Monday second week was where the fun really started, no longer where they under control of the parents that raised them. No longer was home a place in recent memory. No now the students of Hogwarts where at home here. At the school, in the different houses the students made themselves readied themselves for the second week.
Hermione had been up earlier than most of the other students in the Gryffindor house. Only Neville had beaten her to the punch, but he was preparing the greenhouses for the nocturnal plants.
They had met up at the breakfast tables on the great hall just as the house elves left to the kitchen. All the golden plates and cups placed in long straight rows, not one of them out of line. It was a very neat view of the otherwise quite chaotic dinner hall.
They didn't do much talking, both of them still waking up from the sleep they had been rudely woken up from. Even if it was voluntary, she didn't like it one bit that the only spell that could be cast to act as an alarm was the one that pulled the person out of bed and dumped them on the floor.
She had been smart enough to cast a permanent arrest momentum charm next to her bed that she didn't facepalm on the floor every morning but there it was still uncomfortable being dropped an inch onto cold stone. But it did what it said on the tin, it woke you up real good.
But even that moment was fleeting, as they had walked to the Great hall, Neville and her had slowed the speed that they were walking dramatically. It was nearly comical, she thought as they had entered the hall, sauntering into the room. There was lucky none there to see them. But that was to be expected, the both of them were most of the time the two students who ate before a living soul would enter after them.
There had been occasions that Luna would already be eating when they entered, seemingly being completely awake. Those days they picked the Ravenclaw table to sit at. Not wanting to leave her sitting on her own when they sat together a table over.
This morning however there was no one sitting at any of the tables or on any of the benches. Breakfast was theirs and they would enjoy it as much as they could. There was something nice to it, there was a certain rumbling of the fires that burned in the several fireplaces lining the side of the walls. And when it was raining, as this morning it was. The roof would let through a slight ticking of raindrops falling on it. the enchantment that allowed them to look through the roof, would give way to some clouds and fake rain trickling through.
It was nice.
At the far side of the room a small wooden trapdoor opened up and an owl stepped through it before taking to the air again. there was a paper connected to his foot. As it was flying straight at her she summoned a couple of knuts that she held in her hand as the owl landed on the table. It held out it's paw with a little bag connected to it. only after she had payed the owl did it drop a miniature version of the daily prophet.
As it flew of again, Hermione tapped the paper and made it grow back to real size. It was a new trick that had been used to increase the amount of papers sold without making changes to the delivery system. It worked well, now the number of daily prophets sold per owl was about twenty instead of the one or two in the past.
Glossing over the front page she saw that the minister was still putting their propaganda on the front page, but it didn't say much. 'Well it said more or less, Ministry good others bad." Which was a bit too on the nose for her liking. Not that she apricated the propaganda at all, but with bad version she could live.
"Anything interesting?" Neville asked, downing the remainder of his coffee, and filling it back up again.
"Not really, Famous actress Rita Flange passed yesterday evening," she read out loud, "she reached the age of a hundred and fifty years. That's not bad," she then added as commentary.
"Rita Flange?" Neville asked, taking a moment to think something happened to be remembered by him. "I think that my grandmother liked her in a theatre production a few years back. Rita had been one of the standout moments of that show. It's a pity that she passed." He said taking a sip from his new cup of coffee.
"Argh, that's hot." He exclaimed as he put the cup down again.
"What did you expect Neville?" she asked, trying to suppress a laugh. It was difficult but she felt that she had managed it. Neville might have thought differently about it but he was currently trying to not burn himself with coffee.
In all their distraction they hadn't noticed the third person that had entered the great hall. It wasn't really their fault she wasn't noticed. As the faculty would enter through a side door that was hidden to the hall by one of the support pillars.
Now though, Professor Black was sitting at the edge of the table, still somewhat hidden by view. The black clothes that she wore blended in with the shadows perfectly.
Hermione was still laughing at Neville when she looked around the room again. it was serene in the hall, not a single person was filling any of the places, just empty.
She let her eyes travel from the entrance side of the hall, all the way across the wall opposite the one her back was turned to, till she ended at the far end of the faculty table. Not a single person in sight.
"You almost done?' Neville asked her, as he got up to leave.
"Go ahead Neville, I'll see you later at class." She told the boy as she continued eating her toast. As he left Hermione was left in the apparently empty great hall.
Bellatrix watched the boy leave the hallway from the table. It was now that she could take a good look at her mentee. If she was looking at someone else doing what she was now doing, she would have scoffed at them. But doing it herself she was a bit ashamed. All of yesterday she had been debating with the voice that it should shut up.
But now sitting down in the great hall, she was looking at the object of her frustration. And it was just sitting there about halfway down the hall. Just there, oblivious to her sitting there. It was almost annoying if it wasn't so much feeling for her.
Reaching her hand out she took a cup of coffee from the spread that was put in front of her. It was nice and hot, just as she had told the elves earlier on at her stay in the caste.
It had been a change of environment that she hadn't gone through since she had left the school itself a long time ago. It was like she was coming home again, but on the other side it was also coming back to the place where a bunch of authority figures had annoyed her for seven years.
But now she was the authority figure. She would have to look after the little people that would be inhabiting the school. She wasn't looking forward to that. It wasn't in her abilities to look after small animals let alone a witch or wizard.
From the first moment she could she had switched the hours that she would need to supervise the annoying little children. She had also devised her plan of not knowing who the mudbloods would be, it was genius, she would just lock those memories away for the time being and only look at them when the year would be over. That way she didn't have to teach them knowingly.
But back to her breakfast, or better said her watching a girl having breakfast. It was frustrating just sitting there sipping her coffee. Wanting to go over and talk to her, but she couldn't it would be unprofessional. Despite everything it was still a line she didn't want to cross.
'you could just go…' the voice started, from the back of her mind.
'We've talked about this,' Bellatrix told it angerly. Making it shut up immediately.
But it had been kinda right, she could go over there. 'there are the notes,' she realised, 'I could talk about her about those. That would be professional. It would even being the same direction of being helpful.'
Deciding that she was completely within her position as a teacher, Bellatrix slammed the coffee back. it burned horribly, but not something a spell couldn't dull to an almost unnotably sting. She would have to take a look at it later but for now it would be alright.
Pulling her chair back she got up and started walking around the table. Trying to keep her eyes on miss granger. She would be almost successful if there wasn't that dammed pillar in the way. Passing by the short part of the of the table she quickly darted out behind the pillar to see.
Miss Granger had stood up. During the time that she had been debating this dumb plan she had finished her breakfast. She doubted even if she had been noticed. Her style of clothing didn't really stand out in a room. Or a great hall where there where huge shadows hanging over everything. It would have surprised her if anyone would have noticed her there.
Seeing the girl walk away from her something happened. Bellatrix couldn't really describe it. It was like there was something in her internal workings that was pulled. Like a hook was put in her flesh and something had pulled it really hard.
It was painful to watch the girl walk, every step being away from her. Her, Bellatrix Black the eldest of the oldest line of the most ancient house of black, she who was the most powerful witch of a generation.
Why was the girl walking away from her.
Getting up from the table, Hermione wondered if Mcgonnagle was going to be taking the class through the process of dual transmutation spells. Like water in a wooden bucket to wine in a glass bottle. It was all just a matter of precision. But it was also a bit tricky when you needed to move matter from a solid to a liquid and visa versa in a single spell.
She had managed it barley ones, and that had been under supervision of Mcgonnagle herself. Outside of her it had been as elusive a spell as she had ever encountered.
Gathering her things she looked at the entrance door, she was earlier done than usual. Normally at this point some people would have strolled into the great hall for breakfast. Those where the early risers of the school. Not as early as her or Neville but still earlier than most other students.
Walking past the fireplaces she warmed herself up against them. Despite it still being summer the castle was like a freezer. Once you walk inside it would just stay cold. No matter the weather it was outside of the castle.