Disclaimer: If you are reading this chapter instead of studying something more important, like perhaps defense, then Hermione will be very disappointed in you. And since I don't own Harry Potter, I can't be held responsible for what she does in retaliation.
Chapter 19: I'd Gladly Go to H.A.D.E.S. (Hermione's Annoyingly Daunting Exam Sessions)
After the second Gryffindor Quidditch match of the year, time at Hogwarts seemed to fly by at an unprecedented pace. One minute it was late February, and everyone was congratulating Harry and Hermione on their respective catches at the match. The next thing Harry knew it was nearly the Easter holidays. Initially Harry had planned to go home over the few days that consisted of the Easter vacation. Unfortunately, it seemed Harry's professors had an entirely different idea.
In nearly every single class, Harry had some project he needed to finish or some long essay he need to write, with the assistance of the Hogwarts' Library. Of course these assignments were not given till merely a few days before the holiday. Even if Harry wanted to rush through the assignments, there was no way he could physically get them all done before the Hogwarts Express left with the students returning to London.
On more than one occasion Harry had the distinct pleasure of being fortunate enough to listen to Draco Malfoy rub in the fact that 'prominent pureblood' wizards such as he did not have to stay at Hogwarts over the small break. They had their own libraries to use to research their essays. The only good thing Harry got out of Draco's ribbing was that Draco and the rest of his goons would be absent from the castle for a few days.
The worst part of all of this holiday mess was trying to explain to Sirius and Lexi that he would not be home during the break. Sirius seemed to understand Harry's need to go stay at school. Explaining in his return letter to Harry that while he was at Hogwarts he did tend to go home during this break, he knew most muggle-raised witches and wizards tended to stay at school.
And Lexi… well Harry knew she was more than disappointed that he had not returned home for a few days. She never directly said it, but then again she didn't need to. Things often went unsaid between to two Potter siblings and distance did not detract from their unique ability to do so. Harry was just fortunate that it was less than two months until the end of term, when he would be going home to Lexi for a few months.
"Harry?" Hermione's tentative voice broke through Harry's train of thoughts. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Sorry, Hermione," Harry sheepishly apologized to his friend who was sitting opposite him at one of the tables in the Gryffindor common room. "Could you repeat that?"
"I asked if you heard from Lexi about how things at the Dursleys now that Dudley is home for the next two weeks," Hermione replied in an exasperated tone of voice.
"Um, no," Harry reluctantly replied. "She hasn't mentioned him and I really didn't want to bring it up. She would say something if he was really giving her a hard time."
Hermione studied Harry a few seconds, biting her bottom lip, before responding. "I sure hope you're right."
"Harry, Hermione, can we have a word?" the voice of Ron Weasley caught both Hermione and Harry off guard.
"Sure," Harry replied trying to act as natural as he could. "What's up?"
"Um, well, we," Ron began, gesturing to himself and Seamus and Dean, "were wondering if either of you heard of a certain person we're having a hard time researching for ourselves."
Harry could see Hermione's eyes light up with the challenge of trying to research something that had the three boys in front of them despite. Well, Harry assumed they had to be despite since they had turned to him and Hermione for help.
"Who are you trying to find?" Hermione asked and Harry had a feeling that he and Hermione were going to be spending many days and nights in the library trying to find this particular person.
"The bloke's name is Nicholas Flamel," Seamus replied and immediately Hermione shot out of her chair.
"Stay right there!" Hermione replied as she hurried towards the girls' staircase. "I think I just read something about him earlier this week."
Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus stayed exactly how Hermione had left them. While the bushy-haired witch was only gone for at most five minutes, Harry had to admit they were some of the most uncomfortable five minutes that he had spent. While, the four of them were on better terms as of late, it was still hard for Harry to just forgive and forget some of the things he overheard the three of them say about him.
Hermione came bouncing back into the common room holding the largest book Harry had ever seen. If he had to guess he would say the book weighted more than Lexi and quite possibly could be bigger than his little sister. Hermione lugged the book onto the table in a move that had Harry worried that she possibly blew out her shoulder. Without a word Hermione immediately flipped the book to its index and after a brief scan moved the pages rapidly till she reached the one she wanted.
"Here he is," Hermione said a bit smugly. "I knew I read it recently. I took this book out for some light reading. I dare say he is mentioned quite a bit."
"Light reading?" Dean muttered questioningly as the three boys followed Harry's example and crowed over the page. Harry couldn't help himself when he sent a glare Dean's way. There was no need for him to be disrespectful to someone who was helping him.
"No wonder we couldn't find Flamel in Study of Recent Developments in Wizarding," Ron began. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five!"
A shudder suddenly went down Harry's spine. For better or for worse, Harry wasn't exactly sure he wanted to know why these boys wanted to know who Nicholas Flamel was. Whatever the reason, Harry was pretty sure it wasn't going to be good for him.
~*~
Sirius had been gone for two days and Lexi was at her wits end. Her godfather was working out the details with Remus Lupin about whether or not he should agree to the Goblins' offer. Luckily for her, unluckily for the Dursleys, Sirius had left the wand with her. But seriously, she shouldn't need it. Dudley Dursley had to be the biggest prick in the history of the universe. So what if she was younger and smaller than him? It didn't give him an excuse to try to pick on her.
In her defense Dudley was well aware that Harry had performed magic on his father over the Christmas holiday. Heck, she had overheard Aunt Petunia warning him to leave them alone. It wasn't her fault that he was unaware of the fact she could perform magic on him with just as much ease. Boy was Dudley red after she immobilized him in the hallway when he was making fun of her. If Aunt Petunia hadn't stumbled upon Dudley's immobile body she would have left the prat there for an appropriate amount of time for him to properly learn his lesson.
Actually she was most thankful to Hermione. Without the bushy-hair witch's letters containing the proper wand movements and incantations of a few defensive spells she would have been completely defenseless. Sirius always thought he would be around to protect her. While Lexi would love to believe that to be true it was just impractical. Sirius couldn't be with her twenty-four/seven. He had Harry to look out for as well as to avoid Ministry detection. He was doing the best that he could, but her godfather wasn't Superman.
Hedwig, who was perched on the post of her bed, began to nudge her head. Whenever she was down and lonely, Hedwig was more than willing to cheer her up. Biting the end of her pen, Lexi finally figured out the best way to conclude her letter to Hermione without making Harry and Hermione worry unnecessarily about her.
Thank you again, Hermione. Those first-year spells are simply amazing. If you stumble upon any other like it feel free to send them my way. Hee hee hee!
Oh, and don't forget! I'm counting on you and Harry to find me a spell to turn Dudley into a newt. Don't fret; the prick deserves it! I'm just not sure of Harry remembers that he promised me a spell that would do that before he went to Hogwarts. I am holding you both accountable if you don't find something to do the trick in the vast library that Hogwarts owns. I know you will find a way to do it. You can't deny it; we all know you can navigate the place in your sleep!
Well, I'm really looking forward to your next letter. Your advice on where to find more information on Queen Boudica for my report was a godsend. In case you were wondering, I got an A on that assignment.
Lots of love,
Lexi
~*~
"I must say, I was very impressed with the results of the essays most of you handed in," Professor McGonagall began, at the end of the second class after the Easter holiday, as she handed back the graded essays.
It was quite obvious that the transfiguration professor was sending a glare that the corner where Ron Weasley and his friends sat. Hermione couldn't help but notice the embarrassed looks that crossed the three boys' faces upon hearing McGonagall's statement. She didn't need to be a seer to know that they had not done particularly well on the last assignment.
"It would do a lot of you well to take a page out of Miss Granger's book," Professor McGonagall continued to Hermione's horror. "I must say in all my thirty years of teaching at Hogwarts I have not found a first year student who has produced such fine essays and practical work. If I didn't know better I would swear Miss Granger was writing some of her essays for the O.W.L.s."
Hermione knew she was completely beet red at this point in time. Professor McGonagall never handed out praise like this, and to do it in front of the entire class was unexpected. Nobody would ever let her live it down that not only was she a brain, but she was a brain that Professor McGonagall liked.
"Please, I strongly urge you all to make your studies a priority," Professor McGonagall said without missing a beat. Her eyes were sweeping the room of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors looking at each student for a moment before moving to the next. "Advancing to second year is not a right. If you do not have the proper grades, you will remain a first-year while the rest of your classmates will advance to second-year. Neither you, nor I want to see that happen."
As if by cue the bell rang to announce the end of class. All the first-years quickly jumped out of their seats as they began to gather their belongings before moving to their next class.
"Misters, Finnigan, Thomas and Weasley, please come see me," the transfiguration professor said with a stern look and Hermione was rather grateful that she wasn't one of the aforementioned boys.
"Great job, Hermione," Harry said flashing her, his brilliant smile as they walked towards their next class. "Your essay must have been awesome for McGonagall to praise it like that."
"Um, thanks," Hermione replied a bit bashfully. She knew that most of the other students like Weasley and his friends would be relentless in their teasing over her receiving praise like that from their head of house. "Oh, Harry, you are truly terrible," Hermione said lightly smacking Harry's arm, once all his words completely registered with the witch. "It's Professor McGonagall."
"Sorry, Hermione," Harry said once again flashing her a smile but something told the witch that Harry wasn't sorry in the least.
"Hermione?" a tentative voice questioned from behind the bushy-haired witch.
Harry and Hermione stopped in their tracks and turned around to be face with none other than Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, Hermione's roommates. Both Lavender and Parvati tended to act as though Hermione didn't exist, even though they shared a room with the other witch. The three of them were just simply too different and really never had anything to talk with one another about.
Hermione could care less about what the latest fashion trends were or what the coolest new charm for curling your hair was. While the other two witches were unlikely to have ever completely read a book cover to cover that was not required for one of their classes.
"What can I help you with, Lavender?" Hermione finally asked after she realized she was gaping at them like an idiot for a few moments.
"We were wondering if, well…" Lavender trailed off while she nervously twirled a lock of her beautiful blonde hair. Hermione would never admit it but she was a bit envious with what beautiful hair her roommate had been gifted with. It was a lot nicer than the bushy, mouse brown hair Hermione was born with.
"What Lav, was trying to say is…" Parvati began before trailing off herself. It seemed that neither of her roommates knew what would be the best way to address Hermione. "Well, could-we-study-with-you?" Parvati eventually rushed out.
Hermione blinked as she tried to process her roommate's words. "You want to study with me?"
Both of the other witches frantically nodded their heads. Hermione turned to Harry to see his reaction, but honestly that boy was no help. She could see the telltale signs that he was trying desperately to contain his laughter.
"Why?" Hermione asked, her confusion at this whole situation was evident in her tone.
"Well, you heard McGonagall," Lavender began, still twirling that perfect lock of hair. "We've got to study in order to pass, and well, we don't really know how to do that."
"You don't know how to study!" Hermione's jaw must have reached the floor after she shouted the other witch's response.
"Well, it's not like we've ever had exams before," Parvati replied defensively. "I mean we were raised in magical households, so we were home-schooled. Lavender was taught the basics from her mom, while Padma and I had a private tutor. But we've never had year-end examination of all of our knowledge from the previous year before."
"And since McGonagall said you're really, really good with school," Lavender continued for her friend, "We were hoping you would be willing to help us study. Show us the proper way to study for the different subjects, and such.
They never had exams either! Hermione could feel her breathing become more rushed and labored. She was definitely having a panic attack. What were their parents thinking? How did they expect them to survive the year without some knowledge as to how to prepare for an important exam?
Hermione felt, someone grab her arm and carefully guide her to a ledge in front of one of the many stain glass windows the castle was home to. Belatedly, Hermione realized it was Harry who guided her to a seat. Taking several deep breaths, Hermione gathered control over her emotions.
"This travesty must be corrected," Hermione said to the small group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws that had gathered around her. "How have you prepared for the exams we've had throughout the year?"
"We kinda winged it," Parvati said a bit sheepishly. "But that really hasn't worked out too well for us."
"Alright," Hermione said standing up and pacing in front of the group before her. "We're going to have to review each subject. Professor McGonagall was fortunate in when she gave her general warning to class, since I was about to start my exam revisions next week. Therefore, we shall start this week with a slightly larger study group than I had originally planned."
"Can we invite a few more people we know that would benefit from your help?" Parvati asked in an innocent tone.
"Yes," Hermione absentmindedly replied as she continued to pace. "Anyone who needs help will be more than welcome to join my study group. We'll have to wait till we figure out how many people are joining the group before we can come up with the best method of sharing knowledge and resources. Harry," Hermione barked.
"Yes, Hermione?" Harry replied from somewhere to her left.
"What time should Quidditch practice be over with tonight?" Hermione asked even though she most likely knew the response. In her haze of finding out the tragic flaw of a magical pre-Hogwarts education, Hermione did not trust herself to think clearly.
"Just before dinner," was Harry fast reply.
"Then anyone who wants to be in my study group should meet me at the library at seven o'clock," Hermione said surveying her roommates. "We'll come up with a permanent schedule once we all meet. Is that good for you?"
"Yes, Hermione!" The two girls replied with a salute before the warning bell rang informing them they merely had a minute before the next class began.
"Let's hurry," the bushy-haired witch stated. "It wouldn't do well to be late."
~*~
"What in the name of Merlin's soggy balls was that?" Neville asked with a truly terrified look on his face. He prayed to whatever magical power would listen that Harry knew what had come over Hermione.
"I think Hermione just found a cause to champion," Harry said with a slightly disturbed look on his face. "I'd forget having any free time from here till the end of term. Hermione's going to be having us study until our heads explode or we're reciting potions recipes in our sleep, whichever comes first."
"Oh, dear Merlin!" Neville exclaimed as he threw his head into his hands.
"You could have warned us," Harry said turning to his shy friend. "You're magic-raised; you could have possibly prevented this. How come you never told us you didn't know how to study?"
"Um, in case you didn't notice I tend to do all my class work with you and Hermione," Neville said a bit defensively. "It wasn't all that hard to pick up how to study. All I had to do was follow Hermione's lead. Do you really think her exam sessions are going to be that bad?" Neville asked hopefully.
"Judging from her previous behavior…" Harry trailed as if weighing his words carefully. "May Merlin have mercy on us, for Hermione won't."
~*~
That night after a whirlwind Quidditch practice and a very fast dinner, since Hermione wanted to be in the library before anyone showed up for the exam session, Harry sat nervously waiting to see how everything was going to progress. Now don't get him wrong. Harry loved Hermione very, very much, but when it came to school work it was an understatement to say Hermione was a bit 'intense'.
"Oh, Harry," Hermione began fidgeting in her seat. Apparently, the bushy-haired witch was so excited about leading revision sessions that simply couldn't sit still for long periods of time. "How many people do you think will want to come?"
"Anyone with a brain will want to study with the smartest witch in our year," Harry instantly replied. "Come on Hermione, now that you gave a blank card for anyone to study with us I dare say you will have to beat some people back with a stick to get them to leave you alone."
Hermione's lips twitched slightly at Harry's statement. "Now, Harry," Hermione said in a slightly scolding tone of voice. "It's not nice to joke lightly about something important as examinations and studying."
"Sorry, Hermione," Harry replied, sending Hermione a salute similar to the one Lavender and Parvati had given the witch earlier in the day. That did it, seeing as Hermione burst into a series of giggles. "Sorry," Harry said again a bit sheepishly. "You were a bit too tense. You need to lighten up. There is nothing that you can do about all people who don't learn the proper way to study. All you can do is help those who ask for your assistance."
"I know!" Hermione said throwing her hands up in defeat. "But that doesn't mean that I don't wish that I could help everyone."
Suddenly a loud murmuring noise and the sound of several people moving caught both Harry and Hermione off guard. While no one was absolutely silent in the library, the request for quiet was respected by all students of all years. The loud noise was rather ominous as far as Harry was concerned.
Sure enough, an extremely large group of first years approached Harry and Hermione's table. At least, Harry took a measure of comfort in the fact that Hermione was gaping like a fish. It appeared as though the bushy-haired witch was not expecting such a large turnout.
Including Harry and Hermione, every Gryffindor first-year was present, as well as five people from Ravenclaw, including Parvati's twin sister Padma. As far as Harry could tell, every Hufflepuff had come along being lead by Susan Bones and her friend Hannah, whose last name Harry could not remember. And, most surprising of all was that two Slytherins had come along. Tracey Davis and Daphine Greengrass were standing a few feet away from the rest of the first-years, but Harry could clearly see they were meant to be a part of the group.
Doing a quick count Harry realized there were twenty-one people present which represented the vast majority of the first-year students. There was no way they could hold a study group this large in the library, despite what Hermione would want.
"Well, is this everyone?" Harry asked since Hermione still seemed a bit startled by the size of the group.
"Yes," Parvati quickly replied to Harry, her cheeks turning a bit pink. "We all want to learn how to properly study."
"Aren't some of you muggle-raised?" Harry asked since he knew for a fact that Dean Thomas was Muggleborn.
"Um, yeah," a boy from Hufflepuff replied. "While some of us did attend schools in the past, we are a bit nervous about studying for these year-end exams. So we want any pointers Hermione has to offer us."
"Alright," Harry said after a moment. Even though Hermione might be a bit surprised at the size of the group that wanted to learn to study by her, Harry wasn't. He held no illusions that any first-year would give their right arm to have Hermione Granger explain something they were having trouble with to them. Harry obviously wasn't the only person who noticed how smart his friend was. "Why don't we move to a better location now that everyone is present?"
"Why don't we hold these sessions here?" A Ravenclaw with a thick Scottish accent responded.
"I think these groups might get a bit too loud to be held here," Harry replied. "If all twenty or so of us were talking at the same time we all might get banned from the library or something."
After Harry said the joke, he knew he went a little too far. Every Ravenclaw, as well as Hermione had a look of horror and disbelief on their face. Sometimes, smart people just couldn't take a joke…
"Yes," Hermione said now that she finally got a hold of herself. "I know the perfect place we can hold these study sessions. Let's go there and we'll set up a schedule for when we will meet and what we will study. Does that sound good?"
Harry surveyed the group noticed that everyone was willing to easily go along with just about anything Hermione suggested. In the eyes of their classmates, this was Hermione's party that they were just fortunate to be invited along for the ride.
~*~
It was definitely unnerving to have such a large group of her peers turn to her for help, but Hermione was committed to helping anyone that needed her help. When Lavender and Parvati asked if they could invite a few more people she was thinking two, possibly three others. But to have twenty-one people, including Harry, herself and Neville, well that was just a study group that was practically their whole graduating class!
While Hermione prided herself on her intellect, she wasn't oblivious to the fact that she didn't know everything. With as many people as who showed up there was a very high probability that some of the questions that were bound to come up would be well over her head. Hopefully, she would be able to come up with a solution to that little problem before she ran into any problems.
As everyone settled down in the classroom, Harry, Lexi and she used several months ago, Hermione realized that most of this was going to be winged. There simply was no other way for her to do this.
"Can I have everyone's attention?" Hermione called out trying to get everyone to quiet down. Sure enough everyone did in a timely manner.
"Thank you," Hermione said with a grin spreading across her face. "Now, we are all here today because we all want to pass our end of year exams. Some of us want to do more than pass; we want to ace these exams with outstandings across the board. While others of us merely want to find a sufficient way to study so that memorizing and learning all of the material we have covered will come easily to us. Regardless of our motives, we all are here to learn, and have fun while doing so."
"What are Slytherins doing here?" the distinct voice of Ron Weasley rang through the room.
"I said anyone who wanted help was welcome to come," Hermione instantly replied. "I do not care about what house anyone here is affiliated with. If you have a problem with people of other houses working together, then you can just leave and find someone else to help you."
Unsurprisingly, Ron instantly dropped the matter and stayed with group.
"As I was saying," Hermione continued pacing around the classroom in front of the chalkboard. "I want you all to achieve yourself imposed goals no matter how big or how small they may be in these sessions. Harry, what is your goal?"
"To ace potions," Harry immediately replied without hesitation. Hermione had picked him knowing he would be willing to share for her. "In case some of the others in this room do not know, Professor Snape absolutely loathes me with an extreme passion. If I do outstanding level work, he will mark it as acceptable. So, I need to do outstanding work so that I pass potions."
Hermione nodded to what Harry was saying even though she noticed several of their classmates giving him looks of dismay.
"Why does he hate you?" Susan blurted out, before looking highly embarrassed that she had done so.
"Well, it seems that Professor Snape had a lifelong grudge against my dad," Harry explained the story she knew he got from Sirius. "They were in the same year at school together but in different houses, and had a bit of a feud that passed on to me, I guess."
"That's so unfair," Lavender replied. Hermione suddenly realized that most of their classmates did even know the reason behind Professor Snape's unfair treatment of Harry.
"Life isn't fair," Harry responded with a shrug.
Leave it to Harry to just shrug off something like that, Hermione thought while rolling her eyes. Not wanting to keep attention focused on Harry, especially since she knew he hated it, Hermione turned to the other side of the room. "Tracey, why are you here?"
"I need some help with Charms," the Slytherin witch admitted. "It's not my strongest subject. I apologize that I don't have a more exciting reason but Professor Flitwick doesn't have anything against my parents." Tracey winked at Harry, letting him know she was joking as the rest of the study group began to giggle in response to her words.
"What about you, Padma?" Hermione asked moving on.
"I need to learn how to properly study for an exam," Padma bashfully replied. "I heard there were several different methods to do so, and I admit I am interesting in learning how you do it, Hermione."
"Oh, um, great!" Hermione responded enthusiastically. "Now, I was thinking we could meet Monday through Friday from seven till eight-thirty. At least until we get closer to the exams. During these hour and a half sessions we will cover a review of our different subjects as well as compare notes on what we found to be the easiest way to remember certain bits of information we will most likely need to know for the exam."
"I don't feel comfortable leading all of these subjects," Hermione admitted. "Just like everyone in this room, I, too, have room for improvement. I am no expert, so please don't expect me to have all the knowledge or ability to teach you everything. This will all be a group effort. Therefore, in leading our discussions I would like to have different people be considered the leader or the expert in different subjects. Is there anyone who would like to volunteer to be our group expert in a particular subject?"
At first everyone was silent. Nobody apparently wanted to take any leadership. But it was impractical to think that Hermione had enough time to come up with review information for every subject. When would she have time to concentrate on her own work?
"I'll cover Herbology," Neville surprisingly offered and Hermione was ready to give the boy a hug.
"Count me in for Defense," Harry offered and Hermione knew she owed him, since he probably really didn't want to do it. Harry already knew Hermione turned to him for help with Defense Against the Dark Arts. So it was only natural that she would want him to cover that subject with their review group.
"What subject will you be covering, Hermione?" Tracey asked, startling the witch.
"Transfiguration," Hermione replied. "It's my strongest subject."
"Then count me in for Potions," Tracey replied. "We can't have all the Gryffindors doing all the work."
"I can do History of Magic," Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff meekly suggested. "It's my strongest subject even if I'm not the top of the class in it. I've never fallen asleep in the lectures and I take great notes."
"Grades don't mean much," Hermione replied realizing she should have explained her idea better. "You're just going to lead our review discussion. If you don't know the answer to a question someone has, then someone else in the room may know it. This whole thing is a group effort. But having all of the notes will be rather helpful for you."
"I can do Charms," Morag McDougal jumped in. "It's always been my specialty."
"Great," Hermione said, glad that there were other people to lead the subject discussion groups. "When we meet together tomorrow we'll go over several study techniques that I picked up over the years. Everybody is different so what works for me may not be the best fit for you. Also, I will go to our different Professors and ask them for review questions and practical practice. Any questions so far?"
No one seemed to question Hermione's methods yet, to her thankfulness so she dismissed the group for the day. "We will meet again tomorrow, so see you at seven," Hermione dismissed the group.
"Did you hear that Hagrid the Grounds Keeper hatched a dragon's egg in his wooden hut?" Lavender gushed as the group began to break up and leave the room.
Out of the corner of Hermione's eye she caught Ron, Dean and Seamus tense up at the subject matter. For some reason Ron kept rubbing a bandage that was wrapped around his arm. Were those boys starting false rumors for kicks?
"You mean that wooden shack that is close to the Quidditch pitch?" Padma asked. Hermione could only tell the Patil twins apart due to their school uniforms.
"Yeah," Parvati replied. "He hatched the egg, but Professor Dumbledore sent it to a dragon preserve in Romania since it would be hard to raise a dragon on school grounds."
As soon as those words left Parvarti's mouth Hermione noticed that the three Gryffindor boys seemed to relax a bit; how particularly odd, but such awful rumors shouldn't be spread around school.
"Are you serious?" Hermione just couldn't help herself and butted in. "Do you really believe that story?"
"Well, Draco Malfoy told us that's how it happened," Lavender said a bit snippily. "He said he saw the dragon through one of the windows of Hagrid's hut."
With those words, the boys began a feverish whispered conversation. What in the world was going on?
"Don't believe half of what Draco Malfoy tells you," the cool collected voice of Tracey Davis cut into the conversation. "He is delusional at best. Draco routinely goes around the Slytherin common room telling everyone that You-Know-Who will be back one day, and when he comes back the Malfoy family will sit at his right hand." Tracey broke off with a laugh while Hermione and the three other girls stared at her.
"Honestly," Tracey said shaking her head in disbelief. "Everyone knows Harry Potter, you know, the guy whose going over defense with us, got rid of Voldemort. There is no coming back from dead. Draco lives in his own little delusional world. Just ignore what he tells, you. It's what most of the Slytherins do."
"Thanks, Tracey," Hermione said with a bit of a grin. She had to admit even mentioning the possibility that Voldemort may one day return was enough to make her skin tingle, and Hermione didn't even live through his reign of terror.
"Don't mention it," Tracey replied with a grin. "Oh, and Hermione, I'll ask Professor Snape for some exam practice work for potions. He tends to react better to Slytherins asking for things than people from other houses."
"Oh, great!" Hermione responded with a grin of her own. Truthfully, she had been a bit nervous about approaching Professor Snape. "See you tomorrow, Tracey!"
With that Hermione and Tracey departed from the room, leaving a buzzing Lavender, Parvati and Padma behind, not to mention the Gryffindor boys who seemed lost in their own world. Something told her the gossip around Draco Malfoy was only just beginning.
But at the same time Hermione made a mental note of who was at the hub of information and rumor spreading in the different houses in their year. It may come in handy if anything weird happened around Harry again.
~*~
Hermione's Anticipatorily Decisive
Examination Study Methods
A phrase that would later become the subject of nightmares for half the Hogwarts first-year class of 1991-1992, was the only thing written on the chalkboard to greet the members of Hermione's study group. But was anything more really necessary since it spelled out Hermione's plan as clearly as it could.
Harry had spent most of the previous evening reassuring Hermione that everything went extremely well at the session meeting the night before. However, Hermione continued to fret regardless of what he had said. Perhaps after a second successful night, things would be much better for his bushy-haired friend.
"Alright, can I please have your attention?" Hermione called out immediately gaining everyone's attention. After her threat to throw Ron Weasley out the night before, nobody was going to go against anything Hermione said. If she wanted order, by Merlin she would get order.
"Tonight I am going to spend our time going through some basic studying techniques," Hermione began surveying the group. "I have been informed that many of the magic-raised students here at Hogwarts were not taught proper studying techniques for various reasons. If you want to share these techniques with a friend who is not a part of our group please feel free to do so. Also, if you don't want to be a member of our more long term study group, I will not feel offended. Like I said the night before, everyone is different. Perhaps studying in a group is not the right thing for you."
"Getting back to the subject at hand," Hermione continued, "As you can see from the board, what we will discuss tonight will be a series of anticipatory yet decisive methods to study from. For example, a subject that we studied for a month will be more likely to be on the year-end exam than something that we covered in just a day. Therefore, we will spend more time reviewing the month long topic."
Harry started to drown out Hermione's speech as he had heard it several times before as they prepared for subject exams. From gazing around the room, Harry could easily see that his bushy-haired friend had most of the students' undivided attention focused on her. Good for them, they were bound to learn lots from Hermione.
~*~
While Harry turned his attention back on Hermione, in the corner of the opposite side of the room, Ron Weasley couldn't focus any longer on her annoying ramblings. Looking to both sides, it was easy to see that Dean and Seamus were as equally lost as he was.
"Did anyone else notice that the initials of the first five words on the board spell out the word HADES?" Dean whispered to both Ron and Seamus. Both Ron and Seamus had to stifle back their laughter so not to draw attention to their group.
"Tell me about it," Ron whined in a whisper of his own. "This is pure torture. I wouldn't be surprised if we really were in HADES."
"Well we are if you consider HADES to be Hermione's Annoyingly Daunting Exam Sessions," Seamus replied not missing a beat. That was part of the reason that Ron loved having Seamus around. He was really quick on his feet and could make just about anything humorous.
Unfortunately, due to Seamus' remark the boys were unable to keep back all of their laughter. Luckily only the people immediately around them heard it. It wouldn't be good if Granger kicked them out of her review group. If they didn't ace the end of the year exams, the three of them were in jeopardy of failing.
"You should really have more respect," Neville caught them off guard. Longbottom was sitting in front of Ron and from what he could see of his face, he looked really pissed. Ron could only imagine that Granger and Potter's occasional tagalong had heard their remarks.
"Sorry, mate," Ron tried to smooth over to no success.
"Listen here," Neville said turning completely around in his chair to face Dean, Seamus and Ron. "If I were one of you I'd gladly go to HADES if it meant passing exams. You're all lucky to be here and you all know that you need all the help you can get. Instead of studying for tests you all were playing games. Instead of completing assignments you were all arguing over whether Quidditch or Football is the best sport. Now you three are screwed so if I were you, I'd be praying that Athena over there," indicating Hermione, "never hears what you have said and continues to want to help you pass your exams. Otherwise, you're all on your own."
Ron knew his face was turning completely red due to embarrassment. Neville was right. Ron was just lucky that McGonagall hadn't owled his mum telling her how poorly he was currently doing in school. But that didn't mean he had to like the other boy for putting him in his place.
~*~
Two weeks after Hermione's exam sessions began Professor McGonagall gave a surprise quiz to the dismay of many of the students in the class. It was the first test of how well the study group was doing. Hermione had no idea why everyone had panicking so, but then again she was eagerly awaiting their results. As long as they were participating and studying the material in their free time Hermione was confident that her fellow students knew their stuff. Perhaps they lacked confidence in the own skills?
"Misters Weasley, Thomas and Finnigan," Professor McGonagall called out startling the three boys in question. "Nice work," their professor began giving the boys a rare smile. "I can really see the improvement in your knowledge of the fundamentals of Transfiguration."
All three boys shared high-fives over their good marks on the quiz and Hermione couldn't help but share a smile with Neville and Harry. It looks like those boys had to go to HADES to get Transfiguration through their thick skulls.
While at first Hermione was highly offended at having her review sessions referred to as HADES, it was Neville that pointed out it made a rather good joke. In fact the usually shy boy even had an upperclassman make him a button that stating 'I'm proud to go to H.A.D.E.S.!' which he took to wearing to every review class. Now if only she could get the boys to stop referring her Athena. Teasing or not it was starting to get on her nerves.
~*~
In my profile there is a poll to see where you think Lexi will be when she goes to Hogwarts (remember that won't be till Harry's third year). I am interested in seeing what you all think at this point. This poll will not determine where she will go. That was decided the minute I dreamed her up.
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A/N: Okay a huge thank you to everyone that reviewed. You guys are awesome you've got me and zephy going crazy with the amount of love we get from you all (she reads all my reviews too). I haven't replied too many reviews yet simply because you could either have a reply or a new chapter. I will try to reply to them later.
A big thank you to my betas zephy and swanpride and a huge thank you, complete with a bow to nyladnam04who came up with HADES as the nickname for Hermione's review group. Thank you again!
And HADES will have an important role in years to come, so keep your eye on it.
Foria
Next Chapter: Ron Weasley's Totally Awesome Adventure!