Hermione spent the majority of the previous night reading about a vanishing spell as a way to discard her used nappies without her housemates knowing. She read about the transfiguration spell Evanesco, which essentially transported an object into non-being, which was to say, everything. This spell however was incredibly difficult and as Hermione had not had a single transfiguration class yet, she decided it was almost impossible for her to learn it overnight. She then decided that she would use the bathroom bin and hoped nobody in her dormitory ever noticed.
Waking up and climbing out of bed, she saw Ellie was already dressed and ready for breakfast, Hermione smiled and said good morning before heading off to the bathroom. Hermione entered a stall and removed her pull-up, which as she was used to by now, was soaked through. Hermione placed it in the bin and crossed her fingers. She then put her Pyjama bottoms back on and washed her hands. She brushed her teeth and went back into the bedroom to get dressed. Hermione picked out a pair of black pants, and a matching vest top. She undressed from her pyjamas and tried to put her underwear on as quickly as possible to eliminate the chance of anyone seeing her body, as she was not yet as body-confident as her peers were. Hermione then pulled on her school skirt, her white blouse and grey stockings. She tied her tie, which had now transitioned into the scarlet and gold stripes of Gryffindor, and finally, she placed her cloak on the end of her bed to wear as she went to breakfast.
"Sleep well?" Ellie asked.
"Yes, quite," Hermione responded.
"Well that's good, I guess the others want a lay in," Ellie laughed as she nodded towards the others.
Hermione and Ellie, headed downstairs to the common room where they saw Fred and George bewitching the fireplace to curse at passerbys. The two sat down in the armchairs and waited for the others before heading down to breakfast.
The group of Gryffindor first years all walked together to Breakfast, they walked up and down corridors, descending staircases to find the Great Hall. Anytime they passed a group of people, mumrurs and whispered about Harry Potter circulated around the group. Harry was clearly becoming more and more irritated by this. Eventually, they concluded that the stairs must have playing tricks on them, as despite only descending stairs, they passed the same statue three times and Lavender could swear they were on the seventh floor at one point. Ron decided to heckle a portrait to find out where they were, "Oi! big nose! Where in the bloody hell is the great hall? I'm starving."
The portrait tutted and Hermione apologised. They finally found the marble staircase they ascended the previous night, and to everyone's delight, arrived at the great hall.
After breakfast, Hermione checked her timetable and saw she Herbology first thing, with the Ravenclaws. They walked across to the Greenhouse and met Professor Sprout, a dumpy little witch who screatched about the care of magical plants. Hermione learnt about Devil's Snare, and it's constricting abilities. It evolved at a similar time to the Boa Constrictor, but along the plant genus, it's only downside was it's photosensitive properties, which made it allergic to light. Hermione assumed that's why it evolved to eat animals as it was unable to photosynthesize.
The rest of Hermione's first week was mostly the same, lessons learning about different strains of Magic and skills, they had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.
Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight. Hermione was fed up of Harry Potter being treated as a celebrity when all he really was, was a sweet young boy trying to hide from his own fame.
Hermione had managed to stay incontrol of her bladder during the day, thankfully however was still regularly wetting the bed at night, something she was now very used to, and had devised a simple ruitine to dispose of nappies without her dormitory noticing.
Professor McGonagall;s classes were again different. Hermione learnt quickly to pay attention and take notes without cutting any corners, McGonagall was not a witch you should cross.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle, just like how Percy had explained. By the end of the lesson, Hermione had just about to change the match's shape and colour, to a pointed silvery object but was very much still made of wood. However, as the only student to make any difference in her match, Hermione received an incredibly rare smile from Professor McGonagall.
Hermione learnt that there were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and the suits of Armour would roam around regularly.
The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop bin rubbish on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"
Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Filch would always tell off students who were in the wrong place, he often threatened to hang students by the thumbs in the dungeon or make them scrub the bottom of the lake.
Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.
Hermione's Defense Against the Dark Arts classes were particularly interesting, not because of the subject, but Professor Quurrel's poor level of teaching. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went. Therefore, Hermione decided that Defence Against The Dark Arts was a skill she'd have to learn on her own in the library, not in Quirrell's lessons.
By Friday, Hermione had fully settled into her routine, she would wake up, clean herself and get rid of her nighttime protection, get dressed and go for Breakfast. She had written directions in the back of her diary so that she couldn't get lost, but unlike her directions, the route changed fairly regularly as corridors decided they want to lead somewhere new on days that end with a "Y".
There was only one lesson, and one teacher Hermione had not yet met, that was Potions with Professor Snape. Over breakfast, the Gryffindors discussed Snape's alleged favourtism of Slytherin students which Hermione found very difficult to believe, but would be able to confirm or deny it later on as Slytherin was the house they shared their potions lessons with.
Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder there than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.
Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.
"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new -- celebrity."
Not wanting to be seen to defend Harry, Hermione did think to herself that he was only famous because of other people, he didn't necessarily DO anything to make him famous. But Hermione kept her opinions to herself, she noticed Snape had a gruge against Harry and she didn't want that to extend to herself. Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands as Harry's name was mentioned. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," Snape began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word -- like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." This speech was followed by a deep silence. The sort of silence that felt loud, Hermione's ears twitched as she looked up at Snape. She knew this wasn't a lesson she would be allowed to nip to the toilet during so hoped that her bladder would hold out.
"Potter!" said Snape snapped suddenly, making Hermione jump and grab her crotch as she felt a dampness in her knickers. Luckily the surprise caused only a small leak, but Hermione was worried it might show through onto her skirt, wet knickers was a horrific uncomfort but was easily preferable to the embarrassment of a damp patch on her skirt. Especially in front of Draco Malfoy. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Snaped continued.
"Powdered root of what to an infusion of what?" Harry muttered. Hermione knew the answer immediately, as she'd read it during her summer reading. A powerful sleeping potion can be made from these two simple ingredients known as Drought Of The Living Dead. Asphodel is a strain of the lily plant that has magical properties that are awakened when in contact with natural herbs such as wormwood, Hermione read about potion ingredients and learnt most of their various properties.
"I don't know, sir," said Harry. responded Snape.
Snape's lips curled into a sneer.
"Tut, tut -- fame clearly isn't everything."
He ignored Hermione's hand.
"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
Again, Hermione put her hand up as she knew a bezoar, was a stone found down the back of a goats throat that worked as an antidote to standard poisons.
"I don't know, sir."
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"
Hermione defienetly had read a book, She read Magical Herbs and Fungi four times in total, as it linked to Herbology and Potion making so served as a valuable resource for her research.
"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
Once more, Hermione knew the answer, she was bursting to tell Professor Snape, that in raising her hand, the rest of her body literally rose up with it, She knew there was no difference, they're exactly the same! In all this desperation, she felt even more pee fill into her knickers and turned slightly red with embarrassment, hoping nobody could tell.
"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"
The Gryffindors laughed as Hermione, instantly humbled sat back down in her seat and bowed her head to hide eye-contact with everyone. Her damp panties making her feel even more uncomfortable.
Sit down," Snape shouted at Hermione, despite the fact she was now already sat down. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." There was a pause. "Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
The room was filled with the sound of scratching quills, Snape took a point away from Gryffindor for Harry's incompetence, but Hermione felt this was somewhat unfair. Yes, Harry was entirely clueless but Hermione knew that she might have been the only one in the class who knew any of those answers. If Snape had picked on Malfoy, would there be the same response?
Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. Hermione was partnered with Lavender Brown, who had no clue about how to light a gas fire, something even muggles are competent and doing. Snape swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.
"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"
Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.
"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus.
Snape then seemed to blame Harry for this event, Hermione kept her head down and continued the potion.
An hour later, the class ended and Hermione walked back up to the common room with Ellie. As soon as they climbed through the portraight whole, Hermione muttered to Ellie, "Need the loo," and ran upstairs whilst Ellie took a seat by the fireplace.
Hermione ran into the bathroom in the dormitory, seeing that one of the stalls was occupied, she assumed one of her dorm-mates was also back from lessons. Hermione went into the end stall and pulled off her panties and saw how soaked they indeed where, she then assessed her skirt and to her relief it was entirely dry. Hermione then went about her business and stuffed her soaked underwear into her pocket to place in the laundry. she walked back to the bedroom comando, hoping her skirt stayed low below her bum. As Hermione then walked to the laundry basket to throw her panties in, she heard the bathroom door open and close. Quickly, Hermione threw in her underwear and turned back to her bed.
"Oh, Hi Hermione," Pavarti said.
"Heya Pavarti, how was your day?" Hermione said, hoping Pavarti couldn't see the soaked underwear she just deposited.
"It was good, and you?" Pavarti responded.
"Yeah pretty good, except for Snape, you know."
"Yeah, that lesson was awful!" Pavarti agreed. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
Hermione turned red, "Umm yeah sure, what is it?"
"Ok well this may be a bit personal, but do you have like... bladder problems?"
Hermione felt a rush of embarrassment. "Yeah, that is a bit personal, your right." Hermione said back, trying not to bring the conversation further.
Pavarti sat down on Hermione's bed, next to her, and placed her hand on her knee. "Hey, its okay you know, its not a big problem."
Hermione's eyes started to whimper. "How did you find out? and how long have you known?"
"So you do? Thats ok, I'm here for you Hermione." Pavarti said reasuringly.
She was glad someone was now in the know and could support her, perhaps this would be the beginning of a friendship? "Thanks Pavarti, I find it difficult, you know, trying to hide my problem from people, especially boys."
"Yeah, but boys suck Hermione. And to answer your question, I guessed the other night when I woke up and sort of, saw you alseep, and your covers had fallen off. I didn't want to intrude, but I tuned my light on to read my book for a while and noticed your Pyjamas were damp."
Hermione felt so embarrassed now, she thought her pull-ups she wore at night would be leak-proof but evidentally not.
"And today in Potions confirmed it, I was sat behind you with Pansy Parkinson. We both noticed you cup your hand to your bum suddenly and then you sat down. She thought maybe you farted but after the other night I figured out what was going on."
Tears were falling from Hermione's face by now, she sobbed. "Does anyone else know?"
"Not at all Hermione! It's safe with me, now should we get you some dry knickers? I noticed what you put in the laundry."
Hermione just sort of nodded as she cried. Pavarti opened Hermione's drawer and pulled out the first pair of pants she saw, a pair of plain white cotton ones.
"go on, I wont look." She said as she turned her back. Hermione picked up the pair of panties and slid them on under her skirt. she shimied and made sure they were up over her bum properly.
"Done" She said as Pavarti turned back around.
"Hey, Hermione. Perhaps you should tell the other girls, just so we can help you keep i a secret from the boys, and that way you don't have to keep sneaking off to the bathroom to change, you can do it right here?"
Hermione dried her eyes, Pavarti was right it Would be better to let the other girls know, but she didn't really want to be the one to tell them. "C-can y-you tell them for me, P-Pavarti?" Hermione sobbed.
"Of cause sweetie. How about later on tonight? if you stay in the common room a bit longer and I'll tell the others when they come up here?2
Hermione was pleased that it would now be out in the open, it did mean that hiding her nappies would become a lot less necessary, and perhaps finally she could make some friends. With this thought in mind, she headed down to the common room to sit with Ellie, but ellie wasn't there. Clearly she had somewhere more important to be, so Hermione headed to the Library instead.
Hermione found an empty desk and pulled her copy of Hogwarts: A History out of her bag. She had just got to the section where Dubmledore becomes headmaster, replacing a man called Armando Dippet. Hermione then saw on the desk, a copy of The Daily Prophet newspaper, the frontpage headline read,
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.
Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.
"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.
Hermione found this very peculiar, Gringotts was never broken into, at least not regularly anyway. The fact that it was considered to be a job by a dark witch or wizard, made Hermione think that danger was on the rise. Hogwarts had always been a safe place, even during the wizarding wars, but sometimes bad things happen, and Hermione hoped that whoever it was would not come to Hogwarts.
She finished three more chapters of Hogwarts: A History before feeling too tired to read any more, she went up to the Gryffindor tower via the great hall to have a bowl of pasta for tea. When she arrived in her dormitory, all the other girls where sat on their beds waiting for them.
"Its okay Hermione, we know." Lavender said, "It isn't an issue, we just want to help you, these things happen.
Hermione then heard Ellie snigger, she looked at her but Ellie tried her best to avoid eye-contact. "And?" Hermione said, in a slightly harsher tone than she anticipated.
Ellie laughed again, "yeah its completely fine nobody cares."
Hermione felt hurt that the one person she was closest to in the group was the only one laughing, but the supposed Ellie was just in shock. Hermione then got her Pyjamas on and began getting ready for bed.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Ellie said, teasingly.
"Im quite sure I don't know what your on about." Hermione said back to her.
"Your Nappy!" ellie laughed even more, this time Lavender and Pavarti also chuckled.
"My What?" Hermione said, trying to dodge the truth.
"Theres no point hiding it, we found a back of baby nappies in you bag! you wear Pampers!" Ellie screamed in laughter, as she threw the pack of nappies at Hermione. Hermione grabbed the back quickly and ran off into the toilets crying, she knew that telling them was a bad idea. Ellie was now making fun of her, and they all knew she couldn't hold her wee properly. A moment or so later, Lavender walked in.
"Hey Hermione, you in there?" Lavender's voice said as she knocked on the cubicle door. "look, Ellie's being horrible, Pavarti and I don't give a damn about any of this, I know it's embarrassing and I wish I could say i understand what it's like..."
Hermione opened the door, still holding the bag of pampers ellie through at her. She smiled at Lavender and mouthed the word, "Thanks."
"That's okay," Lavender responded with, "Hey, don't you need one of them before bed?"
"I'll be fine." Hermione lied.
"C'mon, it cant be that bad? just pop one on to be safe?"
"I said I'll be fine Lavender!" Hermione snapped. "You have no idea what it's like, I cant control any of it, sometimes accidents just happen so I've got to wear these stupid things!". Hermione's grief had turned to aggression by now.
"Okay, your right Hermione, I'm sorry. I don't know what it's like. But I can tell you need those pampers, so you really should get one on."
"Shut up Lavender! your no better than Ellie!"
"No, you're right, I'm sorry Hermione, why don't I go get your Pyjamas for you and you can change in here?"
Hermione nodded as Lavender left the room, she came back a second later with Hermione's pyjamas in her hands, as well as her own, and a bottle of talcum powder.
"Here" Lavender said as she handed Hermione the bottle of talc and her Pyjamas.
"You have no idea how embarrassing this is for me." Hermione said back to her.
"No, your right, I don't, so I'm gonna find out."
"What?" Hermione said as confusion crossed her face, Lavender then grabbed the bag of nappies from Hermione, and took two out. "One for you, one for me, deal?" Lavender said.
"Urrr sure? why do you need one?" Hermione pondered.
"To prove to you that we're both Gryffindors and we're brave no matter what, and we're also strong friends. So I'm gonna wear one of these tonight too, and stuff those other two in there." She pointed at the door.
Hermione was glad, Lavender was being genuinely supportive, and even offered to wear a nappy too so Hermione was not alone. Hermione then shut the cubicle door again and hanged into her new nappy and pyjamas, folding up her clothes and hiding the white cotton pants she had been wearing under her jumper in the pile of clothes. She then emerged from the cubicle in her pyjamas to see lavender had not bothered to go into an empty cublice to change, but was stood in the middle of the bathroom struggling to tape up the nappy which was now lifted around her waist.
"Ugh, not like that!" Hermione said, "Lay down on the sid there and I'll do it." Hermione tapped the bathroom countertop. She couldn't quite believe what she was about to do but somehow didn't care, by now she was sprinkling talc over her roommates crotch and taping a nappy onto her. Hermione tried not to look too closely at Lavender's girl's region nor at her rear, but a certain amount of glancing came accidentally. Lavender was clearly slightly behind Hermione in puberty as she had little to know hair around her body, Hermione thought nothing of it and finished taping up her nappy. She then instinctively helped dress Lavender in her pyjamas and the two of them waddled slightly back into the bedroom. There was a slight sound of rustling coming from the both of them as they climbed into their four-posters. Hermone winked at Lavender as she then turned to face Ellie, gave her a dirty looks and sublty pointed her wand at her, Hermione then whispered the word, Urinoctre. and then slumped back on her pillow to fall asleep.
It had been an eventful first week but it was finally the weekend. Hermione was pleased but knew she would miss being in some of her classes. The worst part of the week all happened today, Snape's ridiculous teaching approach followed by a humiliation in front of her roommates, But Hermione had now got her own back with a small hex she cast on Ellie. It was possibly a betrayal of friendship, but Hermione decided no friends is better than a friend like Ellie who makes fun of you at your weakest moment. The hex would ensure it wouldn't happen again, and no bladder-based rumours would circle the school because of Midgen.