Chapter 3

Hermione had spent a few minutes exploring the common room. It was circular, which made sense since the Gryffindors resided in a tower, and decked out in plush scarlet and gold. There were several chairs and couches that all appeared to be incredibly comfortable. There were stone arches she hadn't noticed the night before that led to the stairs of the dormitories. All in all, Hermione could easily see herself enjoying her time in the common room.

Eight o'clock found all of the Gryffindor first years gathered in their common room. Professor McGonagall surveyed the group and Hermione did the same. There were three girls and five girls. After a brief introduction to Hogwarts and an outline of the rules and point system, the professor asked them to sit in a circle. Although she loathed meet and greet games, McGonagall introduce themselves, along with the class they were looking forward to the most. Even though this was boring and uncomfortable this would help her get better impressions of her classmates and Hermione believed that the Professor wanted better impressions as well. McGonagall began. "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall and the only class I have to look forward to is Transfiguration, since I am the teacher," she said and then turned to a dark haired boy on her left, "Your turn."

"I'm Neville Longbottom. I'm looking forward to Herbology the most, 'cause I love plants," he stammered out. Hermione wondered why he cringed the way he did.

Neville looked at the boy on his left and the rest of the children followed suit. "I'm Ron Weasley. I can't wait to go to flying class," he said with a grin.

Next was the boy who needed no introduction. Attention snapped to him and his scar. "I'm Harry Potter. I guess I'm looking forward to flying, too," he said. He didn't seem very sure, but he quickly turned to the next child and motioned that it was his turn now.

Both Hermione and McGonagall paid little attention to the next four students who introduced themselves respectively as Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, and Pavarti Patil. Hermione was seated at McGonagall's right, and was the last to introduce herself.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I'm looking forward to Potions the most," she said. Most of her classmates nodded along as if they acknowledged Potions as a suitable choice. Ron, however, looked like she had said she wanted to go prance around the Forbidden Forest.

After half an hour of introduction-to-school speech that everyone who has ever gone to school would be familiar with, McGonagall dismissed them. "Be careful as you explore the castle. And don't forget to visit all of your classrooms so that you can find them tomorrow. Breakfast is being served in the Great Hall at the moment and I would suggest moving along lest your housemates eat all of the food before you get there. Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, and then opened up the portrait of the Fat Lady and took her leave.

"You can't like Potions, 'Mione! Snape teaches that, and he's bloody awful. My brothers told me all about him. He hates Gryffindors and sometimes even takes points from them for breathing. The Headmaster tells everyone he's okay, but we all know he's a vampire!" Ron said to her as soon as the portrait closed.

Hermione didn't like the way he shortened her name, but she had been called worse things. "But you've never met him before have you? People exaggerate all the time. Especially about people they don't like. I bet your brothers are just trouble-makers who complain about anyone who disciplines them," she said. Hermione had teachers in the past who were very pleasant who seemed to be hated by everyone for no reason. In fact, Hermione liked almost all of her teachers. But she did not like it when people were prejudiced. And how ridiculous to call someone a vampire! But then she remembered about magic and that it was possible Ron was right. He was Pureblood after all. Perhaps…well even if vampires do exist, they might not be what muggles think they are. Though it certainly sounded like Ron meant it as an insult. And judging by the look on his face, I've just insulted him.

"Merlin's sake, I was just trying to help you," he told and turned away from the crowd of first years watching avidly. "Probably just another teacher's pet," he murmured, though it was loud enough her to hear. That didn't take long. I didn't even last twenty four hours as a normal kid. Oh, well. To the library. Hermione made her way with the rest of her peers to the ground floor, but turned toward the library when they turned toward the Great hall. It took her less than five minutes to find it. Hogwarts, A History had maps, after all.

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Severus decided to forgo the Great Hall on his last morning as a free man. He took a quiet breakfast in his quarters and then went to the library to pick up the new copy of Potions Weekly and to look for a book Minerva had recommended to him on transfigured potions ingredients. Predictably, the library was nearly deserted. Aside from Irma, he only sensed one other person who was around the next corner in the cooking section, oddly enough. Determined to avoid both people, he took a slightly longer route to his destination. This copy had better contain something better than last week's rubbish exposition on moonflowers. As if anyone who reads this magazine doesn't know the best time for harvest is precisely in the middle of the lunar cycle. Why they put that into an advanced academic journal I shall never know. Reaching the magazine rack, he sought his prize. The headline advertised a debate on the effects of goat diet on the overall effectiveness of bezoars. This should be interesting at least. I'd wager that a higher alkaline content would increase the potency of the antidotal properties…

He sat down in a nearby chair and immersed himself entirely into the article. Half an hour later, thanks to his wonderful senses, he heard a student wander over near him. Holding back a groan, he stood up and made to leave, until he recognized the student. It's the Granger girl. I suppose now is as good a time as any to start watching her.

He followed her silently as she ambled around the spacious library. She didn't seem to be looking for anything in particular. After a while, he quietly stalked up behind her. Being sure that he was close enough that his height would be intimidating, he spoke to her, "You have to open up the books to read them, girl."

She jumped satisfyingly and turned to face him. Her expression morphed for a second into something suspiciously close to disgust. Noticing how close he was standing, she unconsciously stepped back to put more distance between them and then took a moment to calm herself before answering, "Yes, sir. I was just deciding what to read. There are so many books here."

Severus felt a bit of magic in the air as she composed herself. And he knew why Minerva was unsettled by Granger's aura. Oh, he was well acquainted with the silky warm nature of that particular brand of magic. It was vitally instinctive. She was hiding herself. Controlling and protecting herself from the outside world. It gave him pause, to recognize the distinctive quality of his own magic in the blood of the tiny girl beside him. To buy himself more thinking time, he continued on in his slow deep voice, adding just a hint of mockery so that he could see her reaction, "How very astute, Miss Granger. Libraries contain many books. Excellent observation."

Her face fell minutely, but then, as he had expected, there was a small trickle of magic and she was herself again. "Yes, they do sir. But I've never heard of most of these topics, so I'm a little overwhelmed by the choices. I want to read them all," she replied, then smiled at the bat.

He held in a small smirk. She was resilient. He wondered about her. How similar is she to me? Hopefully not very. We can't afford a new terror in the world. Especially not a Gryffindor. He didn't subscribe to the theory that thestral tail wands were omens of dark wizards. He had always theorized that they were just powerful wizards who were misunderstood, much like thestrals themselves. It was really no wonder so many of them turned dark. "And what have you read so far, Miss Granger. Surely you've read all of your textbooks already," he said hoping to mix her up.

"I have sir, along with a few other books. I particularly enjoyed A Beginner's Guide to Self-Control and Self Defense. Do you have any recommendations?" she asked in an voice that was just a little too sweet.

Although her tone was beginning to irk him, he was surprised at the title of the book. It was almost entirely rubbish, of course, the equivalent of a muggle self-help book. But there were exercises in it that were similar to some Occlumency exercises. That she had already begun on the road he himself had followed startled him. Then in a sudden fit of irrationality he had a thought that she was much more advanced than was possible. He feared that she would already be in possession of those slick steel walls that so easily kept the world out. Forgetting his private rule not to invade the mind of his students, he looked deep into her eyes and pushed.

It took a fraction of a second to enter her mind. There was a barrier, but it was thin and feeble. Inordinately relieved, he unthinkingly pushed it just to breaking point. Her thoughts for the moment were obviously preoccupied by the day before, since he dropped into the memory of her sorting. That the sorting hat could be Occluded only just barely registered in his brain as he heard her inner dialogue about her mind being her most important and private place. In that moment he was reminded why he had promised not to invade someone's thoughts without a good reason. The guilt that he was so familiar with seeped into his stomach as he tried to withdraw as gently and subtly as he could, praying that she wouldn't notice anything amiss. The whole process had taken about ten seconds.

However, it seemed that his temporary lapse in self-control would not be overlooked, as Miss Granger noticed immediately. She may not have understood what was happening, but she broke eye contact as soon as she got the chance. He felt another swell of magic, stronger than what she had cast before, and the girl's panicked face turned calm. He now recognized it as the schooled calm of a beginning Occlumens. She then turned curious. "Did you just perform magic on me, sir?"

Severus froze. He didn't want to lie, but he couldn't tell the truth. So he did the Slytherin thing and deflected. "You aren't capable of telling that for yourself, Miss Granger? You really are in need of some reading. Try Cicero's Essay on Recognizing Spells," he said, hoping to distract her long enough to get away.

Thankfully it worked. "Thank you, sir," she replied excitedly. "Wait a minute…" she paused and despite years of training as a spy, he began to sweat. It was too soon to get on her bad side. He may need to be able to influence her later in life. To know that he had so off-handedly delved into what she held most private would certainly impact their future interactions. She would be critical to the future war effort and he could have just botched all hope of a positive relationship with her…

"Cicero was a wizard?" she asked, with a slightly confused face.

Unable to help himself, he let out a short bark of laughter. "Yes, Miss Granger. Many wizards are known in the muggle world. You would be surprised. Now run along and stay out of trouble."

Severus took his billowing robes and quickly walked –he did not flee- out of the library and away from the girl who had thrice caused the infamous wizard to forget himself. He was going to have to watch her.

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When Hermione had first gotten to the library, she was blown away. She was honestly surprised she hadn't fainted. If Flourish and Blott's was awoiefhoawi;ehj then Hogwarts' library was Elysium. She could spend her entire life in this room and never want anything else for all of eternity. At a loss for where to start, she had just walked toward a random shelf. Cooking…but not ordinary cooking. Magical cooking. There were books on household chores as well. It seemed all a wizard had to do was wave a wand and magic their magic would take care of the cleaning. She wasn't sure what to call it. Or how she felt about it. It almost seems like cheating.

She decided to walk through the rest of the library and acquaint himself with the layout. She would have seven years to read the books housed in the palace. I wonder if seven years is long enough to read them all. Probably not. And I'm not sure whether to be more or less excited about that. Shelves upon shelves were lined with books. And they were real, leather bound books, too. Not the flimsy colorful paperbacks with overly dramatic pictures on the front. No, these were old and respectable. Worn down with use, they contained information. They were the sort of books that contained knowledge and intelligence; they were books that demanded thought. The sturdy study tables looked perfect for long days of researching and reading. She even spied a few comfortable looking couches and chairs along the wall that would be curling up in with a good novel.

Eventually she made it to thee potions sections. Suddenly, she was startled by the presence and slow drawl of a man standing directly behind her. She only dimly heard what the man said as she took in his appearance. Immediately she knew it was Professor Snape she was looking at. A pale, sickly looking face was a canvas for his hooked nose, and it was all neatly framed in greasy black hair. It's no wonder they think the man is a vampire. Look at him! Then she recoiled at her own thought. How could she judge him just by his looks? That was exactly the thing that repulsed in others. Quickly, she stowed away her hastily made impressions of the professor and replied as politely as she could.

His snarky reply hurt her for only a fraction of a second before she recognized a familiar quality in him. He was just a bully. Well, she had experience with is type. She could handle him. Bullies hated it when you don't react to their taunts. So she just answered and smiled. Unnervingly, her behavior didn't seem to bother him. Perhaps he would be more difficult to deal with than she had originally thought. His dark eyes looked into hers and she found herself wondering if he could see right through her. The thought was chilling. She hoped no sort of magic of that sort existed. Then she was reminded of Mr. Ollivander's comments about dark magic. I think anything that gives one human power over another could be "dark". And the sorting hat…that sort of magic seems…well I'm not sure what magical folk mean by dark, but that's what I would call mind reading.

Her thoughts were cut short by what she thought was a bit of magic brushing against her face. She was still looking into the professor's eyes, but they now seemed darker. The feeling she had earlier about his ability to see through her grew, and she tore her eyes away from his in embarrassment. They seemed too knowing. Too…intimate? Either way, he was standing close and it was disconcerting to be looked in the eye by an adult for too long. Especially someone with eyes as intense as his.

Although…what was that magic? She hadn't cast any spells. She didn't even have her wand out. Then she realized that perhaps the professor had cast something. Had he? I've not seen many spells cast before. Can you do magic without a wand? He hadn't taken his out either. So she asked him. She was happy that he had given her enough thought to recommend a book that would be useful to her. But… "Cicero was a wizard?" she asked confusedly. She thought muggles didn't know anything about wizards. And Cicero was famous. What else about the magical world was right under the noses of the muggles?

After Professor Snape took what she thought was a rather abrupt exit, she sat down and pondered the encounter. Overall, it left her with many new questions, and a wary feeling about her Potions professor. She was going to have to watch him.

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The absence of both Miss Granger and Severus at breakfast was not missed. Minerva had been anticipating the first occasion she would have to observe Miss Granger interacting with her peers. However, when the first year Gryffindors all walked in shortly after McGonagall herself, they were one short. Minerva turned to speak to Albus and noticed that he had that infuriatingly knowing look in his eyes. She resolved to speak with him as soon as possible. "Albus, might I have a word with you after breakfast?" she asked.

He turned to her and smiled. "Of course, my dear. We haven't had much time for chatting, what will all of the preparations for the beginning of the year. We can talk in my sitting room. Or yours, if you prefer," he said.

"Yours, I think. Though chatting isn't really what I had in mind," she told him. As if he didn't already know. Bloody wizard knows everything. She smiled fondly back at him.

After they finished their meal most of the Great Hall had cleared out. The students were eager to enjoy the unusually clear day outside. They wanted to delay the first day of classes for as long as possible. Minerva stood up from her chair and Albus did the same, offering her his arm. She took it and together the two friends made the short walk to his chambers in a comfortable silence. When they were both sitting, an unremarkable house-elf brought them some tea.

"I want to talk about the Gryffindor first years Albus. Specifically Miss Granger. And Mr. Potter of course," she added hastily, knowing that Albus already had a soft spot for the boy and that they would have to talk about him anyway.

"Straight to business, Minerva? Don't you want to talk about your summer first? You were spent the holiday in Nepal, if I remember correctly. How was it?" he asked genially.

Minerva did want to get straight to business, but she knew it would be faster just to humor him. "Nepal was fine. A bit cold for my taste, but the conferences made up for it by far. And how was your holiday Albus?" she asked politely.

"Fine, just the same old thing, you know. And your…friend, how was he? The one who invited you to speak at the conference. Rudolph, was it?" he asked with a smirk that most would have taken as a jovial smile.

"He's fine as well, Albus. Now, let's get back on topic, I'm concerned for Miss Granger," Minerva said, hastily fighting a blush and Albus's now knowing grin. Thankfully he took pity on her and let the topic go. For the moment.

"Ah, Miss Granger, who has missed her first Hogwarts breakfast. Not much cause for concern Minerva, she probably lost her way or got sidetracked."

"Oh, don't play stupid Albus, it doesn't suit you," she said, and turning entirely serious, "Were you aware that she has been given a thestral tail wand?"

"I was not," he replied, but he was unable to fool his long-time friend.

"But you know something is different about her. You weren't surprised when I said I wanted to talk about her," Minerva stated factually. She was used to his manner of guarding all of his knowledge, even from her. She might have to fight him for this bit.

Albus paused for a moment to think through his next words. "Miss Granger is a unique witch. One which I am hoping will prove…useful to us," he said carefully.

"Useful? She is an eleven year old child. What would she be useful for?" Minerva asked, entirely confused.

"You are aware, my dear, that it is likely Tom Riddle will return in the next few years, and that there is a prophecy concerning him and Harry. This means that Harry, despite his young age, will be involved in many unfortunate circumstances before he is entirely capable of handling them. Luckily, a witch has been sorted into Gryffindor that may have the capabilities. I am hoping that Miss Granger will develop into powerful young woman, on the side of the light. And if, by chance, she develops an emotional connection to Harry, she may even decide to do everything in her hopefully considerable power to help him in the upcoming war. In that event, she could prove very useful."

"That all makes sense, Albus, except for the part that sounds like you planned this," Minerva replied. Surely he hasn't. How could he? And even if he could, he wouldn't use the girl like that. And there are way too many variables for him to be sure of the outcome. No, perhaps he is just making hopeful plans after finding out about Miss Granger's…powers.

"No, no, of course not. But we find ourselves in a potentially profitable situation. Regardless of how callous this plan sounds, we would be foolish not to take advantage of it," he said, attempting to ease her worries, "It will be war, after all. It will be pretty for nobody, my dear."

"Of course, Albus…I had just forgotten what it was like to think like that. It's been years, really. And hopefully we have years before it turns as bad as it did last time," she said, "I'm sorry Albus, but I think I'm going to go take a bit of a kip. We'll have to finish this some other time."

"And we will, Minerva. Have yourself a nice little cat-nap and I'll see you at lunch," he said, winking and walking her to the door, "I'll see you later, my dear."

Minerva walked back to her rooms quietly. She had gotten used to living life during peace time. Talk of war had worn her down quickly. She was getting old. But not too old, I hope. I'll have to stop with this soft-hearted claptrap. Time to get ready for war…she let out a large yawn. Perhaps in an hour or two, then.

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As he watched Minerva leave his pleasant smile turned into a frown, and his eyes turned dreary. He hated lying to his best friend. Even if it was for the greater good.

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Author's Note: Sorry, sorry for the delay. I hadn't intended to have quite as long a wait, but RL interfered for a bit. For the moment, I'm not sure about an update schedule, though ideally it will be weekly. However, I'm only going to promise not to abandon the story. Thank you to all of you lovely people who reviewed last time, each one made me smile! Happy reading to all of you :)

-Erin

Disclaimer: None of the recognizable plot line or characters belong to me, they belong to the fabulous J.K. Rowling and anyone she has sold them to.