Almost another week had passed, during which Hermione had experienced a lot. On Monday, she had opened the Daily Prophet in her Blotts book at breakfast and as she let her eyes fly over one of the headlines, she suddenly remembered a moment from her childhood, which had absolutely nothing to do with the words in the newspaper.
Somewhat perplexed, she had continued eating and thinking about the memory. Then her head snapped upwards and she let her gaze wander around the Great Hall. Her eyes locked on a pair of black eyes that were surveying her knowingly. The expression on Professor Snape's face said "not good enough, keep trying".
Hermione blushed slightly, not having expected this. She was also a little annoyed with herself that she had failed miserably at the very first test to see if she was implementing his tasks to strengthen her mental barrier. He gave her a barely perceptible nod and then turned his attention back to his plate. Hermione firmly resolved to maintain her block from now on.
Professor Snape had also tested her on Tuesday and Wednesday and a real back and forth was developing. He seemed to be getting more and more inventive in testing her concentration in various situations. A tough question in Potions class had been particularly mean. While she had been answering the question, Professor Snape had been trying to get past her block. He had managed to do so.
However, he had disappeared from her mind so quickly that Hermione had not experienced a flashback and she had been able to finish answering the question after a short pause. Hermione had then accepted the challenge, and her competitive spirit awakened. This Thursday was her twelfth birthday.
She had allowed herself to sleep a little longer for once and was thus sitting at the Ravenclaw table at the most popular breakfast time. She looked up with a smile when she heard a familiar crowing above her and Lancelot came gliding down towards her. He carried a small parcel on his foot. The unfamiliar ballast made him land a little awkwardly, but he immediately picked himself up and acted as if nothing had happened.
Giggling, Hermione stroked her raven and untied the parcel from him. When Lancelot made no move to fly away again and peered conspicuously inconspicuous at her fried egg, Hermione brushed her hair off her left shoulder, where the raven immediately took a seat.
She let her eyes wander briefly to the teacher's table, not knowing if she was allowed to keep Lancelot at the table. Dumbledore looked at her with a slightly amused expression and toasted her with his glass of pumpkin juice. Hermione smiled and turned her attention to her parents' parcel. As she read the letter, her eyes moistened slightly, but only from emotion and longing for her parents.
Inside the parcel were some of her absolute favourite Muggle sweets and a plush raven, which Lancelot looked at wryly. Hermione was very happy with the gift and took it upon herself to send Lancelot back with a note of thanks right at lunchtime. She was a little surprised to see two more small parcels arrive a few minutes later, this time delivered by Owls.
They were a sugar quill from Professor Flitwick and a packet of Bertie Botts beans of every flavour from Professor McGonagall. With a grateful look, she nodded to the professors, who smiled at her barely noticeably. By now she had also realised that she was getting a lot of attention from the other students.
More of the attention, however, was on Lancelot, who was sitting on her shoulder. Practically the whole house of Ravenclaw kept glancing furtively with envious looks at the blue-black shining raven, who was aware of the attention and seemed to enjoy it. Susan Bones came over from the Hufflepuff table to wish her well after spotting the presents in front of Hermione.
Neville also came over to congratulate her. He waved insecurely at Lancelot, who waved back. He then smiled and said goodbye. Hermione had not received a gift from Professor Snape, however, she noticed that he refrained from checking her barrier during the course of the day, even though they crossed paths several times.
After dinner, she had visited Hagrid, who had given her hand-knitted socks that were three times too big for her. Nevertheless, she was very happy about the many people who had known about her birthday and had remembered it. Looking back, it had been her best birthday ever and in the evening she fell asleep snuggled up close to the plush raven.
On Friday, she was again surprised to see an owl land in front of her plate at breakfast. She offered it some egg while removing the letter from the owl's foot and, after unrolling the parchment, immediately recognised Professor Dumbledore's curved handwriting. In the short letter, he invited her to her first private lesson with him. She was astonished by the addition that was written after the P.S. "I would be delighted to get to know your animal companion more closely."
Hermione raised her eyes to the teacher's table in wonder, but Dumbledore was not in his seat. Since Lancelot had not yet returned from her parents after she had sent him off with the thank you letter, she hoped he would be back by Saturday evening. On her way out of the Great Hall, Professor Flitwick ran into her.
He looked around briefly and then whispered to her that he would expect her in the usual classroom on Sunday for private lessons. Hermione nodded with a smile and set off to Transfiguration class. When she hadn't heard from Lancelot on Saturday, she began to worry. As she had done twice before, she ran out onto the front steps of the castle just before her lesson with Dumbledore and called for her raven. Her heart leapt a little when this time Lancelot fluttered towards her. Hastily she brushed her hair over one shoulder and the raven took a seat on the free shoulder. She stroked him and hopped with him up the stairs to the headmaster's tower.
As she stepped through the open door of Dumbledore's office, she noticed a striking difference from her last visit. The tables where Dumbledore's delicate equipment had stood were gone and the round tower room had been cleared except for the large desk.
She let her eyes wander over the walls where the portraits of the former headmasters were hanging. This time none of the occupants seemed to be feigning sleep as they looked down at her in a friendly and encouraging manner. Except for one portrait, whose occupant seemed to be wearing some kind of gag in front of his mouth. With a scowl, he gazed resolutely into the air.
Then her eyes fell on Professor Dumbledore, who was standing beside his phoenix, stroking it. She noticed Lancelot stiffen a little on her shoulder. Fawkes seemed to have spotted him already and was quietly eyeing him with one of his seemingly glowing eyes. Hermione was a little startled when Lancelot lifted off her shoulder and flew towards the desk.
Somewhat fearfully, she watched the behaviour of the two birds. Fawkes had not taken his eyes off Lancelot for a second and was now towering high above the raven. Lancelot also focused on the big bird with one of his yellow eyes and a moment later tilted his head low so that his beak touched the desk. Fawkes let out a singing sound and Lancelot raised his head again. The phoenix nodded to the raven, whereupon it bowed again briefly, then took off again and landed on Hermione's shoulder. Lancelot looked much more relaxed now.
"Remarkable," Dumbledore said calmly. "Well, I think we now know why the phoenix is also called the King of Birds," he added, and Fawkes stretched out his long wings as if to underline Dumbledore's point. Hermione tilted her head to look at Lancelot out of the corner of her eye, who winked at her, at ease with himself. Hermione also relaxed again.
"We haven't been introduced," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes looking directly at the raven on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione giggled and introduced Lancelot and Dumbledore as if she were introducing two people to each other. Dumbledore chuckled as Lancelot gave him a quick wave.
"An exceptionally clever bird you have there, Hermione. Fitting for an exceptional student."
She blushed and Lancelot ruffled his feathers on her shoulder. Dumbledore smiled and with a wave of his wand made a comfortable looking chintz chair appear in front of Hermione. When she had sat down, Dumbledore began by asking her what she thought of the private lessons so far. Hermione happily reported that the lessons were challenging and she was enjoying them very much.
He seemed very pleased about that and they talked a little more about the lessons before Dumbledore came to the first topic of his own lesson. With a wave of his wand, he levitated the Pensieve onto his desk, which Hermione already knew from her lesson with Professor Snape.
"Today you will learn the other function of the Pensieve," Dumbledore said mysteriously. "We will enter into a memory of a young man and witness what he has experienced," he continued. Hermione nodded and at Dumbledore's explanation she dropped into the memory in the Pensieve.
After a short darkness, she stood in a room where two wizards sat opposite each other in armchairs. One of them was an older man in a teacher's robe, like the ones Hermione had seen in old black and white films. He had thinning hair and a well-formed beard. Across from him sat a young man Hermione only recognised at second glance. The young Albus Dumbledore wore a three-day beard and his nose looked straighter than that of the Dumbledore who now appeared next to Hermione.
The older wizard, who turned out to be Sigmund Freud, spoke with an accent and was engaged in a dialogue with Dumbledore about the expansion of the mind. With sparkling eyes, Hermione listened to the two wizards talking on equal terms. She was a little chagrined that she didn't have anything with her to take notes, for the conversation was most enlightening to Hermione.
When she arrived back at the Headmaster's office, Lancelot hopped back onto her shoulder. He had been waiting at the desk. Hermione then bombarded Dumbledore with questions, which he answered patiently. She thanked Dumbledore several times, who chuckled and opened up that he would share more memories with her, but on another day.
"Now for the second part of today's lesson, which I was particularly looking forward to," Dumbledore said, peering promisingly over his half-moon spectacles at Hermione.
"Professor Snape, in his initial report of the incidents in your first Potions lesson, spoke of an ability that lets you feel the emotions of others," he said.
"That's true, but I held back as you requested, Professor," Hermione replied.
"I'm glad to hear that, however, now is the time to examine and test your abilities," he said and stood back up. He gestured with his hand to the cleared area of his office and Hermione made her way there. Dumbledore stood opposite her.
"First, I would like you to check my mental barrier for weaknesses," said Dumbledore, who had not drawn his wand. Hermione nodded and performed a nonverbal Legilimens spell, which bounced off Dumbledore's powerful barrier.
"I can't see any weakness, sir," she said truthfully. Dumbledore nodded.
"Now I ask you to read my feelings with the aid of your mind," he said. Hermione nodded again and put her wand away. She looked into Dumbledore's eyes and tried to read his feelings.
"I sense an uncertainty. And you are worried," Hermione said after a few moments of silence. She could tell from Dumbledore's eyes that she was right. He looked a little embarrassed and she couldn't blame him, for from the outside the wise wizard in no way gave the impression that he was uncertain or worried.
"Very good, Hermione!" he finally said, smiling at her questioning look.
"My mental barrier hasn't changed since you tested it. It's amazing that I noticed your intrusion but couldn't do anything about it," Dumbledore said and Hermione's eyes widened. She had assumed that Professor Dumbledore had let her in to test her ability.
"I also couldn't tell what you were doing in my mind," he added, looking thoughtfully at a spot behind Hermione. "Well, you proved it wasn't classical Legilimency, yet I suspect a branch of that discipline behind it. Would you be so kind as to demonstrate it to me again as an observer?" he asked and Hermione looked at him questioningly.
Then she understood and looked sideways at Lancelot on her shoulder, who had been quietly watching the proceedings. She waved her wand and summoned a bird perch that ended at about the same height as her chin. She directed Lancelot to settle on it, which he did without reluctance. Dumbledore stood beside her so that he could observe them both from the side. He had an extremely studious expression on his face and his eyes twinkled a little.
"Please read Lancelot's feelings and maintain the link until I let you know," he said. Hermione nodded and focused on her raven's eye, who returned her gaze without blinking. She read his emotions and nodded to signal to Dumbledore that she had begun.
"Specialis Revelio," Dumbledore said expectantly. For a brief second, nothing happened. Then Hermione could see coloured vapours slowly appearing in the air between her and Lancelot. They became more and more distinct. A red band of haze seemed to connect Hermione's eyes with Lancelot's. It moved in waves, over and over again. Wave-like, it kept moving rhythmically from Lancelot to Hermione. Out of the corner of her eye, she could also see a faint yellow haze drifting between her and Lancelot. It didn't seem as strong as the red connection, though.
"Impressive!" exclaimed Dumbledore. After a while of circling the two with interest, he commanded Hermione to disconnect. Hermione gasped and let the connection break. She had never read another being's feelings for so long and it had strained her more than she would have expected. Dumbledore walked briskly around her and pointed to the armchair again as he settled behind his desk.
"This is definitely magic that is not bound," Dumbledore said and Hermione looked at him somewhat perplexed.
"Does that mean it's like unconscious magic, not bound to a spell?" asked Hermione.
"Very good, Hermione," Dumbledore said with a broad smile.
"So it would be possible to bind the magic?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know about that, but that is a question for the future. First, I would like to talk about the fact that there are two other streams that seem to be undiscovered by you," Dumbledore said and Hermione remembered the faint yellow haze she had seen out of the corner of her eye. Dumbledore explained to her that he had also observed a blue and a yellow haze thread, both of which were much fainter, so he assumed that Hermione had not yet discovered these abilities.
He also reported that the yellow thread had undulated towards Hermione like the red one. The blue one, on the other hand, had started from Hermione and had moved in waves towards Lancelot. He concluded that Hermione had abilities to 'read' the minds of others and one that he didn't know whether it was to manipulate the mind of the person concerned or just to transmit parts of her own mind. Dumbledore looked extremely interested and was already about to start the next test when he noticed Hermione's tired expression.
"Goodness, I think we should continue this in the next lesson. We've gathered enough knowledge for today," he said with a smile. Hermione yawned and was glad that the professor had concluded the lesson. Turning back to Dumbledore to say goodbye, she saw that he was in the middle of filing a memory in the Pensieve. She smiled and closed the door behind her.
When she visited her library that night in a trance, she noticed several changes, one of which surprised her in particular. The original Legilimency shelf had split and now contained different coloured books, but according to the plaques with numbers, they were in the right place. The shelf had also grown considerably. However, she eyed in amazement the table that had appeared in the middle of the library and on which stood a round bowl.
Except for its shape, it resembled Dumbledore's Pensieve. Hermione examined it and realised that it was empty. Since in her mind she was a physical manifestation of herself in the library but had no wand with her, she tried to pull a memory out of her head with her index finger. It was considerably harder than in the physical world, but she succeeded after several attempts.
First, she eluded a memory that she didn't think was particularly important. She decided to wake up from the trance. It was pitch dark in her room, but she was immediately wide awake. She tried to remember the deprived scene of her childhood. To her surprise, she immediately had the scene in her mind's eye, albeit blurred.
"What's the point of the Pensieve if I still have the memory in my head?" mused Hermione aloud. She put herself into a trance again and returned to the Pensieve in the library. She then took a look inside and recognised the single swath of fluid. She stuck her head into the Pensieve and realised that it worked just like Dumbledore's.
She relived her enrolment in the third person, young Hermione grinning into the camera her father was operating. When Hermione was back in the library, she understood the value of the Pensieve in her mind. She could replay memories as many times as she wanted, and she could do it while she slept. Instantly, she began to file her memories in the Pensieve.
When the alarm clock rang the next day, she was not even close to finishing filing her memories in the Pensieve. The last memories she had pulled from her mind were such early memories that she could only get hold of them with the help of the spell. She decided to look at these too when she had a chance, as some of them were from infancy. In the night trance, her body had gotten enough rest that she went to breakfast well-rested. Her mind felt more orderly than usual.
That day she had her first real lesson in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Even though she didn't say anything to Professor Flitwick about what she thought of Quirrell, Hermione made an enormous effort to live up to Professor Flitwick's duelling skills. As the book Quirrell had provided for the lesson contained only theory and stories, she had much to learn from Flitwick.
In this first lesson, it was the turn of the disarming and shield spells, which they took turns performing on each other. By the end of the lesson, Hermione was able to nonverbally block any of Flitwick's Expelliarmus charms, even the ones he performed nonverbally himself. As homework, she had been told to practise her wandless shield charms, which she was having a much harder time with.
She spent the rest of Sunday in the library doing the rest of her homework for her school subjects. By now she was getting larger essays on each subject per lesson, which came easily to her but still took up considerable time. As soon as she was done with the homework, she put herself back into a trance to file her memories in the Pensieve. If she finished that night, she would also revisit the memories of her individual lessons to get an outside impression of her progress and spells.
So the time at Hogwarts passed the next month faster than Hermione would have thought. It was with amazement that not only she but also Professor Snape had learned that her mental barrier had strengthened immensely since she had filed her memories away in her mind. Professor Snape had never once managed to penetrate her blockage again.
He had been a little disgruntled when Hermione wouldn't explain her progress to him, but she kept her expanded mind to herself and would only share her experiences with Dumbledore. She had had further private lessons with Professors Flitwick, McGonagall and Snape, steadily improving her spells but also focusing on the advanced theory of magic.
Hermione was delighted by this and often thought back to the conversation with the Elder. "The mind and the power in harmony," she had said then. Hermione was delighted when she had received an invitation from Dumbledore for another one-to-one lesson on the second of November. Dozens of times in the Pensieve she had returned in her mind to the memory where Sigmund Freud had spoken to Dumbledore about the expansion of the mind.
Each time she understood more of what they were discussing. As well as meeting Dumbledore, Hermione was looking forward to the start of the Quidditch season. The first Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff would take place at the beginning of November. Susan was an ardent Quidditch fan and had got Hermione properly fired up and excited about the subject. She still didn't quite know what to expect, but from what Susan had told her, it was going to be spectacular.
However, her spirits were dampened somewhat the night before Halloween when she was awakened from pain in the middle of her trance. She was quite dazed from being snapped out of her trance so abruptly. She writhed in her bed because of a tugging pain through her abdomen. She had never been good at enduring pain.
She exhaled audibly and decided to run to the hospital wing. Still a little dazed, she held her stomach below her navel with one hand and the lit wand in the other. Her wet eyes made the common room and the corridors down to the hospital wing a bit of a blur, but she eventually made it there unharmed. As she stepped through the large portal door, she took a quick look around. She could make out two rows of beds. As far as she could tell, none of them were occupied.
She then decided to call for Madam Pomfrey, who was probably asleep in the back room of the hall. The door to the back room opened and a bouncing ball of light moved towards Hermione.
"What is troubling you, my child?" asked Madam Pomfrey worriedly. Hermione replied that she had a stomachache. When Madam Pomfrey was close enough that she could see Hermione by the light of her wand, she made a sound that Hermione interpreted as a relieved sigh. "I know where your pain is coming from, my child," she said, lowering her illuminated wand to waist level. Hermione looked first at the wand, then at her legs, which were lit up by it. Hermione moaned, partly in pain, partly in annoyance at herself, but mostly in shame.
"For now, come over here to the bed and take off your pants, I'll take care of you," Madam Pomfrey said in a motherly voice. She sent Hermione to her bedchambers to take a bath and wash off her lower body. Hermione waddled somewhat awkwardly to the door from which Madam Pomfrey had come.
The brief shock had left her more awake than before and even more annoyed with herself. Twice before Hogwarts, she had already spoken to her mother about the subject of women's period. She was very embarrassed that she had not recognised the signs. She first washed herself off with the running water of the bathtub and then ran herself a bath. A while later she lay in the tub and slowly relaxed. Her pain was also eased a little by the warm water.
Madam Pomfrey came into the chambers after about ten minutes and sat down on a chair she had conjured up next to the bathtub. As she entered, Hermione covered her body and blushed. Madam Pomfrey smiled but remained silent at the embarrassment of the first-year in her bathtub.
"I have cleaned your bed, my dear. Don't worry too much," the witch said, smiling with pursed lips. Hermione blushed even redder and averted her eyes. Madam Pomfrey took hold of Hermione's shoulder and then gave her a small goblet, the contents of which Hermione was asked to drink.
Madam Pomfrey left her alone after Hermione had drunk the potion. After a few minutes, the cramping pain in her abdomen and the pain in her breasts slowly subsided. Hermione washed off again after draining the water and put her pyjamas back on that Madam Pomfrey had cleaned. Madam Pomfrey was waiting for her in the hospital bedroom.
"Get some more sleep, Miss Granger. And don't worry, the potion will keep everything fine," she said lovingly, getting up from the bed she had prepared for Hermione. Hermione nodded and thanked the witch for her help. Madam Pomfrey smiled and told her that she was right next door if Hermione needed anything. They would discuss anything else in the morning. Hermione lay awake a little longer, thinking about what this event meant for her. But eventually, she was overcome by tiredness after all.
"Good morning," Hermione said to Madam Pomfrey, who was looking down at her lovingly and who had sat down on her bed at the foot of the bed. She had been gently woken by her. Tired, Hermione rubbed her eyes. She was handed a glass of pumpkin juice by Madam Pomfrey, of which she took a large gulp. Madam Pomfrey stroked Hermione's knee over the bedspread.
"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said, feeling the blood rush to her head as she looked into the witch's eyes.
"Of course, my dear," Madam Pomfrey replied, waving her wand, whereupon a plate with a sumptuous breakfast appeared on the bedside table beside Hermione. Hungry, Hermione pulled the tray onto her lap and began to devour the breakfast. As Hermione ate, Madam Pomfrey spoke to her.
"You are now a young woman, which is great news, even if it seems uncomfortable at first," she said. She smiled as Hermione told her that she had already spoken to her mother about the menstrual cycle. She also enlightened Hermione that over the centuries witches had found better ways to deal with menstruation than paper.
Hermione giggled and thought back to her conversation with her mother, who had shown her a tampon and a panty liner and how to use them. Madam Pomfrey explained to her that for many generations she had been providing the students of Hogwarts with a potion that did not restrict the function of their cycle, but prevented bleeding and eased the pain.
She also spoke to a cherry-reddened Hermione about the wizards' contraceptives. She pressed four vials into her hand. Two of them were filled with a clear liquid, and the other two were bluish translucent. Madam Pomfrey explained to her that the clear liquid was the same one she had been given last night.
The other liquid was a potion that prevented fertilisation for four months. Hermione, who had also spoken to her mother about Muggle contraceptives, wanted to know from Madam Pomfrey if the potions would have any effect on her hormones, but the witch was able to allay any fears she might have had. She shook her head somewhat compassionately and told Hermione she would pity any woman who popped Muggle pills.
Hermione was extremely pleased by this, even though she figured she probably wouldn't need the blue potions for a long time. She asked again for safety's sake if she really wouldn't have any bleeding until the end of her period, but in the end, left the hospital wing reassured.
She changed in her bedroom and went to class. She was a little distracted that day by the news that she was theoretically able to have a child from now on. She was so lost in thought in History of Magic that Susan had to nudge her to alert her that the lesson was over.
Puzzled, Hermione had looked around the empty classroom and blushed. Susan asked what was wrong with her because it was not at all like Hermione not to be concentrating on the lesson. Hermione told her about last night in a whisper as they walked to lunch. Susan had to giggle a little but told Hermione that she herself had also recently had her first period.
She had also been embarrassed by the conversation with Madam Pomfrey, she told Hermione. Together with Hermione, Susan was one of the oldest students in her year, because she had also celebrated her twelfth birthday in mid-October. She knew that of course, a large proportion of the students at Hogwarts were going through the same thing, but hearing it first-hand made it a little more ordinary in her eyes and made her feel better.
They giggled about Madam Pomfrey's blue potion and Hermione's heart lightened. Towards the end of the day, Hermione was getting a little worse for wear and didn't feel like going to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast at all. She occasionally snacked on one of the Muggle sweets in her bedroom and put herself in an early trance that evening to do something useful.
She was still looking at her old memories in the Pensieve at night. At first, it had been disconcerting to see herself as a baby in her mother's arms, but she quickly realised that it would help her to experience and observe situations from the outside, to evaluate.
When she woke up the next morning, the very first thing she did was check her pyjama bottoms. But as Madam Pomfrey had assured her, everything was chic in her bed. She breathed a sigh of relief and got dressed to go to breakfast. As she crossed the common room, she noticed that many items had fallen over.
It looked a bit like Peeves had been up to mischief in the room. Shrugging her shoulders, she made her way and sat down hungrily at the Ravenclaws' house table. To her surprise, all the teachers were already sitting at the teacher's table, whispering agitatedly, where at this time of day the only person sitting there would be Professor McGonagall, reading the newspaper. Frowning, Hermione began to munch on her cornflakes.
Casually, she opened her Blotts-Book to read the Daily Prophet. A moment later, her spoon fell into her bowl with a loud clatter and a thunderstruck Hermione was hit on the forehead by some cornflakes. With her mouth open, she stared at the front page of the newspaper in her book.
Break-in at Hogwarts.
Troll vandalises toilets and injures students.
It has come to the attention of the Daily Prophet that only two months after the break-in at the wizarding bank of Gringotts, the next fortress considered unbreakable, Hogwarts, has been broken into. In the evening hours of the previous day, a young mountain troll was spotted in the corridors of Hogwarts, having mysteriously gained access to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which was thought to be secure. As most of the students were currently at the annual Halloween Feast in the Great Hall, the majority of students were quickly evacuated to their common rooms. However, it has come to the attention of this reporter that three boys, whose identities are unknown at this time, daringly and downright cockily, if not stupidly (editor's note), stood in the way of the troll. However, apart from broken sinks and toilets that could not withstand the troll's furious attack, no one was harmed. The reporter was also told the rumour that the aforementioned students had stood in the way of the troll and hunted it down. However, this rumour should be treated with caution. A statement from the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is still awaited at the time of going to press. For more on mountain trolls, see page 4. For more on toilets, see page 15.
Hermione finished reading and looked incredulously up at the teachers, who continued to whisper. She tried to make eye contact with one of her familiar teachers, but they were all too busy and took no notice of her. Half an hour later, when Penelope Clearwater, her prefect, sat down at the front table, Hermione jumped up and sat next to her.
Penelope started by telling her that she had been terrified for Hermione the night before, as she couldn't find her in the common room after Dumbledore had had the Great Hall cleared. Then, when she had discovered Hermione slumbering in her bedroom, it had been a load off her mind, she said.
Hermione gave her a compassionate look but knew that she herself had done nothing wrong. Penelope also told her about the rumour that three first-years from Gryffindor had confronted and finished off the troll in one of the toilets. Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Do they know who the students were?" she asked, but she already had an idea. Firstly, there were only five male first-years in Gryffindor and secondly, a trio had stood out in the last month due to trips and detentions. Harry Potter, his best friend Ron Weasley and Neville. How the insecure Neville had ended up in this trio was hard for Hermione to imagine, however, perhaps he wanted to bring honour to his house. Gryffindor stood for courage and valour. Penelope shook her head. Hermione thanked her and stood up. She wanted to spend some time with Lancelot before she had to go to class.
As she stepped out of the castle gates into the frosty air of the first day of November, her breath instantly froze and rose in a small cloud in front of her face. The grass of the school grounds was covered in hoarfrost and crunched lightly under her boots. She called out to Lancelot and a few moments later she heard the beating of his wings.
He had grown considerably since August and was now almost the size of a full-grown raven. He proudly circled once above her and then settled on her shoulder. He hadn't grown much heavier, but Hermione noticed the difference from the once light-as-feather young raven.
She greeted him joyfully and threw a piece of egg into the air in front of her, which he immediately snatched with his beak. In order not to freeze, Hermione took a short walk along the lakeshore. She looked longingly over at the towers of the Quidditch stadium, now covered in colourful banners and canvases. The first two matches would take place at the weekend. Ravenclaw against Hufflepuff on Saturday and Gryffindor against Slytherin on Sunday.
She wondered if there would be a dispute between her and Susan if the respective other team won. For her part, she decided to put their friendship above the sporting competition. When she arrived in the transfiguration classroom a little later, she knew instantly which three students had faced the troll in the toilet and knocked him unconscious with his own club.
The Gryffindors she already suspected bore the marks of the fight on their faces. All three had bruises, small cuts and scratches on their foreheads, mouths and noses. Neville had a black eye. Every time Professor McGonagall looked at any of the three, her face showed a mixture of pride and disapproval, which Hermione found very funny.
After class, Neville had told her that he'd had to go to the bathroom particularly urgently during the evacuation because he'd eaten too many pumpkin pies. The troll had followed him, which Harry and Ron had observed. They had finally plopped the club with the levitation spell on the troll's head after he had taken half the toilet apart. Neville confessed to her with scarlet red face that his part in the story was not particularly praiseworthy because he had been sitting on the throne the whole time. Hermione giggled and gave him a pat on the back to cheer him up.