The Beginning
~His spell rebounded, the boy had lived, and he, the greatest dark wizard in history had been reduced to nothing but a soul without a body…. Waiting for the one who would wield the power to aid in his return~
-1991-
It all started her first year at Hogwarts, the whispers. They were faint at first, unintelligible. But soon, when she would find herself alone, laying in her bed in the Gryffindor girls’ dorms, or alone in the library, the whispers would grow louder until she could understand them.
“Come to me…”
She never knew where they came from, or who was speaking to her. She could tell the whispers were that of a man, but one she did not know. He would come to her at night, telling her to come to him, that he would teach her things she desired.
“You’re young, but your power is ancient, that old fool will only hold you back. Let me guide you…”
His final words always seemed to come out as a hiss, reminding her of a snake, sometimes it would cause her to shiver.
“Galleon for your thoughts?”
Hermione had been mindlessly stirring a spoon in her hot chocolate when one of her best friends, Ron, sat beside her. She smiled to the red headed, freckled face that greeted her. “Good morning Ron.” She gave him a half hug as she looked to her drink before looking back to him, “where is Harry?” She would try to avoid telling her two best friends about her nightly visits from the voices, surely they would send her to St. Mungo’s if they heard she had been hearing voices.
“Harry is with McGonagall this morning; they are going over Quidditch rules. I still can’t believe he’s going to be the only first year student playing!” Ron quickly stuffed his mouth with pancakes as he watched Hermione closely. “I’m honestly a bit jealous!” He hadn’t even finished his food, spitting a few pieces as he spoke.
“Honestly Ronald…” Hermione scrunched her nose, “there’s plenty of food, you don’t need to shovel it in, and you don’t need to talk while you have it in your mouth.” That was one of the many things that annoyed her when it came to Ron Weasley. Her first of course, was his lack of interest when it came to their schooling. He constantly was trying to copy her work, or even trying to get her to do his work for him. But as usual, she found ways around letting him get away with any of it. “Harry has his father’s talent, that’s why he’s set to be an exceptional Quidditch player.” She then let out a sigh before standing from the table, “no need to be jealous Ron… And for the love of Godric Gryffindor, close your mouth when you chew!” She then quickly stormed off before letting him have the last word.
She adored her two best friends, but sometimes she felt like a third wheel. After all, she was the only girl, didn’t like Quidditch, and was the only one focused on their studies. Ron and Harry, on the other hand, focused mostly on Quidditch the moment Harry was recruited by Professor McGonagall. And she would fully support Harry, and if it didn’t interfere with her schoolwork, she would attend games as well.
It was his first game where they discovered someone was out to kill him after all. They had caught Professor Snape jinxing the broom, and being the clever witch she was, she used a spell taught to her in the nights to set his robe on fire. That would teach him to try and kill her best friend.
This first year had completely been more than she had expected, not only ha she gained a new mentor, her ‘Lord of Learning’ as she had dubbed him, but between herself, Harry and Ron, they had uncovered that it was not Professor Snape, but Professor Quirrell who had tried to kill Harry, it was Professor Quirrell who had been the unlucky subject to have his body taken over by he-who-must-not-be-named in order to grow stronger. And in the end, Harry was able to defeat Quirrell and banish you-know-who from his body and hopefully end his reign.