In Another Universe

Chapter 6

Granger had awoken with a start that morning, after a nightmare: what if no one showed up for today's introductory session? What if they were all in on a joke of some sort and would decide to laugh at her expense, making her and her project look ridiculous? And what would Dr. Shacklebolt say then?

However, as the afternoon rolled on and Granger found herself sitting at the front of Bagshot Hall room 228, Harry's friends streamed into the room happily, bidding her hello as they entered, and she realized how unfounded her worries had been. Of course they'd come; Harry wouldn't have set her up for something so cruel. She recognized each face as it beamed at her: she'd always had a way with names, and she had committed those particular names to heart from hours upon hours of combing through the list.

She had already started marking some linguistic differences across scholarly communities: Luna, scarcely an undergrad, gave her a very proper "Good afternoon, Dr. Granger," whereas the postgrads were a lot more casual in their approach and often just offered up a "How's it going?". As the seats in front of her began to fill, she noticed a prominent absence: there was only one redhead watching her, waiting for the session to begin. Could it be that Weasley —the other Weasley, Ginny was just Ginny in her mind— had forgotten? She felt strangely disappointed: the only introduction she had braved on her own, gone through McLaggen for, and it had all been for nothing? However, as she began to lose hope, someone came stomping down the hall and skidded into the room: it was Weasley, still wearing a labcoat (which hung askew upon him) and with a playful smile that showed no bashfulness at his tardiness.

"Sorry I'm late," he offered up to the group, which was watching his entry as intently as Granger. He pointed to his eyebrows— which, Granger noticed, were singed: "Had a bit of an unexpected situation in the lab."

His greeting to her also differed, Granger noted, from that of the other postgrads: he chose no words, instead giving her a conspicuous wink. He ambled over to a space between Harry and Ginny in the front row, making a joking show of separating them (from Ginny's bored eyeroll, Granger deduced this was not the first time her brother had come between her and her boyfriend), exchanging a special handshake with Harry, and settling down in his seat by leaning back in his chair.

Peeling her gaze away from Weasley, Granger cleared her throat and addressed the room in the same way she, no doubt, would do her students once her classes began: "Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for being here! For those that don't yet know me, though we've all had the pleasure of a personal introduction, my name is Dr. Hermione Granger, and I'm a member of the Linguistics faculty whom Dr. Shacklebolt has tasked with this particular project."

She swept the room with her gaze, and faltered: did their unblinking expressions mean they were bored? Focused? Already critical? She turned to Harry for support: he caught her eye, gave her a smile, and with a thumbs-up mouthed "you got this". She gulped, took a deep breath, and readdressed the room: "As I've explained, this project focuses on how different groups within the University —be it undergrads or postgrads, STEM or Humanities specialists, athletes or non-athletes...— communicate and express themselves. This is an intersectional project, which is why I'm so thrilled that we have such a diversity of gender, interests, races, academic divisions, and..." she trailed off as she fixed her sight on Dean and Seamus, sitting together in the back right corner of the room: did she dare say 'sexual orientation'? Deciding against it (as a linguist, after all, who better than her knew the impact even just a couple words could have?), she continued: "I still haven't decided how exactly this is going to work, but you can expect at least one of these group meetings monthly, and some personal interviews in between. By personal interviews I mean both formal interviews and just casual conversation, which, as I'm sure you'll all expect, does a better job of actually revealing how you all talk."