Hermione Jean Granger was a genius, she didn't exactly need anyone to tell her that. However, it is an unfortunate thing that she had never been told by anyone in her life that she was allowed to relax- the biggest mistake made unto a genius is to not give their mind time to relax (many genii can be considered eccentric because they let off steam in weird ways). Hermione, as a child prodigy, was pushed to excel at all times, and her parents were no help, having high expectations themselves
This kind of pressure, sadly, is normal and part of human nature. As such, she was unwittingly raised to believe that everyone was meant to be pushed to excel, and thus was led to believe that being the smartest person was everything. This also had become a part of her common sense (which speaks more about her environment than her personality). Thus, she believed that book-smarts was almost everything, and she pushed everyone to do the same, alienating herself from her peers.
With magic and wizardry entering the picture, she also needed to excel in magic, or so she thought. The people inside the Hogwarts train quickly shattered her illusion of reality, and she was now unable to process it… While she tried to find a compartment that would be empty, in order to console herself by crying, she suddenly felt a pull to a compartment. Why, she wasn't entirely sure, but she didn't try to fight it, wanting to belong.
Harry and Manny didn't know this, but their ward managed to draw in someone with a passion for learning that could never be mitigated. They just needed to instill some self-confidence in her, which is why when they recognized her, they immediately decided to bring her into the fold. They would never let genius rot, but would also think of giving them common sense. Harry mentioning 'their similar positions' was meant to calm her down, and ingratiate himself to her, not that Hermione noticed. Manny also filed the tears to look into as soon as possible.
"Anyway, Susan, Hannah, Neville, this is Hermione Granger, hailed in parts of the non-magical world as a child prodigy… I imagine she would beat most of us by a large margin every year." Harry felt the teary-eyed girl in front of him would benefit from friends in the magical world, while he worked on giving her actual common sense- her parents pushed her too hard.
Hermione was confused, and rightly so- she wasn't too well known outside of Crawley, her hometown. That said, she was known in many academic circles, so she put it out of her mind and gave a watery smile.
A small amount of time passed, as she had to be calmed by Hannah. She hoped to have a few friends in this new environment, but the insults really managed to break her heart… On checking why, Harry found a familiar face- that of the blond standing next to him in Madam Malkin's.
"Maybe you could tell us what happened, and we could tell you if you offended them" Harry gently pressed, Manny having warned him about fragile hearts. Feeling like she had nothing to lose, Hermione began to speak in halting words, as she described the words they used to insult her.
"... A-And the blond b-boy, he called hi-himself Dra-draco Malfoy, he didn't even think twice before throwing me out of the compartment I had to myself, saying some-something about 'Mudbloods not having the right to claim their betters' seats for their own'... I just don't understand why he was so rude to me!" she wailed in the end.
"MUDBLOOD!? Why when I get my wand on him…." Susan was the fastest to react but Harry had the best reaction- "Well, at least we know he's a dunce, no one had mud for blood, honestly!" Even Hermione cracked up, unable to hold in her laughter. Harry smiled in satisfaction, happy that he had made her make light of the situation. That said, his inner reaction was similar to Susan's.
"Methinks the bigots need a bit of education on the human body- Let's all drag anyone who utters that word to the infirmary and ask the nurse, or matron to explain to them what blood is made of- clearly, they need the lesson!" He continued, making Neville laugh as well.
So the conversation mellowed out, and soon it moved to the Sorting where everyone showed their preferences.
Susan started out, "I want to make as many friends as possible- I can't really do that unless I know as many friendly people as possible, which is why I believe I'll go to Hufflepuff" Harry personally felt that her deductive skills were Ravenclaw worthy.
Hannah piped up, saying that she just wanted no attention on her, which is why she would end up in Hufflepuff. Again, Harry felt that was a Slytherin's mentality.
Neville wasn't allowed to speak, since Harry established immediately that he was going to go to either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. Hannah wanted to argue, but relented since Neville agreed, with that self-confidence boost Harry just delivered.
Hermione was interesting- she felt she would go to Gryffindor, since Albus Dumbledore had also entered there. Harry already established her Ravenclaw traits so he didn't argue there.
Harry said that he would meet Hermione and Neville in Gryffindor for sure, if they ended up there. THAT sparked a commotion, since no one had ever been able to predict their Sorting that confidently. He decided to clarify why that would be the case.
"Look," he began, "the Houses value a certain set of personality traits each. That alone means the Sorting is a form of magical psychoanalysis that determines which set is dominant in you. That means you don't need to know how to cast a spell, you just need to know what set you want to show is dominant, since it gets you that house. Me, I know that I'm a Slytherin by personality, though I actually hold all the required parts for all the houses. That means that all you need to know is where you want to go. I don't want everyone to know that I'm cunning- why would I do that, when I can surprise the shit ("Language!" Hermione admonished) out of everyone in the end?
"Furthermore, I have other reasons to not go to Slytherin. Where necessary, I will not try to stand out, but stay relevant anyway." When that rant ended, all of them were in disbelief. Seeing this, Hannah spoke up, asking him how the hell he can prove his own Slytherin tendencies. This caught Harry off guard- he hadn't meant to walk into that. Then again, he wanted these four to be his first friends in the magical world, so he might as well own up to it. By now the other three also wanted to know how he would pull this off.
"OK, OK, calm down, you lot. This doesn't leave this compartment. My name isn't really Mike, and this isn't my real appearance. Let's just say I wanted to pull a prank, and so I asked a random wizard at the Leaky to make me look like this. It should wear off by the time the Sorting starts, so it should help." Not exactly a lie, he had planted a memory in the mind of the Leaky's landlord to corroborate, since he did this in private, he also had confidentiality on his side.
Harry intended to keep his Metamorph abilities a secret until he taught someone how to be one. His friends now wanted to know why he lied, and who he really was. Harry refused to tell them who he really was until the Sorting got over. When asked why, he cryptically said "Well, I think you will understand why when I tell you, but remember, you four are my first and best friends ever, no matter what!" That calmed them down, but now they couldn't wait for the Sorting. The rest of the journey was spent in peace. The lunch trolley contained too many treats of the wizarding variety for those of non-magical origin to feel comfortable with, though Harry bought 7 of each variety. He then proceeded to share the entire pile with the rest of the compartment. The journey to Hogwarts came to an end as they pulled up at the station, and since they changed into their robes separately, and were told to leave their luggage in the compartments, they left. To the group of 5, it was the start of their schooling in magic. To Harry, it was the beginning of his revolution, and the first challenge he faced was laughably easy, he rather felt.
Right, an explanation is in order, I believe... for my absence, that is! Y'see, I just started my Postgrad course, and I've been thrown back and forth with changes, in addition to entering a dorm for the first time in my life- my undergrad college was close enough that I could afford to commute- and so I had a long-ish adjustment period. Not to worry tho, I will never abandon a story without reason! I've earned too many loyal readers of this and my other stories that I can't really afford to drop even one of them. If I do drop one though, I will explain my rationale! Now then, I believe you have questions, complaints and so on, which is why my next chapter of this story will also feature it's first ever Q&A session! The questions you have can be put in the reviews... Pls refer to this chapter while doing so. I will endeavor to answer without spoiling, though I have a solid idea of the end in mind.
