The Great Hall was silent for long minutes after that, as Hermione looked up to the heads of the school, and they looked down on her. In some eyes she saw interest, in some others confusion. However, one particular set of eyes sparkled with delight, as Headmaster Dumbledore himself seemed to take in what she had said, stroking his beard once, before rising to his feet at last and opening his mouth to speak.
Like the bursting of a dam, his movement brought forth the questions and demands for knowledge from the students, and even many of the teachers beside him, who had not heard of such a Rite at the school in all their years. The Headmaster, rather than answering any of them, waved a hand, and raised the podium from the floor that he had spoken from on that first day during the sorting.
Normally it would be the students he would have to then silence to be heard, but it was, in fact, many of the teachers who had raised voices, most of all Snape and Professor McGonagall who were having an argument with each other that the Headmaster finally had to cast a charm to pull them apart, and throw a shower of multicolored sparks into the air to draw the attention to him once more.
He offered to allow Hermione herself explain what she had done, but she would not take that pleasure from him, and he chuckled, as he was indeed quite pleased to explain to everyone what had just happened. Calming himself, he set about explaining that, when the school had been founded, in those long past ages of yore, there had been many minds who were, to put it bluntly, cleverer than those who sought to teach them, and thus, were being dulled instead of sharpened during the teaching.
That was not to say they gained nothing by being in Hogwarts, the school was, after all, the premier institute for learning the magical arts even as its foundations were being laid. But still, it was recognized by the Four Founders that while they considered each school year, and therefore each class, to be perfectly fit to their pupils, they might be flawed in that thinking, underestimating their young wards.
As such, they created a Rite, to be invoked if the student decided they had learned all they could from that year. While it wouldn't allow you to progress to the next year, as until your eighteenth you were not at your full capacity for magic, it would free you from the obligations of the class that held nothing for you. It was basically a way of testing out of a class and gaining a free period in its place.
In all his years here, it had never been invoked, as the Rite required preparation, study, and most of all, had many caveats to its name. The first was that only one challenge was allowed in a single year. Oh, you could challenge several classes, as Ms. Granger had, but you were forced to do so all at the same time. You would not be allowed to spread the challenges out, lest the teachers be forced to spend all their time preparing for such things.
The second was that if you failed, you could never again make the challenge, even in later years, to prevent someone from simply 'trying their luck' at such things each year. This was to be the sort of thing you did only when you felt you had fully mastered the subject at hand, and had nothing more to learn within that year. It was NOT simply something you did to earn yourself free time in the school.
Better, since you could challenge as many subjects as you desired, those challenges were done back to back. Fail even one, and you would fail them all. This was to prevent you from taking on too much at once, as the tests were going to be a grueling affair, not done by the faint of heart. Challengers will face the worst tests the teachers could come up with, as it was their honor on the line if they allowed someone unworthy to pass.
Mind, that wasn't to say the challenges would be unfair in any way. The idea was to challenge you, not to beat you, and the tests would, at most, involve something from the subject one year advanced from where you were, to prove that you were already up to that level. Dumbledore himself would be the final arbiter of that particular criteria, and if he felt cheating, on either side, were going on, he would take the offender to task.
All that said, the challenge had been issued, and given this was the first time in…who knew how many centuries…Hermione helpfully supplied that it had been two. The previous time, due to it being a seventh year, had resulted in the third western tower being transported to another dimensional space, and that had been the last time it had been allowed. The fact that there were only two western towers now explained why that had been such a serious issue.
Still, he asked the young lady's indulgence, since this was the first most of the teachers would have heard of the Rite, they would need more time than was customary to prepare. One week ought to be enough, but if she wanted to force it, he could have them ready in the original three day span, though if that were the case, he couldn't honestly attest to just how good of a job they would do on their challenges.
Hermione, bowing her head in a gesture of respect to the Headmaster, both for thinking of it, and for asking her rather than telling her, said it would be fine. She would make a request that, as it had been done in the past, that her Challenges be public affairs, just so others could see the sort of things that they would have to contend with, if they decided to follow in her footsteps and take up this Rite.
Headmaster Dumbledore, chuckling, was delighted to grant it, and further, excused Hermione from her classes for the next week, and insisted that, if anyone had questions, they come to him with them, as she would be allowed this time to prepare for the task to which she had set herself. He would, if he felt them worthy, even teach them how to perform the Rite themselves, though he was adamant that none would do so until after Hermione's own.
He did, however, add that this was not a full 'get out of class free' card. Hermione herself was aware, likely, but just to make it clear, there were two classes one could not test out of. The first, not to put too fine a point on it, was Alchemy, the class he himself taught. It was simply a Seventh Year subject, and was too fluid for such testing. The fact that it hadn't even BEEN a subject offered until his own tenure as Headmaster helped.
The other was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Combat, they felt, was not something simply to hear and learn, but to know, in one's heart, and that subject was, itself, almost as fluid as Alchemy(Especially with the rotating teachers, some added under their breath). As such, it was a class you HAD to attend, no exceptions…well except for this one time with Ms. Granger for the next week so she could prepare, he added with a chuckle.
He insisted everyone return to breakfast with the explanation done, and even cast a 'privacy' spell on Ms. Granger to keep others from bothering her, as he knew students(and some teachers) were want to do. For now, she was allowed to eat in relative peace, and then quickly vanished from the Great Hall, surprisingly grateful for the Headmaster's taking questions onto himself, rather than forcing her to answer them.
Not that she DIDN'T face some, of course, over the coming days. Her dormmates especially had the ability to corner her, and she gave them terse, but informative answers, including on how to perform the Rites themselves, and on their honest chances at being able to test out of classes as she was. They were, to be fair, smart girls, for the most part, but she told each to focus on one subject they excelled in, rather than trying to copy her everything all at once approach.
Strangely though, it was the TEACHERS who seemed to have the most questions. Oh, they did ask the Headmaster, she saw that, but Professor Flitwick still came to the library on the fifth day, and asked after her ability to maintain a certain spell, claiming that he wanted to make his test appropriate for her, while also being almost giddy with excitement. She was sure he swore in Gobbledygook at one point, given how the Librarian glared at him after he did it.
Professor Sprout was even more excited, but did want to know what tools she had to her name, as some in her second year class were expected to have their own. She wrote down a few things, and insisted that she would make sure her personal best trowel would be available to the young girl, just to give her the best chance. She said nothing else, so as not to give away the game.
Snape…well he came by once, sniffed at her in his way, but then handed her a flower. When she looked at it, he told her he was hoping she didn't disappoint anyone too badly with this first performance, before walking away. It took her an hour of looking to find out that the flower she'd been handed had many, many uses in potions, specifically three in second year, from near the end of it, obviously.
Professor McGonnagal all but asked her at one point to drop this whole thing, saying it was not done anymore for reasons more than damaging the school. Classes were not just places to learn, but to be with her fellows, to learn with them, that was why the classes mixed Houses after all. Her yearmates would surely miss her if she weren't there, and if not, she would miss them, wouldn't she?
Hermione maintained her cool at that, knowing that the woman meant well, but she insisted that this was something she hadn't simply leapt into. She'd been planning this for a while, implying it was months, though in reality it was weeks. She also reminded her of her skills, and how they were far and away outside what the classwork had her doing, something the Professor couldn't argue with, even as she mumbled about it simply not being how things were done as she left.
The most surprising to find her was Professor Quirrell, who lacked his stutter once more as he congratulated her on her efforts. He was sure, given the skills she'd shown over the year, she would succeed. He then reminded her that, if she had the free time, he might be able to find the time to tutor her personally, and really polish her skills up, something he claimed he'd done to a woman named Bel back when he'd helped her when the two had been in school. She was excited, but declined for now, saying she had other projects she wished to pursue in her free time.
That actually got him even more excited, and he almost sounded like he was hissing with the delight he seemed to feel, passing her a book that he claimed would help her in the coming trials. She took it and said she was going to finish the tome she was on for the day, but tomorrow she would add it to her reading list, getting the turbaned man to smile as he left the library.
The next day arrived, and Hermione would find herself in the Great Hall, classes cancelled so all the school could watch, as after breakfast, the tables were moved to the sides, and everyone stood around, as Dumbledore reminded them of the rules for this test, and cast a spell in a circle around her, dampening the sounds, and making the Hall blur, so as to give her as few distractions as possible, as the first teacher stepped up to test her.