Chapter 117: The New Girl
"Hello..."
Hermione sat down at the table, embarrassed.
"Well, since you've chosen our House, I'd like everyone to call me Hermy. She..."
Hermy nodded toward her near-copy.
"...probably can't stand shortened versions of her name, and I'm already used to all of you calling me that."
Hermione looked at Hermy in surprise.
"I... I hope we can..."
"Become friends?"
Ginny looked at Hermione, and when she nodded hesitantly, Ginny shrugged.
"That doesn't just depend on us. It depends on you too. Friendship isn't a one-sided process, after all. Both sides need to take steps toward each other."
"I... I'll try..."
Then, Hermione gave Harry a strange look, but he ignored her. He was talking with a boy from the Quidditch team.
"Don't look at him..."
Tracey shook her head.
"...right now, he's oblivious. He'll spend the whole breakfast talking only about Quidditch, so trying to get his attention..."
"I don't recommend it..."
Ginny finished the sentence for her friend and rival.
"...you know, things are already rather crowded here without you."
She shot Tracey an intent look.
"Well, if things are too crowded for you, you're perfectly free to move out..."
A mocking smile appeared on Tracey's lips, and the girls, ignoring everyone around them, began competing to see who could deliver the sharper barb without crossing the line of ordinary verbal sparring.
"Um... are they..."
"Don't pay attention..."
I shook my head, catching Hermione's unfriendly look.
...that's their standard condition. See, they're both fighting for our Potter's heart, so they quite often exchange barbs like this. But if a third one appears... then they'll form a united front against the rival, because they've more or less gotten used to each other, but outsiders are another matter."
"Black, right?"
Hermione forced a smile.
"Yes..."
"And who are your parents?"
"Well, as for my parents, I assume everything is the same as in your world. The only difference is that Lucius died when I was very little, so my upbringing was handled by Mother Narcissa and Mother Bellatrix."
"I-I-I see... And you teach the younger years?"
"Yes."
"And how did that happen?"
"Well, due to a minor mutation, I was able to begin full magical training somewhat earlier than other children. So by the time I entered Hogwarts, I already knew the curriculum for the first several years. Flitwick saw that I wasn't especially interested in sitting through his lessons and arranged a short oral quiz... and after that..."
I shrugged.
"...they gave me an exam on the year's topics. I passed it, Flitwick offered to make me his personal student, and in exchange, so he could have time to prepare lessons with me, I had to take over the first years at Hogwarts and teach them charms and spells. Of course, they didn't just trust me right away. At first, Flitwick himself was present at the lessons, keeping one eye on what I was doing, but once he was convinced I was responsible enough, he left the first years entirely to me."
"I see..."
Hermione mechanically picked at the porridge on her plate with her spoon.
"Listen, this Draco isn't the one from your world. You'll understand..."
Hermy looked at her copy encouragingly.
"Uh-huh... probably... but all of this is hard to accept..."
"Well, you'll be able to accept it, but I think things will be hard for you here."
"Hard?"
"Well, you see, our world is preparing for the apocalypse."
A strained smile crossed my face.
"The apocalypse?!"
Hermione said it a little too loudly, and the look she gave me was full of doubt about my sanity.
"Yes... I never thought I'd say something like that myself. But essentially, our world is now gradually colliding with another one. In ancient chronicles, this was called the Convergence of Worlds. Even now, being outside major cities is dangerous..."
"Dangerous? What are you talking about?"
"Grimm... they're monsters that started emerging through rifts in space. At first, sealing such tears was only a minor problem, but now too many creatures are coming through."
"Yes..."
Fleur nodded.
"...because of that, Draco even had to do an entire project to place additional charms on the Great Hall."
"Additional charms?"
Hermione looked at Fleur.
"And by the way, who are you? We simply didn't have you..."
"Fleur Delacour, Draco's fiancée. I transferred to this school from Beauxbatons."
"And I'm Penelope Clearwater, and I'm also Draco's fiancée."
"Um..."
Hermione looked lost.
"And I'm Luna Lovegood! And I am not Draco's fiancée."
Luna decided to join the introductions, and her words made everyone laugh softly.
"Um... you have two fiancées? How does that work?"
"Well, neither of us minds, and we both love Draco, so we decided not to quarrel over nothing."
As Penelope said those words, Ginny and Tracey quickly looked at Harry, then stared at each other again with faintly narrowed eyes.
"Um... but that's not right..."
"We're the only ones who decide what's right and what's not."
Fleur smiled sweetly at Hermione, making the latter twitch her shoulders.
"All right, none of that matters. What matters is that these rifts will grow larger and larger, and eventually the worlds will simply overlap. And believe me, what we have learned about that world gives me every right to speak of an apocalypse."
"I see..."
She sighed.
"What's wrong?"
Hermy lightly nudged her duplicate.
"It's just... well, I'm thinking..."
"All right, I know that feeling. Stop thinking right now!"
Hermy lightly patted her duplicate's cheeks, distracting her from her thoughts, while I, seeing that the girl had enough news for the moment, turned to Fleur and began an unhurried conversation with her.
*** Some Time Later. ***
"So, my dear students..."
I looked over the Ravenclaws and Slytherins in my classroom, while Hermione looked slightly lost.
"...today, we have our next lesson, and as you remember, today we have a theoretical exam. So each of you will now receive a sheet with questions..."
With a wave of my wand, the stack of papers on my desk flew around the classroom.
"...I remind you that how you pass this exam will determine how willing the other professors are to see you in their extracurricular lessons."
The children nodded.
"Um..."
After receiving the sheet, Hermione raised her hand with some embarrassment.
"Yes, Miss Granger."
"Professor... um... I don't know the answers to some of the questions... We simply didn't cover this..."
"That's all right. You aren't participating in any clubs or extra classes with other professors yet, anyway. Our next small exam is in a month, and during that time, you'll be able to figure out which classes you want to attend. We'll also look at your progress and use that to decide whether to admit you."
Granger nodded.
"Besides, I think your sister from our world would be willing to share the list of literature you should study."
"I'll share it."
Hermy nodded.
"Just don't lean too hard on theory... there's no need to memorize everything word for word. After all, we're trying to give you an understanding of the material, not compete over how much you can memorize. And practice comes first here."
"Uh-huh..."
Granger nodded and then began studying the sheet and writing answers.
Soon, I was collecting the answers, and I could see Granger worrying because she hadn't been able to answer every question. After quickly skimming her answers, I looked at Granger in surprise.
"Miss Granger... No, Hermy, not you. I mean our new girl..."
She rose from her seat somewhat uncertainly.
"...surprisingly, you answered almost eighty percent of the questions, which is a very good result. And this time, your grade will be decent. However..."
She was just about to relax when I continued, startling her.
"...on the next test, I will not tolerate answers like THIS. You toss around textbook terminology as if it were a game. In tests like this, I want to see your thoughts. Do you understand me?"
"Yes..."
She lowered her eyes, clearly ready to sink into the floor.
"Now, now... you shouldn't take it that way. Every professor has their own requirements, and, say, Professor Snape would most likely ignore this approach, but I don't. That is precisely why I'm telling you now, so that by the next test, you know how to best present the information."
"I understand..."
At that moment, the bell rang, and the students left the classroom...
*** Some Time Later. ***
"Well?"
I looked at Granger, who had come to my office after classes.
"Do you have any questions?"
"Yes... I didn't say this in class, but I wrote everything correctly!"
I sighed.
"Miss Granger, I had no complaint about the correctness of what you wrote. My complaint was about HOW you wrote it. Believe me, if I want to read terms from a textbook, I will open that very textbook. From you, I want to see UNDERSTANDING."
"You're prejudiced against me! You're just like that Malfoy! You hate Muggle-borns!"
I sighed, took out my wand, and waved it to summon a Patronus.
"Professor, could you come here... the new student and I have a disagreement about a test, and we need someone to judge between us."
The Patronus ran through the wall.
"As you can see, Miss Granger, our dispute can be resolved quite simply. Professor Flitwick will arrive soon, and he will judge between us. Does that suit you?"
"Yes!"
She looked at me defiantly. About ten minutes later, Flitwick came to my office, and I explained what had happened.
"Well, let's look at your work..."
There was faint displeasure in Flitwick's voice. Unlike Hermione, I knew Flitwick very well and understood that he disliked hearing someone dispute a teacher's word. Granger, however, didn't catch that in his voice...
My mentor quickly scanned the test and looked thoughtfully at Granger.
"Well, overall, you wrote everything correctly..."
Superiority appeared in Hermione's eyes.
"...but in my opinion, you really do pay too much attention to repeating the exact wording from the textbook."
Hermione's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
"It makes it difficult to see whether you truly know the material or have simply memorized it without understanding what lies behind it. So I see nothing strange in Mr. Black's request that, during the next test, you present information in your own words. Either Professor McGonagall or I, because of our experience, can tell if a student who writes tests this way knows the material, but my student doesn't have enough experience for that."
"But... I do know the material..."
"No..."
Flitwick shook his head with a smile.
"...what you did was memorize the material. I don't know why YOUR teachers paid no attention to this, but this doesn't smell like knowledge at all. It smells like rote learning, and thoughtless rote learning at that."
"But I..."
"Miss Granger, you have pulled Mr. Black away from his work, and believe me, he has quite a lot of work, since he not only teaches your lessons but also continues studying magic himself, advancing by leaps and bounds. You've also pulled me away from mine. So please be so kind as to listen to my opinion."
"All right..."
Hermione lowered her gaze to the floor.
"In short, I confirm Mr. Black's statement that the next test must be written in your own words, not in dry textbook terminology. Is that all?"
"Thank you, Professor."
I nodded to Flitwick, and he left us.
"So, is the matter resolved?"
"Yes..."
She nodded, but she was clearly unhappy with how everything had turned out. To be honest, though, I couldn't have cared less about her satisfaction.
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