The Game
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, all related characters, locations, and events, are owned by Warner Brothers, J.K. Rowling, and multiple parties. No infringement is intended, nor should it be expected. Fair use only.
One-Shot: The Game(Technically you lost, BTW. Don't me.)
September 1st, 1992
Hermione's eyes opened to the soft beeping of her alarm clock, pinging away to tell her it was half-past six. While everything had been packed away several days before, it appeared the habit she had formed in her first year had carried over. She reached out and switched the switch to the left, halting the soft beeping, blinking rapidly to clear the sleep from her eyes. Something was different, but she couldn't quite place it…A feeling as though everything had shifted just barely to the left.
Shaking her head, she scooted out of bed, pattering out of her bedroom to the bathroom. She quickly finished, showering, and then getting dressed in the clothes she had set out the night before. Her hair was still wet, and she wished desperately she could use Magic to dry it. The rule, however, was very clear on the use of magic by underage witches and wizards. This didn't stop her from practicing wand movements, and pronunciations as often as she could. As she made her way towards the kitchen, she stumbled, her vision flashing for a moment.
A wave of panic flashed through her as she regained her feet. As she did, she couldn't help but look around in confusion. Nothing seemed different, but she felt as though she were dreaming, as though the hallway was hazy in a way unlike ever before. She pushed down the momentary panic, finishing the short walk to the kitchen. As she entered, her father was already sitting at the table, drinking tea, and reading the paper. On the table was a tea set, her great grandmothers she understood, and a plate of buttered toast. He looked the same as he did each morning, yet she still took pause. Floating above his head was the weirdest thing she had ever seen.
Daniel Granger
Squib
97/100 HP
She read it twice, frowning, before carefully making her way to the table.
'What's a squib?' She wondered.
Her father looked up from his paper as she sat down. "Good morning Hermione. Are you ready to go back to school?"
"Yes, Dad…" She replied, glancing above his head again. 'Maybe I've gone mad?'
She sat there for a moment, drinking the tea that had already been set out when she could hear her mother coming down the hallway.
'Okay...if my mum has it as well, it must mean I'm not mad' She thought, biting into a piece of toast.
Her mother entered, immediately greeting her, and making her way to the fridge to start a quick breakfast.
Emma Granger
Muggle
100/100 HP
Her eyes followed the floating information above her mother, as she moved about the kitchen. She was thankful at this point that she had read every single book in the house as at least HP meant something to her. Her father, a self-professed nerd, had an original set of Dungeons and Dragons books from the first 1974 release. They were some of the first books she read as a child, the fantastic drawings truly sticking out to her.
'Wish I could roll perception…' She thought, as she slowly ate the plate of food her mum set before her.
She had almost expected invisible dice to roll for her, giving her information, but when nothing happened, she frowned internally.
'Maybe I am going mad…' She thought. 'I expected dice to roll? Pfft. Next I'll be asking for a stat block.'
No sooner had she thought it, then the world around her greyed over, a sheet of paper appearing floating in front of her. With a squeak, she jumped back, knocking the chair she had been sat in over, the crash oddly muted. She stared at the world around her, a soft drone filling the air. Carefully she walked forward, her hand shaking as her fingertips touched the paper, jerking back as though shocked.
'It's...real? I can touch it?' She thought, reaching out once more to grab it.
Both sides were covered in writing, and it took but a moment to read the sheet.
Harry Potter: The Game
Hermione Granger
Witch
150/150 HP
75/75 MP
Lvl 2
S: 10
C: 12
D: 10
I: 15
W: 13
C: 8
Below this were feats, like Advanced Memory, or special abilities like Advanced Recitation. Along with a list of all the spells she had learned through reading, and how well she could cast them.
"What is happening…" She whispered the paper clutched in her hand. "R-resume?"
No sooner had she said it, then she was sitting once more at the table, fork in hand, a bit of egg just an inch from her mouth. She coughed in surprise, looking around in wonder.
"Hermione? Are you okay?" Her mother asked, joining them at the table.
"Fine, Mum. Just excited to go back to Hogwarts…" She replied, before taking a bite of egg.
The conversation moved on from there, giving no clue to the burning thoughts in her mind as they all spoke. No one noticed before they left for Kings Cross, the D&D books being slipped into her trunk.
'Just some research…' She thought as she closed her trunk. 'My life isn't a game, but whatever this thing is, it seems to match what I remember from these books. Better safe than sorry. Or crazy.'
Harry Potter
Wizard - Chosen One
150/150 HP
210/210 MP
'Chosen One…' She mouthed, once Harry had arrived in the common room.
It says a lot of the world she was quickly finding that she lived in, that Harry having a special title meant next to nothing to what stood next to him.
Peter Pettigrew
Wizard - Rat Animagus - Death Eater
1200/1200 HP
350/740 MP
Thanks to her fantastic memory, or perhaps the feat Advanced Memory, she recognized the name, Peter Pettigrew.
'Killed by Sirius Black...Page 73 in Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts.' She thought, doing her best not to stare at the rat. 'All they found was his finger...The same finger that Scabbers is missing.'
The facts were, today had been a day of interesting revelations. Professor Snape had two special titles, one denoting him as a Death Eater, Professor Lockhart was marked as a "Fraud", and Professor Dumbledore was the leader of a secret group known as "The Order Of The Phoenix". Oh, and one of her best friends pet rats was a man that had supposedly died 10 years previously, and the cherry on top was he was a Death Eater...
"What was I expecting…" She thought aloud.
"What was that Hermione?" Harry asked, looking up.
"N-nothing Harry. I...I need to go see Professor McGonagall." She said, swiftly standing from the little table they had sat at.
"Hermione, it's the first night!" Ron exclaimed. "What could you possibly need to talk to her about?"
She stammered for a moment, before turning and simply leaving. The Fat Lady's cries of the approaching curfew landing solely on her deaf ears as she rushed down the hallway. She was thankful that Mcgonagall's office was only a floor down, and a few hallways away, as she was unlikely to run into anyone so near curfew. Yet run into someone she did, taking the final corner at nearly a run. With a muffled cry, she slammed to the ground, surely bruising her bum.
"How...unexpected." She heard a dark voice say, before looking up to meet their eyes. "If anyone would be out after curfew, you were the least likely of your little group, Ms. Granger. Explain. Now."
"Professor Snape, I...I needed to see Professor McGonagall, sir. It's urgent." She replies, climbing to her feet unassisted.
"Urgent, you say?" Professor Snape says, tapping his chin lightly. "I'm sure it can wait till morning, Ms. Granger. Ten...no, let's make it fifteen points from Gryffindor. Go back to your common room."
"Professor, no, please!" Hermione exclaimed. "I need to see Professor McGonagall, sir, please. It can't wait till morning."
"Such nerve. Twenty points from Gryff-" Snape began, before being interrupted.
"Peter Pettigrew is alive!" Hermione yelled, shocked at her own gall. What shocked her, even more, was the sudden silence from Snape.
He studied her face, the tears in her eyes, before finally responding. "Explain, Ms. Granger."
"I-I...I don't know how Sir." Hermione says.
While his patience was being tested, Hermione was not one for flights of fancy, as he well knew. "Start from the beginning."
And so she did. She spoke of how she could see information about people, their names, their stats. How she likened it to a muggle game her father enjoyed, of which Snape was at least peripherally aware. His hiss when she mentioned his Death Eater title was next to nothing compared to his reaction at Harry Potter's title.
"Chosen one…" Severus repeated a near whisper.
"Yes sir...but Ron's rat...He doesn't show as Scabber Sir. It says he is Peter Pettigrew, Rat Animagus, Death Eater." Hermione finished.
Snape's eyes were dark, far darker than normal, burning with rage. Hermione couldn't read his mind, but if she could she would have been terrified at the visions housed within. Without a word Professor Snape went around her, heading in the direction she had come from. The sudden departure startled her, her head moving back and forth between Professor McGonagall's door, and Snapes retreating back.
Gryffindor Common Room
The portrait nearly exploded open, pulled open with such force that papers on the table were ruffled. Professor Snape entered, his robe billowing behind him. Percy Weasley was one of the few still in the common room, jumping to his feet as Snape entered.
"Professor? What can we do for you." Percy asked, startled.
"Everyone but Mr. Weasley out of the common room. Now." Snape ordered, which sent the few students still up scurrying.
"You once owned a pet rat, did you not?" Snape asks, eying the boy closely, once he was all that remained."
"Yes Sir, Scabbers. Ron owns him now," Percy replied. "Is something wrong?"
"I need you to go to your brother's room and collect the rat. Do not startle the rat or your brother." Snape says, motioning Percy along.
Percy was confused but knew better than to disobey such a direct order from a teacher, even one such as Snape. Ron was already snoring away, Scabbers sleeping on the pillow next to his head. Gently picking the rat up, he quickly left the room. Scabbers woke up, looking antsy for a moment, before calming down in Percy's hands. That calmness lasted until he was once more in the common room, Professor Snape standing near the exit of the common room. The rat wiggled, attempting to break free, but Percy had long since learned how best to hold the rat.
"Here you are, Professor," Percy says, holding the rat aloft.
Professor Snape flicked his wand, the rat lifting into the air from Percy's hands. A slash, and a whispered word, the rat glowing bright red against the darkness of the common room.
"My word!" Someone gasped from the entrance to the common, Snape's head snapping back to see who had entered.
It happened instantly, when it did, the small rat no longer a rat, but a short man, a light wand grasped tightly in his hand, Snape's loss of attention all it took. A purple light filled the room as a blast like a cannon was emitted from the wand in the ratlike man's hand. Snape was already turning, but he knew it was too late. A lapse in concentration would cost him his life…
The ball of purple energy sailed past, just barely missing Snape, the twitching hand of the traitor so unused to casting spells of that power. With a snap of his wand, ropes shot out, coiling around the seemingly alive Pettigrew. They tightened in response to the caster's rage, sharp pops as bones broke, or dislocated. There was a flash of fire, Dumbledore appearing in the flame of his Phoenix, Fawkes. His own wand already at the ready, a stunning spell hit Pettigrew square, knocking him unconscious.
"Severus?" Albus said, taking note of the situation.
Before he could speak, they turned, as Mcgonnagal began to wail from the entryway. Clutched in her arms was the already cooling body of Hermione Granger, dead from being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
September 1st, 1992
Hermione's eyes opened to the soft beeping of her alarm clock, pinging away to tell her it was half-past six. She shot up, gasping for breath, feeling her body in surprise.
'I...died…' She thought, remembering how it felt as her heart stopped dead in her chest, the creeping numbness as it spread through her body in her final moments...
Check Point Loaded
A small set of floating words hovered just barely out of reach, as she took stock of herself. The day's events were fresh in her mind, burned into her memory in a way unlike how she normally thought. It seemed that whatever was happening to her even let her survive her mistakes. As she considered this new development, a small thought popped into the back of her head.
'What could I have done differently?' She thought, before catching herself. 'Wait...I'm thinking about doing that again?'
The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she had no other choice. She could never live with herself, even as dangerous as it obviously was, if she didn't do her best. Right now, her best was apparently to treat today as a game and simply put her best foot forward. For Hermione Granger, Gamer, that was what she did best.
Dumbledore's Office
The Wizened Wizard stared at her through his half-moon glasses, a glint in his eyes that Hermione did not yet recognize.
"Peter Pettigrew, you say?" He asked, finally, as she finished explaining.
"Yes Professor. I don't understand it, but unless I've gone mad, Peter Pettigrew lives, and has lived, as the Weasley Family pet rat." She replied.
"Extraordinary…" He practically whispered. "And you said that Harry Potter was titled as "The Chosen One? Have you perchance taken a look at Mr. Longbottom?"
"No Sir? Should I?" She asked, confused by the change in the conversation.
"No no, nothing to worry about there," Dumbledore replied, before pulling out his wand.
A softly whispered word, and a white Phoenix, burning an ethereal light, floated silently in the air. "Go to Severus, tell him to gather Minerva, whom I expect has already retired to her chambers, and to meet me at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room."
The Phoenix silently screamed, before disappearing in a flash of light. "Professor...what was that?"
"That my dear was a Patronus. A tricky spell, but quite useful. I expect you'll experience it prior to your seventh year…" He replied, gathering himself. "Now, let us return to the common. I have much to prepare."
Gryffindor Common Room
For a Wizard of such advanced age, Hermione had found herself needing to move at double speed to keep up with him. The Fat Lady had opened on her own, even before Dumbledore had spoken, leading them swiftly into the common room. It was still quite early, the feast had ended less than an hour before, many more upper-year students still lounging around.
"Excuse me Gryffindors, if I may have your attention?" Professor Dumbledore said, needlessly. Every eye had already been on him from the moment he entered.
"I have need for the common room for the next hour or so. Would you be so kind as to retire to your dormitories for the time being? He asked, to which the students were quick to follow suit.
As the final student left, Dumbledore was already waving his wand, the very walls and floor of the common room melting, closing off the windows, the small cracks, even the fireplace. A swish and the furniture was gone, leaving the room completely flat, empty, and sealed off. Part of the floor swelled up, encircling Hermione, before a small translucent window opened up, giving her a clear view of the room. The only remaining entrances were the staircase leading to the boy's dormitories, and the main entrance, which just now opened to allow Professors Snape and McGonagall in.
"Albus?" Minerva asked, wide-eyed as she stared around the featureless room, glancing back as the entrance sealed over as well.
"Severus, Minerve, thank you for joining me so quickly," Dumbledore replied, at last lowering his wand, motioning to the sealed in student. "Miss Granger here brought me some very interesting news, news that against all logic I have come to believe."
"What news, Albus?" Snape asked, sneering at the room around him.
"That Peter Pettigrew still lived, and that he was a secret Death Eater, having faked his death over a decade ago," Albus says, flicking his wand at the boy's staircase. "If she is correct, I felt that having back up in place should he attempt to escape to be prudent."
"Absurd," Snape said.
"Be that as it may, we shall know either way shortly," Albus replied. "Wands up."
Albus motioned towards the staircase, a flash of blue light slamming into a floating, struggling rat, no sooner than it had turned the corner. As it floated into the room, the staircase sealed as well, leaving the room a flat, featureless bowl. Albus gave his wand a light flick, the rat glowing a soft red, even as McGonnagal gasped.
"It would seem, Miss Granger, that you are not quite as mad as you had worried," Albus whispered. "Severus, you know the charm?"
"Of course," Snape replied, stepping forward.
"Minerva, as you know, the stun will break once he has been untransfigured. Please stun him immediately." Albus ordered.
Together Professors Dumbledore and Snape held their wands aloft, pointing at the sleeping rat. Like a plant growing extremely fast, where before a rat had floated, a man instead fell to the floor. The panicked look on his face was all it took, as a blue light slammed into him immediately after from McGonagall's wand. Snape strode forward, yanking the Wizards robe up, revealing to the room a faded Dark Mark.
"What does this mean, Albus?" Minerva asked, staring down at the living Peter Pettigrew.
"It means that Sirius Black is innocent…" Albus replied softly.
As Snape swore silently, Hermione could not help but smile. It seemed that with enough planning, or perhaps enough tries, there was a path to victory in every situation. She wasn't sure where this ability had come from, nor what powered it, but she planned to use it to the best of her ability.
Check Point Reached!
A/N: Yes, you lost the game. Sorry, not sorry….Hope you enjoyed another one shot! Another story that may well one day be fleshed out into a full-fledged story. Join my discord! I've got other stories and a whole community for them. Take a look at my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.!
Until next time, this is Klldarkness! Discord gg /82FUz8N