AN: Hey guys. Before we start, please bear in mind this is my first attempt at an AU and it is a much bigger story that I have had to pick and choose bits of to include to make it fit into the word limit I was given.

But anyway, enjoy :)

Time was running out. Hermione had just started her last year in primary school and she still didn't know what school she was going to the following year. She knew where she wanted to go – she wanted to go to Roedean as it was the best school in the country – but her parents had disagreed with her as they wanted her to go to a school close by and they definitely weren't okay with her going to a boarding school.

Hermione had just been having another discussion about where to go when there was a knock on the door. She had hoped that trying to persuade her parents to let her go there on her birthday would work, but they were still insisting that she had to stay in London for school. As her mother moved to answer the door, Hermione followed behind with the leaflet she had for Roedean in her hand.

"Hello?" Emily Granger asked as she answered the door to an unfamiliar woman.

"Good morning, Mrs Granger. My name is Amberline Baris and I would like to talk to your daughter about her schooling options for next year."

Hermione was confused; she assumed that the woman was from her school, however she'd never heard of the woman before and she didn't know her school was having one to one sessions about secondary school. Her mother wasn't impressed.

"I don't like to be rude, Ms Baris, but it is my daughter's birthday and we are having a party later which still needs planning," Emily told her with a note of finality in her voice. Amberline, however, didn't take any notice and carried on as she was.

"It will only take a moment, Mrs Granger. I have a letter here that should explain everything. It is addressed to your daughter, so I would appreciate if she were the one to read it first."

Emily sighed in resignation, "Okay, Ms Baris, please come in and have a seat. Would you like anything to drink?"

Amberline entered the house and sat towards the edge of the sofa. "A glass of water would be lovely, thank you. And please, call me Amberline."

Hermione's father stood to fetch Amberline a glass of water as the woman took a letter from her bag and handed it to her.

"This is for you, Miss Granger. I am from a school you may not have heard of, but we would be honoured if you would consider us for next year."

Hermione let a small smile show. Her intuition had been right; this woman wasn't from her school after all. She took the letter in her hands and turned it over to see a wax seal of two torches on the back, opening it very carefully so she didn't ruin the seal.

"Before you read it, may I ask how much you know of your ancestors?" Amberline asked Hermione.

"A little," Hermione confessed, "Are you talking about Great-Grandma Elspeth?"

"I am indeed. You are aware she was a witch, are you not?"

"Yes. Does this mean I'm a witch too?"

Amberline just smiled at Hermione and gestured for her to open the letter.

Dear Miss Granger,

We are pleased to inform you that there is a place reserved for you at the Hecate Institute of Magic. Your name has been registered within our system since birth, and we would be honoured if you were to join us.

You will begin on the 1st of September 1991 and will remain at school until the end of the usual school year. You will be given the opportunity to return home during Christmas and Easter holidays which both last for a duration of two weeks.

As you are from a non-magical family there will be ample opportunities for you to find out more about the scho–

"WHAT?" Hermione heard her mother, who had been reading over her shoulder, exclaimed. She had finished reading the letter before Hermione who promptly finished reading.

As you are from a non-magical family there will be ample opportunities for you to find out more about our school and our world, including a tour of both our main campus in Thessaly and our specialist campus just outside of Athens.

In your first year you will travel to and from the school via aeroplane, as we are very interested in intertwining both the magical and non-magical worlds, which will leave from the East terminal of Gatwick Airport at 12pm sharp. This will not only give you the experience of travelling to another country, but you will be given a brief history of the school, be told what is expected of you and give everyone the chance to get to know their fellow students before the pressures of school and learning something that, for some of you, will be completely new.

In years two through seven, and when returning home during the holidays, you will travel to and from the school via magical means. This will be a portkey assigned by year, however side along apperation is available if required. These portkeys will also leave from the East terminal of Gatwick Airport.

Enclosed is a list of the required equipment, a brief breakdown of the lessons that will be taught and a sample timetable so that you are able to grasp the sort of workload that you will be dealing with.

If you, or a family member, has any worries or enquiries then please send a letter addressed to:

Hecate Institute,

Thessaly,

Greece.

There is no need to be more specific as there is a specific branch of the postal service that deals with any letters to our institute, ensuring that they are sent on via magical means.

We hope that you take us into consideration and that we hear from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Amelie Damocles,

Headmistress of Hecate Institute of Magic.

Hermione's face lit up as she read the letter. This school sounded better than Roedean, and she would be learning magic. Upon finishing the letter she tuned her ears back into the sounds of the room; the adults had moved away from her mother's shock, and Amberline was now explaining to her parents that Hermione would be safe there and they would be able to communicate as often as required. The school even had a phone.

"Mum?" Hermione asked in a small voice, showing no regard to the conversation the adults were having, "Can I please go?"

Emily stared at her. She'd never heard her daughter sound so shy before, but one look into her eyes and she knew that it was where her daughter needed to go.

"Of course you can, dear. Amberline was just letting me know more about the school, and the more I hear the better I feel. If this is what you want then I can't stop you, just promise you'll come home during the holidays."

The shy smile on Hermione's face grew into the most dazzling grin the eleven year old had ever shown.

"THANK YOU, MUMMY, OH THANK YOU!" she shouted, jumping to her feet and wrapping her arms around her mother's waist. When she looked up she noticed her mother give Amberline a sheepish smile in apology and quickly let her mother go.

"So what happens now?" her mother asked as she quickly regained her posture.

"I will inform the school that you have accepted and you will receive a letter shortly asking for confirmation that your daughter will be attending. At the same time you shall also receive a letter asking if and when you would like a tour of the school. The trip will, of course, be paid for by the school. The dates for tours are mainly during the summer holidays so that you are not intimidated by students, however there are dates available during both Christmas and Easter holidays if you should like to see what the school is like with students in and ask them any questions you may have. Once we have been sent a letter confirming your daughters wish to become a student of our school you will be sent further information on where to buy the equipment required and how to access the East terminal at Gatwick. Your tickets to the school will arrive exactly one week before you are to start school," Amberline stood up, "I believe that is all the information I have to tell you. I must be going now, thank you Mr and Mrs Granger for the hospitality and please don't be afraid to write to the school with any enquiries."

Emily stood up and lead the woman to the door. "Thank you for coming, Ms Baris, and we look forward to hearing from you again soon."

With that Amberline left and Hermione was left with the happy, albeit slightly worried faces of her parents.

As Hermione lay in bed that night she reread everything Amberline had given her that day and, taking the highlighter she kept next to her bed, highlighted her favourite and the most interesting parts.

As students will be from all over Europe, there is a spell placed on the school that allows students to hear everything that is said in their native language. There will, however, be lessons on basic language skills from the main countries within Europe so that you are able to communicate with your fellow students outside of school.

You will be given living quarters based whichever god or goddess you show a strong affinity for. For the first month you will be placed through orientation. This will include taster sessions for all lessons and a virtual reality to help determine which god or goddess you have the strongest affinity for.

The next year passed in a blur for Hermione. She read the information that had come with her letter at least once a week until her visit to the school.

The school itself was breath-taking. It was the grandest castle Hermione had ever seen, even in films. There were towers, balconies, stained glass windows, and grounds that seemed to stretch for miles. It even included a lake, even though they were but a short walk from the ocean. All of the reading Hermione had done about the school hadn't prepared her for the magnificence that had awaited her.

One of the more memorable conversations from the day was while Hermione was walking past the lake with Amberline.

"Was that… was that a mermaid I just saw?" Hermione asked Amberline. She had been staring out over the lake, marvelling at the view, and saw what looked like a woman's head shortly followed by a tail.

"No, Miss Granger, that was a Siren. They are far more dangerous than mernaids. Luckily we have an understanding with them."

"So… What exactly is that? I mean to say, what is the understanding you have?" Hermione was worried, and quite reasonably so; she didn't like the idea of living with dangerous creatures that close to her.

"To put it simply; they are not to harm the students. The sirens were living there long before the school was founded. It seemed unfair to force them to leave, and we were unable to find another suitable location for the school, so we made an arrangement with them. They will continue to live here and we will provide for them anything that they need – it isn't much, in fact we have had only four requests from them since the founding of the school – and they will act as our security; they will ensure no harm comes to our students by keeping themselves and any unpermitted dangerous creatures away from our school," Amberline reassured her. Hermione, however, wasn't comforted by this.

"Unpermitted dangerous creatures? Does that mean that there are other dangerous creatures living within the grounds?" She asked with a small squeal.

"There are, however that is something you will learn about in your Magical Creatures lesson. I would rather not give you too much information; if I did I fear that it would take away from your learning experience."

Hermione smiled as she thought about the school. She had learned so much in such a short amount of time, and in just twenty four hours she would be heading off to learn some more.

Words: 2,041.

AN: Thanks for reading guys. Please let me know what you think! There is a lot more of this story in the works and I am going to rework and repost this when I have it complete.

Some Information:

I am currently doing Women of Troy for my end of year show which gave me the idea to have a Greek AU! where the students get their magic from the gods.

Students are all descendants of people who have interacted with the gods at some point. They don't have pureblood/halfblood/mudblood but instead their divide is descendants of demigods/descendants of mortals from the myths/descendants of people who have interacted with the gods more recently in history. These won't necessarily line up to the blood status of canon students.

It is very unusual for two generations in a row to be magical, as it is unusual for more than two members of one generation to be magical. However, magic stays within the family and is talked about throughout the generations which is why Hermione knew about her great-grandma being a witch instead of it being a complete shock to her.

Their magic comes from the gods, and the lessons they have will line up with both the subjects that are taught with students and the gods. For example, I mentioned the Magical Creatures lesson - this lines up with Care of Magical Creatures and Artemis who, along with being the godess of the hunt, is also the goddess of wilderness and animals.

I have decided to have the main campus in Thessaly because only a part of the area is open to tourists, meaning that there would be plenty of space to hide a school, and Pelion was the home of the centaurs in Greek Mythology.

If there is anything you feel is unexplained then please feel free

This is for:

QLFC Round 6 – Lesser Used Genres

Genre: Fantasy

Prompts;

1. (dialogue) "So… what exactly is that?"

3. (opening sentence) Time was running out.

10. (creature) mermaid.