HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Granger,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1st September. Due to your extenuating circumstances, the Ministry of Magic requires you to have one-to-one mentoring and you will be admitted into fifth-year in order to complete your Ordinary Wizarding Levels.
Should you accept our offer of enrolment Professor Cuthbert Binns, your mentor, will meet you upon arrival. We await your owl by no later than 31st July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall.
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress.
Maddy turned the letter over to read the other side.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
Fifth-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
5. A set of leather shoes (black)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
A History of Magic (Extended Edition) by Bathilda Bagshot
Atlas of Celestial Anomalies by M. P. N. Carneirus
Defence Against the Dark Arts (Second Edition) by Professor Galatea Merrythought
Intermediate Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
Upper-Intermediate Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Magical Homeopathy and Herbal Medicine by Phyllida Spore
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 5) by Miranda Goshawk
Students are required to select two specialist subjects for their O. W. L. examinations: Divination, Runes, Magical Care, Arithmancy, Magical Theory, Muggle Studies.
Depending on preferences two of the following are required:
All Theories and Practises of Standard Divination by Cassandra Vablatsky
Ancient Runes Made Harder by Laurenzoo
Fantastic Beasts and How To Care For Them by Newt Scamander
Past and Present Theories on Arithmancy by Lukas Karuzos
Standard Practise of Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
The Lifestyle of a Modern Muggle in Britain by Wilhelm Wigworthy
Recommended reading materials:
Achievements in Charming by Sameera Hanifus
Rune Dictionary (Standard Edition)
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 broom (for continued flying lessons or Quidditch)
1 potion-making kit (O. W. L. standard)
1 telescope
1 wand
Students may also bring, if they desire, a companion of their choosing. Beasts and dangerous creatures are expressly forbidden. You are reminded that the care of your chosen companion is your responsibility and yours alone.
Yours sincerely,
Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus.
Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus
Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions
Maddy looked over to her sister who was intently reading her own letter from Hogwarts. She peered over Hermione's shoulder to take a peak.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Granger,
It gives us great pleasure to inform you, as a seventh-year student, that you shall be granted the opportunity to either participate in the Wizarding Schools Potions Championship at Mahoutokoro School of Magic in Japan or the Triwizard Tournament at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France.
In accordance with the Ministry of Magic, all competing students shall be excused from their Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test examinations. However, you are warned not to take admission into these magically binding competitions lightly. Those who do not make the select few chosen to compete will complete their school year abroad and remain to proudly support our school and their colleagues.
Term begins on 1st September.
You will not be required to make a decision to compete in either games until after the start of term.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall.
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
Seventh-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
5. A set of leather shoes (black)
6. Formal dress robes (wizards)
7. Formal dress gowns (witches)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
You are required to have a copy of each of the following:
Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts (Revised Edition) by Professor Galatea Merrythought
A Guide to Specialised Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
Herbology: Advanced Specialist Guide by Phyllida Spore
New Theories on Arithmancy by Lukas Karuzos
Specialised Rune Translation by Yuri Blishen
Specialist-Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 7) by Miranda Goshawk
Recommended reading materials:
Advanced Charm Casting by Eulalie Hicks
Exotic Plant and Herb Encyclopaedia by Ila Udbhida
Rune Dictionary (Specialist Edition)
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 broom (for continued flying lessons or Quidditch)
1 potion-making kit (N. E. W. T. standard)
1 travel permit (for those wishing to enter the Wizarding Schools Potions Championship or the Triwizard Tournament)
1 wand
Students may also bring, if they desire, a companion of their choosing. Beasts and dangerous creatures are expressly forbidden. You are reminded that the care of your chosen companion is your responsibility and yours alone.
Yours sincerely,
Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus.
Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus
Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions
Hermione reread her letter from Hogwarts. Then she found her eyes glued to the first page.
…you shall be granted the opportunity to either participate in the Wizarding Schools Potions Championship at Mahoutokoro School of Magic in Japan or the Triwizard Tournament at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France.
She reread it again. And again. And again. Every time her eyes slid over the words her heart would pound just a little harder. There was an electric current currently coursing through her bloodstream. It made her slightly short of breath.
The Wizarding Schools Potions Championship?
Those only occur every seven years!
And the Triwizard Tournament?
There hasn't—there hasn't been one of those since—since fucking ages…
"Why do you look like you've just discovered how to brew the Elixir of Life?" Maddy asked slowly with mild concern.
"Because, Madds, two of the most prestigious scholastic wizarding competitions happen to fall on the same year…" Hermione responded without tearing her eyes away from her Hogwarts's letter.
"Oh, which one will you be entering?" Maddy asked.
"Easy. The Wizarding Scho—" Hermione cut herself off.
She blinked.
Then turned to Maddy. Maddy, who had just been adopted into her family after the tragic loss of her own—and was having nightmares about it. Maddy, who barely knew a measure of magic and who was looking at her with such innocently curious and slightly naive soft, dark eyes. Maddy, her sister.
"I can't," Hermione finally said.
Maddy frowned, "Why not?"
Hermione took a sharp breath in and jolted up straight in her chair. She brashly folded her letter and slipped it back into its original home. Forcing her short-lived thrill back into the cream envelope as well.
"Because you need me." She simply stated.
"No I don't." Maddy disagreed. When Hermione turned her head sharply toward her she quickly added, "I'll have Professor Binns." And pointed to the main body of her letter.
Hermione snatched the pages of Maddy's letter out of her hand and read through them again.
"Mh," she hummed as she scanned the contents. "Binns as a mentor? That's a one-way ticket into the afterlife."
"What—why?" Maddy asked with great alarm.
"Because the man will bore you to death—hm, I have all the textbooks you're required to have—do you have an idea of what you want to specialise in?" Hermione asked.
"Wait," Maddy said reaching over to reclaim her Hogwarts letter. "We need to discuss this Hermione."
"There's nothing to discuss Madds. I can't leave you. Not after everything you've been through and not with everything you're going to have to go through—and are going through." She explained.
Maddy shook her head.
"Hermione I won't be the one getting in between you and your future. These competitions are highly prestigious—correct? Well, you're in your final year of school—do you know how much they could help you career-wise?"
"Of course, I do." Hermione said. Then she muttered, "If You-Know-Who doesn't cock up the world before I can properly live in it…"
"Then do it—whichever one you want to enter. Please." Maddy insisted. "You said it yourself—you're off to the greatest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world."
Hermione frowned and said, "I don't sound remotely like that—and I'll remind you that I also said you have the greatest witch the school has ever known to tutor you."
"Yes, and you can tutor me the whole summer, then once I get to Hogwarts I'll be in excellent hands—the greatest." Maddy said.
Hermione eyed her for a moment. A tense moment where her mind whizzed and zapped through her thoughts. Maddy seemed to lean in closer and closer with each passing second Hermione remained contemplatively silent.
"No." Hermione finally said.
Maddy let out an exasperated sigh.
"You're a Granger now—and more importantly my sister—if you're not going to be an O-grade student—then you're going to be outstanding in at least one subject." Hermione said with a finality that Maddy could not argue with. "Magical education or not. I will not abandon you."
Maddy picked up her cup of coffee and took a sip.
"From what you described the Gryffindors to be like, you sound an awful lot like one of them…" Maddy grumbled into her mug.
A smirk played upon Hermione's lips.
"You can thank Harry and Ron for that." She said. "Right, I think today I'll be running to Diagon Alley to send your letter of acceptance—whilst I'm gone I expect you to read fours chapters from the spell book. When I get back we'll put the theory into practice."
"But what about everything I need to buy before term starts?" Maddy asked.
Hermione waved a hand in her direction and casually said, "Oh, we can get those anytime—what we can't get is more time to tutor you."
Being a Monday morning on a summer's day Diagon Alley was not bustling as it usually did on weekends, but it was full of young families and children nonetheless. Hermione expertly wove past huddles of adolescents deep in conversation completely oblivious to the world around them. And as she steered through the small crowds of teenagers she could not help but think back to the times Harry, Ron and her had done the exact same. Only, their conversations had not been filled with talk of who was snogging who or which Quidditch team would thrash which Quidditch team in the next games. Theirs had been about the rise of Voldemort and whom was scheming to do harm to whom.
A small group of sixth-year girls Hermione recognised from school—who were of every house but Slytherin—walked in front of her talking loudly and unabashedly.
"I want to go to on the exchange trip! That way I can find a fit Frenchman to tutor me." Said the blonde.
Her auburn friend to her left frowned, but gave a knowing smirk as she said, "Whatever would you need a tutor for—you barely read and study as it is May and they're only allowing a select few of sixth years to go. The O-grade students…"
The blonde gave a wide grin and exclaimed, "But I want to practise my French."
"That's one great fib if ever I've heard one." Said the brunette.
The blonde and the auburn were suppressing sly smiles as they shared a knowing look with each other.
"That's because she wants to practise her French-kissing!" Said the auburn witch.
The gang of witches then exploded in a fit of giggles and Hermione could not help but shake her head as she suppressed a smile of her own and picked up her pace to over take them.
Once back in the Owl Post Office again she paid for a standard owl postage this time instead of an eagle. When she was done she came back out into the main alley way and found her feet unmoving. She should have been hurrying back home to continue with Maddy's tutoring, however, Hermione had something else on her mind. Against the better judgement of a small voice in the back of her head, Hermione found herself giving her back to the Leaky Cauldron's direction and walking further away from it. All the way, until she came up to Knockturn Alley.
The entrance way had undesirable posters posted all over the walls of known and suspected Death Eaters. Hermione slowly edged past the leering and manic faces screaming or laughing at her as she made her way into the disreputable alley. All the while she kept a sharp eye out for fellow Slytherin housemates. It was one thing being tyrannised at Hogwarts, quite another out in the open where Professor McGonagall could not protect her and Harry and Ron were not here.
Hermione took a silent breath in.
"It's alright." She breathed. "It's alright."
Knockturn Alley was nothing like its sister. She was unkept, dreary and within every one of her shadows lurked a creature. Rodent like or mad wizard like. Hermione made sure to maintain a closed off but confident posture as she walked. Her head was held up high defiantly but her arms were crossed over her chest defensively. Her leather loafers took her across the cobbled alley past E.L.M and Wizards Undertakers & Embalmers, past Ye Olde Curiosity Shop and up to The Starry Prophesier.
Like every other establishment, in this anything but fine quarter of Britain's wizarding world, the shop was uninviting. Its face was painted in aged, flaky aubergine wine. Its windows were frosted black so you could not see in, but a sign written on what looked to be drift wood clearly read: OPEN. The letters would rearrange themselves and increase in length as the sign would then read: TO TRUTH SEEKERS. Hermione eyed the shop as she walked past it. Walked past it and then too close to one of Knockturn Alley's shadows. A deranged witch jumped out from hiding.
Hermione gave a cry and jolted backwards in shock. Adrenaline spiked through her veins and made her skin prickle. One look at the old, shabby witch in threadbare attire, however, and Hermione's face of surprise turned into one of irritation.
"What's wrong with you?" She almost growled.
The stranger with half missing teeth and half silver teeth smiled up at her. Hermione really wished she would not. It made it hard not to cringe further away from her.
"You've been here before…" she said in a voice that sounded as if it had not spoken for a millennia.
Hermione looked down to the skeletal finger that the witch held up to her face. Held up too close to her face.
"Indeed." Hermione replied tersely. "Now if you'll excuse me."
But before she could turn away, the mad witch had more to say.
"You've been here before…you should not be here again..." She cackled darkly. Lowly.
Something about her words or the way she said them made Hermione nervous. Her eyes quickly scanned her surroundings. There was no one to be found spying on her, no one who was even paying attention to her or the probably homeless witch before her. Regardless she could not help it as a name rang through her skull, echoing in the dark.
Voldemort.
Hermione shook her head. Then jerked it back to the lady who had the hair of an abused Muggle Barbie doll.
"Neither should you," she snapped. "You should be in St. Mungo's. Now—good day."
Hermione turned away, but as she did the haggard witch croaked, "You shouldn't be here…none of you should! You've been here before…you shouldn't be here!"
Hermione picked up her pace and muttered darkly under her breath, "Blithering idiot."
Then before she knew it Hermione had taken herself straight into the establishment she had been meaning to visit. Right into it without a moment's hesitation. A crow squawked announcing her arrival and the door shut behind her. As soon as she realised what she had done, the heat from her prior encounter instantly subsided and left her alone and very conscious of the fact that she was standing in none other than the infamous Borgin and Burkes.
The shop smelled of dust and age—ancient age. It was dimly lit by the measly assistance of tarnished and contorted candelabras dotted here and there. A pair of eyes from a specimen Hermione could not name eyed her closely from a jar full of grimly opaque liquid. She shuffled to the side and very cautiously made her way further into the shop, avoiding the accidental brush against something that looked as if it should have been dead but was still moving. On top of everything, she could have sworn something from somewhere was whispering but she could not make out wha—
"Hello?"
Hermione jumped for the second time that day. Even if the voice had been warm in stark contrast to the dark magical artefacts surrounding her Hermione's hand had shot over her heart, wielding it to ease.
"Fucking hell." She murmured to herself.
She then dropped her hand and made her way—as casually as possible—in the direction of where the voice had come from. She came around a tall stack of books, splattered with what Hermione hoped was not what it looked like, and was met with—well, she could not put it in another way—the most magnificent looking young man she had ever laid eyes on. His head was down at first as the wizard seemed to be reading something. His stark, white-blonde hair was brushed backwards but a single chock of hair hung by his brow. His frame was tall and broad-shouldered but elegant in stature, as elegant as ballerina portraying a lost prince. Then he looked up.
"May I assist—"
His eyes were blue—no they were—
Hermione could not tell from this distance, but they were definitely startlingly bright. Apart from his black attire he did not belong in a place such as this.
He belongs in the royal ballet. A voice in Hermione's head whispered gently.
The fine wizard then opened his mouth again and said something that made Hermione wish she had not had the bright idea to step into Knockturn Alley at all.
"What are you doing here?" He asked. His voice was smooth, warm but surprised and not the good kind of surprised. "You're not supposed to be here."
Taken aback Hermione needed a second to register what had just happened as yet another stranger took her by the splendid element of surprise.
"I beg your pardon?" She said, unhappy with his audacity.
"I—you—" he closed the book in his hands then quickly said. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."
This made Hermione frown. Yes, this stranger was quite something to behold, but no, his character was not. Hermione could hear her best friend's voice, Ron, in her head.
Fucking lunatic. Is everyone in Knockturn Alley as barking mad as You-Know-Who's healer?
Hermione took a defiant step toward the counter the wizard was standing behind, her arms were crossed over her chest again.
"Is this how you treat all your customers?" She asked, unimpressed.
A soft frown formed across his magnificent features. And Hermione could tell what colour his eyes were now. They were silver. She had never seen silver eyes before. They were—they were nothing short of glorious to behold.
"You don't…well I suppose—fuck." He said. Then he leant against the counter and sighed heavily.
"I beg your pardon?" Hermione repeated. This time more sternly.
"Forgive me," he replied, suddenly switching character as his body language completely changed and melted into a new one. He was recomposed again. "I mistook you for someone else. May I assist you with something?"
"Yes," Hermione began, slowly, unconvinced by the shopkeepers mental sanity. "As a matter of fact you may."
Then she was self-conscious again. Her eyes flickered from his down to the wooden, black-stained counter and back to his again. He waited patiently. It made her more nervous.
She cleared her throat and asked, "You wouldn't happen to have a Pensieve would you?"
At her request the gentlewizard slowly blinked. There was a slight pause.
Then he gently said, in a very smooth voice, "I'm afraid not. We did have one up until recently—for many years—but it was sold."
Hermione tried not to show her displeasure. Her arms across her chest loosened as she breathed out.
"I see," she said with a softer tone. "Never mind then."
"You attend Hogwarts?" He suddenly asked.
Hermione raised a brow questioningly. "And you do not." She stated.
She most definitely would have remembered him if he had. Her along with everyone else at the school. The shopkeeper gave a graceful smile.
"I do not." He agreed. "Though I hear Hogwarts was left with a Pensieve by one of its founders was it not?"
Pause. As much as Hermione liked—or a little more than liked—the look of the unknown man before her, there was something about him that made her feel uncomfortable. That or she still had not got over their initial interaction—or her previous interaction with the other mad witch.
"I never said I went to Hogwarts." She said.
"True, but then how would you know I don't?" He asked.
Instead of replying Hermione just dragged her eyes across his impeccable pressed attire. Then back to his face. As if to say, it's obvious. He was smiling again. She was not.
"I see," he murmured smoothly.
Hermione watched his lips as the words left his mouth lowly. Then a bird's squawk interrupted their silence along with the scrape of an opening door accompanied by three voices.
"Yes, my mother was not happy to hear about that—"
Hermione's eyes widened.
Zabini. Fuck.
Registering the look upon her face the shopkeeper's smile vanished and he frowned.
"Whatever's th—"
"Shut up—" Hermione abruptly cut him off in a panic. "Pretend I'm not here." She whispered harshly.
Then she stepped back behind the tall stack of spoiled books and waited till the herd of three made their way closer toward her. Vincent Crabbe. Gregory Goyle. Blaise Zabini. She did not have time nor the care to check if the shopkeeper was doing as she had instructed. Instead she kept her eyes glued to the top of Zabini's buzzcut afro and his obnoxious smirking face. She made sure to keep hidden behind the rows of artefacts.
"Draco!" Called out Zabini in a friendly manner. "Merlin—aren't you exhausted? This place is positively bustling. I don't think I've ever seen Burkes so busy."
"Come to keep me company have you?" Draco replied sardonically.
Draco.
Hermione frowned. She had heard of that name before. But from where…? She expertly made her way back to the shop's front door as she ducked and hid behind cabinets, contraptions and the likes. She brought her wand out from her bag and pointed it toward the brass crow above the door.
Silencio A Parte.
She did the same to the front door so when she silently slipped out of Borgin and Burkes not a sound was made or anyone's attention caught. However, as the door ominously shut behind her without a creak of wood, it came to Hermione. The name. Ron had moaned and groaned about it for years, especially when it came to his father's work at the Ministry.
Malfoy. Draco Malfoy.
Hermione slowly turned around to stare at the shop's closed door with slight horror.
The son of a Death Eater.