"Even if she really did foresee something, she shouldn't have released it like that , not in front of everyone!"
"Do you have any idea how much panic this will cause?"
Snape jabbed a finger at the crystal ball, his voice climbing.
"Great. Now the entire Hogwarts knows he's coming back. The students are terrified, and the parents are probably about to explode!"
"How are we supposed to clean up this mess?"
Dumbledore said quietly, "Severus. Have you considered that Hermione may have seen this prophecy long ago?"
"She never said a word about it. Releasing it in class today, like that , she had her reasons."
He paused. There was something almost like admiration in his tone.
"I only learned today that she is a Seer. Like Gellert."
"Which means her... 'special' behavior over the past two years suddenly makes a great deal of sense."
Snape went silent.
He had to admit it. Dumbledore had a point. Hermione's actions, viewed through the lens of a Seer , they did add up.
But.
"Why do I get the feeling she's simply doing it to cause chaos?" Snape said, unable to stop himself.
Dumbledore smiled faintly and said nothing.
He knew Hermione's character well enough.
That girl was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a peaceful soul.
"This news will reach the Ministry soon." Dumbledore's tone shifted, turning serious. "When it does, they'll send people to investigate."
He paused, something flickering behind his eyes.
"What we need to worry about right now isn't Voldemort."
"It's how to keep Hermione from going to war with the Ministry."
Dumbledore pressed two fingers to his temple.
"She is not a patient person. And the Ministry's people , their behavior. You know what they're like."
Snape's expression soured further.
He knew exactly what those Ministry bureaucrats were like. A pack of fools who spent their days playing office politics and clawing for power.
If they managed to get on Hermione's bad side...
Snape didn't even want to think about it. Given her personality, she was entirely capable of turning the entire Ministry of Magic upside down.
His temples throbbed. It felt like a colony of gnomes had taken up residence inside his skull and started digging.
Every single time someone mentioned the name Hermione Granger, his blood pressure spiked.
That girl caused a major incident every year. Without fail.
He pressed his fingers to his temple and tried to breathe through the headache.
"Damn it..."
The curse came out low, almost involuntary.
He genuinely could not understand how that foolish boy Harry had ever become friends with a creature like Hermione Granger.
...
Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Lupin stood at the front of the room, smiling pleasantly.
Behind him sat an old wooden cabinet. It was shaking. Rhythmic, muffled thumps came from inside.
"Does anyone know what's in there?" Lupin asked.
"A Boggart!" someone called out.
"That's right." Lupin nodded. "A Boggart is a shape-shifter. It transforms into whatever you fear most."
"Would anyone like to come up and try?"
Silence.
Everyone looked at everyone else. Nobody wanted to be first. Nobody wanted their deepest fear on display in front of the whole class.
What if it was something embarrassing?
"Malfoy," Lupin said, glancing over. "Would you like to give it a go?"
Draco nodded and stepped forward. He looked nervous.
"It's alright," Lupin said warmly. "I'll be right here."
"The spell is Riddikulus. Picture something you find funny — really picture it — then wave your wand and say it clearly."
Draco drew a slow breath and walked up to the cabinet.
Lupin moved beside him and gave his shoulder a light pat. "Ready?"
"Ready."
Lupin grabbed the handle and yanked.
The cabinet door burst open with a BANG.
A figure stepped slowly out.
It was Hermione.
Harry: ...
Ron: ...
Hermione: ...
The class stared for one blank second. Then the room exploded.
Nobody had expected this. Malfoy's greatest fear was Hermione.
Harry and Ron lost it completely. Ron doubled over clutching his stomach, nearly sliding off his chair.
"Malfoy, you're scared of Hermione?!"
"You are so done. She's going to give you special attention for the rest of your life!"
"And you call yourself the Slytherin heir? Salazar Slytherin would claw his way out of his grave if he knew!"
The laughter was genuine, but so was the understanding. Last year's triple Expelliarmus in Defense Against the Dark Arts had left psychological scars on all of them. And Malfoy had always been Hermione's primary target.
Lupin was stunned.
He hadn't seen this coming. Not even slightly.
A Boggart was supposed to become what a person feared most. Their deepest, truest terror.
And Malfoy's was... Miss Granger?
Lupin didn't quite know whether to laugh or despair.
"Ahem."
He cleared his throat and tried to restore some semblance of order.
"So... Malfoy. Why exactly do you find Miss Granger... ah... frightening?"
Malfoy was still trembling slightly. He shot a glance at Hermione, then immediately looked at the floor. His voice was barely above a whisper.
"I... I..."
He stammered for a good while and produced nothing coherent.
Ron laughed harder. "Malfoy, are you scared she'll hit you?"
"Relax, Hermione doesn't usually hit people — she goes straight for the spells!"
Malfoy pulled in a deep breath and steadied himself. He raised his wand, tip pointed at the Hermione standing before him.
"Riddikulus!"
WHITE light flashed.
The Boggart-Hermione didn't change shape.
But.
Every trace of that ice-cold composure vanished.
What replaced it was something that defied easy description. Soft. Gentle. Almost unbearably so.
Those sharp, cold eyes went wide and liquid, like a fawn that had just been startled. Her lips curved into the faintest pout, the kind that wasn't quite a pout , more like a silent, wordless plea. A faint glow seemed to settle over her entire presence.
The room went completely still.
Was this... was this really the witch who had the entire Slytherin house living in fear?
Not a sound. Even the breathing was audible.
Harry and Ron's mouths were hanging open. Neither of them had ever seen anything like this.
This was like looking at a completely different person.
"Wow..."
Someone breathed it out. No one knew who.
Then the classroom erupted all over again.
"That's... that's Hermione?"
"Oh my god, that's adorable, "
"I think my heart just melted, "
"Malfoy, honestly, well done, "
"Didn't know you had this kind of... particular taste..."
The comments came from everywhere at once.
Malfoy stood frozen.
He stared at the Boggart-Hermione.
Was this... really what he feared most? His deepest, truest terror?
Because right now it looked... kind of cute.
More than kind of.
He had an almost overwhelming urge to reach out and ruffle her hair.
The moment that thought surfaced, Malfoy recoiled from it like he'd touched a hot stove.
He shook his head hard, trying to fling the idea out of his skull.
Absolutely not.
He could not possibly be having thoughts like that about Hermione Granger. He refused.
It was the Boggart. It had to be the Boggart.
Some kind of illusion. That was the only explanation.
The Boggart-Hermione tilted her head to one side and asked, in a voice so soft and sweet it practically dissolved on contact: "Why... are you all looking at me like that?"
Half the boys in the room felt their knees go unreliable. Several of the girls were wearing expressions they would have denied under Veritaserum.
This was completely illegal.
Ron swallowed. He used every ounce of willpower he possessed to look away, then turned to Malfoy with an expression of pure, heartfelt sympathy.
Done.
Malfoy was completely, irreversibly done.
He'd turned Hermione into that. He was going to spend the next several years being slowly destroyed.
Ron shuddered just thinking about it.
Beside him, the real Hermione had watched the whole thing unfold. Her face had gone green.
Not a normal green. A Hulk green. The particular shade of green that suggested an imminent and involuntary transformation.
Her eyes were fixed on Malfoy and not blinking.
➤ Next: Hermione: I'm So Ruthless I'll Even Avada Myself
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