Finding Kallipolis

Chapter 9

50 miles west of Aberdeen
October 14, 2006

"Isn't it obvious?" He smirked. "You're a witch."

Hermione looked at him incredulously and laughed. "Oh, I get it now."

"What?" He was completely taken aback by her reaction.

"Yes. Your entire life you've been taught what a non-magical is, how they act, how they are inferior . So, you meet me and discover that I don't fit neatly into that box, so rather than try and reassess your own worldview and your own beliefs, you simply adjust me to fit into yours," she explained mechanically.

"A minute ago you agreed with me that there's something odd about your assignment here, and now you're saying I'm just – rationalizing?" Draco's face was a mask of confusion.

"No – you have a point that there is in fact something off about my assignment," she conceded. "But let's take your hypothesis and consider it." Hermione ripped a piece of paper from the notebook she always seemed to carry and wrote on it Hypothesis 1: I am a Witch .

"Were I a witch, presumably I would have experienced bouts of accidental magic in my youth, yes?" She now wrote an x underneath and, to the right of it added No accidental magic .

"Then there's the question of the assignment – if I were a witch, why would that explain my assignment?" Hermione pointed out. "Your assertion seems to have no basis."

Draco chuckled and she looked at him, unamused, before he spoke. "You have a magical scar," he told her.

"What?" she questioned, though her right hand immediately fell to the scar on the right side of her face, the one typically covered by her hair.

"Ah – so you've suspected it as well." His typical smirk was present once again.

"No." She denied it, though he could tell he was getting to her. "It's not magical."

"Then tell me, how did you get it?" he pushed.

She looked at him for a moment, her face shifting from obstinate, to thoughtful, to fearful.

"You don't remember, do you?" Draco interrupted her thoughts, his voice notably softer.

She shook her head, the fear continuing to mark her face as she took purposeful breaths, as if trying to force herself to calm down. "How did you know?" she unconsciously whispered.

"Most people, well at least wizards, but I assume people in general, remember their childhood," he pointed out gently.

"But I was in a car crash! I had a concussion – I'm sure there's a perfectly rational explanation for this," she said as she stroked the scar, desperately trying to recall the exact clinical diagnosis for a concussion.

"Granger," he continued, "do you remember your car crash?"

Hermione looked at him, unsure. "Somewhat – but I've never been sure if it's a true memory or simply a projection of what I assume had occurred. It's been 17 years."

"That scar – I don't know much about car crashes, but I am familiar with magical injuries. Do you recognize the shape of it?" Draco asked.

She frowned. "I've honestly always avoided looking at it."

Draco squinted his eyes at that. "Well you may not recognize it, but your scar bears a striking resemblance to Orion."

She physically jolted back, her hand now brushing against the scar as if to confirm or deny this. "What do you mean? The constellation?" She tried to recall the stars in her head, but personally had never been one to care for such meaningless study. The arbitrary movements of the stars within sight from earth held no bearing on her existence.