Not Our World
Good Morning
She couldn't sleep.
The familiarity of the dorm didn't help her fall asleep, though it didn't help that the other girls were already gossiping, the chatter led by Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. At the same time, Hermione couldn't remember who the other girls were. She'd simply never been into that kind of thing, yet there were also things on her mind which prevented her from falling to sleep right away.
And, thinking back on it the following day, she probably didn't set the best impression on the other girls by not joining in the conversation and getting to know the other girls in question. There was that inkling of memory in the back of her mind of not entirely fitting in because she was thought of as such a know-it-all, which in turn led to the troll incident.
Yet, at that moment, Hermione realized she was, in fact, alone except for the unknown Seeker-of the Future, so the thought crossed her mind that she might want to try and form relationships with the other girls so she wouldn't have to feel so alone in this new world she found herself in, to which she debated actually making an effort the following day to communicate with them. Except, she remembered something out of the blue.
"Never let anyone tell you you're wrong for being you, Baby Girl. Don't change for anyone."
Her mouth opened as she got ready for classes and breakfast. " I 'd forgotten. I'd forgotten he'd said that, but he would have known. Dad never let what other people thought of him stop him. " She took a deep breath and started from the dorm room, heading downstairs to see some of the older students already up and about. She stared, wondering if she should interact with them before heading down to the Great Hall. " That might make me stand out in a way I don 't want to, although given there are computers down here, it might be written off as a curiosity. "
So she decided to head out, but not before memorizing the first-year timetable, to which she remembered she would have to redo all of her classes.
She let out a sigh and headed out past the Fat Lady and to the Great Hall, where a warm breakfast was waiting for her, served by the House Elves. " Which, of course, I shouldn 't know about the House Elves, right? "
Other students wandered in, and Hermione looked up, pausing upon seeing Regulus Black upfront. He seemed paler than usual while his eyes kept attempting to evade looking her in the eye. She frowned, wondering about that particular enigma, only to have her thoughts drawn away when Harry and Ron loudly appeared at the breakfast table. "Oh. Good morning."
Ron stared, caught off guard that she'd greeted him. Harry, on the other hand, smiled. "Hello. Your name's Hermione Granger, right?"
"Correct. And your Harry Potter and your Ron Weasley."
"Could have told us that was your name yesterday," Ron muttered. "And you don't have to say our names like that."
"Ron, be nice."
Hermione turned her head to look back up at Regulus Black. "So, the head of Slytherin teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"I suppose. He's supposed family, but we don't talk about him," Ron said, diving right into the food.
"How come?" Harry asked.
"Because he's a Death Eater," Ron said before pointing his fork rather rudely at Hermione. "Of course, you're Muggleborn, so you wouldn't know what a Death Eater is."
"I do. And Professor McGonagall said not to judge Professor Black because of that."
"He's not that bad," Harry said.
"What would you know?"
"He's my godfather's younger brother."
"Was he able to bring Crookshanks over on your birthday?" Hermione asked. Harry startled. "He talked about it when we ran into him at Diagon Alley."
"Oh yeah! Sirius hated it!"
"Woah. You do realize you're talking about a Death Eater, right?" Ron stared, somewhat taken aback.
"And my parents and godfather were members of the Order of the Pheonix," Harry said.
"So we're a couple of my uncles."
"Hey. Don't fight the two of you. How about a change of subject? You do know what the first class of the day is?" To which they stared at her. "You didn't look?"
"Why?" Ron asked.
Harry stared. "I hadn't thought of that. I was just so excited about being here. I mean, my dad and Sirius talk about it a lot. Though…" Harry glanced up at the front table. "Oddly, he doesn't."
"That's because his friends were all Death Eaters," Ron muttered.
"Okay. Look." Hermione took a deep breath, noticing when she looked that the schedule differed from before, but she hoped that her memory of the schedules from the previous years wouldn't interfere. "DADA in the morning."
"What?" Ron said.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Harry said.
"I knew that."
"Then Potions," Hermione said. "That's this morning's schedule, then Computer and Muggle Studies in the afternoon."
"You mean we have a class with my uncles? Do we have to take Computer and Muggle Studies? I hear enough about computers from Percy and enough about Muggle stuff from my dad," Ron groaned.
"Come on," Percy piped up. "Computers are the way of the future. Not knowing how to use one will end up holding you back."
"Quidditch is more important," Ron said. "And I'm trying out for the Quidditch team next year!"
"Me too," Harry said.
"Neither one of you mentioned which position you want to play, or you mentioned it while I was changing my robes. Seeker?" Hermione asked.
"That would be nice," Ron muttered.
"No," Harry said.
"No?" Hermione said.
"I thought you didn't know anything about Quidditch?" Ron said.
"I paid attention," Hermione said.
"We'll convert you yet," Ron said.
"I don't think so." Hermione frowned. "If I'm converted, you won't be the one to do it." And there she was, bantering with Ron, already off to a bad start.
"That's mean. That…"
"You're the one who interpreted Harry from telling me what position he's interested in."
"Chaser, like my dad," Harry said. "Do you think you'll try?"
"I'm kind of leery about flying, to be honest."
"What? That's because of your Muggleborn."
"No. It's because I have an issue with heights," Hermione said, to which the conversation died off as the boys finished eating. Looking around, Hermione couldn't help but notice confident girls looking at her. There was Pansy Parkinson, who she'd managed to get on the wrong side of, unlike in the previous world, and then there were the girls from her dorm, possibly because she'd not talked to them the night before, yet started talking with a couple of the guys.
Of course, eventually, they needed to head to class, to which Percy, much to Ron's irritation, took the time to remind them while Hermione thanked them. She walked with them, which left her with a pleasant feeling, although she wasn't sure if Ron was as okay with her presence as Harry was. And a thought crossed her mind. "I remembered something."
"Are you some kind of know-it-all?" Ron sighed.
Harry turned to look at him. "Ron. Be nice."
"I was going to tell you what was mentioned in the forums. Apparently, Professor Black will be asking us what our favorite Dark Creature is."
"Why?" Ron asked.
"I don't know, but I thought you might want to be forewarned."
"Thanks," Harry said, elbowing Ron.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Were there many in our year who did the computer thing?"
"Not many. They could have created accounts already and not have talked in the forums," Hermione said.
"Could we not talk about computers? And what's with this question about what our favorite Dark Creature is?"
"It's a conversation starter," piped up one of the twins as they hurried past for their next class, leaving Hermione baffled, the other saying, "Of course, your least favorite can work as well."
Ron let out a sigh. "Annoying."
"You don't have to be so pessimistic," Hermione said, only to cringe upon Regulus Black greeting them rather enthusiastically when they entered the room. However, he froze upon looking at her, quickly looking away. "And he's way too optimistic."
"You can say that," Harry said.
Hermione frowned, noticing Crookshanks curled up on the desk, quite pleased at being there while she wished he was there on her desk instead, rather than that of the nutty professor. Ron turned. "Hey, did Professor Black hear what Hermione said?"
"What?" Hermione looked up. "Why?"
"Because he's not greeting people super enthusiastically anymore."
"Well, it's Draco Malfoy who came in, right?"
Hermione frowned, not thinking that sounded right. But then Neville Longbottom came in, and he bumbled over his greeting to Professor Black. Professor Black returned to greeting everyone enthusiastically until class started, and then he asked the question of what their favorite Dark Creature was.
The Griffindor girls became squeamish. "Well, he is a former Death Eater."
"And a member of the house of Black."
"Hinkypunk," Pansy Parkinson called out, her nose in the air.
"And why?"
"Because it's so alluring."
"True, but Wizards should beware that they like to allure travelers down paths with danger. And they can shoot fireballs." Regulus said. "And please raise your hand next time."
"Ah. So he's having us bring up creatures we know and might be interested in to get us interested in the class, though that is not how it is coming across." She glanced at Ron, who was pale. "And his would-be spiders, right? The one he likes the least."
"What about Pukwudgie?" Parvati asked when called upon.
"Ah. An American one and mascot of one of the houses. A neutral creature unless you get on their bad side," Regulus said.
Parkinson raised her hand, smirking.
"Yes, Parkinson?"
"You do know this is Defense Against the Dark Arts and not Care for Magical Creatures, right professor?"
Regulus' eyes blinked. There was a long pause before he let out a sigh. "I see. Fifteen points from Slytherin, Parkinson, as I know your intent. And for your information, there is an overlap between Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care for Magical Creatures. Still, it should be noted not all of the creatures we'll discuss in this class are Dark Creatures, but ones you need to be aware of and know how to tackle."
A few more came out, all relatively benign, to which he had something to say about each creature. This was when an idea crossed Hermione's mind and when she was called upon, she said, "Infiri."