Sept. 19th, 1980
„Happy birthday to you ..."
Singing heartily, Prudence and George opened their daughter's door and entered with Prudence carrying the birthday cake and George heaving a large basket full of presents.
Hermione was already wide awake, sitting at the edge of her bed and beaming at her parents.
„Hi, mummy, hi daddy," she jumped up and ran towards them.
Hastily, Pru set down the cake on the table, not a second too soon, to open her arms wide for Hermione to jump into them.
„Happy birthday, sweetheart," she said, and George, who had put down his basket, too, folded his wife and daughter into his arms, kissing them both.
„Now let's light that candle on your cake," he said presently, „now, where have I got my lighter?" He started fumbling for it in his pockets. „Ah, here we are!"
He switched it once and another time, but there were only a few sparks that stubbornly refused to produce any flame. „What the heck ..." he muttered under his breath, while he moved towards the cake, still furiously clicking his lighter. „Stupid thing worked ok yesterday, can't think what's the matter with it now. – Hey, what's that?"
While he had been muttering to himself, he had finally held the lighter to the candle and suddenly it was burning brightly.
„I'm having hallucinations," he said to his wife. „Did you see this just now? I could have sworn the lighter didn't work, except for these stupid sparks, like this ..." he demonstrated it by clicking the lighter in front of her face. „and here's this candle suddenly burning as nicely as ever. I don't get it! I must be getting old."
„Tut, darling, no need to get excited. You must have been thinking of something else for a moment, probably also looked somewhere else, so you missed it. It is strange however, that the thing does not work anymore now. Let me have a look. No wonder it doesn't work. The gas tank is completely empty, look!"
„I light candle!"
Her brown eyes wide, Hermione was standing next to her table, looking at the burning candle intently. „Mummy, daddy, I light candle!"
„No, baby, fire's too dangerous for little girls," George told her sternly. „You can't light any candles right now, you'll need to get bigger. But you can blow it out, if you want."
Hermione frowned for a second, then she nodded, and returned her gaze to the candle which suddenly went out.
„Now did you see her blow at it?", George asked. "Well, of course she must have, how could she have done it otherwise? I say, my eyes are not what they used to be …"
"You'll look cute with glasses, dear," his wife said, smiling at him. "They'll give you that intellectual look that becomes a doctor!"
"Anyway, I'm still strong enough to deliver the presents. Look, Hermy, these are all for you!" and with these words, he put the basket on the floor in front of his daughter.
With a small squeal of delight, Hermione squatted down next to the basket and started opening the parcels.
"And what have we got here?" George inquired when Hermione had unwrapped a large wooden cube painted in bright colours, with variously shaped openings in its side. "Sounds as if there's something inside," he continued when she started shaking the object.
"This must be one of these highly educational toys my mother is so fond of," Prudence remarked after a short glance. "You know, to practise three- dimensional tactile skills, or something like that. Here, honey," she said to her daughter, "let me show you … "
But Hermione had already found out how to open the box, and taken out six small wooden pieces. After a short look at them, she took one and dropped it through one of the holes in the box; with only very little hesitation, she proceeded to do the same with the other pieces, and presently she had finished her task and rattled the box triumphantly above her head.
"My goodness," George gasped incredulously, "did you see that? I could hardly have done it any faster myself. Hermy, you're a genius!"
The next present caused Prudence to pull a face.
"Oh no, not another of these stupid Barbie dolls! I do hate them. They indoctrinate kids in a way that's simply detestable. How typical of Zoe … Sorry, I know she's your sister and all, but I can't stand the woman!"
"Now keep your hair on, I'm sure she meant it kindly. Anyway, look, Hermy doesn't seem to be too interested in it anyway."
And indeed Hermione, after a short look at the doll and the clothes that went with it, had started on the next parcel which contained a large orange fluffy animal with big ears, large round yellow eyes, long whiskers and a bushy tail.
"Look, daddy, look!" Delighted, Hermione folded the animal in her arms and started to dance around with it, all the other presents forgotten for the moment.
"Lovely kitty!"
*
1 Dear Miss Granger
Our intelligence reports the illegal use of a fire charm at your place of residence …
"Come, Mafalda," Dumbledore's voice was the tiniest bit impatient. "You can't do that."
"But there was definitely a fire charm," Mafalda Hopkirk retorted stubbornly. "And regulations say …"
"If you' looked at your files first, " Dumbledore continued, visibly restraining himself, "you'd have noticed that a) Hermione Granger is just one year old and rather unlikely to be able to read, even though I hear she is a remarkably clever child, that b) Her parents are muggles and will not really make head or tail of this letter, and c) she isn't in Hogwarts yet, so you can't very well threaten to kick her out. Stands to reason, doesn't it?"
"I dare say you are right, headmaster," Mafalda Hopkirk, who had consulted her files in the meantime, grudgingly admitted. "There's probably not much point in posting this. However, I'd be a lot happier if the rules were absolutely clear about cases like this. I'll bring it up at the next conference of the Improper Use of Magic Committee. Ho very typical of the big brass, - being vague about such things, and then blaming it on the junior officials when something is not to their liking. Why can't they just formulate clear rule so that everybody knows what they have to do. I do hate these individual decisions, where would we get if …"
But Dumbledore had already silently left the office. "Bureaucrats!" he sighed when he was safely outside.
„Happy birthday to you ..."
Singing heartily, Prudence and George opened their daughter's door and entered with Prudence carrying the birthday cake and George heaving a large basket full of presents.
Hermione was already wide awake, sitting at the edge of her bed and beaming at her parents.
„Hi, mummy, hi daddy," she jumped up and ran towards them.
Hastily, Pru set down the cake on the table, not a second too soon, to open her arms wide for Hermione to jump into them.
„Happy birthday, sweetheart," she said, and George, who had put down his basket, too, folded his wife and daughter into his arms, kissing them both.
„Now let's light that candle on your cake," he said presently, „now, where have I got my lighter?" He started fumbling for it in his pockets. „Ah, here we are!"
He switched it once and another time, but there were only a few sparks that stubbornly refused to produce any flame. „What the heck ..." he muttered under his breath, while he moved towards the cake, still furiously clicking his lighter. „Stupid thing worked ok yesterday, can't think what's the matter with it now. – Hey, what's that?"
While he had been muttering to himself, he had finally held the lighter to the candle and suddenly it was burning brightly.
„I'm having hallucinations," he said to his wife. „Did you see this just now? I could have sworn the lighter didn't work, except for these stupid sparks, like this ..." he demonstrated it by clicking the lighter in front of her face. „and here's this candle suddenly burning as nicely as ever. I don't get it! I must be getting old."
„Tut, darling, no need to get excited. You must have been thinking of something else for a moment, probably also looked somewhere else, so you missed it. It is strange however, that the thing does not work anymore now. Let me have a look. No wonder it doesn't work. The gas tank is completely empty, look!"
„I light candle!"
Her brown eyes wide, Hermione was standing next to her table, looking at the burning candle intently. „Mummy, daddy, I light candle!"
„No, baby, fire's too dangerous for little girls," George told her sternly. „You can't light any candles right now, you'll need to get bigger. But you can blow it out, if you want."
Hermione frowned for a second, then she nodded, and returned her gaze to the candle which suddenly went out.
„Now did you see her blow at it?", George asked. "Well, of course she must have, how could she have done it otherwise? I say, my eyes are not what they used to be …"
"You'll look cute with glasses, dear," his wife said, smiling at him. "They'll give you that intellectual look that becomes a doctor!"
"Anyway, I'm still strong enough to deliver the presents. Look, Hermy, these are all for you!" and with these words, he put the basket on the floor in front of his daughter.
With a small squeal of delight, Hermione squatted down next to the basket and started opening the parcels.
"And what have we got here?" George inquired when Hermione had unwrapped a large wooden cube painted in bright colours, with variously shaped openings in its side. "Sounds as if there's something inside," he continued when she started shaking the object.
"This must be one of these highly educational toys my mother is so fond of," Prudence remarked after a short glance. "You know, to practise three- dimensional tactile skills, or something like that. Here, honey," she said to her daughter, "let me show you … "
But Hermione had already found out how to open the box, and taken out six small wooden pieces. After a short look at them, she took one and dropped it through one of the holes in the box; with only very little hesitation, she proceeded to do the same with the other pieces, and presently she had finished her task and rattled the box triumphantly above her head.
"My goodness," George gasped incredulously, "did you see that? I could hardly have done it any faster myself. Hermy, you're a genius!"
The next present caused Prudence to pull a face.
"Oh no, not another of these stupid Barbie dolls! I do hate them. They indoctrinate kids in a way that's simply detestable. How typical of Zoe … Sorry, I know she's your sister and all, but I can't stand the woman!"
"Now keep your hair on, I'm sure she meant it kindly. Anyway, look, Hermy doesn't seem to be too interested in it anyway."
And indeed Hermione, after a short look at the doll and the clothes that went with it, had started on the next parcel which contained a large orange fluffy animal with big ears, large round yellow eyes, long whiskers and a bushy tail.
"Look, daddy, look!" Delighted, Hermione folded the animal in her arms and started to dance around with it, all the other presents forgotten for the moment.
"Lovely kitty!"
*
1 Dear Miss Granger
Our intelligence reports the illegal use of a fire charm at your place of residence …
"Come, Mafalda," Dumbledore's voice was the tiniest bit impatient. "You can't do that."
"But there was definitely a fire charm," Mafalda Hopkirk retorted stubbornly. "And regulations say …"
"If you' looked at your files first, " Dumbledore continued, visibly restraining himself, "you'd have noticed that a) Hermione Granger is just one year old and rather unlikely to be able to read, even though I hear she is a remarkably clever child, that b) Her parents are muggles and will not really make head or tail of this letter, and c) she isn't in Hogwarts yet, so you can't very well threaten to kick her out. Stands to reason, doesn't it?"
"I dare say you are right, headmaster," Mafalda Hopkirk, who had consulted her files in the meantime, grudgingly admitted. "There's probably not much point in posting this. However, I'd be a lot happier if the rules were absolutely clear about cases like this. I'll bring it up at the next conference of the Improper Use of Magic Committee. Ho very typical of the big brass, - being vague about such things, and then blaming it on the junior officials when something is not to their liking. Why can't they just formulate clear rule so that everybody knows what they have to do. I do hate these individual decisions, where would we get if …"
But Dumbledore had already silently left the office. "Bureaucrats!" he sighed when he was safely outside.