Hermione Granger and the Paradigm Shift

Chapter 16 - Part 1

The next week was busy as Hermione focused all of her free time on finishing the mirrors. After the revelations from the Emerald Trio it was now more imperative than ever to have as many ways of communicating as possible.

The Slytherins had barraged them with so much information that the breadth of what was shared did not fully sink in until the next day at breakfast. She looked across the hall and spotted multiple faces...many of which she had interacted with over the years...who now actively meant her harm. The tangibility was unsettling.

While Hermione worked on putting the final touches on the mirror project Harry seemed to be obsessed with protecting her...insistently remaining at her side whenever possible as he did his best to put the faces to all the names on the list and monitor their behaviors and patterns. The good news was that none of the death eaters in training had attempted to infiltrate the Hogwarts Defense Force. The bad news was a few of the maybes had signed up for duty.

So while she worked on the mirrors Harry wondered how much more the Marauder's Map was capable of doing. A quick missive was sent off to Remus asking whether the map could be modified to track specific people. A few days later they received a cryptic reply.

Just ask the map. Make sure to mention who your dad is. You may have to be a bit patient...

So that is how it came to be that she and Harry snuck out of the Gryffindor common room (again) after curfew (again) and into a nearby classroom. Hermione's time spent as a rule enforcing prefect seemed like so long ago.

"Er..." Harry began after tapping the map with his wand, "this is the son of Prongs and I'd like to track a few specific people on the map."

Mr. Padfoot would like to know if you are a specky git like Mr. Prongs? And what girl would be desperate enough to conceive Mr. Prongs' spawn?

"Uh...yeah...I wear glasses too. My mum is Lily Potter...Lily Evans."

There was a longer pause before more writing appeared.

The girl that Mr. Prongs insists on calling Mrs. Prongs actually became Mrs. Prongs? Mr. Moony doesn't believe you.

Neither does Mr. Wormtail.

Or Mr. Padfoot.

Mr. Prongs never had a doubt.

Hermione felt her patience wearing thin. It was like talking to four versions of the Weasley twins. She wasn't sure how Harry's mother put up with it, let alone decided to marry one. She quickly tapped the map and began speaking.

"This is the girlfriend of Mr. Prongs' son. We need your help and don't have time to mess around proving who we are. Mr. Prongs is James Potter. Mr. Moony is Remus Lupin. Mr. Padfoot is Sirius Black. Mr. Wormtail is Peter Pettigrew. Remus is a werewolf and the other nicknames are based on your animagus forms."

After a long pause the map once again sprung to life.

Mr. Prongs suggests you take a breath. Also, he is glad to see his son has carried on the tradition of courting strong willed women.

And by 'strong willed' Mr. Prongs actually means slightly ins-

"Are you going to help us or not?" Hermione interrupted, fully grinning now.

Mr. Moony apologizes on behalf of the Marauders and asks for you to speak the names you would like tracked slowly and clearly. The names will be listed in red until you cancel the enchantment.

"Thank you," Hermione replied in relief. As Harry began reciting the names Hermione wondered what other knowledge the map held. Remus unfortunately had not been too involved with creating the mirrors and there were a few small things she needed to tweak before they were ready to go. She waited until Harry completed listing the names before changing the topic.