Chapter 8. School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

From the very first days, Hermione immersed herself in her studies, showing an insatiable curiosity about everything: from the History of Magic, which many found boring, to Transfiguration, one of the toughest subjects. Perhaps this enthusiasm allowed Hermione to grasp Transfiguration with surprising ease. This subject involved changing objects from one form to another. The hardest part was turning inanimate objects into living ones, like turning a cup into a cat - a trick Professor McGonagall demonstrated when she first met Hermione, and that seemed to really inspire her.

In the very first lesson, Hermione caught Professor McGonagall's eye with her ability to quickly learn new information and successfully complete practical tasks. With each class, Hermione stood out more among her peers, her hand always the first to go up, ready to demonstrate a new spell or answer a tough question. This definitely pleased the professor, and some classmates started calling her the Gryffindor head's favorite. They weren't far off.

But in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Hermione faced unexpected challenges that had nothing to do with her skills. The problem was Professor Quirrell. According to rumors, Quirrell had met a vampire in the Romanian forests, and this encounter had deeply affected him. He often froze, interrupting the lesson when he heard unexpected noises, and genuine fear flickered in his eyes. He avoided talking about the darker sides of dark magic, preferring to just describe the abilities of some of the less terrifying magical creatures.

One day, gathering his courage, Quirrell started talking about the Hypnosaur — a mysterious creature capable of paralyzing a person with its gaze, similar to the effect of the Petrificus Totalus spell. In general, Hermione had noticed that many offensive spells seemed to be borrowed from magical animals.

Suddenly, a loud noise rang out, and with a frightened squeal, Quirrell dove under the teacher's desk. Only the top of his silly turban, which he always wore, stuck out from under the desk. The students began to giggle, watching their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor choosing a rather unusual method of defense.

"Professor, come back to us, the Hypnosaur has left," a student from the back row called out cheerfully, causing even more laughter from his friends.

Hermione reacted to all this with strong disapproval. The professor's behavior certainly raised questions, but she did not tolerate bullying of any kind, including towards teachers. Looking around and making sure that the noise had been caused by Neville's book falling to the floor, she quickly informed the professor. Peeking out from under the desk just enough for his terrified eyes to be seen, the professor asked in a trembling voice:

"Are you s-s-sure it wasn't a Bub-b-bogon N-n-noisix? It m-m-makes that exact n-n-noise when it's really angry."

"No, professor, there's no one here. It was just a book," Hermione quickly assured him. "You can safely continue the lesson."

But at that moment, the same noise rang out again - one of the students had intentionally thrown another book on the floor. The professor, letting out a squeal, hid under the desk again, nearly knocking it over in fear. Hermione turned angrily to the prankster.

"Enough!" she burst out. "This kind of behavior is unacceptable! We are here to learn, not to bully each other!"

The class fell silent, but from behind Hermione, a snide voice suddenly piped up:

"Looks like Mrs. Filch is back to discipline us."

Hermione spun around and stared directly at Ron Weasley. He sat there with a satisfied grin, looking at her.

"You... that's not very Gryffindor of you!" she shouted at him, boiling with anger.

"I didn't say anything..." he tried to defend himself in confusion, but Hermione, not listening, turned away and sat back down.

Her shoulders kept trembling for a long time, showing how upset she was. Soon, Professor Quirrell gathered his courage and crawled out from under the desk to continue his lesson.

Hogwarts' curriculum included both individual and group study of various subjects, with some classes combining students from different houses. For example, Potions classes brought together Gryffindor and Slytherin, while Ravenclaw joined Gryffindor for Charms. This system was meant to foster inter-house friendship, but in practice, it often led to rivalry.

Charms lessons were taught by Professor Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw House. His small stature often required him to climb onto a chair or use a podium so that the students could see him from their desks. Starting with the theory of magic, he quickly moved on to simple spells, giving the students a chance to gain experience through practical exercises.

Among all the students in his classes, Miranda Ravenclaw quickly stood out. Initially, her popularity among her peers was due to her family's fame – an ancient and respected magical lineage. Perhaps only Harry Potter attracted more attention than she did. But over time, it became clear that Miranda was exceptionally diligent and thoughtful, showing great success in mastering spells. Her ability to easily grasp complex magical formulas, along with her constant grace and friendliness, led many to call her the 'Princess of Ravenclaw.' Professor Flitwick was also delighted to have such a talented student in his house.

Hermione, who had already distinguished herself in other subjects, found a worthy rival in Miranda during Charms lessons. Her innate drive to surpass everyone made her feel a bit envious of Miranda. Hermione even suspected, though without any real basis, that Professor Flitwick favored Miranda because she was from Ravenclaw, the house he led. As a result, Charms lessons became a stage for their unspoken rivalry, around which two support camps formed: Ravenclaws, quite expectedly, backed Miranda, while Gryffindors usually sided with Hermione.

Potions lessons turned out to be nothing like Hermione had expected, remembering Diagon Alley. They didn't wear chef's hats or stir cauldrons with ladles. Instead, most of the time was spent carefully measuring and preparing ingredients before adding them to the cauldron. Hermione, always known for her meticulousness, found a certain pleasure in this process. Brewing potions required precision and attention to detail, which perfectly suited her inclination for neatness.

The classes were held in a damp, cold dungeon near the Slytherin common room. Professor Snape, head of Slytherin, seemed like an integral part of this gloomy setting. His unfriendly and stern appearance fit the place perfectly.

Snape clearly favored the students of his own house. But even among them, Draco Malfoy stood out, enjoying special treatment from the professor. 'Maybe it's his father's connections at the Ministry that cause the favor,' thought Hermione, watching Snape give Draco helpful hints while being much less tolerant with the other students, especially when they made mistakes.

Gryffindors, of course, got the brunt of Snape's sarcasm and mockery far more than Slytherins. When Nancy Magwort's potion boiled over, causing an unbearable stench, Snape only gave her a mild reprimand. At the same time, he couldn't overlook the smallest mistakes from the Gryffindors. He particularly disliked Harry Potter, who received criticism both deserved and undeserved. In any other situation, Hermione would have stood up for Harry, seeing such injustice, but she was strangely afraid of Professor Snape and couldn't bring herself to say a word against his attacks.

***

The library became Hermione's greatest discovery at Hogwarts. When she first walked in, her heart pounded with awe at the sight of endless rows of books. There were shelves bursting with volumes about magical plants and animals, mysterious spells and enchanted objects, and materials from which wonders could be made. She stood frozen, excitedly gazing at this magical world of knowledge, until the librarian, Madam Pince, brought her back to reality.

"Can I help you with something, miss...?"

"Yes... no... I'm just looking..." Hermione stuttered.

"I see. If you need something specific, let me know," Madam Pince said, moving on and dusting the already clean tomes with a feather duster.

Every day after lessons, Hermione headed to the library, picking books from various sections of magic. She paid special attention to Transfiguration, drawn to its complexity and the elegance of transformations, as well as Potions. Professor Snape seemed to make the assignments especially difficult for her. But Hermione wasn't one to back down. She resolved to become the best, even if it meant spending nights in the library.

In the end, Hermione devoted herself entirely to her studies. Deep down, she realized she lacked simple human connections. Of course, Hermione knew all the girls in her room. They exchanged brief greetings and chatted about everyday things, but she never formed any true friendships with them. It was actually Lila who got everyone acquainted, and Hermione just happened to be there during their conversations. Surrounded by textbooks, she would only occasionally look up from the pages and join the conversation.

Besides Lila, there were two other girls sharing the room with Hermione. One of them was Olivia Lightflame. A short and slender brunette with brown eyes and a delicate build, Olivia was withdrawn and rarely spoke to anyone at school. This was likely due to childhood trauma. Her father disappeared at the end of the last magical war, and neither she nor her mother ever learned what happened to him. One day, he simply left home and never returned.

Olivia would only perk up when the conversation turned to events from those distant years. The rest of the time, she listened passively to her roommates' chatter, only occasionally joining in. Sometimes Hermione saw her in the library, most often in the History of Magic section. Perhaps Olivia was looking for information that might help her learn something about her father. But it was equally likely that her love for the History of Magic was instilled by her mother, a professor in this field of magical studies. Olivia's mother specialized in researching ancient magical scrolls whose original meanings had been lost.

The last roommate was a tall and slightly plump girl with curly light brown hair. Her name was Nora Scarlett. Nora's father, a Muggle and a taxi driver, had, in her opinion, an incredible sense of humor. According to her, he could passionately tell stories about his passengers and other adventures from dawn till dusk. It seemed that Nora inherited her knack for nonstop chatting from him.

Her mother was a witch specializing in treating magical animals. She owned a veterinary clinic, and Nora spent a lot of time there before starting school. Most of her stories, which she found amusing, came from there.

"Can you imagine," Nora once recounted, "a little dragon was recently brought to my mom's clinic. But this dragon, instead of breathing fire, blew streams of soap bubbles!"

"What? Soap bubbles?" Lila asked in surprise, her eyes wide open. "How is that possible?"

"Just like that," Nora replied with a smile, and continued, "All the clinic's wizards spent several days trying to figure out what happened. They scanned him with all-seeing spells, gave him fire-breathing potions, and even tried lightning therapy..."

"Lightning therapy?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "What's that?"

"It's when weak lightning bolts are used to restore the fire-related functions of animals," Nora explained knowledgeably. She loved showing off her knowledge to the other girls.

"So," she continued, "nothing helped, and the dragon kept blowing more and more bubbles. It seemed like he was going to suffocate on them."

"And then?" Lila asked with a worried expression. "Did they save him?"

"And then," Nora went on, "a wizard came to the clinic with his owl. His owl had stopped delivering mail for some reason. He overheard the healers talking about the dragon and got interested. It turned out he was a specialist in Transfiguration and figured out that the dragon had been cursed to turn fire into bubbles! Someone had played a prank…"

"So, did this wizard save him?" Lila asked hopefully.

"Yes. If he hadn't come by, the poor dragon would still be spewing bubbles, if he hadn't suffocated by now," Nora concluded her story.

And she had hundreds of such stories, so Nora could keep conversations going for hours. She also loved to joke and banter in the room, which Hermione didn't always appreciate because the extra noise disrupted her studies. This led to a somewhat strained relationship between them. One day, when Nora and Lila were laughing loudly at another joke, Hermione snapped:

"Could you calm down a bit? How can anyone study with all this noise?"

Nora, a bit taken aback, looked at Lila in confusion. Lila, suppressing her laughter, shrugged. Turning to the angry-looking Hermione, Nora haughtily replied:

"We have a right to be here and have fun too! Not everyone lives only for books. And this isn't a library!"

Saying this, Nora resumed her conversation with Lila, talking deliberately loudly to annoy Hermione even more. Hermione, about to lash out, stopped herself and took a deep breath, especially since Lila gradually calmed her friend down.

This argument was just the first in a series of conflicts that affected Hermione throughout the school year. As a result, Hermione felt quite lonely in her room. The only one who was friendly towards her was Lila, but even that couldn't be called a true friendship.

Isolated from her roommates, Hermione found solace in books and writing to her parents via owl post. She had been writing to them since her first day at Hogwarts, telling them everything: from how the school is organized to her academic achievements. In her letters, she didn't hide her feelings and sometimes shared her struggles with loneliness.

However, during the first week, her letters went unanswered, which worried Hermione. She sought help from Professor McGonagall, who immediately reassured her:

"I'll look into it. It's not uncommon for Muggle parents to struggle with owls at first. Don't worry!"

Indeed, the very next day, Hermione received her first reply from her mom and dad. After that, the mail came regularly. Her parents supported her in everything but were concerned that she wasn't making any real friends at school.

***

"Today, we have finished learning the most basic technique in Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall said, her serious gaze sweeping across the class. "Some of you have done exceptionally well…" She smiled slightly and nodded towards Hermione, who blushed a bit, flattered. Hermione quickly glanced around to make sure she wasn't the only one who noticed the professor's praise. "...and some of you need to put in more effort." Her stern gaze shifted to Ron Weasley, who was in the middle of telling something apparently very entertaining to Harry Potter. Harry nodded along with a wide smile, clearly enjoying his friend's story.

"Mr. Weasley, I hope you are explaining to Mr. Potter how to properly use this Transfiguration technique?" McGonagall asked sarcastically.

"What? Oh, yes, yes! Exactly… how to use it…" Ron's eyes darted around, avoiding the professor's gaze.

"Would you like to share your insights with the class? I think everyone would find it very interesting."

Quiet snickers and whispers spread through the classroom.

"You have to… um…" Ron trailed off, dropping his head, his ears turning red with embarrassment.

"Next lesson, we will review how well everyone has grasped this technique starting from you two!"

Most of the class was openly laughing at Ron now. McGonagall, tearing her gaze away from the blushing Weasley, looked around at all the students and said sternly:

"The review will apply to everyone! If anyone thinks they can master Transfiguration by attending lessons three times a week and that will be enough, they are deeply mistaken! Everyone! I repeat, everyone, must practice the material for at least an hour each day."

The classroom fell silent, and the students exchanged awkward glances; only Hermione sat with her head held high. Her whole demeanor showed that she indeed did exactly that.

"You are dismissed!" announced the Gryffindor Head of House, and then quickly added, "Miss Granger, please stay for a moment."

Hermione, who had just risen from her seat, stopped and looked questioningly at McGonagall. The professor approached her and said, "Miss Granger, your progress in Transfiguration is amazing! And, according to other teachers, not just in that subject! Honestly, in all my years of teaching, I don't remember anyone achieving such success in such a short time! Can you explain how you do it?"

Pausing, McGonagall looked keenly at Hermione. Many of the other students also stopped or slowed down their packing, interested in the professor's question. Hermione blushed with pleasure and, a bit embarrassed, replied, "I think it's because of the extra practice after lessons and the time spent in the library."

Ron Weasley, who had also lingered nearby, rolled his eyes. He turned to Harry Potter and mumbled something about a 'know-it-all,' pulling Harry towards the door. Nora Scarlett laughed loudly, saying something to Lila, who chuckled but looked a bit disapprovingly at her friend. Harry, meanwhile, was still interested in the conversation between Hermione and the professor, not in a hurry to leave the classroom.

"That is certainly impressive, but it doesn't explain how you manage to master even quite complex spells so quickly," McGonagall said with some doubt in her voice. "Is there perhaps another reason?"

Hermione looked at the professor in confusion and shrugged, replying, "I don't know, maybe I just have a natural talent for magic?"

A chuckle she heard from Ron, who was standing in the doorway, irritated Hermione a bit. She never understood why Harry hung out with that silly Weasley. There was nothing special about him, yet they went everywhere together like best friends.

"Perhaps..." McGonagall replied thoughtfully, still watching Hermione closely.

Thinking about the professor's words, Hermione also started to notice the oddities in how quickly she learned. She seemed to be the only one in the class who could easily master new spells on the first or second try, while most of her classmates struggled to repeat the same spell over several lessons before they got it right.

Intrigued by this, Hermione went to the school library to look for books on spell mastery and the factors affecting the speed of learning. Many of the volumes she found were just superficial guides, containing nothing but common advice. However, in some of them, she found confirmation of her conclusions. These books stated that success in studying magic largely depends on a wizard's innate talents and their ability to perform spells precisely and clearly. In these qualities, Hermione undoubtedly surpassed her peers.