Chapter 2: Hermione's Turn

A quick little one that I got in my head when a one-word review was posted. It simply said "granger", and my muse went wild.

This is unbetaed and what turned this from a one-shot to a multi-chaptered story.

Hermione is a bit OOC, but I think she would have tried to find out as much as she could about herself, like she told Harry when they first met.

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Professor Minerva McGonagall was having a frustrating day. She had only been in the young girl's company a half an hour and she was already sporting a headache. She had taken many muggleborns their letter in the past, but this girl was the most inquisitive, and still somewhat disbelieving. Even after all she'd done to prove there was magic in the world, her and her parents were unconvinced. She'd even turned into a cat, and they were convinced she had tricked them somehow. That had never failed in the past, and she couldn't fathom as to why it had now.

Right now, they were standing outside the Leaky Caldron. It was an old building and looked like it was about to fall in disrepair. The wood that made the front of the building was cracked and pitted. The paint was peeling and the sign that hung over the door was on its last leg. A good wind might make it fall, as it creaked on rusted chains. It looked like something out of a horror movie, like a zombie apocalypse.

"Professor," the bushy-haired girl said in an inquiring tone, "why are we standing outside a dirty pub? I mean, I know you said it was the entrance to Diagon Alley but is this really the first thing you want people new to your world to see? It doesn't make a good impression," she finished with a wrinkle of her nose. She was scared to touch anything near it, let alone go in.

Minerva started, that was the first time someone had said that to her. They had commented on the state of the Leaky Cauldron, but never bluntly stated that it was a bad impression. Now that she thought about it, most of her new charges did seem to be let down at the sight of the dingy building. Like magic wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

"It is that way to keep…" she started, then changed her mind. "I will be sure to mention it to the owner, perhaps he can clean it up a bit. Still, it has been the entrance for many years, so I doubt anything will come to it. Hurry along," she added, moving forward towards the door. Sometimes, she hated her job. Oh, not often, but times like this…. It was just too stressful.

"Yes, Professor," the girl sighed. It had been this way since she met the professor. All her questions were diverted, or she was told half answers. Then there was the ever present, 'You'll understand when you're older.' Hermione hated that answer.

They went into the pub; it too was dark and dingy. It was only lit by candlelight and gas torches. The windows were covered with heavy curtains. The tables were scuffed and pitted, with worn strips of what once must have been gold-colored tablecloths across the middle. There were many strange, to Hermione, people sitting about. Eating, drinking, reading, or quietly talking.

Now that Hermione's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she looked around, and she could see the clientele matched the outside of the pub. Most of the patrons were dressed shabbily, in worn or well used robes and hats. There were even a few very scary looking people in the dark corners. She couldn't see them well, but they looked like crones from fairytales. There was even a man in a dark robe, with his hood pulled over his face, which reminded her of a picture of Death. She shuddered and moved closer to Professor McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall," the wrinkled old man behind the bar called out, "another newbie?" he asked, swishing his wand to clean the glasses in front of him.

"Yes, Tom," she answered briskly, with a small nod of her head. "We're in a bit of a hurry." She walked towards the back of the pub, taking no notice to the patrons.

"Well then, don't let me keep you," he said, winking at Hermione, who was unsure as to how to take that. She simply smiled and nodded her head a bit and hurried after the older woman.

The small square alley that she was led into was worse than the pub behind it. Wind blew bits of trash around in a tight circle and there were smelly rubbish bins along the back wall.

"Right this way, Miss Granger," Minerva stated, tapping her wand in a pattern on the bricks on the back wall. "Welcome to Diagon Alley," she said, waving her hand through the opening that had just appeared.

Hermione quickly darted through. She was so anxious to see what the magic world held, that she didn't even wait for the professor. Her head whipped around, taking in everything. Now this, was what she had been hoping for. There was magic everywhere. She could feel it in the air and practically see the waves of it floating around.

People had bags floating behind them like ducklings in the water. Store clerks were calling merchandise to them from the back with just a flick of their wands. Things were shrinking and expanding everywhere. Owls hooted from one shop. Cauldrons were bubbling at a stand that was selling remedies. There were even people appearing out of nowhere at a spot near the middle of the street. No one even startled at them. They just moved out of the way and went about their business.

"Come along, Miss Granger," McGonagall said, walking past her. "We need to go to Gringotts and get your money exchanged."

She didn't even let the girl take in everything. It wasn't very polite of her, in Hermione's opinion. The girl wanted a moment to absorb it all. How else was she going to learn anything if she didn't have time to look?

"Professor, tell me again why my parents couldn't come," she all but pleaded. She really wanted her mum and dad to see the wonders she was seeing. They would have been tickled pink and might have better understood what she was about. This was just something they had to see to believe. Now that she was here, she was more of a believer.

"It is tradition for muggleborns to be introduced to your new world by a professor," came another half answer.

Hermione huffed. "I'll just bring them by later," she mumbled as she followed the older woman.

Up ahead was the most beautiful building she had ever seen. It was huge and made of white marble that seemed to glisten in the sunlight. At the large golden doors of the building were small creatures standing guard on either side. If she remembered her Tolkien right, these could be goblins. She surely hoped they were better tempered than those of Tolkien's world. They seemed to be calmer, so she would wait to see if they were nicer. She doubted that manhaters would be in charge of a bank, but who knew in a magical place.

McGonagall noticed where her charge's attention was. She stopped for a moment to explain to the girl. "Those are goblins," she said, with a curt nod of her head in their direction. "They oversee all the money in the wizarding world. You would do best not to anger them," she added, then started to move forward again.

Hermione frowned, 'In charge of all the money?' she questioned in her head. 'Does that mean they have a monopoly? I thought that was against the law,' she wondered as she followed the professor. 'Perhaps they have different laws here,' she mused, thinking of all the reading she would have to do to get a grip on what she was seeing and hearing. She would have to suspend many of her misconceptions on the fantasy worlds that she had read. Tolkien's Middle Earth was one such world.

The goblin at the right of the doors, nodded his head at the two. McGonagall gave a curt nod back, while Hermione gave a small curtsy. The goblin grinned and winked.

"You do not have to curtsy," McGonagall stated as she hustled the girl past the second set of doors. "They are only goblins. So, there is no need to put on airs."

Hermione frowned again and wrinkled her nose. She would have to do some research, though she wasn't sure how bias it would be. Looking at the disdainful and distasteful looks of the patrons of the bank, she was very worried about that. Maybe, she could ask the goblins to recommend some reading material. With that thought she nodded her head in determination, that's just what she'd do.

They stood in line at the exchange counter and waited their turn. When they got to the front of the line, the goblin the tiredly waved them forward.

"We need to exchange some muggle money," McGonagall stated as if that wasn't the line they were standing in.

Hermione bustled forward and butted in, getting her questions in as fast as possible, "Hello, Mr. Goblin, can you tell me the current exchange rate? Do you go by the weight of gold or is there some limit to what you can charge? Is there a fee for the exchange, or is it part of the transaction? Do you have a credit card, or debit card? Can I open a vault? Do I need my parents for that? Is there any way to see if I am related to a wizarding family? I mean, I must get my magic from somewhere. I don't think it just pops up out of nowhere. Can we check that, please?" she rambled on, speaking the whole thing in one breath.

The goblin smiled. His tiredness vanished. It was quite refreshing to get the inquisitive ones. They rarely converted to being bigoted later.

"My name is Swifttooth, not Mr. Goblin," he said gently, pointing to his nameplate. "There is no fee for the exchange, it is paid for by the Ministry. We have a limit to what we can exchange, which is set by the Ministry. It is one galleon to five pounds. Don't fret," he said quickly seeing her frown, "prices are much lower here than in the muggle world. We don't have a credit or debit card, the Ministry won't let us start them, but we are working on it. You can open a vault, but you must have the starting fee of one hundred galleons. You do not need your parents' permission if they're muggles."

That caused Hermione to frown again. She opened her mouth to ask, but he just put up his hand and continued.

"However, we will give you some paperwork to take to them, and you can bring them to validate it. We can do an inheritance test, free of charge. It is not a complete family tree, but it will tell you who you are most closely related to… if they are magical," he answered smugly.

He was a bit relieved she asked because they can't do the test without being asked first. If vaults go dormant too long, the Ministry will confiscate them. So, it was much better for them to be claimed by family. And most of the time that family was from muggleborn. If this girl was smart, she would tell others and more vaults would open. It would work for a few years, then peter out again.

"Oh," came the slightly startled reply. Hermione wasn't used to anyone answering her as fast as she asked questions. She smiled brilliantly, lighting up her whole face. "Then let's get started," she said, reaching into her inner pocket on her coat, and pulling out the huge wad of money she had gotten from her dad. "There's six hundred pounds here, that's enough to start a vault, correct?" She handed the money to the teller, and he counted it out.

"Perfect," he said, putting it aside, and pulling out a pile of parchment and a few sheets of paper. "Read these and sign where needed, they will create a temporary vault to hold one hundred galleons. Then you can take the copies to your parents for them to sign to make it permanent. Since you have six hundred pounds, and I only need five, I will exchange the rest to galleons for you here and that should cover the cost for most of you school things. When you come back, with your parents and the filled-out papers, I will give you a key to your vault and you can retrieve more." He went about doing just that, while the girl read the papers.

"Miss Granger, we are pressed for time," McGonagall said sharply, tapping her foot impatiently. The headache she had earlier, just returned tenfold and was growing. She knew this girl was going to be trouble. She was just too inquisitive. They tried to keep the muggleborn from finding out about the blood test, it was too much of a hassle with the Ministry.

"Professor, I am sure you understand that my parents don't want me to carry around a large amount of money. Especially if it is gold. They asked me to inquire about this and were extremely nervous at giving me that much to begin with. The only reason they did, was because I have a hidden pocket. So, forgive me, but I am only doing what my parents want. I am sure you understand," she said with a tight grin. Then she turned back to the paperwork and quickly read it. She comprehended most of it and signed where there were little arrows. She then handed them back to Swifttooth.

He looked them over and waved his hand over them. They doubled, and the new copies were rolled up and put in a mustard yellow cloth bag, that appeared to hold more than it should. He handed that to Hermione. He then handed her the exchanged money in a different bag. This one was black with a Gringotts emblem on the front.

"Now, we will see if you are indeed related to a magical person," he said, pulling out a very thick piece of parchment and laying it on the counter in front of him. He then reached for something else under the counter.

"Shouldn't we have done that before I opened a vault?" the bushy-haired girl asked, a bit confused. If she already had a vault, then she would have just added to it. That made more sense. This was a more confusing way of doing things.

"Since it is only a temporary vault, it can be combined with an older one without a fee. If you have one," the goblin explained, not going into the complicated explanations of Ministry rules and regulations on muggleborn consensus.

"Oh, okay, I guess that makes sense," she said, still frowning a bit.

"Miss Granger, we do not have the time for you to be lollygagging," the professor once more tried to get the girl to move along. It wasn't that she didn't want the girl to see if she was related to anyone, but she could have come back and done this on her own time. As it was, they were going to have to rush through the Alley, and she hated doing that. There was so much that could be missed if one didn't take the proper time. That and well, there was the Ministry to think about.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Hermione said, a bit bashfully, "I'm sure Swifttooth will do this concisely." She was getting miffed at the pushy woman. It wasn't like this was taking that long.

"It will only take a moment," the teller assured the impatient woman. He disliked McGonagall on principle. She was one of those professors that didn't want the muggleborn to know where they came from.

"Very well," McGonagall sighed, knowing she was outvoted.

"Take this pin and prick your finger," Swifttooth said, handing a hat pin to the girl. "Smear the blood on the line at the top." He pointed to the area where she was do put her bloody finger.

Hermione all but grabbed the pin and quickly pricked her finger, flinching at the slight pain, and did as the goblin said. The blood seemed to glow, and it was soon replaced with words Dagworth-Granger.

"Well, it looks like there is a relative," the teller stated, triumphantly.

Hermione basked in the knowledge that she was right.

"Well done, Miss Granger," McGonagall stated, looking at the name. "Dagworth-Granger was the founder of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers. You will do well to look that up. That line has been dormant for many years." She was happy that this was not the waste of time she thought it would be. If the girl was going to find out, at least it was a worthwhile name.

"I will request the ledger for this vault be sent to you. It will arrive at your home, via owl. Please take the time to look it over and come back to us, with your parents, to let us know what you want done with it. Now, was there anything else I can do for you today?" the excited goblin asked. The bank loved it when money was yanked away from the greedy Ministry. Nothing pleased them more when it went to the hands of the muggleborn.

Hermione was ecstatic. She was as happy as she had ever been. She turned to the professor and smiled a million-watt smile. "Can you take me to the bookstore, and then home, please?"

"I'm not sure that is a good idea, Miss Granger. There is much I have to go over with you," McGonagall stated, wrinkling her forehead in thought.

"You can give me a list of books to read, while I wait for the post from there. Then I can come back with my parents and do my shopping. Now that I know I have roots here; I think they will be as excited as I am and would want to participate in my exploration of this new world. We can see if we can find out how I'm related to Dagworth-Granger. Oh, this will be so exciting. I wonder if my parents know our family tree." She turned back around and pointed to the parchment that had her heritage on it. "Can I have a copy of that?" she asked.

A quick wave of the goblin's hand and there was a copy for her. She smiled and shoved it in the yellow bag he had given her earlier.

"Anything else?" Swifttooth asked again.

"Yes, can you give me a list of books that you recommend for muggleborns, to learn about your culture? I want to make sure I am reading the correct ones," she inquired, with a slight wink.

He grinned at her and took out a prepared list for those that asked just that and handed it to her. She was not the first to ask. Only the smart ones did, but they did have this list just for them.

"Thank you ever so much for taking the time to answer my questions, and helping me," she said with a small curtsy. "I will be back as soon as I can, with my parents."

Then she turned quickly, bushy hair flying everywhere. She waited for the professor to move towards the entrance and waved and smiled at everyone they passed. There were many that looked down their noses at her, but she didn't care. Her head was held high and there was a new determination in her steps. She was going to learn everything as quickly as she could. She'd show them that they couldn't break her.

"Miss Granger, I would prefer if you let me help you do your shopping. Muggles tend to get lost and confused when they first come to the Alley," McGonagall said, trying one last time to change the girl's mind.

"Thank you for helping me discover where my family comes from, Professor, but I really want my parents to be by my side," Hermione said firmly. "First, I need some books. Then, I would like to go home. Please," she reiterated. There would be no changing her mind. She was determined to get this done her way. The professor seemed just as determined to put her in a box that she wasn't going to fit in. She wasn't going to let her slot her into some preconfigured square that all muggleborn were supposed to conform to.

McGonagall sighed and led the way to Flourish & Blotts. She would let the inquisitive girl buy the books she asked about and then take her home. She would just have to hope that Miss Granger would read them well. Perhaps, she could tell the child to owl her with questions. She would point out the Owl Post Office. She only hoped that the girl didn't get into too much trouble with her inquiring mind.

They passed a giant man and a small boy who were talking about how goblins should be treated, to which Hermione completely agreed with. And if she wasn't so determined to get her research and go home, she would have stopped and discussed it with them. However, she felt an overwhelming need to see her mum and dad.

This was the start of a whole new adventure and she'd be damned if she was going to leave her loved ones behind.

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Rewrite 9/26/24: Added a bit and corrected some mistakes. I had to make it mesh up with the rest of the story.