AN: Trying my hand out at something different.
Hermione sighed, looking over her textbook, she was studying the theory behind silent spell casting, something that they didn't begin until sixth year but had always intrigued her. But she was stuck, it was more complicated than she anticipated, even as she looked at Roinbern's theory of spellcasting.
Silent spell casting requires wizards to achieve an unparalleled level of mental precision and clarity. The absence of verbal incantations means that the wizard must hold a vivid and unwavering image of the desired magical outcome in their mind. This heightened mental discipline is crucial for successful spell execution.
'Lumos," tried Hermione silently, only to groan in frustration as the tip of her wand refused to light up.
Silent spell casting places a premium on the synchronization of mind and body. Wizards are trained to develop an acute awareness of the connection between their mental state and physical actions. This synchronization ensures that every gesture, every thought, contributes harmoniously to the spell, resulting in a more powerful and controlled magical effect.
Reading over the next paragraph, Hermione tried to calm herself down, taking a deep breath, her brows scrunched up as she focused on casting the spell silently, 'Lumos,' she intoned mentally, only to audibly groan in frustration and put her wand down as her wand failed to light up for the umpteenth time.
Taking a second to relax Hermione let her mind drift, it was quite a surprise you know, finding out magic existed, she was a witch, the first in her family, her parents had taken it well, they were atheists, and to find out their daughter had magic had actually enthused them and it was quite clear where she got her inquisitive nature from, as her parents had bombarded Professor McGonagall with endless questions.
Then it had been her turn and it had left McGonagall feeling quite weary and flustered as she had to forcibly put a stop to the endless amounts of questions.
The world had been so vibrant, brimming with joy and enthusiasm, Hermione had boarded the Hogwarts express, she even met someone famous, the Boy-Who-Lived, Rory Potter, who had been, a bit underwhelming for someone who supposedly slew dragons daily, but he had been nice.
But Hogwarts hadn't turned out exactly as planned, she had been sorted into Gryffindor, like she wanted, the house of the greatest wizard of the last century, Albus Dumbledore.
But like elementary school, some girls had taken issue with her and her enthusiasm in class among other things, even worse they were her room mates, they could get away with much more with them sharing the same space, and when you add magic to the bullying, it was bad.
it began subtly, an elusive smell that clung to Hermione's clothes and possessions. A mixture of foul scents permeated her surroundings. The source? Small dung bombs, set to go off periodically, in classes, during the great hall and in the common room humiliating and confusing Hermione, who had never heard of them.
Then there were the silent stinging hexes during classes, ones that went unnoticed by the teacher, but left her wincing, her shampoo was switched out for a magical one that made her hair itchy, causing her to itch incessantly the whole day, as people looked at her weirdly.
The final straw was her books, they had all been filled with insults, similar to the ones she had heard during school, and she had run away in a fit and had sobbed, wanting to be alone.
Then he found her.
He didn't speak up, rather he snorted.
She had looked up confused to find Harry Potter, the brother to the Boy-Who-Lived, and a Slytherin. Angry and sadness temporarily forgotten, she had snapped at him.
"Do you think this is funny!?" She had angrily demanded.
"Yes."
"Of course, you would find it funny you slimy Slytherin!"
In hindsight her insults were childish, but in her defense, she was 11.
Another snort sounded out, as Potter then proceeded to walk up to her, scaring her slightly, he was a pariah, and he didn't care, it creeped everyone out, to be alone and to be content meant being different and when you were different you were a target, but the first time they targeted him was the last.
He had walked up to the laughing Gryffindor and punched him, the Gryffindor was a 2nd year, but it didn't matter as he fell from the hit, Harry then straddling his downed body, he punched again and again till he was dragged off by a couple of passing third years.
He was scary and she regretted insulting him.
But contrary to her expectation he sat down next to her and seemed to be picking his words.
"You're smart Granger, don't be ashamed of it or take shit because of it, approach this logically as well, why would they target the girl that's raking in the points for their house, is magically talented and clearly smarter than them."
She had been shocked and had gaped at him. He had cocked an eyebrow and smirked at her, "We're not friends Granger, and we probably never will be but stand up for yourself."
With that he had walked away, and she had taken his advice, maybe a little too well. Things changed, she might have gone too far, one day they had been bullying her, the other the hospital wing had two new recipients. She had been reading relentlessly ever since she entered the magical world, and she knew some nasty stuff.
The aftermath had been messy, super messy, she had been called to the headmaster's office where thankfully they heard out the full story and with students coming forward to attest her words, she had gotten away with a point deduction and detention
When Parvati and Lavender had come back, they had been fearful, and Hermione was quite ashamed to admit she enjoyed the fear.
Hermione reminiscing was forcefully interrupted by an irate Madam Pince, "I've been calling you for more than a minute Ms. Granger, the Library closes early today, get out NOW," she ended off screaming as Hermione scampered out of the library, getting her apologies in the meanwhile, it was never a good idea to get on the bad side of the librarian when you spent as much time in a library as she did.
Palming a letter, she walked towards the Owlery, it was her weekly one to her Parents, they found it quite fascinating that an owl could deliver her mail and they could send it back the same way and they had bought her Jessie, her owl.
Climbing the winding steps to the owlery, she was surprised to see a familiar figure there. He gave no signs of seeing her as she stared at his side profile, he had a strong jaw and his cheek bones were high and stood out even from an unfavourable angle, his nose was sharp and even.
"You want anything Granger?" asked Harry Potter and she flushed in embarrassment, knowing she was caught in the act.
That changed though when she saw him bring up a cigarrette to his lips and take a puff.
"Is that a cigarette?!" Hermione was not happy.
"Mhm."
"That's not good for you, cigarettes can stain teeth, causing yellowing and discoloration. Additionally, smoking is a major risk factor for various forms of oral cancer, posing a serious threat to both dental health and overall well-being." Parroted Hermione.
Harry turned to give her a flat look, "you memorized that too?" but Hermione was not to be stopped as she stared back at him.
Grunting, Harry turned back to take a puff, but his cigarette was spelled out of his hand into Hermione's as she looked at him unimpressed.
"Oi, Idiot, the cigarette's charmed, they have vaporized calming draughts and some herbs to negate the taste and smell, can't you tell it smells different, and look there'll be a small SP logo on the side.
Hermione looked down at the cigarette and found that he wasn't lying, everything he said would be there was there.
The cigarette whizzed out of Hermione hands and into Harry's, who resumed smoking the cigarette
"Where did you get that that?" questioned a curious Hermione as she walked past him to attach the letter to her owl Jessie, she then paused for a second and whirled around, "wait scratch that, why do you of all people need a cigarette to calm you down?"
Harry paused and turned around for the first time shooting her a bemused look, "I didn't think you thought so highly off me, surprisingly I also need to relax sometimes."
"Liar."
Harry was surprised at the blunt response, "what?"
"You like to go jogging to relax, usually early in the morning."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that, "bit of a stalker aren't you, Granger."
"No, I'm just observative." Stated Hermione matter-of-factly, inwardly praying he didn't see her cheeks redden, and when he turned around to take another puff, she let out a small sigh of relief.
"Aren't you just, anyways, I'll give it to you, you're right. This is more than just me casually relaxing." Before Hermione could question him, Harry moved on, "and I made the cigarette."
It worked, as Hermione's confusion was evident in her voice "What! How'd you get the potions and herb to balance out and not clash, how do you keep the potion vaporized with it having an extremely high boiling point?"
Harry's smirk was easy to see even if he wasn't looking at her, "I was kidding."
"Haha." mocked Hermione looking at Harry flatly.
"You don't have to sound too enthused Granger."
"I'm not."
"I usually have the opposite effect you know."
"Jump off the rail, dumbass."
Harry laughed slightly, surprising Hermione; it was her first time hearing him laugh. "Is everything okay Harry, you seem a little... unusual today."
"Of course, I'm taking the time to talk to you aren't I."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it, and this is hardly the first time we've talked."
"Hmm, you're right, you do tend to make yourself a nuisance quite often."
"Hardly, it's you who appears wherever I just so happen to need to go."
Harry laughed again and this time Hermione gaped, it was a proper laugh. "You know you're not so bad Granger."
He left before Hermione could recover, as unbeknownst to her a smile forced its way on her face as she stared at his leaving back.
The Great Hall
The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second
feast in two days, she was curious who would get picked, like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, and the standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, Hermione looked to her side to see her two friends, Rory and Ron.
Ron was still shovelling as much food as he could while Rory was chatting with Lee Jordan. They were two of her three friends in her year, and along with Neville. Their relationship was hallmarked by what happened in their first year, and for a time after it they were her closest friends, but they had drifted apart after that, their interests never really aligning.
There was a thump to her left as Katie Bell sat down and stole her last sausage with a grin, Hermione glared at her but before she could respond, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone.
Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored. "Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" -
he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions." He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness.
The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting…A few people kept checking their watches… "Angelina, Angelina, Angelina," chanted Katie under her breath."
The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. The next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it – the whole room gasped.
Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.
"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."
"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Hermione saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.
"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"
The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.
"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"
"Ah that's her, the veela girl, isn't it?" Katie asked turning to Hermione, who frowned but nodded, "I think so," as the girl who so resembled a veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.
"They're all disappointed aren't they." Mused Rory out loud as he looked over the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. "Disappointed" was an understatement, Hermione thought. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.
When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next…
And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.
"The Hogwarts champion," he called, but then Dumbledore paused, and Hermione's gut churned as Dumbledore seemed to glance over to the Slytherin table, Hermione's mind instantly jumped back to her conversation with Harry.
He had changed the subject smoothly then, but now she wished she had asked him, because there was no way, right? the time it took Dumbledore to announce the champion seemed to drag on and on, it felt like eternity had passed before he looked down heavily at the Slytherin's table.
He rose before his name was called, even as every eye in the hall turned to stare at him.
"Harry Potter."