Saviour of Magic

Parents and Children

No, that title had gone to Daphne Greengrass. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, had never returned to their class after the Christmas holidays. He had been accepted into the accelerated program at the school. Hermione knew that the boy must have done it only through his fame, for how could he have been offered that chance while she hadn't? She was one of the top students in her year! She could practically recite her textbook word for word! And yet, she had not been offered the chance to be enrolled in the accelerated program. It frustrated her to no end when she stood third in their year. In her Muggle school, she was always first, and she hadn't been able to digest this fact.

As the years passed, her irritation at Harry Potter only grew. No matter what she tried, she could never beat him. He had swiftly proved her wrong to show that he did indeed qualify for the accelerated program by standing first in every exam. Even those who were most vocal about their displeasure in him being in the program had quieted down as Potter had won the respect of the older students. By the time she was a fourth year, the boy who was younger by ten months was a seventh-year student.

However, that was when the two of them began scraping shields. When Hermione found out about the existence of house-elves, she had been horrified. Never had she realised that Hogwarts was home to more than a hundred slaves! She had gone to the library and read about house-elves and realised that such slavery had existed for centuries! Wanting to help those poor creatures, she began hiding clothes in various parts of Gryffindor Tower, hoping that the abused creatures would be set free due to her actions.

That was when Harry Potter had decided to show what a bigoted person he really was. She had actually made progress, freeing a few of the Hogwarts house-elves, and Potter had revealed to her that he had re-bonded the elves back to the castle. She had been apoplectic, and the situation only went downhill. Hermione couldn't understand how Potter could ever think the magical world was as advanced as the Muggle world. From her perspective, everything was so backward! Their culture was barbaric, and they never wanted to accept the new changes that Muggles were coming up with! She had passionately spoken about Muggle-borns, only for Potter to contradict her with names of famous Muggle-borns who had achieved greatness. For everything she said, he had countered with another claim about the so-called magnificence of the magical world.

Her annoyance with Potter never stopped. When You-Know-Who had returned, Ron and Ginny's mother had invited her to stay with the Weasleys for the summer for protection. Her parents had gone abroad during the holidays, so she had happily accepted the offer. She was ecstatic when she found out that the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix was in one of the Black family properties with a library inside. Unfortunately, she had been unable to get in, despite trying repeatedly. She had been annoyed by Dylan Lestrange's statement about only family members being able to enter, but that was not what drove her over the edge.

How was it that purebloods could perform magic during the holidays while Muggle-borns like her could not? It was fundamentally wrong! The law couldn't be selective, could it? Naturally, Potter being the pureblood bigot that he was, had been quick to point out that the law only existed for the protection of witches and wizards, and that it only applied to children living in Muggle areas. Hermione was not convinced. It sounded like a sham to her. Who else other than Muggle-borns would live in Muggle areas? The law essentially forced the Muggle-borns to remain downtrodden while purebloods could perform magic at their leisure. What annoyed her most was that Potter would convince everyone who was listening that he was always right and that whatever he spouted had absolutely nothing to do with blood purity at all!

She knew that it was a lie.

The Dark Arts ... that was when Hermione saw the true face of Harry Potter. While she had grudgingly admitted that Daphne Greengrass' move had been smart in creating the Defence Association, she had been appalled when Potter taught them the Blood-Boiling Curse and the Organ-Liquefying Curse. Those curses were never taught in class. She found Potter very irresponsible in teaching so many students how to cast it. Those curses were classified as the Dark Arts for a reason, and it could have consequences in the future.