Hermione had seen many strange things since the day she woke up in this strange world, with no recollection of her previous life. Horses that could fly, plants with teeth and she could swear she once saw a dragon. Being Mudblood, it meant she was forced to work jobs that they were beneath purebloods, with only reward something to eat and a wooden hut to sleep. She had done everything; from cleaning houses to digging in mud to find God knows what. It was a tiring and unfulfilled life. All these things changed when she took her first step into the public library.

Her tasks were boring but Hermione was never been happier. All of these books and the knowledge they carried was like a balsam for her soul. She had devoured every book she could put her hands on (in secret, of course.) So it wasn't that she was completely unaware of how the magical world works. It's just that apparently, no writer thought it would worth mentioning the existence of twelve feet tall creatures with legs twice as long as their arms.

"Trolls? Are they completely mental?" She heard Ron screaming.

Well, at least now she knew the name of the huge, gray thing that was rapidly advancing on them. Surprisingly, it didn't really reassure her that much.

The troll was holding a huge wooden club, which was dragging along the floor. It stood up in front of them, confused. Its little eyes were quickly moving between her and Ron, seemingly confused of whom to smash first. They settled on her. Slowly, the troll lifted its club.

Suddenly, it stopped. Something or someone (definitely someone, Hermione thought) had jumped on its back and had fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. Somehow, the man had managed to stick his wand up the troll's nose.

What an idiot.

The troll was hallowing in pain and now was attacking blindly, swinging the club all over the place. Hermione was petrified; she didn't know what to do. Using magic once in front of the pureblood was one thing, but again so soon, it would look really suspicious. Ron may looked stupid and arrogant but even him couldn't ignore her continuous use of magic, completely different from all of the other Mudbloods.

The troll continued to twist its club, any minute now it would manage to hit the man on his back. So what? Hermione thought bitterly. Less competition. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she knew she didn't really believe it. Sighing, she raised her wand.

The spell hadn't left her lips when she saw Ron doing the same. He seemed to hesitate for only a second. Then, he casted a silent spell. The club left the troll's hand and started to rise slowly up into the air. It floated above its head. The troll tried to grab it but it was already too late; it had dropped onto its head. It made a terrible sound and collapsed just a few steps from where Hermione was standing.

"That was close," Ron exclaimed. "You really have a knack of attracting trouble."

You were standing both of these times next to me, you dumbass. "Thank you so much!" she smiled sweetly at him. "I don't know what I would do without you."

Ron seemed pleased, although he was looking a little skeptical, like he was trying to decide if she was mocking him or not. Hesitantly, he returned the smile. Hermione wished for the second time he would just leave her alone; she didn't like the way his smile made her feel.

"Sorry to interrupt, but someone give me a hand? Please?"

Ron jumped like he was startled, and helped the boy to stand on his feet. "Thanks," he said. He had black hair and beautiful, green eyes that looked like they couldn't see much. Hermione noticed a pair of glasses on the ground. She gave them back.

"I think these are yours."

"Oh, thanks!" He wore them quickly. An expression of utter despair crossed his face. "They are broken," he said miserably.

Ron patted his back. "Don't worry; someone will fix them for you. Maybe Snape."

"Yeah. Maybe Snape." He sounded even more miserable.

"You look familiar. Are you that Potter kid? Your dad's an auror. I think he works with my dad." Ron asked. He sounded his usual cheery self, but there was something different Hermione couldn't pinpoint exactly.

He looked at Ron or where he guessed Ron was. The glasses hadn't helped his sight at all. "Yes, I think he does. Name's Harry." A mutual understanding passed between and Hermione for once again she felt like an outsider.

"I am Ron Weasley and this is em…Herm…Herman…Herminiony…"

"Hermione."

"That's it."

Hermione decided then that facing trolls and giant flies with too many eyes were better alternative than spending another minute with Ron. She turned her head was ready to tell him (way more diplomatically, of course,) when suddenly Ron fell on the ground.

The blond boy who remembered from the Pureblood Selection had punched him in his face. He continued to pound his face with his fists and he would have probably broke his nose (at least) if Harry hadn't interfered. He broke them up quickly but not before taking a few stray hits.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Malfoy?" Ron rubbed his nose. He looked in pain and Hermione felt the sudden urge to help him.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you, Weasley!" Harry had managed to hold him back but he was still trying to get away from him and continue his work. Harry tightened his arms around him. Finally, he seemed to give up. Harry continued to hold him like he was afraid he will attack again.

"I could have been killed! Why did you just leave me with that ….thing?"

Ron was still on the ground and made no move to stand up, like he didn't trust his feet to hold him up. "I knew you could handle it yourself."

Malfoy took a deep breath like he was trying to calm himself. It didn't work. Somehow, now that he was screaming, he looked even angrier. "Do you have any idea what I am going to do you when we are out of here?"

"I'm sure your father will know about this," Ron answered sweetly.

Malfoy managed to break away from Harry and advanced on Ron, who was still on the ground. This time, he was holding his wand.

Hermione had enough. "Stop right now!"

Malfoy stopped what he was doing and looked at her. He seemed like he hadn't notice her until now. An expression of utter disgust crossed his face. Weird enough, Hermione felt relieved. She had dealt with these kinds of behavior her whole life; she knew what she was facing. It was familiar not strange and confusing like…like other things.

"Who are you talking like that, you filthy little Mudblood?"

Harry was trying some kind of spell on his glassed, trying to fix them. He looked utterly absorbed by his task. Ron stood up quickly. He looked like he was ready to say or do something and Hermione wished fervently he would do anything.

Ron shrugged his shoulder and fixed his cloak that was starting get dirty from all the time he spent today on the ground.

Hermione lowered her eyes and looked down. "I am really sorry; I was just thinking hitting each other would solve nothing."

Malfoy snorted. "You are not here to think." He turned an accusing eye first on Harry and then his eyes settled on Ron. "Why is she here? With you?"

"She followed us," Harry said quickly. He hadn't made any progress with his glasses; they were looking as bad as she first picked them from the ground.

Malfoy didn't look very convinced but he let it go. He looked at her. "You should run," he said while raising his wand. "Because I don't feel like following the rules today." He gave her a wolfish grin.

Hermione didn't need to be told twice.

Time passed differently in the maze than outside. Hermione felt like she had spent days inside the labyrinth but judging from the position of the sun, it couldn't have been more than an hour. It was probably another type of magic, something to disorient them even more. She was feeling already pretty disoriented, thank you very much.

"Can someone please hurry up and reach the portkey already? I am a little hungry."

Hermione was startled. For a moment, she thought she was just thinking loudly because, well, she was little hungry and she couldn't see the time when she would get out of this creepy maze. She realized quickly though, that her voice had never sounded so eerie.

"Hello. I am Luna Lovegood," a blonde girl said. "You are Hermione."

"I am," Hermione said and felt a little silly. But seriously, how do you respond to something like that?

"You look different from what I expected," the girl continued. "I have never been so close to a Muggleborn before." She moved suddenly and with a flick of her wand (instinctively Hermione went for hers) she conjured a chair and sat down, curiosity evident in her face.

Hermione felt how she imaged an insect was feeling under a microscope. "We have a girl working in our house once, but I wasn't allowed to talk to her. And one day, she was gone."

Hermione involuntarily shivered both from what Luna was saying and the way she was staring.

"I should go," Hermione felt even sillier by the minute. Slowly, she put some distance between her and Luna. She made no move to stand up, seemingly happy to sit and stare at her.

"Oh, sure. Have a nice day!" she waved her happily, like they weren't both in the middle of a huge maze but instead they had just finished a nice walk. Before she turned right, she could swear she heard her shouting "Look out for the nargles!"

She was never happier when she ran into Dean. Dean didn't look very happy though. He looked scared like he had just seen a ghost. "Did you see her?" he asked, his voice lowering slightly on the last word. The leaves were starting to thin in one place, like they were trying to show them the right way. Hermione's only wish that it wasn't a trap.

"Who?"

"Luna."

"Yes. I think she is a half-blood."

Dean stopped moving and looked at her. "You mean she is a champion? I thought she was part of the maze!"

Hermione, despite her best efforts to hold it together, laughed. He didn't; he was looking even more scared. "I am pretty sure she is a human," Hermione tried to reassure him.

"All I know that she is fucking creepy. She kept asking question about me, if I have a second head which only grows at night or if I spoke in tongues." He shuddered. "She wouldn't leave me alone; I had to run to get away from her."

"Poor baby. I had to face a troll."

"I'll take a troll from Luna any day."

Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby.

They stopped dead at their tracks. The mocking voice continued to echo all around them. Hermione grabbed her wand, ready to fight. Dean followed her lead.

"It's just an echo." Dean sounded like he was trying to convince himself. "It can't hurt us."

"I am not so sure."

Suddenly, she felt the ground giving away beside her feet. For the second time this day, she fell flat on her face. Disoriented, she looked around and quickly discovered they had fallen on a hole. Four impossibly high walls had risen around them, blocking the sun and their only exit.

"We are trapped," Dean said.

"Hold on," said Hermione and tried to climb up. It was impossible; every time she tried to touch the walls, they were slipping away from her fingers, like water. She even tried to climb on Dean's back to get a better grasp but still the walls refused to cooperate.

"Maybe there is a crack here," Dean said and started to investigate the walls. After a few moments, he gave up and sat down. For a while no one talked, both lost in their own thoughts.

"Make some magic."

"I don't know what…"

"Make a rope…"

"I don't know how..."

"Try something!" He sounded panicked. "I don't like it here, it smells bad."

She suddenly noticed the smell, too. Dean was wrong thought, it's didn't smell bad; it smelt horribly. It smelt like rotten meat and bad eggs and something worse Hermione couldn't identify. Her throat hurt and she felt like throwing up.

Dean stood up quicker that the light. "The earth is moving." Hermione thought that Dean sounded scared before; she was mistaken. His fear overwhelmed. Blindly, she tried to cast some spell, something that would help get out of this place but her mind was blank.

Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby. Poor baby.

The whispering grew louder until it wasn't whispering anymore. It sounded like screaming, except Hermione was sure now that it was inside her head. The hair on her body stood up; something was here with them. She could feel their eyes on her, watching her every move.

The walls started to get even higher. The hole was filling up with water; shocked, Hermione looked down. She realized it wasn't the walls that grew taller but that the floor was sinking in. Cold hands grasped her ankles; the things were dragging them down.

Adrenaline cursed through her veins like waking up from a bad dream.

"Incendio!"

The hands let her go as suddenly as they had grabbed her. Now the screaming was getting worse; whatever these things were, they wouldn't go without a fight. Hermione was ready to give them one.

Inch by inch, the hands were going away. The screaming stopped, leaving only a loud ringing. The horrible smell was gone and they could breathe again easily. But they were still trapped inside the hole.

"You are going to win," Dean said.

"Let's get out of here alive, first."

With the help of a floating spell and Dean's instructions they managed to reach the top. Hermione was ready to climb out when she felt a hand grabbing her.

Not again.

This hand though, wasn't trying to drag her down but it was helping her to get out. She looked up and saw the familiar red hair. She felt a little disappointed when she realized they were belonging to a girl. Next to her was Luna. "I told you to look out for nargles."

She and Dean had just got out of the hole, when she bombarded them with question: "Have you seen my brother? Is he ok? Did he do anything stupid?" She stopped, took a deep breath and continued: "Tall, red hair, speaks before thinking?"

"I think I saw him." Hermione answered.

"Thank god! He would manage to get himself killed before we reach the arena."

"Your brother is cleverer than he looks," Luna said in an eerie voice. Hermione noticed that Dean was avoiding looking at Luna and trying to hide behind her; she tried not to snicker.

The red-haired girl looked at them carefully. She hadn't reacted like Malfoy but Hermione could see she didn't particularly like them. As far as she was concerned, the feeling was mutual. "Let's find this portkey and get the hell out of here." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

They had barely moved when they heard a loud noise. The green walls started to tremble around them. Hermione feared for a repeat of her previous ordeal but she quickly realized that wasn't the case. The walls started to move and slowly collapse. They folded into themselves like sheets and disappeared. They could see again Hogwarts.

Snape was a few feet away, standing next to a plump boy, who was holding a cup. "It seems Longbottom here managed to accomplish the simple task I gave you."

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