Hermione Granger and The Purple Spark

Part I: The Vanishing Branch

Hermione Granger sat under a Beech tree with her legs crossed and a large copy of Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Collection on her lap. It was break at school and she had 20 minutes until her next maths class. The rest of the children in her year were running around screaming and playing tag. Hermione ignored their yells over the fall breeze. She was too enthralled in the wondrous intellect of Sherlock Holmes to care about something as silly as tag. Suddenly a shriek shattered her reading stupor:

"HEY GRANGER! You're gunna turn into a book if you keep readin' 'em like you do! Why don't you give it a rest, alright?"

Edwin Norton was the speaker and with a big smirk on his face, he walked over to Hermione with his cronies in tow.

"What's up Mangy Granger? Done studying for all of next months exams already?"

"No." Hermione answered, holding her book closer to her as the large boy stood towering above.

"Lemme see that, then", he said, and tore the book out of her hands.

"Give it back Edwin!", Hermione cried, standing up and lunging at her tormentor. Edwin, unfortunately, was too quick for her and was off running across the yard with her precious Sherlock high above his head and his friends in tow.

Hermione chased after them until they reached a large tree at the edge of the schoolyard. Edwin was perched atop the tree, waving Hermione's book tantalizingly at her.

"Come and get it Mangy!" Edwin jeered over the sounds of his friends' laughter.

Hermione glared at Edwin with so much anger that she was surprised he wasn't incinerated on the spot. She felt a surge of energy build up in the pit of her stomach and then suddenly and satisfyingly dissapate. Above her there was a huge bang and a shower of purple sparks as the branch holding Edwin's bulk vanished. Edwin yelled loudly as he fell but his friends managed to catch him before he hit the ground. Hermione's book on the other hand floated gently to a rest at her feet. Hermione's eyes widened. Not again! She thought.

Edwin looked over at Hermione with his eyes wide in horror as if he knew she was the reason, albeit unintentional on her end, that he fell.

Their teacher came running over at this point. "Is everyone alright?" she asked, "Edwin why were you up that high in the tree? You know we have a rule against climbing!"

"Mrs. Peters, Hermione made the branch disappear when I fell I-"

"Edwin don't lie! Hermione has been here on the ground this whole time and how could a little girl make the branch vanish?!", Mrs. Peters retorted pulling Edwin up by the ear. "I'm taking you to the headmaster!", and with that the stern red-haired woman started marching the portly boy up to the school. The rest of Edwin's cronies had of course scampered away from the scene when Mrs. Peters had arrived, leaving Hermione alone under the tree. She picked up her book and started walking towards her vacated reading spot, mind still racing over what had just happened.

This wasn't the first time Hermione had caused strange things to happen around her. It had been happening with increasing frequency from the time she was seven years old. Her parents had noticed it by now and with her eleventh birthday approaching they still had found no viable cause for the problem or any way for her to stop the events from occurring. They simply pretended nothing was wrong, what else could they do, anyway? Am I a freak? Is there something wrong with me? Hermione wondered. For once her book lay untouched on her lap.

The bell rang.

Hermione started, then stood up and hurried into the school building. She had had quite enough of break for one day.

Part II: Birthday Surprises

Hermione woke up on her eleventh birthday to the smell of sizzling eggs and bacon.

"Hermione dear," her mother called, "come down and have some breakfast! Dad just got the post."

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and hurriedly throwing off the covers, Hermione scampered downstairs, still in her nightdress.

"Looks like you've got quite the stack of cards!" Mr. Granger chortled, handing his daughter a thick stack of mail.

"I'll open them after breakfast, Dad" Hermione answered as her mother put a large plate of food in front of her.

The Grangers ate with gusto and afterwards Mr. and Mrs. Granger gave their daughter a brand new copy of The Hobbit, which she excitedly tore into at the breakfast table.

After helping her mother clear away the dishes, Hermione took the stack of cards upstairs and flopped on her bed. There were cards from Grandma Granger and Aunt Tilda and Uncle Patrick and then-what was this letter?

It was a thick parchment envelope with green writing and a wax seal addressed to:

Miss. Hermione Jean Granger

Periwinkle Bedroom

34 Trinket Drive

Ashford

The embossed emerald and cream paper made all wonders about the other letters disappear. She slowly and neatly opened the parchment envelope and after glancing over the header that began with a regal looking crest, she read:

Dear Miss. Granger,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A representative from the school will be arriving at your home shortly to explain the situation to you and your parents.

Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. The school representative will also answer any questions about this list (no doubt you will have many) and will tell you where to purchase said items.

Term begins on September 1 of next year. We await your owl no later than July 31. We hope you join us.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Just as she had reached the end of the page, Hermione heard a knock downstairs at her front door. Excitement running through her she jumped up and ran to get the door.

"Hermione I was going to ge-"

"I'll get it Dad don't worry!" Hermione called after breezing past her father on the landing.

She reached the front door and opened it. Standing on their front porch was a stern looking woman dressed in the odd combination of a tartan colored dress, a lime green jacket, and yellow rain boots, her hair curled tightly in a bun in the back of her head and a pair of glasses perched on her nose.

She looked down at the girl in front of her, still in a nightdress, and said:

"Are you Hermione Granger?"

Hermione nodded.

"Did you receive your letter today?"

Hermione nodded again as excitement slowly built inside her. She felt like she finally knew what was going on, a feeling that she had been sorely missing for the past several years.

The woman cracked a thin, yet warm smile.

"My name is Minerva McGonagall and I am a teacher at Hogwarts School. May I come inside?"

With another slight nod and shy smile, Hermione Granger let her future walk through the front door.