a/n, thanks to everyone for the reviews, hope you like the rest :0)
Chapter 6:
Hermione watched McGonagall with anticipation as she saw her approach a box in the corner of the room. McGonagall picked it up and placed it on her desk, before briskly opening it up and taking out its content carefully.
Inside the box was something that looked an awful lot like a pensive bowl; The only difference was that it was much wider in diameter, and seemed to not be as deep, yet it still had the strange rune-like markings around the edges of it's stone surface.
"What is it?" Hermione asked curiously. She looked to her side and noticed Draco looking at the bowl with as much unfamiliarity as she felt, obviously he'd never seen or heard of it before.
"This is a very rare, yet a very powerful magical object. The fate of many students depend on this object and whose hands it is in. It is called the Magic Seer." said McGonagall, placing the bowl on the desk between Draco and Hermione.
McGonagall then conjured some parchment, quill and ink, and gave it to both Hermione and Draco.
"What I am asking of you is a very serious matter. Your detention won't be writing repeated sentences on a piece of parchment neither will it be cleaning trophies. Although if you play with my temper it will turn into that. Your detention will be work, as if you're part of the Hogwarts staff." said McGonagall placing her wand in the bowl.
"What does this bowl do?" asked Hermione, leaning in closer to look at it.
"First of all, don't lean in too close. I've never heard of anybody falling through the Magic Seer, but it hasn't been proved as impossible. Second of all, you'll see what this bowl does in just a minute." said McGonagall as she performed a silent incantation and started stirring what looked like an empty bowl.
Hermione wasn't sure what she was stirring, there should have been something poured into the bowl. Perhaps a memory or a certain liquid or gas. But McGonagall didn't pour anything in. She repeated the incantation under her breath and stirred in the opposite direction.
Hermione and Draco watched as the empty white bowl started developing a picture in it. Little by little more and more colors formed and Hermione saw a scene in it as if she was watching a muggle television.
In front of their eyes, they saw a house. It looked like a cozy house, in a peaceful neighborhood. The lights outside of the house illuminated the very well maintained garden.
The picture concentrated on the house for a few second, then it seemed to zoom into the house, almost crashing into the gray brick, but the siding disappeared and the indoors were visible.
Hermione watched the bowl, seeing the picture move to the living room of the house in question. It looked very warm and inviting.
The couches were made out of suede, in a very relaxing brown color. The fire burning in the fireplace sent sparks, and softly lighted the room, creating a warm orange glow.
There were three children kneeling in front of the fireplace. They looked like they were roasting marshmallows in the fire. Laughter was heard loudly, and Hermione couldn't help but smile at what she was seeing. It was obviously a happy family, spending quality time with each other.
A woman who looked to be in her thirties was seated on an armchair by the fireplace. She was reading a book entitled "The Wizarding Possibilities." she looked up from the book and smiled at the children. Hermione assumed for this women to be their mother.
Some short while after, a man walked into the room holding two cups of what seemed to be tea. He sat on one of the arms of the armchair the women was seated in. He smiled at her and handed her one of the cups. She took it and pressed her lips to his, indicating a thank you. Hermione immediately assumed this man to be her husband and possibly the father of the children.
The boy who seemed the oldest of the children got up from his seat near the fireplace, and headed to the direction of his parents. He looked to be around ten years old. He sat on the rug by his parent's feet and looked up at them with a smile.
"Mother would you tell me about Hogwarts again?" he asked, his golden hair falling freely on his forehead.
"Maxwell you'll know all about Hogwarts in due time." answered his mother, smiling at her son's curiosity.
"But when is due time?" Maxwell persisted.
"Due time is when you will turn eleven." answered his father, shuffling his hair.
"Ugh, I have to wait that long? But I don't turn eleven till July." whined Maxwell looking up at his parents with sad puppy eyes.
"And you'll probably receive your acceptance letter late August." said his mother, smiling at him sweetly.
"I'll be counting down the days." said Maxwell, getting up from the rug and heading back towards the fireplace, where his two younger sisters were in a fit of giggles over the marshmallow that melted into the flames.
The screen of the bowl turned black and it looked like the scene was over. McGonagall looked at Hermione and Draco and couldn't help but smile at the expression on their faces.
Hermione seemed to be awed by the scene. She looked up at McGonagall, a silly smile plastered on her face. Draco had his usual sneer, that boy couldn't help but feel superior to everyone. He looked at McGonagall as if the scene he had witnessed was a mere waste of his precious time.
"The scene you just witnessed" started McGonagall drawing the attention of the students back to her. "Is a real life scene from a family somewhere in England. It is exactly what they were doing at the exact moment you were watching it. Now, can either of you think of the reason you've seen it?" she asked, looking at them.
"Like I care." Draco muttered rudely.
McGonagall cleared her throat at his remark and glared at him. He just looked away and waited for her to continue. He knew that pushing her off the edge wasn't a good idea at the moment.
"Did we see that certain family because their son is bound in Hogwarts starting September?" asked Hermione.
"Exactly." said McGonagall, tapping the bowl with her wand. A second later the bowl started forming letters in the blank black screen. The letters read:
Maxwell Baddock
Born on July 23rd 1987
Pureblood Wizard
Hermione looked at the words as her mouth gaped open. She was shocked to see so much magic happen from a bowl that looked nothing but plain.
"This is the information the bowl has given us. You will look at every child that shows magical abilities through the Magic Seer and write down the information that is provided. The Magic Seer senses children with Magic abilities and shows us as much as it can about them." said McGonagall as Hermione took the quill in her arm and started copying down the instructions from McGonagall.
"It is very important that you do this correctly because this is the children that will be admitted to Hogwarts as First years in September. You will write down every child's information in a neat list and hand it to me at the end of everyday. I am trusting you with a very important matter, and I hope you will not disappoint me." McGonagall finished her instructions, and headed towards her desk, to finish grading the homework that was piled on top of it.
And so detention began.