Hermione Granger and the Year Hidden from Hogwarts

Chapter 18

Hermione Granger and the Year Hidden from Hogwarts

Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 18

A/N: Another chapter! And, cue Hogwarts Professor, stage left!

April 18th, 1992

Hermione took two steps before pausing. She'd been lured to danger once before by something strange. Had she really not learned her lesson?

She switched to metavision, seeing the playful swirling patterns of energy surrounding the normally inanimate object. And yes, it wasn't a magical book. Like all books, it lacked an intrinsic value of energy that even normal people and animals possessed.

The dancing had to come from the spell woven around it. When the book started moving away, disappearing into the furthest room, she finally noticed that the jaunty design of energy led back to the puppeteer, a short, stout figure.

In her sight, she could easily see that this being possessed a core like hers, but what caught her attention was the thing it was waving in its hand. The long stick-like object glowed blindingly bright with power, seeming to filter and amplify the energy from the being—for they were too short to be human, unless there were a midget.

Hermione paused as her fast mind caught on the descriptor "stick," unable to help but draw a parallel to the wand on the required supply list from the Hogwarts letter.

Her heart thumped loudly, and she threw caution to the wind—well, mostly to the wind. She drew up some of the shields she'd been practicing, her features glowing with the soft sapphire blue reflected off of them as she approached the room.

Just outside the door, she took one more breath, ended her metavision, and whispered to herself, "You've learned nothing, Hermione Jean Granger."

"Please, come in, Miss Granger. You're a difficult witch to get alone, you know," a squeaky voice called.

Hermione blinked, startled out of her metavision, though she kept her grasp on the shields. Trainer Hart would be proud of that much at least.

Well, it, no, he spoke the human tongue as Erl would say, but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous. Knowing she was being inconceivably dimwitted, she pushed through the door anyway.

Inside stood a man, not a beast, for he wore wire-rimmed glasses and a waistcoat with neat tawny hair and a perfectly trimmed mustache. He had a small, welcoming grin on his face, but his eyes faltered and traveled to the glow in her hands. "I... Miss Granger? Are you performing nonverbal wandless magic?"

Hermione figured the question answered itself since she held no wand and had spoken no words. "Who are you? How do you know my name? Are you from Hogwarts?"

She wanted to curse herself as soon as the last question had slipped loose. It would've been nice to have him confirm it on his own rather than her giving him the opportunity to jump on board with her assumptions.

The short man nodded, though his eyes held on her hands as she maintained the shields. "How terribly rude of me. My name is Filius Flitwick. I am the Charms professor at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry."

She was somewhat mollified by the fact that he'd provided the rest of the title, but who knew how popular this school was in their world. So he could still be a kidnapper.

But he knew your name, her logic argued back.

Deciding to trust him for now, Hermione straightened her stance and lowered her hands, allowing the energy to dissipate.