Written In The Body

Poetheather

A/N: I am barely staying a chapter up. I don't have chapter 46 written completely yet, but I am almost there which would allow me to make next week's posting. This is nerve wracking but I am good so long as my wrist and shoulder holds. Love you all!

A/N 2: There have been fewer comments on the last three chapters which is interesting. I have been tracking that and the chapter average (yes I am a dork) and it has been around 13 comments per chapter. So these last three chapters were less than average. It is interesting when that happens. Perhaps I need a new hobby?

Still not JKR.

Forty-Five

Hermione was sitting at her usual desk in the back corner of the Library after classes rereading the letter she had received that morning from Viktor. She smiled faintly, eyes lost to the past, thinking fondly of the Bulgarian Seeker who had been her first real date. He had congratulated her quite happily on her engagement to Ginny and told her of his new apartment in Sofia, at the foot of Vitosha Mountain. He said he had a great view of the city and that made him very happy, even though he was still not overly comfortable interacting with muggles that were living in the area. On the plus side, the apartment was also not terribly far from the training facility where his team trained as well as the National Stadium. That made his commutes for games a lot shorter.

She was also happy that he had found a girlfriend since they had last talked, a girl by the name of Nikolina who was a potions researcher working on her Mastery and just happened to be one of the few female graduates of Durmstrang. Apparently she had been two years ahead of him in classes and he had yearned for her. Over the summer he had lamented that he was lonely and indicated that he was interested in getting back together with her so this development was welcome. That was of course before she realized she was a lesbian which changed everything. That conversation had gone over well and he was totally amused that she had started dating a Quidditch player. He teased her over having a type. That this girl he had found, Nikolina, was smart and had brown curly hair similar to hers only made her sigh and shake her head in disbelief. Clearly Viktor had a type. No wonder he had been hitting on her exclusively back in her fourth year, she had reminded him of the girl he had been pining away for. He had been dating Nikolina by proxy.

She sat the letter down, pulling a new sheet of parchment out of her satchel, and was preparing to write back to him when she heard a loud cry that made her forget everything, "Granger! Granger, come quick!"

The panicked voice had called out from the entrance to the library, which was sure to draw the ire of Madam Pince. Hermione bound to her feet so fast her chair toppled over with a bang. She tore off running that direction while she made sure her wand was at the ready. This was no time to worry about her studies, not during an emergency. Ahead there she noticed a Ravenclaw girl, fourth year if she could remember correctly, who spotted her and turned to start running, yelling for her to follow along. It did not take her too long to catch up as the girl was doing nothing to evade her and she had longer legs, not to mention more practice running. The years had been good to her running ability. They pulled up at an alcove a floor down where a few other Ravenclaws were looking quite upset and worried, a few of the younger students were even crying being held by others. As she was almost to them she realized that she needed to see what was going on. She yelled, "Back up!"

The reaction to her voice was immediate. People scurried back and Hermione was able to see what they were blocking, what looked like a Second year Ravenclaw boy who looked horribly abused, bound, face swollen and bruising starting to show around the eyes with a trickle of blood coming from his lip. His head was lolling to the side somewhat awkwardly and she really hoped that it was because he was unconscious. Around his neck hung a sign that said, "The Mudblood and her toadies can't save you!" There was a stylized snake wrapped around the exclamation point which made it very clear who had done this. It took her a moment to focus past her anger in order to cast her patronus, for some reason looking at that scene made it difficult to think of a happy thought. When she finally cast it she sent it off to Madam Pomfrey to warn her in advance that she was on her way with an injured student. Hopefully he wasn't hurt too badly but this did not look good, not even remotely. And the fact that they added the sign as a taunt to her only made her more determined to get them. And when she did….

Pointing towards one of the older Ravenclaws who was awkwardly milling about she snapped out an order, "Get Flitwick, now! We'll be at the Hospital Wing. Go!"

Oh, she so wanted them to be dumb enough to assault her while she was taking this boy to get the help he needed. It would end fast and ugly then, definitely not in their favor by the time the whole conflict would be over, even if there were more than one of them. No, while she was sure she could do this she needed to go to the Room of Requirement and train a little, to get back into her fighting shape that she had been in thanks to last year. It had been too long since she had really fought against anyone and these poor excuses for Malfoy wannabes were asking for her best work. Narrowing her eyes as she thought, no… she would find them and she would make them pay for all they had done, just like their parents had paid for going against her and hers. She wanted to make it painfully clear to everyone why you did not do this sort of thing. This would be a reckoning the school would remember for a very long time.

Thanks to her storming through the halls focused on her destination, she reached Madam Pomfrey rather quickly, the boy trailing along behind her held by a Leviosa. She held open the door and looked in, trying to figure out exactly where to put them. The school nurse turned her head slightly to confirm it was her before she snapped out, "Put him down over there."

Hermione related what she knew of this incident as the Healer worked quickly, casting diagnostic charms, a few counter charms for the jinxes, and healing charms before heading towards her potion cabinet much calmer than when she had started. The boy looked a little better which did make her feel better. She didn't want to think about what might have happened if he hadn't been found for a while. Or had he? She really had no idea how long the poor boy had been there in that corridor until he had been found. She frowned at that thought. Professor Flitwick bustled in and Hermione turned towards him, explaining what she knew of the situation. As he looked towards the bed, she noticed that this was some of the angriest that she had ever seen him. He hadn't been quite this angry when he was fighting Dolohov and some of the other Death Eaters. His eyes darkened some and he was glaring, making it clear that he was part goblin, something that usually wasn't this obvious. That also made her quite glad that the former Dueling Champion was not angry with her. Like this, he was a terrifying sight.

Once she had taken care of her duty as Head Girl, informing the boy's Head of House and having made sure the boy was okay, she left to return to the Library I order to gather up her things from the table where she had left them. She had promised Lucy that they would spend some time together today and she did not want to disappoint. Her sister was still adjusting to things now that she had shifted or perhaps upgraded might be the better way of looking at it. Amy certainly was of the opinion that this was better than before. What's more, the physical changes had been quite fascinating given that she still looked like Simon only if he had been a girl all along. She was a little bit taller, with some changes to her face that made her look closer to Amy than she had before. It was nothing specific that was majorly changed but the overall effect was rather obvious. From the last test on her core she was a bit stronger magically now that the imbalance was corrected, which made a kind of sense. Harry was a bit stronger magically now that his magic was not busy trying to contain the Horcrux in his scar. Regardless, the smile on Lucy's face made everything worth it.

Her friends had all accepted the whole thing after having listened to Professor Cottington's explanation and in fact had all been happy that the reason she had been down was not something like terminal illness or something. They had all come en masse to the Hospital Wing to sit with her for a while and get to know this new her, who wasn't all that different except she had fewer walls between her and others. The guys were a bit freaked out by what had happened but that was to be expected, since in her experience guys were a bit twitchier about things, especially girly things. Now the classic divide was in full effect, the boys and girls barely interacting. It made her laugh. She was willing to bet that a few of the guys actually thought that Lucy had gotten infected by one of the girls and that was why this had happened. It would explain their hesitancy at interacting. At least from her experience that was what Ron would have gone with back in their first year.

But now she wanted to go find her sister and talk. It did not take very long to find her; between her guess and the map she was able to pinpoint her position fairly quickly. After a bit of a walk up stairs, she walked up to her sister, who was sitting in the Common Room, in one of the alcoves Hermione liked, looking out the window. Thanks to one of the spells used on her, her hair had grown out a bit more to just past shoulder length. It was really pretty and suited her face well though she was currently holding it back with a red ribbon. It amused Hermione to no end how quickly Lucy dove into things, doing her very best to fully embrace the girl that life had kept her from becoming. Wearing the girl's school uniform didn't seem to bother her nor did very much else as she smiled a lot more than she had before. It was lovely. It had been kind of funny helping her work out the best ways to deal with a skirt, given that she had never really worn one before, at least not longer than an hour. Nevertheless, given the pensive look on her face right now it was clear that something was on her sister's mind. Hermione walked up to her and said softly, "Hey Lucy, how are you doing?"

Lucy started a bit, as she was still acclimating to her new name. Having spent years with one name and then switching to another, there were bound to be adjustment issues. She seemed a bit nervous when she answered, "I… I'm fine I guess?"

"Not sure?" asked Hermione, somewhat concerned about this development. Why would she be unsure about that?

Turning to look back out the window at the grey day, Lucy was probably not really seeing it as she was looking elsewhere, somewhere distant. "Not really. This is like a dream come true for me and I don't know, I keep expecting to wake up back home, with my old parents, ready to start another day trying to avoid punishment because of my magic or my gender stuff. And then there is the fact that things with my friends have changed some and I'm not really sure where things stand anymore. I think they're better but I'm not sure. They are all talking to me but I keep catching looks on their faces that I can't quite figure out. Thankfully the teachers are treating me the same as before or this would be far too much for me to deal with. The biggest downside to this so far is that some kids just stare at me as though they were going to do something to me. It's… well, that whole thing is upsetting."

Hermione rested her hand on her sister's knee lightly, looking at her with sympathy. Even with achieving her dream it wasn't like everything in her life from before was wiped clean. The issues that plagued her before were still there only now she was better equipped to deal with them. At least that was how Hermione saw things and the books she had bought also made that point. "Things are still very new right now Lucy. You need to have some of the courage of your namesakes in order to make it through this in one piece, but I don't doubt you can do this. There had to be a reason for putting you in Gryffindor and your courage to face up to this and do this is clearly a part of that. You said that this was the right thing for you to do, and I agree with you, so no doubts. In all honesty, I had my own fair share of being stared when I was younger at thanks to my friendship with Harry and some of the Pureblood bigots making issues out of nothing. My doing so well in classes also made that worse and was kind of isolating for the beginning of my first year. Lucy look if you let these other people and their dumb opinions control your life then what's the point of having gone through this? You did this, went through all that pain to be more fully you. If they can't accept that then they're the ones with the problems not you. You're just fine."

Lucy looked back at her as she spoke and a slight smile grew on her face. It made Hermione feel better to see that. "Thanks Hermione, you always know what to say to make me feel better. You are the best big sister ever."

Hermione gave the younger girl a hug and kissed the top of her head. Being able to help her little sister made everything worth it. "Thank you. And you may be a bit biased you know."

"No I'm not, Ginny agrees with me," stated Lucy succinctly as if that fact there ended the discussion.

"I'm sure she does but that doesn't make it right you know. She also thinks Quidditch is the greatest thing ever, which is patently wrong and that Pigmy Puffs are the greatest pet ever," countered Hermione. "She clearly has a few screws loose."

This got Lucy giggling some which was an even better improvement over how her sister had been when she had walked up. Hermione decided to turn the conversation away from where it was and asked, "So, how are your studies going?"

"The practical work seems easier than it was which makes sense I guess if there were issues with my magical core. I am also doing a bit better study wise as I can focus a bit better for some reason. Looking back it was sort of like there was always something running in the back of my head, or making some sort of noise, that kept me from fully being able to concentrate on things or focus, like I just couldn't really connect things in my head. That's gone now and everything seems so much easier now without that constant background whatever," explained Lucy, struggling to find the words there at the end. Hermione could tell that she was at a loss for words, talking around things instead of going right there.

"Well then, perhaps you should just throw yourself into your new life and enjoy the fact that nothing is holding you back anymore. You are who you were meant to be, at least this part of it. You are going to change as time goes on but as for right now the you in the mirror is the real you. As for your friends treating you different now compared to before, remember they are trying to adapt to the new you as well. You went from being their guy friend to being their roommate. That's a big jump to make. You know the more time you spend with them letting them see this you, letting them realize that not much has actually changed, the faster that can happen," stated Hermione with a bit of a grin, thinking all that was rather apparent, at least to her. However she was aware that what was obvious to her was not necessarily obvious to any others. Her friendship with Ron had taught her that if nothing else had. He was a great guy but seemed to miss some basic things now and again. Sadly it was part of his charm. How could anybody resist the confused puppy dog look he got every now and again?

Lucy grinned at her, seeming to cheer up a good deal as they talked. "Thank you."

"What are sisters for?" After sharing hugs, Lucy scampered off to find the other first year girls and do who knows what or get into some sort of trouble with them. Some of those girls were troublemakers and Lucy was right in the thick of things. Maybe passing on some of the things she had learned about pranks and stuff might be helpful. She was sure that the Headmistress and Professor Cottington might be irate at such knowledge being passed on but if it helped Lucy who cared?

Hermione went up to her room and dropped her book bag off, hanging it off the back of her chair. While it was lightweight and everything thanks to the charms on it, she didn't need to be hauling it around with her everywhere she went. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to need it for where she was going in just a little bit anyway. She had a meeting with the Headmistress to discuss her future plans and this would be a good time to revisit her plan for catching the bullies. Those Slytherin idiots were very much on her mind right now because of the severity of this recent attack and the fact that her having to deal with that meant that she had missed Ginny before she had headed out to practice. She had been expecting her to come by the Library to see her and having to take that poor Ravenclaw to the Hospital Wing certainly threw a monkey wrench into that plan. That in and of itself required retaliation as her time with Ginny was precious to her.

Heading through the castle briskly towards the Headmistress's office, she thought about her future plans, what did she want to do? Truth was, given how busy she had been with life and school in the past few months it had all been on the backburner, just something she knew she should consider before leaving the school. Add to that the fact that she was currently independently wealthy and it really did become a complex situation. Maybe talking to McGonagall would help her figure something out from the wide range of things that appealed to her. It certainly couldn't hurt. Besides, the idea of getting a job held some appeal but since it wasn't a necessity any more than perhaps she could do something fun. There were so many possible options. The stone gargoyle moved out of her way after the password and she headed upstairs.

"Come." The familiar voice called out to her before she even reached the door. There had to be something about that office and the door that allowed the Headmaster or mistress to know when someone was there and possibly who. It certainly merited looking into but now was not the time.

Smirking at that particular train of thought, Hermione opened the door and was surprised to see that Professor Flitwick was sitting there as well. Perhaps talking about the attacks was first on the agenda? She couldn't think of any other reason for his presence. "Good afternoon Headmistress, Professor."

McGonagall smiled at her fondly, which helped set her at ease. Perhaps she didn't need to be as nervous as she was. "Good afternoon Miss Granger. Thank you for coming. I hope you don't mind that I asked Professor Flitwick here to join us as I felt that he had some input that would be pertinent to this conversation."

"Of course. That would be perfectly fine with me." Hermione filed that bit of information away, wondering just what exactly the part goblin professor would be adding to this conversation. Sure he had lots of skills, knowledge, and such but what did he have to help with her inability to figure out what to do?

"When we last talked I recall you said that you were still undecided as to what to sort of career to pursue in the future? Is that still the case?" asked the Headmistress in her calm voice.

Nodding in confirmation, Hermione answered, "It is. There are just so many different options that interest me in things to do that I can't narrow it down. I used to have a very clear idea about my future, what with working for the Ministry, but now, with everything that has happened, well… things have changed. I'm not sure that particular work will hold my interest for long."

Professor Flitwick nodded his head, "Indeed. All of us have noticed that change and have commented on that among ourselves. You have been different this year, a bit unlike how you had been before the War. Not worse mind you, just different. It has taken a little bit of getting used to but you remained an excellent student. Now, you say you are interested in many things?"

"Yes Professor. There is just so much out there, so much to learn and do that I'm not sure I can choose one at the exclusion of others. I want to do it all instead of narrow myself down with a specific job that doesn't quite fulfill all of my needs," explained Hermione, wanting to make sure that they understood where she was coming from. She had at least worked this part of things out herself. It was important and helped but it really got her no closer to a job idea.

The two others laughed lightly though McGonagall did laugh a touch louder and gave a pointed look at Flitwick. After shaking his head in some amusement, he asked, "What do you know of further education in the wizarding world?"

"Well, in An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe it mostly dealt with the secondary schools and a few of the primary schools as well such as Charm School. It did mention a few others that were out there for furthering your education, such as W.A.D.A and Euro-Glyph but not a lot more. I am aware that there is no formal educational process after one graduates from secondary school, but rather a form of an apprenticeship system of sorts that can result in a person earning their Mastery in a given field available in most everything," rattled off Hermione, using her recall to great effect. "The only other exception is Auror work and Healing arts, both of which have formal training for a person to go through. Any other education you gain outside of those options comes from your own studies."

"That is true for the most part though your answer is somewhat incomplete. There is another option that is available that only a rare few take, hence why it is relatively unknown. No doubt you didn't see a mention of it in that book as it is not exactly a formal program. You, however, are one of the few students we would even think of discussing this with given your depth and breadth of knowledge," explained McGonagall.

"Oh?" This news really perked up Hermione's interest in the overall discussion. Her reading had not turned up anything of that nature, certainly not anything rare, and if it were that obscure than it did make a kind of sense that she had not found mention of it in the more common books on education she had perused over the years. If she had made a more detailed study of the topic she might have found it but there had been other considerations so she had only read lightly on the subject.

"Yes, while many of the instructors here hold Mastery's in their specific fields and a few even hold double Masteries, the Mastery process is not all there is for further education. There have been a few who have not been content with what was available and strove for something… greater," explained McGonagall with a smile to Flitwick.

Hermione caught that particular interaction and turned to face the diminutive Professor, figuring this was indeed the reason for his presence. He had to have gone after this other option. Flitwick cleared his throat and looked her in the eye, saying, "Well, yes… seeing as you are one of the brightest witches we have ever had the pleasure of teaching at the school, certainly in our tenure at the very least, there is the route I took that might be more to your liking. Since, like me, you have a vast thirst of knowledge and wish to discover as much as you can, the pursuit of the title Doctor might be to your liking."

Blinking a few times at the familiar term yet unfamiliar in the particular context, she asked curiously, "Doctor?"

The Headmistress joined back into the conversation, "There are very few wizards or witches whose knowledge of magic and other topics is broad enough to qualify for that course of study. Professor Flitwick here is one and Headmaster Dumbledore was another. If I remember correctly there is another currently working as an Unspeakable but that is it for Britian. It is not an easy undertaking and most people who even try for it tend to fail."

"Well, I did want to continue my education after I graduate from here but going to school is not all I want to do. There is so many other things I want to try, so many places I want to go." Hermione felt very odd saying that. While it was the truth it was something she may not have actually said aloud before and the words were strange in her mouth. It didn't change their truth just her familiarity with saying them. And the notion of her wanting to do more than school was something she was still coming to grips with.

That seemed to surprise both of them. Hermione was unsure what was so startling about that but she had to concede the point that it would be unexpected. Then the two of them caught each other's looks and snickered. Flitwick rolled his eyes as McGonagall said, "And that is admirable. Not a lot of students realize that they have a few weaknesses that need to be corrected. That was something that did have me concerned. Now, did you have any ideas of things to do besides study?"

Her mind was unfortunately blank as there were still too many options for her to sift through, she shrugged a bit hopelessly. Headmistress McGonagall nodded in understanding, saying, "I do appreciate your reticence to work in the Ministry both for your stated reason and well, my own experience working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I grew dissatisfied with the work I was doing fairly quickly when I worked there as well as the attitudes of the other workers and because of that I left without really looking back. That was when I began my tenure teaching here, studying under Dumbledore and apprenticing to replace him as Transfiguration teacher. Needless to say that this has been a great improvement and an opportunity I was excited to take."

The painting behind her beamed happily, clearly proud of that and given what Hermione knew of the Headmistress, Dumbledore had the right to be proud. She was her favorite teacher for several reasons and this revelation only added to things, rather than detract.

"While I learned a great deal working with Albus, my studies were so focused that I was not able to earn that title. While I had a broad range of learning I was rather focused in one area due to my interest in the field. You might enjoy that particular course of study given your interests. And as for employment, well, have you thought about teaching?" added the Headmistress, clearly having worked her way around to that point.

"I… uh… if you want a good teacher go for Harry. He is brilliant at it," confessed Hermione, a touch embarrassed to be asked that. "And he is intending to become the DADA teacher after he has worked as an Auror for a bit."

"While Mr. Potter will doubtless be an excellent Professor I that subject that is not the focus of our conversation. Anticipating this response from you I took the liberty of speaking to both Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley on the subject." Hermione winced a little, her imagination coming up with all sorts of possible horror stories those two could tell about her. She had subjected them to so much over the years as she he tried to drag them along in their classes. "They both had nothing but the highest praise for your skill as a teacher, indicating that you did a good job explaining concepts they had trouble understanding. Mr. Potter said that he would have never survived without you teaching him all sorts of things over the years, not the least of which was the Accio spell and many other things as well. Mr. Weasley said he would not have made it through school without your help, which is not hard to believe. Your two best friends are positive you would make a marvelous teacher."

There was no doubt that her face was bright red at the moment as she could feel the burn. The wood grain of the desk was rather fascinating and she did pay close attention to it rather than look up to see the look on their faces. "I… uh…"

"There is another option Miss Granger, should that not fully interest you." said Professor Flitwick with a bit of a smile on his face. "You could always try your hand at writing. Your breadth of knowledge would certainly come in handy while you are producing books on various topics. And I am aware that you have a number of issues with the Muggle Studies textbooks. You could easily fix that problem with your knowledge of both worlds and being able to explain. And I am sure there are other subjects you would enjoy writing about and have sufficient knowledge on. Your essays are wonderful after all so it's not like you don't have that particular skill."

The burn got more intense and Hermione felt like her face had a rather bad sunburn and she was perhaps sweating from the heat. She absolutely couldn't bring herself to look at them. Her voice was rather weak as she said, "Thank you."

"Those are merely suggestions Hermione," said McGonagall kindly. "We are positive you will qualify for anything that is available career wise, knowing that you will get lots of NEWTs so you can simply think about what you want to do. If you want to pursue being a Doctor, simply speak with Professor Flitwick before you leave, given he knows the most on that subject."

"Thank you. I will. Uhm… onto a different topic, I am sure you heard about the most recent escalation by the bullies?" Hermione really wanted to discuss anything else at that point in the hopes that the blood would drain from her face and the heat would leave. It was uncomfortable. Thankfully this particular topic had a lot of substance to it and should take her out of the embarrassment fairly quickly. Bullying was good topic for fixing things like that.

"I have." McGonagall's voice was hard when she responded to that. Hermione was sure the Headmistress was upset about all of this and wished she could do something to fix it. She was also glad that the displeasure displayed by McGonagall was not directly aimed at her.

"Thinking about it and how they are consistently evading capture, we have to start hunting them instead of relying on chance. Their attacks only occur after class hours and the variety of spells leads me to believe that it is a group of mix years from fourth to sixth, possibly seventh. Unless we go after them, apprehending them will be more a matter of being lucky enough to stumble on them in the act rather than anything else." Needing these points laid out first before she got to her main thrust for the debate, she set the stage for her real argument.

"That makes sense, though it is an uncomfortable realization" conceded McGonagall. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "I take it you have an idea on how to achieve this?"

"It's the same one I had before actually. We use Lucy to draw them out," stated Hermione, awaiting the uproar.

Both adults seemed upset by this and started protesting. It made sense for them to uncomfortable with this, she was as well. Hermione held up her hands trying to stop them so she could explain. They did and she received a nod from the Headmistress to continue. She let out the breath she had been holding out, having hoped that they would let her continue to present her case. "Lucy is the best bait available for going after these idiots because she embodies a number of things that we know they are against. She is a Firstie, a Muggleborn, and a Changeling and there is no other student who will present that wide a target profile. To them she is nothing but a walking offense and they would target her anyway. All of their targets, from what I have seen, have been Muggleborn or Half-bloods so that might work. This way we can protect her."

"I see your point Hermione but the danger to Lucy because of this is very great. They could seriously hurt her as evident by their recent action," stated the Headmistress.

"I am well aware of that Headmistress and it doesn't please me. The last thing I would want is for my sister to get hurt even remotely. My current plan involves borrowing Harry's Invisibility Cloak if possible and then follow along with Lucy as she wanders about. This gets me right there, in the thick of things before they are able to scatter. Even with those I cannot capture I'll be able to remember their faces. She may get stunned or petrified due to that but I am sure that I can stop the attack before they get too far. Experience from the War gives me plenty of experience in fighting." The plan was audacious and she hadn't cleared the Cloak part with Harry nor had she spoken to Lucy fully about being bait. However, since this was the part where she was trying to get initial permission for the plan from the people who could stop it before it started, it was the best she could think of at the given moment.

Flitwick rubbed his chin as he contemplated her plan. "That's actually not a half bad plan, Minerva."

The Headmistress rolled her eyes and said, snarkily, "Easy there Filius, your Gryffindor is showing."

"Pffftt…" He waved off her comment with a simple hand gesture. "I still think in the end the Hat sorted me correctly. Though I do think you would have looked lovely in the blue and bronze."

"Filius," chided McGonagall. "Let's leave off with who was better sorted. Now is not the time to work over that old bone as we have more important things to cover. So Hermione that is your plan, to be your sister's only support against an unknown number of attackers?"

Hermione looked between the two of them curiously. The two of them had faced the same indecision by the Sorting Hat that she had, between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor? That… that explained a lot about both of them actually now that she thought about it. "If I can manage to have Luna and Ginny nearby as support that would be for the best. I know both of them would be very good at dealing with this. Cameron as well, seeing as they are his Housemates that we will be apprehending and I am sure he wants to lay into them for what they have been doing."

"And how can you manage that?" asked the Headmistress.

"Well a tracking charm would work if placed on Lucy, or one the coins I made for Dumbledore's Army, or a number of other ways if needed. There are several Charms I can think of that could be used for this occasion quite easily. Layering them would perhaps work best in order to have the best coverage. It is not an insurmountable issue." Hermione so did not want to reveal the presence of the map. As a tool, it was too useful to her for both pranking purposes as well as for managing to patrol the castle without having to go anywhere so she could study. She still caught more people evading curfew than anyone else but there was no surprise given that she knew where they all were the whole time. That did give her a rather distinct advantage.

"You seem to have answers for everything," observed McGonagall, looking at her over her glasses.

"I like to be through," stated Hermione dryly.

"No doubt that is the reason for the success in all your endeavors." The Headmistress' tone was equally as dry which drew a slight smirk from Hermione.

"I like to think so. It's certainly why we had plenty of food and supplies when the three of us had to run from the Weasleys after the wedding," stated Hermione, sure that would end the back and forth. "I like to be prepared."

"And there is no doubt that went well, given that we are all still here and V-Vol-Voldemort is not." McGonagall appeared to be irritated with the fact that she was having trouble saying that name. "Very well, you have a tentative okay for this plan. Proceed with caution. Before you follow through with it I will want to speak with all the parties involved to make sure everyone is on the same page. If we do this I want to make sure we have everything covered."

Hermione grinned on the inside. This was better than she thought she was going to get from the Headmistress. She just might be able to pull this off and catch those prats. Now all she needed was for Harry to allow her to borrow one of the Hallows and she would be good to go. "Understood."