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Hermione Granger sat at her desk, head bent over a notebook and scribbling furiously. She had to get everything down before she forgot it (not that she would) or her parents interrupted her.

Sarah's hair turned green as she teased me

Billy was found in the trash can

Linus, classroom hamster, had all of his food in his cage come morning

She sighed heavily, set her pen down, set her head in her hands and began to massage her temple. Her brown hair with its kinky curls fell down and covered the desk, catching up paperclips and other small items, but she barely even noticed. If she was being honest with herself, Hermione felt like she was going mad and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Inexplicable things just kept happening to her, especially when she was feeling upset or angry, and no one seemed to believe her.

When Sarah's hair turned green, the teacher said it had to be because she had gone swimming the night before and chlorine had stained it over time, but Hermione knew that she had thought about it changing colors as Sarah whispered "curly haired freak" under her breath at her during class. The principal claimed that Billy must have been playing hide-and-seek during recess to explain away his sudden appearance, and Elizabeth, the classroom helper, said she must have forgot to take the food bag out of Linus' cage before going home.

Hermione groaned and gripped her hair tightly in her hands, eyes clenched shut, and breath quickening. Something wasn't right and she just knew it. Deep down in her bones, something was coming and she couldn't do a thing to stop it.

A sound downstairs startled her out of her thoughts and she realized that someone was knocking on the front door. A moment later she heard another knock and wondered where her mum and dad were and why weren't they answering it? Pushing away from her desk, she glanced around the room and pursed her lips as she saw a pair of socks a foot away from the laundry basket. With a quick thought, the socks were suddenly in the basket and Hermione grinned triumphantly before frowning once more. The person knocked again.

Rushing out of her room, Hermione headed towards the stairs and raced towards the front door. "Mum? Dad?" She called as she hurried, reaching the small area before the door and slamming her knee against the shoe bench that rested against the wall. "OW!" She cried, slowing to a stop and grabbing her knee. "Stupid bench," she grumbled, hobbling to the door and flinging it open in frustration.

She stopped. The woman standing there was like a figure out of one her mum's fantasy books; an emerald green traveling cloak covered a proper black dress with many buttons. The woman looked older, like her grandmum, and her hair was swept back in a tight bun and her glasses rested on the tip of her nose.

"Miss Granger?" The woman asked with a slight accent. Hermione nodded silently, eyes wide, and moved out of the way as the woman brushed past her into the home. "Where in Merlin's sake are your parents?" She questioned sharply, glancing around the hallway. Her sharp green eyes seemed to take in everything at once and she began to strode down the hall towards the family room.

"Um, excuse me, but who are you? What are you doing in my house? Are you real? Why are you wearing a cloak?" Hermione gasped out, trailing behind the strange woman. The woman glanced at her before sitting down in the armchair beside the fireplace, hands resting on her knees and back straight. "Mum?" Hermione called again, not breaking eye contact and taking a seat on the sofa. "Mum? Dad?"

"Coming love," a soft voice shouted from somewhere in the house. Hermione could hear her father making his way from his study to the family room and knew she needed to figure out who this woman was before he arrived.

"Miss Granger," the stranger started, adjusting her shoulders as she removed the cloak. "Miss Granger, I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Hermione gasped in response, things falling into place and suddenly making all the sense in the world. Before she could respond, however, a startled voice came from the entrance to the room.

"What the bloody hell?" Charles Granger swore, taking in the odd sight. A woman that looked to be his mum's age was seated in the armchair by the fire. A cloak rested beside her on the armrest and she had just announced that she was from a bloody school of magic. "Who the bloody hell are you?" He demanded, hurrying to Hermione's side and placing a hand on his young daughter's shoulder.

"I knew it!" Hermione shrieked, standing up so suddenly her father's hand was thrown away and he stumbled to the side. "I knew it!" She called again, jumping up once, twice, and then a third time. "All those times my teacher tried to explain things away and I knew what she was saying made no sense and I told you!" Hermione turned to her father, hands on her hips, suddenly looking much older than almost twelve. "How many times did I tell you something was different about me?" She questioned, shaking her head. "How many times did I tell you something wasn't quite right? Or that things can't always be explained? I told you and mum and I told you and you never believed me and I was right." She ended haughtily, but a moment later she realized just how rude she sounded and her hands fell to her sides and she blanched.

"Sorry, dad, sorry, I -"

"Charles, dear, who was at the door -" Charlotte Granger, a beautiful woman with long brown hair tied back in a bandana and wearing a plaid shirt and grass stained jeans, was removing her gardening gloves as she entered the room but paused at the guest sitting in the armchair by the fire. "Minerva?" She gasped, gloves falling to the floor. "Mum said you moved away after Thomas…" Charlotte stopped suddenly feeling rather embarrassed and glanced at her husband and daughter.

"Charlotte," Minerva McGonagall began, nodding at her old neighbor from long ago. "Sit down, all of you. There's quite a bit to explain."


A week later, Hermione could be found sitting outside in her backyard with her nose shoved in a book. While this was a normal occurrence during the long summer days, the book and topic she perused was not. Hogwarts, A History was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen in her life. Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, this was the stuff of her mum's favorite books, but it was all real and all hers. After the visit with Professor McGonagall, Hermione knew that everything in her life made sense and had a purpose. Magic was the explanation behind all the mysterious things that none of them could ever explain. Not only that, she recalled excitedly, but her mum had known the professor when she was a young girl. While Charlotte had not known that her old neighbor was a witch, it was still astounding to Hermione to know that her mum had been so close for so much of her life.

Pausing in her perusal of the book the Headmistress had left behind for her, she looked around her backyard and grinned. With her parents as well to do dentists, her family was quite well off and the new pool that had been installed this past summer had made her mum quite happy. Charlotte Granger was currently lounging on a floaty in the middle of the pool, sunglasses on with a book resting on her stomach. Charles was sitting in the shade of the deck reading a newly published medical journal.

"Mum," Hermione called, pulling her mother away from her soaking. "Mum, what time did she say she was coming tomorrow?" Already knowing the answer, she flashed her mum a grin as Charlotte removed her sunglasses and squinted at her daughter.

"Hermione," she sighed, glancing towards her husband before turning back to look at her daughter. "Hermione, Minerva is coming tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock sharp to take us school shopping. You know this, I know this, your father knows this, and I'm sure you've asked enough times the neighbors know. Darling, you must be terribly excited, but you have to calm down."

Hermione let out a giggle and set her book down. "Sorry mum," she responded sheepishly. "I just can't believe that in two weeks I won't be going back to that completely rotten school!"

"Hermione," Charles snapped, lifting his head up from the medical journal. "Hermione, love, just stop. Not while we are outside." He glanced towards the fence where the neighbors yard met theirs. Nosy people, the Watersons, and they couldn't risk anyone overhearing something that they shouldn't. The cat woman (she had turned into a bloody cat!) said there was a spell to make muggles forget things they shouldn't know, but he really did not want to find out if it was true or not.

Charles sighed, taking in the sight of his wife and daughter. Knowing they were all thinking the same thing; life was about to change drastically.