Chapter 1: A History of Magic Assignment
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my plot. 'Hocus Pocus' belongs to Kenny Ortega and 'Harry Potter' belongs to J.K. Rowling.
The seventh year students of Hogwarts piled into the History of Magic classroom. Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat together near the back to get away with chatting in the dull class. Professor Binns floated to the front of the class and cleared is throat before saying, "Good morning, children. Today, we are going to begin a special project that only seventh year students, with almost all their magical learning gained, are allowed to embark on. Each of you are going to individually research a historical wizard or witch legend. You will be sent out into the world, it doesn't matter where, and research your legend. Come with me to the library so you can research a legend you would like to research. You have until the end of the class to chose one so you had better hurry along."
With a collective groan, the class got up and headed down to the library, Hermione in her element. She selected a large, dusty book and began flicking through it. Not satisfied, she shut the book and offered it to Harry and Ron before getting up. "Professor Binns, is it alright if I were to look in the Restricted Section?"
"Be my guest, Hannah." Professor Binns replied airily, not even bothering to look at her.
"Hermione." she corrected unconsciously, having done so so incredibly often during her fourth year when Krum had courted her that correcting her name had become second nature.
"What?" Professor Binns inquired, thoroughly indifferent.
"Just, never mind." And Hermione headed into the Restricted Section. Looking around, she found a book titled 'Darkest and Most Evil of Witches in the Seventeenth Century.' Hermione wrestled the book off the shelf and took it over to where Ron and Harry were reading. She opened the dusty book and handled the yellowing pages with great care. Turning towards the middle, she found a section on the acclaimed 'Sanderson Sisters'. Curious, Hermione read.
'Of all the evil witches of the late sixteen hundreds, the Sanderson sisters may have been among the worst. The three of them, Winnifred, Mary, and Sarah, each possessed a unique gift that contributed to their combined effort to attract children to their house where they would suck out their life force and become young again, leaving behind their victims' empty husk. The eldest, Winifred sold her soul to the devil in exchange for her spell book and is the potion brewer and the brains behind the sisters. Mary had a very powerful nose and was able to tell the gender and age of any child nearby. Sarah, the youngest, had a beautiful voice and would sing a Siren song to lure unsuspecting children to her and her sisters house. However, in the year 1693, the three witches were hung for being found guilty of the killing of a child, Emily, and the disappearance of her older brother, Thackery, who unknown to muggles, was actually turned into a black cat by the Sandersons' when he was caught in trying to free Emily. Their house has been turned into a museum in Salem, Massachusetts, but was closed due to spooky things happening there every year on Halloween.'
Hermione looked up from the book and walked over to Mr. Binns yet again. Upon her approach, he impatiently remarked, "Hermes? I already told you that you could look in the Restricted Section."
"It's Hermione, and I have. I wanted to ask if I could do the Sanderson Sisters for my project."
"The who?" Professor Binns asked slowly, looking up at her then.
"The Sanderson Sisters. From 'Darkest and Most Evil of Witches in the Seventeenth Century'? The were hung in Salem Massachusetts in 1693 for the death of Emily Binx and the disappearance of her brother, Thackery." Hermione surmised, already mentally forming the thesis for her paper.
Shuffling some papers, Professor Binns nonchalantly remarked, "Oh, those three. Yes, I suppose if you want, you can research them, but you want to go all the way to Salem, Massachusetts for this project?"
"Yes. I want to find out more about these Sanderson Sisters." Hermione insisted, straightening up even more to look Professor Binns squarely in the eye.
"If you insist. Do you know how to apparate?" Professor Binns inquired, gazing at Hermione over the edge of his glasses.
AN: So I have always wanted to write a fanfic about the 'Harry Potter' universe and I thought; what better time than Halloween? So I've decided to write a short crossover between 'Harry Potter' and 'Hocus Pocus', I mean, they even have the same initials so it must be fate. Anyways, I hope everyone who took the time to check this story out enjoyed! Thanks for reading!