Born From Madness (Harry Potter Fanfic)

47

"I thought we'd had it!" Ron said as he grabbed a sandwich. 

"So did I!" Harry replied while he poured their glasses with pumpkin juice. 

"Can you believe our luck, though?" Ron said, "Fred and George must've flown that car five or six times and no Muggle ever saw them. Why couldn't we get through the barrier?" 

"I'm not entirely sure, but we'll have to watch our step from now on, though... wait! That man, Hermione, from Borgin and Burkes? You know the one who was expecting you to arrive? Maybe he did something?" Harry suggested to her. She shrugged her shoulder. 

"I'm not sure. He could have. But then where was he? Remember at Borgin and Burkes, he was determine to grab me so why wasn't he there?" Hermione suggested to Harry. 

"Too many people?" Ron guessed. 

Once they had finished with their dinner, they made their way up to Gryffindor Tower. They soon made their way to the secret entrance to Gryffindor Tower to the portrait of a woman in a pink dress. 

"Password?" she asked. 

"Er--" Harry mumbled.

"We weren't here when given the password, Miss." Hermione told the portrait. The portrait shook her head. 

"Oh, it's you three. McGonagall did mentioned about you three being late after your... incident. The password is wattlebird." The portrait explained before opening to them. Hermione wasn't expecting the huge roar of claps and cheers as arms reached out to drag them through the crowd of Gryffindors, who kept being thrilled by what they had done. Hermione went scarlet as she tried to make her way up to her dorm. She walked pass Percy, who shot her a glare. 

"And I thought you had some brains," Percy mumbled under his breath. Hermione's head lowered as she hurried to her room, wanting to forget this night already. 

Hermione's horrible night turned into a horrible morning. At breakfast, she was till getting cheered by people for her grand entrance with Ron and Harry. Percy walked passed her and gave her another glare and made his way off somewhere else. Hermione leaned against the table, poking at her breakfast. 

"Ignore him, 'Mione." She turned her head to see Fred sitting beside her, grinning brightly as ever, "He's just jealous that even though you can be strict, you have a fun side as well." 

"Last night, he said that he thought I had brains. And he's right, I should have thought--" Hermione started when Fred cut in. 

"Are you kidding? You're one of the most smartest person I've known. Smarter than Percy actually.  But there's also a side of you that Percy wishes he had. You are brave enough to take risk. You took a risk at stealing the car, you took a risk of flying it in the middle of the day with muggles all around you, but you knew it was more important to get to Hogwarts than anything. And I, Fred Weasley, am proud to call you my friend." Fred assured her. Before Hermione could thank him, there were a light shrieks as owls began to fly into the Great Hall with mail. Hermione caught hold of her mail and was just about to open hers up when Ron's voice caught her attention. 

"Oh no--" Ron whimpered. 

"What's the matter?" Harry asked. 

"She's-- She's sent me a Howler," Ron said, faintly while he held up a red envelope. 

"You'd better open it, Ron." Neville stated, "I tried to ignore one from my Gran once... it was the worst mistake I've ever made." 

Ron had barely opened the envelope when--

"RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER IS NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!" As soon as the letter was finished it burst into flames and turned into ash. 

"Look everyone!" Seamus suddenly said, "Hermione's got one too!" 

Hermione shot her head down and turned as red as the envelope she was staring at. Slowly she took hold of her letter and opened it. She was expecting to be shouted by her parents or Grandma but instead she got...

"HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER! DID YOU SERIOUSLY STEAL A CAR AND FLEW IT TO HOGWARTS? THAT WAS BRILLIANT! I'VE DONE SOME WILD THINGS IN MY TIME AS A TEENAGER BUT NEVER DID I STEAL A FLYING CAR! THAT IS FUCKING FUNNY-- MOM, DO NOT ENCOURAGE THIS!-- OH! YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE! --ELKA, HERMIONE DID A SERIOUS OFFENSE! SHE COULD HAVE GOTTEN HURT OR WORSE DIED!-- HOW WAS THE RIDE? WAS IT FUN? --MOTHER!-- DON'T WORRY, WE'LL REPAID THE WEASLEYS WHAT IS DUE! HELL! I'LL EVEN GIVE THEM MY ENTIRE VAULT! THAT WAS JUST BRILLIANT! -- ELKA! STOP-- WHY DON'T I GET US SOME TICKETS TO THE WEIRD SISTERS THIS SUMMER! YOU'VE DESERVE THIS... OH SHIT! IS THIS A HOWLER! I'VE FUCK UP! I'VE FUCK UP!" 

Soon the envelope burst into fire as she felt everyone's eyes staring as stunned as she was. She could feel Ron's glare at the fact she wasn't in much trouble as he was with his Mom. She was thankful when McGonagall came over, handing out their schedules when everyone turned their focus off her. 

Hermione walked alongside with Harry and Ron towards the Greenhouses. As they were nearing it, they saw their class was outside surrounding Lockhart and Professor Sprout who was holding bandages in her arms. 

"Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow!" Lockhart blurted out in front of the crowd of students, "But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels.." 

"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" Professor Sprout said, looking more upset and angry than her usual cheerful self. Everyone was a bit interested since Greenhosue three was rumored to have more dangerous and interesting plants in them. Just as they were heading inside, Lockhart's hand shot onto Hermione's and Harry's shoulders. 

"Harry! Hermione! I've been wanting a word-- you don't mind if they're a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?" 

Before Professor Sprout could even say another word about the whole thing, Lockhart actually closed the door on her face. 

"Harry, Harry, Harry---" Lockhart repeated a few more times as if he liked the sound of Harry's name, "When I heard-- well, of course, it was all my fault. Couuld have kicked myself." 

Hermione narrowed her eyes, confused as what he was even talking about. 

"Flying a car to Hogwarts! Well, of course, I knew at once why you'd done it. Stood out a mile, Harry, Harry, Harry-- Gave you a taste of publicity, didn't I? Gave you the bug. You got onto the front page of the paper with me and you couldn't wait to do it again." 

"Oh no, Professor, see--" Harry started but Lockhart cut him off. 

"Harry, Harry, Harry," Lockhart repeated Harry's name again, which was getting on Hermione's nerves, "I understand. Natural to want a bit more once you've had that first taste-- and I blame myself for giving you that, because it was bound to go to your head-- but see here, young man, you can't start flying cars to try and get yourself noticed. Just calm down, all right? Plenty of time for all that when you're older--" 

Hermione started to drone Lockhart out because he was basically going on about himself and she was getting a bit annoyed with Lockhart. 

"-- and of course, Hermione, I didn't forget you," Hermione jolted when Lockhart said her name, "I wondered if you could be so kind for me as saying hello to your Grandma for me. We're good friends, you know. Especially when we were at Hogwarts together." 

Hermione tilted her head, ready to open her mouth to tell him that was quite rubbish when he winked and strode off. Hermione growled. 

"He's lying! Right through his teeth... My Grandma hates his guts. You remember Harry, she called him a fraud. I knew Grandma believed in her instincts, but I never thought they may actually be truthful." Hermione mumbled while they went inside the Greenhouse.