Authors Note: I had planned to post the next chapter last week but due to a technical issue with my laptop I lost the entire chapter I had written before it could be posted. I was going to hold off on posting to any of my WIP until after the Fremione Fanatics Spring Fest 2021 had finished over on A03, but I couldn't resist posting this now. Feel free to go over to the fest and check out all the stories, I've posted a few of my own to it that will be posted on FFN once the fest is over. The stories I've read so far in the fest have been fantastic with lots of; fluff, smutt and fantastic plots.
The first two months back at Hogwarts past quickly for Hermione and her friends. She'd happily thrown herself into her work; though the Second-year curriculum was easy, the additional lessons she had on weekends with Nicolas were difficult and she often found herself doing extra reading and studying throughout the week before she'd floo to his and Perenelle's for her lessons. They were still working on increasing her abilities in Earth and Elemental Magics, but he'd also begun to teach her his personal history.
Nicolas was 665 years old and had led a fascinating life; he'd watched empires rise and fall, dined with generations of royalty, and had been friends with many famous people including Hermione's favourite painter Michelangelo. It was hard to imagine the life he'd lived but Nicolas showed her, taking her through history in his Pensive. Been able to watch as Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was amazing. It wasn't just significant historical moments he'd been showing her though, Nicolas was sharing with her the secrets of his career one journal at a time and showing her memories of how he had invented various potions and elixirs over the years. She found the way his brain worked to be fascinating and spent many nights sat late in front of the Gryffindor fire jotting down questions to ask Nicolas when they next met.
There first week within the castle revealed to the students that their new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor was nothing more than a self-obsessed fraud whose books had gaping chronological errors; there was no way he had been in both Antarctica and Australia at the same time and Hermione was disgusted by the quiz he had set on all his favourite things. Hermione had found herself calling him out on his works of fiction during their second lesson of term,
"Professor Lockhart are you aware of the gaping inconsistencies within your supposed autobiographies. There are multiple instances where you claim to have been in more than one location. In June of 1980 supposedly you were in Alaska, Norway, Sudan, Russia, and Brazil. How could you have possibly been in all of those locations especially since you explicitly state that while in Brazil you went on a life changing six-month trek through the Amazon Rainforest." Hermione told him, near the end of their lesson which had been truly dreadful, Professor Lockhart paled, sweat forming on his brow.
"Miss Granger you must simply be mistaken, clearly you have mixed up the dates, which is easy enough to do my dear, I do have so many books a young girl like yourself clearly doesn't have the mental facilities to keep track of everything you have read," he told her dismissively, besides her Ron snorted at the implication she'd ever be wrong when it came to books, across the room Draco smirked amusedly and lent back in his chair, arms folded as he prepared for the professors defeat. Hermione smirked back at him as she raised herself to her feet, focusing back on her professor she hardened her eyes into a glare.
"Or perhaps sir you are a fraud, don't try to belittle my intelligence because I am quite sure I am smarter than you and likely have a better memory than yourself as well. As a supposed expert in defence and having supposedly fought many magical creatures, one would assume you'd have a basic understanding of your own subject. During our last lesson you released Cornish Pixies and used a fake spell to try and contain them before abandoning the class to clear up the mess you had made. Every one of us knew that a simple Immobulus spell would freeze them but you an expert didn't. Then your ridiculous works of fiction claim that a werewolf can be cured with a spell, I don't think you've ever met a werewolf professor. There is no cure. There is a spell that will force them to temporarily return to human form, I've seen it myself this past summer, it's called the Homorphus charm. As an expert you'd know this but unfortunately you aren't an expert are you," she spoke her voice dripping with sarcasm, how dare he try to insult her, intelligence. Around her other students were nodding in agreement.
"I saw the curse cast this summer as well, Mione is right there is no cure for lycanthropy," Ron spoke up beside her.
"My uncle is a werewolf, if there was a cure, he'd have used it by now, his transformations are excruciating and he's had to suffer through them for three decades," Harry told the professor.
"Mr Potter clearly you are deluded, you are an orphan with no family, I doubt any of you have seen a werewolf, I had hoped I wouldn't have to do this here especially to students, but I have no choice," Lockhart spoke raising his wand to point at the trio, "Obliviate," he shouted, and Hermione found herself diving away from the oncoming curse, that missed her by centimetres.
"Expelliarmus," Harry called disarming the professor. Hermione quickly bound the professor while Lavender ran to find another professor to help. Suffice to say Professor Lockhart was fired from his position and the Aurors were called in to arrest him, after his failed attempt to obliviate minors. The Daily Prophet reported two weeks later that the ex-professor had admitted under the influence of truth potion that all his books were the memoirs of other witches and wizards who he had obliviated. According to the article Unspeakables were working on tracking down those who had been obliviated so that the charm could be reversed, and Lockhart had ben incarcerated within Azkaban prison.
In the wake of Lockhart's firing, Sirius had asked Professor Dumbledore if he could have the position, Sirius wanted to be closer to Harry and Cassie. Since taking up the position at the end of September, Defence Against the Dark Arts Classes had been better than they had ever been. Having been an Auror Sirius had a fantastic grasp on the dark arts; he was funny, relaxed, and happily answered all their questions while teaching them everything they needed to know.
Hermione had never seen Harry as happy as when Sirius was praising his dulling techniques within their lessons. Her bespectacled friend seemed to come out of his shell with each day that past; Sirius had been telling Harry stories from the Marauders time at Hogwarts and every time he mentioned the similarities between Harry and his father; Harry would preen like a proud peacock. Hermione was happy for her friend. Watching Harry eat breakfast every morning with Sirius and Cassie; at the Gryffindor table as the three bonded was one of Hermione's favourite parts of the day, she was only sad she didn't get to watch him interact with his godmother Lottie who would visit Hogwarts each weekend while Hermione was out of the castle. She was incredibly happy that her friend had gotten over his worries that Sirius wouldn't want him now that he had Cassie. Harry was embracing his new family even if it came with an often annoying 'little sister'.
On September the nineteenth, her friends had thrown a not-so-secret surprise party to celebrate her thirteenth birthday, the twins had snook into Hogsmeade and returned with mountains of butterbeer and chocolate that they'd consumed late into the night. Ginny who had become good friends with the elves after her brief stay the previous year with Poppet, Fizzy and Twinkle was more than happy to sneak into the kitchen and return with a gigantic chocolate cake for her. Surrounded by her friends Hermione had experienced an amazing birthday filled with laughter, jokes and lots of presents.
September also brought with its Hermione's induction to the Gryffindor team. Hermione had spent a significant time on the Quidditch Pitch, as Oliver had promised the previous year, he had successfully trained her up to join the team. After successfully participating in the trials, Hermione had been made a reserve player and as such she had to spend four evenings a week on the cold pitch practicing with the team; Oliver had decided she was good enough to be a Chaser and a Seeker, so she spent half of the practices chasing Golden Snitches with Harry and the other half practicing different plays with the Chasers of the team. Despite now been on the team, her friends still referred to her as the Gryffindor Mascot, George had told her it was because her hair looked like a lion's mane. October had brought with its colder weather and Hogwarts had awoken to a blanket of snow during the first week of the month. Hermione and her friends had spent their free time out on the school grounds making snowmen and having snowball fights before returning to the castle for mugs of hot chocolate in the common room.
The middle of October saw the first prank of the Next Generation of the Marauders also known as; Harry, Ron, Draco, Theo, and Blaise. On a quiet Wednesday evening the quintet sat down at their respective house tables while the Slytherins had mastered the art of concealing their emotions from a young age the two Gryffindor's failed to supress their guilty amused expressions when the hall filled with rainbow smoke and every person in the Great Hall grew animal ears out of their heads and matching tails out of their bottoms. Above the inhabitants of the hall smart looping letters appeared in the air as though Witten by a quill:
"Before there was four but one was a traitor, now we've reformed this time as a quintet. The next generation of Marauders declare war on the prankster twins. Do you accept Fred and George?"
"what did you do," Hermione had hissed to her two friends staring at the words in horror as her fox ears twitched with anger, her matching bushy red tail bristled as it twitched from side to side.
"Continuing the family legacy with the aid of four friend's," Harry had shrugged nonchalantly at her side, a set of cat ears on his head and gently swishing long slender black tale behind him.
"Declared a prank war on my brothers," Ron muttered having the decency to look worried his little dog ears folded down over his red hair.
"WE ACCEPT," the twins had shouted together, George had a pair of massive grey elephant ears weighing his head down as he spoke while Fred had tall round ears like that of a hyena. Since that day, a constant war of pranks had reined havoc over the school; fireworks, colour changing hair, dung bombs, furniture glued to the celling. Everyday a new prank happened, at least they appeared to be taking it in turns to do one prank each day. Every time a new prank happened Professor McGonagall would look like she was having kittens, if Sirius were in the vicinity of the prank, she would glare at him for corrupting her second-year students and Sirius would laugh telling 'Minnie" to lighten up. All her boys were constantly finding themselves in detention which allowed Hermione to get on with some much-needed reading.
At the end of October Hermione was able to attend the Halloween Feast for the first time; the previous year she had been locked in a bathroom with a troll before Harry and Ron had saved her. It was a wonderful night; the bewitched ceiling of the Great hall was a dark expanse with nothing but the glowing orb of the full moon in it's centre. Hundreds of flickering purple candles had illuminated the Great Hall, bats swooped above while the ghosts of the castle floating above the fake ankle-deep fog. The frog choir croaked a haunting melody as the students of Hogwarts stuffed their faces with delicious food; Hermione found herself eating hog roast followed by candy apples, and numerous sweets, her parents would be so disappointed that she'd eaten so much sugar, but it was ever such a good night. When they had been dismissed back to their common rooms, Fred had given her a piggyback back to the tower and the pair had collapsed in a food coma on the large, overstuffed sofa in front of the common room fire.
Hermione awoke many hours later in Fred's arms, a warm blanket had been thrown over them warding off the cold October chill that permanently encased the castle. The room was illuminated by the moon in the large arched window that sat at the back of the room and Hermione could see that only a few glowing red embers remained in the fire in front of them. In the distance a wolf's howl sounded, it's pack responding in kind, Hermione felt her body chill to her bones, her eyes raising to look at the reflection of the full moon in the golden mirror that sat above the fireplace.