Tempus Viatorum

Chapter 2

The Great Hall was as beautiful as ever. Hermione got the distinct feeling that perhaps it was even more beautiful now that she had seen it in pieces. Swallowing a particularly hard gulp she made her way towards the far end of the hall with Malfoy in tow.

They had come up with new personas to blend in better. He was a long lost cousin of the Malfoys, on their great, great, great grandfather Septimus' side, since it was hard to explain his curious similarity to his own grandfather Abraxas who was very much alive and attending Hogwarts at this time. Draco said he attended Durmstrang, since that was something the Malfoys occasionally had done, and that he felt the need to change because of worldly events.

It wouldn't be too far-fetched, since Grindelwald was very much at large in Europe during this time. He would be claiming that his own parents had died of dragon pox. This, he told them, would be believable since there was an Adrulla and Nicolas Malfoy who had in fact died during this time era and not conceived any children. He would simply have been held a secret.

She, on the other hand, was a homeschooled half-blood whose parents had died by the hands of Grindelwald. She had tried her best to advocate for her own blood, claiming that she was more than proud of her heritage. But both Malfoy and Dumbledore had talked some sense into her, claiming that it was not a preferable time to be a muggleborn. So she had caved, and half-blood she now was.

They were walking in front of all the first years, standing out like a splash of colour in a black and white painting, and naturally, all eyes were on them. Hermione felt herself blushing under the attention, never having been on the receiving side of it. It had always been Harry; she had simply been in the background. The brains of the operation. This time, she was very much the main attraction.

It was almost a relief to finally reach the podium where the small stool stood with a very shabby looking hat on top of it. Hermione almost smiled upon seeing it, and briefly wondered if it would be able to sense her time jump.

Professor Dumbledore stood beside it with a scroll of paper in his hands, smiling warmly down at the group of first years, as well as Malfoy and herself. He cleared his throat and that simple act made the hall go eerily quiet. Within seconds, the hat began to sing as it always did. Hermione didn't catch a word, too busy having a wrestling match with her own nervousness. Before she knew it, she once more heard the familiar tone of Albus Dumbledore.

"As you all can tell, we also have two transfer students among us tonight awaiting their sorting, they will join our sixth years. We will begin with them."

Hermione felt a chill travel down her neck from having all eyes on her. She couldn't see them, but she heard the whispers that had erupted after Dumbledore's words.

"Miss Hermione Granger."

She took a deep breath, suddenly just as nervous as she had been during her first sorting. Trembling slightly, she made her way up onto the podium and sat down on the stool that wasn't quite as big as she once had thought it to be. Dumbledore gave her a reassuring smile before placing the badly patched sorting hat on her dishevelled curls.

"This is a mind I've seen before..." came a small and frail voice inside her head. "You've travelled a long way, Miss Granger, and with a task as well. I see you're a former Gryffindor... Whatever shall I do with you?"

Instantly her mind conjured the warming place of Gryffindor tower, a loving longing erupting inside of her.

"I do not feel Gryffindor is the place for you this time around, even though it's clear as a day you're a Gryffindor at heart..." whispered the voice.

A sort of sadness came over her, but she quickly relented. Her mission was far more important than her comfort. She had to succeed, to whatever cost.

Place me somewhere I can succeed, she thought. Place me somewhere I won't fail.