Chapter 8

(In which we find where Hermione fits into all of this)

Loki POV

Time skip a week

I have been doing the same thing over every day, and I have been getting better. Natasha is much more vocal about it then Professor Snape, however I can see it in his subtleties.

A key element in this week has been getting used to the Professors actions. With the time given to me, I have not learned as much as I would like, but it is moving along nicely. However I know something is going on today as I was told that it was a full scholar day. It may be something that will happen on the regular, but it seems off for some reason.

Whatever is going on, it clearly doesn't concern me, at least not yet. However I must hurry back to classes and put forth my full attention to the classes at hand.

Lets see what Natasha's up to, shall we? Natasha POV

I apararated into an alley, reminding myself of all the planning I've put into this meeting. I knock on the door, pull rank of S.H.I.E.L.D and get in. Once I'm in, I tell them about magic. Use your Athens wand to keep the trace off, and convince them to let their daughter learn under 'private tutors' free of charge.

This girl has all of the makings of an Athens. She even looked like some of the founding fathers! By pulling rank, I'll get in easily. Saying you're from an intelligence agency, which technically I am, always does the trick.

With renewed vigor, I head to knock on the door. I choose to wear clothes usually reserved for missions to look the part, and when a woman who I know to be Emma Granger opens the door, she soon gives me a look.

"Hello I'm agent Romanoff from S.H.I.E.L.D, and I need to speak to you and your husband." I say, deciding to go for the route that will get me inside the fastest.

"Oh" She says, being a bit sceptical. In all fairness, I would be as well. With a moment of deliberation she decides to let me in. Once in, she leads me to the room I assume is the sitting room and says

"I'm going to go get Dan" and then she walks away giving me the opportunity to look around. The walls are a tasteful minty green, and the room is decorated well and it isn't overcrowded. The sofa I'm currently sitting on is a light shade if gray, where there is two sets of seats in front of me.

When Mr. and Mrs. Granger arrive, I see him give me the same look that the Mrs did. Once he decides I'm not a direct threat yet, he sits down on one of the chairs in front of me. His wife follows on the other chair.

Now that they're both in front of me, I can see they're both fighters. From the looks of suspicion, and making sure that I'm not a threat, they have the builds and makings of a professional fighter, or at least a mid-level job in the government.

They shared a look and then started asking me the questions.

"Why did you need to speak to us?" Mr. Granger says

"A matter has come up with your daughter. She is gifted in ways most would dream of." I say, being truthful but silent about magic until they've gotten their initial questions out of the way.

"We work with the government, but we've never heard of S.H.I.E.L.D. Where are you really from?" Mrs. Granger asks me

"I am a member of an agency called S.H.I.E.L.D. Its a member of the S.H.I, but its the enforcement and logistics division. We run with homeland intervention but we mainly stay out of public eye. I'm from a specific division of that." I say, still keeping to the truth.

"Ok but what 'gifts' does our little girl have?" Mr. Granger says, putting quotation marks around the word 'gifts'.

"Here's the hard part. I am one of the best people of my division, and as such I have high clearance. I can tell you more than an average person can, so I'll say what I can. Magic is real." I say

"Wait- What!" Mrs. Granger says. "Ok what kind of hoax are you trying to pull on us? First you say you come from some branch of the government that we don't know to be real, and then you try to say magic is real? What are you trying to sell here?" She says her voice a bit louder than before

"Well I can give you a demonstration, if you want." I say, knowing just the spell to show them.

"Sure if you think anything you found in your magician book will fool us." Mr. Granger says.

I pull out my wand, and then cast a tempus. The current time flashes in front of us, though its

backwards for them. Then I silence them, and go through the rest of my talk. Once done I let them speak again.

"Wow. I mean, I could have done without the silencing, but- just wow" Mrs. Granger says, recovering faster than her husband.

"Yeah, I was just worried you might try to interrupt me. Some of the things needed time to be explained, and I wanted to take you to Diagon Alley, which is the British wizarding world's largest economic empire so we can go to the bank." I say, as an attempt to placate their feelings.

"Oh really? What are we going to tell Hermione?" Mr. Granger asks, his daughter, as always, on the front of his mind.

"I am going to give her the same speech I gave you, except modified for a child. Normally you wouldn't be informed until 2 or so years from now, but your daughter is qualified for a specific branch. We'll be checking that at Gringotts, our bank today. If all goes well, we'll head to the next alley where we'll purchase all our things for today." I respond, already having planned most of the day.

"Alright. Would you like me to call Hermione?" Mr. Granger asks, wanting to learn more about this strange new world as soon as possible

"Ah, yes please. Her display of magic might be something different though." I say, thinking about using an Athens blood spell instead of Gringotts, though it wouldn't hurt to get confirmation. Plus I don't have my money pouch on me, which is a shame.

"Alright. Let me get her hun" Mrs. Granger says, the last part addressing her husband.

"Oh and if this test is right, you guys don't need to worry about bringing money. I'll inform you more about the family once this test is done." I say, not wanting them to waste their money since the Athens family is one of the really rich types. Plus most grown up Athens add at least double what they take over time. Meaning the fortune has multiplied quite a bit.

Hermione and her father walk back in room. Hermione looks puzzled, a look I'm sure to see more of in the coming weeks.

"Alright let's get this started. What have your parents told you so far?" I ask her, to give her the right amount of information. I'm sure I'll be answering so many questions.

"Daddy had said there was a lady here to speak with me. Was this incorrect?" Hermione asks

"No your Daddy was right. Now I need you to pay attention here and save your questions to the end!" I say, and I explain the whole 'Wizards and Witches are a thing' for the second time today. At the end I said. "Any questions?" and Hermione started talking so fast I couldn't understand a word.

"Alright. I'm glad you're excited, but I can't hear a word you're saying. Maybe a demonstration would help?" I say once she takes a breath.

"Oh yes please. That'd make this so much easier to believe." She says, clearly pleased that I would think this up for myself rather than her having to ask. We'd have to correct that during training. At least make it less obvious.

"Alright I'm going to preform 3 tests on you. One is a general well fair check, next is what diseases you are susceptible to, and the last is a very specific testing spell that requires a drop of blood from you." I say, listing what I would do, in order.

"Oh alright. Will it hurt?" Hermione asks. Even though she's mature its still clear she's a child.

"Not so much. Don't worry I'll make it as quick as I can." I say, knowing what kind of effect fear has at that age. "May I get started?" I ask, while preparing to get my wand for the diagnostics, because while I mostly utilized wandless magic, a wand would help the image here.

I start with the general diagnostic spell, and find average results. Maybe even a little worse than average.

"Oh dear. Well that's fixable." I say while debating wether to ask if I can do a potions allergy/cause not to use certain ingredients.

"Excuse me? What's fixable?" Mrs. Granger asks, worried for her daughter.

"Ah just the usual mundane-born issue, just perhaps a little more extreme. See you mundane have been moving to a less fatty diet. This was a course of logical action from them, but it turns out that wixenkind needs more of those kinds of food. Wixen use more energy to cast magical spells, specifically the energy you get from fats. They stopped telling the parents this which could be disastrous. Its a problem easy enough to fix, however detrimental to the magical core if not solved." I say, as a way of explaining it. I wanted them to ask that so I could tell them in a non obtrusive way.

"Really? Why wouldn't they tell parents that anymore?" Mr. Granger asks,

"Eventually the school administration decided 'Not my problem' and left the parents to figure to out. However since this isn't the government, we can deal with this privately. And since we are planning on including your daughter in our training we want her in the best shape possible." I say, pushing clear points across. Take that Severus, I can convince people of things! Just because you're more persuasive doesn't mean I'm bad at it!

"That just seems irresponsible. I mean I'll hold off on judgement until we get there, but this makes the society seem uncaring and hostile to mundane-born." Mr. Granger said, worried about the world his little girl was now a part of.

"Yes it has some incredibly stupid prejudice. However we will be fixing that with our program. It is exclusive, but that is because the information is passed from our family." I say, to reassure them that their daughter is safe.

"Well then. It seems we've discussed all there is to discuss, and we must now head to the land of the unknown." Mr. Granger said, with a bit of surety in him that he didn't have before.

"Alright. Since I can only apararate with one maybe two people, we'll be taking the Knight Bus. Its known as the transportation for any stranded witch or wizard, also known as wixen. However I think its just a bus that goes anywhere. You call it by putting your wand out, or a magic artifact used to call it. They sell them for underage wixen with parents permission." I say to explain the Knight Bus.

We head outside into the street, and I carefully pull out my wand. I cast a small area notice-me-not charm over us and call the Knight Bus.

"Ello, ello, ello this is the Knight Bus. Transportation for any stranded witch or wizard!" The conductor says.

"Hello sir. We're heading to the Leaky." I say, and the conductor says

A"For all of you? That'll be 2 Galleons 7 sickles and 2 knuts. If you want a coffee it'll be an extra 3 knuts each."

"No thanks." I say and pull out the coins. That is an outrageous price for their cheep coffee. Before we start moving I warn the Grangers "Oh and do hold on. This is going to go quick." And then we're off.

Once we stop outside the Leaky Cauldron, I go in with the Grangers in tow. With a grand fan fair I go to the bricks and open the alley.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley"

A/N: Sorry this took a while. I was planning on doing a longer chapter, but it was already pretty long and I won't be able post for like a week and a half. I figured you guys might like something in the meanwhile. Hope you enjoyed and as always send a review or PM giving ideas. All criticism welcome!

- Clockwork Witch out