Terribly sorry for the delay, I fear school took more time than usual and I have been ill again for some time too. I want to thank everyone for once again reviewing, favouriting or adding me to their alerts. Such things make me feel bad about not-updating for a while and make work as fast as I can. Also, I do not enjoy teribly bashing characters but the arguement below was needed.
Labyrinth
The mind of a prodigy is a scary thing. Hermione Granger's however is downrightterrifying.
AU. Slytherin!Hermione, Slytherin!Harry
Chapter Six
Truth
Hermione really didn't like the Slytherin common room. It wasn't because of the décor, though she favoured more earthly colours the silver and green of the couches and walls were acceptable. It wasn't the furniture either, everything was carefully placed and matched the theme of the dungeon. No, it were the people inside the common room. Where her own year had decided to remain aloof for after their comments on the first day the other years were rude. And detestable. And dumb. Their comments regarding her non-magical heritage were downright unimaginative and were frankly starting to get on her nerves. It didn't register to them that she had no say whatsoever in her parentage, she loved them very much though, mind you. Nor did they see how their careful inbreeding was leading them towards the more grotesque illnesses and disorders mankind knew existed.
Hermione shot another distasteful look towards the group of sixth-years sitting on the sofa and huffed, leaving the chilly dungeons behind as she went to further explore the castle.
She feared that if this was the best and brightest the whole magical community had to offer their soon wouldn't be any community to speak off. Not because they would be ruining it themselves, no, but because she would ruin it for them. If the best they had to offer were short-sighted bullies then Hermione would have to strike hard and fast.
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Dear mum and dad,
Hogwarts is turning out to be the both living up to its expectations and horribly letting me down. Magic is wonderful, dare I say magical for the sake of bad puns and I find the castle to be filled with unexplored possibilities. I have been sorted into Slytherin, house of the ambitious, cunning and bigoted. My housemates are firm believers in the Nazi-esque regime of their precious 'Dark Lord' who wants to eradicate the world of 'muggleborns' like me and think I deserve no place in their magical community, or just life in general.
Don't worry, they'll get what they're due and are mainly just infantile bullies. There is no reason to withdraw me or anything.
Hogwarts is letting me down in the most basic things any school should have. While I'm honoured that a singing hat has sorted me into Slytherin I find it bizarre a school that is renowned to be the best in magical Europe would even support such blatant bigotry and purposefully wedge a rift between its students. I also find the teacher-student ratio to be way too big and according to Hogwarts: A History a teacher teaches his or her subject to all seven years. There is no teacher specifically for the first and second years like you would expect mundane schools to have.
The food is great though and Harry and I are quite fond of the library already. The little we have seen of the castle is quite impressive and there is so much history surrounding this place that it makes me itch to learn more of it.
On a side note, Harry says 'hi'.
Love,
Hermione.
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Mr and Mrs Dursley,
This may be a bit early but Harry will be spending the Christmas holiday with me again this year and he would most certainly enjoy some new books along with a nice green scarf. But I'm sure you already thought of that yourself.
Also, to be frank, I wouldn't mind some new writing supplies and a book myself. Christmas is the holiday of giving isn't it? My gift this year will be a me-free Christmas holiday and the fact I'm not reporting you to Social Services and having you locked up.
Hermione Granger.
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Sitting in the library amidst the dusty tomes and the smell of paper (or, in this case, parchment) was Hermione's favourite way to start, and end, a day. That is until she spotted the Weasley boy sitting on her chair at her table in her corner of the library.
"Hullo," the redhead mumbled awkwardly as he stood up once she neared the table, flinching when he saw her annoyed expression.
"Good afternoon," Hermione responded neutrally, eyes narrowing ever so slightly as the gangly boy fumbled with his hands.
"Ehh," he said, "could you give this to Harry Potter and get him to please sign it? And, if you can, could you convince his harem to sign it too?"
Hermione counted to ten in her head, staring at the piece of parchment Ron the Redhead held out in his slightly shaking hands before she sighed. "Go do it yourself," she answered, "you're the Gryffindor. Bravery and all that, Harry doesn't bite as far as I know."
"Ye-eees," Ron mumbled, drawing out the 'yes', "but-"
"What?" Hermione snapped, not a big fan of excuses, or the boy himself.
"He'sscaryandsoareyou," he gushed, his face flushing red as he stared at the floor, "andyou'reslytherinsandslimysnakesar eeviland-"
"Are you dead?"
"What?" Ron exclaimed, "no!"
"Bleeding then? Experiencing symptoms often associated with poison? Do you have an inexplicable urge to kill yourself? Are you on fire, or feeling lightheaded, or are you perhaps experiencing the feel of your skin peeling itself of your bones?" Hermione asked, voice angry as she glared at the taller boy and her fists clenched.
"N-no?" the redhead stuttered, not quite sure what to make of her rather morbid string of sentences.
"Then why, for the sake of all that's sane, do you think I am evil?" Hermione spat, "if all I do is talk to you?"
"Well, you're a Slytherin!" Ron said smartly, "and you're mean!"
Hermione breathed in deeply, forcing herself not to jump the boy and show him exactly how mean she could be when agitated. Instead she just narrowed her eyes even further and gritted her teeth.
"Does that make Harry evil then?"
"No, 'cause he's the Boy-Who-Lived and everyone knows he can't be evil, he even slayed a fifteen-headed lion in Russia! I thought he was though, at first, but he's in Slytherin to off all of you slimy prats," Ron said smugly, his courage catching up with him.
"Then being a Gryffindor makes you dumb." Hermione fought the urge to roll her eyes, of course there were lions in Russia.
Ronald's face flushed swiftly, the smug expression wiped off his face in a second and the blush creeping up to the roots of his hair and Hermione almost envisioned steam coming out of his ears.
"That's, that's .. prejudice!" he bellowed, earning himself a warning glance from the librarian as he glared at Hermione.
"And thinking that all Slytherins are evil isn't prejudice then?" Hermione asked, hoping he finally got the message.
"No," Ron gritted out from between clenched teeth, "because they are. All my brothers say so, you're all a bunch of stuck-up purebloods that all follow You-Know-Who."
"I'm a muggleborn."
"And you're sorted into Slytherin?!" Another glance from the librarian shut him up and Hermione wondered absentmindedly how long he would be allowed to remain in the library.
"Yes, but you know that," Hermione hissed, scrunching up her nose in distaste and wishing Harry was with her to see the redhead.
"That means you're even worse!" he said, his voice just urgent instead of earsplittingly loud as he glanced around himself to see if the librarian heard, "you're the next dark lord! Or lady! You're meant to be evil!"
That's when Hermione lashed out with the only thing that wouldn't get her into trouble, words.
"And you're meant to be the same lowly neanderthal as your ancestors were, a shame to all that's human! I feel for all those that are forced breathe in the same air as you and are forced to endure your stench. I have seen monkeys, Ronald Weasley, monkeys with more common sense than you. And don't you dare, you dumb idiot, to assume I am meant for evil! Believe in your prejudice for all I care, one day you'll see that what I do is right," Hermione spat, her lips turned back in an impressive sneer before she turned on her heel and marched out of the library.
Ronald just watched her go, deciding to stay far, far away from the unstable, and evil, muggleborn girl in the future.
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Harry was walking through the long corridors of Hogwarts on his own, silently taking in everything that had happened in the past few days on his own.
First came that he still had Hermione, for all that he knew the hat would have put her in Ravenclaw or decided he was more a Hufflepuff than anything else. But they were together, which was good, and would be for the next seven years. Ever since he first met her she was his constant, he could always count on her to stand beside him when the situation called for it and generally let her take the lead.
Then there was his 'house', his so called 'family' for while he was at Hogwarts. Harry snorted, he never liked the family he had and had quite a few doubts that his new one would prove to be any better, in fact, they already proved themselves to be worse. He could live with being called a freak or whatnot, but you didn't call Hermione anything. You just didn't, not if you wanted your body intact, because unlike him she hated being called names. He once asked and she just said that she 'took care of the problem' in an airy voice and with a smile.
He knew it hurt her, or got her angry, and he didn't like it. She was his first, and currently only friend and maybe he'd make more here at Hogwarts, not that he counted on that too much, but she was there first and that meant something. And she was strong, like a mountain, but she couldn't handle everything.
Then there was magic, and the word itself made him giddy. Magic was, in a bastardized version of what Flitwick said, everything. He could do anything and everything and it made him feel strong, powerful and in control. The wands bothered him though, why use one if you could do the same without? Why depend on a crutch if you could walk just fine without? But it didn't matter, he was learning things he and Hermione could never have imagined in their wildest dreams. Though he didn't see the purpose in changing matchsticks into needles, why bother with everything if you could just buy a few hundred for a pound or two? And then there was so much more,
And then there was the money. Pure, unaltered gold. A whole vault full of it. He had asked the goblin, Grubby or Grobloop op something, if that was all and was quite disappointed when the humanoid nodded, sharp teeth glittering in the dim light. But even when finding out his 'trust vault' was just a silly name for a 'vault for underage wizards' and didn't necessarily mean 'just a fraction of your wealth' he was still content. After a few more questions and a simple plan that revolved around finding a steady source of income after Hogwarts and relying on magic for most mundane things and not buying anything but bare necessities he could be rich (instead of just wealthy) within three decades.
It did mean that quite a lot of things he saw in the Madam Malkins catalogue would be out of his reach for quite some time. But then again, he didn't particularly fancy socks made out unicorn ear-hair or a hat adorned with Grindylow teeth.
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An abandoned classroom served as Hermione and Harry's 'secret lair' because more and more Ravenclaws were frequenting the library. It wasn't cushy, or mysterious nor did it have an armoury, duelling ring or anything else they wouldn't have minded it having. It was a classroom, just that, a whole bunch of chairs and tables strewn around and one blackboard at the end of the room.
"Ronald Weasley is an idiot," Hermione said vehemently as she paced through the room that evening, "the biggest I've ever met."
Harry watched her carefully, "did he insult you? Call you a mudblood or anything else denigrating? I could?" His voice trailed off at the end, repeating the one of the very first words Hermione had once said to him.
She shook her head, bushy curls flying around her in a mess of brown, "don't bother. He isn't worth the effort, he just doesn't see the light. But he will."
Harry nodded silently, "do you want to talk about it?" He offered resting his elbows on the slightly dusty table in front of him.
"He thinks I'm evil," she hissed, "but I'm not! He's just as twisted as everyone else here, believing in prejudice and presumptions! I bet that Voldemort went evil because everyone expected him to. Hogwarts: A History said that Grindelwald was at Hogwarts for a two-month exchange programme between Durmstrang and Hogwarts, he was sorted into Hufflepuff! Simply because he wanted people's loyalty to him and his cause, and he's evil and a non-Slytherin! And that stupid excuse for humanity thinks I'm 'super-evil' because that regardless of my parents I'm sorted into Slytherin! And when I asked about you he said you were such a paragon of light that you were incapable of ever being corrupted by me and my evilness."
"Did he really say it like that?" Harry asked, trying to cheer her up.
"Well," Hermione said, "he said something stupid about lions in Russia and his choice of words was poor but that's what he wanted to say had he been of average intelligence."
Harry grinned, "there you have it. He's just dumb, he'll come around."
"He'd better," Hermione murmured, "or I swear I'll do something evil to him. But you're right, time is precious and shouldn't be wasted on that stupid excuse for a human. We have a list to finish, don't we?"
Hermione grinned and Harry smiled back, they had stuff to do and arguing with redheads wasn't on that list.
Thank you for reading.