Dr. and Dr. Granger of 17 Byron Dr were the proud parents of a very talented and very peculiar child. Dr. Henry Granger was a dentist who's office was in the neighboring town of Cambridge. He was tall and thin, with thick reddish-brown hair, and brown eyes. He had a kindly face, and a good-natured laugh, the sort that was often contagious. His dentistry practice was a partnership with his wife, Dr. Rose Granger, also a dentist.
Rose was tall for a woman, though still shorter than her husband. She had long dark brown hair she often wore in a ponytail, and piercing green eyes. Like her husband, she too had a genial personality, though not as laid back. No one had as much energy as Rose Granger. The woman could go days without sleeping and still be functional- something she credited for her early graduation from dental school.
Shortly after getting married, Rose Granger was given the terrible news that she would be unable to have children. Brokenhearted, she and her new husband resigned themselves to a life very different than the one they'd planned until one day, Mrs. Granger took ill. She didn't dare hope the sickness was as she suspected for fear of immense disappointment. A visit to her very bewildered physician later, and she rushed home to tell Mr. Granger the good news- they were going to be parents after all!
Her doctor could not understand it; with the conditions of her body, she should have lost the baby before she even knew she was pregnant. There was simply no way for it to get all the things it needed in utero. It seemed as though the baby, once it started growing, was taking the resources it needed from thin air. It was like magic. And that was what they called her; their magical baby, Hermione.
It became apparent very early on that she was not like other children. She was nothing short of brilliant. Of course, all parents must think this of their children, right? But Hermione was just so quick on the take that it would catch them off guard. They would be chatting idly while she was playing nearby, and she would suddenly chime in, "Why would he say that? Is he angry?" or "Who did that? The lady from the next house? The one you don't like?" And then once she started school they found out just how special she was.
She began attending an independent primary school in Cambridge where she immediately stood out for her exceptional intelligence. Her teachers loved her, she was dream to have in class, but the other children began to pick on her for her complete inability to let any question go unanswered. The Know-It-All they called her.
Strange things started to happen around her too. Once, when she was about seven, she was beaten for the first (and maybe only) time on a test by Rodger Maxell. When the papers were handed back, and Hermione caught a glance at Rodger's, several lights in the overhead fixtures burst and went out. She was as startled as anyone else, but the timing unnerved her a little.
Another time a few years later. A group of girls lead by Elsa Bradford had been teasing her, and Elsa's pen exploded in her hand covering her face and front with blue ink. Several school children in the vicinity laughed, but this time Hermione's parents were called to the school. The Headmaster told them this was not the first such incident, and though they could not prove she was involved in any wrong doing, all the incidents surrounded her in some way. If she were to remain a student at King's College, she would need to get whatever was happening under control.
Rose Granger argued adamantly that Hermione was not doing these things, and it was not her fault things happened around her. How could she be causing these issues? They were freak accidents and no one was hurt, how could they blame her? She argued further that the school should be more concerned with the other children who were picking on her daughter rather than a poorly manufactured pen. The headmaster conceded that Hermione was one of the best students in his school and he wanted her to be successful, but warned they would continue to monitor the situation. Dr. Granger warned him in return that she and her husband would be looking into other schools where Hermione would be more appreciated. When they got home that evening Hermione found herself sitting at the kitchen table with both her parents and their serious expressions.
"Did you cause that pen to explode?" Her mother asked her looking weary.
"Of course I didn't!" Exclaimed Hermione indignantly. "You've just spent the last hour arguing with my professor that I didn't!"
"Yes, only this isn't the first time something like this has happened is it? Remember the frogs at the lake last year? Or the thing with the lights?" Hermione couldn't believe they were still bring that up. She had only told them a hundred times she hadn't done it. Though a small part of herself had to admit she'd been quite angry at the time, and hadn't she felt a small twinge of unexplainable guilt when the repair man had been at a loss as to why it had blown in such a way?
But she was eleven now and knew she could do things others couldn't. She had definitely made the frogs at the lake chase that boy that had scared and embarrassed her by dropping one in her hair. She had successfully made objects move without touching them in her room when no one was watching. But this was different. She never wanted her parents to find out she was unpopular at school. She didn't do it on purpose, but when a question was asked and she knew the answer, why was it so wrong to give it? There was nothing she loved more than knowledge and learning. Why should that make the other kids laugh?
It wasn't just the answers they laughed at either. They made fun at her teeth, which had been very crooked when she was younger. Her parents, being dentists, of course fixed this. They fitted her with braces to correct them which she wore for two years and earned her numerous nicknames. Even once they were straightened, the front ones were a little too long, her hair was a little too bushy, and her test scores a little too high. Queen bee Elsa had made sure she didn't have many friends.
When Elsa had cornered her in the hallway with her usual trio of horrible girls, she couldn't take it anymore. She only wanted them to leave her alone, she hadn't meant to hurt anyone. She saw the pen in her hand and she wanted it to spray Elsa's stupid mean face and shut her up, that's all. Was she going to tell her parents this? No.
"I didn't do it, mum." She lied, looking down at her hands.
"Alright dear," Rose said softly. "I believe you. Tomorrow is the last day of summer term and we're leaving for holiday on Tuesday, so why don't you just stay home, hmm? By the time school comes back in September no one will even remember this." Hermione highly doubted that, but was grateful for the delay in having to see Elsa again, whom she was sure would not believe that lie as easily. She went up to her room without another word and thought miserably that Elsa would somehow know she had done it, and would now have a whole summer to plot her revenge.
She felt a stab of guilt as she closed her bedroom door behind her. She knew they loved her and had her best interests in mind, and she hated to lie to anyone, least of all her mother. But she could bear the thought of her parents looking at her the way the other children did. If they knew she could do these unnatural things, they would think, as the kids did, that she was a weirdo. A freak.
She felt it was inevitable that they would find out. Someday she would lose her temper in front of them and her secret would be out, so she immediately resolved herself to work harder to control herself- a feat that wouldn't last long.