Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, not me. All characters and plot that are in her books are hers.
Chapter 3 - Of Experimenting and an Odd Tutoring Session
Author's Note: Firstly, a note about updates: I will be able to post chapters for each of my fanfictions every week to every other week. Now that I'm working on two fanfictions, I will be alternating posting on Hermione Granger and the Twisted Fate and posting on On the Other Side of the Mirror. Secondly, in this chapter, I have some translations from other languages to English. After the language is spoken, there will be parenthesis around Translation: and whatever the English version is. Finally, thank you to my reviewers!
Hermione raised a taco to her mouth, thinking about her and Harry's abilities. Harry had described some of the other things that he had done, Hermione questioning him. Apparently, her earlier theory was correct; to be able to do one of the abilities, you must; (1) will, (2) visualize, and (3) direct. Now, she was curious as to what they could do, and what the limitations were. She pushed the thought that she had might have just about broken science to the very back of her mind. These magic probably had some rules. And Hermione had her heart set on finding them.
Hermione placed the taco back down on the plate.
First testing. 3… 2… 1…
Hermione closed her eyes, visualizing the taco floating up in the air. She focused on it, wishing for it to happen. She pushed that wish and her visualization towards the taco…
"Hermione!" Harry shouted. Hermione opened her eyes to see the taco floating in front of her. Harry, who was one her side eating, was practically bouncing up and down in excitement.
Come. Hermione thought to the taco. The taco floated over to her slowly. She opened her mouth to take a bite and bit down, a grin on her face as she mentally moved the taco back to the plate. She brought it back again, and then had it zoom around the room, careful to not let the contents spill. Harry was giggling madly (and a bit annoyingly) at the sight, jumping up to try to catch it. Hermione had it dance tantalizingly right above Harry's reach, sometimes dipping back down to his height before zooming upwards again. Hermione eventually ate the last bite, Harry having already finished his.
"That was awesome!" Harry exclaimed, "How did you do it? Will you show me? Please?" At the last part, he made puppy eyes.
Hermione didn't answer. She rubbed her head, which was now throbbing. It was like a thousand voices shouting in her ear, their echos rebounding off her skull. The voices grew louder in a quick crescendo, and Hermione winced.
"I think," She weakly said to a worried Harry after a while, "We've got to build up our abilities. Like a muscle. If you try lifting a two hundred pound weight without lifting anything before, it won't work. It's kind of like that, I assume."
"Oh." Harry said, "But how did we do it before."
"Accidents." Hermione whispered, before blacking out.
First, there was darkness. Silence. Nothingness. Then, she heard something.
"Hermione. Hermione. Hermione." It was like a chant, and it went on – ten times, twenty times, fifty times – until the voice has rose to a desperate shout.
"HERMIONE!"
Hermione's eyes fluttered open to see a face above her. As the fuzziness of sleep went away, she recognized the face as Harry. Hermione sit up to see that she was in the closet again, on her mattress.
"You're awake!" Harry exclaimed jubilantly. He was sitting down next to Hermione. Hermione sat up, rubbing her eyes. Hermione's head didn't feel bad any longer - the throbbing had gone away.
"How long have I been asleep?" Hermione asked, standing up. Harry thought for a moment, before answering;
"An hour or so, I think." He said, "I brought you up here about fifty minutes ago."
Hermione almost snorted at that: Harry was so scrawny he would probably have to drag her up her. Hermione squinted at Harry, who was a bit guiltily looking away. He didn't. He dragged her up here –
"Well, then," Hermione announced, fighting to not hit Harry with a book (it was very tempting), "Would you like some dessert?"
Harry eagerly nodded and bounded out of the door, his footsteps pattering on the stairs as he went down. Hermione stood and looked over to one of her books.
Levitate. She thought to it, remembering to do the three things and grinning madly as the book rose up. She set it back down again, feeling her head. It didn't throb anymore. Hermione grinned. She had started to build up her magical core.
What? Hermione thought. Where in the world had that come from? Magical core? Did that mean what she was doing was magic?
"Hermione!" Harry's voice sounded from downstairs, "Come on!"
Hermione winced at the whining, but still moved downstairs, still thinking about her sudden thought. Was what she was doing classified as 'magic'? Yes, she decided, it did. Magic was the power of influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces, so what she was doing did fit in.
"Chocolate, vanilla, or mint chocolate chip?" Hermione asked Harry as she opened the freezer and looked at their choices.
"Chocolate!" Harry shouted like a little kid. Hermione gave him a glare that went unnoticed, taking out the chocolate ond the mint chocolate chip. She scooped them two scoops each, Harry having chocolate and Hermione having mint chocolate chip. Once they were done, Hermione quickly cleaned up and put everything away.
"What now?" Harry asked, licking his lips. Hermione thought for awhile, but eventually decided to keep going. In for a penny, in for a pound. Also, this was a form of revenge on the Dursleys. Hermione grinned. Revenge was sweet.
"Do you have all of your homework done?" Hermione asked instead of saying what she wanted to first, not wishing for Harry to get into trouble at school.
"Yeah." Harry said quietly, "I did it in the cupboard."
Hermione's smile became rather fixed at that.
"How about a movie?" She asked, and Harry brightened.
"Ok." Harry said, "Dudley has watched one called Star Wars."
"Alright." Hermione, who had never watched a movie or heard of Star Wars, replied.
Hours and two movies later, Hermione finally called it a night. Her mind spun with the ideas of the movie. What if she (and Harry, of course) were Jedi? What of this 'magic' was the Force? What other things could be done with it that were not shown in the movies?
As she was walking up the stairs, she heard the phone ring. She froze, and then dashed to it, mouthing to Harry, who had been behind her:
'Go! Into the cupboard!'
Harry seemed to take the hint and ran into his cupboard as Hermione picked up the phone.
"Dursley residence." Hermione said, remembering her books, "How can I help you?"
"It's Vernon." Vernon's voice came through the phone, "We're at the hospital still. Dudley's bones have disappeared." Vernon said the last few words in a disgusted whisper, as if someone on the other end might hear him, "Dudders and I will probably be here for a few more days while they figure this all out. While were gone, make sure the boy isn't let out."
Hermione, who was a bit in shock - how in the world did she make him bones disappear? - managed to make a comment that would make Vernon trust her.
"He'll stay in there, and without food too." Hermione said, trying to make her voice sound disgusted. Really, she was disgusted with what she just said, but it was all part of the trick.
"Good." Vernon said, and hung up.
Hermione put the phone down, still wondering. It had of course been part of the Force, but it was still shocking. Making bones disappear - it was crazy.
"Harry." Hermione called, still thinking, "Come on. Time to go to sleep."
The next day, Tuesday, Harry got up to go to school as usual. Unusually, Hermione gave the both of them a hearty breakfast of bacon, waffles, and some fruit, beforehand.
Ms. Baterberry came at seven again. Hermione worked on math and science that day, for the two decided that Hermione would do english and foreign languages on Monday, math and science on Tuesday, and social studies, more math, and more science on Wednesday. Hermione also voiced her liking for learning dead languages, so the two added a few to Hermione's language list. Ms. Baterberry informed Hermione that they wouldn't spend much time on math and science on Wednesday until Hermione's social studies skills were up to the same level as the rest of hers, much to Hermione's disappointment.
Ms. Baterberry left at three, Hermione feeling like she had learned much more in a day than she ever had before and Ms. Baterberry looking a bit worn out over how much she had taught. Ms. Baterberry did look happy, though, Hermione recalled.
After three, Hermione decided to make some money for herself. She grabbed a few sheets of paper and made flyers, each one stating her name and what jobs she could do from seven to three thirty (when Harry got back from school) on Thursdays to Fridays. By the time she had hung them up around the neighborhood and in the park Harry had come back.
"Star Wars?" Harry asked, showing her his completed homework. Hermione nodded and they bounded into the living room.
After the credits for the final movie in the trilogy rolled, Hermione mentally went over all of the things the Force could do (that were shown in the movie, of course). Her levitation was used, but not her bone breaking (and bone vanishing). In the movie only, push, pull, lightning, levitation, mind trick, and force choking were showed. She also kind of knew push and pull, for she had made the taco fly around the room. Hermione thought back to the incident and remembered that she had kept the contents of the taco from spilling. So that had been like a force field, of sorts. Just the idea of an actual force field that could protect her set her mind shouting with joy (and telling her to hurry up and learn how to do it). That, though, reminded her of Harry's (and her) aura, and the strange barrier around Privet Drive. Pherhaps the barrier was a force field, and the auras showed if they were force users… but she was getting sidetracked, and it was late.
Hermione eventually decided to learn the force choke, mind trick, and lightning before anything else. She knew they were actually possible, and, well, offence was defence, she reasoned. Also, the mind trick was very intriguing... one word and Vernon and Dudley would never come back.
Wednesday started out like Tuesday did until Ms. Baterberry came. When the bell rung at seven, Hermione opened the door to see not one person - but two. Next to Ms. Baterberry was a young woman who was perhaps in her early thirties. She had brown eyes and long, dark brown hair that was pulled up into a bun. She was wearing a white blouse and a red skirt and looked very much like a teacher.
"Hello again, Hermione." Ms. Baterberry said, "This is a friend of mine, Professor Septima Vector. She's a professor at a prestigious school."
Hermione looked at Professor Vector with curiosity and amusement. Hermione was curious to why this Professor Vector from a prestigious school was here with Ms. Baterberry. Also, which school was she from, and what did she teach? For the amusement bit of it, well, the professor's first name meant 'the seventh' in Latin, and Vector… well, she probably was a mathematics or physics teacher with that name.
"Good morning, Ms. Baterberry and Professor Vector." Hermione said, resisting the urge to start asking questions at the rate of a mile a minute. Hermione stepped out of the way so Professor Vector and Ms. Baterberry could come in. The trio adjourned to the office.
"So, Hermione," Ms. Baterberry began as they sat down, "Professor Vector is here to see if you can get into this school."
Hermione's excitement shot up like a rocket, but her suspicion quickly followed. How in the world had word of her gotten around so fast?
"Here you go - Hermione, correct?" Professor Vector said, pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket. Hermione grinned at the problem that used maths that she had learned yesterday - yes, this would be fun.
Approximately a minute later (one of the longest amounts of time Hermione had ever spent on a problem), Hermione handed the paper back to Professor Vector, whose eyebrows had risen past her hairline and seemed to be circling to the back of her head.
"Correct." Professor Vector announced weakly, comparing Hermione's work to another paper she pulled out of her pocket. Then she looked back at Hermione.
"What is 49 times 87?" She asked.
"4263." Hermione quickly replied.
"88765 times 90123 divided by 15." Professor Vector said next.
"533317873" Hermione shot back.
Professor Vector took out a clipboard from her backpack, which Hermione hadn't noticed before, and marked something on her paper. Then she said:
"What does the word 'accico' mean?"
Hermione thought for a quarter of a minute or so before replying:
"'I summon' in Latin."
Professor Vector looked at her curiously, and Hermione fought the urge to squirm. After a long minute, Professor Vector began to speak again.
"What about 'expecto patronum?'" She asked. Hermione looked back at Professor Vector, wondering why she was asking these specific translations.
"'I await a guardian.'" Hermione said as she thought about the translations. They were both like commands… hmm…
"What about 'expelliarmus'?" Professor Vector continued. This one took Hermione a bit longer, for there were two separate translations squished together.
"I banish weapons." Hermione replied after a half a minute. Professor Vector marked something else on the paper before saying:
"¿Hablas español? ¿Quiénes son las personas en tu familia?" (Translation: "Do you speak spanish? Who are the people in your family?")
"我会讲西班牙语。我的养父是弗农杜斯利，我的收养兄弟是达德利杜斯利和哈利" (Translation: "I speak spanish. My adoptive father is Vernon Dursley and my adoptive brothers are Dudley Dursley and Harry.") Hermione replied, deciding it was time to speed this process along, "En español es: yo hablo español. Mi padre adoptivo es Vernon Dursley y mis hermanos adoptivos son Dudley Dursley y Harry." (Translation: "In Spanish: I speak spanish. My adoptive father is Vernon Dursley and my adoptive brothers are Dudley Dursley and Harry.")
"什么是最后一个男孩的姓氏？" (Translation: "What is the last boy's surname?") Professor Vector asked, seeming suspiciously fixated on Harry. Hermione narrowed her eyes and replied:
"Il a été adopté, mais il m'a dit que le nom de famille de ses parents biologiques était Potter." (Translation: He is adopted, but he told me that his biological parents' last name was Potter.)
Professor Vector gasped and then quickly covered her mouth. Hermione's eyes narrowed even further, looking like slits. Professor Vector shakely began her next question.
"Ποιο είναι το αγαπημένο σας χρώμα?" (Translation: What is your favorite color?) She asked, attempting to divert Hermione's attention. Hermione, who would never fall for such a simple trick, filed this information away and went along with Professor Vector.
"Το αγαπημένο μου χρώμα είναι μαύρο." (Translation: My favorite color is black.) Hermione replied curtly, and followed up with her own question, "Warum sagten dir all die Worte, die du mir gegeben hast, die Bedeutung von Befehlen?" (Translation: Why were all of the words you had me tell you the meaning of seemed like commands?)
"Es war nur ein Zufall." Professor Vector replied, but Hermione detected a hint of fear in her words.
"Well, thank you, Hermione." Professor Vector said after a few minutes of silence in which the two stared at each other, leaving Ms. Baterberry seeming very confused. Professor Vector stood up and left the office, leaving behind her clipboard. Hermione snatched it up and took after her. Hermione opened the front door to see - no Professor Vector. Where in the world had she gone so fast? Hermione thought as she shut the door. On her way back to the office, Hermione looked down at the paper on the clipboard. She almost stopped breathing at the last word.
Hermione Granger
Knowledge of mathematics: ✓
Knowledge of meanings of incantations: ✓
Knowledge of other languages: ✓
Aura: Strong
Knowledge of a supernatural force: _