Chapter 13 - Summers and Second Year
The rest of term passed by uneventfully. It took Harry three days to wake up from his ordeal. Once he was awake, the friends took it easy. They hung out and did nothing productive while they waited for exam results to come out.
Hermione got all Os. She was top of the class.
On the train ride back to Kings Cross Station, Hermione sat with Neville. Harry wanted to sit with his first friend who Hermione heavily disliked due to him continuing to make fun of her despite their experiences together. Therefore, they had to sit apart.
Hermione helped Neville out with his summer homework. She had already finished all of hers. She got more productive when she was worrying about something which, in this case, was Harry.
Once they reached the train station, the two friends went to find Harry to say goodbye for the summer. Once that was done, the two friends hugged goodbye and promised to write each other before splitting up.
Rushing to her parents as soon as she spotted them, Hermione hugged them hello. The two dentists looked around for Chomper. Hermione told them that he was in his Pokeball and that she would explain in the car.
In the car, Hermione regaled her parents with tales of what she did in school, including how Chomper evolved and was now too big to sit on her lap. Because of that, he had to stay in his Pokeball a lot more.
When they got home, Hermione showed off her Pokemon to her parents. They were surprised at the changes in Chomper and mentioned to Hermione that Myeem looked like she had grown a few feet in length. Hermione blinked in surprise at the last statement of her parents. She hadn't noticed Myeem getting bigger, but she saw the Milotic everyday, so she probably wouldn't be able to tell.
A few days later, the trainer and her Pokemon were outside training with the tennis ball shooter. Hermione was shocked that Chomper went from being the worst to the best at the exercise.
Eshwick was now the worst. He was now at one ball for every two seconds. Myeem, now at second best, was at one ball for every second. Chomper had completed the exercise. He could avoid all of the balls at the one per second interval, the fastest that the tennis ball shooter could go.
Eshwick and Myeem had improved a little. Chomper had made the most improvement. In the end, after thinking on it for a while, Hermione decided that his big jump in improvement was due to him evolving. His new body type was more built for speed than his old one. At least he wasn't as stocky as he was before he evolved.
Hermione now needed to come up with a new exercise for Chomper to start on. For now, she just had him practice once a day to keep up his skills.
A couple of days later, she made and put up a target in the backyard. Chomper was to hit it ten times in a row. Myeem and Eshwick also wanted to do the exercise.
They all managed to hit the target all ten times. The next step was to hit the bullseye. Again, they managed it.
The next day, Hermione hung up the target on one of the trees in the backyard. She swung it so that it was going slowly and had them try to hit it. They were all capable of it. Next was having them hit the bullseye at the same speed. They completed the task. Next she made the target swing a little faster, not fast fast, more of a medium speed. This time, Eshwick only hit the target nine out of ten times. Both Chomper and Myeem were able to complete the task. When it came to hitting the bullseye, only Myeem was able. The only femal Pokemon on the team then became stuck on the fastest level.
For their birthdays, Hermione sent her boys each a Z Ring. It took a few years worth a savings, but it was worth it. They were her only friends after all.
On August 19th, Hermione went to Diagon Alley. She met up with her friends, Neville's grandmother, and Ron and his family. She was happy to notice that both of her friends wore their birthday present from her.
They bought their supplies for their second year; an upgrade for their Pokedexes as a new region was added, making the latest and greatest the generation VIII, more Pokeballs, new clothes, as they had grown out of their old ones, and a lot of books, some of which she already had. These books included World Geography for the boys, World History, Affaraon History, and Afferaon Government for her, Basic Care for Your Partner, and Pokemon Information Volume 1. Interestingly, the books for Battle Class wasn't the standard Battling by Type. Instead, they got a selection from the autobiography section. They were all written by a 'Gilderoy Lockhart'. These titles included Break with a Beldum, Gadding with Groudon, Holidays with Ho-oh, Travels with Tyranitar, Voyages with Volcanion, Wanderings with Wartortle, and Year with the Yveltal.
At Flourish and Blotts, where they got their books, there was a book signing going on. The author in question wrote all of their Battle Class books. While they were at the store, he announced that he would be the new Battle Class teacher at Hogwarts. Hermione was excited. If even one thing that he wrote really happened to him, then he would be amazing to learn from.
Although, the books were written in a more fantasy style. So whether or not they were his actual achievements was a bit of an argument she had with the boys. They thought he was a phony. She believed that since he wrote it down and published it as fact, then it must have happened. After all, why lie?
All too soon, Hermione was saying good buy to her parents as she set off for her second year at Hogwarts.
Hermione met up with Neville on the train. Neville introduced his new team member to his friend. Neville had been given a Turtwig for getting good grades as well as a birthday present. After introductions were made, Hermione verified that Neville was, in fact, finished with his summer homework. He had a few questions about the homework that they went over together. That was done soon, so they just chatted for the rest of the train ride to Hogwarts.
They followed the upperclassmen as they couldn't follow Hagrid as he was calling for first years. This year, instead of riding on the Laprases, they rode carriages pulled by Ponyta.
Once they walked into the Great Hall, Hermione started scanning the hall for Harry. She got worried when she didn't spot him and people stopped walking into the Great Hall. She got even more worried when the first years were led in and the sorting began. At this point, Hermione was looking around, frantically scanning the Gryffindor table for her second friend. Hermione was so worried, she didn't even pay attention to the sorting. Once the feast began, she absentmindedly ate and fed her Pokemon.
Once the feast was over, Hermione hurried toward the Gryffindor tower to see if her other friend had gone straight to bed after such a tiring day. Once she arrived at the tower, she realized that she didn't know the new password. Figuring that he couldn't get into the tower too, Hermione tried to think of where he might be. The fact that he might have missed the train was inconceivable to her as she knew how much he loved Hogwarts.
Soon, others began to arrive and the passageway was opened. Hermione entered, took not of the new password, called out Chomper, and promptly claimed a spot that had a good view of the entrance of the common room.
It was almost curfew when the portrait hole opened to reveal Harry and Ronald. Hermione immediately rose to express her concern. "Where have you been!?" Ron snorted and walked off, leaving his best mate to his fate, and mumbling about barmy girls. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been!?" Hermione continued her tirade. Harry shrunk back a little at the look in her eyes and tone of voice. Hermione, in that moment, could be described as anger incarnated, and all of her righteous furry was directed at Harry.
Seeing the effect that she had on her friend, Hermione took a deep breath and tried to relax. Softening visibly, she said in a much softer voice, "I was worried out of my mind about you. You have no idea how scarred I was that something bad had happened to you. Please tell me what happened."
Harry rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, you see, we were running late and we kinda didn't make it onto the train on time."
"Oh? Who were you with?" Hermione tried to sound like she wasn't interrogating her friend.
"The Weasley's." Harry replied.
Hermione frowned in thought. "But I saw the Weasley twins, Percy, and who I'm assuming is their sister. I didn't see Ronald. Was he the other in 'we'?" Harry nodded. "I see. I guess your excuse is acceptable. Next time be sure to arrive with time to spare so that that doesn't happen again." Harry nodded in agreement.
For second years, each class was held twice a week instead of once a week like all other years. Hermione had changed her comfort Pokemon to Eshwick because he was the smallest of her Pokemon.
Tuesday, they started with Survival. For the next two years in survival, they were going to learn ho to navigate by use of nature found around them. Next, in Herbs and Berries, they were learning the uses of all of the plants that they had learned to identify the year before. After lunch was Tracking which was a bit more advanced, but still much of the same.
On Wednesday, while her peers took World Geography in PokeHistory, she started the first semester with World History and was going to move onto Affaraon History and Affaraon Government when she finished the previous course. In Pokemon Breeding, they were going to learn how to properly care for Pokemon in different situations for the next four years. That Wednesday was their first Battle Class lesson of the year. Hermione was supper excited. She had read and taken notes on all of their assigned readings for that class and it seemed as if their new professor had a lot to teach them.
As soon as the bell for class to begin had rung, their new teacher, Professor Lockhart, announced that they would be taking a quiz first, to see what they know. Hermione figured that it would just be a review of what they did last year since as he wasn't there to teach them, he didn't know what they knew. When she got the quiz, she realized that all of the questions were about him. What did any of this have to do with battling? All of the answers were in his books that she had taken extensive notes on. None of her notes included any of the answers of the questions that were on the quiz. Even so, she was still the only one to get all of the answers right due to her almost perfect recall.
After he spent the next few minutes praising her knowledge, he unveiled a cage of Cutieflies. First he said that he would demonstrate how to properly deal with them, then he undid the latch on the cage and released them into the classroom. It was chaos. Suddenly, he didn't seem all that confident. He rushed out of his office. On his way out, he told them to deal with the Cutieflies. Most of the class followed his lead and fled. Hermione, on the other hand, although confused as to why he changed his mind, sprang into action.
Hermione immediately called out for Eshwick to attack. "Ember those Cutieflies! Try not to hit anything else if you can manage it." The other remaining Gryffindors followed her lead, and soon all of the Cutieflies were knocked out on the ground. As soon as the last Cutiefly had been knocked out, the bell rang, signaling that class was over. Thinking that the matron would want to know about all of the unconscious Pokemon, she returned Eshwick and hurried to the hospital wing. After informing the matron about what happened and answering all of her questions to the best of her ability, Hermione returned to the Gryffindor common room.
On Thursday, they had Pokemon Identification, Information, and Statistics. In that class, they started learning basic information for each Pokemon. This would continue for the next four years. The cycle of classes would the repeat with Survival and Herbs and Berries later that day. Friday had Tracking and PokeHistory as well as a free period. Monday would be Pokemon Breeding, Battle Class, and Pokemon Identification, Information, and Statistics.
Harry and Ron both had a detention for missing the train that Saturday night.
The first time she went back to the library to study, there was someone seated at the table that she had claimed as hers the previous year. She had long, blond hair and wore a dreamy expression, radish earrings, and a cork necklace. Hermione stared at the odd girl for a moment, just taking in her appearance. She vaguely recognize the girl as one of the first years.
Hermione decided to introduce herself so that they could share the table for studying and research. "Hello," at this, the girl looked up, startled, "my name is Hermione. You're sitting at my table. I'll share as long as you work hard on your class work while using the table. I'll help you if you need it. I have some friends that will join us occasionally, so be prepared to share." Hermione stayed bossily.
And that is how she met Luna. It was the start of an unique friendship. The two girls were both intelligent beyond that of their peers. They got along splendidly. Hermione helped the younger girl with her homework, mainly by finding reference books and proof reading her essays. Soon after figuring out that the blond's intelligence matched her own, Hermione helped Luna work ahead in her readings and practicals when she wasn't absorbed in her own projects.
Hermione discovered that Luna was being bullied by her own housemates some weeks after they met, but she didn't do anything thanks to Luna's begging.
For her birthday, Hermione got a Waterium Z crystal set from her parents which she promptly gave one to Myeem, and kept the other one in her case. The boys worked together with Luna to get her the beginning textbooks for all four of the elective classes. Hermione wanted to take all four classes next year, so the textbooks were a thoughtful present.
Hermione quickly became disillusioned to Lockhart. He appeared to be a bumbling fool who had no idea what he was doing. In class, from the second class on, they only acted out scenes from his books. They didn't actually learn about any of the things that he did in the books, or how he did those things.
For Christmas, Hermione got Harry and Luna a Flyinium Z crystal set and Neville a Grassium Z crystal set. Luna had gotten a Z Ring in congratulations for getting into Hogwarts from her dad, so Hermione decided to get her newest friend the same kind of thing as her other friends. In return, she received another Sweet Heart from Harry, Berry Juice from Neville, and this year received a Big Malasada from Luna. From her parents, she got a promise of more Z Crystals when she caught a new Pokemon type.
For Luna's birthday, Hermione got her a Psychium Z set.
The rest of the year passed without any further incident. Hermione was still the top of her class. At the end of the year, she took the PokeHistory O.W.L., three years ahead of schedule. Now she had an extra free period to do homework from other classes.
When she got home for the summer, her parents commented on how Myeem had grown at least five feet, bringing her to almost fully grown.
That summer, Hermione sent her two male friends both a Firium Z crystal set for their birthdays.
While on vacation that year, she caught two Pokemon. Those Pokemon caught themselves. She didn't even realize that she had caught those Pokemon until she had gotten home. The first caught itself when she spent time exploring in the ancient forests of Johto with her parents. The second sneaked itself into her bag when she was in Diagon Alley gathering her school supplies. When she got home, she asked if her had a owner, when she got a negative response, she asked if he wanted to become hers. As her new Pokemon were of a different type than her older Pokemon, her parents got her Psychium Z crystals for her new Pokemon.
