The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 32: Hermionian Measures

Hermione looked around the busy street.  This was not her first visit to Diagon Alley, nor was it her first time seeing all these wizards and witches walking about.  She was used to magic, so she thought.  More used to it anyways.  She no longer flinched at shows of magic, was more prepared for sudden dazzling lights and strange noises.  She liked writing with ink and quill, though she still thought pens and pencils were a lot easier and more convenient.  Robes were rather comfortable and handy with all the pockets if somewhat less variety in style.

However, she did not feel like she belonged there.  In the magical world.  She felt awkward, like a sore thumb that stuck out.  It was not just how she looked either, how her bushy hair liked to stick out.  She knew she physically stuck out too.  She walked differently, talked differently.

She also felt differently.

In the last year, she felt so far apart from those born into magical families.  Even those with a magical parent acted very differently from Muggle-borns.  They took things for granted that those without any magical parentage did not.  They accepted things more readily.  They seemed to take to it more easily.

Those from Pure-blood families were even worse.  They spoke of traditions and rules that they all seemed to know and held it over the heads of those that did not.  Those kids acted like they were better than any and everyone else.  They acted in a completely different way, a way that set Hermione's teeth on edge.

Literally in this case.  At her exam when she came home, her parents commented that she was grinding her teeth again, and worse than before.

Hermione had tried to prepare herself by reading as many books as she could get her hands on.  She read about magical history, about Hogwarts, about anything related to the Wizarding World.  She treated it like she did anything before, relying on books and knowledge to be ready.

It turns out that knowing things is not the same as being prepared for them.

It was not that she was incompetent.  Her grades were top notch and she was accomplished at spell casting.  She did exceedingly well.

It also turns out that people in the Wizarding World resented some people for their hard work like people did in the Muggle world.

She sighed.  She also knew it was not just that.  It was her demeanor that also set most people off.  She had enough self-awareness to recognize it.  People were put off by how upfront she was, how hungry for knowledge she was.  Most did not like how rigid her thinking was, how she was proud of who she was.

Just like in the Muggle world, she had problems with friends in the Wizarding World.  As in she really did not have any.  Even the few other Muggle-borns did not like her all that much and she had hoped they could bond over similar circumstances.

So she took her friendship with Harry and Ron very seriously.

Harry was still a mystery to her.  He was, according to all the books written about him, a quintessential wizard.  He was the Boy-Who-Lived, the one who defeated You-Know-Who as a baby.  He had stopped the Wizarding War in Britain without a wand.  Many claimed he was the ideal of magic: strong, from a magical family, oddly demure because of the lack of celebrity as he grew up.

When Hermione learned that he would be going to Hogwarts at the same time she was, she was incredibly excited.  She could not wait to meet the boy she read so much about.

To say she was surprised when they met was an utter understatement.

He was nothing the books said he was or would be.  He was small, incredibly small.   He was painfully shy, even more introverted than her, which was saying something.  He was nervous, hesitant, unwilling to gather attention.  He was the opposite of everything the books said he would or should be.