Chapter 6: Blessings and Curses

Although Originally Hogwarts was attended via portkey, broom, Floo, and (previous to being banned) magic carpet, it soon became inconvenient. Students trying to attend school just attracted too much attention from the muggles. In 1829, Ottaline Gambol rose to the office of Minister for Magic, and she made a daring and controversial suggestion to solve the age-old problem of how to transport hundreds of students to and from Hogwarts Castle every school year without attracting the Muggles' attention. Intrigued by the Muggle technology, the Minister saw the potential of using a train as a secure and comfortable alternative to previous methods The Ministry of Magic conducted a large-scale operation involving one hundred and sixty-seven Memory Charms, as well as the biggest Concealment Charm ever performed in Britain, in order to acquire the locomotive. The morning after this operation, the residents of Hogsmeade awoke to find the gleaming red Hogwarts Express and a railway station that had not been there previously, and the Muggle railway employees in Crewe had the feeling they had misplaced something, which stayed with them for the rest of the year.

-Hogwarts A History (pottermore)

It is, at times, a blessing and a curse that James is not often around. A curse-because, come on! He's my father-and a blessing because-

"Look! Over there!"

"What?"
"It's the Minister of Magic!"

"Move over, let me get a shot!"

It is a blessing and a curse that James in never around. On the one hand, I'd like to have a father to spend time with. On the other hand-

"Who's the girl with 'im?"

"It's his daughter, idiot!"

"Quick we need a picture of her!"

It is a blessing and a curse the James is never around. I don't have to deal with him, but having to hug him awkwardly in front of the cameras? Not fun. Of course, when he releases me I hug grandfather and he kisses me on the head. I then smile at them both and leave. Peter couldn't make it as he had too much work to do.

I find myself walking through the train with the hood of my hoody up. I don't want to be recognized, but I am scared I will be. The daughter of the Minister of Magic is, sadly, a powerful political ally. Which is why I have one friend who I know will not betray me. Because many would.

I find a compartment close to the front. The compartment closest to where the prefect's meeting will be. Nobody sits here because it is easy to get in trouble. I sit here because nobody else will.

I reach into my bag and pull out a book. At first glance it appears to be boring, as it is a small paper back filled with annotations and highlighted and random intervals. If you look a little closer, though, you'll find it is the thrilling tale of Much Ado About Nothing. Which I suppose would still be boring to the average person.

I am just finishing re-reading the accusations of Claudio against Hero when the door opens. I look up and see Neville's face peering in. Behind him is another girl, and I feel a flash of irritation. Of course Neville would scoop up a stray.

Nev walks in and I say to him, in a rather deadpan voice, "I lock myself inside my room/I wannabe alone/With you around, you'll only add on/I wannabe alone/It's been disturbed by my thoughts/I wannabe alone/With you around, you'll only add on/I wannabe alone" (Green Day, I want to be alone). Neville laughs at me, while the girl behind him looks confused.

"Oh please, Becca! You know you never want to be alone. You would die without me in you company."

"Yes, Nevvie-poo, I just can't live without you."

"Indeed!" He replies good-naturedly. Then he registers what I said, and a scowl appears. "And don't call be Nevvie-poo!" I snort, about to reply when I realize the bushy-haired girl behind Neville looks rather uncomfortable. I roll my eyes and just look at her for a moment. The girl fidgets, her brown eyes gaining an edge of nervousness. And then Neville breaks in.

"Hermione Granger, this is Becca. Don't worry about her, she just doesn't like new people. Here, come into the compartment of the trouble makers who don't wish to be caught."

Granger nods and walks in, and I can't help but sing under my breath.

"Pardon?" Granger says rather suddenly, prominent teeth suddenly becoming visible. I look at her for a moment before rolling my eyes, and singing the words slightly louder.

"Trouble always finds those never seeking it,

Avoids those who think themselves worthy of its wit.

Trouble always finds those with innocent souls,

But never seems to find those with the blackest of holes."

Granger gapes for a moment, and I just roll my eyes and return to Shakespeare. He is a genius, worthy of my time. Granger begins to ignore me after a while of me ignoring her, much to Neville's amusement, and begins talking to Nev. Based on the way she speaks, she is an intellectual. But she isn't all that smart. She repeats information found in books like they're the Bible, but makes no connections on her own at all. She seems like the type who need the answer quite literally shoved beneath their noses to figure anything out. Good for memorization, bad for real-world application. Finally, Granger seems to work up the courage to speak to me again.

"You know, you shouldn't treat books like that," her slightly nasally and bossy tone of voice says. "You can't get anything from books you destroy." I fight really hard not to roll my eyes. Instead I sit up straight and look Granger dead in the eyes.

"You never get anything from a book if you treat it like it's a fragile piece of art. Books are made up of the thoughts of the people who wrote them, meaning that books were written to be understood as nobody writes a book without wanting to prove something. The way I become closer friends with Shakespeare is by annotating and highlighting. It is not vandalism, it is proper use of my resources." Granger scowls. I smile, sit back, and go back to reading. Granger huffs.

"Well really! There is no need to be so rude!" I put down my book and look at her.

"Yes there is. You came in here, and began trying to prove something. Maybe it was that you're smart. All you have proven to me is that you treat books like the law and that you don't like people who don't agree with you." Granger's eyes start filling up with tears.

"This is because I'm a Muggleborn isn't it! Professor McGonagall said people wouldn't like me because of my parents, but I didn't think it would be like this!" She bursts into tears and starts crying on Neville's shoulder.

Neville and I both raised eyebrows at each other. He then relaxes his eyebrows and smirks at me, relaying quite clearly the message of 'All yours'. I scowl.

"I'm wearing muggle clothes, have referenced a muggle band, and didn't even know you were a Muggleborn for a fact. I am also a Half-Blood and my mother is a Muggleborn! So clearly that is not the case! I just can't stand you walking in here and acting like your better than me just because you've read a little Rousseau. Stealing the ideas of another man on human nature, and stealing Samantha Quirke's theory of magical application does not make you look smarter!" By the time I finish I'm panting slightly, and I realize I let lose a bit of my anger. Unhealthy. I sit back down, roll my eyes, and affect an aura of disinterest.

Granger is still crying. Neville, the nicest guy ever is starting to look uncomfortable.

"Look, Granger, you seem like a nice girl. But if you shove information down other people's throats and completely ignore the Wizarding World's culture, school will be hard for you. You can't forget that you are entering another world with another culture. Its own set of rules. Its own taboo subjects. Its own racism. You just need to learn about it."

The rest of the trip was spent in silence.

AN: GAH! Sorry for the short chapter, but I have midterms coming up, my computer broke down, I keep getting pounding headaches, AND until recently I was grounded. So sorry. But here is a new (short) chapter. Sorry L. Anyway, moving on, Hermione Granger is my 5th favorite Harry Potter Character, and was my favorite until I was 10. So she holds a lot of meaning for me. Becca is critical, and so despite the fact that HERMIONE IS AWESOME you can't deny that she does act rather snooty, is a bit rude, and is constantly trying to prove her intelligence. She also has a chip on her shoulder because she is a muggleborn. Over all, Hermione is going to go through several character-defining changes, and even if she and Becca never really get along, they will at least be on civil terms with one another. Okay, to answer the question poised to me by tolazttologon, or Nutmeg:

After the death of his wife, he often came over to visit Lily, and interacted with Becca regularly. After seeing how withdrawn Becca became after Lily's death, he came around even more to help her recover. Eventually, he was around so often, he just moved in. So now he's part of the family. And thank you for your vote in favor of Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

The grand total of points now puts Neville and Becca at…

Neville:

Hufflepuff2

Ravenclaw0

Slytherin 0

Gryffindor0

Becca:

Hufflepuff1

Ravenclaw0

Slytherin1

Gryffindor0

As always, thanks for the views and reviews! Keep cool and R&R!

-PerfectionJune