Hermione Granger and the Discovery

Chapter 7

A/N: Should I start naming my chapters? Let me know what you think, now, on with the story!

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Theodore Nott

Theodore Nott was not known for his kind demeanor or patience. It was, in fact, the complete opposite. He was always exactly on time, never late, never early, and he expected the same of everyone else. Unfortunately for him, he was rarely awarded (with what he thought was) basic human decency. Most of his classmates had no sense of decorum or class, often 'gracing' him with their presence between five and ten minutes later than their agreed-upon meeting time.

Granger, however, was also recognized for her displeasure with those who found themselves unable to arrive on time. Thus, he had high hopes that their meeting would be beneficial and that no time would be wasted. Granger was interesting. She excelled in all of her classes, she got all spells right on her first try and was always the first one to learn them. Despite this, she was a mudblood. Based on what he had been told, she should not be anything special. Half-bloods, sure. They were often powerful as there was no inbreeding to hold them back and they grew up around magic.

Not growing up around magic was the reason most mudbloods were bad at magic or had smaller stores. The reason for this being that when the magical core was developing in young children, it is influenced by two things. One, the child's acceptance and use of accidental magic, and two, the amount of magic around them. Of course, there is a base core size which can vary by the family, but that is purely genetic, so it isn't considered relevant for mudbloods. In fact, it is considered entirely random for them. 

This was why Granger was a conundrum. By all evidence, she should have quite low magical stamina, poor control, and very little knowledge of spells or how they worked. Yet, here she was, asking him for and "exchange." It was all very curious. Perhaps, he thought to himself, she's not a mudblood at all, maybe she was adopted. Then he sighed, realizing he was simply making excuses for why every time he measured himself up to her, he fell short. The fact of the matter was, despite her heritage, she was simply better. She was more intelligent, had a larger magical core, and impeccable control. All things (with the exception of intelligence, there were some really brilliant muggles out there) that shouldn't be possible.

So as he arrived, he cleared his thoughts and entered the room. He was pleasantly surprised to see that Granger was already there, waiting for him with an irritated expression on her face.

"Took you long enough," she said, "We got out of charms ten minutes ago."

"Perhaps, but I needed to go drop off my books," he said, slightly irritated. 

"You could just banish them," she replied at a deadpan. 

"You may be able to pull off complex 4th-year magic tied to a specific location, rather than a randomized one, but I, however, am not quite there," he ground out, angry at having to admit that she so thoroughly outclassed him.

"Hmm, I should hope this will be beneficial to both of us, then, rather than just you," she said with a smirk, fully aware of how much it pained him to admit his inability to her. 

"I suppose we should get started then," he ground out, "what do you have an interest in?"

She hummed teasingly before replying, "Whatever is the most advanced."

He thought for a second, he knew that showing her anything borderline dark would either end with him expelled or a new Dark Lady in 10-15 years. Which, could be good as he would no doubt be protected from her wrath due to their school-time acquaintance, however, if he was expelled, she would likely follow in the footsteps of Dumbledore, all while destroying his family and others like his.