AN: Slightly re-written to add some depth to the start of the story, and of course more of a feel of impending doom!
Week – 2: The Unknown Outbreak
Hermione was a person who looked to books for everything that she needed to know, however when it was reported in the Daily Prophet that there was a possible outbreak of a human rabies, she found her books about magic completely useless. The daily prophet provided very little information about the outbreak, other than it was currently being contained by muggle authorities, but everyone should take great caution while traveling amongst the muggle population, personal shielding charms were recommended. Personal shielding charms were best used if you got caught in the rain or it was windy and wanted to keep your hair in place, but to prevent the passing of a virus was highly unlikely.
Hermione knew very little about muggle science, and this lack of knowledge made her very uncomfortable. When she received her letter of acceptance to Hogwarts, she left behind all types of muggle studies, such as biological sciences, much to her parent's disappointment. Hermione secretly believed they intended for her to also go into the family dental practice, something that would have been possible, if she had never developed magical abilities.
Disgruntled Hermione threw the Daily Prophet on her bed and gave it one last glance, no other than Gilderoy Lockhart was smiling up at her with a mouth of pearly white perfection. He was proudly holding his book "Magical Prevention of Muggle Ailments" and under the picture the text read as follows:
Gilderoy Lockhart, his gorgeous picture above, has released a new book titled "Magical Prevention of Muggle Ailments". It is a recommended read if you desire the knowledge of how to magically protect yourself against the spreading of ailments, such as the common cold.
Hermione ran her hands threw her long, thick bushy hair, and let out a frustrated moan. Remembering the prophet's owl perched at her window she quickly reached into her night stand for its payment. With goodbye nip of her finger, the little brown owl was out her window. She watched as it faded into the distance, noticing how wonderful the sun looked rising from behind the trees. Feeling a tingling pain she looked down at the little blood droplet forming from the bit on her finger, wondering how something so tiny, so small she could not see, could be so much trouble. The Prophet had said the human rabies was being contained, but 'honestly' she thought, 'when has the Daily Prophet ever reported the truth'.
AN: Please read/review, and any criticism is welcome. Check back, I update old chapters with minor details or errors since this is an uncompleted work.