Chapter 2
Madam Pince was adamant there was no such thing to make anything - let alone anyone - big and small and made no effort to hide she was becoming irritated.
"Very well, just show me the ones you spoke of," Hermione huffed. Following Madam Pince they collected a few books on gardening and homemaking. As she settled down and opened up the contents pages she felt the familiar warm, fluffy sensation of Crookshanks curling up around her ankles. "Thank you, Crooks. It is a bit chilly in here today."
The homemaking books tended to focus on transfiguration - making curtains or blankets bigger but at the expense of becoming thinner unless you brought more material in, such as transfiguring two blankets into one. Others were spellwork for cooking - making dough rise higher, or that souffles stayed put instead of shrinking once they came out of the oven. It was all boiling down to (Hermione giggled at her pun) matter for matter. You want big, you have to bring more matter in or stretch what you've got. Some of the cooking spells talked about ladies staying slim in that if they were eating enlarged cakes and slices they could still appear to be well-to-do, non-scrimping hostesses. No one need realize that when they were eating two cookies there was actually only the material of one.
The gardening books were all about increasing crop yield or size of plants or fruit. None of them were instantaneous. They were mainly spells - ones to make sure every seed sprouted, to keep pests from them until they were hardy enough on their own, to ensure all the flowers were pollinated (a charm to increase colour and scent making the blooms irresistible). The potions seemed to her to merely be a form of steroid and while the end result was a larger fruit or vegetable the growing time was the same. While she was looking through the procedure for the potion, Madam Pince stopped by with another book - a historical wartime account of an ancient lord. Hermione's eyes brightened and she started saying thanks but Madam had merely sniffed and told her where to replace the book after use. To Hermione's disappointment, the account told of last ditch efforts to win battles by sending in giant soldiers and wolfhounds but all it turned out to be was an illusion. It required two wizards per fighter or dog to maintain the illusion and the hope was that the enemy would be so distracted and looking upwards that they failed to see the real life soldier right in front of them.
It seemed Crookshanks knew it was another failure for he put two paws up on the seat and stuck his head up for a pat. "You're right, Crookie. It was never going to be solved on day one, was it?" She checked over her notes - you never know, they could lead to the answer no matter how unpromising it looked now - then packed up and lugged the books back to their places. As she shelved the last one, she turned to find Crookshanks nowhere in sight. "Oh well." Truth be told she felt a little silly as she was talking to herself. "See you when I walk to Charms, I guess!"
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At the end of Charms, Hermione loitered and made a shoo-ing wave to Harry and Ron. "Professor Flitwick, sir?" she began, "You know the featherlight charm?"
"Hmm, yes?" replied the mustachioed teacher turning in his seat.
"Well, is there a charm that increases weight?"
"Oh, absolutely there is."
"But I guess the object would still look the same? Like, though my bag has a featherlight charm, it still looks as it did before it was charmed?"
"You're absolutely correct, Miss Granger."
"Then there's Engorgio which swells the object... but it makes it all misshapen, like a bee sting..."
"Quite so. Miss Granger, what specific effect are you after?"
"Have you ever read Alice in Wonderland?"
"Oh yes, but it was many, many years ago. However, you're talking about Alice getting bigger and smaller then?"
"Yes," Hermione exclaimed happily.
"Well, if it were real I doubt it would be charm-work. Though you could draw a long bow on a variation of Engorgio - afterall, there was the part where Alice's neck grows faster than the rest of the body, leaving her like a giraffe. But leaving that aside the basis of charms is that you have something that acts upon the object you are charming. The featherlight makes you feel that someone is helping you carry your books - the books still have weight which you immediately feel once you take them from your bag. Wingardium leviosa is directly tied to your skill and reserves - the average wizard will never be able to levitate a person or a heavy trunk for long, if at all, but feathers and a cup of tea are no problem."
Hermione was nodding and scribbling notes as she answered, "Yes, I see. And Engorgio, the object would only swell up as much as it might due to other circumstances such as a dry sponge in water, or a hand with a sting."
"Miss Granger, if there is such a thing it has definitely fallen out of use or it was too problematic to commonly use."
"Why do you think so?" she asked, pausing her scribbling.
"Vanity, of course. If people could grow bigger - and it's always bigger with size, isn't it, no one wants smaller - then we'd all choose to be six foot tall. Or we could economize successfully - buy only the small potatoes and a chicken leg but make them bigger when we're preparing dinner. Can you imagine that? A chicken leg the size of a whole turkey!"
Hermione was silent now with a faraway look.
"Miss Granger, you must excuse me but both you and I had better get to lunch. I will have a look out for anything that relates and pass it on to you."
"Oh! Sorry, I just find this so intriguing. I won't take up any more of your time."
Upon stepping out the door, Crookshanks was already there in the hallway waiting to escort her. "I'm a bit late," she said bending down to run her hand from neck to bum. "Now if only we had a way to grow you I could ride you down to the Great Hall like a pony!"
"Mrow!" said Crookshanks setting off at a fast walk with tail held high. Hermione liked to think it was quite an enthusiastic mrow.