Hermione Granger and the Discovery

Chapter 2

Professor McGonagall was not particularly happy. She had just finished talking to three muggle-borns and their families, two of which had been very rude. They had even threatened to call the police on her! It wasn't like they could do anything to her, but she had come to expect at least a general common courtesy from people. At least this is the last one, she thought to herself. 

She calmed herself before knocking on the door to the Granger household.

A woman in her late thirties appeared to answer the door. "Hello, can I help you?"

"Hello, you must be Mrs. Granger, a pleasure to meet you. I'm Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress from a very prestigious boarding school. I'm here with regard to your daughter. My school would like to invite Hermione to study with us. If you would let me inside, we can discuss the specifics."

"Oh, of course, let me get her and my husband as well."

"Excellent"

McGonagall was somewhat surprised, the woman didn't seem suspicious at all that someone had come to invite her daughter to a boarding school. The girl must be somewhat intelligent then, she thought. Perhaps a Ravenclaw?

As the girl and her father walked into the room and the wife brought some tea, she looked around the house. The family was clearly well off. The house was nice and in a so-called modern design that seemed to appeal to muggles these days. Everything was very clean and organized and there was a small library's worth of books around the house. 

As she gave her spiel and told the family about Hogwarts and informed them that their daughter was a witch, the parents looked somewhat resigned but acceptant. The girl, on the other hand, looked as if she had known all along. It was not unheard of for muggle-borns to figure it out on their own, but it was exceedingly rare. They generally tried to explain it with something else and eventually forgot about it. 

"So, I take it you were aware of this, Ms. Granger?" she asked.

"Yes, of course, it is rather obvious when you summon things to yourself on a daily basis."

"Really! That's lovely, tell you what, you give me a demonstration and I'll show you a bit of magic as well" she replied. It was very rare for students to be able to control their magic well enough to summon things wandlessly pre-Hogwarts. However, Hermione simply held out her hand and a book suddenly appeared in it. 

"This is the book I am currently reading, my parents can attest to that. It was up in my room earlier."

"That is some very impressive magic, Ms. Granger. Wandless magic isn't generally mastered until students leave school or are working towards their Mastery! As I'm the transfiguration professor, I'll show you some of what you will be doing this year and a bit of advanced transfiguration."

Conjuring a mouse, she turned it into a snuff box. "Now," she began, "you won't have to conjure the mouse when you do this, but other than that, this will be your final transfiguration project. Now, for something more advanced, I'll show you my animagus form."

Changing fluidly into a cat, she purred, before changing back. "As you may guess, this is extremely advanced magic that not many choose to spend their time achieving. As a result, it is required by the ministry that you be registered if you do become an animagus. Though, there are many that are unregistered, likely more than there are registered."

"Can you change into different animals or just a cat?" asked Hermione.

"An animagus form is unique to the individual and you can only have one form. However, it is possible to use transfiguration to change some parts of your body. For example, you could give yourself gills or webbed hands and feet if you were planning to be underwater for a while. The problem with altering your entire form is that you cannot use your wand and change back."