WHAT IF
Chapter 1 - Welcome to Hogwarts
September first was a wonderful warm autumn day with a clear sky and Hermione felt like she was floating on cloud nine as she bid her parents goodbye and entered the red Hogwarts Express. It was like the beginning of a magical adventure journey in one of her books - except for the countless other children who were running through the train. With a big smile plastered on her face, Hermione started to search for a compartment. She wanted to sit with someone her age preferably and try to make friends from the beginning. Now that she wasn't the odd one anymore and around children like herself, she felt that it should be easier to finally make friends.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" Hermione entered a small compartment where only a boy with a round face and blond hair sat alone. He looked up with a bright smile and nodded.
"Please, sit down." Hermione took the seat opposite from the boy.
"My name is Hermione Granger." She offered him her hand and he took it shyly.
"Neville Longbottom." He blushed a bit and Hermione got the impression that Neville wasn't a confident boy.
"Nice to meet you." Hermione smiled and then proceeded to make herself comfortable. She offered some of her sugar-free snacks to Neville and in return got some of his sweets.
"That's fascinating," she was stunned when the chocolate frog jumped out of his box into her hand. "How does that work?"
"Magic," Neville shrugged and took a bite of the sugar-free gummy bears Hermione's parents always had at their dentistry.
"So, you're muggle-born?" He asked after he gave her the gummy bears back with a distinct grimace of not liking the taste. Hermione almost laughed at that. She herself didn't like the taste either but it was the only sweets her parents allowed her.
"Yeah, and you are not?" She asked excitedly. By reading Hogwarts - A History Hermione had discovered that there was an entire magical culture she knew nothing about and that there were children who grew up with magic like it was the most normal thing in the world. For Hermione, all of that was terribly interesting and she started to bombard Neville with questions about his family and childhood. But to her disappointment, the plumb boy wasn't very keen on chatting about it. Nonetheless, they spend most of the train ride by talking about Hogwarts and the magical world. Neville told Hermione about the day he had had his first incident of accidental magic and she told him about her time as the odd girl because of her magical outbursts.
Suddenly the door opened and a boy with flaming red hair, glasses and an important look on his face peered inside.
"First years?" Neville and Hermione nodded surprised. "We're almost at the train station. Get dressed and leave your luggage on the train." And with one last glance, the boy vanished again. Hermione shook her head at his attitude but grabbed her school uniform and went to the girl's bathroom. She liked her new uniform. It was practical and the fabric felt quite nice. It also saved her the time and stress to think about her clothes every day. Plus, Hermione had no idea what witches in the magical culture normally wore, so she felt slightly unprepared. The school uniform made that easier.
"Oh no no no..." Neville was kneeling on the floor when she came back, his head halfway under the seat.
"What's wrong?"
"I lost Trevor," Neville whined, his face a desperate shade of white. "My toad. My uncle Algie gave him to me as a gift when I got my Hogwarts letter." Frantically Neville crawled through the compartment.
"Maybe he is somewhere outside or in another compartment," Hermione suggested carefully. This was the first time she heard about the toad and wasn't sure if they would find it at this point. God knew how far the toad had made it in the last hours. But Neville's pale face and worried, tear-filled eyes prevented her from saying anything.
"Don't worry, I will help you search. You go in that direction and I'm taking the other." She helped the desperate boy up and both started their search. Hermione opened compartment after compartment and asked politely if anyone had seen a toad. But when she reached the end of the train she almost lost hope. No one had seen the toad and most of the students hadn't been really helpful either.
But when she opened the last compartment her mood instantly became better. Two boys her age were sitting there. One of them had ginger hair and a rat in one hand, his wand in the other.
"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." Hermione sat down excited. This was the first time since the visit from Professor McGonagall that she was able to see real magic. Hermione, of course, understood why the no magic outside Hogwarts-rule was important but it really annoyed her nonetheless. Every single night since she had found out she was a witch, she had dreamed of finally being able to do magic herself.
Unfortunately, her expectations weren't fulfilled when the ginger boy failed to turn his rat yellow. Instead, Hermione took the chance to practice some magic on the other boy and was successful. Quite pleased with herself she offered both of them her hand and introduced herself.
When Hermione left the compartment later to get back to Neville, she found that the two boys had been rather odd. Ron Weasley, the redhead with the rat, had been quite annoying with his eye rolling and Harry Potter... well he seemed nice but Hermione got the feeling that both of them didn't like her much. Probably because of her straightforward way. She knew that some people were quickly annoyed with that but ultimately Hermione wouldn't change who she was.
As she strolled along the train she watched the other students and the little magic tricks, spells and toys they were playing with. Everyone seemed to be familiar with these magical things and Hermione felt kind of out of place. Hopefully next year she would be equally familiar with magic and have real friends to spend the ride with. She was so deep in thought that she didn't see the group of older students in the hallway and so she walked right into one of them. Stumbling Hermione landed ungracefully on her butt.
"Woah, everything okay, shorty?" The older boy looked down on her with an amused smile on his face. He had red hair and Hermione wondered shortly why there were so many red-haired boys on this train. Beside him, with an equally amused smirk, stood an identical copy of the boy.
"Did I hit my head? I think I'm seeing double." Hermione asked confused but the older students around her just broke out in roaring laughter.
"That one never gets old," one of the two boys grinned and offered her his hand, helping her up. Puzzled Hermione got up and inspected the boys for a moment till it clicked. Twins, identical twins! And apparently the two did everything to look even more alike. They had their hair styled the same way, wore the same clothes and even their facial expressions and gestures were identical.
"Thank you," Hermione replied. "Has anyone of you maybe seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost one and I'm helping him search." The whole group shook their heads.
"Nah, Neville himself has been in our compartment half an hour ago or so but we haven't seen the toad till now." A tall girl with dark skin, perfect teeth and a warm smile answered.
"Oh, too bad, but well... thank you," Hermione politely squeezed herself past the older students. She heard them laugh faintly behind her but ignored it. She was very glad when she finally met Neville again who was near tears because of Trevor. It took her almost the rest of the train ride to calm him down.
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When Trevor finally appeared in one of the boats Neville was overjoyed and Hermione let out a deep, relieved sigh. She had feared that she would spend the first week at Hogwarts with consoling the blonde boy about his lost pet. But their happiness about the toad was short lived when Professor McGonagall announced the sorting ceremony. Hermione had no idea what she had to do and felt awfully unprepared. And she hated to be unprepared. It made her feel lost and nervous. Hermione didn't like new and unknown situation very much.
When it was her turn to go on stage and take the hat Hermione tried to look confident and calm. But deep inside, she feared for the worst. What if she failed? Would they send her home?
Well, well, well. What do we have here? A voice rang through her head and Hermione almost jumped up.
No need to worry, the hat chuckled. So, where do I sort you? I see a thirst for knowledge. The urge to learn and quite a big amount of curiosity. Ravenclaw would be a good fit. Hermione smiled to herself. Ravenclaw also seemed like the best choice for her.
But I also see dreams of big adventures. Curiosity not only to learn but also to discover new things. A strive for great deeds. The hat snickered in amusement.
"Gryffindor!" It yelled a second later and with a little jump Hermione got up and went to the roaring table. She sat down beside Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnigan, the other two first years that had already been sorted into her new house. On the other side of them, she saw the ginger with the glasses who introduced himself eagerly as Percy Weasley, freshly announced Gryffindor prefect.
"Oh, is Ron your brother? I met him on the train."
"My deepest sympathy for that. First Ronnikins and now Percy, not the best selection of Weasleys you got there" One of the red-haired twins chimed in from the side, while he clapped Percy on the back. The older boy glared at him.
"But thankfully you also met us, the most splendid specimen." The other twin leaned in.
"Fred! George!" Percy hissed and glared at the two. Hermione blinked at them and then she saw it. The similarities between the three of them and Ron was striking. For her, as an only child, it was quite fascinating to see siblings in action. And the three Weasley brothers in front of her were hilarious as they grimaced and bickered with each other.
"So, who is Fred and who is George?" Hermione asked and instantly the twins focused on her. Both with a fat smirk on their faces.
"So, little Miss Granger wants to know who is who?"
"Wants to call us by the right names, doesn't she?"
"Well, then let's see if she's able to." Confused Hermione turned from one twin to the other as they spoke but then suddenly the whole hall went silent as Professor McGonagall called for Harry Potter. The twins seemed to forget about Hermione within a second and instead applauded loudly when Harry was sorted into Gryffindor. The rest of the sorting went by smoothly and ended with another loud applause from Percy and the twins when Ron made it into Gryffindor.
Hermione enjoyed the feast and her first evening in Hogwarts immensely. The food was excellent, most of the students were quite nice and there were so many wonders and magic to discover that Hermione was almost too fussy to sleep.
"Oh wow, Hermione that is a beautiful soul mark." Lavender gushed as Hermione slipped into her pyjamas that evening. Surprised Hermione looked down on her stomach. He had completely forgotten about the small mark. To her surprise, it had changed his form. The little flower bud had opened and was now in full bloom. It looked like a rose.
"A soul mark?" Hermione asked curiously. She hadn't thought much about the mark in the last months. Since nothing had happened after she had gained it, it had become uninteresting to her.
"Of course, don't you know about them?" Lavender rolled up the sleeve of her right arm. There was a small mark similar to Hermione's, but still completely unique. It showed a small candle with a bright red flame.
"Lavender," Parvati scolded from the bed. "Hermione is muggle-born, of course, she doesn't know. Come here, we can explain it." The dark-haired girl patted on her mattress and timidly Hermione sat down. It was new for her to be involved with girls her age and deep inside she was a bit excited.
"See, every witch and wizard has a soulmate. A person who is your other half, who completes you. And the soul marks are the physical connection. It's a way to find your soulmate. When a witch or a wizard turns eleven the mark appears on their skin. And when you first touch your soulmate, then it changes its form."
"Oh, it really did change. Till today my mark was a flower bud, but now it is blooming." Parvati and Lavender both squealed.
"Oh," Lavender sighed, "that means you met your soulmate today. That's so exciting." The blonde girl jumped up and down. "Do you have any idea who it can be?"
"God, no. I met dozens of people today when I searched the train for Neville's toad Trevor." Hermione thought about her search through the train. She had talked to half the school and even collided with a few students. She had touched enough people to have a gigantic choice of possible soulmates. Parvati and Lavender both looked a bit disappointed, so Hermione quickly tried to change the topic.
"So, is there a reason why yours has colour?" She nodded at Lavender, who still showed her burning candle mark.
"There is," Parvati smiled while she lifted her own pyjama top. On her stomach was a small candle with a bright red flame.
"You two are soulmates?" Now Hermione really was curious. She only knew the concept of soulmates from the muggle world where it meant to have found the love of one's life. Hermione's parents often referred to each other as soulmates.
"Yeah, we discovered it when we met at Diagon Alley during the summer. Lavender wore a sleeveless top and I accidentally bumped into her at Ollivander's. I saw how her mark changed his shape and I just knew it. It was quite exciting." Parvati explained with a fond smile. "Before we met, it was just a candle. Then the colourless flame appeared, when we accidentally touched, and lastly the red colour."
"So, what exactly triggers the colour?"
"I'm not sure, in our case both changed happened at the same time. Maybe the colour appears as soon as you recognise each other as soulmates." Lavender shrugged. She and Parvati proceeded to tell Hermione about their relationship as soulmates. How they instantly became the best friends and couldn't even imagine life without each other anymore. Hermione listened curiously but was quite sceptical about this whole soulmate concept. She had to read into that sometime, but as she went to bed she had already forgotten about it. The prospect of learning magic was more exciting than having a soulmate.
OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO OOO
The first two weeks in Hogwarts went by in a blur for Hermione. She had so much to do with keeping up on her studies and trying to find her way in the old castle, that she almost forgot about her own birthday. So, when the owl from her parents with the birthday card and a small gift box arrived at breakfast that morning Hermione was surprised for a moment. Then she realised that no one of her classmates knew that it was her birthday. She was probably the oldest in her year and it felt odd to tell other people about it. So, Hermione kept quiet and enjoyed the day with unpacking her gift alone in her dorm room.
The next few weeks went by in a similar manner and slowly Hermione became more and more frustrated. When she had imagined her life at Hogwarts she had always thought that her peers would be equally excited about learning magic as she was. She had imagined that she would brew potions with her fellow witches and talk with them about spells. But her fellow witches were nothing like that.
Lavender and Parvati always seemed to be in their own little world and slowly Hermione got the feeling that them being soulmates meant, that she had no place in this friendship. Her two roommates just were too close with each other. They were by no means excluding her on purpose, but their little insider jokes and the way they understood each other without even saying a word, well that did nothing to include Hermione. So, she tried to befriend the boys in their house.
While Neville was still as friendly as on the train ride, he was also always nervous around Hermione. She got the impression that her ambition, knowledge and talent made Neville a bit uncomfortable. The same seemed true for Harry and Ron. Hermione was more than aware of the annoyed gazes and eye rolls of the two boys. Plus, the two had already proven themselves to be troublemakers with their little nightly adventure to duel Draco Malfoy. After that incident and the discovery of the three-headed dog on the third floor, Hermione had decided to ignore them. No matter how lonely she felt at Hogwarts, she still wanted to learn magic and getting expelled was the worst thing she could imagine. No way in hell would she let herself be sent back to the muggle world. That left only Seamus, who was a bit too loud and explosive for her taste, and Dean, the only other muggle-born. With Dean, Hermione got along okay, but she couldn't really call him a friend.
Befriending students from the other houses was even harder. The Slytherins were no choice given the rivalry between the houses, the Hufflepuffs were nice but kept to themselves and the Ravenclaws seemed even more antisocial than Hermione.
So, Hermione had to admit that she slowly became an outsider. The other students obviously didn't like her intelligence and hardworking personality and Hermione was aware of the whispering behind her back. But she couldn't change who she was. She loved the classes and desperately wanted to do her best. She wanted to learn and show off her skills.
Still, the loneliness was getting to her as the weeks went by and sometime around the end of October, she remembered the soul mark again. Oh, how she wished for a soulmate! A best friend, a companion and ally, who she could confide in. Someone who was always there for her, like Lavender and Parvati were for each other. But unfortunately, the school was big and asking people to show their soul marks was considered impolite. But Hermione almost desperately wished to meet her soulmate and even considered taking time off her studies in order to research about the soul mark. Maybe there was a way to find your soulmate on purpose instead of waiting for coincidence.
It was with that wish in mind that Hermione spent Halloween crying at the girl's bathroom. Ron Weasley was a terrible person! And still, his words had hit right at the sore spot of Hermione's lonely life at Hogwarts. He was right. She didn't have any friends and would probably never have some. She had been the odd girl at her muggle school and now it was still the same. Nothing had changed. She had so desperately hoped to fit in but it was pointless. Magic or no magic, Hermione Granger was an odd girl. A soulmate who was guaranteed to be your best friends almost seemed too good to be true to her.
Snivelling Hermione finally made her way out of the small cabin sometime around dinner time when she became hungry. She didn't really want to go to the great hall but her growling stomach took the decision off her. Well, she had to meet Ron sooner or later. At least during dinner, she could hide between the older students. But her plans were ultimately ruined when she opened the door of the cabin and looked at a gigantic, ugly troll.
I haven't decided yet how fast or slow I will go through the first few Hogwarts years. As you can see I'm not going to retell the books scene by scene but I still need to find my pace. So please be patient.
As for the question of how often, I will update: I'm not going to make promises. I'm always trying to update as often as possible.
Reviews are always welcome and good motivation ;)
