Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All characters/settings/lore are the property of their respective owners.
This week had been the strangest of Hermione Granger's life.
It all started the night of her 11th birthday, when Professor McGonagall had told her she was a witch. Hermione had not believed her. Not until she had waved a wand and turned her teacup into a mouse. She was both excited and scared of going to Hogwarts. On one hand, she might finally fit in somewhere. Hermione never fit in with the other kids. Whether it was her intelligence, attitude or the weird things that happened around her, Hermione was always the weird kid with few friends. Her Mum had always suggested she try and work on being less critical of others, but Hermione didn't see the problem. How were they going to learn if she didn't correct them?
On the other hand, she was going to a place she knew nothing about. Hermione would be completely alone, without a friend or her parents to support her. So the day after McGonagall had introduced her to magic, she had begged her Dad to take her to London so she could visit Diagon Alley and learn as much as she could about Hogwarts and magic before school began. She could have spent weeks exploring Diagon Alley, just taking in all the new sights and exploring the shops. Particularly the bookshop, where she had picked up a copy of Hogwarts: A History which she had already half-way finished.
The week got stranger with the arrival of her distant uncle, Achilles Mardas. She always loved it when he visited. He was a scientist working on top-secret projects for the government. Before she had discovered magic, she wanted to follow in his footsteps. While he was his usual reserved yet caring self, Hermione was shocked by how calmly he took the knowledge of magic. Even her own parents had yet to fully process it, but her uncle had taken it in stride.
Hermione would find out why 4 days later.
That day had been the strangest day of Hermione Granger's strangest week. Even the day Professor McGonagall had introduced her to the Wizarding World paled in comparison. Uncle Achilles had shown up without warning early in the morning with a wide grin on his face, flanked by two very intimidating armed guards, telling her Mum he was taking them to a place where they could learn more about the Wizarding World. He had all but demanded they pack their bags for a weekend trip to his worksite, with an excitement and happiness Hermione had never seen in him before. Her parents had been a strange mixture of relieved and scared, though they calmed down when Achilles assured them he would keep them all safe. They had packed within the hour and Achilles and the guards had escorted them all into black and featureless cars. All Hermione could think about was how much this reminded her of Dad's old spy movies.
They drove for 3 hours before reaching a small unmarked airstrip. The Grangers were all but manhandled into a sleek metal plane filled with other scientists and guards. They were given a few curious glances by onlookers, but Achilles made them disperse with a flash of a keycard. Her parents had asked Achilles what was happening or where they were going, but he had refused to answer any questions until they arrived. Instead, he tried to entice Hermione into a conversation about her school life. Hermione was too overwhelmed to give more than one-word answers, so they sat there in awkward silence for the remainder of the plane trip.
Achilles only spoke up again when they had landed and exited the plane.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Site 19!" Achilles announced proudly, with an exaggerated gesture towards the city-like complex behind him. Gentle waves washed against massive geometric concrete buildings that rose up from the surrounding forest like mountains.
"Now, a few safety instructions. Remember to be polite and courteous to anybody you meet inside and please don't ask them too many questions. If you have questions, I'll answer them. If you hear an alarm, follow the nearest researcher, they'll take you to safety. I'll be taking you to the lower levels. I've got some things to share with you three and a person I'd like you to meet," Achilles explained as he directed them into the largest concrete building that rose up before them, surrounded by a well-maintained hedge. Hermione watched in awe as the sliding doors opened to reveal a clean and spacious lobby. She noted with interest that the lobby was only sparsely furnished, this place must not have many visitors. Branded on the wall ahead was a strange circular symbol, with three arrows pointing inwards.
Achilles swiped his keycard on another door, which briefly displayed the same symbol as the walls, and escorted them further into the building. The echo of their footsteps on the tiled floor highlighted just how quiet it was. The three Grangers could feel the tense atmosphere of the building, as if everyone were expecting something terrible to happen at any moment. They were lead into what looked like a miniature cinema and told to face the screen. The silent guards moved to stand on either side of the door.
"Now, what you're about to see is known as a cognitohazard. We need to do this in order to make sure Foundation secrets are not revealed to the public. I would trust you three with my life, but my superiors need assurance. So I'm going to ask you to stare at the image on the projector and repeat what I say," Achilles explained.
"You're sure this is safe Achilles?" Daniel Granger asked cautiously.
"So long as you only speak the truth when you look at it. If you say something while looking at the cognitohazard, but don't mean it, you will fall into a coma for an indeterminate amount of time. Only say something if you truly mean it," Achilles said, looking directly at each of them.
"Now, this is your last chance to back out of this. If you agree to leave, you will be given amnestics and sent back home. You will forget this day ever happened and never hear from the Foundation again. But if you choose to go forward and look at this image, you will be burdened with a terrible secret. One you will never be allowed to share with anyone. Knowledge can be dangerous. What you learn here may scar you. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Uncle," Hermione said, taking a seat before the projector.
"I'll accept this burden if it helps me keep Hermione safe," Daniel Granger said with conviction, sitting next to Hermione and reaching out to hold her hand.
"I trust you Akil. Whatever it takes, I'm not going to let Hermione leave us unprepared," Helen Granger said, sitting down on the other side of Hermione and giving her free hand a comforting squeeze.
"Displaying cognitohazard in 3… 2… 1…"
Hermione was never able to correctly describe what it was she saw that day. The image seemed to swirl and dance in her vision, giving her a dull headache. Try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to look away. Despite being unable to see them, Hermione somehow knew her parents were similarly transfixed. Achilles, on the other hand, seemed unaffected.
"Now repeat after me: I swear to not reveal anything I learn about or from the Foundation to any person or thing without the approval of the Foundation," Achilles said, waiting patiently for them. Hermione paused, then began repeating what he'd said, never taking her eyes of the image on the projector. She felt her headache increase as she repeated Achilles' oath, but felt it fade again once she had finished.
"I will follow the instructions of any Foundation authorities pertaining to the security, safety and secrecy of Foundation personnel, research, property and anomalies."
Hermione again repeated what he'd said, though this time the headache wasn't as bad.
"And finally: I will not attempt to steal or learn information about the Foundation, it's employees, research, property or anomalies without permission from an approved Foundation personnel."
This time, Hermione barely felt the headache. The second she finished the final sentence, the projector shut off and the Grangers all sighed in relief. The guards entered, helping the stunned and disoriented family to their feet. Achilles stood in front of them with a proud expression on his face.
"You've been now been officially inducted. Welcome, Helen, Daniel and Hermione Granger, to the SCP Foundation!"
"Keep your hands steady when you hold the needle. You'll only make the wound worse."
Hailey Mardas leaned over the pig corpse on the table in front of her, focused completely on the in and out motions of her hands as she stitched shut the wound on the dead animal's hide. A towering figure in a black cloak stood over her, watching his student's work intently through a silver bird-like mask. The figure noted with pride the way Hailey made sure to carefully threaded the stitches at the required depth. His teaching had paid off, she would soon be good enough to work on a live animal, maybe even a human. Next they we going to work on setting bones, he thought to himself. She will learn to treat the symptoms of the Pestilence until he is ready to teach her his cure.
"Done!" Hailey announced with a smile, looking up at her teacher.
"Very good, Hailey. We'll make a doctor out of you yet!" SCP-049 said, patting her head with his gloved hand. He was interrupted by a voice coming from the intercoms.
"SCP-5536, you are needed by Doctor Mardas in the upper levels. Please exit the containment chamber. SCP-049, step away from the door," the voice ordered. Hailey stepped down from the stool she was on and wrapped her arms around his legs.
"I guess I have to go early. Thanks for the lesson Louis, I'll see you next week!" Hailey said, gathering up her things and walking through the door. She turned and gave SCP-049 (or Louis, as she liked to call him) a friendly wave.
"Bye Louis!"
"Bye Hailey," Louis replied, giving her a small wave of his own before turning to reopen the wound Hailey had just stitched shut. He couldn't just let a perfectly good body go to waste after all.
Hailey jogged quickly through the corridor, greeting the researchers she passed with a smile and a 'Good morning'. Her father wanted her in the cafeteria, though it was too early for their daily lunch together. Whatever it was, it must be important. She made her way to the elevator that would take her to the upper levels of the facility.
She waited for what seemed like hours (but was really less than a minute) before getting frustrated with the elevator. Annoyed, Hailey closed her eyes and 'felt' for the floor she wanted. She let her mind take in the surrounding dimensions and densities, observing the world but not truly seeing it. Hailey found the location she wanted, then focused on projecting herself there. With a pop and a flash of blue light, she was violently ejected from space itself, reappearing 19.84 meters above where she was. Hailey leaned on the wall to steady herself as the world swirled around her, before shaking her head to clear the dizziness. Teleporting long distances always left her feeling disorientated.
With one last shake of her head, Hailey reached up to clear her black hair from her eyes, then resumed jogging towards the cafeteria. She rounded the corner and saw her dad talking with a woman. She was thin, with short black hair and green eyes. Hailey noted with interest that she looked a lot like Achilles. They had the same nose, same eyes and same coloured hair, though Achilles' was wavey while hers was straighter.
Achilles turned around to see her. With a laugh, he leaned down and opened his arms to hug her. Hailey giggled and sprinted towards him, teleporting the last 5 meters to get there quicker. He caught her, lifted her up and giving her tight hug.
"I missed you dad!" Hailey squealed, holding onto him tightly.
"I was only gone for the morning!" Achilles replied with a chuckle.
"Doesn't matter, I still missed you!"
Helen Granger was shocked, to say the least. Achilles had left soon after they arrived in the nearly empty cafeteria, returning with a collection of files. The largest one was for something called 'SCP-5500' which Achilles said contained a heavily redacted compilation of everything they knew about the wizarding world. He'd given them to Daniel and Hermione to read, saying that he wanted her to meet somebody important to him. Daniel and Hermione had gotten as far as asking what "Archon" meant before a small black-haired girl came running in from a nearby corridor. She disappeared in a flash of blue, reappearing right in front of Achilles who gave the girl a tight hug.
Despite the apparent supernatural feat she just witnessed, she was more shocked that the little girl called her brother Dad. She knew Achilles couldn't reveal much about his life in the Foundation, but she had no idea he had a daughter. Helen was hit with a sudden wave of sadness. Her younger brother had a child, who she hadn't even knew existed. What else had she missed? Did he have a wife too? A whole family of his own?
"Hailey, there's some people I'd like you to meet," Achilles said in a comforting voice, placing the child on the ground. The girl looked shyly at Helen, then to Daniel and Hermione, who had both turned to see the newcomer wearing similar looks of curiosity and shock. Helen noticed how the girl partially hid herself behind Achilles' leg.
"Hailey, this is my sister Helen. Over there is her husband Daniel and daughter Hermione. Everyone, this is Hailey Mardas. My daughter," Achilles said, introducing them with a proud smile on his face. Helen could tell the child was scared, so she got down on her knees and opened her arms for her.
"Hello there Hailey, I'm Helen. Achilles' sister," Helen said in a calm voice, introducing herself to the child. Achilles gently pushed her out from behind his leg, walking her over to Helen. Hailey gently leaned into her hug, stiff and cautious at first before relaxing. When she pulled out of the hug, she had a soft smile on her face. Her deep green eyes seemed to stare right into her soul.
"Are you my aunt then?" Hailey asked.
"I guess I am. Which means I get to spoil you with lots of sugary food!" Helen answered. She was rewarded by a soft laugh from the girl. Achilles lead her away to introduce her to Daniel and Hermione. Daniel introduced himself and gave Hailey another hug, telling her that he'd take great care of his new niece. After introductions, Achilles told Hailey to go play with Hermione, then walked over to wear the two other parents were sitting.
"I suppose you have a lot of questions?" Achilles asked.
"You think? You have a child, Achilles. Got any more family we should know about?" Daniel replied sarcastically.
"No, just Hailey. I adopted her. She… didn't come from the best home. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about her. Believe me, I really wanted to. But she's an SCP," Achilles explained with a guilty look.
"What do you mean, she didn't come from the best home?" Helen asked, concern in her voice.
"Her previous guardians… weren't the nicest people, to say the least. When we discovered Hailey, she was covered in bruises and bleeding severely. She was six at the time. Our medical scans showed past signs of malnourishment and physical trauma. Hailey doesn't like talking about it, so please don't mention it to her. She only feels comfortable talking about it with me."
Daniel clenched his fists angrily while Helen looked over to where Hailey and Hermione were playing with a sympathetic look. Both couldn't believe anybody could be capable of that cruelty. They sat in silence for a minute before Daniel turned to ask Achilles a question.
"How did you end up adopting her?" Daniel asked.
"I was part of the group who found her. She was being chased by a man with a bloodied rolling pin. He grabbed Hailey, which caused her powers to act up. We sent a Task Force after her neighbours called in to report a shockwave smashing all their windows. I went with them. Hailey was unconscious when we found her. I stayed with her until she woke up, then I helped comfort her. We took her to one of our bases in Britain. I still stayed with her. I guess I just wanted to make sure she was OK. We knew Hailey was a magical, so we offered her the choice of coming with us to the Site 19 or turning her over to the British Ministry of Magic. She chose us," Achilles began, pausing to look over at the girl talking quietly to her new cousin.
"We gave her the designation of SCP-5536 and I was assigned to be her researcher. The Foundation soon discovered that she wasn't a normal instance of SCP-5500. When she was scared, she'd randomly teleport to somewhere within the facility. Gave us quite a few scares. Hailey was calmer around me, so I was allowed to spend a lot of time with her. About a year after she arrived here, she woke up screaming from a nightmare. I stayed with her until she fell asleep. She whispered 'Thanks Dad' to me just before she fell asleep. At that point I had been thinking of her as my daughter for months now. I discussed it with her and one week later I'd talked to the Ethics Committee and adopted her officially," he finished. Helen gave her brother a proud smile. She decided to shift the conversation towards something more pleasant, she'd sensed her brother didn't like talking about what had happened to Hailey.
"SCP? That was on the file you showed us. What does it mean?" Helen said.
"It's the motto of the SCP Foundation. Secure, Contain, Protect. We contain and research anomalies, also called SCPs. Things science can't explain. Dangerous things. Things that could end life as we know it. Our organisation and everything involved with it operates under complete secrecy. Hailey is an SCP. Her designation is SCP-5536. Hermione is too. They are both instances of SCP-5500, which is what we call the Magical World," Achilles explained.
"And how does the SCP Foundation relate to them?"
"The Foundation keeps a track record of anything anomalous. Our leaders determined containing or eliminating SCP-5500 to not be worth the risk of exposing our organisation to the general public. But we have other ways of keeping them out of the public eye. Even though the Magical World keeps itself contained via their Statute of Secrecy, we still ensure they don't screw up or violate it with a few secret nudges and clandestine operations. They don't know it, but the SCP Foundation has a long and not always pleasant history with the Magical World. Wizardkind are largely unaware of our existence and we'd like to keep it that way," He directed them back to the files on the table, which Daniel and Helen began reading. "We've got some contacts in their world. Magicals working for the Foundation. The American Ministry knows about us, we've worked with them before. But the British don't know we exist. So make sure Hermione knows not to tell anybody about us."
Achilles then turned to look at Hailey and Hermione, who were talking quietly to each other on the other side of the cafeteria. He was glad they were getting along so well, it would do both of them good to have another friend.
Hailey loved her new cousin. Until this morning, she wasn't even aware Achilles had any other close family. Sure, she knew he had a sister, but he never talked about her. Hailey never guessed he had a niece and a brother-in-law too. Hermione was very loud and seemed to lack even a hint of subtlety or tact, but Hailey could tell deep down she was a caring person looking for a friend. So Hailey endured her questions and lectures about what she knew about the Wizarding World.
"So you're a witch too? When did you get your letter? Have you been told about Hogwarts yet? Did you know they sort people into their houses using a hat? I read it in Hogwarts: a History. Oh, houses are these groups students get sorted into by the way. What house do you think you will go to? I would like to go to Ravenclaw, but Gryffindor sounds good too. Albus Dumbledore went to Gryffindor. He's the headmaster, you know. You'll-"
"Jeez Hermione, remember to breathe!" Hailey said to her new friend, "I'm not even sure if I'll receive a letter or if I'm going to Hogwarts. I'm not sure I'm even technically a witch. They might not send me anything. Even if they do, I'll need permission from the O5 Council to attend. They consider me an asset to the Foundation but also a potential security risk."
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't you be considered a witch? Why wouldn't the Foundation let you go to Hogwarts? That doesn't sound very fair!" Hermione exclaimed.
"My teleporting abilities," Hailey began, disappearing in a flash of blue light and reappearing on the other side of Hermione for emphasis, "aren't something normal instances of SCP-5500 have. This entire facility is equipped with wards that are supposed to prevent apparition, but I can still teleport. Because of this, I'm not sure I still fall under the Wizarding World's definition of a witch. The Foundation also doesn't like letting SCPs out of containment, especially not Euclid ones like me."
"So they keep you locked up like a prisoner!?"
"I guess? It's fine though. I can wander around the non-restricted areas of the facility as I please. All my friends and family are here with me. Well, except you guys."
Hermione and Hailey sit there in awkward silence for a while. For Hermione, keeping somebody in a place against their will was evil. But she was clearly out of her depth when it came to the Hailey's world. Speaking of which…
"What's it like here?" Hermione asked.
"Oh it's pretty good. I've been here for 4 years now. Most days I wake up, go eat breakfast with the other scientists. They're fun to talk to and all have interesting stories to tell me. Then I get taught lessons with the few other children in Site 19. I hear this is something people in the outside world do as well. After that, I get visiting time with some of the other SCPs or I can help out with some tests. I helped the botanists test out this soil that can grow stuff really fast yesterday. At night I spend time with Dad, playing games or watching movies. What more could I ask for?" Hailey explained with a smile. She really did love her life in the Foundation, even if she'd never left Site 19.
"That sounds interesting. How about those friends and family you mentioned? Does Achilles have other family here besides you?"
"No, it's just me. Though he definitely has a crush on my friend Alice's researcher. Alice is another SCP, by the way. She's our age. You can't meet her though. Anybody except me who spends more than 10 minutes in her presence goes on a homicidal rampage. Then there's Louis, Cain and David. They're all SCPs. Louis is a doctor, he teaches me medicine. Cain is immortal and causes things to die. David's shy and doesn't talk, but he likes being near me.
I've also got Grandpa Larry. He looks kinda scary, but he's nice. I drew him a picture when I was 7 that he put on the wall of his pocket dimension. I don't get to visit him often though. Then there's Blub. He's super nice and friendly. He's like a cute little dog if the dog was made of orange slime. Iris is a good friend too. She can touch stuff in photographs, which is super cool! Oh and I can't forget Jormun. He's a massive unkillable reptile. Alice and I play fetch with him sometimes."
"None of that makes any sense!"
"Hermione, I'm friends with a sentient hand-drawn girl, a forgetful artificial intelligence, a sentient book that makes up fantasy stories and 3 teenagers that have been playing real-life Quake for twenty years. Nothing in my life makes sense, and I wouldn't have it any other way!"
Hermione laughed. Her cousin has quite the strange group of friends.
"Enough about me, how about you tell me something about yourself?" Hailey asked.
"My life certainly isn't as interesting as yours,-" Hermione began.
"Hey, don't call your life boring! There are plenty of boring things in mine too!"
"I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, besides from the occasional burst of accidental magic, my life has been fairly ordinary up until my birthday. I don't have many friends. People always call me a know-it-all when I try to help them. Which I don't think is very fair. If they didn't want me to correct them, they shouldn't have been wrong in the first place."
Hailey frowned slightly. She could tell her friend meant well, but also why she might irritate other people. There were scientists in the Foundation that were like that. She hoped Hermione would outgrow it when she went to Hogwarts.
"My parents are dentists, in case Achilles never told you. I wanted to be a scientist like Achilles until I learnt about the magical world. Now I'm not sure what I want to do," Hermione finished, oblivious to Hailey's internal thoughts.
"You can always be magical and a scientist! We have a few anomalous Foundation employees. I'm hoping to be one myself!" Hailey exclaimed. Hermione seemed to consider it for a while, before turning to smile at her new cousin.
"I really hope you can come to Hogwarts with me, Hailey"
Hailey turned to look at Hermione, a contemplative look on her face. Truth be told, Hailey didn't know what she wanted.
A/N: I try not to shy away from character flaws. Hermione was a bit abrasive when she was young and Harry was angry and impulsive. Both Hailey and Hermione are going to learn to overcome their respective character flaws. Also, I've included a brief list of all the SCPs Hailey mentions as friends for anybody who didn't understand the names I've given them (since I don't think Hailey would refer to friends by numbers).
Alice: SCP-053 (has aged since her file was written)
Louis: SCP-049 (named after French biologist Louis Pasteur)
David: SCP-096
Cain: SCP-073 (actual canon name)
Grandpa Larry: SCP-106 (from the tale 'The Young Man', which says his name is Lawrence)
Blub: SCP-999 (name used widely by the fandom)
Iris: SCP-105 (canon name)
Jormun: SCP-682 (shorting of the name Jormungandr, a massive serpent from Norse mythology)
'Sentient hand-drawn girl': SCP-085
'Forgetful artificial intelligence': SCP-079
'Sentient book that makes up fantasy stories': SCP-1230
'3 teenagers that have been playing real-life Quake': SCP-2639
As usual, constructive criticism is always welcome.