Hermione walked further into the room to get a better look at the guest, but stayed hidden behind a large couch as to not blow her cover. She noticed that the man was rather odd looking, and she would have tried to compare his looks to those of Gandalf had he been wearing any less colour. He had a long grey beard and a large patchwork multi coloured cloak, worn with confidence. It was obvious that this man was slightly strange, but Hermione knew that she really shouldn't judge on looks because she had met some brilliant engineers and scientists who did seem to be quite cooky. All she managed to hear was "It would be the most incredible opportunity for her" from the strange man before her father spoke up and said "Well I suppose we will have to hear her opinion of this when she decides to come out from behind the couch", catching her in the act. Hermione had always been able to lie incredible well and could sneak around like no other, but rarely used her talents because she knew they weren't moral and not always worth the risk. She could not, however, lie to her father. Mr. Granger was a kind man, but always knew when his daughter was bluffing or hiding. She wasn't sure exactly how he always knew exactly what she was up to, but was working on figuring it out.

As Hermione crept out of from behind the sofa, she noticed a small smile and twinkle in the eye of the man's face. She looked guiltily at her father and then asked "What's going on?" in a small voice. Her parents stuttered over an answer for a while and the man intervened, simply looking Hermione in the eye and saying " My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am the Headmaster of a school called Hogwarts, and we teach people like you. You're a special young girl. You, my dear, are a witch, and I am a wizard. I would like to offer you a place in my school." Hermione was stunned. "A witch? Those can't be real. They just scientifically can't!" She exclaimed, to which she received a chuckle as the man stood up. He pulled a wooden stick out of his pocket and help it high and with pride. "This is a magic wand. We wizards and witches use it to channel our magic. It's something you will soon be owning yourself. It may seem like nothing special, but I promise once you have one of your own you will feel the life within it and the connection you will create. Here, let me show you exactly what being a magical person entails." He explained as he started waving his 'wand' around, muttering words that sounded nothing like English. All of a sudden the book Hermione had been clutching closely to her became a cat, the red fur resembling the colour of the cover of the novel.

Hermione was speechless and stunned, trying to simply fathom how this could have happened. "How did you do that?" She asked inquisitively, staring with wonder at the wooden item that seemed to have done the impossible. "It wasn't the wand that did the magic, Hermione. It was me, and my own magic. You carry that magic inside of you as well and will very soon be taught how to channel and use it if you decide to join Hogwarts. Have you ever noticed weird things happening to you when your emotions intensify that seem physically impossible?" The strange man, Dumbledore, questioned, staring at her with a slight smile on his wrinkled face. Hermione thought about what he was asking and realized that yes, she had encountered an impossibly large number of events that she and her friends simply could not explain. The only issue with his explanation was that sometimes, these events had nothing to do with how she was feeling. "I guess sometimes…" she mumbled, staring at the floor.

Hermione thought back to all the times things had exploded, caught on fire, or simply moved around in the workshop when she and her friends were tinkering. It did explain a lot. If they were debating on how to achieve the featured they wanted to add to their mechanical creations, emotions could be heightened by the yelling and debating. When things got just slightly out of hand, things had a terrible habit of going wrong. Hermione was finding herself believing the man and his seemingly insane explanation. "This school, its a boarding school right? I wouldn't be able to see my friends or parents ever?" She questioned, knowing how important all the people in her life were to her. "You can come back every holiday and of course you have two months as summer break to spend with them. While it absolutely is true that you will not have the chance to see your loved ones every chance you want, you can certainly send them letters if you purchase an owl. Of course, because you cannot tell your friends about your magic you must send the letters to your parents the they will give the letters to whomever you would like, but it is very easily to stay in contact with people." Dumbledore spoke of letters and owls as if they were the norm, which had Hermione very confused. "Letters and owls? Why can't I just send emails and texts? I suppose I could also always phone and facetime when I really miss everyone…" she mused. Dumbledore looked at her sadly, breaking the news as he said "there is no internet connection or cell service at Hogwarts. There also aren't any outlets. The Wizarding community is not up to date at all on muggle technology, so I am afraid you will have to stick to written letters." Hermione stood there in shock, and so did her parents. How were they supposed to contact her if there wasn't any way to do so easily over an electronic device!

"Listen Mr. Dumbledore. Mrs. Granger and I will only be willing to send our daughter to your school if you start working on a way to change your attitude on technology right away. Maybe it isn't as important to you as it is for us, but we need it to stay in contact with our daughter. Besides, you could use it to teach your students more efficiently! It is much easier to complete assignments on computers these days." Mr. Granger did not like the idea of Hermione going to a school with absolutely no electronics. Both parents knew that technology was her life and leaving that behind, even for magic, would be incredibly disappointing for her. "I will do what I can Mr. Granger but I wouldn't worry about the lack of technology interfering with studies. At Hogwarts we do not teach your maths and sciences. Instead we have a range of useful courses to help the students with their magical lives."

After hearing this both the Grangers looked at each other's and realized what must be done. "Of course we would never deny our daughter this amazing opportunity," began Mrs. Granger, "however we will be acquiring textbooks and such so she can stay updated with her muggle lessons. Truth be told, knowing our daughter, she may want to return to the Muggle world one day and if she does not keep up with the muggle studies, she will never be able to live the life she may want. We will not allow her to close any doors at such a young age." Hermione sighed at this. While more work was going to be difficult, she knew she could handle it. She was so grateful to be allowed to go to this school to learn magic, and couldn't wait to make new friends. Hopefully people there had similar interests.

The adults talked for a little bit longer but Hermione decided it had been an eventful night and she was ready to sleep. Climbing up the stairs, the last thing she heard before shutting her door was her father sigh and say "well, I suppose we'll have to go shopping for school supplies soon. This will sure be an adventure." That last line stuck with her as she fell asleep, dreaming of all that the future would bring.

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