The outcome was a forgone conclusion, of course. After all, there was only one Professor who hadn't already declared her success, and McGonagall did not hesitate this year to simply touch her wand to the floor, declaring Hermione beyond the second year of her coursework, the chime, and all the rest soon ringing throughout the school, with applause, from most of those present, even the Slytherins, filling the air as a counterpoint.
And like that, she was free. It wasn't that late in the day, yet, and so Headmaster Dumbledore declared that, given the teachers would need to recover, he would allow this to remain a free day, and placing the long house tables back in their positions, he summoned food from the kitchens below, and told everyone to eat, drink, and be merry for today, as tomorrow they would be asked to redouble their efforts in classes to make up for the missed day.
The student body of Hogwarts celebrated, with general chatter coming from everyone as they ate. Some were dismissive of Hermione's achievement, claiming they could have solved those tests in half the time, many of those being derided by friends around them, pointing out that they would have stumbled on the History of Magic portion, given how few of the student body could stay awake in that class.
None questioned her directly however. Not even the first years, who instead were asking those they were close to just what was involved in declaring the Rite, and how they should study for it. More than one thought they might be able to, if not repeat her massive success, at least do it for a subject or two they were already proficient in thanks to relatives or others who did those things for a living.
She would have chided them for thinking that proximity alone would give them the knowledge to stand up to the trials she did, but she said nothing, eating, and then quickly proceeding to her bedroom. There she sent a note to her parents informing them of her new free time, and asking after some ingredients she was slowly draining her reserves of, leaving her with a need for various leaves and flowers, as well as some materials she was interested in experimenting with.
With that settled, she proceeded to 'her bathroom' as she had come to think of it, and began to go over what her plans were for the year. She was stronger now, and she hoped, smarter too. She had taken in so many books over the summer of muggle knowledge, and even speculative fiction, both science and more fantasy fare. Her expectation had been to give her ideas, and it had given her many.
The first day though, she organized. After all, it wouldn't do to be going after everything at once. That was how you ended up with nothing at the end of the day. No, she would focus her studies, and see what came of them, as she began to write out what she knew, what she had experience with, and most importantly, what wouldn't draw attention to herself in the castle that might bring scrutiny she didn't want to her experiments.
First off, her goal? Had it changed? She had to think about that for a moment. Her original plan had been too…she wasn't even sure anymore. She wanted to make this society better, because Snape got away with too much, with Professor Macgonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore being far too permissive of his choices, in her opinion, which seemed, especially with the history she'd read, to be simply how it was in the magical world.
It had been one sign, amongst far too many to count, that this society was flawed in ways it shouldn't have been. Magic depended on knowledge, more than anything else. Blood and lack thereof had little to no effect. After all, she was the top of her class, and she had already gone through her own family tree and found not a single break in it to indicate a magical that had been hidden from the more mundane members.
So, the fact that people dismissed her so easily, simply as another 'muggle-born' showed this whole social order needed a shake up. Worse, while Hogwarts itself was very open and inclusive, having halfbloods of various races like Flitwick and Haggrid, it was only at the Headmaster's own designs that it was like that, as a quick look through 'Hogwarts: A History' had proven.
Looking through all the information she could, which was surprisingly a lot given she was just a child in school, if a special one, she saw that over most of the magical world, it was taken as read that those in positions of authority were purebloods. Those of her ilk that climbed too high up the ladder of success were, at best, pushed back down a rung or two to make space for their betters. At worst? She shuddered to think.
Still, it wasn't all gloom and doom. A few moments spent cross referencing within her mind showed some muggleborns would instead take positions in the muggle world. Not prominent ones, like leaders of nations or industry, but still. The largest coalmine in Wales had been operated by a man who'd produced almost ten times the average, making a good amount of pounds, before departing on a whirlwind tour of the continent ten years ago, and now lived quietly, and wealthily, in the States.
She was relieved to see that pattern repeated, as it meant her own business with the potions was going to be safe from the Ministry. When she'd learned over the summer of the Department for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts she'd been afraid they might, in fact, catch on to what she was doing. That the listed staff was only five names, two of which were actually in several departments in the Ministry, said she had little to worry about.
Their stock in trade were those who made too big a splash, pushed too hard, like a man selling a 'clean' car that ran like magic, or a woman who'd made a living selling beauty cream that seemed to literally melt away years from your face. So long as she didn't use her potions as a large business, or start selling them openly, she was going to slip beneath their notice, allowing her to practically print her own funding.
The problem was, she couldn't USE that money too openly, without inviting questions of its origin, which meant, much as she should simply have been able to buy the change she wanted to see in the world, she wouldn't have that option. No, even as she thought on it, her path was clear, and her end goal even more so, as she stroked her chin, and then pulled out her glove, sparkling silver along the fingers looking quite nice.
She hadn't needed it for her tests, her robe had been more than powerful enough, but feeling it in her hands, feeling the 'static' in her fingers, it brought her a bit of clarity, as she began to think. Potions were useful, but she had brought them to the limit of what use SHE could get from them. The rest of the brews she knew were complicated by small steps that her still method simply wouldn't allow. And those with less complexity to them bore no effects she might find useful.
No, she was back at square one as she had been before the potions. She needed a new line of attack. She could keep herself healthy, she could make vast amounts of money, but this was a society she was up against. She needed power, the power to change it, and when there were no elections to run, no public to sway with words, it was only actions that would make the changes she wanted a reality.
Potions being played out, she turned the glove over in her hand. It was good, a nice and varied tool, and even now, she knew it would grant her far more power when she was older. For now, however, it was as complete as she could make it. Same with her robes, she would still search out more runes, more ways to make them better, but that project was almost certainly at the apex of what she could reasonably do at this time.
She could simply rest. She hadn't done that since…Halloween of last year, honestly. Take a break, a few weeks to recover. But that felt like quitting right now. She was free, save for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and in the center of magical learning. She should make use of that, and even as she dismissed making wands as being simply too complex to be worth it, another thought came to her mind.
Items. Not muggle artifacts, but instead things made based on their imaginations. After all, it was true, witches had gotten the wireless many years after they had become common in the non-magical world. They were simply too small in number to have the breakthroughs that might occur in the larger populations in the rest of the world. There were many such things she could think of as being useful.
Smiling, she brought out a parchment and began to list the ones that leapt to mind. The first was from that comic her father had been reading(he said it was for helping her, but he seemed to enjoy it). A glove with gems on it that could control all reality? That alone would make her something greater than any witch in history, and drawing up designs for it, she was excited to speculate on how to enchant gems with a similar spell structure to what they gave in the comic.
That might be too ambitious, but it was good to have a ceiling. From there she went down listing other items she might want. Weapons? They would be useful, but direct damage dealers were brute force. Useful, in their way, but really they only had one use. She needed tools that were multifunctional, like her robes, so she began to list out things that had more applications, things that gave her options.
When she was done, she had a list of over one-hundred items to look into making, causing her to smile as she nodded, pocketed her glove, and then proceeded to summon up tables and other things out of the floor of the bathroom, shaping it to her desires. From this place, she would begin her work for her second year at Hogwarts. For most, it would be an uneventful time, but for her, she saw big things coming, and she was eager to meet the future.