DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. does, and she has every right to do whatever she thinks is best for Harry Potter. I just love writing. So sue me. Wait, seriously… don't.
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"Good evening."
Hermione, though aware that the headmistress of Hogwarts was seeking her out, had still been startled by the sound that came from just a few feet away. Jerking her head to the left, she saw a middle-aged woman walking promptly but carefully towards her bed.
In her apprehension for what was to happen next, Hermione suddenly found herself studying the appearance of her soon inquirer and oddly enough, a jolt of familiarity went through her. The headmistress of Hogwarts looked nearly exactly like her Transfiguration professor. With her brown hair twisted neatly into a knot at the back of her head and a stern look looming about her face, the resemblance she had with Prof. McGonagall was greatly pronounced.
The woman's vivid blue eyes, which were seemingly giving off interest and curiosity in her direction, were concealed behind tetragonal rimmed glasses. And her mouth, which was set into a sternly, thin line a while ago, was now twitching up on each of the corners, starting to portray a friendly smile.
She was wearing dark mahogany robes that fell loosely around her while her hands, which were at her back, were carrying something that Hermione couldn't see, much too enthralled by the scrutiny of the approaching woman to even try to find out what it was.
Deciding that she had prolonged her response longer than necessary, Hermione finally opened her mouth to speak and greeted.
"Good evening to you as well, ma'am." She said courteously; although calmness was the last thing she was feeling at the moment, she still tried to depict the self-confidence she was known for in school.
"My name is Eleanor Warren, I'm the headmistress of--I won't mince words, Ms. Sheldon--I'll go straight to the point. From what I understand, you were brought here by Nicholas Potter after passing out this afternoon. After which, he and his friends visited you, all the while thinking you are a new student, about to be sorted. But, as I am not only the headmistress but the keeper of records as well, I am entitled to see every record a new student has upon entering Hogwarts. And I am confused and worried to say, Ms. Sheldon, you have no records with me and I was not informed of your arrival. In addition to this, I feel there is another reason why you are here and there is something I'm not wholly seeing. So would you mind telling me what these things are?"
Hermione, who up until now had been very quiet, avoided Prof. Warren's probing gaze and instead, settled her eyes on her hands that were folded on her lap. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but, I'd rather not talk about it. It's a bit complicated and I don't know if I'd be able to recount it with you as of this moment."
Hermione bit her lip as she spoke the last word and looked up. Was it right for her not to confess everything when she knows that she needs the help of the headmistress?
"Very well, then." Came the reply of Prof. Warren with a nod and an almost too friendly smile. "If you are not ready to tell me, I respect that. But I want it understood that I don't intend to keep my restraint from asking about it some time or another. And I hope that when that time comes, you will be ready to say whatever it is you want to keep for yourself now. Would that be all right?"
Having no other choices to decide on, she sighed. "Yes, ma'am."
"Oh, before you go to bed, there is one thing you must do to get started on tomorrow's classes and move into your dormitory." Prof. Warren said, reaching behind her and bringing out the Sorting Hat.
Hermione perked her nose in a sort of dignified way and almost scoffed as if showing she already knew what it was for and stopped in midair as she fully realized that it might be one of the tests on finding out who she really was, so she pretended to be curious and asked how she was to use it.
Prof. Warren smiled knowingly and explained what it was for. After she did, Hermione put it on and stared once more at the dark confines of the insides of the Sorting Hat that she had faced some 7 years before.
After a moment of stillness, the voice of the sorting hat said in her ear, unknowingly sending shivers up her spine.
"Have my senses become enervated
Or are you really the Hermione Granger some century that exceeded…?"
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"Excuse me, Professor." Ron interrupted for the 5th time in an hour.
Harry looked up at Ron then to the old man who was now seated on his chair and was scanning the pages of a book that he had taken out of his room a few minutes prior to the present.
Harry found it a bit surprising and admiring that Prof. Dumbledore had taken it upon himself to answer Ron patiently whenever he inquired whatever was on his mind. Because if he was the one bombarded with questions every 10 minutes or so, he would have been cross and would have driven his disturber away.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore answered in a calm way.
"If you don't mind my asking--again--what is that book for?" Ron fidgeted, obviously aware of the probable annoyance Prof. Dumbledore was feeling for him at the moment.
"This is a book that has been with me for as long as I can remember. I haven't had much use for it. But I kept it in my room for future use. I never thought that I would have assistance for it one day, until now." Dumbledore explained; looking up as he did then looked down once more when he had finished.
"But what's it for?" Ron asked, not being able to stop himself, but then he reddened and bowed his head. "Sorry, sir."
Prof. Dumbledore merely chuckled at this and said as his eyes twinkled. "Your care for Ms. Granger far exceeds my expectations, Mr. Weasley. I understand your eagerness to bring her back and I don't want you to hesitate on asking me about anything that comes into your mind, as long as it has something to do with our current predicament. Furthermore, to get it done immediately, kindly limit them at only 2 times every half hour or so."
Ron smiled good-naturedly. "Yes, sir."
"But it doesn't take two to notice how someone else in this room is being very silent…" Prof. Dumbledore put in, glancing knowingly at Harry.
Harry glanced up guiltily and shifted in his seat. "I just don't know what to say, sir. I only found out about this last night."
"But you do know that you are not here because you care for your best friend, don't you?" Prof. Dumbledore probed.
"Y-yes, I do, sir." Harry admitted embarrassedly, knowing what the old man was pertaining to and not having the strength, or heart, to deny it any longer.
"What do you mean, 'he's not here because he doesn't care about Hermione', professor?" Ron asked.
"I believe it is Mr. Potter you have to talk to about that." Prof. Dumbledore said with a warm smile. With a wave of his hand, two cushioned chairs appeared at the corner of the room with enough distance from hearing range, giving them ample privacy to talk. He motioned for Harry and Ron to go there and begin a conversation about what Harry's senses had been blaring for release.
Ron glanced at Harry warily and hopefully, quietly anticipating that he would tell him about what he and Prof. Dumbledore had an understanding on. To his relief, Harry stood up and was the first to go to the private space and sat down, slouching while massaging his forehead with his thumb and index finger.
Ron followed suit and stared at his best friend as he too sat down, scrutinizing him the way he has never done in the 7 years they were together. "I'll cut to the chase, Harry…" He said in a hoarse and tired voice. "What were you and Prof. Dumbledore talking about?"
"I don't care about Hermione like everyone thinks I do." Harry said simply as if it explained everything Ron was contemplating and having silent conflicts with.
Ron's eyes crossed the moment he heard this. "What are you talking about, Harry?" He hissed and gripped the arm of the chair tightly. "I've noticed the way you look at her and the way you fret about her. What makes you think I'm going to believe what you're saying?"
"I'm not asking you to believe I don't care for her. I'm asking you to believe that I don't just love her…" Harry paused, then closed his eyes and braced himself for the next racket that would erupt from Ron once he tells him what he was about to say next, "I'm in love with her."
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"Good morning, class." The sharp and authoritative voice of the head of the Gryffindor house, Miranda Caldor, emitted from the entranceway of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom that caused the chatting groups of people to stop their talks and finally submerge into their respective seats.
The professor, whose age was of 35 summers in life, waited for the students to be comfortable in their chairs before she announced the news that she had with her that day.
When they were finally looking up at her with their seventeen-year old eyes, she cleared her throat and smiled at them. "I know it's in the middle of the school year and it would seem a bit late for others to come in and study after half the school curriculum have been finished, but owing to the circumstances that are still unknown to most of the faculty members, we are to welcome a new apprentice amidst us as another Gryffindor Housemate. Please welcome your new companion, Noelle Sheldon."
With that, she swiftly went to the entrance and stayed there, half her body leaning outside to motion Hermione to go in the classroom. Hermione bit her lip in nervousness, a condition she didn't have to feign, and smoothed her robes.
Her encounter with the Sorting Hat, who had a very astonishing and intelligent memory, still hung over her like a phobia because of the thought that she had been nearly close to being caught the previous night.
If she hadn't asked, or rather pleaded, in her mind, for the Sorting Hat to just announce that she was in Gryffindor, like she really was in her own time, it would have asked questions aloud, giving the headmistress liberal freedom to hear and she wouldn't have been able to answer them without telling the truth.
After a lot of convincing, the Sorting Hat had finally given in and announced out loud her house for Prof. Warren to hear. Subsequent to that, the headmistress had began to leave the room with a slight reminder of her promise and a prompt that if she was well enough the next day, she would be attending her classes.
And before the headmistress finally left, she magically transformed a list of books she would need, her lessons with their respective teachers and the location of the rooms they were to be conducted in and finally exited, leaving Hermione to dwell on her problems alone and suffer a night full of questions and disturbances.
When she woke up the next day, she had realized instantly that she was sufficiently fine to attend her courses and had thought of a spell she once learned on how to transform own belongings from just a list made on paper.
Hermione took out her wand, feeling relieved that she had the sense of bringing it with her, and muttered an incantation. Within a few seconds, she had magically materialized a new set of robes, quills, books, cauldron, casual daywear, and whatever things she knew she was in short of using the list she had written before she performed the enchantment.
After that, she quickly searched for the nurse and found her busily recording students' data in her office and asked where she could bathe herself. Nurse Raeford directed her to the farthest area of the Hospital Wing and opened a concealed door where there was a shower and some bathing paraphernalia inside.
She quickly took a bath, dressed herself neatly, grabbed all the things she needed and before she knew it, she was already standing outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, which was the classroom of Prof. Binns in her own time, waiting for Prof. Caldor, whom she had met on the way, to introduce her to the class where she would be meeting her temporary, maybe permanent, housemates and schoolmates.
With a deep breath, Hermione entered the classroom, feeling the eyes of all the students on her, scrutinizing and judging the way she appeared and the way she walked.
She stopped in front and eyed the students she was being presented to. Before she opened her mouth to speak, she gathered all the coolness she could muster and spoke in what she hoped was a calm way.
"Good morning."
At first, no one answered. Apparently, some were busy watching her to bother responding to her greeting, and others, had started murmuring little conversations regarding her. But after a long and stony silence, 3 people greeted her with gaiety and conviviality. Three people…with three familiar voices…
As soon as she recognized these tones, she immediately searched for them. And sure enough, she was soon staring at the features of the four persons she had met the previous night and found herself smiling with appreciation and relief.
The professor, seeing that she was on gracious terms with the Weasley twins and Alex Malfoy, indicated that she was to sit beside them and gave the four, including Nicholas who was looking rather bored, the task of showing her around so she would grow accustomed to the castle.
Hermione smirked mentally at this. Those whom would think that even after spending 7 years at Hogwarts she wouldn't be familiar with the place by now was seriously deranged, for she, along with Harry and Ron, were probably the only students, aside from Fred and George, who knew every single passages at Hogwarts, secret and not.
Barely noticing that the others were gaping at her unexpected closeness to the three, Hermione kept her smile intact as she made her way towards the only seat near them that was unoccupied, which was beside Nicholas'.
Hermione slid her bag at the side of the chair and sat down, preparing to listen to the given lecture, only to be sidetracked when Shawn and Erin suddenly leaned in and talked to her.
"Are you all right now, Noelle?" Shawn asked, nudging his sister aside to be able to see her.
She nodded and acknowledged him with nothing but a smile.
"That's good." Erin put in.
"Thank you." Hermione grinned, unable to concentrate on her paying attention to the teacher in front.
"Welcome to Gryffindor." With a certain gleam in his eyes, Alex winked at her, a gesture some girls in the room saw, causing Hermione to feel the hair at the back of her neck to stand as they threw death glares at her. "I'm very pleased you're in our house."
Ignoring them, Hermione nodded, smiled and went back to her intent listening, but only to feel, a moment much too soon, someone's eyes glancing momentarily on her but fleeting once more on the teacher.
Ever since the day before, Nicholas kept on feeling twinges every time his eyes rested on Noelle Sheldon. He couldn't understand what they were and he wasn't sure if it was right looking into it further, but he was really feeling a strong sense of curiosity on what it was and what was causing it. It wasn't merely attraction, but a more different feeling, associated with an invisible, magnetic force pulling them together.
Nicholas shook his head and concentrated instead to Prof. Caldor just in time to hear her ask a question. "What is the Dredoneum Curse?"
As he waited for the teacher to have no choice but call his name, Nicholas smiled involuntarily, not noticing that just that simple motion caused some of the female divisions in the room to glance his way.
He shifted his sitting position and slouched, still waiting. He had always been accustomed in being the student frequently winning their house points since he seemed to be the only one who had been able to fit studying into his schedule aside from his best friend, Alex Malfoy, who was next to Nicholas in academic excellence.
However, Alex had different goals than what Nicholas had and that was winning the Quidditch Cup. Now, this was something Nicholas wasn't intent on getting, although he plays for the Gryffindor Team, he wasn't really that much of a fan. Besides, he only tried out for the team because Alex had literally begged him to do so and since he hadn't only inherited his ancestor's appearance but also his reflexive skills, the spot was given to him right away.
And so far, since the year that the four, including Erin and Shawn, had tried out for the vacant Quidditch positions, Seeker and 3 Chasers, the team had constantly won almost all the matches. They've been The Quidditch Champion for 4 years now and Alex, being the Gryffindor Team Captain, wanted to make sure that they win the Quidditch Cup before they leave Hogwarts.
Crossing his arms, Nicholas looked once more at the teacher intently, as if telling her with his eyes that he was prepared to answer her question. But then, to his mild surprise, he heard her call another name, a name that belonged to the girl seated beside him. He turned and stared in astonishment as Noelle began to talk.
"A Dredoneum Curse is a panic-indulger used as an offensive blight, usually conjured during duels. It is an invisible barrier that envelops the opponent and temporarily portrays in his vision a time and environment that differs from his own, thus momentarily creating fright to the being inside the barricade. In this particular barrier, the person inside loses his ability to think sensibly, destabilizing him to produce charms to get himself out, giving his opponent time to conjure an attack." Hermione finished with a slight pert in her tone.
"Well done, Ms. Sheldon, you obviously had done some reading in your old school. 15 points to Gryffindor." She said with an astounded tone in her voice and then searched once more in the crowd as she asked another question. "And what is the incantation comprised in this charm?"
"Admitre Sealor." Nicholas answered plainly not waiting for his name to be called even as he raised his hand.
"That's correct, Mr. Potter. 10 points to Gryffindor." Ms. Caldor nodded and faced the crowd to elaborate further on the Dredoneum Curse. "Like what Ms. Sheldon had said, inside the barricade of the Dredoneum Curse is a magic that pampers with the rationalized thinking of a person so as to give an opening for attack to his opponent."
She paused and walked over to the left side of the room and spoke once more. "Now, a Dredoneum Curse can only be conjured by one of the parties of a duel so it may either be good and bad for you, depending on whoever will be the first to use it. In your case, if you conjure a Dredoneum Curse first, it's a score in your part. But, if your opponent was the one who produced it before you did, you will find it hard to create another offensive attack. So, you must know not only how to create this kind of spell, but also know how to destroy it; thus there's no worrying on what will happen. There is one specific spell that can destroy it, but only those whom have advanced knowledge regarding this have the ability to use it. Any spell would do, just as long as they are strong enough to break a tough membrane as the Dredoneum Curse." She concluded.
Then she looked at them jovially and clapped her hands. "As part of your curriculum, you will have to practice on how to defend yourself against the Dredoneum Curse. So, each of you will come here in front and try to break the barrier I am to create around you. There's no need to fit worry in yourselves, because I will not attack you once you're under my spell. We'll just try and find out if you are capable of destroying the enchantment." She said then looked at the group of people that started darting out of sight, trying to avoid her scrutiny.
"Let's see, I shall pick first--ah! Mr. Dunsinane, please come up front." She said cheerily. "When I conjure the curse, you will feel panic emit inside you and you will probably lose all the ability to think rationally. Your main goal is to try and find a way to penetrate through this barrier and break it in record time--"
The next words of Ms. Caldor evaporated into thin air as Hermione's thoughts drifted for a moment to the years of practicing and learning she had spent with Harry in producing the Patronus Charm that the Dredoneum Curse had made her remember abruptly.
After a long training with Harry as her teacher, she had finally managed to create a perfectly shaped Patronus that really charged Dementors down. Her Patronus was a beautiful unicorn and had been helpful to them with their battle against Voldemort as he brought with him Dementors. Since he was only expecting a small number of teachers who knows this charm, their multiplied defense came off a surprise for him.
And since she and Harry, including Ron, had managed to make the figures of their Patronus solid, they were the ones included as those whom would defend the castle and the students from the Azkaban Guards.
"Ms. Sheldon--Ms. Sheldon--"
Hermione was pulled back from her reminiscing.
"Yes?" She asked, slightly forgetting where she was and what she was doing.
"It's your turn." Ms. Caldor reminded, motioning her to go in front of the classroom.
For a minute, she was confused, then her surroundings told her all she needed to remember and she nodded shakily, still dazed from recalling Harry's laughing face as she stated that her feeble Patronus looked like an amputated horse when she had produced it for the first time.
She stood up and walked to the front of the classroom and stood at opponent sides with the teacher.
"Before we start, Ms. Sheldon, may I remind you that this is not a real duel so don't strain yourself trying to break the charm if you really can't. Is that clear?" The teacher asked. And when she nodded, continued. "The first thing you should think of is the defensive spell you believe will destroy the curse."
Hermione nodded in understanding. For the mean time of her thinking, she let her eyes roam freely on the students near her and apparently realized that there had been no one before her that had the power to break Ms. Caldor's curse, even Nicholas, who was looking really somber while seated on his desk, hadn't been fortunate enough to do so.
Detaching herself from these things, Hermione closed her eyes and tried to remember something she had read from a book of spells, vaguely thinking of the incantation involved. After a few more seconds, it was as if someone turned on a light inside her head as she remembered a very useful spell.
It was called the Perseveira Alur--an adamant spell used to perforate through something incessantly, unless stopped by its conjuror.
So smiling widely, Hermione nodded her head, indicating she was ready for the curse. But even as she saw Ms. Caldor raise her hand and waited for the spell to hit her, nothing came.
She just stood there, where she was, feeling very stupid…not knowing what to do since…?
'What was happening…?' Hermione thought.
Why was she here and why was she standing, anyway? Hermione blinked. Why was she suddenly losing sight of…what had she been seeing? Were there people in front of her a minute ago? Where was she again?
All she could remember was…was…she could remember…nothing!
Why can't she remember anything? Hermione frowned. This was all a dream…a dream that felt real…so real, in fact…but why, she wondered, was she feeling lightheaded and drifty? She stepped forward and abruptly looked puzzled as she did. Her footstep…it didn't echo…Hermione opened her mouth to speak…she could feel her voice vibrating inside her throat but no sound was coming out from her mouth…
'Think, Hermione, think…' commanded a voice inside her brain.
'What am I supposed to do? I seem to have lost my ability to think…' She inclined her head, but she blinked rapidly many times as a thought hit her…
Ability to think…
Ability to think…
Ability to think…
It was as if her head had snapped in two and memories begun to flood inside her mind, memories that involved a class with a new atmosphere and new faces. And the next thing she knew, she heard someone's voice…Ms. Caldor's voice…echo inside her head.
"Each of you will come here in front and try to break the Dredoneum Curse I am to create around you…"
"That's it!" Hermione cried out, excitement reverberating in her voice, though she couldn't hear it. She opened her mouth and thought of the spell she recalled the moment before she was put into curse and raised her wand hand and spoke in a way that she hoped would be good enough to be heard.
"Pursuere Admitre!"
At first nothing happened, and then, after a moment of continued silence…slowly, but clearly, voices begin to decipher through her…and then, Hermione felt herself being sucked into a swirling mass of vacuity, causing her to feel dizzy and nauseous.
As she continued to fall into the pit of nothingness…Hermione felt as if she would throw up and die; but at the same time, she knew there was nothing she could do to escape it, so she just closed her eyes and willed everything to stop.
And as if in a dream, the swirling ceased and Hermione felt once more her solid form, standing on the cold stone floor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom. She tried to remember the feeling of panic inside her, but there was none and realized that she had done it…she had broken the spell…
And sure enough, she had, because she found herself facing a tumultuous applause from her 'friends', the professor, and some classmates who were amazed by the display of magic she had created. Apparently, there was some kind of neat effects her magic had produced that had been visible through the barricade.
When she sat down, the Weasley twins found it to their amusement once more to lean in and breathe in excitement. "Wow!"
She laughed at their comical expressions and asked what on earth they were so excited about.
"We've never seen anyone who could do magic well in their first try aside from Alex and Nicholas. It was really cool with what you did with that Dredo-thingie Curse!" Erin explained.
"Dredoneum, Erin." Nicholas corrected coldly, surprising Hermione when he did. She hadn't known that he had been listening and wouldn't have been surprised if they found him dead since it was the first time he had talked while they were having a conversation.
"Whatever, Cole." Erin smirked at him. "And why so bitter? Afraid Noelle might get your rank as number one?"
"Why would I be afraid? Besides, I don't care that much about it anyway." Nicholas stated flatly and turned away.
Erin smiled at Hermione and weaved her index finger in a circular motion at her temporal, as if saying Nicholas was a weirdo and a crackpot. Hermione stifled her laughter and slightly stole a glance at Nicholas who, though frowning with his jaws clenching, still looked a lot like Harry, and a jolt of pain suddenly pricked her.
Politely turning away from Erin, she began to watch the other students go up front and face Ms. Caldor, each with their futile attempts on destroying the barrier, hoping that they can beat the only one who had triumphed over Nicholas Potter.
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A/N:
Hermione's patronus is an otter, yes, but I really would like for it to be a unicorn.
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