Chapter 1: My eleventh birthday surprises
It was my eleventh birthday and everything was happening. It was a Saturday. So I was home from school for the whole day. I woke up at about 8am. I sat on my bed. I could hear noises from downstairs. My parents. Arguing like they always do. They don't realise that their voices travel so that I can hear every word.
"She is only eleven, she has no need to know!" came the voice of my mother from under the door. She always seemed the one to start the arguments.
"So what eleven is no different to fifteen or eighteen, she will need to know and you can't put this off forever." Came my father's voice. It sounded as though he was in the kitchen from the way his voice echoed.
"Fine, you can tell her this, there is no way in hell I am to be part of this conversation." My mother replied. Her voice moving around the house.
"No Eleanor, you will regret not telling her this yourself, and you know it." Said my father who was now banging pots around in the kitchen. He was making breakfast I could tell this. It did not surprise me he always made breakfast on my birthday.
A sudden tap at my window made me lose focus on their conversation. An owl, a barn owl? In the morning? I was surprised I had only ever seen one of them before, well apart from pictures in books of course and that was at the zoo.
It tapped again and again getting louder and louder. I think it wanted to come in. There was no way that I was going to let it. Then again there was nothing to do in my bedroom, and i did not really want to go downstairs at the moment.
I went over to the window. I was glad that it could open. The bird flew straight in and landed on my bed. I left the window open. I went over to the bed, there was a letter attached to its leg. I untied it and the owl flew back out the window.
I did not care about the owl anymore. The letter that it delivered was address to me. It had my name on it. It had the address of my bedroom on it. It even had the exact time on it.
The door bell rang. All thoughts about the letter were forgotten. I left it on my bed as I raced downstairs. It was my birthday, anyone that was here should have been here for me. Well they were.
My mother was answering the door; I stayed behind the doorway leading back upstairs. It was a man. Tall, dark, slimy greasy hair and a hooked noise. He was wearing the weirdest clothing that I had ever seen and all of it was black.
"Hi, I'm sorry we don't want to buy anything today" said mother to the complete and scary stranger.
"Don't worry Mrs Granger I am not here to sell anything today" replied the man in the hall way.
Mother looked shocked, I was too. How the hell did he know her name?
"I would very much like to speak to your whole family Mrs Granger, and it would probably be better if we do it inside."
He was being polite and not doing it very well.
"Yes, yes come in then, silly me for not allowing you in before" said my mother regaining her voice. She stepped aside and closed the door after him. He waited for her to go in front of him and he followed her down the hall way. But he stopped at the door way that I was standing behind and he spoke to me. "Go and get the letter that you were sent this morning, Miss Granger before you come downstairs'." Then without my mother even realising what just happened he caught up to her as though he was following her from the beginning.
I ran upstairs quickly and grabbed the letter. Then I fled back downstairs as fast as I could.
Three hours later, I went back upstairs. The Man, a Professor at my new school had left an hour earlier but my parents kept me downstairs, they said that they had important news to tell me and they did.
On the first of September next year I am off to a boarding school for children with magical abilities. And apparently I was adopted. But nobody knows who my parents are.
Chapter 2: Five years later, to the date.
How was I to know that on your sixteenth birthday you go to sleep the night before and you wake up a different person?
I got out of bed, and Lavender screamed. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"
"Really Lav, it's me can't you tell or have you been at the love potions again!"
"H...h...h..Hermione"
"Yes Lav, it's me, God you look as though you have seen a ghost!"
"Oh my God Hermione, I love the new look, I mean it soooo suits you, you just, well WOW!"
"Wow what Lav I have done absolutely nothing to my looks this morning,"
"Well why don't we just have a look in the mirror" and with that Lavender grabbed her wand and made a mirror appear out of thin air.
"Here ya go take a look and you tell me you have changed nothing."
I grabbed the mirror of her and stared at myself. It was not myself looking back at me. My bushy brown hair was Ebony in colour and dead straight; my skin was a shade lighter than what it usually was and my eyes had turned from a chocolate brown to a very dark emerald green.
I dropped the mirror and the last thing that I knew was my lips letting out a scream.
Several Moments later I woke up.
I had no idea where I was, the ceiling was white and I was in a bed. Someone spoke.
"Ahh Miss Granger, you're up, good quick eat this then you can go to class." Said Madam Pomfrey "Umm... Madam Pomfrey, umm do I look like I did yesterday or do I still look different?"
"Ahh yes about that, you still look different but I did run some tests as you were not the kind of girl to change your appearance, you have seem to have just rid yourself of some extremely powerful glamour charm"
"Whattt?"
"That's what I said, Miss Granger, now eat this and get to class, look Miss Brown even brought your books down"
"Can't I just stay here for this lesson I mean it's already begun"
"No no, hurry up or you will be even later"
I left the Hospital wing, Crap I had Potions now. Well here goes nothing off to lose my house a heap of points.
I entered the dungeons, and walked to the class room. Before I entered I gathered my wits, I was going to need them. I knocked then without waiting for a reply I opened the door.
"I did not say you could enter 20 points off ... and umm who are you?" asked Professor Snape the greasy haired potions teacher at Hogwarts.
"Sorry, I'm late Professor, I had to go to the hospital wing" I replied and went and took my normal seat next to Neville.
"Granger?" said Snape.
"Who else would it be?"
"I don't recall anyone breaking into my stores recently, unless you still have boomslan skin left over from your second year."
"What?"
"Polyjuice, Granger. Now hand the rest over."
"No Professor, it isn't Polyjuice Potion!"
"Then what, Miss Granger what have you taken that has altered your appearance?"
Everyone in the class had stopped working to listen in to the conversation.
"Nothing Professor"
"Don't lie, Miss Granger!"
"I'm not I swear. I woke up this morning and this was what I looked like. I didn't even know that I had changed myself."
"That still does not explain why you seem to look like this!"
"I don't know, Madam Pomfrey said it was the removal of a glamour charm and well they usually remove on ones 16th birthday if I can recall."
Snape sat down, his eyes showing some emotion for once in his life. But it was only a fleeting second.
"What are you all doing, GET BACK TO WORK."
With that the whole class went back to work. No one spoke until the lesson was over. I did not even whisper instructions to Neville resulting in him melting another cauldron.
The class was over. I now had a break then lunch then another break before Arithmancy that afternoon. I wanted to see Professor Dumbledore but had no idea how to get into his office without the password. So I went to the staffroom.
Knock, knock.
"Who is it?" Came the strict voice of Professor McGonagall
"Hermione Granger, Professor"
"Come in Miss Granger, come in"
I opened the door and walked in. It was not the only time I had been in here. The room was still the same. One long table in the middle with soft chairs surrounding it. A large fire place at the head of the room surrounded by several comfy looking armchairs.
"Miss Granger, how can I help you?"
She was the only one in the room and Madam Pomfrey must have told her about my change of appearances as she did not question them.
"Professor, I just wanted to talk to Professor Dumbledore, but I don't know what the password to his office is"
"Yes, yes Miss Granger his password is Killer python"
"Thank you Professor"
And with that I left the staff room just as Professor Snape came in. He looked at me weirdly as though he did not know who I was then as I left realisation hit him.
I walked through the corridors above the staff room. Professor Dumbledore's office was on the seventh floor and the staffroom was on the third. The sky outside was dark, a storm was coming and so was the final battle. Voldemort was out there somewhere, planning his next move. We were all in here learning how to kill him and his followers. I came upon the statue guarding Professor Dumbledore's office.
"Killer Python "I say to the stone statue that suddenly springs to life and jumps aside to reveal a stone flight of stairs. I walked quickly up them as I had no idea how long the passage would stay open. I slowed when I came to the door. It was slightly open, that was odd. I opened it more then I heard the voice. High pitched and very cold, but it was whispering.
"No one will know you are dead, they will just believe that you have run away...Arvada Kadavera"
A flash of green light filled his office. I screamed before I could stop myself. I turned to run, but too late a cold, long hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. He looked at me. His cat like pupils running up and down my face. He showed no emotion. Then he smiled. I wanted to run. Scream out, scream to everybody that Voldemort was in the castle. That Voldemort had just killed Albus Dumbledore. But I was Petrified, I was too afraid to move. Too afraid to do anything.
"Miss Snape" how nice for you to join the wizarding world at last. A loud Crack rang around the castle as the pair disappeared out of thin air.
Chapter 3: The Aftermath