By suppertime that day, all of Gryffindor heard that they had lost 200 points because of something Hermione had done and they were disgusted with her and angry...very angry. Ron dug his elbow into her ribs when he sat beside her saying, "Oops, so sorry", but he didn't look sorry at all! None of the other Gryffindor witches would even speak to her and as for the wizards, they were calling her filthy names. Some even spat at her.

As soon as dinner was ended, Hermione headed to the dungeon to do her detention. Professor Snape had ordered her to wash "by hand", and without magic, every single cauldron that had been used that day. It took Hermione over two hours to scrub all those cauldrons and it was almost 9 pm before Snape dismissed her.

Leaving Professor Snape's classroom, Hermione was surprised to see Thorfinn Rowle leaning up against the wall. As she walked back to Gryffindor, he walked beside her silently. Hermione didn't know what to think so she just stayed quiet and enjoyed the peaceful companionship. Once she reached the Fat Lady portrait, she thanked him for his escort and he nodded in reply.

Hermione hurried in and through the common room. It was no great penance in not being allowed to stay there as she was the subject of nasty snipes, pinches, and other unpleasantness. As soon as she got in her dorm room, she hurriedly got ready for bed. Then she curled up on her bed and started to work on her homework.

Lavender came into the room and leaning over Hermione's bed, she jerked her hand so the ink splattered over her scroll, calling her a useless Mudblood whore who didn't deserve to be at Hogwarts. And then she dumped Hermione's ink bottle all over Hermione, her books, and her bed. Satisfied, a smug Lavender laughed at the sight and slowly sauntered over to her own bed where she got ready for sleep.

Hermione was upset but she knew there was nothing she could do. She couldn't prove Lavender had done it deliberately but they both knew that she had. She muttered a quick "scourgify" and got the ink off of herself and her bed, but her books and papers were permanently stained black. Poor Hermione! It had been a rough day so she put her books in her trunk, crawled back into bed, and went to sleep. Hopefully the next day would be better...hopefully! Unfortunately she thought wrong...