enter hermione

a/n: long time no see! no i'm not back. but i wrote this for my harry potter class! i didn't really like how short this is (it had to be 3-4 pages double spaced) so i might come back when i graduate college in april and go on my gap year and make it longer lol.

If there's one thing Hermione's always loved, it's learning new things. Whether it was a new concept in one of her math classes at primary school, or fun facts about earth and space in her science class, she always absorbed all new information with eagerness. People always made fun of her for it, but she never cared.

She also loved getting ahead, looking at readings and curriculums for older year levels and working on absorbing as much as possible. That's exactly what she was doing on a bright summer's day, reading Jane Eyre. Little did she know that on that particular day her world was going to change forever, opening a whole new one of possibility.

It all started on that fateful July afternoon, when she heard a sharp knock on the door. She remained in her room, because she knew her parents were down there and one of them would likely end up answering it. She didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary. She thought it was maybe someone delivering a package, or someone who was soliciting door-to-door.

She remembered being slightly worried when she was called down. A woman was waiting for her; she had grey hair that was tightened into a bun, glasses, and a stern expression on her face. The woman had introduced herself as "Professor McGonagall," saying that she was from a school called "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She'd claimed that the odd things that'd sometimes happen, like when a book she wanted at the bookstore suddenly appeared in the car (without her paying), and similarly when she'd forgotten a sweet and it appeared, was actually magic. That there was a whole new world of information and wonder out there that awaited her.

It all seemed extremely unrealistic, and she and her parents did not believe her until the Professor actually did a spell that summoned her mum's keys to her. "Accio," it was called. After that, she was very pleased with the letter. She was thrown into a whole new world, and she now had a plethora of new information at her fingertips. Her parents had asked her if this was something she really wanted to do, and after some thought, she'd agreed. After all, the way the Professor explained it to her was that she might not be able to hone her magic properly if she didn't go. Plus, she'd for sure keep up with her regular studies as well.

She reflected on this as she clambered in her dormitory for the first time, ready to fully take Hogwarts with all the knowledge that she gained. She'd read all of the new textbooks by heart that she'd gotten in the first month or so, but still worried that she'd be behind since she was new to everything. The information in The Standard Book of Spells alone was a lot to take in, let alone the class specific textbooks. There were so many new spells, and she'd practiced them all straight away.

She looked around, and she was pleasantly surprised to see that her trunk was already neatly placed by her bedside. She started setting up for the night, pulling out a textbook for reading and her pajamas. She heard the chattering of voices and footsteps entering. While she was more than certainly ready to prove herself academically, she really hoped that maybe Hogwarts would be a bit different socially than it was in her old school. She never really had any good friends, merely just acquaintances. Her mum gently suggested that maybe it was because she came on too strong with her knowledge, but she simply did not see the point of ceasing that just for a friendship.

Two other girls with their arms already linked walked in, noticing Hermione organizing her books. "Hi, I'm Parvati Patil," one of them smiled at her, and Hermione straightened, wanting to introduce herself properly.

"A pleasure to meet you," she replied, "I'm Hermione Granger. I've just been organizing my textbooks for tomorrow. I'm really excited for classes to start, there's just so much to learn. I hope we start right away. Which class are you looking forward to?"

The other girl with Parvati was already giving her a look she unfortunately knew all too well from girls in her primary school. "That's Lavender Brown," Parvati introduced, and Lavender gave Hermione a tight smile. "I'd say… well we don't get to take electives until our third year, but my favorite class will likely end up being Divination, it just sounds so interesting being able to try and predict the future and all."

"Divination?" asked Hermione skeptically, raising an eyebrow. She'd read about it, of course, but it didn't sound very appealing. "But there'd be no clarity in seeing the future.

"I think it'd be a fun class," Parvati defended, "The lack of clarity is what makes it interesting."

Not wanting to get on the wrong foot with Parvati on the first night, Hermione changed the subject to finding their way around Hogwarts. However, Lavender had tugged her arm. Parvati gave Hermione a slight smile, before she went off with Lavender. Hermione could hear the two in the background discussing weekend outfits amongst other things that girls in her old school usually discussed that she felt like she just never quite had the script for.

She sucked in a sharp breath as she began reading her Potions textbook. She'd already heard from Percy Weasley how hard Professor Snape was and was eager to impress. She didn't care how much she had to clarify this, but she wasn't shutting down her knowledge and opinions for anyone. If she had to be lonely for a while here too, then she'd deal with it. The prospect of learning magic was far too exciting, even if nobody else seemed to take it as seriously as her.

Hermione was determined to impress her Professors by answering as many questions as she could. She was sure she'd eventually impress another student too. And impress her Professors she did. She was so happy all her reading had paid off. In Transfiguration, she was successfully able to turn her match into a needle, and she was able to answer questions in her other lessons and even perform spells correctly. She wanted to earn as many points for Gryffindor as possible.

Unfortunately, it did cost her the social life she was hoping to get in a school like this. She never wanted a lot of friends, of course, but her goal was one. One that genuinely liked the things she did; one that would love to go to the library with her. Certainly not ones like Ronald Weasley. He always seemed to have something rude to say about her. Yes, she was a know it all.

She was proud of it. He was best friends with Harry Potter; Harry, from her interactions with him, was never directly rude to her, but his penchant for getting into trouble stressed her out. And Ron Weasley would just stay by his side for all of it; with her being the villain whenever she pointed out how much they could not only endanger themselves, but lose the points that she'd worked tirelessly to earn Gryffindor.

…Rules were there for a reason, right? At least that's what she'd grown up to believe for a large majority of her life. Rules were there to help make the world go around. Ignoring her loneliness, she stubbornly kept her views, sticking to her books and her classes. It was working until she was walking out of one very successful Charms Class.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," she heard Ron say to Harry, "she's a nightmare, honestly."

She let the tears fall down her face. Why did she think Hogwarts would be different from her old school? Why was knowledge so unappreciated?

a/n: for old times sake! please r&r :)

-ana