Chapter 0: Introduction
Hermione Granger has always known there was something strange about her. Even before she knew of the world of magic she was aware that there was something different. Even before she began to hear about Hogwarts she knew that she was odd. Finding out that day that she was, in fact, a witch gave hermione validation that she belonged somewhere but she still felt out of place at Hogwarts.
First she thought it was because she was from a non magical family. Mudblood they called her. But even then Hermione was more different than her peers. She never truly fit in. Sometimes she thought it was only her brains that kept Harry and Ron as her friends.
It was only in sixth year she found a place she truly belonged. Hermione Granger had always been one to experiment, not least that terrible disaster in second year that left her as a half cat. And as Hermione began to discover more about the magical world so began her descent down the rabbit hole.
Since first year she had watched Professor McGonagall transform into a tabby cat with awe. To be able to transform yourself into another being was a magical concept to a muggleborn like her. At the end of her third year she had watched Remus transform into a werewolf and Sirius into a dog. It had left Hermione with an overwhelming desire to see what she could turn herself into.
She had spent the best part of fourth year studying books in the restricted section, learning how to transform herself into an animagus. It would be most useful if she could be something discrete, like a bird or an insect that would allow her to go unnoticed but the books would only give her information on how to transform. They told her that she would have no control over what animal was chosen for her, that would be decided by what best suited her personality and what the fates decided. The fates, as if she believed in such things as "destiny".
Spending the summer after her fourth year at Grimmauld Place had given her both privacy, and access to the black library. Finally she had been about to discover her animagus. And it was not as discreet as she'd hoped.
Hermione Granger had morphed into a unicorn.
Of all the magical creatures she could have transformed into it would have to be one that didn't even exist in the muggle world!
During fifth year she built up a relationship with the unicorns that lived in the forbidden forest. Whilst they recognized her as different to their own, her gentle and innocent nature had won them over and they had taken her into the group. Like the centaurs they believed too much in the fates and the stars for her but she felt a closeness to them that she hadn't felt before.
It was here that they had performed powerful magic, allowing her to truly become one of their family and bonding her to them. Initially Hermione had been hesitant but Cassandra's spirit had persuaded her. It was impossible to say no to the mother unicorn.
It was her knowledge of the unicorns that had given her the idea to lure Dolores Umbridge into the forbidden forest at the end of fifth year. The centaurs had heard her stories of great cruelty and were only too willing to assist a fellow forest creature in the pursuit of goodness.
And then at the beginning of sixth year things had changed. As Hermione turned seventeen, and reached the age of adulthood the unicorn magic had begun to have an effect on her.
