Chapter 2

Magnetics 101

My sixth year at primary school shot by. I always got straight A's without a struggle. This gave me time to read my first-year books for Hogwarts and to practice things like simple spells. The people from Hogwarts checked in on me regularly. They took me to Diagon Alley a few more times so I could buy more books and get comfortable in a magical environment.

When school ended in June, my parents informed the school system in Maidenhead I would not be returning in the fall. I had been gifted a scholarship by a wealthy aunt to attend an elite school in Scotland. They were supportive of the situation because I was such a gifted student and deserved the best.

I divided my summer between playing with my friends and studying. They were all sad, as was I, when I told them I was going away for school in the fall. As Leaving Day, as it is called, approached, I became more and more obsessed with my magical studies. I was nervous about going to a school full of kids who had known they were magical all of their lives. How was I going to fit in with them? How could I compete with them? Would I be able to make new friends? I was a ball of anxiety.

The night before my leaving for Hogwarts, I had a wonderful little party with my closest friends. We ate pizza and ice cream at a favorite restaurant. We tried to have a good time filled with excitement and happiness. However, by the end, we were all sad and teary-eyed about our looming separation. It was like we were never going to hear from or see each other again.

I was up early the next morning. Mom made me a bowl of porridge and some orange juice. Professor Sinistra arrived at 7:30 am. We were on our way a few minutes later. The train was scheduled to leave from King's Cross Station at promptly 11:00 am, so we had to press forward.

The traffic became more and more annoying as we neared central London. "We can't be late," I whined. "I'll die if I miss the train."

"We're fine, dear," said my father in his most reassuring voice. 'We have plenty of time."

His words only had a minor effect. I was a bag full of bees by the time we parked and made our way inside. Even though I did not know where I was going, I wanted to run down the platform between 9 and 10 pushing my trolley.

"This is your ticket," said the professor as she handed it to me. "Don't lose it or you will not be able to get on the train."

"It says Platform 9¾," I said. "There's no such thing."

"Just watch," she replied pointing at a family in front of us. "Watch that boy."

A tall slim, boy was pushing a trolley much like mine with an owl in a cage on top. He started to trot at a column between the trains. Suddenly, he disappeared into the column. I nearly fainted.

Once I regained my composure, the professor told me to do the same thing. I did as she said, wincing and closing my eyes just before impact. When I reopened them, I was standing on a different platform full of families getting their children onto an amazing steam train called the Hogwarts Express. A second later, the professor and my parents were standing beside me.

The professor helped me give my trolley to a porter. She led me to the steps of a car. My parents and I shared a tearful hug as I climbed aboard. I picked out an empty compartment and went inside. A couple of moments later, a girl who looked the same age as me opened the door and asked if she could join me.

"Of course," I replied. I was delighted that someone wanted to sit with me. It was my first chance to make a friend.

"I'm Susan Bones," she said. "I'm a first-year."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Susan," I said. "I'm Hermione Granger. This is my first time, too. Isn't it exciting?"

"Yes."

By the time the whistle sounded and the train lurched into motion, there were five of us in the compartment. We were all first years. Parvati and Padma Patil were twins. The other girl was named Hannah Abbott. They were all purebloods. I felt really intimidated. But they found my status of being muggle-born fascinating. They promised to help me adapt and fit in.

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About an hour of getting to know each other better later, a very nervous, timid boy appeared at our door. He said his name was Neville Longbottom and that he had lost a toad named Trevor. He wanted to know if we had seen it.

I immediately recognized his last name as one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight I had read about. I was already in a compartment with a girl with a Sacred Twenty-Eight name. If I could make friends with classmates like this, I might stand a chance at the school.

My–-my–-my Gran bought him for me," he said with a hint of fear and desperation in his voice. "If I lose him, she will be angry."

"Let me help you look," I said, jumping to my feet. The need to go the extra yard was filling my mind. I forgot all about my problems. Suddenly, I was on a mission to help this new acquaintance.

Our first assumption was that Trevor had to still be in this car. There is no way a toad could open the doors and make the moves necessary to enter another car. Neville started checking things toward the front. I started in the opposite direction. And that is when I saw him.

He was in a compartment with another boy. They were pigging out on a huge pile of candy. I cracked open their door and asked if either of them had seen a toad. A boy named Neville had lost one.

He looked up at me from under the most stunningly beautiful, unruly mass of red hair. He had a pair of dazzling blue eyes and a smudge on his nose. My eyes were drawn to him like magnets to iron. I wanted to survey every inch of his body.

"We already told him we hadn't seen it," he said.

"Are you doing spells?" I asked, looking for an excuse not to leave. "Let's see it, then."

"Er, right," said the boy as I sat down next to him. He pointed his wand at the rat sleeping on his lap and said something about sunshine, daisies, and butter. Nothing happened.

"I asked him if he was sure that it was a real spell before he introduced himself as Ron Weasley. I knew that name as another member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. The other boy said his name was Harry Potter.

"Are you really?" I asked, turning my attention to him and wanting to see his scar. "I've read all about you."

"You have?" he responded in a surprised voice. "I mean I am."

"Yes. You're really quite famous. I would think you would have read this and know that."

"Well. I really need to get back to helping Neville find his toad," I said half-heartedly. I really wanted to stay next to Ron and bask in his red hair and blue eyes.

Look as we did, we never found Neville's toad. The train eventually arrived at a place called Hogsmeade Station. All of us first-year students were gathered by this enormous man with wild, bushy, black hair named Hagrid. He loaded us four at a time into boats. The boats sailed themselves across the lake as we sat mesmerized by the splendor of the castle on the hill. When the boats finally landed, Hagrid led us up the hill and into the castle. I could feel the magic all around me.

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The most witchy-looking witch I could ever imagine met us at the top of the stairs. Hagrid called her Perfesser McGonagall. She instructed us on the basics of being sorted into houses and how our behavior and performance would affect our houses. I was standing next to, almost touching Ron as she spoke. I found it difficult to concentrate.

Once she finished, she led us into a huge room filled with cheering students to begin the process of sorting us into houses. I had very little knowledge of the sorting ceremony and had never heard of the Sorting Hat. It was quite a sight to see it come to life and sing a song. Once it finished, Professor McGonagall unfurled a scroll and adjusted her glasses.

All of the students seemed nervous as she called the first person, Hannah Abbott. From there, the sorting proceeded alphabetically. By the time she finally called my name, I was a bundle of nerves ready to explode.

"Hermione Granger," she said. My knees weakened. My mind was short-circuiting. I wanted to grab Ron for support but he was standing too far away from me next to Harry and Neville.

"Focus, Granger," I muttered as I tried to get my lead-filled legs to move.

"Come along," said the professor in an impatient voice. "Don't dawdle."

All of the eyes in the room were on me. I was trembling inside. Once I reached my perch on the stool, the professor put the hat on my head. "Right. Right," it said. I could literally feel it probing my brain. "There's a brilliant mind here, and plenty of courage, and a moral sense of right and wrong. I should probably put you in Ravenclaw," it said. "But no, it better be Gryffindor."

A cheer rose from the Gryffindor table as two boys ran up, took my hands, and led me away. Everyone was very welcoming and for the first time, I relaxed a little.

A few minutes later, Neville Longbottom joined me at the table, then Harry Potter. When the professor finally called 'Ron Weasley', I got all tingly inside. "Please, please, please," I begged, trying to will the hat to say Gryffindor. When it did, a jolt of electricity shot through me. I started to jump up to gather him but caught myself before I did something foolish.

"Hello, Ron. Welcome to Gryffindor," I chirped, as did Lavender Brown and several others amid the backslapping from his twin brothers Fred and George, and the more reserved welcome from his brother Percy. I thought it strange that George grudgingly gave Fred some money as Ron took his seat. However, it did not matter as a strange tingling filled me in places I did not understand.

"Hey, Harry," he said with a big exhale. "I made it. Uh…hi, uh–uh Hermione."

"I was slightly hurt that he did not instantly know my name, but he did remember it. That was all that mattered. I had no idea of the stress release hidden behind that cleansing breath. If I had known all five of his older brothers were Gryffindors, as were his mother and father, I would have better understood the situation.

Once the sorting was finished, we were treated to a feast beyond compare. If all of the food at Hogwarts was this good, it was going to be a truly wonderful life as a student. The festivities lasted until Professor Dumbledore announced that it was time to head off to our dormitories. We needed to unpack our belongings and get a good night's sleep. Classes would begin in the morning.

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My dorm room was designed to be home to five girls for the next seven years. My roommates were Lavender Brown, Samantha Larchwood, Parvati Patil, and Carpathia Skint. We unpacked and giggled well into the night. While the others had known they were witches since they were old enough to understand, I had not. Still, it was not until just now that it was really sinking in for all of us. It took a long time, but finally, we put out the lights and turned in for the night.

Classes started the following day. I jumped into them the same way I did back home. I was certain that being an outstanding student would be a path to amaze my friends, thrill my family, and be popular. I was sadly mistaken.

The other students began to shun me as a showoff that made them look stupid. Even Professor Snape, the most feared of the professors, chastised me for being an 'incessant know-it-all'. The fact that I was muggle-born made things worse. Still, the biggest sting was feeling unliked by the people I thought could be my friends.

My roommates started doing things together while excluding me. I do not know if it was intentional. However, I noticed it more and more. I would say hello to people in the corridors and dining hall without getting a response. I felt ready to cry all of the time. The desire to abandon the magical world I loved so much was starting to creep toward the front of my mind and poison my thoughts.

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On Halloween, a day that I learned was of particular joy and wonder to the magical world, I was coming out of the school following class. I saw Harry and Ron walking together, so I hurried to catch them. Surely, they would not shun me like the others. And that is when I heard Ron say it.

"She's a nightmare," he said, probably still mad because he could not say 'Wingardium Leviosa' correctly in Charms class. "It's a wonder as to why she doesn't have any friends." I had only been trying to be helpful. That made his words cut me like a knife. How could this boy I liked and thought I really liked above all of the others be so mean to me? I started to tear up as my stomach churned.

I crashed into him with my shoulder before turning back and running into the school. By the time I made it to the girl's lavatory, tears were pouring out of my eyes. " I want my Mom and Dad to whisk me back home, " I thought.

Time passed. It felt like the whole day. I know people knew I was in here but no one came in to check on me. Suddenly, I heard a noise and the door crashed open. " Who's here? " I thought. " Who finally cares enough to check on me? " A couple of seconds later, my heart nearly stopped.

I came out of a stall where I was sitting and found myself confronted by a huge Mountain Troll. I had read about them and thought I was going to die. All I could do was scream and run back into the stall.

The troll took a swing with his club. It destroyed most of the stalls but missed me. Just as it was raising its club for another swing, Harry and Ron burst into the lavatory. My saviors. Maybe they did care about me after all.

The troll took another swing splintering the rest of the stalls. Harry yelled for me to move as they started throwing whatever was handy at the troll. I scurried under a sink. As I screamed, Harry jumped on the troll's back but the troll got him by the ankle and tried to hit him. Ron pulled out his wand and said 'Wingardium Leviosa' with a perfect swish and flick. He HAD listened to me. I felt strangely good. The troll's club went high into the air and then fell, striking him in the head and rendering him unconscious.

Seconds later, professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell ran into the room. Once they were certain the troll was incapacitated, Professor McGonagall demanded to know what happened. I knew Harry and Ron were going to get into trouble even though their actions had saved me. I could not let them take any of the blame.

"It's my fault, professor," I said. I took all of the blame to spare them. This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

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Soon afterward, Harry, Ron, and I found ourselves entangled in a plot by an evil force to steal a magical object called the Philosopher's Stone. Before I knew it, we were in over our heads fighting a battle we did not fully understand against an enemy we did not know. I nearly died inside when Ron was nearly killed by the Devil's Snare because he would not listen to me. Why will he never listen to me?

Later, while I was still mad at Ron for being such an idiot, " Why does he always make me mad by being such an idiot ?", around the Devil's Snare he sacrificed himself during the Wizard's Chess game so Harry and I could proceed. How could I be mad at him? "He's a hero," I thought. " I knew he'd come through. "

Harry and I went on to face a Potion's Test. I used logic to solve it and Harry was able to go on to face, as I found out later, the Mirror of Erised and Professor Quirrell. Harry nearly died but defeated the professor, who was possessed by Voldemort and retrieved the Stone.

By the time I arrived at the hospital, Harry was already there in bed. Ron was standing next to him eating a chocolate frog. I was so glad to see that Ron was alive that I ran over and hugged him. I wanted to kiss him, but I think I already embarrassed him enough.

By the time we left for summer break, we were good friends. Everything is going to be fine from here on out.

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