Portions, Corridors, and a Blue Aura
The kids were sitting in the Great Hall, watching Hermione, who kept stuffing her mouth with food without stopping. Meanwhile, a plate moved gently toward her, magically, making everyone look in the direction it had come from. But there was nothing there, or at least there shouldn't have been, because Harry could feel a magical being standing next to Hermione, following her around and giving her even more food.
Yes, there was a house elf, wearing a little princess dress and showing a happy, almost excited expression as she kept piling more food onto Hermione's plate without pause. She was much taller than the last time Harry had seen her. It really seemed like They really did grow fast.
When she noticed that the magical bag she was carrying was empty, she made a slightly confused face before disappearing with a snap.
Harry saw all of that and then looked back at Hermione, who looked genuinely full, yet still couldn't stop eating.
"She's gone. You can stop eating now," he said with a faint smile, which made Hermione let out a sigh and practically collapse onto the table, exhausted and full.
"What's going on?" Daphne asked, watching her with a mildly interested smile.
"It's Pipi," Hermione said in a tired voice. "She's learning how to cook, and she assigned herself the mission of bringing me food every single day. I told her there are other house elves in the castle who already take care of our meals, but that just made her sad, so I didn't really have a choice but to accept. Still, it seems like she hasn't learned how to measure portions yet," she added, turning to look toward the staff table, where her mother was also struggling with massive servings of food. Whenever no one was looking, she slipped part of her meal onto Sirius's plate, or Hagrid's.
"Why don't you just tell her to cook less?" Daphne asked, as if it were the simplest solution in the world.
"You can say that because Laki listens to you, or maybe Gris and Liz would too. But try doing the same with Dobby," Draco said, his tone a bit irritated as he joined the conversation. "Last time, he jumped on me while I was sleeping and nearly suffocated me in my own blankets because a squirrel had peeked through the tree outside my room. When I told him that wasn't dangerous, he started hitting himself with a lamp," he added, clearly worn out.
"It's not easy. I wouldn't like to see her cry. If all that happens is that I feel a bit too full, I don't really mind," Hermione said. After all, she had a soft spot for her little elf, who wasn't so little anymore, but still had the same mindset.
"You're going to get fat," Daphne teased, earning an angry glare from Hermione.
"That's too bad for you," Harry said, his tone clearly mocking. "Luckily, I don't have that problem."
"Seriously, what happened the last time Liz got upset?" Hermione asked, her tone turning serious as she narrowed her eyes.
"That day never happened. It's an illusion," Harry replied with a smile that clearly looked like he was trying to forget something.
"Oh yeah? Then why don't we try doing the same—"
"An illusion," Harry said, leaning in close to Hermione with such intense seriousness that she immediately shut her mouth, meeting those almost lifeless eyes that made it very clear he wasn't joking.
"Okay," she said, backing away as she stood up and put the leftover food into her magical bag. "I'm going to take some food to Fluffy and the others. Then I'll head to the library," she added calmly.
Harry pulled out his pocket watch to check the time. "It's time for us to go to our amazing and incredibly fun Divination class," he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm as he stood up.
"Once again, maybe you could ask Professor Flitwick to get you out of that class and find something better," Hermione commented, clearly fed up just hearing about it.
"It's too late now," Daphne said with a smile as the four of them split up. Daphne, Draco, and Harry headed toward Divination, while Hermione turned off toward the area near the forest to call on the chaotic boys.
Hermione walked through the school corridors with confidence, easily recognizing every path. Hallways that ended abruptly, only to continue through a tapestry in the wall or a hidden passage behind a suit of armor. As always, the castle had that special feeling that came with walking through it, constantly reminding you that you were in a completely magical world.
And that always made Hermione happy. Studying in a castle full of magic, learning about magic and spellcraft, alongside her best friends, and even having her mother and aunts as professors there. What could possibly make that bad?
The answer came on its own when, as she turned a corner in one of the corridors, she was stopped by a group of girls who planted themselves right in front of her, blocking her path.
Hermione paused for a moment, showing slight annoyance. "Could you move? I need to get through," she said.
But the girls standing in front of her looked at her with contempt and a faint sense of danger that Hermione could easily feel. It wasn't new; she had felt it before from Slytherin students. And sure enough, these girls were from Slytherin. They looked like fifth and sixth years. There were at least eight of them.
And since Hermione had never been interested in getting to know students from that house, due to the contempt many of them showed toward her supposed Mudblood status, as they called her in a discriminatory way, she didn't recognize any of them.
"You're Granger, right?" one of them said in an annoyed tone, looking at her with her arms crossed. The others positioned themselves behind her with the same expressions and malicious smiles.
"No, you're mistaken. Now, if you'll excuse me," Hermione replied, not wanting anything to do with them as she tried to move past. However, the girls quickly blocked her path, forcing her to take a step back.
"You're that Mudblood who doesn't know her place and is always hanging around Malfoy and Potter. Don't play dumb," the student snapped immediately, anger in her voice as she stared at Hermione coldly.
Hermione let out an irritated sigh, rolling her eyes. "If you already know who I am, why bother asking?" she replied without a shred of fear.
Seeing her react like that only made the girl even angrier at the blatant lack of respect. "Looks like you've gotten pretty full of yourself. Is it because your mother is a professor now, Granger?" she mocked. "Did you really think we wouldn't notice? We knew from the very beginning. If you're a Mudblood, then she has to be a Muggle, right? What could a filthy Muggle possibly be doing in the honorable halls of Hogwarts? Using the power of your friends to give her a little moment of authority over real witches and wizards? Stealing their magic or something like that? Either way, she's still a Muggle, and she's not welcome here," she continued rapidly, as if that were the entire reason they had come looking for her.
"You know, I have better things to do than stand here listening to you," Hermione said in a surprisingly calm tone, meeting her gaze without flinching. "If you have a problem with a professor, why don't you go tell Headmaster Black about it? I'm sure he'd be delighted to hear your concerns," she added before stepping forward, standing face to face with the older student. "Now, please, move aside."
She raised her hand and swept it to the side through the air.
Then, suddenly, all the students blocking the corridor were shoved aside by a blue aura that cleared the path. Without saying another word, Hermione walked straight through them, her expression serious and confident, moving with complete assurance.
For a moment, the girls were left staring in shock, stunned by how easily Hermione had used magic without an incantation or a wand, and in a way they had never seen before, with that distinct blue color.
The one who seemed to be their leader scowled in fury. She didn't act right away; she simply watched Hermione's back with pure hatred before turning toward the nearest student.
"Tell Parkinson we accept," she said with a clearly malicious smile.
Unnoticed by them, not too far away, Daphne, Draco, and Harry were standing there, watching everything unfold. Harry's expression was cold. Really cold. Even so, he hadn't done anything, because he knew Hermione could handle herself. Draco, on the other hand, wore a faintly amused smile. And Daphne even nodded with pride.
"We came because we thought something like this might happen, but it looks unnecessary," Draco commented, addressing the group.
"Hermione really is amazing when she decides to be," Daphne said with a playful smile, as if she had never truly been worried and had only come along out of curiosity.
"Hm. After all, there's a reason she's my mother's student," Harry said, his tone so cold it could have frozen anyone. "Are you going to handle it, or do you want me to?"
"No," Draco replied calmly. "It's time to put an end to this once and for all, so leave it to me."
"If you need help, call me. Or better yet, call me just so I can watch how you do it. It'll probably be fun," Daphne said as the three of them started walking toward the Divination classroom, already running late. They had taken a detour thinking something like this might happen, but in the end, they hadn't even been needed.
After all, Hermione could defend herself just fine.
No wonder she had grown up with them.