Chapter 1: Becoming a Werewolf

Hermione Granger was in her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She, Ron, and Harry had just defeated Lord Voldemort that summer, and she was going back for her seventh year, so that she could take the NEWT exams. Like the others, she had taken off Year 7 going Horcrux-hunting. There were still Death Eaters out there, but their numbers were beginning to thin. The Death Eaters that were caught were given a supposedly fair trial, but for most of them, it was just a show trial. In an irony of sorts, Hermione, Harry and Ron had all testified at the trial of on Draco Lucius Malfoy, stating that the young Death Eater and his family haddefected in the midst of the final battle.

Harry and Ron were off at Auror training, and Neville was working with plants in Greece. She wished that they were here. She would at least be with Ginny and Luna, who were taking their seventh year as scheduled. How she was going to get through the year without Ron and Harry was beyond her, but she then thought that without Harry, for once, she might actually have an uneventful year. As she was thinking about Harry and Ron, she thought of all the people that had died to bring down the Dark Lord: Sirius, Remus, Colin Creevey, Fred, Tonks, and all the others that had died in the final battle.

Hermione had an eventful summer. First, she took a trip down to Australia to find her parents, who she had bewitched to think that they were a daughter-less couple named Wendell and Monica Wilkins. She had to use a very complex spell, the Memory-Restoration Spell (Reparatiomemoriae). Then, she started to brew a complex potion that would allow her to see her Animagus form, and eventually transform into the animal. Right before Harry's 18th birthday, she had taken the potion, and she had been working on her transformation ever since. She now had a perfect transformation.

It was about a week into term. She had the Marauder's Map and was looking at it when she noticed something strange going on down near the Forbidden Forest. She put on the cloak, took her time-turner, and decided to sneak out of the castle. As she went into the Forest, an animal came flying at her.

"Stupefy!" she shouted. The spell had no damaging consequences to the animal, but instead encouraged the ravaging beast.

She heard the werewolf's paws approaching rapidly and she tripped over a protruding tree root, landing hard in the freezing snow. She rolled over, facing towards the large grey animal. It growled aggressively at her, trying to see if she was a threat.

Hermione let out a little whimper of fear, but the werewolf took it as a challenge. As she was about to transform, she saw was a flash of sharp teeth before pain ripped through her arm. Hermione gasped in pain and the werewolf lifted her up by her wounded arm and threw her, claws digging deep into the fresh wound.

When she landed, Hermione tried to take back the shout that erupted from her throat. Upon discovering its prey was still alive, the werewolf grabbed her waist, holding on so hard that Hermione felt a few ribs snap under the pressure.

It picked her up easily and flung her into a beech tree nearby. Hermione hit the old tree, the rough bark scratching the back of her head as she slid down the trunk. Ice tinkled down and broke upon her mangled body. She bit her lip to keep from crying out.

The werewolf approached, probably to eat her. Hermione closed her eyes tight then heard the call of another werewolf in the woods. Forgetting about Hermione, the Dark Creature sped into the Forbidden Forest to join its pack.

Hermione let out a squeak as she felt the blood gushing from her arm. She glanced warily over at it and saw fang-sized holes on her elbow. The bone was snapped and was sticking out at a nauseatingly off angle. The nails of the beast had scratched deeply into the rest of her arm.

She coughed, and then stopped midway, choking as pain clenched her broken rib cage. Perhaps it was the fact that she hit her head too hard. Perhaps Hermione had become overwhelmed with panic. Either way, struck with a sudden desperate idea, Hermione stood shakily and propped herself against the huge tree. Putting her miraculously unharmed Marauders Map and Invisibility Cloak in one hand, Hermione reached in her robes for her Time-Turner. She then spun the device in the hope that she could go back in time to prevent herself from being bitten. The only problem was that broken Time-Turners don't work properly. The force of the time displacement knocked the young woman unconscious.

When she awoke, she was lying down on her back, looking up at the stars. Hermione, being the clever witch that she is, noticed that the moon phase was slightly off, and the stars, although close to the positions that they had been in before she was knocked out, were incorrect, also. She figured that she must have gone back in time. She noticed that she was right near the Forbidden Forest, so she slowly (and painfully) made her way up to the castle. Fortunately, the front doors were open, so she went in and promptly collapsed. It didn't take long for Professor Smith to find her. The professor took her up to the Hospital Wing, where Madame Pomfrey started to attend to her.

While she was unconscious, the Matron called the Headmaster about the unusual patient. Madame Pomfrey had discovered three things with Hermione: an invisibility cloak (which didn't work well, the matron thought), an old bit of parchment that she was sure that she had seen before, and a Time-Turner. When the Headmaster saw these items, he noted that they were very odd. Another odd thing was that none of the protective enchantments around the grounds had warned him about the girl, so somehow she must have already been on the grounds. The headmaster also noticed that she was wearing Gryffindor robes with a Head Girl badge on them.

When Hermione woke up, she saw a very unexpected, but familiar face looking down at her.

"Hello, there," said Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

"Hello, professor," responded Hermione. "I have one question, though. What's the date?"

"The date, my young witch? It is 31 August 1977. Who are you, and when are you from?"

"My name is Hermione Granger, from the year 1998. My friends and I (Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom) have just defeated the Dark Lord known as Voldemort, and I was going back to complete my education."

"Well, Ms. Granger, I'm afraid that Madame Pomfrey has some distressing news for you," the Headmaster said. "You have lycanthropy, and are now a werewolf."

"I'm a werewolf? But that's my Animagus form! I must have gotten bitten before I transformed!"

"Your Animagus form? Very interesting. To help you cope with this new challenge, fortunately, there is another werewolf here at Hogwarts. You say the one who defeated the Dark Lord was named 'Potter'? Well, the werewolf in this time period is a friend of a Potter. James Charles Potter. The werewolf's name is..."

Together, Hermione and Albus said "Remus Lupin."

When he heard that Ms. Granger knew Remus Lupin, Dumbledore was surprised. He knew that Ms. Granger was from the future, but not being a seer, had no clue what relationships various people would have in the future. He then asked her whether or not she knew the rest of the Marauders.

"Well," Hermione started, "The ones I haven't met, I know of. So far I've met Remus, Sirius, and Pettigrew. James is..."

"Please, Ms. Granger," the Headmaster started. "Please don't tell me what they are doing in the future. Knowledge of the future may lead to me, or someone else, contaminating the time-line, if only unintentionally. Now, I see that you have a Time-Turner, and an invisibility cloak. This cloak looks very similar to one that Mr. Potter uses. Tell me about them, please."

Hermione told Dumbledore that she was a very ambitious student, and that the Time-Turner was for academic purposes. She explained that the Ministry had developed a way of using magical sand inside the Time-Turner to effect a time-change. Usually, it would work in intervals of one hour, but if broken, the results would be unpredictable.

"The cloak is My Potter's cloak...James' son Harry. It is a rather remarkable item, sir, almost like the cloak in the book The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The parchment is a map developed by the Marauders" Hermione explained.

"Ms. Granger, do you have any ideas about a cover story? Obviously, due to the fact that you know many of the students here, you cannot be known as 'Hermione Granger,' because it would most likely change the future."

Effecting an Australian accent, Hermione started a cover story. "I am Katja Wagner, born in Frankfurt, West Germany to Victor and Sara Wagner, both wizards. We moved to Australia after I was born, and went to Victoria School in Australia. My parents and I had just moved here when they ran afoul of that monster plaguing this country—Lord Voldemort, who, as the Muggles would say, murdered them in a very graphic way. I know a bit of German, so that should help me with my background. What I don't know, I can read in a book. I have very good comprehension."

"Very good, Ms. Wagner. You wouldn't happen to have your books for this term, would you?"

"No, sir, but I have a little bit of money that I can take the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley. Professor, what House will I be in?"

"I'll have Hagrid go with you. I assume that you know him? Your uniform seems to indicate that you are a Gryffindor. I see no reason to change that, unless you want to.Another thing, Katja, please do not speak of your lycanthropy to anybody, because it is not accepted by many wizards in this time frame. I will not tell your professors about your temporal status nor your lycanthropy. You will probably not want to go to Shrieking Shack, since that is where the Marauders go. If I am not mistaken, there is a small place in the Forest that you can use," the Headmaster responded. "I assume that you are a seventh year? Which classes would you like?"

"Actually, I should have graduated the summer of 1998, but my friends and I went on a Horcrux-hunt, that year, so yes, I am a seventh year. I would love to take Ancient Runes, Potions, Transfiguration, obviously Defence Against the Dark Arts, Arithmancy, Charms and Herbology."

"Very good, Ms. Wagner. I will get you a schedule with your new classes. Our Defence teacher is Professor Williamson, an Auror, but he requires an assistant in classes. Would you be interested?"

"Of course, Professor," responded Katja.

"Then, congratulations, Assistant Professor Wagner. By the way, the position is a paid one. When you go into Diagon Alley with Hagrid, you will open a vault at Gringotts Bank, owl me with the account number, and then I will give you 500 Galleons signing bonus and 40 Galleons a month. Oh, by the way, you will be paired with the Marauders in all of your classes. If you need to, you may tell your secrets to your friends or professors. This may include any information that may help them to improve their future lives. I just want to say, be careful."

Just then Madame Pomfrey came over, and told Katja that she could leave the Hospital Wing. Professor Dumbledore suggested that Katja go down to Hagrid's house with a note, and that he (Dumbledore) would get her schedule as soon as possible. After Dumbledore said this, Katja asked him whether there were any potions to help lessen the symptoms of lycanthropy, but he said that there weren't any (yet). "So Wolfsbane Potion hasn't been invented yet," thought Katja.

She headed down the path to Hagrid's hut. She knocked on his door, and heard a familiar barking. It can't be, Hermione thought before realising that the dog was another Mastiff. Then, the door opened, and the huge form of Hagrid filled the door. "Hello?" Hagrid said. "Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Katja Wagner; I'm transferring from Australia, and I am going to be assisting Professor Williamson. Professor Dumbledore gave me a note," the young witch told the half-giant. "He'd like you to accompany me to Diagon Alley to get clothing and books for the year."

"Dumbledore asked you? Well, I'm always glad to help out Dumbledore. He's helped me through a couple of hard times. I'll just get my umbrella and we can be off."

Just then, an owl came straight to Hermione with her schedule. She saw that she got all of the classes that she wanted, but obviously, if she could have taken more, she would have. She and Hagrid then walked down the path to Hogsmeade, where Hagrid stuck out his umbrella, and the Knight Bus appeared.

"Ello, and welcome to the Knight Bus: emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. I'm James Brown, and I'll be your conductor this evening," said the wizard on the stairs of the bus.

Hagrid told the man that they wanted to go to Diagon Alley, and the wizard told them that it would cost a Galleon for them both, and Hagrid paid the driver. After about fifteen or twenty minutes of being tossed around, Hagrid and Hermione got to the Leaky Cauldron. They then went through to Diagon Alley.

"I've got a pouch of money here, Katja," Hagrid told her. "We can use money from the pouch until we get to Gringotts. First, we'll go to Flourish and Blotts. The Headmaster warned me in the letter, though, that you'll try to buy the whole store. Just stick to what you need."

So they went into Flourish and Blotts where Katja bought all of the books necessary for both her classes and the Assistant's Job (in the correct edition). Like Dumbledore predicted, she wanted to buy a couple more books, but Hagrid told her to stick to the list. As they were passing the magical animals store, Hagrid told Katja to pick out an animal, and that he would pay for it out of his own pocket. He suggested an owl. So Katja bought a white snowy owl that she could have sworn was an ancestor of Hedwig. They went to the Apothecary, where Katja bought potions materials for the year. Then Katja went into Madam Malkin's Robes. Here, Madam Malkin got her fitted for all of the robes that she would need that year, including formal and semi-formal robes (for teaching) in addition to standard student robes for the year.

As she was walking back to the Leaky Cauldron with Hagrid, Katja noticed a familiar face. Something about her must have angered the child also, for he adopted his (to Hermione) well-known sneer that he used for Muggle-borns and Gryffindors. Severus Snape was walking down Diagon Alley. Hagrid noticed him and said hello, trying to be polite.

"What do you want, you giant oaf? Who is she? She mustn't be anybody special if she's going places with you," turning to Katja, Snape said, "I'm Severus Snape, and based on the fact that Hagrid is with you, I would assume that you are a Muggle-born, so please don't shake my hand."

"Muggle-born? Me? I am Katja Wagner, a pure blood. My parents were both Magic. Now, I'd be careful if I were you, because I am also an assistant teacher. Based on the way that you are talking, I don't even need to ask which House I'd find you in!"

"Piss off then, teacher! I could care less, Ms. Wagner. You dress like my House-elf! And yes, I am a Slytherin, by the way, ten times better than you!" and he stalked off.

Hagrid told her not to be making enemies of people right off the bat, and Katja told him that she hadn't tried to have a confrontation with Snape, it just happened. By the time she said this, they were at Gringotts.

She walked up to the area that said "New Vaults." She went to the Goblin and said that she would like to open up a new vault. The goblin handed her a stack of forms, and told her to put her fingers on a device on the table. The goblin then told her that the device was scanning her fingerprints, and analysing her magical signature. A couple of minutes later, Katja had her new account set up, and promptly sent an owl to Albus. After a minute or two, Fawkes, Albus' phoenix, flamed in with a cheque in the amount of Katja's bonus and pay minus the amount spent. Katja then took a handful of Galleons for the term.

After they were finished at the bank, Hagrid and Katja walked back to the Leaky Cauldron, where they had a drink and some bar food.

Katja told Hagrid all that she knew about Victoria School. Most of this was just things she read right before she sent her parents on their 'vacation' to Australia. After a couple of minutes, Hagrid suggested that they just Floo home so, after sending a talking Patronus, Hermione and Hagrid Flooed into the Headmaster's Study, where Dumbledore thanked Hagrid for taking Katja. He then told Katja to wait a moment.

"Katja, would you like to go up to Gryffindor Tower, or would you like Professors' Quarters?" the headmaster asked.

"Sir," replied Katja, "I would like this year to be as normal as possible. I'll take Gryffindor Tower."

"Very well, then. The password is Expansion. The students will be arriving at 1700 tomorrow. You're free to go up to your dormitory then."

Katja thanked the Professor and went off to the Gryffindor Common Room. The Fat Lady was surprised that she was being disturbed, after all, term didn't begin until the next day. Katja went up to the familiar dormitory, where she immediately pulled out the Marauder's Map. The map was still showing her as "Hermione Granger." She then pulled out her wand and said "Confundus Maximus!" and the dot changed to "Katja Wagner." I hope it stays like that, she thought.