Chapter 1: The Unusual Visitor
The Grangers were a very normal family; Mr. and Mrs. Granger were dentists at the local clinic, and had been working there for many years. They had met in college and married soon after they had been certified. Years later, on September 19, 1979, Mrs. Granger gave birth to their daughter, Hermione Jean Granger. The Grangers had lived in the same house in London for as long as Hermione could remember. They had no pets, although Hermione had secretly always wanted a cat or dog to have and play with, but her parents believed that she was busy enough already and did not want to have to care for an animal. There was some merit for this assumption; Hermione was very involved in all of her school subjects and participated in a variety of after-school activities, although she did not particularly enjoy sports of any kind. She was very bright and intelligent, and her parent were very excited to see what secondary school she would attend, and eventually what universities she would apply to and the profession that she would undertake. That is, until a very unusual visitor visited in July of 1990 when Hermione was eleven years old.
Hermione lay on her bed reading her favourite book, Little Women, when she heard a knock on the door. She heard her mother and father talking to the visitor for a few minutes before the visitor was ushered inside. Being very curious, she put down her book and went to the doorway to listen to the conversation, but it turned out that was not necessary. Mrs. Granger had come to tell Hermione that a woman named Minerva McGonagall had come to talk to the three of them about a school that Hermione had been invited to attend. She went with her mother to the living room and saw a tall, stern looking woman with dark hair but kind eyes behind her spectacles, sitting in a chair speaking with her father. This did not seem odd, except for the clothing that this woman was wearing. Specifically, she was wearing a dark green cloak in the middle of the summer. As they entered, McGonagall stood and held her hand out for Hermione to shake and introduced herself, saying, "Hello Hermione. I am pleased to finally meet you. You have been personally invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I am here to answer any questions that you and your parents may have."
Hermione blinked and wondered if she was dreaming. "I'm sorry; did you say a school of witchcraft and wizardry? Is this a joke?" McGonagall smiled kindly, as though she had received this sort of reaction before. "It is no joke, my dear. Hogwarts is the best school for young witches and wizards such as yourself."
"I don't think you understand, ma'am. I'm not a witch! There's no such thing as magic, right dad?" Mr. Granger just stared at Hermione, as though seeing her for the first time. He then said, "You should sit and listen to this woman, Hermione. A lot of what she is saying makes sense, given your….unusual background."
Hermione instantly reddened. She did seem to have a lot of unusual things happen to her, but she and her parents always just brushed them off as random occurrences that could happen to anyone, but Hermione did wonder if there had been something wrong with her. It usually happened when she was angry or scared. She had a cavity when she was nine, and her parents were so disappointed and she was very scared about the pain associated with getting it fixed, but whenever they had begun the procedure, the dentists could find no sign of anything wrong with any of her teeth, and said that there must have been something wrong with the scan. Although both of her parents had seen the same scan and had agreed with the diagnosis, they assumed that there may have been a problem with the equipment. At the end of her exams this past term, Hermione had been very worried about her science exam, and although she didn't tell anyone, she could have sworn that time had slowed down enough to let her finish without problems. Her parents had told her stories about when she was a toddler and somehow had always found a way to turn the tellie on to watch cartoons in the morning, even when her parents hid the remote in their own bedroom, but that had been passed off as there must be a small power button somewhere on the set that Hermione had found. Could all of these instances have been caused by magic?
Hermione sat down opposite of Mrs. McGonagall and looked at her a minute before responding. "Can you prove that magic exists? I just can't believe in something unless I have seen proof of it." McGonagall smiled again and pulled out a wand and uttered the word lumos. The tip of her wand began to glow brightly, but Hermione still doubted. "I'm sorry, but couldn't there just be a switch or button that turns that on? Is there anything else that you could show me?"
McGonagall had not expected that response. Many of the muggle-born (muggles are what magic folk call the non-magic folk) children were instantly fascinated by her wand, and the idea that a simple word could cause something else. So she did something a bit dramatic. She turned herself into a cat. Hermione shrieked, Mrs. Granger jumped, and Mr. Granger leapt away from the chair. Soon, McGonagall righted her form and asked "Does that help you at all, Ms. Granger?"
"How did you do that? Can all witches and wizards do that?"
"No, not all witches and wizards are Animagi. There are very few registered Animagi in the country. It is a very difficult form of transfiguration, but that is my specialty. I am the transfiguration professor at Hogwarts. Now, I have your invitation letter along with the required texts and materials. Would you like to see them?"
Hermione nodded, and Professor McGonagall handed her a thick, parchment envelope. On the front, it was addressed to:
Hermione Granger
The Upper Room
15 Granger Street
London, England
The envelope was sealed with a purple-seal wax, and it had the form of a coat of arms; the letter H surrounded by an eagle, a lion, a snake, and a badger. Hermione gently broke the seal and took out the first piece of parchment and read:
Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Ms. Granger,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Hermione had so many questions about this incredibly short letter. Who was Albus Dumbledore? Where was Hogwarts? What was a Mugwump? And how would she reply to a letter with an owl? She looked up at Professor McGonagall, who was smiling at her and her parents who were reading over her shoulder with equally confused faces.
"I'm sure you have many questions. Let me see if I can answer them. First, and most important, will you be joining us at Hogwarts?
Hermione looked at her parents, who simply looked back at her. To finally understand why certain things happened to her, to learn from people who could change into animals, to learn something completely new. She immediately knew her answer, but she was not sure how her parents would feel about it. However, their answer surprised her almost as much as seeing a human become a cat.
"You should go, Hermione. This is who you are, this is what you need. We will always be here for you, and we are so proud of you."
"That's right, sweetheart. I know this is a lot to take in, but your father and I agree. You should go and learn about what all is out there. And you will always have a home here, and you can always return to this - what are we called - muggles? You can always return to the muggle world if you decide this is not working out for you."
Hermione turned to Professor McGonagall. "I want to go. But I still have so many questions. Where do I find my school supplies, and how do I owl to let them know?
McGonagall smiled and said, "All in good time. Let me answer whatever else you may have questions about first. Then, I can take you and your parents to Diagon Alley and show you where to buy your school supplies and how to get to Hogwarts."
Hermione smiled and looked at her parents. This was no ordinary day, and this was certainly no ordinary visitor, but it seemed as though she was about to start an adventure of a lifetime.