Chapter 10: Discere doctrina
The boy’s foot faltered for just a moment, but it was the beginning of the end and soon he tumbled head over heels over shoelaces.
Books, quills, potion ingredients and even a small amount of Dragon Dung Fertiliser were spilled out of his bag and scattered over the stone floor of the Entrance Foyer. Leftover, loose Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans were squashed underfoot as the boy scrambled to hastily gather his belongings.
Hermione had watched this display as she was walking across the hall with Alice, Lily and Estrella. She quickly left the other girls to their conversation. Apparently none of them had noticed she was leaving, and she headed in the direction of the boy to help him.
Wordlessly, she levitated his belongings to him in several neat piles before vanishing the sweets that lay stuck to the floor.
The young boy thanked her while she skipped back over to join the conversation with the others, only they were no longer talking to one another. They were staring at Hermione, open mouthed, eyeballs following her as she moved back over to their little circle.
Hermione looked nervously from one girl to the next.
“What?” she asked, “Do I have food in my teeth? Is my skirt tucked into my knickers? Tell me why you are looking at me like you have just seen a thestral.”
“You levitated his books – all at once!” squeaked Alice.
“You vanished all the stuff on the floor!” spoke Estrella her mouth apparently refusing to shut in awe.
“You did it without saying a word,” said Lily, her emerald eyes narrowing.
Suddenly Hermione knew what they were talking about.
First years – even those who were advanced for their age – did not perform vanishing spells. Most could barely levitate a feather. No one could use non-verbal magic.
Hermione attempted to smooth it over without seeming suspicious.
“I did say the incantations, just not very loudly,” she lied.
Lily raised one auburn brow at Hermione, clearly not satisfied with her answer.
“That still does not explain the vanishing spell”
Hermione shrugged her shoulders in an attempt to appear nonchalant about the whole matter.
“I just practise. I find spells that seem interesting or useful and I practise them. There is nothing more to it.”
The girls appeared to believe her; however, Hermione remained frightened at their perceptions. She had been so close to unintentionally spilling her secret and it was not the first time something like this had happened.
Hermione remembered back to one of the first few weeks of term when she had slept late. She had thought she was alone in the bathroom when she had used magic to help herself get ready faster. Luckily, it was an older student in the bathroom with her - someone who did not know that she was only a First Year. However, she knew that she had to be so much more careful and much more conscious of her actions.
The girls continued on to their next class, however, Hermione remained deep in thought. There was only 12 weeks until their exams. Despite knowing the course absolutely and completely, she would need to devise a study guide and stick to it. It was all for keeping up appearances – she could not afford another slip up.
HPHPHPHPHPHP
Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.
Final exams were one week away. The strain had really begun to show on the students. Fifth-years were unceremoniously picking on Third-years as a reprieve from their upcoming OWL examinations. Fourth-years were attempting to set good study habits for their OWLs scheduled for the following year- attempting being the operative word. In contrast, First-years sat huddled in all corners of the library, pale faces occasionally peering over the tops of books that they could barely carry.
Sirius and James were, as with many things, the exception to the rule. This was mostly especially demonstrated during the exam period. While most students were awake until the wee hours of the morning studying, the boys burned the midnight oil by reading up on “Pranksters Best Guide to Doxy Eggs” and “Practical uses of Probity Probes for Practical Jokers”.
Hermione was forever at their side speaking in an admonished tone, or more often than not, shouting at them because they had turned her hair blue or because her uniform had miraculously turned bright pink.
“But I thought girls liked pink,” said Sirius, feigning shock.
“I don’t care what you thought Sirius Black! Don’t you dare smirk at him James Potter or I will write to Ma!”
“You wouldn’t?” said James, the smile sliding straight off his face. He still quite clearly remembered several of Ma’s threats. He was quite certain that Ma would be able to find a few new uses for Probity Probes that not even, “Practical uses of Probity Probes for the Practical Joker” couldn’t name.
“Won’t I?” snarled Hermione as she turned to rejoin her friends at the other end of the common room.
“She won’t write to Ma, will she?” questioned Sirius to Remus who was sitting next to him.
Remus, without looking up from his textbook, turned the page and merely shrugged his shoulders.
Sirius turned his worried expression over to Peter whose head had been perked up the entire time like a meerkat in an African savannah.
Sirius rolled his eyes at this and reclined his body into the armchair. He chanced a look over to James, who had adopted a similar position. The look on his face suggested that perhaps they should be more careful about pranking Hermione in the future. While they should have been grateful for Hermione’s salubrious presence, it was so much more fun to ruffle her usually soigné feathers.
HPHPHPHPHPHP
Exams were over and it was once again the summer holidays. Hermione could not believe that it had already been more than a year since she had arrived in this era.
Around the day of the 2nd of May, she had been rather moody and withdrawn. She had been overtaken by thoughts of her loved ones; however, the approaching summer holidays had worked their magic and lifted her spirits considerably.
These holidays proved to be quite similar to the ones before, but this time it was physically and emotionally much less painful for Hermione.
The frequency of her nightmares had greatly reduced and for the first time in her life she was able to let go a little and enjoy herself.
Granted the games were not as childish as the ones in the previous summer, and there was a greater need on the behalf of James and Sirius to impress, but there was an air of genuine joy surrounding the trio.
Remus and Peter were regular visitors to Potter Manor and the five of them were often seen traipsing the streets of the nearby muggle villages.
All in all, it was a pleasant time and Hermione was forever indebted to her brother and his friends for allowing her to reclaim her childhood.