Chapter 9: Hermione Granger
"Hello! I inadvertently overheard you asking for the third year books at Hogwarts. My name is Hermione Granger, I am a first year student and I come from a family of non-wizards, so I would like to know if there are any additional books that you indicate to me as a student there?"
Jesus! I really met with her, but being so close I can see she is just a child yet. A very cute one, but a child. Tsk, time is really a bother to me right now. I want a woman but all the ones I will meet are too young for now. Tsk, I think I can at least pave the way for the future then, because if she looks like 70% with Emma Watson, I'll be satisfied enough. So I'll have to make good impressions since now.
I look at her, smiles and nod my head a little "Hello, my name is Neville Longbottom. I am indeed a Hogwarts' student, but I'm a first year student like you..."
She holds her hand over her mouth and looks desperate. She interrupts me."So why are you already buying third year books? Was I supposed to have bought it all at once, too? Oh my God! I'm so tardy already. I knew I should have bought all the books last week, but my parents could only be here this week. I told them I need to prepare more because I don't have a wizard family, but they keep saying I'm over reacting." She pauses, grabs some air and continues "Is there any non-wizards regular subject? I do not know what to do, so little time is left for the beginning of the school year. I didn't even started to read. What subjects are harder? Where do I start studying? They should give us some time to adjust..."
"Calm down girl, calm down! It is not what you are thinking. I'm from a witch family, I already had most books at home, and it is my grandmother that wants me to buy the third year books now. She says it is better to buy sooner than later. " I look at her tenderly. She really is a super worried person. I have to calm her down. "Do not be so nervous. From what my grandmother told me, the school material of the first and second year is practically the same, except for Charms. This happens this way to facilitate the adaptation of wizards like you who were born in muggle families, I guess. The material you buy will be used for two years. So you have two whole years to master the books. Stay calm!" I almost put my hand on her head, as if comforting a child about to cry. She does not seem to be happy with my answer as she still looks worried.
"It's so unfair, you already know so many things before I even start to study. It is such an advantage. I'm going to buy all the books of the third year as well, besides the charms book of the second year."
She is so cute that I can't hold my laugh. "Silly girl, you Muggle-borns wizards also have your advantages. Before entering Hogwarts I assume you were studying in a Muggle school. We wizards, only start to study in a school at age 11. You have already studied for tests and exams. This is your advantage. You're more prepared for a school than we regular wizards."
She calms down a little and realizes something "This is not true. You're born of wizards and you seem to know everything already."
I scratch my head, I think I said too much. I can't shake her self confidence. It may be bad for her development. Tsk, so many variables, I have to detail in my mind everything that happens in the first book before going to Hogwarts. I've postponed this for too long, magic is such an interesting thing I devoted all my time to it so far. I can not be careless. "Well, that's because my grandmother thought for a long time that I was not a real wizard, but a squib." I give an excuse.
"Squib?"
"A Muggle person whose parents are wizards." I made an embarrassed face. How could Neville say such things without being ashamed of himself? He really should be very brave.... or naive.
"Aaah, sorry, I did not know this was a possibility." She answers a little embarrassed too.
"No problem, I'm a wizard for sure! Hogwarts, at least, have already send me my letter of invitation. We are going to be together over there, don't worry." I laugh a little, she laughs too. She is a good person. "So What do you think about the wizard world? Are you enjoying it?" I try to change subject while while walking towards some bookstand armchairs.
I sit then she sat by my side. She give me a long answer and we talked for a good amount of time. We talked about books and all about her experience when her family found out she was a witch. Her fear of being different from her parentes, her happiness with their support. Then, she starts talking about all her experiences so far. I basically just listened to her talk about Gringotts goblins, clothes, food... She also asked me many things about wizards customs, traditions and history, which I learned a bit from books in my house. I could feel she avoided asking about my family again. I think she is the kind of person who talks too much because of insecurity, but you can feel a good vibe from her, because you can see she is a kind child.
I like to talk to her. I have a rather nostalgic feeling about it, because I kind of already know her for many years. Since the first time I read Harry Potter, I know her and love her character. But at the same time she is now a living person, sitting by my side and sharing her experiences with me. It is such a crazy situation. She is both the sweet child in front of me and my teenager crush at the same time. I can not stop thinking if all this is really true, because it seems and sounds like a dream to me...
Time flies and her parents arrived and I could see her beautiful mother more closely. She was not Emma Watson, but she did have some traits. Anyway, she was a very beautiful woman. Her dad seemed more british, the polite and elegant kind. Her mother asked, with a crooked smile, who was her new friend. Hermione blushed a little. We say goodbye and we agreed to meet again at the Hogwarts Express.
Another store attendant had brought my books already, so I just picked some more books I wanted and found my grandmother in the combined place and we left for home.
The next day I woke up a little worried. Yesterday was a very special day, but before I went to sleep I started to think how much it could change in the course of history. I need to recapitulate everything that happened in the first year of Hogwarts and how I, Neville, enter into the context of events. There are things I should change, and things I should maintain the same. I have to decide it carefully.
First, I have to understand, who is Harry Potter today? Who is Ronald Weasley today? Who is Hermione Granger today? What is my role, like Neville, in forming their friendship? Should I maintain their status quo?
First, Harry Potter. Today, he is still a bullied kid, ill treated by uncles and without a figure of parental love, who discovers a new world in which he is important but don't know why. He is always afraid to have to come back to his old life. The first person who explains this world to him don't do it well because he is concern about Harry's age. Rubeus Hagrid is a extremely pure half giant and loves Harry a lot, but he thinks he should not be the one that explains Harry's family situation to him. He avoids responding Harry, leaving him with a lot of questions. So the first person who actually explains to Harry what the wizarding world is Ronald Weasley.
Ron, for his part, is the penultimate child of the Weasley's and what appears to be the least talented of them all. He grows up listening to the incredible feats of his older brothers. Charlie is a Quidditch champion, being the captain of the team. Bill and Percy are the smart ones, in the original history they both were Prefects and Head Boys. And the twins (Fred and George) are incredibly funny and charismatic, everyone seems to like them. Ron, in turn, feels like he's not good at anything. He's not as excellent as Charlie in Quidditch, not as smart as Percy and Bill and does not have the charisma of the twins. Harry is the first person in his life who admires the knowledge he has about the things of the wizard world. He feels happy and important to be introducing the wizard world to Harry Potter, a super-famous child, the one who defeated Voldemort. That's why as Harry grows more independent of Ron, his feelings of inferiority and jealousy rise once more.
So, at the train, they both needed each other as best friends. Ron wanted to feel important to someone, he like the feeling of explaining things to Harry and Harry needed someone of his age to explain things to him. Beyond that, Ron has issues regarding money, he feels bad for being poor and Harry is a rich kid who don't care about money. So they end up complementing each other.
Besides, both share the character of the Gryffindor house, as they are brave and daring. All Harry's adventures, Ron is together. They encourage each other a lot, developing their friendship more and more through his adventures during the first year
Hermione comes later. She is a straight person who follows the rules. She is also very insecure, so she tries harder than everyone else to be a good wizard and gain recognition. She's just a kid who wants to fit in, but the more she stands out, the more she isolates herself from the rest. The bond of friendship of the three forms in two moments. The first is when she tries to prevent Harry from leaving Gryffindor common room to face Draco in a duel, because it is against the rules. She could not stop them, and as she guessed, Draco had set a trap for Harry. They have a scary adventure with Fluffy and as she realizes that they have not regretted breaking the rules, she stops talking to them. But she becomes even more isolated from her peers. Then, the troll attack happens and she realizes that they have tried to save her and decides to save them from punishment by lying to teachers. That's how their bond formed and that's when she found the daring part inside of her. Developing it since then.
All of this encounters lead them to face Voldemort at the end of book number one. A very important encounter for them, specially for Harry. As it is the first time he defeats Voldemort consciously.
And me? How does Neville Longbottom fit into this context? What is my importance in this sequence of events?
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Avdran
Avdran Last chapter of the week! =) I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am.
Thanks for the support!
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