Her Hogwarts letter arrived almost a week later than the first one. That made some sense, given this time it was just her required materials list, from books to potions to clothing. No need to reintroduce her to the world of magic, since she already knew it all was real. Still, it made it slightly more awkward as they had to quickly plan out a trip to Diagon Alley on short notice to get all the things she wanted.
Luckily, her parents were far more sure of themselves this time as well. Not just because they had seen her practicing with her magic, but also because, not to put too fine a point on it, but they were going to have far more money to throw around. Her school supplies in the first year had set them back a few hundred pounds, not enough to impoverish them, but enough to be a noticeable hole in their budget for a month or so after she'd left for school.
This year? The sales of her potions had garnered them quite a nestegg. Over fifty-thousand pounds sterling were sitting in an account, and draining about twenty of those, they made their way to the alley, and into Gringotts. The goblins, obviously, were annoyed with them, trying to find some reason not to convert the notes to good, solid coins. Moreover, they were interested, this time, in helping her parents set up an account, something they'd balked at the prior year after hearing how much they had.
Hermione's parents turned them down, for the moment, but indicated they might see their way to putting some away in a vault, perhaps after another year or two, and that had placated the goblin who was handling their account, who passed them a sack that was bigger on the inside, holding a few hundred glittering golden coins, all ready to be spent on various things she wanted, from potion supplies, to renew her stock, to tools, and even more books that she couldn't find at Hogwarts itself.
She was disappointed when they walked by the bookshop which was having a signing from the author of 'Magical Me', the wizard Lockhart, whose entire bibliography she'd 'read' back in the school. The fact that his books were now required had startled her a bit, but on seeing him flashing his smile, and hearing some chatter about how he'd be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year, it made sense.
Still, it seemed there was some hustle and bustle inside the shop, and she spotted Harry Potter along with the W…along with his friend Ronald Weasly. The former appeared to be getting dragged into photos by the nicely kept author, though with obvious reluctance, which startled Hermione a bit, as the boy seemed to enjoy attention, at least if his being paraded around on shoulders by the twin brothers of Ronald had been any indication.
Perhaps he had a modicum of self restraint? After all, that had been for his stunning victory on the field of sports. This? It was likely he'd just been trying to have a day out with friends. Though the fact that his group all had red hair indicated it was just the Weasly family with him, making Hermione wonder for a moment where his own was, before she told her mum and dad that they'd best go get her other supplies first.
Luckily, she avoided the robe shop, which was the stop that took the most time during their last visit. She had her own outfits now, and while she would never once claim to be as good a seamstress as Madam Malkin, she was quite pleased with her current set of…three outfits. She really would need to fix some more up later, given even with her self cleaning charms built into the things, they might get rather distressed with her having to swap them out daily.
They went to the apothecary first then, which was, thanks to the bookshop taking most of the attention, blessedly quiet, allowing her to peruse the shelves for all the various supplies she might need. Obviously she bought the typical second year kit, with all the supplies Snape deemed necessary to his teaching, however, she supplemented that paltry fare with dozens upon dozens of other things, chatting animatedly with her parents about what might do well with those who'd been buying her potions.
The clerk either didn't hear her, or more likely, didn't care enough about what she said, probably having heard such things before from aspiring young Potion Masters. Of course, to the clerk, it's a thing she'll likely grow out of, not realizing she wasn't speaking hypothetically about selling potions, or interested in that her parents were dressed like Muggles rather than magicals, probably assuming they were just in dress to go into London proper after shopping today.
Regardless, their purchases filled most of their bags, even with expanded interiors, and the family shuffled down the street towards the baggage store. Students were, after all, allowed to have a personalized trunk, rather than the basic one that was listed in their supplies for their first year. She already was imagining getting something with several rooms worth of space inside, and various hidden compartments and the like.
They passed the bookstore on their way, finding it all but abandoned now after some altercation. Listening without looking like she was to the gossips milling about in front, she was able to discern that Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy had apparently almost come to blows, and had only been prevented by Lockhart getting in between them to break it up. Or to encourage them, the gossips weren't entirely sure on that point.
They went past and continued on to the trunk shop, where a helpful woman showed them, after confirming they had the galleons to spend, their top models, not just for students, but in general. They cost quite a bit, considering the construction of these things included charms, runes, and had leather specially treated with potions in order to give them durability on par with a good suit of armor.
She quickly went over what she'd need versus the price point, as while they had money to spend, it wouldn't do to be wasteful yet. It took some haggling to find the proper trunk for her, which, oddly, was a modest thing. Expanded, to be sure, but not nearly a set of rooms like she'd expected to need. No, she'd gone wide rather than deep, with the interior being mostly unexpanded, but having dozens upon dozens of those interiors to pick from, to help her keep things organized.
That it also provided her some modicum of privacy, as searching through each and every one of the compartments would take time, effort, and be very, very obvious was another reason she'd selected it. It still cost almost as much as a good vehicle, but this investment was set to pay many, many dividends, especially as it had one more small feature that you simply couldn't get normally.
A twin. It was only one space inside the twin trunk, but it was a unique thing, as it provided her with a sending space inside. Effectively all she had to do was load her creations into the proper compartment of her trunk, turn the handle, rub one of the small nubs, and then the contents of that particular compartment would be sent via magic to its partner, and the same could be done back, allowing them to swap messages and the like.
Hermione, to say the least, was somewhat flabbergasted that such a thing was able to be done, especially since Hogwarts was one of the most warded places in the country, but this was a known thing. The clerk, smiling, seeing what she was thinking, assured her that the school, and in fact most places in the magical world, were safe from intrusion using the sending space method.
After all, anything larger than her trunk and its twin required months and months to enchant, and that was no mean feat in and of itself. Better, you couldn't use an expansion charm on the space inside, so you could only send something so large through them. And it wasn't like you could sneak, say, a sending cabinet just anywhere. Someone was bound to notice you hauling around such furniture.
Finally, and most importantly, the 'sending' was not an instant swap as she seemed to assume. Someone had to be on the other end to 'receive' the sent items, with her then showing them how the trunks would indicate something was waiting for them to retrieve, in this case one of the seams would sparkle, first lightly, but growing brighter until you dealt with it, that way you couldn't miss it.
It still sounded like a big security risk to her, but she had to admit, those were some deep downsides, especially the receiving bit. You'd have to have someone you trusted at both ends, and for a magical, if they were already inside your wards, then those wards were no protection anyway. She paid for the pair of trunks, the largest purchase to date as it took a full half of all the money she'd converted, but it was worth it to be able to supply her parents with potions all year round, as well as trade messages more effectively, and without scrutiny.
Their last stop was the bookshop once again, the place having turned a lot less hectic in the hour since Lockhart left. The gossips had even departed, allowing her to look over the shelves, which held all kinds of tomes and things, most of which, sadly, she was well aware she'd already 'absorbed' via her spell. Even the texts, which didn't change much year to year, as each course was effectively set for decades beforehand, were not things she needed.
She did purchase 'Magical Me', of course, intending on reading it properly. She also found a few texts on potion making she hadn't seen in the Hogwarts Library as yet. She even found the books on alchemy that she'd seen referenced a time or two in her other tomes. The clerk informed her that those were intended for Seventh Years, as Alchemy was a class taught only to those who passed with 'O's in half a dozen other courses, and it was given by Albus Dumbledore himself.
She assured the man she could grasp them, and the two had a spirited discussion about the various things that led up to the class, before he smiled, and gave her two of the seven books for free, commenting that he often couldn't sell them anyway. His questions to her were common things he had to ask, as Alchemy, for all its benefits, was one of the most difficult, and by extension dangerous, subjects of magic to study.
He regaled her, as he rang her up, with stories of Muggleborns, which he apparently assumed she was not, learning that magic was a real thing, and trying to leap into it. He was…not exactly against Muggleborns, and the fact that he didn't use mudblood was a point in his favor, but he saw them as people who didn't respect magic and its dangers in the same way those who grew up around it did.
After all, Muggleborns might have traffic accidents, aeroplane crashes, and other such things to worry about before they learn of magic, but they haven't yet learned to fear mirrors that showed the wrong reflection, shadows with red or yellow eyes that shouldn't be there, or worst of all, things that could think that weren't human. Those could be dangerous no matter the form they took, be it a creature, a painting, or even a book.
She thanked him for the reminders, as she loaded her purchases into her bags, and with that, her family left the world of magic for the mundane around it. Taking a bus, they spent the rest of the day enjoying the sights and sounds of London as best they could, and as the sun was setting, they returned to their own car, and set off for home.
Hermione set about digging into 'Magical Me' with her eyes, after using her spell to take in some of the rest of her purchases on the ride home, her mind going over all that she planned to do this year. Potion making, more time with the books in the library, and of course, learning the ins and outs of Magical Society. If she planned to change it for the better, and not simply knock it all down in a nihilistic tantrum, she'd best know what parts needed to be changed.
Her chat with the clerk had reassured her, much as it might seem some days that every pure blood and magical was against her, there were those that actually understood, and in their own way, wanted to help those they saw as less fortunate. Getting that group on her side would be key, so she needed to learn how to gather them, and more importantly, how to make them see her as a better person than the current leadership.
The path of a Dark Lord didn't have to be all cackling and Crucio, after all. Sometimes words and a strong look could do more than any spell.