THE STORY OF A MUGGLEBORN
Chapter One: A Sunrise of Change
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the characters. They all belong to JK Rowling.
That fateful summer day dawned brilliantly as a fire-red sun rose over the hills on the horizon. Bright shining rays of light leapt across the small valley, illuminating the town that lay within in it.
A thin, well-tanned girl seemed to be the only inhabitant of the area that was awake at such an early hour. She was situated comfortably against the wall of a brick building, just on the outskirts of town. A cherry-red bicycle lay on the ground next to her, and she twiddled absentmindedly with the rubber on the handlebars.
It was late-July, and eleven-year-old Hermione Granger was spending that summer morning in the best way she knew how: away from the typical hustle and bustle of the town, watching the majestic ball of orange fire erupt over the hills in a fantastic display of colors. Having never been much of the social type, Hermione would rather enjoy nature's beauty or curl up in a corner with a book then hang out at the movies or the park as most of the kids her age did during holidays.
She'd tied her cumbersome bushel of brown hair back into a tight bun, out of her face and her eyes, which glowed deep amber in the morning sun. Now, deciding that it was probably time to start home for breakfast, Hermione tucked the bun neatly under her helmet and climbed onto her bicycle.
The town was slowly starting to awaken as Hermione peddled through it. Here and there, shop owners could be seen dusting their porches or switching out their 'closed' signs for 'open' ones. She rode past the library, where she spent much of her summer, and her old school, Willow Tree Primary. Now that she was eleven, Hermione would head off to Secondary School, away from her family and her home for most of the year. The thought scared her out of her very wits, as she was by no means popular among her peers. Hermione was consistently ridiculed for being smart and a hard-worker. And though she always tried her best not to be a bossy know-it-all, the overwhelming urge to supply the answer to a teacher's question had always proved too much for her. Her parents were the only people she knew who seemed to enjoy her company and didn't call her 'know-it-all' or 'teacher's pet' whenever they saw her. Once she left for Secondary School, she would be completely alone, away from the beauty of the town and the love of her parents. So Hermione had decided to make the most of her last month-and-a-half of vacation, and had since been riding her bike to the outskirts of town every morning. Watching the sunrise was incredibly calming and was almost like a therapy for her fears and worries.
Hermione's mother was preparing pancakes in the kitchen when she arrived home, whilst her father was still upstairs, getting ready for work. Both Anne and Adam Granger were dentists, though Anne worked very little in the summer so that she could spend more time with her daughter.
"Morning, mum," Hermione greeted her mother with a quick hug, then shrugged off the thin jacket she'd worn on the bike ride and hung it in the downstairs closet. She took her seat at the small table in the kitchen, taking a long sip from the glass of orange juice that'd been set out for her.
"How was your ride?" Anne Granger asked her daughter, taking the seat opposite her and setting the pancakes between them.
"Fine," Hermione replied, reaching to scoop pancakes onto her plate. "Same as always, for the most part."
Though she kept it at a much shorter length then her daughter, Anne Granger had the very same bushy hair, light brown in color, bouncy and somewhat frizzled. Her eyes were a deeper, chocolate brown and she was tall and thin. Adam Granger, on the other hand, had thick, dark brown hair; nearly black, and he'd passed on his dark amber eyes to Hermione.
Adam now came into the kitchen, wearing his black dress pants, a white pleated shirt, and carrying his dentist's scrub under his arm.
"Morning, sweethearts," he said brightly, kissing both his wife and daughter on the cheek, and then taking a seat at the table. He immediately dumped a good amount of pancakes on his plate and poured a large load of syrup over them. Hermione, who didn't particularly feel like watching her father eat in the disgusting manner that he always did, stood up and made to excuse herself from the table.
"Wait just a moment," Anne said, indicating for Hermione to sit back down. She then cleared her throat loudly and gave her husband a disapproving glare; as he had been attempting to shovel an entire syrupy pancake into his mouth on one go. He chewed quickly and swallowed, setting his fork down sheepishly.
"Hermione, there's something very important that your father and I need to talk to you about," Anne said, her tone and expression both serious, yet somehow excited. "It's about something that came in the mail early this morning. By owl post." She paused, as though not sure how to continue.
Hermione looked at her, clearly confused. Owl post? What was owl post?
"Maybe you should just read it. It's difficult to understand, and we still aren't quite sure what it means," Anne continued. With that, she reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope made of yellow parchment. She handed it to Hermione.
Written in green ink and a fancy scrawl, the front of the envelope read:
Miss H. Granger
Mr. and Mrs. A. Granger
Number 15 Elizabeth Circle
Little Willow
Norfolk
Hermione glance up uncertainly at her parents, and her mother gave her something of an encouraging nod. She pulled a letter out of the envelope, unfolded it, and immediately saw that it was written in the same green ink. It read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwamp,
International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Granger,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a letter explaining to both you and your parents about the Wizarding world and also about Hogwarts School. A list of books and equipment necessary for the school year is also included. Term begins on September 1st. Please read accompanying letters for more information.
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Hermione just stared at the letter, gaping in surprise. Was this some sort of joke? Were the kids from school trying to play a trick on her? None of it made sense. A school of witchcraft and wizardry? There wasn't such a thing as wizardry. Or was there? She looked at her mother, who was watching her carefully to see her reaction.
"Read the second one, it'll hopefully help you to understand a little better," Anne instructed Hermione.
The second letter was longer than the first, and much more detailed. It was addressed to her parents:
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Adam Granger,
I am very pleased and proud to inform you that your daughter, Miss Hermione Granger, has been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This may come as a great shock and confusion to you. Please allow me to explain.
Miss Hermione is a witch, born with magical abilities that she may have inherited from a relation several generations back, or possibly even developed on her own. The Wizarding World exists all around you, though we are very cautious people to keep our abilities a secret from non-magic people, such as yourselves. In our world, it is tradition for young witches and wizards to begin schooling at the age of eleven. Hermione, if she were to attend Hogwarts, would be amongst others her own age, also with magical abilities. It would be a most ample fit for her.
If it is acceptable, I wish to meet with you and your family within the next week to discuss more about the Wizarding World and answer any questions you may have regarding Hermione and her abilities, as well as Hogwarts. Please send your answer by the owl that delivered this letter with a date, place, and time at which I can meet you. The owl will be able to find his way to me, so all you must do is tie a response letter to his leg. Thank you and Congratulations.
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
She stared, dumfounded, at the letter for several moments, clutching it tightly until her knuckles turned white. "I… I… I'm a witch?" Hermione whispered. She could hardly believe the words coming out of her own mouth. Witches didn't exist! She couldn't possibly be one! She waved the parchment back and forth in her parents' faces. "Neither of you knew anything about this?"
"We sent a reply letter," Anne said nervously, not knowing quite how to answer her daughter. "This 'Minerva McGonagall' will be meeting us Thursday evening at Carlson's. We would discuss this whole concept more this morning, but until Ms. McGonagall comes, we really don't know any more then you do."
Hermione nodded slowly. So her parents were just as in the dark as she was. Carlson's was the restaurant down in town, a steakhouse. However, Thursday was three days away. Three long, painful days that she would have to wait without answers to the millions of questions that were springing into her head.
"You're sure that you don't know anything about it?" she asked her mother.
"Hermione, if I knew anytihing about you being a- a witch, or about this Hogwarts, or the 'Wizarding World', then I would most certainly tell you," Anne said, and she took a deep breath. "We're all just going to have to wait until Thursday. It'll probably turn out just to be some sort of misunderstanding or a practicial joke."
Her mother's face was a mixture of concern and confusion, whilst her father seemed to want nothing more than to get back to his pancakes. Hermione stood up and grabbed the first, shorter letter.
"Do you mind if I take this?"
"Not at all," Anne replied, wearily returning to her own breakfast. Hermione took the stairs two at a time, shoved open the door to the right of the second floor landing, shut it behind her, and collapsed onto her bed.
Sighing heavily, Hermione rolled over and propped herself up on her elbows, facing the open window. The sun was high in the Eastern sky by now, and the temperature outside was slowly beginning to climb. She could see the people of the town moving about, going through the daily motions of their lives. None of them had any idea that a young witch had just been discovered in their midst. They all were having a very normal, undisturbed day, and their world, unlike Hermione's, had not just been changed forever.
She leaned back against her pillows and shut her eyes, trying to block all of it out. Thursday evening could not possibly come fast enough.
Hi everyone. Well, here it is, my first Harry Potter fic. I saw the movie earlier this summer, and of course I've read all the books and seen all the other movies. I've been dying to write a fic for Hermione, and then I had the crazy idea of telling the entire story from her point of view. This will (hopefully!) be the first of seven or more fics that tell the whole Harry Potter series from Hermione's side. Therefore, there will definetley be lots of Ron/Hermione later on, maybe not so much in this first fic, but more in the sequels, as well as Harry/Ginny and all the other common couples.
Please read and review, all comments are appreciated :).
Chapter Notes:
*The town of Little Willow is of my own creation, I know it probably doesn't exhist in Norfolk, or for that matter if it even exhists at all.
*Anne and Adam probably aren't the names that JK Rowling made for Mr. and Mrs. Granger, but i couldn't find the real ones anywhere so I just chose those two.
Thanks! Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon!
