Hermione Granger and the Test of Fate

by GryffindorJedi1

This is a spin-off for Hermione Granger returning to Hogwarts after the Deathly Hallows so she can pass her NEWTs and graduate properly. Along with Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood, Hogwarts has had to undergo quite a lot of changes. For starters, Quidditch matches were returning, and there's a brand new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. What's in store for this new term?

Hermione Granger

and the

Test of Fate

Prologue

Ten minutes to 11:00. The Hogwarts Express was about to leave for another year at Hogwarts, and everybody was getting ready to board the train. Hermione Granger was getting ready to board, returning to finish her N.E.W.T.s so she can graduate properly. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were both there to see her off, neither of them planning on returning as well.

"Are you sure you guys don't want to come back with me?" Hermione asked them. "If you do, we can all graduate together." Ron responded, "No. I would feel pretty weird going back after everything that happened last year. Besides, it wouldn't be right stealing your glory." Hermione chuckled. "MY glory? Harry's the one who saved us and killed Voldemort, remember?" Harry chimed in, "Actually, it wasn't just me." "I know," Hermione said, "but why spoil it for you?"

The previous year, Harry, Ron and Hermione had all decided to skip Hogwarts to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, which were pieces of his soul. Harry himself was a Horcrux, as well as Voldemort's snake, Nagini, but they managed to see it through. Harry having to sacrifice himself in the process, but thankfully survived once more. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Neville Longbottom took care of Nagini with Godric Gryffindor's sword and after one final clash, Voldemort left the world just like that. It was a hard battle. So many died, but their memories remain.

Arthur and Molly Weasley appeared with Ginny, who was about to start her final year. She walked over to greet them. "Come on, Hermione, we're going to be late." She went to hug Harry and kissed him on the cheek. Harry smiled and said to her, "I'll miss you." Ron walked to hug Ginny, but she pushed him gently. "I'll miss you, too." Hermione also gave Harry a big hug. When she walked to Ron, she told him, "You know, if you're not there to endlessly tease me, who am I going to lash out at?" Ron grinned and said, " Come on, I don't tease you...as often as I used to." "Really?" she said, "As I recall, a couple of days ago, you were complaining that I was going to go back to school this year. You were all, 'Ugh, do you really have to go back to Hogwarts? You're 18 years old. We won the fight. You should be taking a load off.'" Ron was astonished. "I was just motivating you," he told her. Hermione chuckled again and hugged him and then kissed him on the cheek. "Try not to miss me too much while I'm gone."

Molly and Arthur were getting ready to say their last goodbyes to Ginny. George was also there, as well as Bill and Fleur, and Percy was there too. After he realized all the horrible things he did and said before the battle, he thought he could redeem himself by joining the fight. After Fred got killed, the Weasleys were devastated. But, of course, no one was more devastated than George. Having to lose his twin brother, his best friend and business partner, by Bellatrix Lestrange, a woman who was more than crazed and had an affection for the man who was literally incapable of feeling love. Well, Bellatrix finally got the worst of it when Molly took care of her in the battle.

George went up to Ginny and said, "Hey, try not to be too hard on the Slytherins, sis." Ginny scoffed at him. Bill hugged his sister goodbye while Fleur kissed her cheeks. Percy picked her up and said, "One more year. Make the most of it." Ginny said, "I will, don't worry." Molly hugged Ginny and then Hermione, and then Arthur hugged Ginny. He was hesitant to hug Hermione, but she allowed it.

The girls walked inside the train after saying their goodbye to the Weasleys. Molly waved and called out, "Bye-bye, dears, good luck!" Arthur yelled, "Don't take too long to write!" The train started to depart — Harry and Ron waved as the train picked up speed. Harry asked Ron, "Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we went back to finish?" "Nah," Ron told him. "We already killed the darkest wizard of all time. Why make it any harder?"

Chapter One: Back to Hogwarts Again

The Hogwarts Express was almost halfway through the fields. Hermione and Ginny shared a compartment together. There was a knock on the door and Hermione opened it. "Luna!" and she greeted her old friend with a hug. Ginny did the same and asked, "How was your summer?" "Same as always," Luna answered, "although my dad is still a little overwhelmed about our house being destroyed." Hermione was a bit taken aback. "Oh. Uh, did you ever get around to fixing it?"

"Yes, but as far as summers go, this one was really fun."

Ginny brought up the new staff and students attending currently. "So, what do you think this year is going to be like?" Hermione replied, "Probably no different. But then again, McGonagall's going to be headmistress, so there's that." Luna said, "Well, now that Voldemort has been vanquished, we can all look forward to some peace." "If only," Ginny blurted out. Hermione had to agree with them, but still wanted to make the most of it.

Luna asked, "What have you been up to over the summer holidays, Hermione?" and she smiled. "What haven't I been up to?" Ginny asked, "Did you ever find your parents?" Hermione responded, "Yes, I did, actually. Uh, I found them in Australia, they went to live there after I erased their memories. After I found them, I put them back." "That's amazing!" Ginny remarked. "So what's it like in Australia this time of year?" Hermione chuckled, "Please, Ginny, it's already tomorrow there." Luna asked, "Well, what about you, Ginny? How were your holidays? I mean, apart from..." "Yeah." After losing Fred, all of the Weasleys, including Bill and Fleur, spent most of their summer in mourning. Fred was every bit as brave as Remus Lupin, Tonks, and everyone else in the final battle. Most wounds like that never heal. Luna apologized, "I realize that wasn't the best..." "No," Ginny said, "I understand, Luna, and I appreciate that. It hasn't been easy for any of us."

After the trolley witch came by, Ginny opened a Chocolate Frog and looked inside. "Oh, my God. Hermione, you have to look at this." Hermione took the card, and to her surprise, her photo was on the card. "I have my own card?" Ginny suggested that she should have the card. Hermione was stunned.

It took a while until a couple of miles and then the train started to slow down and finally stop. The girls started heading to the carriages. Outside of the train, Ginny and Luna were greeted by a familiar bearded face with a giant lantern in his hand. "Well, Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood." "Hi, Hagrid," Ginny smiled. When Hermione walked outside, Hagrid beamed. "Oh, my goodness. Hermione?" "Hagrid!" She ran to hug him and he chuckled. "I hope the holidays weren't too much fer yeh. Ah, how are Harry an' Ron doin'?" Hermione answered, "Despite everything that's happened, I'd say they're doing well enough. What about you?" "Fang's still recovering from the fight. It'd probably take him at least a month or two before he regains himself." He started to call out, "All right! First years, this way! First years follow me to the boats!" Hermione, Ginny and Luna made their way to the carriages and the Thestrals started walking all the way to Hogsmeade and into the castle grounds. Once inside, Hermione and Ginny sat with the other Gryffindors while Luna walked to sit with the Ravenclaws.

The Sorting Hat started singing its annual song and later sorted the new first years into their houses. One by one, the hat shouted and with every house call, thunderous applause. "Ravenclaw! Slytherin! Hufflepuff! Gryffindor!" After the final first years were sorted, Professor McGonagall stepped up to the podium. "Welcome one and all to a brand new year at Hogwarts. Now, I know most of you know what happened last year, and for those of you who lost someone, you have our condolences. We lost students, staff members and many individuals alike." Professor Minerva McGonagall was once deputy headmistress to Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape and had now been finally promoted to full-on headmistress. She continued on, "We must hold onto hope, even though the Battle of Hogwarts is over. Our staff and I have been working feverishly to put the castle back together, with only a few minor adjustments." After the Battle of Hogwarts was over, the castle was very badly damaged. It was under some very serious repairs over the summer. Thankfully they managed to put everything back in its place again. Most of the first-years had no idea what McGonagall was talking about, but everyone else applauded with joy.

During the feast, the ghosts were flying around, doing their usual rounds. Peeves the poltergeist was up to his usual mischief, but he didn't dare go near the Bloody Baron. The Fat Friar was smiling like usual. Helena Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady and Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter, was solemnly floating in peace. Nearly Headless Nick was delighted to see Hermione and Ginny again. "Well," he shouted, "Miss Granger. And Miss Weasley. How are you two ladies this fine evening?" "Fine, Sir Nicholas. Thanks." Hermione replied. "Harry and Ron aren't coming back." Ginny said. "Hm, yes, I thought as much," Nick was saying. "Well, seeing as how you two are still here, I suppose that's good enough. Shame Masters Potter and Weasley couldn't return to finish their education. Well, good night." "Bye, Nick." "Good night," Ginny said.

It was depressing to think that even though all the staff members returned to resume their teaching positions, the Defense Against the Dark Arts post had yet to be filled. For the past seven years, there was always one professor after another. Snape finally managed to assume the post in the sixth year, but after Dumbledore died, he became the new headmaster. Now there was going to be another new person teaching the subject. It was unknown to anyone if that professor was going to remain there after one year, but nonetheless...

Everyone finished their dinner and they all went up to their house common rooms. Hermione and Ginny entered the Gryffindor common room and once inside, it was almost midnight. The girls were about to get ready for bed when suddenly Crookshanks jumped out and hugged Hermione in a surprise attack. Ginny was shocked. "Crookshanks? I haven't seen you much in a while." Hermione was getting him off her and then said, "Come on, boy, off." Crookshanks meowed and ran. Ginny was beside herself. "I'm amazed. I haven't seen that cat in months." Hermione said, "Well, he always was a little feisty, but now it seems he won't change." "Fun," Ginny said, "well, it's good, because now Arnold will keep him company while we're in class." The girls got into bed and then looked at the night sky outside. Hermione was thinking. She was so excited to be back at Hogwarts again, but at the same time, she had mixed emotions about the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. That was one of the classes she was going to have to take for her N.E.W.T. tests. She concluded that she didn't want to worry about that now and decided to go to sleep. "Good night, Ginny." "Good night, Hermione."

Chapter Two: Seventh Year

The girls woke up the following morning and the two got ready for breakfast. The Great Hall was noisy with conversations and the ghosts were flying around again trying to find some sunlight to avoid. Hagrid was eating with Professor Flitwick and Professor Trelawney was polishing her big glasses with her napkin. Professor Slughorn was having a rousing discussion with Professor Sprout about dragon-dung fertilizer and Madam Pomfrey was looking at Professor McGonagall as though she had just won the Nobel Prize.

Luna and the other Ravenclaws were just about done and the girls were all about to head to their first class together. Peeves was up to his usual rounds again, and Hermione and Ginny were going over their class schedules. Hermione's classes were Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Potions. Ginny was about to look at hers, but before she could, two first-year girls, one Gryffindor and one Ravenclaw, were running towards them.

"It's true. It's her. Are you her?" The Gryffindor girl was trembling with excitement. Hermione looked confused. The Ravenclaw girl replied, "Yes, it's her." She turned her head. "You're Hermione Granger, aren't you?" Hermione told her, "Yes, I am." The two girls squealed with delight. Hermione chuckled nervously. "Um, this is Ginny Weasley." Ginny smiled, "Hi there." The Gryffindor girl was still in awe. The Ravenclaw girl piped up, "Is it true that you're the brightest witch of your age?" "Better," Ginny chimed in, "She studies for tests before she even needs to study." Hermione blushed. It was the first time in a long time someone ever mentioned to her that she was the brightest witch of her age. It was even mention on her collector's card.

"Awesome," the Gryffindor girl said, "I'm Gwen and this is Willow." Ginny smiled, "Well, it's very nice to meet you two. You remind us of two other girls were also a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw." Hermione said, "Yeah, I'm sure they would've loved to meet you." The Patil twins, Padma and Parvati, were good friends and members of Dumbledore's Army. After the Battle of Hogwarts, it traumatized them because Lavender Brown had been killed by Fenrir Greyback. Lavender was their classmate during Professor Trelawney's Divination classes. After Trelawney said that Lavender had passed, the girls were devastated. Even Hermione was mournful to hear about Lavender, even though she was determinedly attached to Ron in their sixth year, which Hermione was not at all comfortable with. Thankfully, Ron only had eyes for Hermione, which made it hard for Lavender to get over. Nobody seemed to know what Padma or Parvati were up to after the war, but the good news is they had finished their education.

Willow spoke up, "We'd best get to class." They started to run. "Nice meeting you two!" Hermione called out. Ginny said, "Those girls really seem to revere you." Hermione smirked, "I don't do what I do for praise, Ginny. Although I have to admit, it is a little nice."

Hermione, Ginny and Luna were all on their way to Herbology class. Professor Sprout came out and welcomed everyone back after an intense summer holiday. "Well, it's nice to see you all again," she said to the girls. "Holidays all right? I suspect now that the Dark Lord is gone for good, there's no need for the Slytherins to be hiding anymore." Ginny snickered. Hermione looked at her. After that, the girls were working away tirelessly by scraping the pieces of Mandrake root out of the pots. Luna used a simple watering spell, "Aguamenti," on the Mimbulus Mimbletonia.

As soon as the girls entered the Charms classroom, Professor Flitwick squeaked on his books with glee, the same squeak he had when Harry was first in his class back in the first year. "Ooh, Miss Granger, what a delight to see you again! And Miss Weasley and Lovegood as well! Wonderful. Wonderful indeed." Hermione replied, "Hello, Professor Flitwick." Charms was an easy class, but is still incredibly serious. Everyone knew about Hermione's success of Wingardium Leviosa in her first year, being able to levitate the feather in the first try, no problem, much to Ron's annoyance, of course.

The next day was the same as the previous one. In the Potions classroom, Professor Slughorn was getting ready to prepare the cauldrons. As soon as the students arrived, Slughorn beamed when he saw the girls. "Ah, Miss Granger. Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood. Come in, come in, we're just about to start. I hope you ladies are prepared for your NEWTs." "Well, we all know Hermione is," Ginny said. Hermione looked at her again. Slughorn chuckled. "Well, it's always good to be on the ball when you're in the game." The girls started working on their potions: Luna was doing the Elixir to Induce Euphoria. She kept checking her list so that she wouldn't forget any ingredients. Hermione was just trying to be precise in what to use for her Draught of Living Death. Ginny, on the other hand, did a little bit of free-styling with her Wiggenweld potion. "Hey, Hermione, how much Dittany is used in a Wiggenweld potion?" "Not too much." Ginny's cauldron was bubbling. "Um, how much Moly?" "Why do you ask?" Suddenly Ginny's cauldron produced a giant puff of smoke. Ginny started coughing softly and then chuckled. Luna noticed and shook her head, smiling at the sight of her closest friend goofing up. Hermione sneezed. "Ginny, I think you put in a little too much." "Yeah, I figured as much," Ginny said, "but I hope I put in the right amount of Dittany." Hermione picked up the ingredients list. "Ginny, you didn't put in enough Dittany." "Actually, I didn't put in any at all." "What?" "Well, I was getting to it, but I realized I made a mistake and got a little distracted. I know I shouldn't be, but I couldn't decide whether to put in the Wiggentree bark or the Flobberworm mucous first." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ginny, what difference does it make? It doesn't matter. Just put them in. And try not to put in too much this time."

After the Potions class ended for the day, the girls walked around the Hogwarts grounds for a little free roam. Hermione decided to pay Hagrid a visit at his hut, but as soon as she got there she knocked on the door and then Fang started to bark. Hagrid yelled, "Fang, be quiet! Come in!" The door opened and Hermione walked in. "Oh, Hermione, come in, I just finished making some tea." Fang perked up and ran to Hermione to lick her face. "Ugh, hi there, Fang. I missed you, too."

When Fang got down, Hermione sat in a chair trying to wipe his drool off her face. Hagrid said, "So how's your new term goin'? Same as always, I expect." "Yeah, except Defense Against the Dark Arts is on my list of classes to take for the NEWTs, and there hasn't been any mention yet on who the new professor is." Hagrid chuckled. "That's all everyone's talkin' about these days." Fang barked. Hermione smiled at him. It was one of those rare moments where she saw the dog happy.

"Don't think I ever told ya this, but before I went to Hogwarts, Dumbledore was a Dark Arts teacher." Hermione spit out her tea. "What? That's not possible."

"Oh, but it is," Hagrid smiled, "He was always willing to try a lil something new, challenge the kids whenever he was able." "I can't imagine," Hermione said. "What happened?" "He eventually stopped teachin' the subject and started teaching Transfiguration instead." "I'll bet that was a challenge," Hermione finished her tea. "Anyway, I should get going to the common room. It'll be dark soon." "Hermione, you can't leave now. Yeh just got here." "I know, but I enjoyed this. I'll come back later. Bye, Hagrid. Bye, Fang." Fang moaned.

Ginny sat next to Hermione the next day in Transfiguration class. "Hey, Hermione, Ginny!" said a voice. Someone was running towards them. It was Hannah Abbott. She ran to hug them. "Hi, Hannah," Ginny said. "How was your summer?" "Wonderful!" Hannah beamed. "I just got a new job as a landlady at the Leaky Cauldron!" "That sounds exciting!" Ginny replied. "I'll bet you get yourself loads of free drinks." "Well, I would," Hannah said, "but then I'll be afraid to get in trouble with the shopkeeper." Hermione said, "Glad to see you again after everything that happened last year."

"Well, I figured I needed to because it wouldn't feel like an accomplishment without a diploma." "What makes you think we're getting diplomas?" Ginny asked. Hannah told her, "Hogwarts is still a school, Ginny, you can't graduate without getting a rolled up piece of paper." Hermione raised her eyebrows.

McGonagall entered to room ready to prepare them for their goals for the N.E.W.T. testing. While she was still Transfiguration professor, Hermione was wondering why anyone would bother to turn animals into water goblets instead of ordinary wine glasses, but who was she to argue with the new headmistress? McGonagall was always on point with her lessons, especially now. She was so in sync with how much detail was put into the N.E.W.T.s. Seeing as how they still had many, many weeks of practicing and preparation, she knew she had to keep her eye on the ball, despite her lack of participation in Quidditch. Speaking of which, after the lesson ended, Ginny was about to go to the grounds to start the first practice of the term. McGonagall was impressed as always by the progress Hermione had been making. "Miss Granger," she started, "seeing as how you are always a stickler for the rules, I would like you to be the Head Girl of Gryffindor house." Hermione was astonished to hear this. "Head Girl, professor? Wow, this is...um...I don't even know what to say."

"You can't thank me enough, I know. I cannot think of anyone better for this position. I trust you will make no mistake," McGonagall smiled. Hermione was a bit reluctant to respond to that statement. "Um, thank you, Professor McGonagall. I'll do what I can," and without a second glance, she walked off.

Once outside, Ginny put on her Quidditch uniform and went to stadium for practice. She got her broom and every other player were prepared for going out in the field as well. Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper, who were substitute Beaters, came into Chaser positions, of course, along with Demelza Robins. Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote came back as Beaters, and Geoffrey Hooper came to try out for Keeper again. Ginny was once again Seeker, and having been recently elected Captain, had told everyone to meet in the room.

"All right. Welcome back, everyone. I trust you all had splendid holidays." Everyone looked at her in amazement. Ginny Weasley, a Quidditch captain. "Okay, now, same deal as before. We are going to practice until we get it right. Just remember that when you're out into the field, don't overthink anything but keep close to caution. You can never be too careful." She walked across, back and forth in a straight line, as if she were post-master general.

"Now, let's start off with the basic simple stuff. Kirke, Sloper, you two will partner up with Robins. Peakes and Coote, you'll assume the Beater posts and bat like no Beater has ever batted before. Hooper, I want you to be the best damn Keeper you can be. Can you do it?"

"Yes, Captain!" Hooper called out and was almost tempted to salute. Hermione smirked in the stands. She felt like she was in the army as well. Hooper had originally tried out for Keeper in his first year, and performed very well, too, but Angelina Johnson gave the position to Ron instead because she found Hooper to be a whiner. Well, he was a first-year after all, what did she expect? But now Hooper was in his fourth year and felt like he was more than ready for it.

The Quidditch ball crate opened like wildfire after Ginny kicked it. The players got into position and started flying around, determined and focused. The Chasers kept throwing the Quaffle and Hooper blocked almost every single one of them. Ginny was impressed. Hermione was also pleased to see that the team was working efficiently. The Bludgers were rocketing around like there was no tomorrow. Peakes and Coote were struggling to get them away from the Chasers. One Bludger hit Kirke and he dropped the Quaffle. Sloper grabbed it and then ran towards Kirke for supervision. "Leave him," Robins called out, "he's all right! He's wearing armor! We all are!"

Sloper threw the Quaffle in her direction, she hit it with her broom and Hooper blocked it with his forearm. "Yes!" he cried out. "Well done, Hooper!" Sloper called. "Yeah," Kirke said, "you're really living up to your name!"

When the Golden Snitch arrived, Ginny zipped right after it and grabbed it first chance she got. After about an hour of practice, they got down on the grass and Ginny was almost out of breath. "All right, that was slightly better than I expected. You've all come such a long way in such a short time. Robins, good energy. Peakes, don't swing too much next time. Hooper, excellent style. That's enough for now. We should be able to maintain this strategy for the first game of the year. Well done, everyone, well played."

Hermione was clapping her hands. "Well, well, you really know how to command an army." Ginny chuckled. "Yeah? Do you tell that to all the Quidditch Captains?" "I'm just thinking that if the time comes, you'll need to try out some new routines. Old ones alone aren't enough to win games," Hermione pointed out. "Maybe so," Ginny said, "but sometimes the old strategy is the best strategy." "I think that's a good counterpoint." Hermione nodded. The sun was setting and the girls were heading to the dormitory for the night.

Chapter Three: The New Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher

Tuesday had arrived at Hogwarts and Hermione, in particular, was not looking forward to it, for once in her life, because for some students, on other days, they took Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hermione knew she still had to do it, so she got up and met Ginny and Luna after breakfast.

The three of them reluctantly entered the classroom on the third floor and sat down at their desks to find spell books already all lined up. Hermione and Ginny sat at the same desk, whereas Luna sat next to Hannah. Hermione was starting to get nervous as to who the new teacher was going to be. Would this professor be true and stay to who they are? Would he or she stay in this position for more than just one year? They just had to wait and see.

Finally, it was now or never, the moment of truth. A woman was walking downstairs from the office to the front of the room: the woman was fair-skinned, had somewhat red hair, and had blue eyes. She wore a very casual, radiant suit; a black jacket, black skirt, and black shoes that looked like they sparkled in the night sky. "Welcome back to Defense Against the Dark Arts, seventh-years." She had a very sultry smile. "My name is Professor Periwinkle, and I am your new teacher for this term." Hermione raised an eyebrow as if this woman made a positive description on the post. Hearing the words "this term" was a little unsettling. Although under the circumstances, what other options did they have? Cancel the class altogether? Then again, it would be slightly safer.

"Since this will be your final year at Hogwarts, this will be your final chance to prepare yourselves and to perfect your revision for your N.E.W.T.s. Professor McGonagall had already given me the basics to this class, so I should know what I have to put up with. Now, since I'm new here," Professor Periwinkle went on, "I'd like to spend the rest of this time getting to know each and every one of you." "This is unsettling," Ginny told Hermione in a very soft whisper. Hermione was surprised. Ginny had read her mind.

The ladies all stood up, lining in a row. The chalkboard started to write on its own. One by one, Professor Periwinkle called them into her office. Hermione walked in and sat down. "You must be Miss Granger." Periwinkle smiled. "I am," Hermione told her. Periwinkle addressed her, "I understand you have quite a reputation of being the brightest witch of your age. Professor McGonagall really seems to think the world of you. I take it you're a very brilliant student in almost all of your classes." "Well, I wouldn't consider myself brilliant," Hermione felt herself blushing again, "I find myself to be more...highly logical. I mean, I've been reading these books since I was almost a first year." "Hm, I'll bet." Periwinkle seemed intrigued by this.

Periwinkle started to question Ginny next. "So, you are the youngest of seven and the only girl in the Weasley family. How do you feel about that?" "It's a mixed bag," Ginny answered. "It's not very easy to keep everything in order when you have a bunch of older brothers always hogging everything. Trust me, they can be a very big handful." "How was the death of your brother Fred for you?" "Terrible," Ginny replied. "Really, I don't know how we're ever going to move on from that. Especially George." "Hmm, well, you don't just like that overnight." Periwinkle was sympathizing with her just then. Ginny felt at peace.

"How would you describe your relationship with your father?" Periwinkle asked Luna. "Oh, what I have with Dad is unique. I consider him my best friend. We love a lot of invisible creatures and feel like all good wizards are created equally." "And I also know that he works with the Quibbler?" "Oh, more than works with it," Luna informed her. "He's the editor. Always up to the task and never backs out from a good story. If he sees something that needs to be the truth, he writes it. He writes it." Periwinkle smiled at these words.

"How do you think all this affects your family and your lifestyle?" "The darkness is gone now," Hannah was saying, "I feel like that should be enough to come back."

Outside onto the Quidditch grounds, the Gryffindor Chasers were handling the Quaffle swimmingly. However, the formation that was beautifully done in the previous session had somewhat turned a bit sloppy that passing afternoon. Robins kept hogging the Quaffle and when she did pass it, it would always hit Kirke's shoulder or Sloper's. Sloper threw the Quaffle with great force and it pounded Hooper's chest plate. "Ow! Hey! Be careful with how you throw that!" He hollered. Ginny was not pleased. She groaned and went flying up to them. "Hey, you guys, keep it together! You're playing like a bunch of mad Cricket athletes. If we're going to win this Quidditch Cup, you need to put in a better effort to not hog the Quaffle and do not purposely hit another teammate's shoulder, is that understood?" "Yes, Captain," everyone reluctantly agreed. "Good, now let's go through this again. More serious this time, and don't think too much."

A Bludger came whooshing past Hermione's head. She dodged. "Whoa! Geez." The Quaffle kept going back and forth. Kirke threw it upwards and hit it with his broom. Hooper missed it. "Aw!" "Good going, Kirke! That was a good shot!" Ginny called. Kirke beamed. Robins exhaled through her mouth. Hermione was not impressed, but she was pleased to see how well the team was progressing.

Ginny was addressing her team, "All right, that attempt wasn't as good as the first time. Looks like you're all a little rusty yet. Just remember that when we're all on the field during a match, you need to focus on each other, not on yourselves. And most important, destroy the Slytherins. Is that clear?" "Yes!" They all agreed. Hermione smirked. "Good, see you all again soon."

Back in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione was practicing her spells for revision before their next classes. "Wingardium Leviosa." A stool lifted up off the floor. "Incendio!" Fire restarted in the fireplace. "Accio!" A book zipped out of the shelf and into her hand. "Ha! Reducto!" The lamp broke and Crookshanks yowled. "Ooh. Reparo!" And the lamp fixed itself in two seconds. "Sorry, Crookshanks, I thought you were sleeping." Crookshanks hissed. Hermione exhaled. If she was going to give it her all this year, she needed to watch out for her cat.

Ginny walked in wondering what that noise was. "Hey, did I hear something in here?" "Uh, no," Hermione said, "um, I was just spell casting." "Right," Ginny wasn't surprised. "So, this Professor Periwinkle, what do you think of her?"

"Um...she seems a bit too curious for her own good." Hermione was reluctant to speak of the matter. "Well, she's a definite improvement on the Carrows." "I'll bet," Ginny went upstairs to bed. It was almost sunset by the time Hermione could wrap her head around everything that had been going on this term. As she was reading her books like she always was, she was thinking about what might happen after the holidays.

Why she would even think that far forward was beyond anyone, even by her standards. She knew that once the new year had arrived, nothing would change at all until the finals. It was the same old routine since Hogwarts had been around. Fortunately, however, she felt the need to investigate further into Professor Periwinkle just in case she might be like all the other dark arts teachers. For all she knew, she could've been another fraud, or werewolf, or an employee at the Ministry who didn't give a damn about anything. Periwinkle seemed definite, though, like she did give a damn. Whoever she was, whatever she was, Hermione knew she had to be careful and take caution, so as not to fall for any trickery.

Chapter Four: Lovegood Legacy

Weekends at Hogwarts were always the perfect time to take a vacation from studying, unless there are exams to prepare for. It was still early in the year for a holiday, so everyone was waiting for the right moment to find the precise date for rest and relaxation.

Hermione awoke early on a Saturday, still reeling her mind around Professor Periwinkle. She seemed decent, and a proper improvement to that of some of the other professors. Still, Hermione wasn't sure of what to make of her. She knew who Hermione was and didn't even flinch. As a matter of fact, she seemed rather impressed and, at the same time, had taken a liking to her, behavior similar to Professor McGonagall. But why was she so curious to get to know all of them as if she were Rita Skeeter? Was she also a brand new editor of the Daily Prophet? Or maybe the Quibbler? Did Xenophilius hire her? Either way, Hermione was skeptic.

By the time she got downstairs, Ginny was waiting for her moment to shoot sparks out of her wand. "Happy birthday, Hermione!" She hugged her. "Aw, thanks, Ginny."

"Come on, let's go to the Owlery, I just saw Pigwidgeon outside our window."

Owls were flying all around outside the grounds. Pigwidgeon was standing on one of the posts and Hermione picked up the envelope that was in his mouth.

"Hey, Hermione, just writing to say happy birthday. Harry and I send our love. I hope Hogwarts is better now. By the way, who's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Is it another knockoff? Is it a man or a woman? If it's a man, I hope he's incredible like Remus. If it's a woman, I hope she's absolutely nothing like Umbridge. Tell Ginny we miss her. Hope to see you at Christmas. Ron."

Hermione smiled as she was reading the letter. It was nice to see that Ron was actually sending some love for a change. She couldn't wait to see what else they had planned to write in the near future, if ever. She spent most of her day walking around in the grounds. She was too focused on her schoolwork to worry about anything else. However, seeing as how it was her birthday, she couldn't be burdened to take the day off.

Hermione went back to the common room by the time it was dark outside. When she entered inside, the lights were turned off. They turned on and everyone yelled, "Surprise!" Hermione smiled; she was not at all expecting this. A surprise party seemed a little cliche, but at Hogwarts, you can never go wrong, even with being extra special. Ginny offered her some cake. "So, not too bad, right?" she asked her as she took the plate.

"I had absolutely no idea. How long have you been planning this?"

"A couple of days now. You should check out the present Luna was about to give you." "Speaking of Luna," Hermione was saying, "where is she? I mean, I haven't seen her all day." "Uh, something came up." Luna was, in fact, in the Ravenclaw common room. She must have been. Generally, it was against the rules for students from other houses to visit other common rooms. However, there might have been rare exceptions from time to time. When Dumbledore was headmaster, he had access to all four common rooms. Although it was unbeknownst to some Gryffindor students why he would visit the dungeons.

Luna's father, Xenophilius, is best known for writing the Quibbler, but now that the dark days are over, some of the topics are almost dull, so Luna gave herself the task of trying to punch it up so that it would be more excitable. She spent most of her time writing every possible detail she could think of by the time it was almost midnight. She couldn't think of what she could tell her father to write. The Lovegoods have always been a curious bunch. It wasn't impossible to come up with the truth, but it was impossible for Luna to muster up a kind of article to help her father out. Xeno was a little out of sorts when the Death Eaters took away Luna last year to get to Harry. Ever since then, he felt guilty and wanted to make up for it, so he sought Luna for help, which is why she had been fiddling with her feather quill, scribbling in her journal, trying to find something worthwhile to mention in a newsletter.

The next morning, Luna was walking in the school hallways and found Hermione walking in another direction. She ran up to her and said, "Hermione, did you like the present I gave you?"

"Oh, yeah. This bracelet is wonderful. What exactly is it made from?"

"Well, I know how uncomfortable you feel about the fur that I collect, so I decided to give you something that everybody else wears. It's genuine leather." Luna explained it to her. "Oh," Hermione said, "Genuine, that's very pricey. Thank you, Luna."

"You're welcome. Where's Ginny?"

"She's still duking it out in the dungeons. Apparently she wants to double her efforts in Potions before the end of term. Anyway, where were you last night?"

"I was in my common room going through a funk." "A funk? Should I ask?" "Well, my father gave me a job to tell him what to write for next month's Quibbler, but I

can't seem to fit anything in." Hermione told her, "Just talk about current events. People rave about the weather." "I was hoping for something a little more meaningful than that."

"Don't worry, you'll think of something."

In the Potions classroom, Ginny was pouring liquids into her cauldron and then a massive amount of smoke appeared. Hermione and Luna ran in and started reacting to the smoke. "Ginny," Hermione coughed, "what on earth are you doing?" "The recipe said to use wormwood," Ginny told her. Hermione picked up the book. "Oh, Ginny, this is for Girding Potion!"

"Well, it's no wonder. These people need to work on their choice of ingredients." Hermione slapped her hand to her face. "Ginny, you need to pay more attention to the list. You can't just keep putting in random ingredients."

"What are you talking about? Harry followed someone else's instructions."

"That was different. Those were Professor Snape's notes. Ginny, next time, look at the page carefully. And for God's sake, be careful of how much you put into the cauldron!"

In the Ravenclaw common room, Luna was still thinking about what to write to her dad. It was like she was suffering from writer's block, a condition people have when they want to write something but have absolutely no thoughts or ideas. Helena Ravenclaw, the Grey Lady, appeared. She was floating about in the common room, staring out the the window as though hoping outside it would rain. "Having some trouble, Luna?"

"Hello, Helena."

"Looks like you're drawing a blank here," Helena noticed Luna's lack of words. "I can't think of anything to say. I want my dad to write a wild story, but all of his headlines are a joke. And that's coming from me, a person these people don't take seriously." Helena related to Luna's problem. "You know, if you're more than determined to come up with a good topic, you could always talk about current events."

"Do you really think that will work?"

"Absolutely, you just have to write from the heart." Luna heeded these words. She pondered what it was like to be back at Hogwarts after Voldemort had been killed. She thought about the castle being repaired, the Quidditch stands being mostly rebuilt and Professor Periwinkle being the new Dark Arts teacher. "Hmm," Luna thought. She started writing with her quill, and before she knew it, she forgot how much she was writing before she finally reached the end of her paper. She smiled at this, she had written a full page. Before long, she wrote her dad's name on the envelope and sent an owl off in the Owlery. At the end of September, Xenophilius had written back and the same owl gave her another envelope. Inside the letter, it wrote, "I loved it."

Chapter Five: Before Midnight Strikes

October arrived at Hogwarts with only a few minor adjustments. The air started to turn crisp and cold. The leaves had started to change color. The students had put on their scarves every time they went outside into the grounds. Hagrid was spraying his garden with slug repellent to protect his pumpkins.

Halloween at Hogwarts was very natural. It was the one night of the year where the unnatural is natural. Ginny was helping the other Gryffindors put up orange and black decorations. Hermione walked from the girls' dormitory to see how well done it was being placed. "I'm impressed. You actually know how to put something up done right."

"Well, I figured what's the use of having a wand if you're not gonna use it for fun every once in a while?" Ginny told her.

Jack-o-lanterns were floating in the Great Hall when the girls came downstairs for breakfast that morning. Peeves was cackling and the Baron was glaring. The house-elves were clearing up the dishes from who had finished eating. Ginny picked up the Quibbler and read it. "Hey, Hermione, look at this! Luna's tabloid is the current edition."

"Really? That soon?" Hermione asked. She picked up her own copy and skimmed through it. Xenophilius really handed it to Luna. She gave him a current event that was very current indeed. "Well, Luna," Ginny said, "it's good to know you're writer's block is unplugged." Luna looked confused, "I'm not familiar with that phrase." Ginny said, "I mean..." "I'm kidding, I know what you mean," Luna smiled. Hermione smirked and rolled her eyes.

A woman came over and walked to Luna. "Congratulations, Miss Lovegood," it was Professor Periwinkle. "I read your article your father wrote down in the Quibbler, amazing work." Luna said, "Thank you, Professor." "Anyway," the professor continued, "I hope you're looking forward to our next class. I have something special planned for all of you. Miss Granger." Hermione nodded. Periwinkle walked off. Hermione then raised an eyebrow. Now why would Professor Periwinkle only address her?

In the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the students were all getting ready to take some practice courses before their first exams of the year. Hermione was getting into position with Luna while Ginny was standing right next to Hannah. Professor Periwinkle was standing at her desk. "Everyone ready?" Their wands were up.

The professor taps her wand and the projection screen dropped down. "I want you all to copy the symbols on this screen. Now when it flashes, I want you to disarm your opponent. When it blinks, I want you to tickle your opponent. If it just stands there, do not damage your opponent, just remember to shield yourself. It should be simple enough. Miss Weasley, why don't you start us off?"

Ginny stepped up to the plate. A hooded figure rolled toward her. A symbol on the screen flashed. At once, Ginny yelled, "Expelliarmus!" The figure's wand jumped out of its hand. "Well done, Miss Weasley. Abbott, you're up." Hannah walked up to the figure and the next symbol on the screen started blinking. Hannah shouted, "Rictusempra!" The figure toppled over backward. "Good work! Next! Uh, Miss Lovegood." The symbol glitched a little when Luna started walking to the figure. "Um," Luna started, "Levicorpus!" The figure jumped up. "Excellent work, Miss Lovegood, you really showed him! Miss Granger, of course," Periwinkle smiled. Hermione was ready. The symbol just stood there and amazingly the figure was about to attack her. It shot and she shouted, "Protego!" A shield appeared in front of her. "Good demonstration, Miss Granger."

After a few more practice runs, Professor Periwinkle announced, "Well done, all of you. You really know your combat skills. But combat alone will not win your battles. All right, why don't we stop for today? Next time, we'll pick up where we left off."

As the girls left the classroom, Hermione still had her suspicions about Professor Periwinkle. As of right now, she still seemed very decent, but how they know for sure if she was going to remain at this post for more than a year? Ginny walked to her and asked, "Hey, Hermione, are you all right?" "Yeah," Hermione replied, "why wouldn't I be?" "You seem kind of... distracted," Ginny informed.

"I guess I'm just not used to decent teaching lately." Ginny looked back in. "What? Periwinkle? She seems all right to me."

"You don't think she's at all...sketchy, do you?" Ginny chuckled, "Hermione, it's probably fine." "Maybe, but I just don't know."

Hermione got up from her bed and went out of the common room. This is normally something that Hermione would usually never do, sneaking about in the corridors in the dark after hours, but she was curious to know more about Professor Periwinkle, determined to discover the truth about her background. She was almost tempted to pull out her wand when she heard Mrs. Norris meow. She attempted to keep her distance from her, knowing full well that Filch would've been lurking nearby. She peeked around a corner, checking to see if he was there. When she saw that he wasn't she treaded carefully into the Grand Staircase. Portraits were snoring on the walls and Nick was flying about in his sleep. Hermione was walking down the stairs of the Grand Staircase and noticed that some of the torches inside the castle were still lit. This would give her the perfect opportunity to see where she was walking without having the need to cast the Lumos spell.

As soon as Hermione was walking in the third floor corridor, she noticed a bright light by the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She entered without making a sound, at least she was trying to. Periwinkle was going through some files at her desk. Hermione heard her talking to someone a second later. It was Professor McGonagall! "Working late tonight, aren't we?" she asked. "Yes, sorry, I was just rummaging." Periwinkle told her.

"I understand you've filled out the appropriate forms."

"Yes, I have." Periwinkle showed McGonagall her application forms. McGonagall reviewed them while she adjusted her glasses. "I understand whilst you were here at Hogwarts in your youth, you were a Hufflepuff student."

"That I was." "And you were a respectable Auror, as well. No criminal records." "I think that's kind of the point of being a Dark Wizard catcher, professor. Or do you prefer headmistress?" "Either is mandatory for me." Hermione heard a noise outside from where she was standing. She turned around to see what it was. To her relief, it was just one of the house-elves tidying up the luggage. She stepped away, trying not to let him see her. Midnight was drawing closer. She looked back to the two female instructors. McGonagall asked, "You realize, of course, that this class has had multiple teachers taking over the post."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall, I am very aware of that. I heard it had something to do with...him."

"Yes, but now that he is out of the way, permanently, we can safely assume that this post has been cleared."

"Well, let's just wait and see, then. I don't want to have to tempt fate." "That would be wise." "Professor, all the students around here are very complex, especially that Hermione Granger, she seems more than up to the task." "Yes, Miss Granger does have her moments." "Muggle-born, yet so put-together, I'm surprised she came back here to finish up her studies." "Well, she is the type of person to finish what she starts. Just keep your eye out for any special talents, you never know when she'll surprise you." "Don't worry, Miss Granger won't be a problem." Hermione looked like she heard something that she really didn't want to hear.

Chapter Six: Return to Quidditch

Someone was knocking on the window of the girls' dormitory at Hermione's bedside. It was Ginny. She was outside flying on her broomstick. "Hermione! Hermione, wake up!" Hermione woke up, startled. She looked outside her window. Ginny called to her, "It's time for Quidditch warm-up." Hermione was surprised that Ginny was already outside on her broom. As soon as she went down to the pitch, Hermione got up and got dressed. By the time she went downstairs, breakfast had already been served. The house-elves were getting ready to clean up and do the dishes.

Once outside, Ginny and the others went up to the sky and Hermione was in the stands. Luna went to sit down next to her. "You look dreadful, Hermione. Are you all right?" Hermione saw that Luna was once again sporting her giant lion head. "Yeah," she said, "I just had a late night is all." Luna offered her some coffee and Hermione didn't hesitate in drinking it.

All of Hogwarts were out and about now. The stands were packed and the stadium was ready to be filled with players. Ginny and the rest of the Gryffindor team went flying out onto the field. The Slytherins weren't too far behind them. The Quidditch commentator started announcing: "Hello, Hogwarts! Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the new term. Today's game, Gryffindor vs Slytherin!" The crowds roared with applause and cheering. Luna and Hannah were clapping their hands. Hermione was clapping hers at more of a respectful pace. "The Quidditch stadium looks like it's seen better days," the commentator went on, "but it's standing up tall for the time being, so let's make the most of it."

Madam Hooch stepped out onto the field to begin the game. She kicked the chest open and the Bludgers came springing out, followed by the Golden Snitch. As soon as she picked up the Quaffle, she threw it up high and the players started going for it. "And the Quaffle is up!" the commentator shouted. Kirke went for the Quaffle, but the first Slytherin Chaser got to it first. Sloper tackled him, and passed it over the Robins. "Ooh, Sloper passes the Quaffle to Demelza Robins!" said the commentator. "Robins passes it Kirke, he shoots..." Kirke throws the Quaffle and it goes through the hoop. The audience cheered. "...he scores!" said the commentator. "Ten points to Gryffindor!"

"Sloper has the Quaffle, but he loses it to Vaisey!" Vaisey and Urquhart pass the ball back and forth. Urquhart throws it, Hooper misses and the Quaffle went through the hoop. The crowd booed. "Aw, man, so close!" the commentator announced. "Ten points to Slytherin." Hooper groaned. Ginny shouted out to Hooper, "Walk it off, Hooper, just walk it off!" The commentator announced, "The Beaters are on the lookout for Bludgers while the Seekers battle it out in search for the Snitch." A Bludger made its way towards Ginny and she dodged. Then the Bludger ran to Robins, but Peakes hit it with his bat. Vaisey and Urquhart tackled her and did the same routine. Vaisey threw it, but Hooper grabbed the ball this time and threw it to Kirke. "Hooper caught the ball! That a boy, Hoop!" the commentator shouted. Kirke threw the Quaffle and it went through another hoop. "Another 10 points to Gryffindor!" Cheering occurred.

After a while, the final score was 170 to 130. Gwen was in the Gryffindor stands with Willow, cheering on the team. Luna admired the look of them. "Oh, look at those girls over there. They really know how to have team spirit." "Oh," Hermione said, "that's Gwen and Willow.

First years. I met them first term when they were dying to meet me." "You don't look so happy."

"What? I was thrilled about it. Usually Harry's the one who gets noticed. Me, I'm just the brainiac."

"Hermione, you're more than just brains and beauty." "Well..." Hermione said.

The moment of truth was approaching rapidly. Ginny was zooming after the Snitch. The Slytherin Seeker bumped into her and Ginny bumped back. She reached out her hand as soon as possible. The crowd was on its feet. Ginny was almost at the Snitch...she grabs it! "Ginny Weasley has caught the Snitch!" the commentator announced. "Gryffindor wins the match!" Applause and cheering stamped in the stands. "Whoo!" Hermione called out, "Go, Ginny!" Ginny lifted her arm up and beamed. Gryffindor had won again. But will it be enough to secure the Quidditch Cup?

The Gryffindors were celebrating in the common room that night. McGonagall was duly impressed with Ginny's performance. "Well done, Miss Weasley. A job well done." "Thank you, professor," Ginny said, "but I can't take all the credit. It was a team effort."

Hermione was smirking. She was surprised to see that Ginny was basking in the glory of her victory, yet still gave credit to those who deserved it. Just like Harry did, but Ginny was a bit more open. Harry didn't always like confrontation, which in general was good. Most famous people only care about fortune and glory, but Harry was modest, humble and very honest — a quality some people lack. Now that Gryffindor had won the first Quidditch match of the year, but there were still two matches left in the season. Traditionally, that's all you needed to secure the cup. Ginny had to keep her wits about her, and the team had better get their act together in time for the second match.

Chapter Seven: Problems with Potions

Although Ginny's Quidditch skills were stellar as always, her potion-making was still a little bit on the fritz. In the Potions classroom, she tried to mix some dragon dung with moth balls and the whole concoction was a big mess. Professor Slughorn was impressed to see how persistent Ginny was, but was displeased to see how badly her results turned out. "Miss Weasley, I don't mean to speak out of turn, but your potion-making leaves a bit to be desired." "Sorry, Professor, I am trying." "I can see that," Slughorn says, "but I'd hate to have to fail you."

Ginny and Luna were talking when Ginny left the dungeons. "I don't know what's happening, Luna. I'm usually a dab hand at Potions. Now, I'm terribly sucking." Luna suggested, "Maybe you're trying too hard." "Maybe," Ginny inquired, "or maybe I'm not trying hard enough." Luna pondered what she was going to say next, and then after a while, she said, "I think I know what's bothering you."

"Oh, you do, do you?" Luna decided to say, "You're probably just dealing with a lot of emotions." Ginny started to look at her, like the way everyone else looks at Luna. "Do you think you could be just a tiny bit more specific, Luna?" Luna explained to her: "I just mean you're going through everything right now. Because it's the last year of Hogwarts for us, you're depressed about leaving and you're worried if you don't pass, you won't graduate. You also don't know what you'll do after you leave." Ginny was confused about what Luna was saying, but at the same time, she understood. Life at Hogwarts was very interesting for Ginny. For the last seven years of her time here, she had been taken hostage by a diary, she joined a group to take down the Ministry, and she finally got the man of her dreams. She had no idea what she was going to do after Hogwarts. "Yeah, but I still don't know why my potions keep failing." Luna pondered again. "Maybe you turned your cauldron on too high." Ginny chuckled.

Hermione was busy writing her homework in the Gryffindor common room that night, when suddenly, out of nowhere, Nick popped up. "Good evening, Miss Granger!" "Oh!" Hermione was startled. "Hello, Nick."

"And how are we this fine November night?"

"Honestly, I'm swamped with work, as usual, and I'm actually doing too much for once, I think. Other than that, not too bad." "Glad to hear it," Nick beamed. "What about you?" Hermione asked him.

"Well, even though Halloween is over, I still feel like I'm terrifying first-years without even trying."

"But you're a friendly ghost." "That's very kind of you say," Nick told her, "but just the other day, some Ravenclaw girl came up to me and said, 'Ohh! You really are nearly headless!'"

"Oh, that's probably just Willow. I met her just a while ago, she and her sister are very curious. They just need to get to know you a little better." "Hmm," Nick said, "well, I suppose I could try to explain myself to them, but I don't see how they could get used to me." "I didn't at first," Hermione said to him, "but I warmed up to you." Nick was glad to hear this. "Well, that's good of you to say, Hermione. Dear God, look at the time."

"It is very late, isn't it?"

"I'll see you when you've sorted it all out, then. Farewell." He tipped his head. "Good night, Nick."

Ginny was stirring in her cauldron trying to figure out what to put in the potion. When she ran out of ingredients, she went out into the grounds to find some. A little over an hour later, she went back to the dormitory and started to lay down on her bed, just staring at the ceiling. Hermione walked in and noticed her, so she put down her book bag and sat down on her own bed. "Ginny, what are you doing just sitting here alone in the dark?" she asked her. "I lost it, Hermione," Ginny replied. "I lost my stuff." Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Is this about you failing Potions again?"

"I don't know what's gone wrong with me to goof up so many times these past few months." "Ginny, there's nothing wrong with you. You're probably just stressed. I mean, I can understand. It's your final year, and you want everything to be perfect. You're trying to get everything done before graduation day and that's incredibly reasonable."

Ginny listened, and then she sat up. "That's easy for you to say. You didn't have to come back this year, but you did." Hermione told her, "I came back because I wanted to end my time at Hogwarts. We've been over this. Just because I did well in almost all of my subjects doesn't mean you're not doing well, too." Ginny then said to her, "Hermione, you're perfect at everything. I could never be as top-notch as you."

Hermione chuckled and scoffed, "You think I passed all my classes? Ginny, don't you remember my performance in Divination? I was such a mess." Ginny nodded, "Well, that I can understand. Professor Trelawney did kind of get on your nerves." Hermione smiled. "What do you think I'm gonna be doing once we graduate?" Ginny asked her. "Well, what do you really want to do?" Ginny wondered for a moment and then she came up with nothing. Hermione suggested, "Maybe you could write for the Daily Prophet." Ginny scoffed. "Yeah, right, Hermione. The Daily Prophet. Like I could be a writer." "Well," Hermione said, "if you did, you could actually write the truth. People will believe anything an honest person tells them." Ginny thought about this for a minute. "I don't know." Hermione then said to her, "Well, you could at least try."

"I just don't think it's for me, though." "Hey," said Hermione, "you're in charge of your own future. It's your decision." Ginny thought about the her future as soon as the girls went to bed late that night. She wondered what it was gonna be like for her at the Daily Prophet. "Nah."

The next few mornings, Ginny was really struggling to pull through with some of her performances in Potions class. She worked as hard as she could to keep them precise. She was very gentle with what she put into her cauldron, and she kept track of how many ingredients she putting in without its need to puff up smoke. She really struggled to try to put her liquids into the cup and then she tried to do a little mixing. Her Antidote to Common Poisons was coming along greatly. Professor Slughorn was pleased with her progress.

Finally, towards the middle of November, Slughorn was pouring some of Ginny's potion into a vial to see if the color was bright. It was pure. He chuckled. "Splendid work, Miss Weasley. I must say your potion-making has improved."

"Thank you, Professor."

"You're very welcome. Although I do hope this kind of skill remains within the next couple of months. You must be vigilant if you want to succeed."

"Yes, I will. I'll try, professor." "Very good."

Ginny went to the common room feeling proud of herself the next day. Hermione was impressed with what she had told her. "Well, it looks like your stuff wasn't lost after all."

"I just hope it'll stay intact by year's end." Ginny sat down on a sofa cushion. "Ginny, did you see Professor Periwinkle doing anything...suspicious as of late?"

"What, are you still on that? Hermione, I don't think there's anything wrong with her." "Yeah? Well, we'll see." "I don't blame you for having your suspicions, but maybe you should just let this one go." "I don't think I can. Not like this. I have to find out more about her so she doesn't turn her back on us." Hermione was very persistent trying to find out more on Professor Periwinkle. Ginny was starting to worry about this as well, mostly because she fears Hermione might go over the edge and later do something that she might regret.

Chapter Eight: Dungeons and Dragons

On a crisp Friday evening, Hermione was walking outside in the grounds thinking. What was Hogwarts going to be like after graduation? She knew it was too early to dwell on it, but she had to be prepared. Hermione was always prepared. In light of recent events, Gryffindor had beaten Slytherin by at least 60 points in the run for House Cup, but she feared that they would catch up and exceed, and not a moment too soon. What was she going to do after Hogwarts besides support house-elf awareness? What were Ginny and Luna gonna do? What are Harry and Ron planning without any NEWTs? She knew Harry was going to become an Auror, and Ron was on his way to being an Auror as well. Was it going to be enough? Still, she had seven months left in the school year. She still had to remain focused on her revisions.

When she entered inside, Professor McGonagall called over. "Miss Granger!" "Professor. Is there something wrong?" "No, not at all. I understand there have been some complaints as of late about Professor

Periwinkle." Hermione felt her heart race a bit. "Um, complaints? By who?" McGonagall said, "There have been complaints from some other students. Apparently they share the same suspicions as you."

"Suspicions?"

"Hermione, I do not blame you for having your worries, but the woman is clean. No criminal records, no messy behavior, she achieved high marks whilst here." "What makes you think I had anything to do with this?" McGonagall gave her a look. "All right, look, we're all just a little on edge what with everything that's been going on and that's happened." McGonagall patted her shoulder and said, "That's all I wanted to hear. Good night, Miss Granger."

"Good night, professor."

By the time it was getting close to Thanksgiving, the girls were getting prepared to go to the feast in the Great Hall. On all the tables, the students were looking forward to what was on the plates. Turkeys were cooling off, and the mashed potatoes were fresh. The house-elves were tending to the pumpkin pies in the kitchens. Hermione inhaled through her nose deeply, enjoying the amazing sensational fragrance of the feast. "Mmm, Hogwarts really goes all out during the Thanksgiving holidays." "I'll say," Ginny said, "I mean, look at how well those house-elves are dressed." Hermione looked confused and then she saw some of the elves were wearing tuxedos.

By the time everybody was done with the feast, the girls were headed to their common rooms to sleep it off. Hermione could've sworn she heard a noise somewhere. She turned around trying to make out what that sound was. She walked to the Viaduct. She walked down the corridor and heard what sounded like a growl. Hermione walked downstairs into the dungeons, into the corridor and headed towards a door. She stepped closer and almost pressed her ear onto the door. There was a loud roar, and Hermione stepped back. "What on Earth?" she asked.

Hermione went back to the Gryffindor common room with a worried look on her face. "Hermione, where did you go?" Ginny asked. "I waited for you." "Ginny, I heard something coming from the dungeons."

"All the way from the Great Hall?"

"It was coming from underneath. Anyway, when I got there, it sounded like a dragon." "Dragons again?" Ginny asked. "What would dragons be doing in the dungeons?"

"That's what I intend to find out."

Growling was heard in the dungeons. The girls tiptoed downstairs into one of the unknown rooms below. Hermione took out her wand and started to point it. "Lumos," and the tip of her wand lit up. Dragons were in cages. One by one, they were all awake, standing in a corner so that no one will go anywhere near them. These dragons, Hermione noticed, were very different than the ones from the first Triwizard task. Ginny was astonished by how very well groomed they were. Luna was astonished by the sight of them. Ginny asked, "Why are they keeping dragons in the dungeons? Are they holding another Triwizard Tournament?" Hermione was beside herself, "Don't be ridiculous, Ginny, there's not going to be another tournament for another couple of years, decades even." "This one looks awful," Luna piped up and the other two looked into a cage and noticed a tiny little dragon with no claws of its own. "Oh, that poor little guy," said Ginny as she examined him. Hermione was thinking about this, she felt like she needed to talk to an expert on magical creatures, and she knew just the person with the exact same experience.

Hagrid was pouring tea for the girls. "I suspect yer wondering why there are dragons here again." Ginny said, "We saw there were at least three or four dragons there." Hagrid explained, "Well, the reason for that is the Ministry has recently been running out of places to take care of them, so they asked me to take them in." Hermione looked confused, "Why are they asking you to take care of them? Not that you can't handle it, it's just that... Well, Hagrid, the last time you took care of a dragon..."

Hagrid remembered Norberta and Hermione continued on, "I just don't want you getting too attached." Hagrid sighed, "Hermione, the dragons need us. It's not just me taking care of them. Flitwick and Sprout are doing their part, and Madam Pomfrey is doing a remedy for the cute little one without claws." Luna piped up, "Why did that little one look so sad?"

"Tha' lil dragon has been through a lot. He lost 'is father to a hunter a while back." Ginny said, "That can't be possible." "Oh, but sadly, it's true," Hagrid said. "The hunter's the one that took his claws. We need to find new families for these guys." Hermione said, "Is there any other reason for keeping them here? I mean, besides taking care of them?"

"No," Hagrid said, "we enjoy having them here. I guess it would be nice to keep dragons 'round here, and it's technically legal, what with permission given by the Ministry, so..." Hermione was pleased, but she still felt like the dragons needed a home. No better home than Hogwarts. The little one without the claws, however, still needed time to recover from the lack of claws, so without any question, she was finally content with all this, though she was still not comfortable with the growling.

"Hagrid, you could always take care of that little one. It really is a boy this time, so maybe you could name him Norbert. Or come up with another name." Hagrid smiled, "I'd enjoy that, Hermione. I really would. Heh."

Chapter Nine: Another Christmas in London

December arrived at Hogwarts. Snow started to fall, leaving the grounds covered in sleek, opaline white. As always, the trees were being dragged inside the castle to be decorated, and Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were collecting the names of those who would be staying at school over Christmas. Hermione, Ginny and Luna did not sign up. Hermione and Ginny were going to spend their holiday at Shell Cottage with Harry, Ron and the rest of the Weasleys. The Hogwarts Express departed from Hogsmeade and traveled to King's Cross Station in a matter of hours. Luna headed off to her house while Hermione went with Ginny to the Burrow. It took a while until the girls apparated to their appropriate locations.

By the time the girls arrived at the Burrow, the entire place was very well decorated with tinsel, silver and green. Inside, the tree was standing at the upper right side of the living room and the stockings were hung with great care. Molly was delighted when she saw them standing there. "Oh! Ginny! Hermione, you're here," she hugged them. Arthur turned up, "Well, glad to see you two made it safely." Harry and Ron quickly ran up to them, and there was hugging and kissing abound. Harry was quick to grab Ginny while Ron picked up Hermione and spun her around. "Unh," Hermione grunted. "Did you two have a safe trip?" Harry asked. "Yes," Ginny replied, "It was a lot of fun." Ron then asked, "Did you bring us anything from Hogsmeade?" To which Hermione replied, "Um, we haven't had a chance yet to explore Hogsmeade." "Oh," said Ron rather disappointedly. "But I did save you some Chocolate Frogs from the common room," Hermione smiled slyly. "Ah, you're the best," Ron said as he hugged her again. Molly announced, "Right, then. We all set?" They all grabbed hold and started to vanish.

As soon as they Apparated to Shell Cottage, Bill and Fleur were quick to greet them. As they could see, their decorations were already up, and very festive. "Oh, good, everyone's here," said Bill. George was putting up the holly while Percy was in charge of the tinsel. Charlie was putting the star up on the tree. "Hey," he shouted. George ran up to Ginny and hugged her, "Hey, sis." Fleur smiled and waved to the girls. "Glad to see you again," she called. Percy stepped down off the ladder and said, "Hello, Ginny, Hermione." "Percy," Hermione answered.

"You're looking well." "I am very well," Percy responded, "thank you."

"So, this Professor Periwinkle," Harry said, "what do you really know about her?" "Just that she's a Hufflepuff and she used to be an Auror," Hermione explained. Ron asked, "How did you manage to find that out?" "Well," Hermione said, "I was more or less eavesdropping on her and Professor McGonagall by the office on Halloween night." "YOU?" George said, "You, Hermione Granger? You were sneaking about at Hogwarts at night? I'm duly impressed!" He clapped his hands. Hermione rolled her eyes.

Ginny piped up, "Look, the point is, she's suspicious. Can't say that I blame her, though. The Dark Arts class does take a toll on its teachers." Hermione said, "Yeah, there may be more to her than meets the eye." "So, what, you think she's gonna leave like all the others?" Ron asked while eating a Chocolate Frog. "I'm not entirely sure yet, but we've still got six months left in the year," Hermione said, "so we'll still have to wait and see." Harry said, "What about Luna? What's she been up to lately?" "Same as always," Ginny said. "That's surprising," Ron chuckled. Ginny glared at him. It was nice to see everyone having a decent time together and not having to talk about...dark days. Still, it was early in the school year.

The next morning Christmas Eve came. Molly and Arthur were putting popcorn and tinsel around the tree with their wands. George was cleaning the stockings. Harry and Ginny were putting up the lights. Ginny also put up the mistletoe right up above Ron and Hermione. Without a second thought, Ron kissed her. Hermione smiled and put her arms around him. Charlie, Percy and George were setting up the final finishing touches to the tree while Molly and Fleur were finishing up the dinner. As soon as everyone sat down to eat, there was an owl at the window. Arthur pulled from its beak and opened the envelope. "Oh, it's from Kingsley." He read it:

"Arthur, I hope you and everyone else are having a splendid holiday. The Ministry is having a bit of trouble with the courtrooms as of late, but the parliament is doing everything they can to tidy up. Also, there need to be some arrangements made when the new recruits come in around the new year. I look forward to your part in it. Merry Christmas." Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic

"What's that all about, dearie?" Molly asked. "Kingsley's bringing in some brand new Ministry members after the start of the new year," Arthur announced. "Ooh, that sounds like fun," Fleur said delightedly. "Indeed," Molly agreed with her. Percy was beside himself, "Father, do you really feel these new ones have what it takes to be Ministry employees?" George snickered, "They let in you, didn't they?" Bill and Charlie laughed.

Arthur said, "Well, I don't see why not. We need new members. Some of the old ones are either retired or sacked. Or dead." Harry smiled at the idea, "All right, well, as long as no one there's a total criminal." "That's why we have Kingsley as Minister, Harry," Arthur smiled, "so that he won't be so judgmental as Fudge was." Ron asked, "Is Fudge still alive?" Molly huffed, "Oh, he is." She scoffed. "No one even bothers to mention him anymore."

No person ever really talked about Cornelius Fudge, even after the Battle of Hogwarts. Rufus Scrimgeour certainly didn't do any objecting about Fudge being sacked, back when he was still alive, and when Kingsley was appointed Minister long after that, he was spectacular at what he does, and no one dared question his judgement. Everyone finished their dinner and later went upstairs to bed that night.

The next morning Christmas had arrived. Crookshanks meowed and Hermione woke up. She got up and scratched him behind the ears. "Merry Christmas, Crookshanks," she told him. Harry and Ron woke up and then ran downstairs for breakfast and presents. Hermione chuckled. "Men." Her smile was as bright as the sand. Although it doesn't naturally snow where there's sand, the decorations were marvelous.

Everyone opened their presents. Molly made everyone a brand new sweater with the first letter of their names on them, as she naturally does every single year. Ron was just pleased he didn't get another maroon sweater this year. Harry got a brand new pair of furry pants from Hagrid and Ron got some new feathered hats from Neville. Ginny opened up her gift from Neville and saw that he gave her some new Quidditch armor. Ginny was thrilled. Hermione opened her gift from Neville next. She could see he gave her some new feather quills, one of each a different color. Very authentic, Hermione thought.

Harry had wondered what Neville was up to these days. He must be studying on all his Herbology skills. George could see he got a brand new pack of Licorice Wands from Percy and from Bill he got a new set of Fanged Frisbees for his Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes shop. Even without Fred, business was still booming there, but it still isn't the same without him. Fleur didn't have a lot of gifts to offer, so she gave everyone a simple card that changes every time you opened it. Everyone, even Percy, was thrilled.

Hermione thought, it was nice to be home again, surrounded by every single one of her friends. Harry and Ron showed up to where she was, sitting at the window, staring out and looking at the stars. "Hey," she said letting them in. Harry said, "Have you heard from your parents yet?" "No, not yet." "Why not?" "I don't know what to say to them. I sent them a Merry Christmas gram, but they haven't replied back yet." "Don't you think you should go and see them?" Ron suggested. "It is Christmas after all." Hermione sighed, "Maybe." Then Harry asked, "Do you want us to come with you?" Hermione smiled, "Very much."

And so they Apparated out of their and zipped to Hermione's house. It was very different from when they last left it. All the pictures were back in their frames, the furniture was all there, and the decorations for Christmas were all set up inside, especially how neatly the tree had been placed. Mr. and Mrs. Granger walked into the living room and were happy to see their daughter again. They hugged her. Hermione introduced them properly. "Mum, Dad, this is Harry Potter, my best friend, and Ron Weasley, my boyfriend." "Ah, yes," Mr. Granger said, "we've heard so much about you two. You're in no need of introduction." Then Mrs. Granger said, "Especially not you," she was looking at Harry, of course.

The tea had stopped pouring and Hermione had already brought them up to speed about everything that had happened. "Sounds like a lot of fun," Mrs. Granger said and sipped her tea. "And also very dangerous." "Yeah," Hermione said.

"So, what do you two think you'll be doing?" Mr. Granger asked Harry and Ron. "Um," Harry said, "we're thinking of becoming dark-wizard catchers. Aurors." "Oh, good," Mr. Granger said, "so in a way, you're like wizard police." Ron chuckled, "Yeah, better than most muggle police. Some of them are terrible at their job, or so I've heard." "Well, it's good to see some people care about the law and doing what's right," Mr. Granger gave a firm nod. Nobody said much after that. They just sat there and drank their tea. Hermione told them about the new Dark Arts teacher and that Hagrid was holding dragons in the dungeons. "Hagrid has dragons in the dungeons?!" Harry said. "Yeah, Ministry dragons," Hermione answered. "Why didn't you tell us this until NOW?" Ron asked bewildered. Hermione said, "Uh, I haven't had a chance to bring it up?" "Wicked," Ron said. "Hogwarts got legal dragons." "Brilliant," Harry said. Hermione sighed in relief, although she still felt flummoxed.

It was time to leave and go to bed. Hermione's parents insisted that they stay, but Hermione felt they wouldn't want to overstay their welcome. Her mother hugged her and bade farewell to the boys. Mr. Granger stared Ron down and said, "You take good care of my daughter now, you hear?" "Yes, sir. Of course, sir," Ron was saying. "Excellent," Mr. Granger said and hugged him tightly. "Oh!" Ron groaned. "Very good to meet you, Harry," said Mrs. Granger. "You too," Harry said shaking her hand. "Merry Christmas," they all said to each other, and with a flick of the wrist, the trio took off and Apparated back to the cottage.

Chapter Ten: Wands at the Ready

The new year had arrived and the girls were getting ready to go back to Hogwarts. Hermione and Ginny were saying their last goodbyes before taking off for King's Cross. Molly gave Ginny a kiss on the cheek and Hermione a big hug. After seeing the girls off, they all Apparated back to the Burrow with Harry and Ron going in another direction. Hmm...

The train was huffing and finally came to a stop. Every single student entered the castle and into their common rooms. The decorations had gone and the Great Hall was no longer covered with garland and tinsel. Hermione was setting up a plan for the next six months. As there would soon be finals, she and everyone else would finally be ready to take action. Ginny, on the other hand, felt like she didn't need to study and practice right away. She thought it was necessary that they wait until Easter to go over every spell they learned over the last few years. After all, they knew all the spells they needed to already since the battle the previous year.

Nobody really seemed to care about the tests and spells right away. However, other students were spending some of their free time reading and writing. Some were in the Great Hall, others were in the library, and some of the other students were in their common rooms just struggling to perfect their skills. Ginny was not at all surprised; being with Hermione has that affect.

The next day in Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall explained to everyone the importance of transformation. Basically, it was just the usual lesson about keeping a clear and open mind, focusing on your primary target and not letting your guard down. Ginny practiced on Arnold. "Avifors!" And just like that, Arnold turned into a bird. The class oohed and ahed. McGonagall flicked her wrist and Arnold turned back into his Pygmy Puff form. "Very good, Miss Weasley," she said.

"Now each of you must know that precision is of the utmost importance. When you leave Hogwarts, you always have to remember the key to maintaining a proper way to transform animals and objects. Learning new lessons when a person is a seventh year is supposed to be a challenge because it's much more advanced. When a student reaches his or her final year, the spells you have learned in your previous years are supposed to help to prepare yourselves in order to see if you have remembered every skill and technique in and out of class."

Everybody, of course, felt like they were ready. Hannah, on the other hand, still needed a bit of a confidence boost. Even though she was a DA member, she still felt a little anxious when it came to her spell-casting. Nevertheless, if it was easy for Neville, it should be easy for Hannah. The two spent a lot of time together in Herbology lessons. Of course, Neville previously had feelings for Luna.

Some of the students had decided to go outside for a walk in the snow. During that time, Hermione, Ginny and Luna were practicing their dueling spells, kind of like what they did in the Room of Requirement for DA meetings.

Hermione was quick on her feet. Quickly she yelled, "Stupefy!" But Ginny was quick, too. "Protego!" she shouted and a shield had appeared. "Levicorpus!" Just like that, Hermione was dangling upside-down. Luna managed to help her stand upright again. "You two keep doing the same spells," she said. "Why don't you come up with new ones?" Ginny said, "We don't really need to learn any new spells, Luna. Besides, we have plenty of time left until the end of term." Hermione was trying not to think about the snow in her boots. "You guys need to focus. June will be here before we know it, and we still haven't mastered basic training yet," she said. "Why don't we just kick back in the common room for a while?" Ginny asked her. "We're always doing that," Hermione told her. "Oh, that's right," Ginny said, "because all you ever do is take your work seriously." Hermione replied, "You say that like you don't know me!"

"Oh, believe me," Ginny scoffed, "I know you very well enough."

The two hardly spoke to each other for days after that. At one point, Hermione decided to go to the Owlery and send a message to Harry and Ron. Little did she know, however, that Professor Flitwick was also there. "Professor Flitwick?" she asked. "Oh! Miss Granger," he squeaked. "Nice to see you out and about."

"What are you doing up here, professor?"

"Oh, I was just cleaning out some owl feathers. It's very hard to keep an area clean with all these birds flying around."

"I can see." "Well, what are you doing up here?" "I was going to send a note. But I can tell you're busy. I can come back later," and she was just about to leave, but Flitwick stopped her. "Oh, no, please. Do come in, I get very lonely up here." Although he was not entirely lonely because of all the owls up above. Hermione found an owl with clean feathers and after giving the note it went flying away knowing its route.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you," Flitwick was saying, "what are your plans for your NEWTs?" "Same as always," Hermione told him, "what other reason is there?"

"I see. Well, these tests are Nastily Exhausting for a reason. Seventh year is supposed to be the hardest. I hope what you're going to do will be worthwhile." Hermione looked at Flitwick still cleaning the owl pens and having to levitate feathers high up into the tower. "Not exactly a fresh environment to do some cleaning, is it, professor?"

"Oh, I don't mind at all. It's easy to get rid of the feathers, especially if you're an expert at Charms, which you and some of the others don't seem to have a problem with." The owls started hooting. "Nice to see you have it all under control. Would you like some help?"

"Oh, I'd love some, but don't you have anything better to do with your time?"

"No, really, it's all right. No bother." She pulled out her own wand and levitated all the feathers. "Wingardium Leviosa," and just like that, one by one, the feathers all landed right in the bin next to the door. "Oh, thank you, Miss Granger. That really saved me a lot of time."

"You're welcome, professor."

Hermione went back to the Gryffindor common room and Ginny turned to her and apologized for her attitude, but Hermione told her she didn't have to. Anyway, it was time to go to sleep and the girls went to bed by the time midnight rolled around. "So, you were helping Flitwick in the Owlery all this time?" Ginny asked her. "Oh, it was nothing at all. Actually, it was a lot of fun. Although I'm not all that keen on picking up owl droppings." Ginny groaned with disgust.

The next day, everyone in Charms class were casting random spells all over the grounds. Ginny rose a pear from a basket. Luna set a brazier on fire with Incendio. Hannah repaired a entire box of candles that have been pushed off by Slytherins. Flitwick and McGonagall were impressed with everyone's success. Flitwick announced, "Well done, everyone. You've all performed remarkably. Especially you, Miss Abbott. You've come a long way. That will be all for today. Class dismissed."

Chapter Eleven: Murder Mystery

Valentine's Day at Hogwarts was hardly ever celebrated due to the fact that some of the boys found it to be dull and pointless, whereas some of the girls feel like there's too much commotion that goes on, what with the decorations and festivities. Some people who have already found love are happy, others who don't have love...well, it's kind of sad. The Gryffindor common room was hardly untouched, and the Great Hall was covered with red hearts and pink tablecloths. Hermione was looking around to see if they were any card-carrying dwarves. When she saw that there weren't, she walked across the hallway and went into the kitchens.

In the Entrance Hall, Hermione caught a glimpse of McGonagall talking to Professor Sprout near the doors. She thought of getting a good listening in. Nick showed up flying about in the Grand Staircase again and noticed that Peeves was creaking around and spooked him. "Boo! Ha-ha!" "Oh, yes, hello, Peeves," said Nick very unenthusiastically. And just like that, he went flying away without another word. Peeves was disappointed for not scaring him, so he went to surprise Gwen and Willow in the Entrance Hall. "Ooh! New ickle firsties!" He zipped by and attempted to startle the girls. But before he could, McGonagall flicked her wand and sparks started shooting. Peeves did a backflip or two and tried to maintain his balance. McGonagall told him off, "I see you're still up to your usual trickery, aren't you, Peeves?"

"Aw, Your Headship, I was just having some fun." "That's what you always do. Now go away and don't come back here!" Peeves grumbled and zipped past the staircases. Hermione came over and spotted the two girls. "Who was that?" asked Willow. "That's

just Peeves," Hermione told them, "but don't let him get to you. He hates everybody at Hogwarts, even the Bloody Baron." Gwen said, "I thought the Baron was the only one who could control that ghost." "He is," Hermione said, "and he isn't a ghost, he's a poltergeist." "I told you, Gwen," said Willow. Gwen rolled her eyes and groaned. "Look," Hermione was saying, "just keep out of his way and he won't bother you. I've got to get to class now. I'll see you two later," and then she walked off and up the stairs.

In the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Professor Periwinkle offered everyone an assignment on how to solve a great murder. "Each of you must figure out a murder that took place in London. You need to identify the victim, verify the facts and consider the possibilities and suspects and then determine who is the killer," Periwinkle was saying.

Hermione knew what she had to do. In the meantime, the others were starting to feel a little nervous about preparing to speak in public and act like detectives. They were getting the chance to act like agents, jobs that muggles normally do except for the whole magic thing. Apparently situations like this involved using mental and cerebral tactics, like wearing gloves so as not to contaminate evidence and leave fingerprints on where murder suspects usually leave them. Hermione still had her suspicions about Periwinkle. What was all this going to prove? Ginny and Luna told her not to even think about it, but Hermione just couldn't help herself. She had to keep her guard up, just in case.

Meanwhile, Professor Periwinkle set up a crime scene for each of the students, one a different student. Hannah, Luna and Ginny already did theirs. Some of the boy students got off easy. It was finally Hermione's turn. Periwinkle told her a man had just died suddenly from stab wounds. The main suspects were the maid and the butler. (This was definitely a pickle.) The setting was in a big mansion and the time of day was afternoon: 1pm, 2pm at the most, and the other house members were in the house huddling together in a type of panic. What a way to spend Valentine's Day.

Hermione knew she had to think about the other suspects, the family members especially. The mother was busy doing the dishes while the father was reading a newspaper in his very fancy chair. Their daughter was in her bedroom doing her homework and her brother was busy doing who-knows-what in his. Apparently the maid and butler were seen near the victim around the time the killer had not been seen. Hermione thought about this very carefully. The victim was a muggle mailman who had delivered a package, but not the one everyone thought it would be. She thought about the father. Could it be the father? Why would it be the father? It couldn't be the son either because he was in his room, and why would he be messing with a knife? And what about the daughter? It always seems to be the daughter who makes the kill, but the motive didn't make much sense.

After a long time of thinking about the case, Hermione came to a conclusion. "The knife was put on the other side of the table. It couldn't have been the butler because the butler was polishing the silver all that time. Now the motive would be holding a grudge, so the maid was doing some early-bird spring cleaning while all of a sudden, there was a gunshot. The woman ran to the body laying down on the floor and found him bleeding in pain. Then the killer ran off and dropped the knife on the sidewalk, leaving a perfectly good fingerprint on the hilt and the blade. So, bottom line, the conclusion is, the killer is...the mother." All of the students gasped.

Hermione explained why, "She was always too obscene for her own good. Here's what happened. She found the victim walking across the lawn one morning and noticed that he didn't give her the package she ordered by post. I know what you're all thinking, what does this have to do with the motive? Well, here's where it gets weirdly serious. She found out that the mailman was secretly seeing her daughter." Everyone gasped again; Hannah looked as though she were going to faint.

Hermione continued, "It sounds like a crazy theory, I know, but sometimes parents can go insane when it comes to who their children are dating. After sneaking out one night, the man was about to leave for the day and suddenly when no one was looking, she immediately stabbed him and left the knife on the floor when nobody was looking. The maid heard a noise and she ran to the bloody victim, making her the easiest suspect in the house, even though she just arrived, and that's when the butler showed up. So, while everyone gathered round, everyone lined up in a row and the mother was playing the part, none the wiser. So there you have it." The entire class applauded her.

"Well, that was very well done, Miss Granger. Very well done," Professor Periwinkle was very impressed. "50 points to Gryffindor. That's all for today, we're out of time. See you all next time." Ginny was intrigued. She said, "Wait, Hermione, I'm still a little confused. Why couldn't it have been the father to kill the mailman? Isn't it always the father who doesn't like the idea of his daughter dating?" Hermione smirked, "Maybe the mother wanted to save the father the trouble, or maybe seemed very fond of the mailman. Not all fathers are assholes." Ginny raised her eyebrows in amazement.

By the time springtime rolled around, it was almost the end of March. Hagrid was watering his flowers in his garden while Fang was biting a bone on the other side of the hut. Professor Sprout, on the other hand, was doing a kind of charm over her plants, making it rain. Perfect vines started sprouting upwards. Incredible detail and design coming from the greenhouses. It was an incredible display.

The first years were running around trying to gather what ingredients they needed to find for Potions glass, and the other students of all years were sitting enjoying the bright, warm sun shining in the distance. Hermione was standing by the lakeside skipping stones and thinking again. It was almost close to the end of term and she still had to convince the others to study. The other seventh years felt like they didn't need to revise their spells, but they knew when the time came for them, they eventually had to grit their teeth and do it. That was the whole point, which makes all the difference in the wizarding world.

Chapter Twelve: Requiescat in Pace

Easter had arrived at Hogwarts. The girls were getting flowers and chocolates from the owls when they were dropping packages in the Great Hall at breakfast that morning. They were too busy thinking about what to give to the owls in return besides petting their feathers and feeding them toast. Gwen and Willow ran to Hermione and Ginny and told them to read the Quibbler. They glanced at it. Apparently the supposed murder the seventh years have solved all made the news. Hermione was astonished to see that the mystery she solved managed to make the front page. Ginny noticed, "How do you like that? You're a famous wizard detective now. Why don't you join the FBI after Hogwarts?" "Ha-ha," Hermione said, very dryly. She didn't know for sure who the hell wrote this article, but when she looked at the byline, she was pleased to learn that Rita Skeeter was nowhere near the classroom when the scenery took place.

From the looks of it, there were anonymous photographers in the area taking advantage of the magical drawback. What were they going to think of doing now? It was supposed to be a test, but as it turns out the case happened for real in real time. Hermione was taken aback by this. How and when did this even happen? This wasn't supposed a real murder case. None of this was making any sense.

Easter Sunday arrived and the girls decided to take the Hogwarts Express to London to visit the family Hermione solved the case of. With a knock at the door, the father opened it. "Excuse me, sir, my name is Hermione Granger, and this is Ginny Weasley. We've come to talk to you about a murder that took place last month, you know, your wife killed a mailman." "Oh, yes, of course," the man shook her hand, "come on in." And they did.

The butler closed the door after they entered and the two ladies sat down. The father introduced himself, "I'm Derrick Majors. These two are Brittany and Heath." The daughter and son sat down in the couch. The butler walked in carrying tea on a tray. "How did you two come here, and how did you know about what happened here?" Mr. Majors asked them. "Well," Hermione started, "it's actually kind of a sad but funny story." She cleared her throat. "We kind of go to a school not that far from this location, and we were doing a class project on solving mysteries the way...other people do, and while we were solving them, mine was incredibly similar to this one, so we wanted to see for ourselves if it was true." "And apparently it is," Ginny muttered under her breath. Hermione said, "Sh! And that's why we're here. We wanted to pay our respects to the mailman and see if there's anything we can do to help."

Mr. Majors wasn't very keen of the idea of having what looked like reporters at his doorstep talking about his private life, although he seemed touched by the thought and decided they should come to the funeral. Hermione and Ginny started to feel uneasy since they only just met them and didn't know the mailman at all, but they didn't want to seem rude, so they decided to take this opportunity and come to the funeral to pay their respects and get it over with. It would be the decent thing to do.

"How would you like to come to the festivities?" Mr. Majors asked them. Hermione said, "Thank you, but we really don't know anybody, and besides, we've only just met you and your family. It would feel pretty silly attending an event without actually knowing anybody." "But you and your friends would be the perfect asset to the crime," Mr. Majors told her. "After all, you're the one who uncovered the crime and exposed my wife." It was salt on an open wound.

Hermione felt her heartbeat slowly beating with anguish and remorse. Mr. Majors knew about this after she had told them all about their project and she must've assumed it was all just an assignment, but after seeing it was for real, Hermione couldn't pass it up.

The funeral started to take place and everybody assumed the position. Hermione and Ginny sat down next to Luna, and Mr. Majors stood up at the podium and said a few words over the deceased. "Mr. Monty meant a lot to society. He was a post office major like no other. He did his job right. He didn't get to be bothered by dogs. He just picked up the pieces and continued on."

Minutes later, his daughter, Brittany, appeared at the podium. She was saying, "I cared for him very deeply. We didn't know each other very well, but he helped me through all the bad times I've been through. I loved him." Her brother rolled his eyes. The maid then appeared at the podium and said, "I felt like Mr. Monty was part of the family. He always did his rounds for everyone else in our area, but he always thought of us as his favorite family." Then the butler showed up at the podium and said his piece. "I knew him. He was charming. And funny. And kind. That's all." Hermione couldn't believe her ears.

Mr. Majors returned to the podium, "And now, our new friend, Miss Hermione Granger, would like to say a few words." "What?!" Hermione whispered to herself. Ginny nudged her to go up onstage. Hermione nervously made her way up to the stand and cleared her throat softly. "Thank you," she spoke into the microphone.

"Now I know you all don't know me, but I had decided to come here and offer my condolences to the Majors. All this started because my classmates and I all did an assignment, that we were to solve murders in our classroom. When I found out that this one was for real, I thought I'd decided to make sense of it, and offer my apologies to these people. I figured everyone should have a part in this. It was a genuine man who has suddenly been taken from them, and all I can say is, I'm sorry. I truly am."

"I think I've heard all I needed to," said a voice in the background.

Hermione looked up, confused. All of a sudden the lights were fading and Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout showed up. Everyone else stood up and applauded. Ginny and Luna turned around and stood up, also confused. Hannah and the rest of the students got up as well and Professor Periwinkle walked up onstage. "Job well done, Miss Granger." "Okay," Hermione was saying, "what on Earth is happening right now?"

"Hermione, this was all part of assignment," Periwinkle continued. "I wanted to see how well you could handle in a murder situation like this, and you performed adequately." "So, all this was just a mirage? A reenactment of a real murder?" Hermione asked, unable to process the situation. "Actually, they're all real people, but, yes, this was sort of befuddling, wasn't it?" Hermione couldn't believe her ears. What a relief to find out that the mailman was actually alive and that the mother wasn't going to prison for that crime.

"But wait, so what about that family?"

"They wanted to take part in the project," Periwinkle told her. "They're all wizards, but the mailman really is a muggle." Hermione said, "Wow." Ginny walked to her and asked her, "How do you feel?"

"Honestly, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. A resurrection has been made here, and there wasn't even a real murder in sight!" Luna chimed in saying, "Well, that is what Easter is all about." Hermione and Ginny laughed.

Mr. Majors walked up to the girls and said, "Thank you all so much for a fun weekend, Miss Granger. I hope we didn't make you feel too uncomfortable." "No, no, not at all," Hermione said, "I'm used to most things like this." "I'll bet," he answered, "well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your term." His children ran to give them each a hug. "Have a nice life," Ginny said to them. "I hope this weekend wasn't too depressing or boring for either of you." Brittany told them, "Not at all." Heath said, "It was okay." Hermione chuckled. And as they bid them farewell, everybody Apparated back to Hogwarts.

Chapter Thirteen: One Last Game

Hermione was busy reading her book. The term seemed to go on forever. She thought to herself, who would've thought that even after Voldemort's death, this term would be just as eventful as all the others before. However, some moments were boring, not enough action and not that much excitement. The only excitement that ever took place around here were the house point totals and the Quidditch matches. The final match of the year was later in the spring. It was close to the middle of May by the time the seventh years were practicing their revisions for their N.E.W.T. tests.

Outside onto the grounds, the Gryffindor team was out practicing. Hermione was still reading the book she was studying and didn't want to feel like a fifth wheel. Luna was cheering them on, "Come on, Gryffindor!" Robins, Kirke and Sloper were once again passing the Quaffle back and forth like a well-oiled machine. Peakes and Coote were batting the Bludgers out of the way. Hooper was zipping around the hoops trying not to miss grabbing a single goal. Ginny was impressed. She said, "Don't be too confident, guys! Remember, this is our last game of the year, so you better make it count."

The next day, they all did their routine a little bit different. They had just decided to punch it all up. It seemed to be endless, and yet nobody seemed to complain. Thankfully, Filch was nowhere to be seen, so he couldn't yell at them in his usual gruff voice. Now what would Filch be doing in the Quidditch stadium in the first place? Well, Filch is known as a Squib, a person who never went to Hogwarts, even though their parents did. Despite the fact that he was and is a Squib, he would've been in Slytherin, so as to cheer them on in matches.

Ginny was going over the playtime routine for the next couple of days before the time came for them to really get out there and make the most of it. Hermione walked into the common room and asked how it was going. Ginny said it was fine. Hermione then put down her bag and went out to do a little nighttime patrol before bed. No one seemed to do any late-night sneaking, even when she walked down to the Entrance Hall and saw that no one was around. There were lanterns on and fire was crackling in the distance. The Great Hall was at peace and there was not an owl flying around in sight.

She decided to go outside and see for herself if it was also peace and quiet there. To her delight, no one was throwing Stink Pellets around or Dungbombs just for the fun of it. The moon was shining bright in the sky, and she was walking down to Hagrid's hut to see if he was in. She decided to pay him a visit, so she knocked on the door and let herself in after Hagrid said, "Come in." As soon as she got in, she noticed Hagrid was sitting, depressed about something. Fang was sleeping in his bed. "Hagrid," Hermione said, "what is it? What's the matter?" "Oh, nothin'," he said, "I'm just sittin' here, thinkin' about what I'm gonna do when you leave." Hermione smiled, "Aw, Hagrid, you'll still be all right. And you're the Care of Magical Creatures professor, so you've got that going for you." "I s'pose so," Hagrid said to her.

Hermione got the impression that Hagrid was going to miss her, which he obviously will. "Look, Hagrid," Hermione explained to him, "I'm gonna miss you, too, but maybe the guys and I can come pay you a visit any time you like."

"You really mean that?"

"Sure, if it's allowed." Hagrid smiled as his dog rolled around in his sleep. Of course, he knew they would write to him and see how their wizarding careers are taking off while he's happy at home in his hut, with Fang, and his teaching position as caretaker. Not much will change, but a lot soon will after these next few weeks.

Hermione gave Hagrid a big hug before she left him for the evening. While she was walking back into the castle, she noticed Professor Periwinkle outside of her office and followed her subtly to Professor McGonagall's office on the first floor. They were talking indistinctly, but Hermione knew what they were saying, or at least, she thought she knew what they were saying.

They were discussing Periwinkle's performance and position in the classroom. Hmm, what could they actually be talking about? It was getting late, so as soon as Professor Periwinkle left the office, Hermione silently walked back into the Gryffindor common room, and as the door closed behind her, she got ready for bed, and no one was the wiser. Huh.

Ginny was prepping up for the final Quidditch match of the season: the last game she'll ever play. She was feeling a little apprehensive about how this was going to play out and how the gameplay would affect the outcome, but when the time came, she put on her armor and went to give it her all. By the time Hermione and Luna wished her good luck, she and the rest of the team grabbed their broomsticks and zipped out into the stadium. The crowds were stomping on their feet, keeping the beat of the feels.

The commentator went to the podium and announced, "Welcome one and all to the last Quidditch match of the season. Today's game, Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff!" The entire audience cheered. Ginny nodded to the other players. Madam Hooch kicked the balls into the air and threw the Quaffle up so the Chasers would battle for it.

Robins grabbed the Quaffle twelve seconds later. She seemed determined to win this. As soon as she threw it, it went right through the goal post. Immediately, the commentator announced, "Daring today, aren't we, Demelza Robins? Ten points to Gryffindor!" Ding.

The team was definitely playing with their heads in this game, they really knew all the strategic plays. They were trying not to have a repeat of their two previous matches, so they decided to battle and balance it, giving it a more fair play-by-play. The Hufflepuffs were giving it their all as well.

Ginny was still surveying the stadium for the Snitch and the Gryffindor players were definitely improving their techniques. The commentator was even impressed. By the time the Gryffindors made their third goal, the students in the Gryffindor stands were doing the wave. One of the Hufflepuff Chasers tried to score a goal, but Hooper blocked it with all his might. Ginny was impressed. Kirke and Sloper were passing the Quaffle like Americans playing basketball. They reached the goal posts to no stop. They scored at least three times. Some of the Hufflepuffs got up and groaned, but they still tried to maintain good sportsmanship.

The final score was tied 120 to 120. The Snitch was flying around and Ginny came rushing right after it. She tried to reach out, but the Hufflepuff Seeker tried to beat her to it. The Gryffindors were cheering her on, trying to keep her guard up. As the captain, she had to keep her head in the final game of the year. The Quidditch stadium took forever to be repaired, which is irrelevant at this time, but still needed bringing up. Ginny reached out her hand, and then after seconds...she grabbed it!

The crowd was on their feet cheering and stamping. The commentator announced, "Ginny Weasley has caught the Snitch! She brings it all home! Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup!" Ginny felt proud of herself. And her teammates. She knew they wouldn't let her down. Kirke and Sloper high-fived. Peakes and Coote hit their bats together in. Hooper shouted, "Yeah!" Robins clapped her hands. Luna and Hannah were also clapping and Hermione got to her feet whooping and shouting, "Go, Ginny! Whoo-hoo!" Ginny chuckled. Professors McGonagall and Sprout were pleased. Flitwick clapped and squeaked. Slughorn was clapping but not cheering. Other than that, he was pleased.

On the stadium, McGonagall and Hooch presented the Quidditch Cup to the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Ginny held it up high so everyone could see it. Clapping and cheering continued on and cameras were flashing for the Daily Prophet and Quibbler. Everyone was having the time of their lives on that stage. They really had what it took to secure the cup for one last game before graduation, but just because it was the last game for them doesn't mean it will be the last game altogether. There will always be many more Quidditch matches, and some of them all over the world.

Hermione and Ginny were celebrating their victory with the others in the Gryffindor common room that night. The two young women clung their glasses together and drank their butterbeer without a care in the world. "Wow," Hermione said, "that was one hell of a match." Ginny said, "Yeah, but it all seemed so predictable. It wasn't rigged, was it?"

"No, it couldn't have been, otherwise the balls would've been acting all quirky."

"I see," Ginny was still enjoying her butterbeer at these words. On the plus side, the girls had no other assignments to work on after that, apart from the studying they still had to do for their final exams in the next couple of weeks.

It was almost midnight on a Saturday evening. As Friday night came to a close, everyone decided it best to listen to Ginny make one final speech before bed. Ginny got up and said, "Well, well done, everyone. We won! I want to thank all of you for working so hard and making this team proud. This has been one amazing year, even though we haven't done finals yet." They chuckled.

Ginny continued, "I enjoyed those games. And the teamwork you all worked so hard to achieve to make. I'm going to miss each and every one of you." Robins shouted, "Here, here! To Ginny! That-a-girl, Weasley." The boys shouted, "Yeah!" Clapping emerged again. Hermione whooped again, too. Nice to see everyone so happy in a single weekend. Anyway, the evening came to a close and everyone went to sleep as soon as the lights went out. It was a great day.

Chapter Fourteen: Final Exam

Stress is always a difficult emotion to control and sometimes it affects not only the heart but also the brain. Often people can't focus and can feel anxious and panic. Some people actually fear they can't even think straight. This is how Hannah was feeling right now. Hermione and Ginny came to comfort her. "Hannah, what is it?" Hermione asked her. Hannah answered, "I'm just so messed up about everything. I don't know if I'm ever going to pass my exams. What if I fail?" Ginny then said, "Sometimes your mind can play tricks on you. You're just feeling a lot of anxiety right now. All you have to do is push away the bad thoughts and give yourself the good ones." "But what about the pain in my chest?" "Sometimes that just comes and goes," Hermione told her, "but I guarantee you you'll feel better in the next couple of hours, or maybe even days."

"Days?!"

"Okay, not that simple, I get that." Hannah winced and then said, "I understand. I don't know if I'll ever get over this, but I'll just have to feel like this for a while. Maybe I need this to get me through a bit." "There you go," Ginny said, "that's positive thinking."

Finally it was exam day. The N.E.W.T.s were underway and all the seventh years were getting ready to do their part. Hermione and Ginny were getting ready and headed down the Great Hall for breakfast. After they've eaten, they met Luna outside in the grounds waiting to walk over to the Herbology greenhouses. Some of the Mandrakes needed the mandatory cleaning and caring like in previous sessions.

In Transfiguration class, Hermione and Ginny transformed mice into tiny, little teacups. Much to their surprise, but not really, they succeeded. McGonagall was indeed glad by all their progress. Luna was definitely improving with her spell-casting, most of which not on animals.

In Potions class, Ginny was attempting a Wiggenweld Potion all on her own. She knew what ingredients to use and she definitely knew how much to stir, heat and shake. She performed flawlessly. Slughorn was most pleased with her and her progress. He chuckled and said, "Miss Weasley, you've certainly improved since the beginning of term."

"Thank you, Professor." "You are most welcome."

Meanwhile, in Charms class, the ladies were levitating so high that they almost reached the ceiling, and by the time they got there, they actually hit the ceiling. Professor Flitwick was most pleased.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Periwinkle gave them all a written examination. They all got our their quills and all wrote down their answers, most of which were not multiple choice. Much to Hannah's delight, she knew what most answers were. Luna had a little trouble memorizing hers, but she knew she had to put down her best guess.

Hermione was just finishing up her Arithmancy test before going over to Ancient Runes. Peeves came back again and attempted to scare her. "Boo!" he shouted. Hermione just stared at him. "Peeves, when are you ever going to learn?" It was a rhetorical question. Peeves was never gonna learn. Boy, was the Bloody Baron gonna give him a stern glare. As soon as she went into the Ancient Runes class, Nearly Headless Nick was there and greeted Hermione. "Oh, hello, Nick. Wait, why are you here?" "Oh, I just felt the need to look after some objects in case Peeves has knocked them all down." "Well, that's very considerate of you, but I just passed Peeves. He's not very intimidating like he used to be." "Please!" Nick scoffed, "Peeves is always mischievous. Why, just the other day, he was trying to scare the dickens out of two third-year boys on their way to the Astronomy Tower."

"Why is it always the Astronomy Tower? Well, better that than the Divination Tower, I bet." "Indeed," Nick nodded.

The students had gone outside to do their spell-casting part of their tests. After that, Hermione felt like she did well on all of her exams. The birds were chirping outside. The sun was shining brightly. May was definitely coming to Hogwarts. Soon it would be the end of the school year, and the seventh years were going to be nervous to see their test score results once they've all been calculated.

As soon as Ginny and Luna were also outside, they sat with Hermione near the lake. Hermione was reading the Quibbler and she was enjoying it rather well, seeing as how no one at Hogwarts this term got physically maimed or killed. However, the term was still going, and Hermione was sure that in the next few weeks, some situation would go down within that time. Professor Periwinkle could be out of a job, but she hasn't had any oddities or secrets as of late. Hmm...

Chapter Fifteen: End of the Line

As the last days of Hogwarts were finally coming to an approach, Hermione and Ginny made the most of it to get ready for graduation. Graduation at Hogwarts was going to be done in a way most ceremonies don't, but that's another time.

Hermione was packing her chests and parchments and decided to pay a visit to Professor Periwinkle when the time was right to see if the seventh years all did well on their N.E.W.T. tests. Everyone passed. Hermione, of course, got all perfect marks. Ginny passed with actual flying colors. Luna succeeded as well. And Hannah was relieved to find out she also did a fine job. She nearly fainted as soon as she saw her test score results.

Hermione was skipping stones near the lake. A snowy owl was flying above. Hermione thought for a second that it looked like Hedwig. Well, obviously it wasn't. The owl was a male. He dropped a parcel in her hands and she opened it. It was a package from Mr. Weasley. He sent a photo of the new recruits at the Ministry of Magic. They were all smiling and standing alongside Percy and Kingsley. Hermione smiled at this photograph, knowing that the Ministry has improved over this past year. In the package, she unwrapped a brand new scrapbook so that she could use it for all new memories to have, even after graduation. Lovely thought, given the circumstances.

Hermione went to Dumbledore's office for a little stroll down memory lane. She walked around observing the Sorting Hat and the perch where Fawkes the phoenix used to stand. Phoenixes in nature burst into flame when they die and then are born again from their ashes, as it is known. It is also known that their tears have the property to heal. Fawkes has always been a very majestic creature, as well as Hagrid's old Hippogriff, Buckbeak. He still resides at Grimmauld Place.

"Well!" A voice said, which made Hermione jump. She turned around and noticed that Hat was speaking to her. "I see you've returned up here to take one last look before you depart." Hermione nodded, "Yeah."

"You were always too keen for your own good, Miss Granger. When you were a first- year, you knew all there was to know already, I was almost tempted to sort you into Ravenclaw." "I know. Why didn't you?" she asked him. "I figured it would be a nice change of pace. Besides, I could tell you wanted to be in Gryffindor. You and Potter."

Hermione knew Harry was almost put into Slytherin their first year. Ah, memories.

"With all due respect, Harry might have had all the qualities Voldemort himself possessed," the Hat was impressed by her saying the dead Dark Lord's name, "but in the end, Gryffindor seemed like the appropriate choice. Because he's always been brave. And anyway, he stopped speaking Parseltongue. Ever since last year, he lost the ability to speak to snakes." The Hat chuckled, "So it would seem. Well, regardless of the houses, you all earned your right to be in Gryffindor." Hermione smirked. "Well, it's been a genuine pleasure, Granger. Try not to read too many books."

As soon as Hermione left the office, she felt good about herself, as well she should. She did everything she was supposed to do and she did it without even trying. The Sorting Hat basically knew what he was saying this time around. Hermione thought for a second she was going to miss that hat, but on the other hand, she was okay with that.

In the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, Professor Periwinkle was busy taking care of the final examinations. Hermione walked in and knocked on the door. "Miss Granger, I was expecting you. Come in. I understand you've certainly given this your all this term." "Yeah," Hermione told her. "Hermione, I don't blame you for having your suspicions about me. Don't you think I'd know about the Dark Arts teachers before me? One of them being a master of Potions." "I was just concerned is all," Hermione explained. "I didn't want to be fooled by anybody."

"Uh-huh, well, it's been pretty decent this year. No deaths, no battles, no dark magic." "Well, the school year's not over yet." "I know, and it's been wonderful getting to know everyone, especially you." Hermione

beamed at this. "Well," she said, "I suppose you're going to take off after this." "Actually, I think I'm gonna stick around for a while. I mean, I don't have anywhere else to be, and Hogwarts is a very magical place. I love it here." Hermione didn't know what came over her, but immediately, she hugged her. Periwinkle smiled and hugged her back. Hermione released and said, "Sorry. I got carried away."

"Ah, quite all right, it's perfectly natural. Anyway, you'd best get going. I'd better get these papers graded before the term comes to a close." Hermione nodded, then left without another word.

Chapter Sixteen: Graduation Day

Finally the big day came. The girls were all dressed up in their graduation caps and gowns. Hermione was preparing to read her speech to all of the audience. She could feel her heart pounding and her head reeling. Hogwarts graduation had finally come. This was it. This was finally it. The very last day at Hogwarts for all seventh year students. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the flowers were blossoming and the teachers were busy setting up chairs outside on the grounds. Hermione was still trying to figure out what to say in her speech. She certainly had no trouble memorizing it, but she's afraid she will forget her words once she steps up to the podium.

Harry and Ron were already on their way towards the ceremony. They went to the carriages that carried them and all the other attendants to the grounds. The ladies were putting on their graduation gowns. Very color-coded, just like the regular school robes. Some of the prefects and head boys and girls all wore banners and sashes over their robes. Hermione was wearing hers very pressed as she was, of course, valedictorian. Ginny was all dressed up. She was on her way to the stage and Hermione followed. Luna was already out. "So, this is finally it. Are you ready for this?" Ginny asked her. "Yeah," Hermione replied. McGonagall walked to the two. "I understand you two are all set for the stands." "Yes, Professor," Ginny told her. "Miss Granger, a word?"

"Of course, professor." Ginny walked off.

"I hope you know now how impressed and proud I am of you and your progress, Hermione. You certainly have a keen, academic mind."

"Thank you, professor."

"And integrity. Accepting responsibility. Taking drastic action. All the noble qualities. I see now why the Sorting Hat chose you and Harry for Gryffindor house." Hermione swallowed. "Well, we all can't be just one house, can we?" They hugged and McGonagall walked off.

The time had finally come. Everyone had showed up in the crowd. Harry and Ron were in the front row, alongside Bill and Fleur, George and Percy, Molly and Arthur. Charlie was also there. Some familiar faces were in the audience as well. Neville Longbottom was sitting to the right of Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan. Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley were also seen in the audience, as well as Padma and Parvati Patil. Kingsley Shacklebolt has shown up and sat at the far end of the crowds. Oliver Wood had also been there, so have Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Lee Jordan! Mr. and Mrs. Granger had also made an appearance, much to Hermione's surprise, and so was Mr. Lovegood. Oh, and Leanne was also sitting in the crowd, opposite Cho Chang. Even Draco Malfoy was there, with his parents! Why they were there, no one will ever know. McGonagall and the other professors were sitting behind the podium. Hagrid was sitting next to Flitwick and Sprout, and Slughorn was right by Madams Pomfrey and Hooch. Filch was sitting right next to Madam Pince, the librarian while Vector and Sinistra were right by Periwinkle. Harry and Ron took a glimpse of her. They were content.

McGonagall walked up to the podium. "Welcome, everyone, to this year's graduating class of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Applause and cheering occurred. "Now, before we begin, a word from this year's valedictorian, Miss Hermione Granger." Whooping stamped out from every Gryffindor in the Grounds. Ron whistled. "Thank you," Hermione started. "Well, where do I start? As you all see me standing here, I suppose that's it. When I first came here to this school, I was always told of being an 'insufferable know-it-all.' But over the course of time, I made some great friends, I studied for every class, and I scored high on every single test examination. Divination was not at the top of my list." Chuckling from the audience. "After eight amazing years, which ordinarily would've been seven, I leave now with a high head and a heavy heart. I'm really going to miss this place. You all played your part, and this also goes out to all of you. So thank you all so very much." Applause and cheering happened again. Hermione felt content with her choice of words. Professor Dumbledore would be proud. As for Professor Snape, well...I think he would've tolerated it.

McGonagall read the names of the seventh years that have graduated. "Hannah Abbott." Applause and cheering stamped. Hannah meekly smiled and walked across the stage to receive her diploma. She waved to the audience. Ernie whooped and Neville blew her a kiss. "Hermione Granger." The audience definitely cheered when Hermione walked across the stage. She chuckled. "Whoo!" she shouted. Harry and Ron stood up, as did the other Gryffindors and the Weasleys. "Luna Lovegood." Luna smiled and Xenophilius could not have looked happier. "Ginny Weasley." Applause and cheering once again. Ginny felt proud. She knew she had done it. Molly shouted, "Well done, Ginny!" Arthur shouted, "That's our girl!" After the last name had been called, McGonagall announced, "Congratulations, students! May you all achieve your magical goals in life." The graduates cheered and threw their caps up in the air.

Now that the ceremony had been official, it was time to head for home. Everyone outside said their final goodbyes. Hagrid walked to the trio and said, "Well, this is it. I'm really gonna miss all of ya." "We'll miss you, too, Hagrid," Harry said and they all hugged him. Fang barked and ran to Hermione. "Oh, not again," and he licked her face. Ron laughed. "Very funny, Ronald," and she kissed him to retaliate.

Ginny ran to Harry and hugged him. The two kissed. Much to all their disdain, Draco slimed up to them. "Well, congratulations, Granger. I see you served your time well." "Don't tell me," Hermione remarked, "you just came here to insult us."

"No, really, I mean it. Congratulations. You know, Blaise and Pansy would've also been here, but they wouldn't be caught dead seeing any of you walking across that stage." Ron snarked, "Why are you really here, Malfoy?"

"Well, you all saved my life last year. You could've left me and Blaise to die in that Fiendfyre, but you didn't." Ron said, "They made me do it."

"Still, just because you saved my life..." "Yeah, yeah, we know," said Harry, "it doesn't change anything. Whatever." Draco smirked. "Enjoy the rest of your day, Gryffindors." He walked away. Ron said, "God, I hope we never hear from that clown again." Ginny insinuated, "I don't really think we'll be hearing from him any time soon."

After saying their last goodbyes, Hermione introduced Harry and Ron to Gwen and Willow. The two little girls were in awe when they saw them. The boys chuckled. The girls hugged Hermione and Ginny and then took off, ready to survive their next six years.

Time for the students to leave Hogwarts. When they wondered where the carriages were, McGonagall had explained to them that seventh years are required to leave Hogwarts the same way they come to Hogwarts...they had to sail on the boats. "What?!" Hermione said. Wow. So the seventh years all got in a boat. Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Hannah all got in a boat. The others got in other boats and they started sailing off to Hogsmeade. All of a sudden, fireworks started shooting up into the daylight sky. The professors were all waving. Slughorn called out, "Bon voyage!" Flitwick cried, "Farewell, Miss Granger!" McGonagall called, "Goodbye!" It was a good day.

By the time the Hogwarts Express made its way to King's Cross, everyone got off wearing casual clothes. Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked back, thinking about all the good people at the castle. Nick, Hagrid, Moaning Myrtle. The Fat Friar, Helena Ravenclaw. They will think about every single one of those people and ghosts, but maybe not Peeves. Definitely not Draco Malfoy and his family, either. Harry and Ron were even impressed when Hermione told them about Professor Periwinkle, staying there for more than one year, they were content. "So," Ron said, "I guess this is it now, huh?" "Yeah," Hermione said. "I suppose it is." Ron said again, "So," followed by, "where do we go from here?" Harry answered, "Wherever we go, whatever we do, we have the power to decide." The three friends all turned and smiled, walking away, another year gone. And they all lived happily ever after...until 18 years later.

The End Disclaimer: Thank you all so much for reading this if you bothered to.