Hermione Granger

Hermione Granger, now a second year student at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, was walking through Hogwarts express, looking for an empty compartment. Her steps were confident and posture straight as she was passing other students in the train corridor.

Her mood was high, as after a long, long vacation she was finally allowed to return to Hogwarts, where she could again learn about the wizarding world and its many wonders. It also didn't hurt that Gilderoy Lockhart, a renomed and extremely talented author, would be her D.A.D.A teacher. She was truly looking forward to attending his classes. Yes, she couldn't wait for the school year to start.

She only hoped that her second year would be a little more peaceful than her first. Encountering troll, cerberus and devil's snare wasn't her idea of fun and she would rather not risk being expelled again.

Not that she regretted joining Harry and Ron in stopping professor Quirrell. Letting Voldemort use the philosopher's stone would be disastrous, so stopping him was the right thing to do. Also, thanks to that adventure she gained two great, if sometimes unbearable, friends.

Speaking of her friends, she wasn't able to find either Ron or Harry anywhere. At first she thought that maybe they were already waiting for her in one of the compartments, but despite walking through the train twice she still wasn't able to find them. When the Hogwarts express left King's station and her friends still didn't show up, she knew that something bad happened. Harry was supposed to arrive at the platform with the Weasley family and all of them, bar Ron, were already inside the train.

Unfortunately she wasn't able to do anything about that at the moment. The train had already left the station, so she couldn't leave it and search for them. For now all she could do was to patiently wait, either for them to show up or for the train to arrive at Hogwarts station.

However, as she wasted quite a lot of time looking for her friends, most of the compartments were already full. It took her some time to find one where she could sit, with only one person inside, so without thinking much she opened its door, intent on taking a seat there.

Hearing doors open the boy inside jolted in surprise, apparently not expecting company, before looking at her with wide, blue eyes. She recognized him immediately, as he was the boy she helped access the platform earlier, Michael Brown.

"Hello, I didn't expect to see you again so soon" said Hermione, quite surprised to encounter the boy for the second time. Not that she had anything against meeting him, as he seemed to be a nice person. After all, his first instinct after noticing a lost notebook was to return it, suggesting he was a good person (who probably didn't know what kind of person Lucius Malfoy was).

"…Yes, quite a coincidence" Responded Michael with a quiet voice, not quite looking her in the eye. Well, he was most likely just shy, something she couldn't blame him for. Going to Hogwarts for the first time was quite overwhelming for her too. She could still remember how stressed she was when she arrived at the station, knowing only what she was able to learn from the books she acquired at Diagon alley. Michael was probably the same, not knowing what to expect from Hogwarts.

"Can I sit here? My friends didn't show up and most of the compartments are already taken" Seeing Michael nod, Hermione entered the room and placed her trunk above her seat. After doing that she took her seat and looked at Michael again, intending to start a conversation. There was no point in sitting quiet for the entire trip, right? "So, are you excited to start your education at Hogwarts? You are a muggle-born just like me, so I'm sure it was quite a shock for you to learn that magic is real and you are capable of using it"

"…I can't deny that it was quite a surprise for me, yes" responded Michael. "Especially since the second my magical potential was revealed, Professor McGonagall barged into my house, apparently already knowing about it. That was a little…scary."

Well, she supposed that an unknown witch appearing at your doorstep would be a little unnerving, but for her it was quickly replaced by the excitement she felt at the thought of learning about the magic and the wizarding world. Also, it wasn't like McGonagall was specifically observing him, just waiting for him to cast a spell. There was a reason why teachers knew where to appear.

"Don't worry, Professor McGonagall only knew about you because of the quill of acceptance. You probably don't know about it, but it's a magic quill located at Hogwarts that detects all signs of magic displayed by children and informs Hogwarts teachers about their whereabouts" Hermione said with a small smile, hoping that her words would put Michael at peace. After all it was just a device created by the founders to help find children suitable for their school. There was nothing malicious about it.

However, contrary to her expectations, Michael just looked at her silently after hearing her words, his eyes widening. It took him some time to respond, as if he didn't know how to respond.

"And the fact that there is a magic quill registering all magic signs doesn't scare you?" He asked, looking even more worried than before, with his posture tense and eyes wide. What? What was he talking about?

"No, why would I be worried?" She asked, completely not understanding his bizarre reaction. Quill of acceptance was a wonderful artifact, created to help young wizards and witches with achieving their true potential in a comfortable environment. If not for it, Hermione wouldn't be accepted into Hogwarts, nor would he. Why would there be something wrong with it?

"I mean, it's a country-wide tracking device, tuned to detect every sign of magical activity and inform authorities about its location with pinpoint accuracy. Not to mention, its main targets are young children with magic affinity, whose privacy is ruthlessly violated by an invisible, unstoppable scanner, which sends information about them to complete strangers" Said Michael, looking quite agitated.

"What?" She asked, not quite sure she understood what he was saying. Scanner? Violation of privacy? It didn't work like that. Why would he even think that?! "That's not how it works. The quill is just an academic device, used to help children find a proper place to learn about their magical abilities. It isn't used to spy on people!"

"But what stops Hogwarts faculty from changing criteria of Quill's detection, using it to monitor unsuspecting muggle-born from the shadows?" He asked pointedly, acting as if he was stating the truth, despite the fact that his words were completely ridiculous.

"Moral integrity of the teachers and the foresight of the founders! Our professors would never stoop to doing something so heinous!" Hermione almost screamed, angered by the mere thought of one of her teachers doing something so morally bankrupt. There was no way something like that would happen! And even if one of the teachers were to try that, Headmaster Dumbledore would surely stop them! What Michael was saying went against everything she believed in. After all, if she couldn't trust her professors, whom she was supposed to trust?

Her arguments made Michael go silent, as he looked at her intently, almost like he was searching for something. She didn't know what it was or whether he found it, but eventually Michael broke eye contact and spoke.

"…Yes, that's absolutely right" Michael responded with a stiff voice, nodding mechanically and giving her a fake smile. It looked like he was trying to make her think she convinced him, but he was doing such a bad job if it was the case. Not noticing that she saw through his act, he continued "I can't believe I doubted my future teachers like that. Please forget I said anything"

After saying that Michael averted his eyes and started staring intently outside the window, pretending to be absorbed by the landscape. He was obviously attempting to end the conversation like that, but to be entirely honest Hermione wasn't exactly eager to continue it herself, so she let the matter drop.

As neither of them tried to start another conversation, Hermione spent the rest of her journey to Hogwarts station in awkward silence, with the train's movement on the rails as the source of sound. At some point she took out one of professor Lockhart's books, intending to read it, but the awkward mood permeating the compartment made it impossible for her to concentrate.

When she finally got off the train, she was exhausted, irritated and quite a bit confused. She knew one thing though. Whatever was the reason why Harry and Ron were absent, it didn't matter. She was going to kill them for making her go through that horrible experience!