Michael Granger was a dentist. So was his wife, Samantha. They were very intelligent people, with a very intelligent daughter. When they had originally discovered that Hermione was a witch, let alone that magic was real, they remembered several incidents which couldn't be otherwise explained. When Professor McGonagall visited them and demonstrated a few spells for them, they believed. When they saw Diagon Alley, they knew. This world wasn't theirs, and they could only be outsiders here, where their beloved daughter seemed to come alive. To say this was an unpleasant realisation for the Grangers was like saying Lucius Malfoy was stuck-up. Accurate, but not really conveying the full impact.
They had resigned themselves to losing their daughter to this world, when her letters began to arrive. The first few detailed a school life that was all too familiar. Hermione's routine involved learning, then helping others to learn. But most of the people she'd tried to help taunted her as a know-it-all. The only exception was this Harry Potter boy, who had major problems of his own. By Halloween of her first year, her parents were ready to move to Australia if that was what it took to make their little girl happier.
Her next letter was different. On Halloween, a boy had insulted her for trying to help him in class, and with the way almost everyone else was treating her it was the straw that broke the camel's back. She'd spent most of the day crying in the bathroom. Then a troll had gotten into the castle, and Harry had come to save her. The Grangers were fairly sure this was a bigger deal than their child was letting on. From then on, Hermione's letters included her friends and the things they did together.
When she missed writing a letter this week, Samantha had started to worry. She never missed letters. Michael was not as bothered, ascribing it to getting caught up at school, or with her new friends (although he still wasn't entirely happy that they were both boys).
The knock at the door immediately grabbed their attention.
Upon opening their front door, the Grangers were met with the sight of Professor Minerva McGonagall and a man who looked like a (much) thinner version of Santa. Shortly after that, Samantha was pouring tea in their living room, as all four sat around the coffee table.
It was the transfiguration professor that started the ball rolling. "Mr and Mrs Granger, may I introduce Albus Dumbledore, headmaster at Hogwarts. There has been an... incident at school involving young miss Granger that we will need to discuss."
Steeling himself for the worst, Michael responded. "Is our daughter alive?" At the teacher's nod, he continued. "Healthy?" Another nod. "Happy?"
The white haired man sat up, and lowered his teacup. "That is yet to be determined, I'm sorry to say. Let me tell you what I can." Albus Dumbledore proceeded to bring Hermione's parents up to speed on what had happened.
"...and then young Harry refused to let her go through with this alone, and underwent the exact same transformation. By the time we realised what he was up to, it was done. I, personally, felt we had failed your daughter in some way, failed all of our students, in fact, and then this brave young man, certainly not a boy any more, did this for his friend. And in a manner that upheld the virtues of all four Houses, at that." The two teachers bowed their heads. "We are so very sorry that we couldn't do more for them."
Michael sighed and thought hard as his wife answered. "I don't see what else you could have done. They were clever enough to conceal their little experiment, and when something went wrong, they didn't waste time. Besides," here she waved at the many bookshelves, "trying to stop our Hermione from learning is like asking an avalanche not to fall on you. Wastes your time and no change in trajectory. So what happens now?"
Dumbledore smiled weakly. "As I am certain Minerva pointed out last year, in most situations, muggles are not able to see Hogwarts, nor to go there, but I believe this is one of those times when the rules against it must be set aside. She is going to need you there, if only to see that you still love her."
"So, that's settled," Michael said. "Now, since you're here, I don't suppose you can clarify a few things from Hermione's letters for us? For example, Halloween last year she mentioned a troll?"
Meanwhile, in a certain castle in Scotland, Ron once again approached the twins. Harry and Hermione had been a little tricky to persuade, but Ron was insistent that Fred and George would be able to help them, if let in on the secret. "I tell you, those two are smarter than their grades make them out to be. If it involves a secret or a prank, they can do anything. Except get away from Ginny." So here he was.
He was fairly sure it was George who spoke first. "Oh, looky here, Gred, it seems that Ron has found us." Then they were off with their twinspeak.
"So what can..."
"The likes of us..."
"Do for you today?"
Ron quickly laid out the events of the last couple of days. With both Harry and Hermione in the hospital wing, he'd been drafted into taking notes of each lesson. His notes weren't as comprehensive as Hermione's might have been, but they were more than he was used to taking. Sadly, Ron had been unable to avoid learning something in the process. He was actually a dab hand at transfiguration. The brevity of his notes had also made the other two work harder at the books to make sense of assignments, but they were, and Hermione especially, missing going to class. So Ron came up with a plan.
"I had an idea, don't worry, I'll be nice to the poor lost thing." At this the twins chuckled. Maybe their little brother was growing up after all. "Since they can't show up looking like cats, and since you two are pretty good at those pranks and illusions of yours, maybe we can figure out something to make them look like they used to?"
"Ron," they chorused, "welcome aboard."
The castle itself was quite a sight for the Grangers. Dumbledore gave them a quick tour as they made their way to the hospital wing.
"It is one of the quirks of the castle," he explained, "that on someone's first visit here, the Grand Tour is the fastest way to get where you want to go. I do believe the school likes to... well, show off a bit." After learning a few details of what had happened here last year, a slightly vain castle didn't faze the two muggles in the slightest. They just wanted to get to their daughter.
The headmaster led them through the doors to the hospital wing and over to the beds where the youngsters slept, with the dancing lights of Madam Pomfrey's diagnostic charms circling them, as the erstwhile healer took notes on parchment.
The changes were obvious, and both Grangers gasped as the ears and tails of the children flick about in their sleep. As Sam moved over to her daughter, glancing at what she saw as a medical professional for permission, which Madam Pomfrey smilingly gave, began to stroke her daughter's hair. None of them were truly prepared when the girl began to purr!
Michael noticed that the Potter kid, who seemed to be asleep, opened one eye as his wife approached Hermione, and tensed. When his friend began purring, however, all the tension disappeared, the emerald eye closed, and he was once more 'asleep'. The dentist remembered that cats slept light and often. Catnaps as it were, heh.
After a few minutes, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Pomfrey and the Grangers moved away from the beds. Madam Pomfrey cast a Privacy Charm, which had Dumbledore raising an eyebrow. Taking a deep breath, the healer began to speak.
"As far as I can tell, it's permanent. They've been totally transformed, right down to the smallest pieces of themselves. What is that muggle word? Jeans?"
"Spelt G-E-N-E-S," said Samantha, gesturing for Poppy to go on.
"Their muscles, nerves and skeletal structure are definitely feline. Their ligaments are more elastic, their senses are much better, Mr Potter won't even need his glasses to see with. They are stronger, faster and more agile than they were. But the downside is that they are more instinctual at the moment. They are going to need to adjust."
"Severus and I can help them there," said Minerva. "I'll be teaching them about cats and their new instincts, while Severus will teach them to block their minds, we call it Occlumency. I just wish we could do more..."
"Hang on a second," Michael said. "My aunt raised cats, so I know a bit about them." He turned to Madam Pomfrey. "You said they were going to more instinctual, right?" At Poppy's nod he went on. "Cats are very... sensual creatures, when they trust someone. What about... other instincts, do I have to threaten the young man in that bed over there to keep his paws off our daughter?" As everyone giggled at him he realised what he'd said. Dammit, cat jokes are going to be the least of it.
Once they'd stopped laughing, Madam Pomfrey answered frankly. "I don't know. This sort of thing has happened before, or there wouldn't be cures and antidotes. But not with felines. It's usually dogs. We also have the situation of two people undergoing this together. That has never happened before that we know of." Pausing, she went over her notes. "It is likely that they have... those instincts, but how bad it will hit them, or even when, I have no idea."
Together the adults looked back at the children. As they had moved away, Harry had sat beside Hermione and began stroking her hair, getting her to purr again.
Samantha grinned at her husband. "Perhaps the boyfriend talk would be a good idea?"
Michael Granger didn't wind up giving the boyfriend talk that day. It was more the sort of thing to do in a more private setting. Besides, he had a vague feeling he would have been setting himself up for some kind of jest. He hated being someone else's straight man. Instead, he and his wife spoke with the children about the things they'd gotten up to. The ones that had somehowmanaged to become downplayed or understated when Hermione relayed the news to them.
"Honey, we understand you don't want to be dragged out of Hogwarts, especially since you finally have friends, but when you're in trouble, we need to know exactly how big it is. When you said you'd been saved from a troll by Harry here, we came to a false conclusion about how dangerous a mountain troll is." Michael was trying to be stern but fair, but he felt like he was drop-kicking a kitten. "Now look, the Headmaster was only able to clear our being here for one day, so tell us everything, all right."
That afternoon, the Grangers were introduced to Ron. The redhead had been hanging out with the twins, and somehow had kept them from pranking anyone that day.
"The twins'll deny that of course, they'd say we were pranking everyone," Ron said. Mr Granger had been a bit unnerving when he asked about the troll incident, and why Hermione had been in that bathroom at all. Ron had gulped, and answered honestly. "I was a prat. She was trying to help me, and I got jealous that a girl could do it better than me and started venting. I could blame the twins and growing up being pranked and teased, but it was my brain disconnect that made me say it all."
The tall, brown haired man who pulled out people's teeth for a living leaned down and stared him in the eyes. Ron had never been so scared. He would rather face another troll or two, right now, wandless, than Hermione's dad if he was angry. "OK, then. See it doesn't happen again."
The relief Ron felt at that was almost a solid presence, as Harry and all three Grangers laughed.
The youngest Weasly boy drew in a deep breath. "Look, guys, I've got something here for the two of you. I know I'm no good at charms and stuff, and my notes aren't as good as being in class,except for potions, where anything that keeps you out of Snape's sight is good. So you need to go to class yourselves. Then I thought about what needed to happen. I laid it out like a chess game, see, and once I did, everything just... I don't know, clicked. So, if you need to be in class, you need to hide your... well, kittiness, if that's even a word. For keeping stuff concealed, I would go to the twins, so I got them to make these for you."
Ron held out two long bands of leather, each with a buckle at the end and an empty bell in the middle. As everyone realised they were collars, Ron explained. "Once you wear them, no-one else can trigger them. If you want to put up or take down the glamour, just flick the bell with your left middle finger."
Harry and Hermione wasted no time in trying out the collars, and were very happy. Ron got hugged by both cat-children and Mrs Granger, while the big scary dentist just shook his hand.