A/N – Sorry for the delay in updating, but as I'm sure most of you know fanfiction had a major problem with e-mail alerts not being issued for new chapters. But it now seems to be fixed, so normal updates can resume. Since I've missed two updates there will be 2 bonus chapters posted on the next 2 Wednesdays.
I know a few people have said that to post a fifty chapter story only twice a week will take months to complete, but there is a reason I'm not posting any faster. As regular readers will know I only post stories that I have already finished, or are rapidly reaching the end of. It's so that when people read my stories they know that they're going to get a full story as I know from experience there's nothing worse than to be reading a story that just gets abandoned. However, for me to do this it means I need to keep finishing stories and at the moment my finished stories are lacking slightly. In fact, this is the last completed dark story I've got.
To be honest for the last couple of years, my Children of the Dark series has been my priority and that ended up much longer than I ever imagined when I started it. As a result, I haven't finished as many stories as I normally would have, so I need to finish some. That's why I'm only posting a couple of chapters a week, to give myself some breathing space to finish some of the many stories I've got started.
I could publish quicker, but then there would be a few months delay with no stories before I could post again, so I personally felt it was better to publish a story slowly so that when it's finished, I'll be ready with something new. That being said, once I've started to build up my finished stories again, there's a good chance updates will become more frequent. But until then, people will just have to make do with 2 chapters of Goddess a week (not counting the 2 bonus chapters over the next couple of weeks).
Ten Years Later.
"Hermione, come downstairs please," Jean Granger shouted up the stairs to her eleven year old daughter.
Within minutes a small brunette girl with wild curly hair appeared at the top of the stairs. Quickly she ran down the stairs, eager to see what her mother wanted. Hermione stopped in front of her mother and Jean tried to smarten Hermione's hair slightly.
"Come on, there's someone here to see you," Jean said, giving up on trying to control Hermione's wild curls.
Jean led Hermione into the front room where Hermione's father, Richard, was sitting talking to an odd looking old man with long white hair and a long white beard. The old man was also dressed peculiarly, he was wearing long blue robes that reached his feet.
"Hermione, this is Professor Dumbledore," Richard said to his daughter. "He's here to speak to you about school."
"Hello, Miss Granger, it's a pleasure to meet you," Dumbledore said, smiling at the young girl. He hadn't seen Hermione since the night he dropped her off with the Grangers and he was curious as to what sort of girl she had grown into.
"Hello, sir," Hermione replied politely.
Dumbledore smiled at Hermione's manners and gestured for the young girl to sit beside him. Hermione hesitated and looked at her parents, when her father nodded and smiled reassuringly she sat down on the sofa next to Dumbledore.
"This is for you." Dumbledore handed Hermione an envelope addressed to her. The writing on the envelope was emerald green and the handwriting was extremely neat and tidy.
Hermione opened the letter and began to read, her eyes widening as she tried to understand what she was reading. Hermione read the letter twice and still not understanding it she turned to the odd man sitting next to her.
"I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand," Hermione said quietly. She hated not understanding something but the letter she had read made no sense, it just rambled on about magic and a magical school she was apparently accepted at.
"You're a witch, Hermione," Dumbledore explained. "I'm headmaster at Hogwarts, It's a special school where young witches and wizards come to learn magic and how to control it."
"Magic isn't real," Hermione said with a shake of her head. She was a pretty practical person and she knew magic was a thing of fantasy.
Dumbledore chuckled softly and reached into the robes he was wearing. Pulling out a long wooden stick he pointed it at a candle that was sitting in the centre of the coffee table. With a flick of his wrist the candle began to rise off the table, hovering in mid-air for a few minutes before it returned to where it had been sitting.
Hermione gaped at the sight she had just witnessed. Picking the candle up she examined it for any sign it had been tampered with and the old man was merely playing tricks on her. Finding the candle looked normal Hermione put it down and turned to face the man beside her.
"Do you want another example?" Dumbledore asked.
Hermione nodded and Dumbledore once again raised his wand. This time he spoke a few words and a teacup from the kitchen came flying into the room, landing on his outstretched hand.
"So you're saying, that I can do stuff like that," Hermione said, staring at the cup on Dumbledore's hand.
"Yes, with a bit of practice," Dumbledore replied with a nod, placing the cup he was holding on the coffee table. "That's what coming to Hogwarts will help you with. By the time you finish school in seven years you'll be a fully qualified witch. I'm willing to bet you'll be quite a good one as well."
"Where did my magic come from? And how do you even know I have magic?" Hermione questioned. She was still sceptical about the whole having magic thing.
"Those are two very long questions to answer, so I'll give you the short version," Dumbledore said. "Every child in the country who is born with magic is recorded by a magical quill and parchment at Hogwarts. Every year I receive a list of children eligible to start school, your name was on my list this year."
"That doesn't explain where my magic comes from," Hermione said. "No-one else in my family does magic."
"Not everyone who has magic comes from a magical family. You will find a lot of people who have magic do have magical parents but sometimes a muggle child is born with magic. No-one knows what causes that particular child to be born with magic, they just are."
"What does muggle mean?" Hermione asked, immediately focusing on the one word she didn't understand.
"A muggle is what us magical folk call people without magic." Dumbledore explained.
"Like mum and dad?" Hermione questioned, looking at her parents for the first time since this odd discussion started to take place.
"Yes, exactly," Dumbledore answered.
"So now Hermione's a witch, what happens now?" Richard asked, playing the part of a confused muggle perfectly.
"There's a place for her at Hogwarts," Dumbledore answered before turning back to Hermione. "If she wants it, that is."
"Yes, please." Hermione nodded eagerly before turning to her parents. "Please can I go, I want to learn magic."
"Of course you can go, dear," Jean smiled. "Where is this school?" She asked Dumbledore.
"It's a boarding school and its exact location is a secret I'm afraid," Dumbledore said. "Our school train, The Hogwarts Express, leaves from Kings Cross Station on September the first. The Hogwarts Express brings students to and from school at the start and end of every term."
Hermione looked unsure about going to a boarding school, she often found it difficult to make friends and wasn't sure if she would like to be away from home for weeks on end. However the prospect of learning magic was a tempting one, maybe she would even fit in better at a school where everyone was the same.
"I have a list of supplies you'll need to acquire before the start of term," Dumbledore announced, producing a second letter and handing it to Hermione's parents.
"Where are we supposed to get stuff like this?" Jean asked, reading the list of odd requirements. "I don't know anywhere that sells this stuff."
"The best place is Diagon Alley, a wizarding street in London," Dumbledore said. "I can meet you next week and introduce you to two other wizarding couples, they both have children starting Hogwarts in September. I'm sure they'd be delighted to help you find your way around the wizarding world."
"Thank you, we'd appreciate that," Richard said.
Dumbledore arranged a meeting place and time with the Grangers before standing up and thanking them for listening to him. Turning to Hermione he removed a thick book from his robes and handed it to her.
"This is for you Miss Granger," Dumbledore said. "You can read up on what will be your home for the next seven years."
Hermione looked at the heavy book in her arms. Hogwarts: A History was printed across the front in elegant script. "Thank you," she beamed at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore smiled back before heading to the front door with the Grangers. By the time Richard and Jean returned to the front room Hermione had opened the book and was excitedly reading all about her new school.
G.O.V.
Sitting in The Leaky Cauldron, The Potters and The Weasleys anxiously awaited the arrival of Dumbledore and The Grangers. On Dumbledore's instructions both couples had their sons with them, Arthur and Molly had left the rest of their children at home with a babysitter. Harry and Ron were present as Dumbledore was hoping the three children would strike up a friendship before school even started.
"Here they come," Lily announced, spotting Dumbledore entering the pub.
The Potters and The Weasleys watched as Dumbledore approached with a couple and a young girl. All of their attention was focused on the girl, each adult trying to spot anything of Voldemort in her.
"Here we are," Dumbledore announced. "Richard and Jean Granger, these are the two families I was telling you about. James and Lily Potter with their son, Harry, and Arthur and Molly Weasley with their son, Ron."
As the adults introduced themselves and got acquainted Hermione found herself standing in front of two boys that seemed to be around her age. One boy had bright red hair and a mess of freckles while the other boy had messy jet black hair and wore glasses.
"Hi, I'm Harry. This is Ron," the boy with black hair said, introducing himself and his friend.
"Hi, I'm Hermione," Hermione smiled. The two boys seemed friendly enough so hopefully she would soon have her first magical friends.
"Are you starting Hogwarts as well?" Ron asked. "It's our first year coming up."
"Yes," Hermione answered. "Professor Dumbledore said your families could help us with our shopping as we've never been here before."
"Mum and Dad said we were helping a muggleborn today," Harry said, grinning widely at Hermione. "Don't worry, Hermione, Ron and I can answer all your questions."
Ron nodded eagerly and Hermione got the impression the redhead was looking forward to imparting his knowledge to someone who didn't have a clue about the world he had grown up in.
"Come on, you three," Lily called, interrupting the three children. "We're starting at Gringotts."
Hermione noticed that Professor Dumbledore had already left, leaving The Granger family in the care of the two wizarding families.
"What's Gringotts?" Hermione asked as she, Harry and Ron followed their parents through the pub and into the back yard.
"The wizarding bank," Harry explained as they stopped beside a brick wall.
"It's run by goblins," Ron added.
Hermione barely had time to react to the fact goblins were real when the wall in front of them opened up into an archway and she found herself herded through the gateway into a bustling street. As the families set off along the crowded pavements Hermione gazed at all the unusual sights she was witnessing. Most of the people were wearing odd looking robes while all the shops carried peculiar looking stock.
As they were walking Harry and Ron pointed out the large golden building on the corner as Gringotts, their destination. Harry and Ron continued to tell Hermione all about the bank until they entered the large marble building. Hermione's mouth dropped open at the sight of the goblins running the bank, trying not to stare she followed closely behind her parents as they joined the queue to be served.
Molly and Lily stayed with The Grangers as they exchanged some money while both James and Arthur paid visits to their own vaults to withdraw their own money. Harry and Ron accompanied their fathers so Hermione was left with her parents and her new found friends mothers.
"Are you all right, dear?" Hermione realised she had dropped behind her parents and was staring at the goblins as Lily spoke to her.
"Yes," Hermione said as she nodded her head. "It's just all so amazing."
"I know what you mean," Lily chuckled softly. "I can remember my first trip to Diagon Alley just before my first year. It took hours to do our shopping as I was so interested in everything I saw."
"Are you a muggleborn as well?" Hermione asked, hoping she hadn't just offended Harry's mother.
"Yes, so I understand how overwhelming it can be, seeing everything for the first time," Lily said. "Although wait until you get to Hogwarts, that place is truly amazing."
Lily carried on telling Hermione about her own experiences while everyone finished at the bank. Once the group was reunited it was decided that the men would go and buy the books and other school supplies while the women would take the three children for their wands and robes.
Ollivanders, for their wands, was the first stop. Mr Ollivander, the wand maker, greeted Molly and Lily personally when they entered the shop. Harry was first up and it only took two attempts for him to find the wand best suited for him. Ron was next and finding his wand took nearly half an hour and almost a dozen wands before he found his match.
When it was her turn Hermione stepped up to the counter nervously. Mr Ollivander gave her a small smile as he placed a wand in her hand. Hermione waved the wand and a nearby glass vase shattered.
"Sorry," Hermione apologised, hurriedly putting down the wand.
"It's fine," Mr Ollivander smiled, fixing the vase with his own wand.
Hermione tried three more wands, all with similar results. The next four wands she tried did nothing at all and she was starting to get worried that Dumbledore had made a mistake and she didn't have magic after all. After the fourth wand that did nothing Mr Ollivander paused for several minutes, trying to decide what wand to try next.
"I wonder," he mused, shuffling off to the back of his shop.
As he was thinking Mr Ollivander remembered an identical problem he had faced the previous day. The young Malfoy boy had been in to buy his wand the previous afternoon and his magic had reacted exactly the same way as the Granger girl. Several wands didn't respond at all and the ones that did resulted in things getting blown up. Acting on a strong hunch, Mr Ollivander had given the Malfoy boy one of his newer wands to try. The particular wand he had given him was one of a pair, the cores were Golden Eagle feathers from a pair of birds that had mated for life.
Retrieving the other wand in his set Mr Ollivander hurried back to the nervous young girl in the front of his shop. As soon as Hermione had the piece of wood in her hand the whole room knew she had found her wand as nothing exploded when she tried it, instead a vase slid happily along the shelf and back again as Hermione waved the wand from side to side.
"Congratulations, Miss Granger," Mr Ollivander said. "You've found your wand."
Hermione turned and grinned at her new friends, who both grinned back. As their mothers were settling the bills, Hermione tucked her wand safely into her mother's bag before heading over to where Harry and Ron were sitting.
"I can't believe we've got our own wands," Ron grinned excitedly. With five older brother's he had been wanting his own wand for years as he had jealously watched them doing magic.
"I wonder if we can get new brooms as well," Harry mused.
"That would be so cool," Ron sighed, imagining him and Harry flying around Hogwarts on new brooms.
Hermione was confused by the mention of brooms so as the group made their way towards Madam Malkins for their robes, Harry and Ron explained about flying and Quidditch. Hermione listened as the two boys excitedly described Quidditch, it sounded downright dangerous to her but she wasn't planning on telling her new friends that.
In Madam Malkins all three got measured for their robes then they ended up sitting on the chairs talking as their mothers took over the picking of the robes, Molly and Lily advising Jean on what to pick.
"So Hermione, what house are you hoping to be sorted into?" Harry asked.
"I don't know," Hermione admitted. "I've read about them all and they all have some good qualities and sound interesting."
"All apart from Slytherin," Ron sneered. "I don't know why they don't get rid of that house, all it does is create bad wizards."
When Harry agreed with Ron, Hermione found herself sitting quietly. Of all the houses it had actually been Slytherin that had called to her the most. She knew from reading her book that she would never be sorted into Slytherin, the house never accepted muggleborns as it valued blood purity. Even though she knew she would never be in Slytherin, Hermione had read all about the house, the fact it's common room and dormitories were located under a lake was fascinating to Hermione.
"Maybe we'll all be in the same house that would be cool," Ron said, bringing Hermione back to the present.
"Yeah, I'd like that," Harry agreed. "What about you Hermione?"
Hermione looked at the two boys looking at her expectedly. Suddenly the idea of being in the same house as her new friends seemed much more appealing than being in Slytherin. "That would be great," she beamed.
"Let's all hope we end up in Gryffindor then," Harry said with a laugh.
"Why Gryffindor?" Hermione asked. She understood why Slytherin was out of the equation but she didn't know why Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had been excluded.
"First of all there's no way I'm clever enough for Ravenclaw," Ron said, blushing at his admission. "And secondly, all my family are Gryffindors as are Harry's."
"Does that affect what house you end up in?" Hermione asked, she could never remember reading anything about family members always ending up in the same house.
"Not always," Harry said. "Most people do end up in the same house as their families but some don't. My godfather, Sirius, is a perfect example of that. His entire family were in Slytherin but he was in Gryffindor."
The conversation about houses went on for another five minutes until their mothers had finished in the robe shop.
"Come on," Molly said, shooing the children out of Madam Malkins. "We'll meet up with the men, then we can all go for lunch somewhere nice."
Molly, Lily and Jean led the way as the group headed for the place they were meeting the men. Once the group was all together again they set off to have lunch. Walking in between a laughing and chattering Harry and Ron, Hermione was thrilled that she had finally found her place in life.