Chapter Seven: Hogwarts
The Grangers were not expecting any guests that Saturday morning so when the doorbell chimed, both Frank and Helen exchanged curious glances across the dining table where the family had just finished enjoying a hearty breakfast of French toast, eggs, and bacon. Frank Granger was reading the morning post while Helen Granger was chatting with Hermione about the latest book that her daughter was reading, one about a sorcerer living inside a moving castle.
Her daughter loved reading, there was no secret about that. Helen was quite thrilled that Hermione loved reading on her own accord as there were quite a few parents from her Parent Teacher Association group where they complained of having a hard time getting their child to read books rather than play the day away. Her Hermione read just about anything, fiction… non-fiction… but above all, she seemed to be very much interested in wizards and magic genre. Helen wasn't concerned at all, it's a good thing for little girls to have a strong imagination, even if there was no such thing as magic, only the sleight of hand.
"It's absolutely fascinating!" Hermione was saying before the doorbell interrupted her conversation. The family looked up towards the front door.
"Who might that be?" Frank asked.
He suggested that perhaps they had a parcel, but Helen replied that they did not make any mail-in-order purchases recently. Helen stood up to go see, but it looks like Hermione was one step quicker.
"I'll get it, Mum!" Hermione cried and slipped out of her chair and raced for the door.
Before Helen could reply, her enthusiastic daughter was already running out of the dining room and towards the door.
Hermione unlocked and swung open the door and was met with a dark robed figure. The visitor was a tall old lady and Hermione unconsciously gulped as she tipped her head back to see the person's face. Hermione's hazel eyes connect with green orbs that, for a fleeting second, reminded her of that of a cat - so very attentive and calculating, though the woman's pupils were normal and did not have the characteristic feline slit.
The woman looked to be way over the hills, perhaps late sixties with all the wrinkles that adorned her face, and she wore a dark green cloak made from a shimmering velvet material, and a pointed hat with the point cocked to one side.
As Hermione was looking up and down and taking in the curiously odd style of dress that the visitor had, the woman spoke.
"Miss… Granger is it? I assume you would rather go by Granger rather than Nott?" she asked. She had a nice voice, but her tone was prim and she exuded an authoritative disposition.
Hermione's head tilted to the side, confused at the strange question. Not knowing her true birth name, Hermione understood the question as 'you would rather go by Granger rather than not?'.
Not wanting to sound like a fool in front of the woman with the strange cloak and hair pulled back into a tight and formal bun under the pointed hat, she swallowed and replied courteously, "Miss Granger is fine, or Hermione if you'd like."
"Alright, Miss Granger." McGonagall replied with a nod. She was more than a little curious at the girl's surname but Dumbledore had specifically asked her to not delve into details if the family would like to be referred to as 'Granger'.
It would be an understatement to say that McGonagall was surprised at coming across the name 'Hermione Jean Granger (Nott)' in the Book of Admittance. A thought crossed her mind that it was surely a mistake, but that was quickly gone. The Quill of Acceptance, the magical quill that documented the birth of every magical child in the Book of Acceptance, was never wrong. Both the Quill and the Book were powerful magical artefacts that were created by Hogwart's Founding Fathers. Who was she to doubt their magical prowess?
It was definitely curious though, as the House of Nott was a very old and prominent linage in the Wizarding world. Being one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight meant that every aspect of their lives was on display. They were as close to being Wizarding royalty as one would get. Never once was there mention that there was a branch of the Nott family residing in the muggle world. Goodness! That would certainly cause quite a stir in Wizarding Britain and the tabloids would be all over it, seeing that the Nott family was one of the most well-known pureblood supremacists and followers of You-Know-Who.
When McGonagall brought this to the attention of the Headmaster, Dumbledore, with the usual twinkle in his eye, had kindly told McGonagall to respect the privacy of the family, which, put a little more bluntly, was essentially telling her to 'mind her own business'.
"Hello," Helen, who was now at the door standing behind Hermione, greeted McGonagall. "How may I help you?"
"I am the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and I have come to personally offer placement to Miss Granger to our School."
Helen's was dumbfounded and her reaction looked as if McGonagall was sprouting horns on her head. She blinked a few times before replying, "I'm sorry, did you say witchcraft?"
She looked cautiously at the woman standing before her and made a move to push Hermione back into the house in a protective manner. This old woman was definitely off her rockers and she had half a mind to shut the door right in her face right then and there.
"It's alright," McGonagall said kindly, "please give me a few minutes of your time for me to explain. I'm sure you've seen signs of Miss Granger being able to do peculiar and unexplainable things… for example, making objects move on their own, or strange things may happen when she angry… those are all signs of her magical abilities."
How did this lady know all of this, Helen thought as her mouth hung open forming a silent 'O'.
It was true that Hermione had done some quirky things before…one night she caught Hermione reading way past her bedtime. The light was peeping through the cracks of her closed door, but when she opened the door, the lights switched off and Hermione was in her bed, sleeping (or at least, pretending to be sleeping). The light switch was clear across the room and there was no other way to turn off the light without making any sort of movement or shuffling sounds that she wouldn't hear from the other side of the door.
Could her daughter really be a witch?
Helen relented with a sigh and invited the woman in.
"Hermione, please lead our guest to the living room while I go get your Father."
Hermione nodded and gestured to McGonagall. "Right this way, please."
When the Grangers were all seated in the living room, McGonagall introduced herself, and then painted the Wizarding World with her descriptive words. She explained the secret world that was hidden from humans, muggles as she called it, in vivid detail and the world in which Hermione needs to be in with her magical powers.
"This is where she will thrive," she urged, when she saw that Frank and Helen still looked more than a bit skeptic. "Hermione will be bound to perform more instances of accidental magic as her magic gets stronger, and that will cause a problem for you both under the International Statute of Secrecy. Attending Hogwarts will help her harness and hone her powers so that she would be able to properly channel it at will."
Hermione was drinking the information in and her thirst for more prompted multiple animated questions.
"So I'm a witch, you say… that's just brilliant! Is that why I can turn off my bedroom light without hitting the light switch? Deputy Headmistress, do witches and wizards have wands? Oh, and is the Hogwarts castle a moving castle?"
McGonagall smiled at the chattering girl. So inquisitive. She liked the girl already.
Frank held his hand up to interrupt Hermione's questions. "Deputy Headmistress… I still find it very hard to believe that magic exists… can you perhaps show us some proof?"
"A fair request. Very well." McGonagall replied and stood up.
This was a very common questions among the muggle parents with a magical child. With a turn she transformed into a tabby cat, her Animagus form. The green eyed cat peered at them and her tail flicked to and fro. The cat jumped onto the arm of the loveseat couch and it ran across the top of the couch, showing the feline agility and speed that she possessed.
The Granger's eyes collectively bulged out, and Frank exclaimed, "Good Lord!"
McGonagall leaped back to the ground and changed back to her human form. She offered the Grangers a crooked smile that was a borderline smirk. Muggle parents almost always made similar outbursts when she showed them her Animagus form and it never ceased to amuse her.
She turned to face Hermione and she was taken aback by the determination and resolve in the girls eyes.
Hermione turned to face her parents. "Mum, Dad, I want to study magic." she said resolutely.
The Grangers shared a look that seemed to silently convey their answer to each other. Though Frank and Helen had wavering thoughts of letting their only daughter go to a foreign world, especially one that they knew nothing about, they still agreed.
Who were they to not allow their daughter to chase after her dreams?
"Miss Granger, I will come again next week to take you and your parents to Diagon Alley to help with the purchase of your wand and school materials. In the meantime, here is your Hogwarts letter, and a gift from me to you."
McGonagall reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Hermione. Next, she pulled out a rectangular package wrapped with red, green, yellow, and blue paper.
The girl accepted the package with the most happy and grateful smile that McGonagall had seen in a long time. The child warmed her heart.
Hermione ripped through the wrapping paper which revealed a book, titled: Hogwarts: A History.
A/N: Hello readers! Clarifying comment from the last chapter. Lucius is not bound by the Unbreakable Vow/secrecy clause. His father was. Since Abraxas already took the hit from the Vow (in the form of death), Lucius can technically tell anybody he wants, but he is aware that there are spies in their ranks so he's extra cautious. I loved your guesses as to who the murderer was. Please hang on tight to wait for the reveal!
In this chapter, Hermione was reading one of my favorite novels: Howl's Moving Castle (Pretty obvious from the description). It's a must read! Thank you for those that reviewed and support this Fic (Monnbeam, mega700201, EmilyWoods, adavi821, lilyflower49, LUNAZ, crankypants16, R-E-B-E-C, dramione101). I love your comments, please keep them coming!
