A/N - Sorry to keep you all waiting for the next bit for so long, and I apologize for the extreme fluffiness of this next bit. I'll get the next part up before tuesday (the end of my Winter Break! *sob*), I swear. And it'll pertain to the actual nature of the story, not jkust some multisyllabic adjectives strung together. Oh, and I've got a name for this fic, so look for "The Raven, the Stag, and the Fox" part 3 for the next bit. Yes, I KNOW it's not creative, but maybe I'll rename the thing later. I just want people to stop thinking my fics are cliques! All right, on you go.
Disclaimer - NOTHING'S MINE EXCEPT THE PLOT!!!!
Part Two
Later that evening, the three ambitious teenagers met in the library. Hermione started the conversation with a firm glare at the two boys.
"I just want to make sure that you know what we're getting in to," she stated stiffly. She reached into her book bag and pulled out a stack of books - all over a thousand pages in length.
Harry and Ron's eyes widened as Hermione flipped through the incredibly thin pages. They were filled with impossibly tiny writing, no illustrations, and there were twelve volumes in all.
"Wha-what are those?" Ron asked in a very timid tone. He didn't look as though he really wanted to know.
"These are books on how to become animagi," Hermione offered proudly, patting the pile of books as though she were a proud parent. "The best ever written and rented from our very own Hogwarts library." She noticed the dumbfounded stares of Harry and Ron. "Well, what did you expect? A pamphlet?! And we all have to read them to understand what we're doing."
"But, Hermione!!" Harry wheedled. "How do you expect us to read all of that?! Ron and I aren't like you! We're just average students and -"
"It was your idea, don't blame me!" cried Hermione testily. She suddenly smiled mischievously - a smile that seemed oddly misplaced on her usually stern features. "However, if you two boys are very good," she continued in a singsong voice, "I might have something to help you along a bit."
Ron and Harry exchanged a desperate glance and simultaneously dropped to their knees, folded their hands as if in prayer, and begged, "Please?"
"I'll love you forever, Hermione!" Ron pleaded, eyes looking up at her as though she would sentence him to certain death if he did not appease her. Harry was agreeing, seeming slightly reminiscent of a toy with a spring for a neck as he nodded fervently. "I'll never ask for help again, I'll turn Malfoy into a newt, I'll . . ."
Hermione silenced him with a laugh. "Before you sell me your souls, I suppose I shall have to help you two pitiful creatures." She extended her hand to help the Bambi-eyed duo off of the floor. She rummaged around in her robe for a moment before coming up with three pairs of glasses. She handed a pair to each of the boys and kept one for herself.
"Uh, Hermione . . ." Harry started, staring at the glasses with evident distaste. "What are these?" He turned the spectacles over in his hand. They looked as if a mad scientist had toyed with them and then decided they were too hideous to look at anymore. Harry's was a brilliant pink, Ron's was a particularly dreadful shade of green and both were decked with knobs and springs and buttons of all sorts. The lenses had to be two inches thick and the rims nearly as wide. Hermione beamed proudly down at them.
"I charmed them myself!" she practically radiated pride. "It was really advanced work, too! Half of the seventh-years can't do it!" She was oblivious to Ron and Harry's disgusted looks at her accomplishments as she continued, "I looked it up in the library! All we have to do is skim the books and the glasses will feed not the entirety of the text, but a summary into our brains! Ingenious, isn't it guys! Guys?"
"Hermione, could you get any more revolting glasses?" Ron blurted out, holding his by a corner and grimacing. "I mean, look at them! Cor, they're grotesque!"
Harry saw Hermione's "I'm-about-to-kill-Ron" look and stepped hastily in between them. "We really," he shot a look at Ron, "REALLY appreciate the spell Hermione. Thanks loads, WE mean it." He hissed to Ron, "Does it matter what they look like? Do you want to read those monsters?"
Ron nodded with a barely audible sigh. There was no way he was going to read all those hardbacks, and he didn't really want another fight with Hermione. He's sworn to himself that he'd try to be a bit less impertinent to her, as it seemed that they were nearly hexing each other ever other day. And besides, the way the light shone around her hair in a halo and lit up her eyes was sometimes so fascinating . . .
"Hello? Ron, are you listening?" Hermione was glaring crossly at Ron, arms folded in front of her. "I was explaining how the glasses work, but If you want to be rude and ignore me-"
"Thanks, 'Mione, I'll be rude some other time when weeks of reading don't hang in the balance. Please start over," Ron replied, shaking any thoughts of halos from his head.
Furrowing her brow and sticking out her tongue, Hermione continued. "As I was saying, ahem, you simply have to whisper 'empitome litterae,' tap the glasses with your wand, turn this left dial three times, the large one eight times counterclockwise, this shiny black one seventeen and a quarter turns to the right, push this button, twist this . . ."
After Hermione had gone over the instructions several times (both Ron and Harry kept slipping in to stupors at inconveniently crucial points) the three of them had the knack of it and were already starting to engross themselves in the first volume.
A/N - Again, sorry it took me so long to post this bit. Please don't reprimand me, I've already beaten my head on the wall for fifteen minutes today. R/R!
Disclaimer - NOTHING'S MINE EXCEPT THE PLOT!!!!
Part Two
Later that evening, the three ambitious teenagers met in the library. Hermione started the conversation with a firm glare at the two boys.
"I just want to make sure that you know what we're getting in to," she stated stiffly. She reached into her book bag and pulled out a stack of books - all over a thousand pages in length.
Harry and Ron's eyes widened as Hermione flipped through the incredibly thin pages. They were filled with impossibly tiny writing, no illustrations, and there were twelve volumes in all.
"Wha-what are those?" Ron asked in a very timid tone. He didn't look as though he really wanted to know.
"These are books on how to become animagi," Hermione offered proudly, patting the pile of books as though she were a proud parent. "The best ever written and rented from our very own Hogwarts library." She noticed the dumbfounded stares of Harry and Ron. "Well, what did you expect? A pamphlet?! And we all have to read them to understand what we're doing."
"But, Hermione!!" Harry wheedled. "How do you expect us to read all of that?! Ron and I aren't like you! We're just average students and -"
"It was your idea, don't blame me!" cried Hermione testily. She suddenly smiled mischievously - a smile that seemed oddly misplaced on her usually stern features. "However, if you two boys are very good," she continued in a singsong voice, "I might have something to help you along a bit."
Ron and Harry exchanged a desperate glance and simultaneously dropped to their knees, folded their hands as if in prayer, and begged, "Please?"
"I'll love you forever, Hermione!" Ron pleaded, eyes looking up at her as though she would sentence him to certain death if he did not appease her. Harry was agreeing, seeming slightly reminiscent of a toy with a spring for a neck as he nodded fervently. "I'll never ask for help again, I'll turn Malfoy into a newt, I'll . . ."
Hermione silenced him with a laugh. "Before you sell me your souls, I suppose I shall have to help you two pitiful creatures." She extended her hand to help the Bambi-eyed duo off of the floor. She rummaged around in her robe for a moment before coming up with three pairs of glasses. She handed a pair to each of the boys and kept one for herself.
"Uh, Hermione . . ." Harry started, staring at the glasses with evident distaste. "What are these?" He turned the spectacles over in his hand. They looked as if a mad scientist had toyed with them and then decided they were too hideous to look at anymore. Harry's was a brilliant pink, Ron's was a particularly dreadful shade of green and both were decked with knobs and springs and buttons of all sorts. The lenses had to be two inches thick and the rims nearly as wide. Hermione beamed proudly down at them.
"I charmed them myself!" she practically radiated pride. "It was really advanced work, too! Half of the seventh-years can't do it!" She was oblivious to Ron and Harry's disgusted looks at her accomplishments as she continued, "I looked it up in the library! All we have to do is skim the books and the glasses will feed not the entirety of the text, but a summary into our brains! Ingenious, isn't it guys! Guys?"
"Hermione, could you get any more revolting glasses?" Ron blurted out, holding his by a corner and grimacing. "I mean, look at them! Cor, they're grotesque!"
Harry saw Hermione's "I'm-about-to-kill-Ron" look and stepped hastily in between them. "We really," he shot a look at Ron, "REALLY appreciate the spell Hermione. Thanks loads, WE mean it." He hissed to Ron, "Does it matter what they look like? Do you want to read those monsters?"
Ron nodded with a barely audible sigh. There was no way he was going to read all those hardbacks, and he didn't really want another fight with Hermione. He's sworn to himself that he'd try to be a bit less impertinent to her, as it seemed that they were nearly hexing each other ever other day. And besides, the way the light shone around her hair in a halo and lit up her eyes was sometimes so fascinating . . .
"Hello? Ron, are you listening?" Hermione was glaring crossly at Ron, arms folded in front of her. "I was explaining how the glasses work, but If you want to be rude and ignore me-"
"Thanks, 'Mione, I'll be rude some other time when weeks of reading don't hang in the balance. Please start over," Ron replied, shaking any thoughts of halos from his head.
Furrowing her brow and sticking out her tongue, Hermione continued. "As I was saying, ahem, you simply have to whisper 'empitome litterae,' tap the glasses with your wand, turn this left dial three times, the large one eight times counterclockwise, this shiny black one seventeen and a quarter turns to the right, push this button, twist this . . ."
After Hermione had gone over the instructions several times (both Ron and Harry kept slipping in to stupors at inconveniently crucial points) the three of them had the knack of it and were already starting to engross themselves in the first volume.
A/N - Again, sorry it took me so long to post this bit. Please don't reprimand me, I've already beaten my head on the wall for fifteen minutes today. R/R!