best to leave the strange interaction as it was. It wouldn’t make any sense for a random Hogwarts boy knowing the name of a first year Gryffindor Student, let alone chase after her. She was only glad Ginny hadn’t seemed to notice her slip up. She was still worried at Ginny’s terrified look and made a mental note to mention it to Ron when they met up later to discuss their findings.
Deciding she should best head back before she bumped into anyone else she knew, Hermione headed back towards the abandoned bathroom with several plans in place to make sure she didn’t make such stupid mistakes again.
As she headed towards the Entrance Hall, she bumped into another student, though this one was at least the same height as Hermione and didn’t go sprawling to the floor. God, she really needed to be more careful. This entire experience was meant to make her invisible and yet all she had done is manage to make herself more known to students than she ever had before.
“Woah! Steady on, Adrien! Where are you headed off to? Quidditch Practice starts in 20 minutes and you’re not even in your uniform yet! Flint’s gonna have your head if you’re late again.”
Hermione’s eyes widened as the boy in front of her started ranting about Flint and late fees and extra practice. The boy, she could now see was dressed in silver and green quidditch robes, with his broom slung behind his shoulders. The doors continued to open, and two older boys also dressed in quidditch robes made their way through the entrance, stopping next to Hermione.
“Alright Pucey?”
The first boy was still ranting about the extra drills he would have to complete if the team was late to practice, which brought the attention of the other two towards Hermione’s lack of uniform. The second boy eyed Ron’s uniform up and down, seeming repulsed.
“It’s a little late for Halloween don’t you think? I’d hide that or maybe burn it if I were you.”
Hermione only stared in confusion and a growing sense of horror. She was beginning to remember why the face in her reflection seemed so familiar. These were the boys that had received the Malfoy family’s generosity last year when he bought his way onto the team. Malfoy’s sneering voice calling her Mudblood and their laughter at her expense still echoed through her mind. She was quickly thinking of an excuse to flee from their presence when the third boy spoke up.
“Maybe he was out with that Gryffindor girl again” He said, waggling his eyebrows with a smarmy grin on his face.
“Got distracted did you? Looks like you had a grand time - your hair’s not even styled. God, she’s go you wrapped around her finger.” He laughed.
Hermione continued to watch on in confusion, only belatedly realising she was still wearing her Gryffindor tie after changing clothes. A Slytherin wearing Gryffindor uniform? God it was like oil on water. Or maybe a ghost eating rotten meat. Things that just should not exist together. At all. She cringed internally, grimacing and decided she needed to leave immediately. Before she messed up even further, or worse: changed back right in front of them.
Quickly mumbling an excuse of changing into Pucey’s quidditch robes she ran past them and didn’t stop until she reached abandoned bathroom once again.
After catching her breath, leaning her head against the wall she thought over the past hour. Despite her near miss with Ginny and her uncomfortable experience with the Slytherins, she couldn’t help but feel exhilarated. After the slight adjustment period in her new skin, she’d felt so comfortable. The insecurities she’d had in Hermione’s body had washed away. She hadn’t felt insecure at her small chest size, hadn’t felt a need to shy away from prying eyes of curious students. Hadn’t nervously run her tongue over her buck teeth, or habitually tugged her bushy hair behind her ears. The run back had been so much easier with her longer legs. Her body felt powerful, strong and capable. Still curious about her magic abilities, she put that to the back of her mind.
An uncomfortable tingling had begun in her fingers and feet and her face felt oddly elastic. She was changing back. Ron and Harry would be back any second. She quickly grabbed her discarded clothes on the ground and ran to the bathroom stall. Shimmying out of Ron’s now much baggier clothes and redressing herself in her own uniform, feeling mildly disappointed. Just as she finished retying her tie and kicking Ron’s uniform towards the sinks, Ron and Harry burst through the doors, clambering about all they had learned from their secret mission.
As she was inundated with their voices and stories, a tiny voice inside her mind went unanswered, drowned out by their words. Even as she firmly agreed with Harry and Ron that they were never to mess with the potion again, a tiny part of her couldn’t help but disagree. Her mind firmly set on figuring out the Chamber of Secrets, she glanced back towards the stall and felt a tingling of emotion.
A yearning for more.