"Raw magic defines life itself. It is what our ancestors used, until they felt the need to make things easier for themselves. Such acts have resulted in the… simplified form we use today."

Hermione was ignoring most of what Black was saying. She had her first earned detention, and with an awful, pompous woman at that. Hermione knew to keep her head down, it's what kept her on the safer side. Her life was easier that way, less complicated.

Why couldn't I keep my blasted mouth shut?

The only time the witch ever found herself speaking out like that was when she couldn't stand to see someone being picked on. Watching an underdog being bullied was enough for Hermione to throw away her care for self preservation. Professor Black was no child though, and she was far from an underdog. She could have easily handled her own, even against The Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic.

A loud clap startled Hermione and drew her attention back to the lesson.

"Now that I no longer have daydreaming students," Black began, eyeing Hermione as she did so, to which the brunette simply averted eye contact and glared at the ground. "Many people that use raw magic have trouble controlling such unlimited power. The only thing that binds it to us is our own limits. Go overboard and you will dissolve into nothing."

Hermione had read stories gone wrong: People trying to tame fire, those that drowned themselves when attempting to command the seas, the list was really quite endless. However, the most famous would always be Voldemort. His battle ended with him dueling Dumbledore. His magic rebounded and that was that. The dark wizard's wand split and without it his body could not control the utmost basic form of magic.

"I am not dense enough to let you, my bright students, try to control it yourselves." Black spoke, sarcasm evident in her voice. "All I want you to do is to feel it. Relax if you must, but if anyone falls asleep they will receive quite the rude awakening." Black looked at each student separately, the threat being made obvious. When her eyes met Hermione's, the younger of the two simply looked bored. First of all, she had never fallen asleep in class. Secondly, she had already been hexed every which way during one prank or another.

What's one more?

"Before we duel, you will all be required to have sensed raw magic, for when you do… Anything simpler will be child's play. You will not have to see the spell being cast; you will feel it."

An unsettling sense of deja vu washed over Hermione. She felt like certain words were being directed at her specifically.

"Listen very carefully. DO NOT try to grasp anything that you might feel. Raw magic has a tendency to build up, and not knowing how to control it often creates buildups of unused magic. Suppressing this type of magic..."

Hermione couldn't listen anymore.

There is a perfectly reasonable explanation.

It was not uncommon for random outbursts of magic to be caused when wizards and witches were feeling rather upset. It happened all the time, especially when hey were young. She didn't want raw magic. She didn't try to use it. There is no reason as to why that was what happened.

Hermione felt eyes on her. She looked at Harry, who seemed concerned. He held up his hand, thumb and index fingers touching, silently asking if she was ok. Hermione wanted to nod, but the only thing she could focus on was nausea and a biting headache. Harry went to reach for her and she only shook her head, not wanting anymore attention on her than necessary.

"Mione, you're getting pale." Harry whispered, urgency in his tone. Hermione's focus at this point was his eyes darting around the two of them. It made her dizzy to watch. If she could just be alone everything would be fine, but leaving Black's room early would be suicide.

Harry touched her shoulder softly and quietly spoke in her ear. "Sit down, Mione. Other people are doing it. You need to breathe." Hermione did as told, albeit a bit clumsily. She leaned forward with her elbows, weight being put on her knees.

"Breathe," Harry whispered into Hermione's ear.

"Ten point from Gryffindor for useless chattering. Might I remind you that this is a silent project, Potter."

Hermione shook her head when Harry opened his mouth, a retort on the tip of his tongue. It would only result in more lost points. She focused on the floor beneath her. There were slight ridges in the otherwise smooth surface. It was cold where the only barrier between Hermione's skin and the floor were her stockings. She would have shivered if it did not feel so nice.

Several students were breathing rather loudly. Following quick, dull thumps they slowly quieted one by one. One person walked between them all, and it was the only sound that remained.

Eventually the anxiety left Hermione's body. Focusing on her environment usually helped her calm when she found herself feeling overwhelmed. A sudden presence behind her resulted in every nerve of the witch's body going on high alert. Hermione could feel the hair on her arms standing up.

"Are you even trying Granger?" A mocking voice asked, rather too close for comfort. "Focus. Everyone has magical fields around them, some stronger than others. Feel it. Feel the energy."

Even though Hermione's eyes were closed she could still feel them roll against her eyelids. She wanted to flinch away from the woman, but it would only bring her satisfaction. The brunette allowed her breath to deepen. The whole thing seemed rather similar to mediation. There were too many bodies around Hermione. Having her eyes closed was unnerving. Upon opening them she realized that most of the class was in fact sat on the dungeon floor. Other students stood and leaned against the walls. Not bothering to give them any attention, Hermione simply looked straight ahead. No one was in front of her, so she ended up staring at Professor Black's desk.

All she did was stare. She did not notice the multitude of papers messily organized in different stacks, nor did she notice the dark marbling in the wood. Thoughts were silent. It was unlike waking up in the infirmary. There was no confusion, just simple peace.

Hermione continued that way. It was tricky, having to search for something while not trying to force it. A snore from next to Hermione jostled the witch from her reverie. Upon seeing the culprit was a certain red headed wizard, Hermione could only roll her eyes, and she was not the only one to notice. Harry was still trying to shake the boy awake when Professor Black went to stand in front of the duo.

Black knelt in front of Ron. A single look and Harry stopped, wearing a mortified expression. The woman's back was to Hermione, but she was certain the professor looked absolutely ecstatic. Black always seemed to love torturing her students. Professor Black held her wand to her throat, causing everyone else in the classroom to cover their ears.

"Ronald Weasley, how dare you!"

Hermione would have laughed if Ron were not her friend. Second year was the first time she had ever seen a howler. It was a rather startling experience, even when the voice was not directed at her. Black had managed the perfect replica of Mrs. Weasley's voice.

Ron was beside himself, shaking his head back and forth while grabbing at his ears. "I'm sorry, Mum!"

Hermione did not need to see his face to know that Ron must have been blushing red. The Slytherin side of the room was full on laughing at this point, and a few Gryffindors were as well.

"Since you must have all mastered this we will be moving on to the next portion of this lesson."

There were groans here and there, but most of the class accepted their fate. The class marched to the dueling hall, faces pale and weak. Hermione remained next to Harry and Ron, the latter of which was still complaining about his awakening. Personally, Hermione thought he was getting off pretty easily.

Hermione dreaded her turn, and it seemed that her classmates did as well. Not a single person volunteered to go against their teacher, who had to call out new names each round.

The first person to pass the test turned out to be Harry, causing an uproar amongst the Gryffindors. Hermione hooted for her friend, as was expected, though it did seem rather more because of luck than skill. On his third try Black ended up sighing out of boredom while casting her final, silent spell. The second Harry heard it he cast a protego.

The second person to pass was Draco Malfoy who was able to make it on his third try as well. Hermione was not sure if he had a talent for the magic or not. For all she knew Black could have given him private lessons on the matter. He looked rather smug, as did the rest of his fellow snakes. They all jeered at the lions on the other side of the stage.

Hermione felt her heart skip a beat when her name was called, and in a rather unpleasant way. She was handed the blindfold by Lavender, who was the last person to fail. The brunette was last and she couldn't help but wonder if Professor Black did that on purpose. She stared hard at the smooth material in her hand, still having an idea as to what led to the lesson in the first place. It was all her fault. She couldn't control herself. It made her feel rather ashamed, acting out like a child.

After stepping onto the platform Hermione wrapped the blindfold around the base of her head. She waited patiently for a few moments before the anxiety caught up with her once again. It felt as if everything was going by too slow.

Did it take this long when everyone el-

Hermione gasped quietly when she felt a quick, hot pain around her right hip. It was stronger than any other jinx to have been cast at her. No direction was given. She didn't receive any feedback. It was all rather annoying to begin with. The professor just couldn't leave well enough alone.

The witch was more on edge now. The hand gripping her wand began to sweat, making the wood feel uncomfortable and moist. Hermione thought about just taking two more hits and calling it a day, but found that to be too easy. She took a deep breath, trying to get into the same headspace she was in in the DADA classroom.

Just when she was about to zone out again it felt as if something was causing static electricity to go off around her. The hairs on her arms stood up, as did the ones on the back of her neck. Hermione's arm shot out and moved in a quick pattern. "Protego!"

The light force against her shield was the only thing telling Hermione she had passed. She could feel her breathing pick up from its almost meditative state into something more natural for her. She took her blindfold off and glanced around briefly. People on each side of the room sported awed expressions. Others feigned disinterest while looking at her out of the corner of their eyes.

Hermione was stepping off the platform when the blindfold was pulled from her grasp. She turned and saw it flying into Black's hand, a small smirk on the woman's face. It dropped the moment she went to address the class in full.

"I am almost out of time," Black stated, and as if to punctuate her sentence the non existent bell rang. The door slamming shut signaled that no one was dismissed. "Notice there were only three people to pass, and they were all different in a sense."

Many people looked uncomfortable at the statement. Hermione herself felt it, but mainly because it only resulted in more eyes on her.

It felt strange, not the staring, but the way Black phrased the words. Part of Hermione wondered if she had judged Black, the same way any other person in her life had done to her.

XXX

Hermione mused over her previous DADA class. Whispered already spread through out the halls, the subject surrounding both her detention and the class itself. She had to say, it was rather revolutionary. Even Hogwarts, one of the best wizarding schools in the world had never openly taught raw magic. That didn't negate the negative feeling Hermione was left with. There was no way Professor Black randomly came up with the lesson plan. It was not something simply done out of the blue.

Many students left the dueling hall quietly, still at a loss for words. If Hermione was being honest, she did not understand why people still found such an issue with muggle born students. The Second Wizarding War was in the past, and Voldemort lost.

The ideology of grading one's blood goes back centuries, millennium even.

Mulling over that, Hermione couldn't find it too surprising. After all, she was born right around its' end, and she was about to turn 18.

Harry and Ron had abandoned her to go to the library by herself, preferring to fool around in the common room in their down time. The brunette would never understand why they were so surprised when they were forced to hustle for decent grades. They hardly ever put in any substantial effort in their classes.

Hermione walked at a steady pace, arms securing her books in front of her chest. She was just about the pass the dining hall when the doors jarred open suddenly. One bumped into her elbow, causing her books to splay themselves haphazardly across the floor. The witch huffed and rolled her eyes. She knew exactly what followed.

"Oh shit I'm sorry."

Hermione froze as a woman with pink hair quickly collected her fallen books. That wasn't how this played out, wizarding world or not. Upon closer inspection, Hermione realized that she was an auror. Her eyes widened as the woman's hair steadily turned yellow throughout the encounter. She marveled at the situation she found herself in, having only just seen a metamorphmagus for the first time in person.

The brunette was about to awkwardly thank the auror when the woman yelled, "No bloody way! Hermione?!" The next thing she new, the now deep purple haired woman enveloped her in a bear hug. The movement was so quick that Hermione flinched, resulting in the auror quickly backing up.

"Oops! I'm still easily excited. I didn't know you were a witch!" She exclaimed again, only causing Hermione to become confused. The person was using a sense of familiarity with her that Hermione did not share. "Oh sorry again about knocking these down. I was in a rush to meet up with my superior." Her arms darted out, holding the books steady.

Hermione knew aurors were at Hogwarts for the competition. As she took her books back, Hermione finally spoke. "I apologize, but I am not sure I know you." Hermione had been called to by name. She couldn't help but ask, "How do you know me?"

The woman laughed, and put a hand on the brunette's shoulder. "Full of jokes, aren't you?" Hermione eyed the hand on her shoulder tensely. Glancing around, Hermione didn't find anyone else watching the two. Her first idea that someone was simply trying to screw with her. She turned her attention back to the witch in front of her. Hermione couldn't help the wary expression she wore. When the auror noticed it she dropped her hand quickly, as if she was burnt.

"You really don't remember?" Her hair was now becoming green, indicating another mood change. "Tonks? Nymphadora, the name no one calls me, Tonks? You called me Nymphy when you wanted to annoy me."

Hermione tried to focus on the woman's, Tonks's, face. She truly could not say she had ever seen her before, and she was quite sure she would remember someone as memorable as Tonks. What was even more confusing was the sense of comfort and safety she felt from being around her.

"I'm sorry, but-"

"Miss. Granger, just the person I was looking for." Hermione looked to the side and saw Dumbledore, hands resting in opposite sides of the holes in his arms. "Auror Tonks, it is a pleasure to see you again. Hopefully you will not cause as much trouble as you did in your days as a student. If you don't mind, I do need to speak to Miss. Granger."

Tonks looked between the two of them. Hermione could sense a protest on her lips, but it was reluctantly swallowed. She formed a smile before replying, "Of course Headmaster. I will try not to cause too much trouble." She added a wink before walking passed the two.

Once they were alone, the wizard spoke once again. "I heard about Professor Black's rather unorthodox lesson."

After he remained quiet for several moments Hermione supposed he was expecting some type of answer. "For the subject matter, it was handled quite well. I am surprised advanced students are not offered a class surrounding it."

Dumbledore looked at Hermione with a curious expression. "It is no easy feat, raw magic. Most wizards and witches would be lucky enough to just witness it performed once in their lifetime. While we have some of the brightest young minds, there simply are not enough with the capability of manipulating the magic."

Hermione found doubt in his words. In her class alone three people had passed the test. That could not cover the entire student population. Other students might possess a sliver of talent, even if they would never be able to actually use it themselves.

"I also heard about your detention with Madam Umbridge. She was quite adamant that you attend. There was not much I could do to dissuade her from the matter."

Hermione almost rolled her eyes just at the mention of the pretentious woman. Out of respect for Dumbledore she kept her emotions under control. Her lips remained a thin line.

"You will be meeting her tonight in her office. It is located in the dungeon. Considering your mind, I am sure you can figure out which door it is behind."

The dungeon had three rooms: the DADA classroom, to which had a separate office for Professor Black. One of the other rooms held the Slytherin dormitory, and the final one had been empty for years. No one was quite sure what it was for, and it had long been locked. The Weasley twins had tried to enter multiple times, but it was to no avail.

Not waiting for a reply, Dumbledore nodded and turned around. "Until next time, Miss. Granger."