Note: Harry Potter was created by J. K. Rowling and is a film series that was done by Warner Bros.
Hermione Granger was in Professor Severus C. Snape's class, along with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Most of the students weren't fond of classwork, especially when it came from Professor Snape, because he assigned the hardest assignments and gave more homework than any of the other teachers. Several students angrily whined and growled, because of their high amount of work. However, Hermione had a much different reaction. She felt her other teachers didn't assign enough work. She often did assignments that the other teachers never even assigned her. Because of that, Hermione's teachers started getting a little mad at her, because they had more assignments to grade than ever before.
A lot of students often debated with one another about what Professor Snape was really like. Was he good? Was he evil? A lot of Hermione's classmates thought that Professor Snape was harsh and strict, but Hermione thought that he was a brilliant hero that just had anger issues. Considering how many misguided, immature students Professor Snape had, Hermione could understand why he was so grumpy.
However, Harry and Ron thought that Professor Snape never had a good reason for being so grouchy and strict. They also failed to understand why Hermione got so much enjoyment from reading and learning. Most students read books and did homework, because they were forced to, rather than having an interest in it. However, Hermione considered reading a new book or doing her homework assignments as a magical type of fun.
After the class finished their latest assignment, Professor Snape stood up and said, "In recent weeks, I notice there's been problems concerning the way I've been teaching you."
Harry whispered, "That's for sure."
Hermione gave Harry a disapproving look, while whispering, "I'd expect Ron to say that, but not you."
Ron pointed at Harry and said, "Hermione got mad at you and not me. This rocks."
Professor Snape replied, "Shut up, Ron." He paused and said, "Anyways, I haven't been assigning you have enough reading."
Ron asked, "Are you kidding me?! You make us read three chapters each night."
Professor Snape replied, "You've proven my point, not your own. You see, by only reading three a chapters a night, you won't learn all that you need to know by the end of the year. That's why I'm changing things up and I'm going to start having you read five chapters per night." The students looked upset and heartbroken, except for Hermione. Harry and Ron noticed how much happiness Hermione was getting from Snape's assignment, so they started feeling concerned.
After class was over, Hermione started skipping around the hallways. She skipped by Harry and Ron, while saying, "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited that we're going to be reading more. This assignment combines books and learning magic, which are two of my favorite things. This further proves that Hogwarts is the world's most magical school."
Harry tried to think of a delicate way to ask Hermione why she liked this stuff to such an extreme degree. Harry said, "Hermione, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm failing to understand, why you're interested in learning."
Hermione rolled her eyes, while having a hard time believing, that she had to answer such a thing. She said, "Harry, school is about learning. Without it, school would be nothing, but stressful boredom."
Ron replied, "School is the most boring and stressful place that anybody's ever seen. I'd rather read seven books or watch eight films than do one or two of Snape's homework assignments."
Hermione said, "I love doing those assignments. They help me learn the info I'll need to have a successful career."
Harry replied, "I understand, but you consider homework to be more, than just that. You consider homework to be a fun hobby. Why would you ever think that?"
Hermione smirked and said, "Work is fun. Anyways, I'll talk to you guys later on. I'm eager to start reading the book." She started skipping to her room.
Ron looked at Harry and said, "Hermione's in danger."
Harry looked confused, while asking, "What are you talking about?"
Ron explained, "Something has to be wrong with Hermione if she thinks that Snape's assignments are fun. We need to find out what's going on with her."
Harry asked, "How are we supposed to do that?"
Ron answered, "We need the opinion and advice of somebody smart."
Harry asked, "When you think of smart people that go to Hogwarts, who do you think of?"
Ron answered, "Lola." Since Hermione was the help center's smartest student, Ron thought that she'd be the perfect candidate to find out what's wrong, until he realized how weird it would be to ask Hermione to explain what's wrong with herself. Ron said, "Since Hermione can't be her own therapist, we'll seek the advice of someone else."
Harry and Ron paid a visit to Luna Lovegood's room. They told her how Hermione had been acting. Luna was a very eccentric student, so Harry didn't think that she was the best person to ask, but Ron often made decisions that Harry didn't comprehend. After thinking it over, Luna calmly said, "What Hermione's going through is something very simple and understandable, but dangerous."
Harry asked, "What do you mean?"
Luna explained, "Hermione is sick. She's suffering from an illness that makes her have delusions and inaccurate theories about what's good in life. For example, we all know school isn't exciting or fun, but Hermione thinks it is. The reason she thinks that isn't because she isn't smart. It's because she's ill, which stops her from having the rational thoughts and good judgement that she usually has."
After Harry and Ron left Luna's room, Harry said, "I'm not so sure about Lola having an illness."
Ron replied, "Then we should visit Hermione."
Harry responded, "Good idea."
Harry and Ron walked to Hermione's room and knocked on the door. Hermione put her book down and opened the door. She faced her friends and said, "Greetings, guys. I've already read the five chapters that Professor Snape assigned. However, each chapter was so captivating that I'm giving them another read."
Harry asked, "Are you really reading those chapters for the second time?"
Hermione nodded and said, "There's hardly anything more fun than a compelling narrative."
After hearing Hermione say that, Harry was convinced that Hermione was sick. After he and Ron walked out of Hermione's room, Harry said, "Ron, it seems like you were right."
Ron had a proud smile on his face, while replying, "Being right is something that the Weasley family is famous for. Hermione needs to be cured of this illness."
Harry asked, "How are we supposed to cure her?"
Harry explained, "Hermione's sickness happened, because of Snape's pesky assignments. In order to save her, we have to put Snape's classroom in danger."
Harry looked confused, while asking, "What are you talking about?"
Ron had a sly smile on his face, while saying, "You'll find out. I need you to keep Hermione distracted. When someone sneaks into a teacher's classroom, she's always the first person to know. Just in case she's planning on coming by, I need you to keep her inside her room. Do anything that'll distract her."
Harry replied, "But I don't understand the plan."
Ron responded, "This isn't the time for understanding." Ron signaled to Harry to go to Hermione's room.
Harry walked to Hermione's room and knocked on the door, while not understanding what was going or how he was supposed to distract Hermione.
Hermione opened the door and said, "Greetings, Harry. As always, it's good to see you. What's going on?"
Harry tried to get Hermione's attention, so she wouldn't notice any of the chaos that the noisy Ron was making. He said, "I have something to show you."
Hermione replied, "You usually don't share stuff with me, unless it's something important. Has an old enemy returned or something?"
Harry replied, "No, but I do have something of great importance to show you." He put on a pair of glasses and said, "Check these out. If I wore this thing, I wouldn't be able to see."
Hermione replied, "No disrespect intended, but I was already aware of that."
Harry said, "Um, that makes sense." He took a long pause before saying, "I was just trying to show you something normal, so you would be in a calm mood when I show you something crazy." Ron had been having Harry carry around his backpack, so Harry opened it and started looking for something that he could show Hermione. Harry found a clown costume, so he put it on and said, "I'm Harry, the clown of Hogwarts." He did a corny laugh and started prancing around the room. Hermione stared at Harry, while feeling confused and concerned.
Meanwhile, Ron walked to Professor Snape's classroom. He started pulling on the doorknob, but it wouldn't open. He said, "The silly door is locked."
Luna walked by and replied, "I couldn't help overhearing."
Ron asked, "How did you hear me?"
Luna explained, "You were bumbling around at such a loud tone that it was easy to know you were around here."
Ron started feeling a little uneasy, while hoping none of the teachers heard him. He said, "I'm trying to get into Snape's classroom, but the door is locked. Plus, I don't know how to get a key."
Luna replied, "I have a key."
Ron raised an eyebrow and asked, "How did you get a key?"
Luna explained, "This morning, Professor Lockhart threw his coats in my face, so I could find a place to put them away. He often steals small items from Severus C. Snape's classroom, including keys. The classroom key that Professor Lockhart stole was in one of his coats. I was going to give it to Professor Snape, but I forgot. I can give you the key if you give it back to him tomorrow morning."
Ron replied, "No problem." Luna gave him the key and walked away. Harry went into Professor Snape's classroom.
A while later, Harry was still trying to keep Hermione's attention. Because of that, he started doing a circus act. He made elephant noises, told jokes and danced around the room. Harry looked at Hermione and asked, "Are you enjoying the show?"
Hermione said, "Harry, I'm worried about you?"
Harry looked confused, while asking, "Why?"
Hermione said, "Harry, I know that Hogwarts is a weird place, but this is too weird. Having one of my best friends throw on a clown suit and start doing a circus act for no understandable reason is unsettling."
Harry replied, "I'm just trying to become a little more fun."
Hermione said, "I'm starting to feel that Ron's not a very good influence. He's a bit of prankster that has been making you act like a clown." Hermione started hearing noises that Ron was causing, so she asked, "What's going on?"
Harry said, "Um, don't focus on that." Harry started singing a song about clowns.
The next morning, Hermione got ready for school before leaving her bedroom and heading to class. While in the hallway, she saw that Harry had some clown makeup on his forehead and chin. Hermione said, "It seems like you haven't washed away all the weird makeup from your clown adventure."
Harry replied, "Hermione, I'm sorry about that."
Hermione asked, "Why did you do that clown stuff? It made no sense."
Harry replied, "If Ron's plan worked out, you'll know the reason."
Hermione went inside and saw how much stuff was gone. She looked around and said, "There doesn't seem to be a single textbook in the entire classroom."
Ron walked inside and said, "I got rid of that stuff."
Hermione raised her eyebrows, while asking, "Why would you do that?"
Ron answered, "To cure you."
Hermione could hardly believe how weird things were getting, so she asked, "What's going on? I need a real explanation, so no more clowning around."
Harry looked back at Hermione and said, "Ron and I were worried about you."
Hermione asked, "Why?"
Harry explained, "Because we had never seen a student that got so excited about Snape's assignments. We've never met someone who has such passion for reading and getting work done."
Hermione replied, "If I may be so bold, I don't think there's anything wrong with stuff. I know that loving that type of stuff can be considered weird and nerdy, but I don't care." She looked at both Harry and Ron, while saying, "You two have habits that I don't understand. However, I accept you both for who you are and care about both of you. It doesn't matter if we adore the same books and other petty stuff. What truly matters is that we value and comfort one another."
Harry had a guilty look on his face, while saying, "I'm sorry, Hermione. You were just being yourself, but your hobbies confused me and Ron so much that we thought you were sick. We were being dumb, weren't we?"
Hermione replied, "Getting rid of the school supplies and being a clown was dumb. However, you were doing that, because you cared about my health. As weird as that was, I admire both of you." She hugged Harry and Ron.
Professor Snape walked in and said, "Unlike Hermione, I'm not a very forgiving person, so you two troublemakers have a month of detentions."
Hermione looked at Professor Snape and said, "I believe I have something better than punishing him. I think they deserve a month of being tutored by me. If I tutor them, will you lower their detention time?"
Professor Snape sighed and replied, "Okay, Hermione."
Ron looked at Hermione and said, "You're the best."
Hermione looked at Harry and Ron and said, "I'm the only the best when I'm surrounded by you guys, because friendship is the strongest type of magic in Hogwarts." Professor Snape wouldn't admit it, but he was glad to see how magical their friendships were. As for Harry and Ron, they realized that Hermione didn't need their help, because she was the best student in all of Hogwarts.
