Everything changes during Hermione's sixth year. After the battle at the Ministry of Magic, she goes home from Hogwarts early to recover, and when the tension at home drives her outside, she wanders to her old childhood places. After five years at boarding school, punctuated by only infrequent visits home, it seems everyone has forgotten her: they certainly don't notice when she walks by.

On the first of September, though, she returns to London and boards the Hogwarts Express with all the other students. She takes a compartment with Harry and Ron, who make strained conversation with her, trying to pretend that everything is normal.

Nothing is normal, though. Her entrance into the Great Hall prompts uncomfortable whispers, and she notices Parvati Patil giving her a wide berth when she sits at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, as if what Hermione has is catching. Hogwarts no longer feels welcoming to her. She returns to her dorm after the feast, but can't sleep, and restless, she prowls the halls.

For a few months, she manages to maintain her routine, attending class and meals and cheering for Gryffindor at the first Quidditch match of the year. It's not the same, though, not like it was before the battle. Harry gives up trying to make conversation, won't even look at her, and she's not sure if he's angry at her or himself. Ron copes by totally failing to cope, and that at least is what she's accustomed to.

She finds herself spending a lot of time talking to the ghosts. Nearly-Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, is sympathetic if not always helpful, and the Gray Lady of Ravenclaw silently listens to her troubles, patting her gently on the shoulder.

Fall fades gloomily into winter, matching Hermione's mood. She spends more time than ever in the library, unable to stand the air of discomfort in the Gryffindor common room. Professor McGonagall takes her aside at the end of class one November afternoon and politely, gently asks her to stop coming to class; she is a distraction to the students.

Hermione has more free time than she knows what to do with. With class and the common room off limits, she rambles through the halls of Hogwarts, discovering secret rooms and passageways not even the Marauder's Map knows about.

The year passes. Eventually, her classmates stop doing a double-take when they see her, their eyes now sliding past her as she roams. It is, in some ways, a relief; Hermione is tired of the stares, the whispers.

Winter greens, buds out into spring, life returning to the castle grounds, but not to Hermione. She feels haunted, like the spectre of the fight at the Ministry follows her around. She realizes her total disconnect from the rest of the castle when Gryffindor wins the House Cup again and no one asks her to participate in the celebrations.

Too quickly, the year is over. She skips the Leaving Feast, and stands mournfully in the Entrance Hall the next day, watching the carriages trundle down the Hogwarts grounds, carrying her classmates away for another summer. Around her, Hogwarts is dead and empty.

After some time, Nearly-Headless Nick drifts down to join her. "I thought I'd find you here," he says.

"Is it always like this, Nick?" she asks. "Every year, like this?"

He nods, both his ruff and his head wobbling. "Every year. They go, and you stay, and wait for the next year. You do get used to it, after a while . . ."

Then Hermione cries, the first time she has cried since the battle at the Ministry. As she weeps, wiping pearly-white tears from her translucent cheeks, Hermione understands Moaning Myrtle's sadness.