1st Year - An Encounter on the Train
In the early hours of a late September morning, the Hogwarts Express was teeming with students scoping out which train car they wanted to claim for the hours long ride to school. Hermione Granger, after arriving at Platform 9 3/4 with her rather gobsmacked parents and saying her goodbyes, quickly and determinedly made her way, chin high, onto the large red train. She had found it fascinating that wizards had decided to use such a muggle way of traveling to and fro the school in lieu of a more magical method.
Though she had been warned by Dumbledore when he first visited her and her parents at their home earlier in the summer that some people in the wizarding world looked down upon muggles and their sometimes magical children, Hermione had serious doubts as to how pervasive the problem could be.
While reading Hogwarts: A History in the days after Headmaster Dumbledore visited, she found there were a few passages on one of the founders of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin, who was an elitist and a magical-blood purist, breaking away from the other three of the school's founders and seemingly descending into a hate fueled madness.
Despite that unfortunate bit of history, Hermione figured that by now, in such modern times, wizards would have left those sort of archaic beliefs behind. After all, if they were using muggle technology in so many different ways, how could they truly be distrustful and hateful toward those who created it?
In the midst of searching for a cabin, Hermione came upon two boys and a red haired girl seemingly searching for something amidst their trunks and the other numerous articles that were scattered about the floor of the small cabin.
"I can't believe it!" a boy with brown hair and a red-tinged face exclaimed, obviously panicked. Hermione observed the chaotic scene for a few moments before speaking up.
"Err... Hi. I'm Hermione Granger. I was looking for somewhere to sit for the train ride, but,"
She paused, searching for the right words as the three occupants of the cabin paused their searching and turned to look at her. If she offered to help find what they were looking for, she might make a few friends.
"But it seems you've lost something. Is there anything I can do to help?" Hermione hoped her tentative smile turned out like she pictured it to in her head. The boy who had made the exclamation when she walked into the cabin grinned sheepishly at her.
"That would be great. You see, it's my toad, Trevor... I think I've lost him!" he squeaked.
Hermione attempted to quell the look of revulsion she knew was quickly making its way onto her face. A toad seemed like quite an odd pet to have, not to mention rather disgusting, in her opinion.
"No problem at all!" she grinned back in a cheery manner that was at least half forced. "I'll go ask around in the other carts and see if they've seen him,"
The boy smiled shyly at her. "Thanks. I'm Neville by the way, Neville Longbottom," He looked toward the red-headed girl also currently occupying the cabin. "That's Susan," He then pointed to a rather tall, dark complected boy. "And that's Dean. We'll be staying in this cabin, so if you can't find Trevor, you're welcome to come back and sit with us for the ride over," he finished with a small smile.
Hermione nodded her understanding with a grin, and after saying a quick 'nice to meet you, be back shortly' to both Susan and Dean, walked purposefully down the train's long hallway, stopping in every cabin that was occupied and asking if anyone had seen a large toad hopping about without its owner.
Slowing her pace a bit after having worked herself into a bit of a frenzy, she rested against the wall of the wooden hallway and looked out one of the many windows to the green hills and valleys rapidly passing beyond the cool glass pane. As she let her mind drift from the task at hand, a tinge of worry bubbled within her stomach. Hermione had only just learned the true nature of her once mysterious abilities at the beginning of the summer and, although she would never show it, felt a little in over her head amongst all these other students. So many of them had been immersed in the wizarding world their whole lives. Were there customs and traditions that she would, try as she might, never understand? Would people think her stupid?
Though she believed that prejudice toward muggleborns was probably not much of an issue any longer, Hermione did not, however, think she would be immune from students who grew up in this world finding her strange or unusual. Try as she might, her facade of confidence was wearing thin with each new person that she met. While she knew she would never let it show even in the worst of times for fear of seeming weak or incompetent, Hermione's insecurity continued to grow.
A door slamming open interrupted her reverie. She looked over her shoulder and eyed a slim, pale boy, with equally as shockingly pale hair exit his cabin. The boy looked down to the other end of the hallway and then in her direction with a cool glance before venturing any further.
Just before he had seen her watching him, Hermione looked back out the window at the scenery, keenly aware the boy was walking up behind her; she guessed in order to get to another part of the train. Deciding to make the most of the opportunity and her task to help Neville, she turned around in order to get the boy's attention as he passed.
"Hi! I'm Hermione. I don't think we've met. I was just wondering if you had seen a toad anywhere?" she questioned in her usual way.
The boy paused and quirked a blonde eyebrow at her, giving her a swift once over.
"A toad?" he sneered. Hermione thought he had a haughty sort of voice, which bothered her a bit. Then again, she was asking about a toad, and even she disliked them.
"Um, yes, a toad. You see, a boy named Neville's lost one and - "
"Longbottom?" he interrupted, the question asked with an air of disdain. Hermione found she was beginning to dislike him already.
"Yes, I suppose that's the one," she responded curtly. The boy laughed shortly and leaned back against the oak wood paneling of the hallway, arms crossed.
"What a waste of air that one is, and he's sent a girl out to look for it while he sits on his arse, eating licorice wands?" he smirked. "If you'll excuse me, I don't have time for this nonsense, especially not for Longbottom and his dead toad," The boy righted himself from the paneled wall and, with an amused look on his pointed face, moved to continue walking down the hall the way he had originally planned.
Hermione, whose ire had grown with every word he had spoken, blocked the way, arms crossing defensively. The boy scowled at her attempt to stop him.
"Now hold on a minute!" she eeked out, shoulders tense. "I don't think it's fair of you to talk about Neville that way! He seems nice!"
His eyes rolled in return. "Spare me the lecture - what did you say your name was again?"
She eyed him warily, but regained some of her own haughtiness. "I didn't. But for your information, it's Hermione Granger," her eyebrow raised in challenge.
His eyes narrowed. "Granger? Makes sense, then,"
Not saying anything further as to what that meant, Hermione only assumed he was implying something negative. Could it be that she'd already run into someone who knew she was a muggleborn and disliked her for it? "I hope that doesn't mean what I think it does," she bit out, eyes narrowing in return.
"It means exactly what you think it does, Granger," He spat her name as if it physically disgusted him. "Now get out of my way,"
The boy pushed past her with more force than was necessary, looking at her as he passed from down his nose like she was a particularly foul bug, and continued down the passageway.
Hermione followed his retreating form with her gaze and noticed he had a bit of a swagger in his walk. She snorted at the sight and turned on her heels, regaining her usual bravado and determined to put the vile boy out of her mind. After all, she had just spotted two boys a few cars down attempting to do some sort of spell, and she was dying to see which one it was.