Hermione Chapter 25
Hermione
Hermione hesitated before knocking, silently going over in her head what she wanted to say. She hoped that her professor would take it in the spirit intended, and not as her trying to interfere. Taking a deep breath, steeling herself, she knocked twice.
"Enter" came the voice from within, and she took another deep breath before opening the door.
"Miss Granger," Professor Snape intoned.
"Sir, I wonder if I might speak with you for a moment?" she said.
"That is what office hours are for" he said, nodding to the chair in front of his desk, "take a seat."
She settled herself on the straight-backed uncushioned wooden chair, pulling her bag into her lap, and waited for him to look up from the stack of parchment he was adorning with red ink. She felt a twinge of pity for the poor soul it belonged to. They wouldn't be having a good day tomorrow.
"What may I help you with, Miss Granger?" he said, with a final slash at the page before casting it onto another pile.
"Well, Sir, I wanted to speak with you about another student. One of your Slytherins. Vincent Crabbe" she said.
"What has he done now?" The man said, a note of exasperation in his voice.
"No! I mean...nothing," she said hurriedly, "he...what I mean to say, Sir...I... well, have you ever heard of dyslexia, Sir?"
"Dyslexia" Snape said with a frown. Hermione could almost picture him flipping through the files of his mind as he thought it over. "I do not believe I am familiar with this term, Miss Granger. Perhaps you will enlighten me."
For a split second she was astonished at the improbability that she knew something he didn't, but then rationality took over. Of course he didn't. Why would he? The wizarding world was, in her opinion, woefully ignorant of anything not rooted in magic.
"It's a condition of neurodevelopmental origin, a learning disability, characterised by difficulty in reading, writing, and spelling, Sir" she said, "there is no cure, but it is treatable with educational therapy and interventions."
The scowl that formed across his face made her brace herself, expecting him to brand her with the ‘insufferable know-it-all’ mark again. She was prepared, however.
"While it is perhaps true that Mr Crabbe is certainly not amongst your calibre of academic performance, Miss Granger, you are neither a healer nor a doctor..."
"No, Sir, of course not," she said, "but he has all the symptoms!. Millie Bulstrode told me that he has trouble writing, that he says the words all look jumbled to him, so reading is difficult. I asked Dean Thomas, his Potions partner, if Vincent seemed to have trouble reading the Potions instructions. Sir, did you know that Dean has been drawing out the instructions for him? He's very good at art, and he sketches out little pictures for Vince to follow. He told me this in confidence, of course, but..."
"Thomas does what?" Snape asked.
Hermione couldn't tell if he was angry or not. She recalled his ire at her attempts to help Neville, and hoped she hadn't just thrown Dean under the bus.
"Please, Sir, we just want to help!" She dug in her bag for the ammunition she'd brought to further her case, pulling out several pamphlets. She'd written to the NHS requesting information on the condition, saying she needed them for a school research project. They'd been sent to the Granger residence, and her mother had forwarded them.
"I have more information about dyslexia here," she said, placing the pamphlets on his desk. "It's from the NHS, the..."
"I am familiar with the NHS," he said curtly, leaning forward to take the pamphlets and glance through them.
"I'm not trying to do anything but help, Sir," she said earnestly, "I think it's unfair for someone to be labelled as dumb or thick for something they can't help, isn't their fault, and that isn't true. Dean says Vincent says that the pictures have really helped him.'
Snape had to admit that Crabbe and Thomas' performance in Potions had improved markedly of late. He'd assumed it was simply Thomas carrying them both. He had noted they seemed to get along rather well, but that Thomas was merely taking Granger's lead and just telling Crabbe what to do. It was actually quite clever of Thomas to devise a method that required at least some thought on Crabbe's part. He was rather impressed.
"Very well, Miss Granger," he said thoughtfully, "I appreciate your concern, and will review the information you have provided. You may rest assured steps will be taken to procure Mr Crabbe any assistance he may require. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention."
"I just wanted to help, Sir, '' Hermione said, recognising the dismissal. She gathered her bag and got up to leave. As she was closing the door, the man spoke again.
"You may inform Mr Thomas that he and yourself have been awarded twenty points each for aiding another student. Good day, Miss Granger."