Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Titans Trilogy: The Rise of The Dragon
Deja Vu
10 reviewsDuring the summer following his fifth year at Hogwarts Harry is attacked by Death Eaters. During the attack Harry's true power, which had been bound by Dumbledore is awakened. He struggles to contr...
2Exciting
Rating: M for violence and language
disClaimer: Don't know why these are really necessary, it's not like people claim ownership of an author's characters on a fanfiction website, but yeah. Don't own anything.
A/N: sorry for the wait, but my laptop done died. Crashed. Lost it all. Except what i had saved, heh. But yeah its hard to write as much as I want, but I'm workign on fixing that so hopefully my updates will soon come faster. Enjoy the chapter. au revoir
Chapter 4: Deja Vu
Hermione sighed as she scrubbed the cauldron she was holding clean. It had some weird orange sludge stuck to it that simply did not want to come off. She was forbidden to use her wand, but she was fine with that. She wasn't one of those raised in the magical world. She was no stranger to cleaning dishes and this was no different. Just a little more time consuming. She was in detention, halfway through her four weeks of detention assigned to her.
In hindsight she knew it was pretty stupid to attack Malfoy in the Great Hall during breakfast when everyone, students and teachers, were there. The look on his face, his crying and pleading, and the time it took to set him right were well worth the month of detention she got. Though if she could go back to that time, she would've waited till she could corner Malfoy, but she was angry and reacted in a very Gryffindorish way. Still, she smiled at the memory.
OoOoOoOo
Two Weeks Prior
Hermione was sitting by herself at the far end of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. She was eating her breakfast and reading a book while ignoring the looks she was getting from everyone else.
Upon her return to Hogwarts, she had discovered her place as a pariah of all four houses. She got several glares and even jinxed a few times on the Express alone. She had spent the train ride alone in the prefects compartment after the meeting. She didn't want to deal with the looks and remarks.
As Hermione ate her breakfast she was trying to ignore Malfoy's loud comments about Harry. The Daily Prophet had been playing off every Death Eater attack as an attack by Harry. Malfoy had loved it. He took pleasure in needling her and calling her 'Potter's Tramp' or 'Potter's Mudblood'. She had been dealing with it for a week and her temper was at a boiling point. Upon his return, Ron had turned most of Gryffindor against her and seemed to have proclaimed himself king of Gryffindor. She had commented about him being the Gryffindor version of Malfoy. He'd attempted to Jinx her and failed and resorted to asking her how dear Harry was faring at the killings. She'd rearranged his face, literally. Took Madame Pomfrey two days to set straight. As she was smiling at the memory she heard Malfoy make a loud comment about his father mentioning Harry had approached the Dark Lord about becoming a Death Eater,but was turned away and had run in fear.
Hermione, for a very short moment, wondered at Malfoy's stupidity at mentioning a recent conversation with his father, who was an escaped convict. Unfortunately, her temper had reached its boiling point and she flicked out her wand and stood and waved it at the Slytherin table.
Draco Malfoy was laughing about his last comment when he felt a yank behind his naval. At first he thought he'd touched a portkey, but then he realized he was rising swiftly and looking down at shocked Slytherin faces. He screamed a high pitched scream as he rose quickly and groaned loudly as his back slammed into the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. He gasped for breath as the wind was knocked out of him on impact. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was stuck to the ceiling looking down at the Great Hall and he screamed.
The Great Hall was filled with laughter as they looked up at a screaming and crying Malfoy. They laughed at harder at this plea's to get down and his muttered 'When my father hears about this'. They only quieted when the teachers stormed through the center of the Great Hall and split. Some went to look at Malfoy and try to get him down, the others moved over to the Gryffindor table.
“She did it! The little filthy mudblood did it! She's in league with Potter, why you allowed her back into the school is beyond me, but I demand she be expelled!” Snape yelled with a puce colored face while pointing at Hermione.
“Watch your mouth Severus. Professor's aren't suppose to use such language.” Minerva McGonagall said with a glare at the Slytherin head of house.
“Severus, I don't think you should demand things of me. You're lucky to still be teaching.” The Headmaster said in an unusual tone of anger directed at the greasy haired Professor.
Snape flushed in anger and glared at Hermione.
“Then she has a month of detention with me and 200 points from Gryffindor.” Snape shouted and turned to try and help Malfoy down.
Gryffindor went from laughing to glaring at Hermione because of the loss of points. The Headmaster dismissed everyone from the Great Hall and moved to help Malfoy.
Hermione waited and watched with amusement as they attempted to get Malfoy down but couldn't. She smiled as she thought about the lesson she learned her first year. Logic and common sense were absent in most witches and wizards. She grinned and walked off to her first class, not caring about the points lost or the detentions. Malfoy's reaction was enough.
It was after dinner before they managed to get Malfoy down. Dumbledore had discovered it was Malfoy's robes that were stuck to the ceiling, not Malfoy himself. The maneuvered him out of his robes and sent him down to the dungeons. His robes were still stuck to the ceiling, though they were disillusioned to blend in with the ceiling.
OoOoOoOo
Present
Hermione smiled as she thought about the robes still stuck to the ceiling of the Great Hall. It was an impressive feat to cast a spell that Albus Dumbledore is unable to break. She chuckled to herself at the fact it took them the whole day to figure out it was his robes that were stuck to the ceiling. For how great wizards and witches often thought themselves to be, they could be incredibly foolish.
She jumped as the door to Snape's office burst open and he came storming out. He glared at her and then looked over the cauldrons Hermione had spent the last two hours cleaning. He scoffed and walked over to where she was standing.
“It seems you don't have as much trouble as most usually do in cleaning cauldrons without a wand. Though a mudblood like yourself must be use to it, having to do this filthy muggle chores.” Snape commented with a sneer.
Hermione flushed in anger and bit her tongue to keep from retorting. She'd been loosing her temper much more than usual this year and she couldn't do anything to Snape, Dumbledore would never fire him. She frowned and glared at Snape.
“It's been two hours SIR, am I dismissed?” Hermione asked with a sneer of her own.
“Don't take that tone with me you filthy little girl. You're just like Potter, disrespectful and think you can get away with whatever you want. Well Potter isn't here little girl, and being his slut doesn't allow you to get away with whatever you want in my presence.” Snape snarled out, but was forced to jump back as Hermione snapped and drew her wand on him.
Hermione's face was filled with fury and her arm shook as she pointed her wand at Snape. Before the man could react she had shouted “Quattuor Ventos!”
Four crescent shaped blades of wind shot out of her wand one right after the other and rushed at Snape. His eyes widened and he barely dodged the first three and caught the last one in his arm. It opened a deep gash and blood poured out. He turned and glared at Hermione, but before he could respond she began ranting.
“You are a disgusting petty little man. You're a hypocrite, you treat students like shit and use foul language because you know Dumbledore will never fire you because you're his little ass monkey. You're disgusting and filthy. It's no wonder you only look out for yourself, nobody else gives a shit about you. I'm sick of dealing with you Snivellus. I'm not putting up with your degrading behavior anymore! I'm through!” Hermione shouted.
Snape looked on in shock as Hermione's face began to darken and take on an avian appearance. Her eyes flashed orange and her hair took on a reddish-brown tint. She lifted her wand again and snarled.
“Concussão Esfera!” Hermione shouted in what sounded like a mix of her voice and a phoenix's angry trill.
A clear but rippling sphere of magic rushed from her wand at untraceable speeds and slammed into Snape's chest. The sphere erupted and the greasy potions professor was flung violently through several desks and slammed into the wall, which cracked under the impact.
“I hope Harry finds you in Death Eater robes!” Hermione shouted and stormed out of the classroom leaving the bleeding potions professor on the ground.
OoOoOoOo
Albus Dumbledore was enjoying a particularly tasty lemon drop when his proximity alarms alerted him to a powerful presence outside the gargoyle and trying to get in. He was a bit confused as the powerful teachers at the school should have registered with the gargoyle. The few teachers above a class 4 were set into his wards so he was curios who this new high power was. He closed his eyes and focused on the charm placed on the gargoyle to let him see through its eyes. He was surprised to see an orange eyed Hermione Granger with reddish-brown hair. He quickly opened the stairway and was about to tell her to come in when she threw his door open.
“I am not taking any more detentions with that asshole! I refuse to be around him anymore! I'll take my detentions with another professor and I'm dropping potions.” Hermione shouted, here eyes still a flaming orange.
“Why don't you sit and tell me what happened?” The Headmaster suggested calmly.
He was rather curious about what could have happened to make Miss Granger's usual politeness with authority figures completely vanish.
Hermione sat down, but when she tried to explain what happened she just got angrier and her hair got redder. She took a deep breath and calmed down. Her eyes faded back to their chestnut brown and her hair lost its red tint. She let out another breath and her muscles relaxed.
Albus was inwardly very impressed with Hermione's control of her power. He had not expected her to be a great power, but then again she had never been tested. Her eye and hair changing made it seem as if she was in the higher power classes, at least a 7. He was surprised, but realized her birthday was only a week away and she'd be seventeen which is the age powers fully manifest. He decided he'd keep an eye on her, he didn't need another loose canon like Harry. Though her powers were awakening at the proper time on their own so he wasn't too worried. She showed good control over herself. He'd have to watch her, she could be the key to getting Harry back in control of his power.
Hermione's eyes shifted around the room quickly and caught sight of the pensieve.
“Can I place my memory of the event into your pensieve sir? I'm not sure I could really explain it all without getting angry again.” Hermione requested.
Albus was surprised at the request, but nodded his assent.
Hermione went over to the cabinet and pulled the pensieve out and placed it on the Headmaster's desk. She sighed and took out her wand and extracted the entire memory, from the point he exited his office to her storming out after cursing him. She sat back as the head master pulled the pensieve over and waved his wand. She frowned as the silvery substance rose up and the scene played out above the pensieve like a muggle science fiction hologram.
Albus was greatly displeased with his potions professor. He couldn't fire him, but he knew the perfect way to discipline him. He smiled at the thought, but returned his attention to Hermione.
“I am greatly disgusted at his words and his behavior Miss Granger and I apologize. He will be dealt with and you will not face this problem again. I understand your wish to drop potions, but perhaps we could make an arrangement of personal study in potions so that you could still take the exams and the NEWTs next year? It would be a shame to throw away the subject entirely.” The Headmaster made the suggestion as he thought of a way to make it up to the brilliant girl. He still couldn't believe what a prat Severus had been, but he knew some people just don't change.
Hermione was surprised at the offer of a personal study for potions. She didn't want to drop the class, she happened to love potions, but she couldn't stand to be around that greasy haired prat any longer.
“A personal study possibility would be wonderful Headmaster, thank you.” Hermione said sincerely as she pulled the memory back into her head and replaced the pensieve into the cabinet.
“Well I'll speak with the Board of Governors soon and let you know. Once again I apologize for Professor Snape's behavior and assure you wont be dealing with him again. Your detentions will be finished with your head of house.” The Headmaster said as he clasped his hands in front of himself.
“Thank You sir.” Hermione said again as she nodded to him and left his office.
The old man smiled as he slipped another lemon drop into his mouth.
“Dobby.” He said calmly.
“Yes Headmaster sir?” Dobby proclaimed eagerly after a loud clap.
“I would you like to be Professor Snape's personal assistant for the rest of this year. Help him with his potions and his various activities.” Albus said with a smile.
“Dobby doesn't like the greasy snake man. He is rude to Harry Potter and his Grangy. Dobby does not wish to be nice or helpful to the greasy man.” Dobby said with a frown.
Albus smiled as he looked at the house elf.
“I don't recall telling you to be nice, and the the help had to be good.” Albus said with a chuckle.
Dobby's face brightened and he pulled his ears in anticipation.
“Dobby understands Headmaster Sir. Dobby will act like the shifty pink haired one. Dobby thanks you sir.” Dobby said and then vanished with a crack.
Dumbledore chuckled to himself as he imagined Severus' reaction to Dobby's presence.
Fawkes trilled out an amused note.
“Yes my old friend, I thought it was rather clever myself.” Albus said with a smile, his eyes twinkling.
OoOoOoOo
Hermione sat at breakfast a week later, studiously ignoring the whisperings going on around her and the eyes watching her. There was another article ridiculing the Ministry for not taking her in for questioning and calling her 'The Dark Lady'. She was sitting at the farthest end of the table where first years usually sat and was reading a book on the theory of controlling magic.
She found she had replaced Harry as Snape's most hated student. Since she'd attacked him a week before he'd been in a constantly foul mood and often times vanished her potion before she finished and failed her for the day. Her constant complaints about it went ignored. Even the Board of Governors had responded by saying there weren't any other complaints and that she should gather proof of the tampering with her work. The evidence she sent them mysteriously dissapeared during delivery. She gave up after three days and just decided to ignore it all, though if she was watched closely the watchers would see her eyes a nearly constant ring of orange around the outside of the iris and that it was slowly bleeding in towards her pupil.
The bushy haired brunette was rather annoyed that the Board of Governors said she had to finish out the term before she could begin an independent study in potions. She had to be talked into accepting it and not flat out dropping potions by McGonagall and it had taken hours of ranting and loosing her temper before she finally gave in.
As the bell rang through the Great Hall signaling the end of breakfast Hermione gathered her things and made her way to transfiguration. As she entered the class she took the seat she commonly claimed as hers during the first few months of her first year. During that time she'd have piles of parchment, quills, and her book covering her area and watching the board earnestly. Now she sat quietly with her closed book on her desk, and a single piece of parchment and one quill with ink. She laid her head in her arms while she reminisced about her first year when she was often times alone like she recently had been.
OoOo
September 1991
A twelve year old Hermione sat at the front of her first transfiguration class with parchment, ink, quills, and her book and eagerly waited for the lesson. She was extremely excited about learning magic and couldn't wait to learn how to transfigure things. It was a very fascinating subject that she had quickly taken a liking to when she was reading her school books during the summer. She sat on the edge of her seat as Professor McGonagall started class.
Halfway through the class Hermione had been able to complete the assignment and excitedly waved her hand in the air and told the Professor she had completed the assignment. She blushed a bit when Professor McGonagall told her to keep it until next class, and lowed her head when the other students laughed at her.
She felt her heart constrict when she heard whispers of 'Know it all', 'show off', and 'stuck up nerd' going around the class. She bowed her head and bit her bottom lip as she mentally beat herself. 'You did it again nerdy know it all. Why can't you just do things normally and not get so excited about class? You're never going to have any friends!'
OoOo
Hermione smiled to herself as she remembered how happy she had been when she proved herself wrong and befriended Harry and Ron. Now Ron was back to the way he was those first few months of first year and Harry was nowhere to be found.
Since the start of term Ron had been insulting her, mocking her in class the few times she raised her hand to answer her question, and was pretty much turning into Gryffindor's Malfoy. She couldn't stand it and often times found herself wishing she could attach a zipper to his lips and zip them closed. He'd also encouraged most of the house, along with the others, to give her a hard time. Though if she was honest with herself, the whole school seemed to shun her when she was in the halls. Nobody really talked to her if it wasn't to insult her, and when she entered the Library, often times most of the people in it would leave.
The lonely brunette sat quietly while Professor McGonagall lectured on basic conjuration and the permanency of the spells. She asked a question about it and everyone looked at Hermione expecting her to wave her arm around and answer, but she just sat with her head resting on her bent arm while her quill rested in her hand waiting for the lecture to continue.
Lavander Brown, who was sitting behind her, leaned forward and whispered “Come on Bushy Head, you know everything don't you? You've been showing it off for years, why don't you answer?”
Hermione scowled, but didn't respond. She sat in her spot and glared at her parchment. Tomorrow was her birthday and here she was dealing with insults and being talked down to while the only person she could still consider a friend was a wanted fugitive responsible for the deaths of thousands. Her life had really taken a turn for the worse. She frowned and the shift of her eyes to solid orange escaped her as she thought Forvandling. Suddenly a scream erupted behind her. She jumped up and spun around, her eyes back to being brown with an orange ring on the outside. Her eyes widened at what she saw, what she'd pictured when she had thought Forvandling, the metamorphosis spell.
Lavender Brown's body seemed to have shriveled up as if she aged eighty years in a few seconds. Her nails were yellow and chipped and her teeth had fallen out. Her hair was thin, gray, and nappy. Most of it had fallen out though and sat around her. She had warts covering her body and she gave off a nasty smell of waste. She was staring at her hands in horror while everyone else was looking at her in surprise. Suddenly her eyes fell on Hermione and she glared.
“It was her! She cursed me!” Lavender shouted pointing at Hermione.
Professor McGonagall walked over and frowned at Lavender, but asked Hermione for her wand. Her eyes turned into annoyance when she realized Hermione was reaching into her book bag for her wand. She cast prior incantatem to check the last spell and found it was a summoning charm. She handed it back to Hermione and looked at Lavender.
“Whoever cursed you it was not Miss Granger. Firstly she had to reach into her book bag to get it, and secondly the Forvandling curse wasn't even on her wand.” McGonagall said with a frown.
She had been very disappointed in her Gryffindors for how they were treating Hermione. They were reacting like Slytherins, and Ron Weasley was acting exactly like Malfoy did to the other houses. She was disgusted with their behavior and cursed Dumbledore for being the cause of everyone's problems. If he'd handled Harry better none of this would have happened. The old fool learned the hard way that he didn't know what was best and the greater good meant shit to those who were manipulated and taken advantage of.
“Well she must've done it wandlessly.” Lavender shouted in a rage. Why couldn't the stupid Professor understand that it was Hermione? She had insulted her and then wound up cursed. Of course she didn't think about how the Professor didn't know that, or how she'd react if she did.
“Miss Brown the only student in the last hundred years that has been able to do serious wandless magic was Mr. Potter and his abilities manifested over the summer and he has a level of power not seen since Merlin and the Founders. I can assure you Miss Granger doesn't have the ability to cast such a complex curse wandlessly.
“She's his lover! It's all over the papers! It wouldn't have been hard for him to show her how to do it! Look at her eyes! They have an orange ring around them! Just like Potter's eyes being purple!” Lavender shouted again.
“I don't want to listen to any more unfounded accusations. The day the Prophet prints the truth is the day I bow down Deloros Umbridge and proclaim her teacher of the century. Now go to the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey will fix you right up.” McGonagall said, and with that she went back to her lecture while a furious Lavender left.
Hermione's mind was to busy focusing on what had just happened to even consider paying attention. She had just cast wandless magic and felt no drain at all. She was growing concerned about the orange ring around her iris as well. She'd asked the Headmaster about it, but he had simply told her it was part of her magic maturing and that it'd be gone once her birthday passed.
OoOoOoOo
The afternoon found Hermione curled up in a chair in the Library reading her book on the theory of magic control. She was focusing on the chapter about powerful wizards and witches being able to control their magic by willing it to do something without using wands at all. She was curious if it really would stop once her birthday passed. She didn't regret cursing Snape, but her spells had been much more powerful than they should have been.
She looked up when she heard laughing and saw a group of five fourth year Ravenclaws studying and joking around. She smiled when she remembered her own fourth year and the time she spent in the Library helping Harry with the tasks. She had been delighted at all the time she'd been able to spend with Harry when he and Ron had been fighting before the first task.
She went back to reading her book with a sigh. She missed the past, but she knew things would never be the same. Too much had happened and Harry would never be able to just walk back into the magical world as if nothing happened. She was still looking for a way to help him, which was why she was reading so many books on magic control, but she was having little luck in how to help someone control the amount of magic Harry held.
OoOoOoOo
Hermione sat in the owlery with a parchment, envelope, and quill. She was writing a letter to Harry and hoping that he'd read it and respond. She needed someone to talk to, someone to vent to, and Harry was the only person she could think of.
Dear Harry,
I hope you're doing OK. I wish you'd come back and let the Headmaster help you control your powers, but I know it's useless. Even though Professor Dumbledore is the reason you've lost control of your power, I still think he's the only one who help you learn to control it. I wish you would come back, so much of what you've done has been so far from the you I know that I am sure you're not yourself. I don't know if you're being influenced, of if the power has created an alternate personality that is in control of your body, but the Harry I know wouldn't have done such destructive things.
I miss you Harry. Things aren't the same without you and with you out there doing what you are everyone turned on you again. Just like in fourth year with the tournament. I'm the only one who doesn't talk bad about you and Ron seems to be channeling Malfoy and has all of Gryffindor house treating me like dirt. It feels like first year again when I was alone and shunned by everyone because I acted like such a know it all.
On top of all that my magic seems to be acting strange. Tonks and the Headmaster say it is because my magic is maturing. My eyes have a constant ring of orange around my irises and my hair turned a reddish brown a week ago when I lost my temper a detention with Snape and cursed him. You would've loved it I think. I blasted him clear through several tables and into a wall. It's very strange, Dobby seems to be helping Snape out this past week, but he's doing a horrible job. Keeps tripping and dropping things and Snape can often times be heard muttering about clumsy house elves. Anyways back to my magic. Today in class Lavender insulted me, but I didn't say anything. I just thought the metamorphosis curse and pictured the result I wanted and the curse hit Lavender. My wand was in my bag, but I still cast the curse! Also when I was in the Library I needed a book that was at the other end of the table I was at and as I got up to get it, it flew into my hands as if I'd summoned it! My magic seems to be reacting to whatever I want it to do before I'm able to fetch my wand. It's all very confusing, is this how it works for you? Do you just will your magic to do what you want and it does it?
Please write back Harry, I need someone to talk to and you're my best friend. I need you.
With Love,
Hermione
Just as Hermione was going to fetch a school owl, Hedwig flew down from the rafters. Hermione squeaked in surprise and fell out the window of the ledge she had just been sitting on. She screamed, but found she wasn't falling after a few seconds. She found she was just hovering outside the window in the owlery. She looked around for a moment before willing herself back in the window. She landed a bit roughly on the floor and swallowed hard.
“OK that didn't happen. It was a hallucination.” Hermione told herself as she turned back to Hedwig.
“Have you been here all along girl? I was wondering what happened to you when Harry's house burnt down.” Hermione cooed as she stroked Hedwig's feathers.
Hedwig hooted and nipped Hermione's ear causing her to giggle.
“Well I need you to take this to Harry please.” Hermione said as she tied the letter to Hedwig's leg.
With a hoot Hedwig took off out the window.
Hermione smiled and quietly gathered her things and left the owlery.
OoOoOoOo
As Hermione slept her magic completed a change it had been going through for months. Her hair at the moment was a bright fiery red, more red than any Weasley, and if her eyes were to open they'd be a glowing orange. Her face had an avian-like appearance as her cheek bones shaped a bit to make her face a bit more avianish. Her finger nails grew into talon-like claws and her body was glowing a red orange. Suddenly the glow grew bigger and hotter and her sheets burnt up and her hangings burnt to ash. The room was filled with heat and she was lifted a meter off her bed as a dark red orange fiery aura surrounded her. Her eyes snapped open and her mouth opened as if to scream, but the song of a phoenix erupted from her mouth. Only it wasn't a pleasant song, it was a song filled with anger, loneliness, and betrayal. It filtered into the sleeping occupants of the tower's minds. It turned their dreams to nightmares and caused a shiver to run through their sleeping bodies.
The owls in the owlery fled through the windows as the song grew to fill the castle. The teachers who were awake looked startled as the looked around for the source of the sound. The dreams of everyone sleeping in the school turned to horrible nightmares. Fawkes let out a faint trill before he flashed away from the school. Dumbledore laid awake in his bed listening to the sorrowful song and shook his head at what the students of his school had caused. To be the cause of such sorrowful emotions was horrible and he knew he'd failed more than just Harry.
Hermione's eyes closed again as her mouth shut and the sorrowful song faded away. Her Hair turned back to brown and her sheets and hangings repaired themselves and she rolled over onto her side as her fingers returned to normal and her face lost her avian appearance. The Aura finally faded and she fell into a comfortable sleep with calming dreams. She was the only person in the school who didn't have nightmares.
The next day everyone was dragging and tired. Nobody had a peaceful night except Hermione, but she was still wiped out because of the unknown effects of the maturing of her magic. The orange ring around her irises was gone, but there were still faint flecks of orange in them. She was curious about why the entire school seemed to drag themselves around, but didn't bother asking and ignored the mutterings about the weird plague of nightmares. She never noticed Dumbledore's eyes watching her throughout the meals of the day.
OoOoOoOo
It was a week later that she got a response from Harry. It was during dinner when Hedwig flew in the upper windows. She caught everyone's attention as she flew to Hermione and held her leg out. Hermione blushed at all the eyes on her but took the envelope off of her leg. She noticed the envelope was the same one she used but Harry's name had been scratched out completely and her name had been placed on it.
“Ha! See! She is in league with Potter! Here Professor McGonagall, here's proof she contacting him and that she's his little dark lady!” Lavender shouted as she pulled the letter out of Hermione's hands.
The professors were rushing over, but didn't make it in time as Lavender opened the envelope.
White fire shot out of the envelope and covered Lavender's head. The smell of burnt hair and flesh filled the hall as the fire rushed out of the envelope. When it died down Lavender screamed as the pain hit her. Her face and head had been badly burned and blisters and melted flesh covered it as small patches of hair stuck out and some was melted to her scalp. Several people around her vomited and she passed out, falling back off the bench. Hermione was pale as she looked at the envelope.
“Well if that wasn't a sign the letter's from Potter I don't know what is.” Snape said with a sneer.
Hermione frowned as she picked up the envelope.
“Actually Snivellus, it's from my parents. It's the same envelope I used to send them a letter and it has the same anti-theft enchantments I used. I know my mail is being watched by many people because of all the stuff in the Prophet about me being a dark lady and I want my mail to be private. What happened to Lavender is easily fixable by a healer, it's just a lesson not to read other people's mail. I found Hedwig in the owlery and asked her to deliver the letter. Apparently that's where she's been all along since your friend Bellatrix and her minions burnt down Harry's house.” Hermione said with a scowl.
“Well there you have it. I believe we should all get back to our dinner. Miss Patil, if you could bring Miss Brown to the hospital Wing I would greatly appreciate it.” Dumbledore said as he turned and went back to the staff table.
Everyone quietly went back to their meal as Parvati took Lavender to the Hospital Wing.
A few minutes later Hermione rose and left the hall. She walked up to the room of requirement and focused on a common room. She entered the door and found her own private common room she'd been escaping to for weeks. She couldn't stand the Gryffindor Common room because of how they treated her, so she found her own. She sat down in a comfy sofa and opened the letter from Harry.
Dear Hermione,
Sorry to hear about how they're treating you. I can burn the Prophet to the ground if you want. It'd be what they deserve with the way they write lies about people. I'm truly sick of them.
I miss you and Hogwarts as well, but I can't go back. Not after everything I've been put through there. I'm perfectly fine out here on my own.
It sounds like you're really powerful! That's great! That is how my magic seems to work. I can just want it to do something and my magic does it. It's much better than the dumb incantations and wand waving I use to have to do. You should start practicing with it, its really much better than wand magic.
I can't really say much in this letter as I'm in a bit of a hurry. It was great to see Hedwig again, but with all my traveling I think it'd be better if you took care of her, so if you don't mind taking care of her and keeping her there at Hogwarts, I'd really appreciate it. I'll try to write much more from now on, but you write to me to! I'm sure Hedwig will find me regardless of where I am.
With Love,
Harry
Hermione smiled a bit as she finished the letter. It'd be nice to write normally to Harry and hear back from him. Maybe she could help him that way. She took a deep breath and laid back and pulled up the book on the theory of magical control. It was a rather thick and detailed book, and though it had a lot of stuff on controlling magic through the wand, she had yet to find anything that could help her with Harry. She arched her back a bit to crack it and got on with her reading.
disClaimer: Don't know why these are really necessary, it's not like people claim ownership of an author's characters on a fanfiction website, but yeah. Don't own anything.
A/N: sorry for the wait, but my laptop done died. Crashed. Lost it all. Except what i had saved, heh. But yeah its hard to write as much as I want, but I'm workign on fixing that so hopefully my updates will soon come faster. Enjoy the chapter. au revoir
Chapter 4: Deja Vu
Hermione sighed as she scrubbed the cauldron she was holding clean. It had some weird orange sludge stuck to it that simply did not want to come off. She was forbidden to use her wand, but she was fine with that. She wasn't one of those raised in the magical world. She was no stranger to cleaning dishes and this was no different. Just a little more time consuming. She was in detention, halfway through her four weeks of detention assigned to her.
In hindsight she knew it was pretty stupid to attack Malfoy in the Great Hall during breakfast when everyone, students and teachers, were there. The look on his face, his crying and pleading, and the time it took to set him right were well worth the month of detention she got. Though if she could go back to that time, she would've waited till she could corner Malfoy, but she was angry and reacted in a very Gryffindorish way. Still, she smiled at the memory.
OoOoOoOo
Two Weeks Prior
Hermione was sitting by herself at the far end of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. She was eating her breakfast and reading a book while ignoring the looks she was getting from everyone else.
Upon her return to Hogwarts, she had discovered her place as a pariah of all four houses. She got several glares and even jinxed a few times on the Express alone. She had spent the train ride alone in the prefects compartment after the meeting. She didn't want to deal with the looks and remarks.
As Hermione ate her breakfast she was trying to ignore Malfoy's loud comments about Harry. The Daily Prophet had been playing off every Death Eater attack as an attack by Harry. Malfoy had loved it. He took pleasure in needling her and calling her 'Potter's Tramp' or 'Potter's Mudblood'. She had been dealing with it for a week and her temper was at a boiling point. Upon his return, Ron had turned most of Gryffindor against her and seemed to have proclaimed himself king of Gryffindor. She had commented about him being the Gryffindor version of Malfoy. He'd attempted to Jinx her and failed and resorted to asking her how dear Harry was faring at the killings. She'd rearranged his face, literally. Took Madame Pomfrey two days to set straight. As she was smiling at the memory she heard Malfoy make a loud comment about his father mentioning Harry had approached the Dark Lord about becoming a Death Eater,but was turned away and had run in fear.
Hermione, for a very short moment, wondered at Malfoy's stupidity at mentioning a recent conversation with his father, who was an escaped convict. Unfortunately, her temper had reached its boiling point and she flicked out her wand and stood and waved it at the Slytherin table.
Draco Malfoy was laughing about his last comment when he felt a yank behind his naval. At first he thought he'd touched a portkey, but then he realized he was rising swiftly and looking down at shocked Slytherin faces. He screamed a high pitched scream as he rose quickly and groaned loudly as his back slammed into the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. He gasped for breath as the wind was knocked out of him on impact. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was stuck to the ceiling looking down at the Great Hall and he screamed.
The Great Hall was filled with laughter as they looked up at a screaming and crying Malfoy. They laughed at harder at this plea's to get down and his muttered 'When my father hears about this'. They only quieted when the teachers stormed through the center of the Great Hall and split. Some went to look at Malfoy and try to get him down, the others moved over to the Gryffindor table.
“She did it! The little filthy mudblood did it! She's in league with Potter, why you allowed her back into the school is beyond me, but I demand she be expelled!” Snape yelled with a puce colored face while pointing at Hermione.
“Watch your mouth Severus. Professor's aren't suppose to use such language.” Minerva McGonagall said with a glare at the Slytherin head of house.
“Severus, I don't think you should demand things of me. You're lucky to still be teaching.” The Headmaster said in an unusual tone of anger directed at the greasy haired Professor.
Snape flushed in anger and glared at Hermione.
“Then she has a month of detention with me and 200 points from Gryffindor.” Snape shouted and turned to try and help Malfoy down.
Gryffindor went from laughing to glaring at Hermione because of the loss of points. The Headmaster dismissed everyone from the Great Hall and moved to help Malfoy.
Hermione waited and watched with amusement as they attempted to get Malfoy down but couldn't. She smiled as she thought about the lesson she learned her first year. Logic and common sense were absent in most witches and wizards. She grinned and walked off to her first class, not caring about the points lost or the detentions. Malfoy's reaction was enough.
It was after dinner before they managed to get Malfoy down. Dumbledore had discovered it was Malfoy's robes that were stuck to the ceiling, not Malfoy himself. The maneuvered him out of his robes and sent him down to the dungeons. His robes were still stuck to the ceiling, though they were disillusioned to blend in with the ceiling.
OoOoOoOo
Present
Hermione smiled as she thought about the robes still stuck to the ceiling of the Great Hall. It was an impressive feat to cast a spell that Albus Dumbledore is unable to break. She chuckled to herself at the fact it took them the whole day to figure out it was his robes that were stuck to the ceiling. For how great wizards and witches often thought themselves to be, they could be incredibly foolish.
She jumped as the door to Snape's office burst open and he came storming out. He glared at her and then looked over the cauldrons Hermione had spent the last two hours cleaning. He scoffed and walked over to where she was standing.
“It seems you don't have as much trouble as most usually do in cleaning cauldrons without a wand. Though a mudblood like yourself must be use to it, having to do this filthy muggle chores.” Snape commented with a sneer.
Hermione flushed in anger and bit her tongue to keep from retorting. She'd been loosing her temper much more than usual this year and she couldn't do anything to Snape, Dumbledore would never fire him. She frowned and glared at Snape.
“It's been two hours SIR, am I dismissed?” Hermione asked with a sneer of her own.
“Don't take that tone with me you filthy little girl. You're just like Potter, disrespectful and think you can get away with whatever you want. Well Potter isn't here little girl, and being his slut doesn't allow you to get away with whatever you want in my presence.” Snape snarled out, but was forced to jump back as Hermione snapped and drew her wand on him.
Hermione's face was filled with fury and her arm shook as she pointed her wand at Snape. Before the man could react she had shouted “Quattuor Ventos!”
Four crescent shaped blades of wind shot out of her wand one right after the other and rushed at Snape. His eyes widened and he barely dodged the first three and caught the last one in his arm. It opened a deep gash and blood poured out. He turned and glared at Hermione, but before he could respond she began ranting.
“You are a disgusting petty little man. You're a hypocrite, you treat students like shit and use foul language because you know Dumbledore will never fire you because you're his little ass monkey. You're disgusting and filthy. It's no wonder you only look out for yourself, nobody else gives a shit about you. I'm sick of dealing with you Snivellus. I'm not putting up with your degrading behavior anymore! I'm through!” Hermione shouted.
Snape looked on in shock as Hermione's face began to darken and take on an avian appearance. Her eyes flashed orange and her hair took on a reddish-brown tint. She lifted her wand again and snarled.
“Concussão Esfera!” Hermione shouted in what sounded like a mix of her voice and a phoenix's angry trill.
A clear but rippling sphere of magic rushed from her wand at untraceable speeds and slammed into Snape's chest. The sphere erupted and the greasy potions professor was flung violently through several desks and slammed into the wall, which cracked under the impact.
“I hope Harry finds you in Death Eater robes!” Hermione shouted and stormed out of the classroom leaving the bleeding potions professor on the ground.
OoOoOoOo
Albus Dumbledore was enjoying a particularly tasty lemon drop when his proximity alarms alerted him to a powerful presence outside the gargoyle and trying to get in. He was a bit confused as the powerful teachers at the school should have registered with the gargoyle. The few teachers above a class 4 were set into his wards so he was curios who this new high power was. He closed his eyes and focused on the charm placed on the gargoyle to let him see through its eyes. He was surprised to see an orange eyed Hermione Granger with reddish-brown hair. He quickly opened the stairway and was about to tell her to come in when she threw his door open.
“I am not taking any more detentions with that asshole! I refuse to be around him anymore! I'll take my detentions with another professor and I'm dropping potions.” Hermione shouted, here eyes still a flaming orange.
“Why don't you sit and tell me what happened?” The Headmaster suggested calmly.
He was rather curious about what could have happened to make Miss Granger's usual politeness with authority figures completely vanish.
Hermione sat down, but when she tried to explain what happened she just got angrier and her hair got redder. She took a deep breath and calmed down. Her eyes faded back to their chestnut brown and her hair lost its red tint. She let out another breath and her muscles relaxed.
Albus was inwardly very impressed with Hermione's control of her power. He had not expected her to be a great power, but then again she had never been tested. Her eye and hair changing made it seem as if she was in the higher power classes, at least a 7. He was surprised, but realized her birthday was only a week away and she'd be seventeen which is the age powers fully manifest. He decided he'd keep an eye on her, he didn't need another loose canon like Harry. Though her powers were awakening at the proper time on their own so he wasn't too worried. She showed good control over herself. He'd have to watch her, she could be the key to getting Harry back in control of his power.
Hermione's eyes shifted around the room quickly and caught sight of the pensieve.
“Can I place my memory of the event into your pensieve sir? I'm not sure I could really explain it all without getting angry again.” Hermione requested.
Albus was surprised at the request, but nodded his assent.
Hermione went over to the cabinet and pulled the pensieve out and placed it on the Headmaster's desk. She sighed and took out her wand and extracted the entire memory, from the point he exited his office to her storming out after cursing him. She sat back as the head master pulled the pensieve over and waved his wand. She frowned as the silvery substance rose up and the scene played out above the pensieve like a muggle science fiction hologram.
Albus was greatly displeased with his potions professor. He couldn't fire him, but he knew the perfect way to discipline him. He smiled at the thought, but returned his attention to Hermione.
“I am greatly disgusted at his words and his behavior Miss Granger and I apologize. He will be dealt with and you will not face this problem again. I understand your wish to drop potions, but perhaps we could make an arrangement of personal study in potions so that you could still take the exams and the NEWTs next year? It would be a shame to throw away the subject entirely.” The Headmaster made the suggestion as he thought of a way to make it up to the brilliant girl. He still couldn't believe what a prat Severus had been, but he knew some people just don't change.
Hermione was surprised at the offer of a personal study for potions. She didn't want to drop the class, she happened to love potions, but she couldn't stand to be around that greasy haired prat any longer.
“A personal study possibility would be wonderful Headmaster, thank you.” Hermione said sincerely as she pulled the memory back into her head and replaced the pensieve into the cabinet.
“Well I'll speak with the Board of Governors soon and let you know. Once again I apologize for Professor Snape's behavior and assure you wont be dealing with him again. Your detentions will be finished with your head of house.” The Headmaster said as he clasped his hands in front of himself.
“Thank You sir.” Hermione said again as she nodded to him and left his office.
The old man smiled as he slipped another lemon drop into his mouth.
“Dobby.” He said calmly.
“Yes Headmaster sir?” Dobby proclaimed eagerly after a loud clap.
“I would you like to be Professor Snape's personal assistant for the rest of this year. Help him with his potions and his various activities.” Albus said with a smile.
“Dobby doesn't like the greasy snake man. He is rude to Harry Potter and his Grangy. Dobby does not wish to be nice or helpful to the greasy man.” Dobby said with a frown.
Albus smiled as he looked at the house elf.
“I don't recall telling you to be nice, and the the help had to be good.” Albus said with a chuckle.
Dobby's face brightened and he pulled his ears in anticipation.
“Dobby understands Headmaster Sir. Dobby will act like the shifty pink haired one. Dobby thanks you sir.” Dobby said and then vanished with a crack.
Dumbledore chuckled to himself as he imagined Severus' reaction to Dobby's presence.
Fawkes trilled out an amused note.
“Yes my old friend, I thought it was rather clever myself.” Albus said with a smile, his eyes twinkling.
OoOoOoOo
Hermione sat at breakfast a week later, studiously ignoring the whisperings going on around her and the eyes watching her. There was another article ridiculing the Ministry for not taking her in for questioning and calling her 'The Dark Lady'. She was sitting at the farthest end of the table where first years usually sat and was reading a book on the theory of controlling magic.
She found she had replaced Harry as Snape's most hated student. Since she'd attacked him a week before he'd been in a constantly foul mood and often times vanished her potion before she finished and failed her for the day. Her constant complaints about it went ignored. Even the Board of Governors had responded by saying there weren't any other complaints and that she should gather proof of the tampering with her work. The evidence she sent them mysteriously dissapeared during delivery. She gave up after three days and just decided to ignore it all, though if she was watched closely the watchers would see her eyes a nearly constant ring of orange around the outside of the iris and that it was slowly bleeding in towards her pupil.
The bushy haired brunette was rather annoyed that the Board of Governors said she had to finish out the term before she could begin an independent study in potions. She had to be talked into accepting it and not flat out dropping potions by McGonagall and it had taken hours of ranting and loosing her temper before she finally gave in.
As the bell rang through the Great Hall signaling the end of breakfast Hermione gathered her things and made her way to transfiguration. As she entered the class she took the seat she commonly claimed as hers during the first few months of her first year. During that time she'd have piles of parchment, quills, and her book covering her area and watching the board earnestly. Now she sat quietly with her closed book on her desk, and a single piece of parchment and one quill with ink. She laid her head in her arms while she reminisced about her first year when she was often times alone like she recently had been.
OoOo
September 1991
A twelve year old Hermione sat at the front of her first transfiguration class with parchment, ink, quills, and her book and eagerly waited for the lesson. She was extremely excited about learning magic and couldn't wait to learn how to transfigure things. It was a very fascinating subject that she had quickly taken a liking to when she was reading her school books during the summer. She sat on the edge of her seat as Professor McGonagall started class.
Halfway through the class Hermione had been able to complete the assignment and excitedly waved her hand in the air and told the Professor she had completed the assignment. She blushed a bit when Professor McGonagall told her to keep it until next class, and lowed her head when the other students laughed at her.
She felt her heart constrict when she heard whispers of 'Know it all', 'show off', and 'stuck up nerd' going around the class. She bowed her head and bit her bottom lip as she mentally beat herself. 'You did it again nerdy know it all. Why can't you just do things normally and not get so excited about class? You're never going to have any friends!'
OoOo
Hermione smiled to herself as she remembered how happy she had been when she proved herself wrong and befriended Harry and Ron. Now Ron was back to the way he was those first few months of first year and Harry was nowhere to be found.
Since the start of term Ron had been insulting her, mocking her in class the few times she raised her hand to answer her question, and was pretty much turning into Gryffindor's Malfoy. She couldn't stand it and often times found herself wishing she could attach a zipper to his lips and zip them closed. He'd also encouraged most of the house, along with the others, to give her a hard time. Though if she was honest with herself, the whole school seemed to shun her when she was in the halls. Nobody really talked to her if it wasn't to insult her, and when she entered the Library, often times most of the people in it would leave.
The lonely brunette sat quietly while Professor McGonagall lectured on basic conjuration and the permanency of the spells. She asked a question about it and everyone looked at Hermione expecting her to wave her arm around and answer, but she just sat with her head resting on her bent arm while her quill rested in her hand waiting for the lecture to continue.
Lavander Brown, who was sitting behind her, leaned forward and whispered “Come on Bushy Head, you know everything don't you? You've been showing it off for years, why don't you answer?”
Hermione scowled, but didn't respond. She sat in her spot and glared at her parchment. Tomorrow was her birthday and here she was dealing with insults and being talked down to while the only person she could still consider a friend was a wanted fugitive responsible for the deaths of thousands. Her life had really taken a turn for the worse. She frowned and the shift of her eyes to solid orange escaped her as she thought Forvandling. Suddenly a scream erupted behind her. She jumped up and spun around, her eyes back to being brown with an orange ring on the outside. Her eyes widened at what she saw, what she'd pictured when she had thought Forvandling, the metamorphosis spell.
Lavender Brown's body seemed to have shriveled up as if she aged eighty years in a few seconds. Her nails were yellow and chipped and her teeth had fallen out. Her hair was thin, gray, and nappy. Most of it had fallen out though and sat around her. She had warts covering her body and she gave off a nasty smell of waste. She was staring at her hands in horror while everyone else was looking at her in surprise. Suddenly her eyes fell on Hermione and she glared.
“It was her! She cursed me!” Lavender shouted pointing at Hermione.
Professor McGonagall walked over and frowned at Lavender, but asked Hermione for her wand. Her eyes turned into annoyance when she realized Hermione was reaching into her book bag for her wand. She cast prior incantatem to check the last spell and found it was a summoning charm. She handed it back to Hermione and looked at Lavender.
“Whoever cursed you it was not Miss Granger. Firstly she had to reach into her book bag to get it, and secondly the Forvandling curse wasn't even on her wand.” McGonagall said with a frown.
She had been very disappointed in her Gryffindors for how they were treating Hermione. They were reacting like Slytherins, and Ron Weasley was acting exactly like Malfoy did to the other houses. She was disgusted with their behavior and cursed Dumbledore for being the cause of everyone's problems. If he'd handled Harry better none of this would have happened. The old fool learned the hard way that he didn't know what was best and the greater good meant shit to those who were manipulated and taken advantage of.
“Well she must've done it wandlessly.” Lavender shouted in a rage. Why couldn't the stupid Professor understand that it was Hermione? She had insulted her and then wound up cursed. Of course she didn't think about how the Professor didn't know that, or how she'd react if she did.
“Miss Brown the only student in the last hundred years that has been able to do serious wandless magic was Mr. Potter and his abilities manifested over the summer and he has a level of power not seen since Merlin and the Founders. I can assure you Miss Granger doesn't have the ability to cast such a complex curse wandlessly.
“She's his lover! It's all over the papers! It wouldn't have been hard for him to show her how to do it! Look at her eyes! They have an orange ring around them! Just like Potter's eyes being purple!” Lavender shouted again.
“I don't want to listen to any more unfounded accusations. The day the Prophet prints the truth is the day I bow down Deloros Umbridge and proclaim her teacher of the century. Now go to the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey will fix you right up.” McGonagall said, and with that she went back to her lecture while a furious Lavender left.
Hermione's mind was to busy focusing on what had just happened to even consider paying attention. She had just cast wandless magic and felt no drain at all. She was growing concerned about the orange ring around her iris as well. She'd asked the Headmaster about it, but he had simply told her it was part of her magic maturing and that it'd be gone once her birthday passed.
OoOoOoOo
The afternoon found Hermione curled up in a chair in the Library reading her book on the theory of magic control. She was focusing on the chapter about powerful wizards and witches being able to control their magic by willing it to do something without using wands at all. She was curious if it really would stop once her birthday passed. She didn't regret cursing Snape, but her spells had been much more powerful than they should have been.
She looked up when she heard laughing and saw a group of five fourth year Ravenclaws studying and joking around. She smiled when she remembered her own fourth year and the time she spent in the Library helping Harry with the tasks. She had been delighted at all the time she'd been able to spend with Harry when he and Ron had been fighting before the first task.
She went back to reading her book with a sigh. She missed the past, but she knew things would never be the same. Too much had happened and Harry would never be able to just walk back into the magical world as if nothing happened. She was still looking for a way to help him, which was why she was reading so many books on magic control, but she was having little luck in how to help someone control the amount of magic Harry held.
OoOoOoOo
Hermione sat in the owlery with a parchment, envelope, and quill. She was writing a letter to Harry and hoping that he'd read it and respond. She needed someone to talk to, someone to vent to, and Harry was the only person she could think of.
Dear Harry,
I hope you're doing OK. I wish you'd come back and let the Headmaster help you control your powers, but I know it's useless. Even though Professor Dumbledore is the reason you've lost control of your power, I still think he's the only one who help you learn to control it. I wish you would come back, so much of what you've done has been so far from the you I know that I am sure you're not yourself. I don't know if you're being influenced, of if the power has created an alternate personality that is in control of your body, but the Harry I know wouldn't have done such destructive things.
I miss you Harry. Things aren't the same without you and with you out there doing what you are everyone turned on you again. Just like in fourth year with the tournament. I'm the only one who doesn't talk bad about you and Ron seems to be channeling Malfoy and has all of Gryffindor house treating me like dirt. It feels like first year again when I was alone and shunned by everyone because I acted like such a know it all.
On top of all that my magic seems to be acting strange. Tonks and the Headmaster say it is because my magic is maturing. My eyes have a constant ring of orange around my irises and my hair turned a reddish brown a week ago when I lost my temper a detention with Snape and cursed him. You would've loved it I think. I blasted him clear through several tables and into a wall. It's very strange, Dobby seems to be helping Snape out this past week, but he's doing a horrible job. Keeps tripping and dropping things and Snape can often times be heard muttering about clumsy house elves. Anyways back to my magic. Today in class Lavender insulted me, but I didn't say anything. I just thought the metamorphosis curse and pictured the result I wanted and the curse hit Lavender. My wand was in my bag, but I still cast the curse! Also when I was in the Library I needed a book that was at the other end of the table I was at and as I got up to get it, it flew into my hands as if I'd summoned it! My magic seems to be reacting to whatever I want it to do before I'm able to fetch my wand. It's all very confusing, is this how it works for you? Do you just will your magic to do what you want and it does it?
Please write back Harry, I need someone to talk to and you're my best friend. I need you.
With Love,
Hermione
Just as Hermione was going to fetch a school owl, Hedwig flew down from the rafters. Hermione squeaked in surprise and fell out the window of the ledge she had just been sitting on. She screamed, but found she wasn't falling after a few seconds. She found she was just hovering outside the window in the owlery. She looked around for a moment before willing herself back in the window. She landed a bit roughly on the floor and swallowed hard.
“OK that didn't happen. It was a hallucination.” Hermione told herself as she turned back to Hedwig.
“Have you been here all along girl? I was wondering what happened to you when Harry's house burnt down.” Hermione cooed as she stroked Hedwig's feathers.
Hedwig hooted and nipped Hermione's ear causing her to giggle.
“Well I need you to take this to Harry please.” Hermione said as she tied the letter to Hedwig's leg.
With a hoot Hedwig took off out the window.
Hermione smiled and quietly gathered her things and left the owlery.
OoOoOoOo
As Hermione slept her magic completed a change it had been going through for months. Her hair at the moment was a bright fiery red, more red than any Weasley, and if her eyes were to open they'd be a glowing orange. Her face had an avian-like appearance as her cheek bones shaped a bit to make her face a bit more avianish. Her finger nails grew into talon-like claws and her body was glowing a red orange. Suddenly the glow grew bigger and hotter and her sheets burnt up and her hangings burnt to ash. The room was filled with heat and she was lifted a meter off her bed as a dark red orange fiery aura surrounded her. Her eyes snapped open and her mouth opened as if to scream, but the song of a phoenix erupted from her mouth. Only it wasn't a pleasant song, it was a song filled with anger, loneliness, and betrayal. It filtered into the sleeping occupants of the tower's minds. It turned their dreams to nightmares and caused a shiver to run through their sleeping bodies.
The owls in the owlery fled through the windows as the song grew to fill the castle. The teachers who were awake looked startled as the looked around for the source of the sound. The dreams of everyone sleeping in the school turned to horrible nightmares. Fawkes let out a faint trill before he flashed away from the school. Dumbledore laid awake in his bed listening to the sorrowful song and shook his head at what the students of his school had caused. To be the cause of such sorrowful emotions was horrible and he knew he'd failed more than just Harry.
Hermione's eyes closed again as her mouth shut and the sorrowful song faded away. Her Hair turned back to brown and her sheets and hangings repaired themselves and she rolled over onto her side as her fingers returned to normal and her face lost her avian appearance. The Aura finally faded and she fell into a comfortable sleep with calming dreams. She was the only person in the school who didn't have nightmares.
The next day everyone was dragging and tired. Nobody had a peaceful night except Hermione, but she was still wiped out because of the unknown effects of the maturing of her magic. The orange ring around her irises was gone, but there were still faint flecks of orange in them. She was curious about why the entire school seemed to drag themselves around, but didn't bother asking and ignored the mutterings about the weird plague of nightmares. She never noticed Dumbledore's eyes watching her throughout the meals of the day.
OoOoOoOo
It was a week later that she got a response from Harry. It was during dinner when Hedwig flew in the upper windows. She caught everyone's attention as she flew to Hermione and held her leg out. Hermione blushed at all the eyes on her but took the envelope off of her leg. She noticed the envelope was the same one she used but Harry's name had been scratched out completely and her name had been placed on it.
“Ha! See! She is in league with Potter! Here Professor McGonagall, here's proof she contacting him and that she's his little dark lady!” Lavender shouted as she pulled the letter out of Hermione's hands.
The professors were rushing over, but didn't make it in time as Lavender opened the envelope.
White fire shot out of the envelope and covered Lavender's head. The smell of burnt hair and flesh filled the hall as the fire rushed out of the envelope. When it died down Lavender screamed as the pain hit her. Her face and head had been badly burned and blisters and melted flesh covered it as small patches of hair stuck out and some was melted to her scalp. Several people around her vomited and she passed out, falling back off the bench. Hermione was pale as she looked at the envelope.
“Well if that wasn't a sign the letter's from Potter I don't know what is.” Snape said with a sneer.
Hermione frowned as she picked up the envelope.
“Actually Snivellus, it's from my parents. It's the same envelope I used to send them a letter and it has the same anti-theft enchantments I used. I know my mail is being watched by many people because of all the stuff in the Prophet about me being a dark lady and I want my mail to be private. What happened to Lavender is easily fixable by a healer, it's just a lesson not to read other people's mail. I found Hedwig in the owlery and asked her to deliver the letter. Apparently that's where she's been all along since your friend Bellatrix and her minions burnt down Harry's house.” Hermione said with a scowl.
“Well there you have it. I believe we should all get back to our dinner. Miss Patil, if you could bring Miss Brown to the hospital Wing I would greatly appreciate it.” Dumbledore said as he turned and went back to the staff table.
Everyone quietly went back to their meal as Parvati took Lavender to the Hospital Wing.
A few minutes later Hermione rose and left the hall. She walked up to the room of requirement and focused on a common room. She entered the door and found her own private common room she'd been escaping to for weeks. She couldn't stand the Gryffindor Common room because of how they treated her, so she found her own. She sat down in a comfy sofa and opened the letter from Harry.
Dear Hermione,
Sorry to hear about how they're treating you. I can burn the Prophet to the ground if you want. It'd be what they deserve with the way they write lies about people. I'm truly sick of them.
I miss you and Hogwarts as well, but I can't go back. Not after everything I've been put through there. I'm perfectly fine out here on my own.
It sounds like you're really powerful! That's great! That is how my magic seems to work. I can just want it to do something and my magic does it. It's much better than the dumb incantations and wand waving I use to have to do. You should start practicing with it, its really much better than wand magic.
I can't really say much in this letter as I'm in a bit of a hurry. It was great to see Hedwig again, but with all my traveling I think it'd be better if you took care of her, so if you don't mind taking care of her and keeping her there at Hogwarts, I'd really appreciate it. I'll try to write much more from now on, but you write to me to! I'm sure Hedwig will find me regardless of where I am.
With Love,
Harry
Hermione smiled a bit as she finished the letter. It'd be nice to write normally to Harry and hear back from him. Maybe she could help him that way. She took a deep breath and laid back and pulled up the book on the theory of magical control. It was a rather thick and detailed book, and though it had a lot of stuff on controlling magic through the wand, she had yet to find anything that could help her with Harry. She arched her back a bit to crack it and got on with her reading.
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