Hermione was pacing back and forth in the topmost hallway in the castle for some reason. "I thought we were on a time crunch, Hermione?" Harry asked. As soon as he finished asking, a door fazed into existence in front of her. "Nevermind."

"Come on, Harry!" She called as she pulled open the door. Harry quickly followed behind her and saw that the entire room was covered in red, with two walls full of books.

"Where are we?" The Boy-Who-Lived asked, taking in his surroundings.

"This is the Crimson Room. This is where Mr. Amamiya is training me to save the universe." She answered off-handedly, peering around at the different books.

"Oh, okay so how are you going to sa- Wait WHAT? Save the Universe!?" Just what has his friend gotten into?

Hermione sighed. "Honestly Harry, it's not important right now. Help me look for a way to Awaken Personas."

Harry quietly mouthed 'Awaken Personas?' before a pulse of energy came from a corner of the room. Both students looked over to the corner and there was now a rift, about the size of the cupboard that Harry used to live in, pulsating there.

"This should do it then!" Hermione's expression of determination hardened again, just as it had in the hospital wing.

"Wait, Hermione! What is going on!?" The last half hour of consciousness has been a whirlwind for Harry. Fainting hundreds of meters in the air cause of Dementors, waking up in the hospital wing with Mr. Amamiya and Hermione, Hermione freaking out about Personas, and a rift of some kind suddenly appearing? Time to pump the breaks.

"Alright, so this Portal here, I believe, is going to help me Awaken my Persona. You remember the Unicorn that Mr. Amamiya rode in on from the feast? That's a Persona of his. How he was able to stop the Hippogriff without a scratch on him? Another Persona. Have you felt his presence shift before? That's him changing Personas. I have the ability to do the same. Once I awaken my Persona, I can grow stronger and protect you and the rest of the world. Harry the whole world, no- the whole universe is going to be destroyed. The only way to prevent that, Harry is to gain a Persona. I'm not gonna lie to you, Harry, I could die in the process of awakening my Persona. It's Dangerous. That's why I didn't want to bring you with me. And with or without you, I'm going in there."

Hermione was about to take off again, so Harry grabbed her shoulder once again. "Honestly, I'm not understanding any of this. But I'm with you, Hermione. Just, don't do anything reckless, okay? I can't lose you." Hermione just smiled at him, before going onward. Hermione disappeared into the rift, and Harry followed suit.


Ren shot up from the bed he was in. His head throbbed from the sudden movement, but that wasn't important to him. He felt a disturbance, one he hadn't felt since Mementos. The pulsing sensation of being transported from the Real World into a Shadow Nest. Something wasn't right, however. The ambiance didn't change, there was no overwhelming pressure. He reached into his trench coats pocket and ate a Soul Chew. The World's aching head ceased it's throbbing, the citrus flavor allowing him to think a little clearer. Wasn't Harry supposed to be here? After researching Dementors and watching Harry free-fall several meters, he should definitely be here. So either it's been a few days, which was highly unlikely given his endeavors in the Metaverse, or… "Oh, damn it, Hermione!" Ren rolled out of the bed and started running. He looked behind him for a second and didn't see any kind of distortion over the path he just walked on. So definitely not in a Shadow Nest.

Hermione was getting restless about not having a Persona, and this incident with Harry and the Dementors could have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Who knows how far they got in the time that he was unconscious? Was it a few minutes, or hours? Hopefully, they'd be researching at best. Joker reached up to his mask and changed his Persona to Yoshitsune, the drastic change in Agility allowing him to run even faster. Using his increased Strength, Ren jumped up from platform to platform in the Grand Staircase, quickly soaring towards the seventh floor. The door to the Crimson Room was already there in the Hallway. "I swear to Igor you better just be studying in there." Ren opened up the door and didn't see anyone. "Ah, effin' shit…" Ryuji rubbed off on him enough that his habit of saying 'eff' instead of 'fuck' passed on to the World. Instead of his student like he was hoping for, he saw a light purple rift in the corner of the Crimson Room. Joker flung himself across the room, diving head first into the assumed portal. The sensation of passing through was nothing like that of Mementos. It was like submerging himself in fire and ice at the same time.

He looked at his new surroundings, in the middle of a clearing in a dark forest. The trees looked of regular oak, but they were towering above him, at least fifteen times his size. It was eerily quiet in this forest, no sounds of wildlife at all. Joker scanned the clearing, looking for any sign of Hermione, but didn't see anything. He huffed and activated his Third Eye, dimming the already dark forest into almost pitch blackness. There were two sets of glowing blue footprints headed west of the clearing showing him where his student and assumedly Harry Potter went off to. Suddenly there was a loud scream, piercing through the silent realm. There was no more time to waste. He ran.


"Look what you got yourself into Hermione! You could have just taken double classes, but noooooo~, you had to be seduced by the possibility of saving the universe and being useful! And now your fighting monsters to the death!" The young witch ranted at herself as she fired another Glacius at one of the monsters attacking them. It froze into solid ice mid-leap and crashed into the ground, shattering into pieces and fading away. She heard Harry cast a Ventus and watched as several of the monsters get launched back into the forest, a few impacting into trees and roaring in pain. Hermione saw a monster pop up into view beside Harry. "Orbis!" Before it could reach out with its long tongue and strike at her friend, it was struck by the Jinx and slammed into the earth, burying it in the ground. Harry turned and stomped on it.

"Might wanna focus, Hermione! How are you supposed to get a Persona again?" Harry asked as Hermione cast Carpe Retractum to pull a goop monster with a mask on and launch it over her by releasing the spell. It crashed into a different monster that was coming up behind them.

The Wild Card thought back to the most recent lesson that she held with Ren. "Our best bet is to find my 'Shadow Self', whatever that means. Just keep an eye out for someone looking like me. Glacius!" She saw Harry shrug out of the corner of her eye as she attacked another monster.

The two students fought next to each other for another few minutes before Hermione started to stagger. "Hermione? What's wrong!?" She barely noticed Harry as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Magical Exhaustion. She tried to tell Harry, but nothing came out. Too much effort, not enough mental energy. She wanted to tell him to leave, to run, and save himself; instead fell down on her butt. "Hermione!"

A swarm of monsters came from the trees at Harry's cry. This was it. It's over. Would Harry ever forgive her? She hoped he would live through this. That's all she could wish for.

"Is this all you can do? Mope and wait for your death while other people die for you?" A throb ran through her head as the voice tore across her mind. "All your wisdom, All your intelligence, All for naught." The throb turned into a pulsing ache, which quickly escalated to constant sharp pain. It was getting hard for her to breathe. "Even now while your life is at risk your thoughts are soaring through your mind. But what good can you do? He will die. Because. Of. You." She was crying openly now, the pain was so bad. But she could not let this be the end. Harry can't lose anyone else.

"NO!" Hermione roared at the voice. It took everything she had to even answer the voice; she gave it all and more. She struggled to her feet. She can't let Harry be alone. She's supposed to save the Universe! She'll start with saving Harry!

"Yes! Get up! Show that you are more than knowledge! Show me your resolve!" Hermione weakly raised her wand and fired off red sparks in the air. Sure, they didn't escape the canopy of tree branches and leaves above the two teens, but it was proof. She was still there. "Don't let anyone, not even yourself hold you down!" Something appeared on her face, a mask; it disgusted her. How dare this mask hold her back? She reached up and yanked at the mask. Yet it refused to budge."Vow to me! I am thou, thou art I! Thou who art willing to stand up for what you believe in! SCREAM OUR NAME INTO THE FACES OF THOSE THAT WOULD HARM WHAT IS OURS!" The mask began to give way.

"HYPATIA!" Hermione called as the mask left her face, taking her skin with it. Blood poured from her face for a single second before blue flames escaped from her eyes and covered her face. Her face was restored, but she didn't care. The mask was gone. She was free. She had a Persona.

Energy surrounded her, slamming into the monsters and flinging them away from her and Harry. The pain in her head ceased, and the voice was no long pulsing through her. It came from behind her this time. "I am the Seeker of Knowledge- Hypatia! I am the protector's soul that resides within you. If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break through this crisis." The mask in her hands flashed a bright blue in the dark forest, and when the light faded, a Halberd took its place.

Hermione swung her weapon around to get a feel for it. She looked up at an encroaching monster with a glint in her eye. "Please, give me your strength!"

"Very Well. Swing your blade!" Was the response to the plea. As Hermione listened, while she stabbed the tongue monster she felt a surge of strength soar through her. The Halberd shot straight through it, cleaving it in two. The monster faded away in to faint purple and black dust. The Wild Card heard a twig snap to her left, and turned her head to the noise, spotting two blobs with masks on them. "This power of mine is yours!" A word popped into her mind that she had never heard of before, and a deep need to pull the mask back off ran through her heart. Hermione called out the word as she ripped the mask off.

"PSI!" As she cast the skill, small blue, yellow, and white lights circled around one of the monsters. The being screamed, clutching its face -or mask? It was hard for her to differentiate with the small amount of exposure- and then eventually exploding into a mist.

"Detest the enemies before you! Change that animosity into power... and unleash it! Kill them however you want! They wanted to hurt what was yours!"

Hermione turned to the other one and felt another word pop into her head, this one more familiar than the last. "Destroy them Hypatia! BASH!" A woman at least another meter taller hovered past her. Hypatia was fair skinned and wrapped in a white toga, with brown curly hair, similar to Hermione's but more tamed instead of bushy and wild. She pulled back one of her slender arms and slammed it down onto the monster, the beast disintegrating as it was launched into the ground. The new Wild Card felt a twinge of satisfaction soar through her until she heard a cacophony of roars. She looked up and the mass of enemies that threatened to swarm her and Harry earlier was back, speeding to the two. "Harry! Get behind me!" Hermione had no time to think about if he listened to her or not, as a familiar voice cut in.

"SATANAEL! RIOT GUN!" There, coming out of the trees was Ren radiating power with his mask off, and the towering figure of Satanael hovering above him. In the Persona's hand was a giant gun, a thundering bang as it fired a single shot into the mass of monsters, and quicker than Hermione's eye could notice, they were all gone. "You two follow me. Now." Gone was the stern and endearing teacher that she worked with, and in his place was her predecessor, Joker of the Phantom Thieves -and man did that actually mean something now, she had a Persona like him, was a Wild Card like him, is she a Phantom Thief now?- and he exuded confidence and anger. Hermione opened her mouth to answer him, but as she did, she felt the adrenaline from earlier leave her, and her magical exhaustion was brought back to her attention. She felt her body sag and her vision fade and the next thing she knew something was shoved into her mouth. "Chew." whispered a voice, and she didn't even have a choice to see if she could or not. A hand, gloved from the feel of it, gently grabbed her jaw and forcibly made her chew. An explosion of flavor soared through her mouth, the tart citrus somehow filling her with energy. Her eyes shot open, and she noticed she was back in the Crimson Room, laying down on a bed. She tried to sit up but was gently pushed back down. "No." The voice turned out to be Ren, who was standing next to her. She looked around and didn't see Harry. Ren must have noticed, as he answered her unspoken question. "Harry went to get food. It's almost dinner time." The way he answered was almost conversational like she didn't just risk her and Harry's life on some desperate plot to get a Persona.

"I," Her voice rasped, and suddenly a glass of water was put in her hands. She deeply drank from it and felt the cooling sensation of the liquid ease her throat. Hermione didn't even notice that she finished the glass as she removed it from her lips. The Student tried to speak again. "I'm sorry. For jumping ahead without you. For putting Harry in danger."

"Why did you?" He calmly asked, and somehow that made it so much worse.

"Foolish reasons." She sighed. "After watching Harry fall like that during the game, and then seeing you collapse after destroying several Dementors -which should be impossible, by the way, Wizards have been looking for millennia to find a way- and then sitting in the hospital wing waiting for you two to wake up, andthenbackinsecondyearwiththewholebasiliskthingIwasuselessinthefightagainstitbecauseIwaspetrifiedandtheninfirstyearIcouldn'tdoanythingaboutthetrollthatalmostkilledmeandthenonthewaytogetthestonefromProfessorQuirrelIfiguredtheriddleouttogetHarrytothestonebuttherewasn'tenoughtogothroughand I'm just so tired of being on the sidelines while my only friends are risking their lives! I want to help people! I want to protect my friends! Not wait for hours or days on end in the hospital wing to see if maybe the people I care about are EVER GOING TO WAKE UP!" Hermione seemed to realize that she was ranting now as she stopped and took a few breaths to regain her composure. Ren just nodded.

"I don't think that was foolish at all. You want to help people. You want to protect your friends. Of course, you're going to do whatever you can to protect them, even if it means risking your life in the process. I'm not mad at you if that's what you're worried about. I was just scared. I've almost been too late too many times to help people, and I thought you were going to be next."

"Ren…" Hermione spoke softly, her eyes already wet from voicing one of her big insecurities. Now filled with relief that her teacher, another person she cared deeply about, wasn't upset with her, she felt herself crying.

"Oh, Hermione." The new Wild Card felt the older one embrace her, and she openly wept all the stress away. "But still, that speech you just did? That was really impressive. Did you even take a breath for that?" Hermione laughed through the tears and the hug, pulling away to wipe her eyes. "It reminds me about this one time, Queen, the Advisor of the Phantom Thieves. She kanojo no perusona o mezamesase, kanojo wa kono mafiano bosu o koe ni dashite, tada sakende bujoku to ikari dekare ni osoikakatta! Sore wa machigainaku Ore ga mitanaka de mottomo kūruna mezamedeshita."(1) Hermione tilted her head in confusion.

"Uh… Ren? I can't understand the language you're speaking."

Now it was Ren's turn to look confused. "E? Hen desuna? Kimi no kotoba yoku wakarimasukedo... Watashi ga itteiru koto mo zenzen chigawanai yō desu. Ima hanashiteiru gengo wa nani ka shitteiru deshou?"(2) Hermione looked lost. "You should probably go see Professor Dumbledore. He'll probably be able to help. I won't go anywhere if you're worried about that. It'd be rude to Harry."

Ren sighed before rolling his eyes playfully at her. "Ja ne!" (3) He called as he exited the room to see presumably the Headmaster. Hermione laughed to herself before resting back on the bed, waiting for Harry to get back.


THIS IS ALL INFO

(Carpe Retractum seize and pull/ Glacius freezing/ Orbis Jinx sink into the earth/ Ventus strong spiraling winds/ Relashio releasing grip [alive or chain])

Hypatia- Level 1

Hypatia was regarded as a witch, when in actuality she was an extraordinary greek woman who was widely known for her generosity, love of learning, and expertise in teaching in the subjects of Neo-Platonism, mathematics, science, and philosophy in general. Hypatia was attacked by a mob of Christian monks, dragged from her chariot down the street into a church, and was there stripped naked, beaten to death, and burned.

Strength: 2

Magic: 3

Endurance: 2

Agility: 2

Luck:1

Inherits: Psi

Resists: Psi

Weak: Agi

Skills:

Psi - 4 SP - Light Psychokinesis (PSY) Damage to one foe

Bash - 5% HP - Light Physical Damage to one foe

Equipment:

10 3/4ths"Vine Wood, Dragon Heartstring Wand

A magical foci that allows a Witch or Wizard to cast spells. Great for Charms. Modest at Curses.

Protector's Halberd

A weapon that manifested upon Hermione awakening to her Persona.

ATK: 44 HIT: 80

Plain Jumper

A plain comfy Jumper that's easy to move around in.

DEF: 22 EVA: 7

Featherweight Book Bag

A Book Bag charmed to be weightless. It can fit so many books!

Stats: N/A

Translations (that I ran through three different translators, so if they are bad I am SO sorry. If you know a way I can say it better, PLEASE let me know so I can fix it.)
1. [awoke her Persona, she called out this mafia boss and just screamed and raved at him with insults and hate. It was definitely the coolest awakenings I've seen!]
2. [Eh? That's weird. I can understand you fine, though. Do you know what language I'm speaking?]
3. [See you later!]

EDIT:12/2/2019 Thanks to Pokelolmc for the updated translation of number 2 to making it more casual sounding and human like!

Measurements in case you wanted them! 175 CM/5'9" Ft Joker's Height. Trees are 26.25M/ 86.12 FT

Spells used in this chapter:
Carpe Retractum seize and pull/ Glacius freezing/ Orbis Jinx sink into the earth/ Ventus strong spiraling winds

Slice of life coming up next! Feel free to make requests, but please understand if I do not choose to apply them.


MORE IMPORTANT INFO

Who do we want paired up? I will only focus on two Pairings. One for Ren (and only mentioned in the Slice-Of-Life chapters and Summers when he goes back for a day.) and one for Hermione. I am also not good enough to right a supper smutty Harem Pairing, so don't ask. Yet. Pairings don't matter, so I'm fine with Yaoi/Yuri pairings. So you want Joker/Skull? sure. Joker/Noir? yup. Joker/Queen. yeah. Hermione/Harry? Affirmative. Hermione/Luna? Indeed. However I am not crossing franchises. no Joker/Fleur. no Hermione/Fox.

Poll for Joker is strawpoll dot com / 67e5 d947 but without the spaces and replace the dot with a period
Poll for Hermione is strawpoll dot com / 4pfr 1c7c same as above

Results will be chosen by 5-16-2019