Chapter 4 - Now You See Me, Now You Don't
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, not me. All characters and plot that are in her books are hers.
Knowledge of a supernatural force. Supernatural force. Force. Force. The Force. The words played and replayed so many times in Hermione's head that she didn't realize how much time had passed until Mrs. Baterberry called her name. Hermione then quickly hid the clipboard a cabinet in the kitchen and returned to the office, the words still sounding in her mind. There were now followed by a thesis; Professor Vector was a Jedi. Perhaps even a Jedi Master. Jedi or Jedi Master, Hermione now knew Septima Vector was Hermione's way into the world of the Jedi. Hermione now remembered seeing a distinct aura around Jedi Vector - but it seemed to be faint, but not the type that was of a Jedi that hadn't discovered their abilities and the force, it was the type that seemed almost hidden.
And, now with a steely determination, Hermione had been determined to find her. Convince her to bring her to a Jedi Master so Hermione could be a Jedi apprentice- or even apprentice Hermione to herself.
But Hermione didn't know where to find Jedi Vector. Nor did she know where to start looking. So Hermione resolved to keep her eyes open, ask Ms. Baterberry, and learn as much as she could. Perhaps Jedi Vector would find her.
Hermione entered the office again and asked Ms. Baterberry about Professor Vector.
"Whom are you talking about?" Ms. Baterberry asked Hermione, looking confused.
Hermione's mind went haywire until she realized that Jedi Vector probably mind tricked Ms. Baterberry into forgetting her. Smart.
But that wouldn't help Hermione at all.
The weeks passed, June blurring into July. Vernon and Dudley left to the Americas in hope of finding something that could help Dudley, so Hermione mind tricked them into leaving her and Harry in Number Four, Privet Drive without someone to watch over them.
Speaking of mind tricking, Hermione mastered all of the force abilities shown in the trilogy: push, pull, levitation, mind trick, lightning, and force choke. Hermione practiced the last two on a few bugs. Hermione also began experimenting: she could now vanish/turn into shadows…
Hermione ran away from Harry, who was chasing her around the house.
"Stop!" Hermione said, running, "Stop or else I'll use the Force!"
Harry didn't hear her, focused instead on catching Hermione. Hermione dashed around the corner and slipped into the closet, shutting the door and pressing herself against the wall and hoping she could just dissolve into the shadows.
"AHA!" Came Harry's voice, and the closet door burst open to reveal…
A broom and it's shadow?
Harry closed the door, confused. In the darkness, two brown eyes emerged from the shadows, a body following it. Hermione walked out of the closet and went into the kitchen, where a very confused Harry would find her ten minutes later, lost in thought.
Hermione could also create a force field around herself, which was done due to a great amount of effort on Hermione's part and a lot of throwing water balloons and laughing on Harry's part. Harry stopped laughing when Hermione doused him from water that she somehow created from thin air.
As well as making water appear, Hermione found that, with practice, she could make ice appear, as well ass control small bits of ice and water at a time (the controlling a big amount did not go well...)
"Here, try this, Hermione!" Harry shouted, pointing to the baby pool he had filled up. Hermione closed her eyes and concentrated. Harry's squeal of excitement had her eyes shooting open to see the water in the pool had frozen and was moving around-
Only to unfreeze, shatter, and drench them both in freezing water that had Harry shivering for days.
Hermione, oddly, didn't shiver at all.
Harry, even after he recovered, was still struggling with levitation, the most basic of them all. Hermione had tried to explain it to him, but Harry had yet to lift something heavier than a feather. He couldn't even see auras or the force field around Number Four. Hermione began to investigate it, and, seeing it did nothing to birds and squirrels or her and Harry, she developed a thesis that it was shielding the house from a certain person, or perhaps certain people.
Harry, on the other hand, was doing much better at school than he had before, getting straight As now that he had the time to do homework.
Hermione's sessions with Mr. Baterberry went well. On Thursdays and Fridays, Hermione made some money by babysitting the children on the block, and mowing lawns, and being hired as a personal chef for parties (only two had asked her that so for, but Hermione had heard the word spreading of her culinary skills). When Hermione had spare time, she read, practiced the force, read, and re-watched the trilogy. Hermione decided that she needed a stronger connection to the force. She went about this by meditation.
As the weeks passed by and Hermione's abilities grew, she didn't ever catch sight of Jedi Vector, no matter how hard she looked. One day, however, she found something else.
Hermione walked into the garden and began tending to it, for it was looking very wild with the weeds sticking out everywhere. She was about to cut one when a hissing voice said:
?Get out! Get out! Get out, humansssss, or face my venom!?
Hermione backed away, spotting a large black snake slither out of the flowers towards her.
?Wait!? Hermione said, and the snake's head snapped up towards her. Hermione had finally realized this was a black mamba. Very poisonous. Very lethal.
?Sssspeaker?? It asked excitedly, lifting its head up to look Hermione in the eye. Hermione stifled a gasp.
?You can undersssstand me?? Hermione asked the snake. The snake nodded, and Hermione actually did gasp this time.
?You are sssspeaking the noble tongue of the sserpentssss.? It said to Hermione. Hermione listened to herself closely as she said:
?What issss your name?? Hermione realized that she was speaking another language. It sounded different from English when she concentrated. It was really just a series of hisses that meant something... But she had never learned it before...
?There isss no version of it in humansss tongue, but I am? And the snake let out a hiss. Hermione thought for a second.
?Can I call you Yvette?? She asked the snake, who she had deemed as a she from her hissed name.
?Yesssssss, that isss a nice name.? The newly named Yvette said, ?Isss there anything I can do for you, ssssspeaker??
Hermione opened her mouth to hiss ?no?, but then changed her mind.
?Yessss, actually,? Hermione hissed,?If you don't mind, can you look out of a human for me??
?Which one, sssspeaker? There are many humansssss.? Yvette hissed, perking up.
?A younger middling female with brown eyes and long, dark brown hair.? Hermione replied, and Yvette nodded.
?Vissssit ssssoon?? Yvette asked hopefully. Hermione nodded and Yvette slithered off.
Hermione sat down in the garden, thinking about what just happened. She eventually just chalked it up to her force abilities. It did make sense - the force connected all living things.
That got her thinking about how, now, she couldn't really feel the force. She couldn't sense things, like Obi Wan, Luke, Yoda, and Anakin could.
So she stood to go inside, determined. Nothing could stop her.
"Hello!" Well, that probably could make her wait. Hermione turned to see a middle aged couple who had just walked over, standing by the pathway to the door.
"Good morning." Hermione replied, walking over to the couple and hiding her dirty hands behind her back. Once Hermione reached the two, she held out her now clean hand to the nearest, the woman.
"Hello, madam. I'm Hermione." Hermione said sweetly, hoping for a client. The woman took her hand and they shook.
"Hello, Hermione, I'm Christina Thames, and this is my husband, Daniel. We're new to the neighborhood and heard a rumor." The woman said. Hermione also shook Mr. Thames' hand, her heart racing. The odds of a new client were looking up.
"Hello, Mr. Thames." She said politely.
"Hello." Mr. Thames said, "So, as Christina wasa saying - we've heard a rumor about you're good cooking, and that you cook for parties and other special events."
Hermione nodded, thinking in her head: Score! Mrs. and Mr. Thames brightened.
"Great!" Mrs. Thames announced, "We have two kids, Emma and John. Emma's about you're age, and John is two years younger. John's birthday is in three days, on a Saturday. We were wondering if you could cook for him and his friends? There will be about six guests. You can use our kitchen, of course."
Hermione quickly accepted, and the details were laid out: The party started at eleven, and the food had to be ready by twelve, when the kids ate. Hermione would make pizza, a special drink and cake (the last two were Hermione's suggestions, at which the couple seemed shocked that she could make those foods and drinks). She would get paid two hundred and fifty dollars for her service, and the Thames would buy the ingredients (now, Hermione thought this was a bit overkill on the Thames' part, but accepted the offer quickly anyways). Hermione informed them that she would be there at eight. The Thames' asked if it was alright with her guardians, so Hermione made a show of going inside and asking (the thin air, of course, what else?), and then came back with a yes.
Then Hermione set off to go inside again, determined. She sat down on the chair, closed her eyes, and reached out.
She used that term for it. Really, she thought to herself as a thought occurred to her, if Harry is dumb enough to actually reach out with his hand when he does this, I will probably smack him on his hand.
She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, like she normally did in her meditation, and reached out. She searched for a few seconds, and then -
It was there.
She felt like she could see the whole world. She saw it. Connecting all life. Privet Drive. The orphanage. Life. Death and decay, and the cycle in which decay fed new life. Birth. Warmth and coldness. Water and Fire. Ice and flames. Shadow and Light. Peace and violence. And between it all - balance and energy. The force. It was inside her, giving out that aura that she recognized.
Yes. She had truly connected to it. She could feel it.
The force.
Hermione knocked on the door of the Thames' house, more than a bit annoyed. Harry was still in the same place as he was last week with the force. He couldn't even clear his mind, let alone connect to it! And he was still on levitation. Hermione had left him with some meditation practice when she had left.
"Hello?" The door opened to reveal a girl with blond hair and blue eyes, "Are you Hermione?"
"Yes." Hermione replied, and the girl stepped back to let her in.
"I'm Emma." She said, but Hermione barely heard her. She had felt the girl's aura from outside, and now she could see it: the aura of a force user that hadn't realized their abilities or the force yet. Dim, but still there.
"This way to the kitchen." Emma announced, leading Hermione through a living room and a dining room into a rather large kitchen, "Well, it was nice meeting you."
Emma grabbed a book off the counter awkwardly and left, reading.
Hermione took the ingredients out for the meal, still (partially) lost in thought. Should she tell Emma of her powers? Or leave the girl to figure it out herself?
Hermione didn't realize how much time had flown by when she heard the pitter patter of feet and the shouts of children. Hermione looked up at the clock and realized that it was eleven twenty five. She put the pizzas into the oven and finished decorating the rocket cake, which she had actually made into a rocket shape, hoping to impress the Thames so they would hire her again. She took out some clear, smooth rock candy from the fridge that looked like glass and placed them into the holes in the rocket that resembled windows. She carefully popped open the door to a hollow compartment and made sure all of the figures inside were stuck, and then popped the door back in. She surveyed her work with a grin.
Thirty five minutes later, Hermione came out and served the pizzas. And special drink, which was a homemade fruit punch. She spotted Emma, Mr. Thames, and Mrs. Thames sitting by a separate table, so served them there after she served the kids. Emma was still reading, so didn't notice when Hermione gave her a long look.
When they had finished, Hermione cleared the plates to many "You're the chef? It's awesome!"s from the kids and a few compliments from the parents. Hermione nodded to herself. It was going well so far.
Then she brought out the cake.
There were gasps from everyone (even Emma, who had looked up at the commotion). Hermione set the cake down and placed the candle on top of the rocket.
"It's all edible." Hermione said to the parents as they inspected the figures and the glass, "The door opens." She added to John, who was looking at her with awe.
"Best. Birthday. Ever." John announced, and the kids (and the parents) sang and then ate. Everyone was looking amazed at the cake, eating it with content smiles on her faces. Hermione leaned back against the wall and congratulated herself when one of the kids said to her:
"Can you cook for me at my party? It's in a week."
The rest of the kids burst into questions of the sort for Hermione, all of which she answered with a:
"Of course, but you should ask your parents first."
All of the kids agreed to that.
Hermione stood outside of the door, staring at Emma, who had led her out. This was her last chance to tell her - well, at least for now. Hermione had studied Emma over the course of the party and had come to the conclusion to start the conversation bluntly, or Emma would never notice, too focused on her book.
"You're a Jedi." Hermione matter-a-factly told her. And Emma cocked her head, as if waiting for something. When a minute passed and all Hermione could feel from Emma was that she was confused and… was that a little fear? - Emma replied:
"Oh, I see. It was a joke." And slammed the door shut.
Well, Hermione thought, controlling her anger at being turned down, that went well.
"Close your eyes!" Harry shouted at Hermione, who promptly did, even thought it was hard enough to see in the dark anyways. Suddenly, her force connection was heightened - just like Obi Wan told Luke it would. Without her eyes deceiving her, Hermione walked over to the spot where Harry had hidden the bow and arrow. She heard Harry gasp, and felt his surprise and excitement. Along with that, though, was a bit of disappointment… Hermione frowned, but didn't delve deeper into the emotion, focused on her task.
Hermione drew the arrow back with practiced ease, and then turned, releasing it.
Hermione didn't have to open her eyes to know that the arrow had hit the bull's eye.
Shot after shot, Hermione slowly got farther away from the target, until she was standing on one edge of the park and the target was on the other.
Hermione drew and released the arrow so fast that the whizz of the arrow cutting through the air was the only indication for Harry that Hermione had shot until the arrow slammed into the rest, slicing the others in half.
Bull's eye.
Hermione placed the bow down and was about to open her eyes when she sensed someone behind her. She was about to grab the bow when she recognized the person from the force.
Jedi Vector.
Hermione opened her eyes to hear a crack. But she had seen Jedi Vector with her green robes. And then she had seen Jedi Vector twirl, and then disappear.