Hermione Granger's Meltdown

Things seemed to go much faster after joining the Quidditch Team. You and the other first years had spent two weeks getting accustomed to your Hogwarts schedules. Apparently, that was your precious grace period because now that it was over your classes got progressively harder and your professor heaped on more and more homework with each passing week. You worked hard and you kept studying. You concentrated your efforts on two subjects: Defence Against the Dark Arts - because you were convinced that Professor Quirrell was evil and you didn’t want him angry at you, and Potions - so that you could continue to fend off Hermione Granger in her attempts to unseat you from your top spot in that class.

In addition to classes, you and Draco also had your weekly Quidditch practices. For Draco, those practices were fairly simple. He was someone for Higgs to race against for the Snitch in preparation for the match against Harry Potter and Gryffindor. Draco made the most of his slower broom and was almost always nipping at the bristles of Higgs’ Cleansweep Seven. The sixth year would occasionally throw an elbow or bump his smaller adversary to create some distance between them but for the most part, Draco left practices relatively unscathed.

You, on the other hand, served as target practice. Flint would use you - the unsuspecting and inexperienced first year Keeper - to test his latest plays against. Pucey had a point when he said there was a major difference between taking on a single Chaser versus a team of Chasers because it was much harder to protect the three hoops when you had three different Chasers coming at you. And that wasn’t all, your vindictive ass of a Team Captain also encouraged the Beaters to hit Bludgers at you whenever possible. You were hard-pressed to block the hoops with five members of your team against you and no one defending you.

Learning quickly became a necessity. You avoided the Bludgers like the plague and by the end of your second practice, you felt that you had gotten fairly used to dodging the flying iron balls. The first time Flint and the others tried out a play, they’d usually score due to you being overwhelmed by the five-on-one onslaught. But when they went back to the well and tried a play again you began to recognise certain patterns and were able to anticipate who was going to try and score on you and were able to block the shot or intercept the Quaffle. Flint didn’t exactly like it when you thwarted his plays. In fact, he was a rather poor sport about it. You always knew when he was extra pissed because he’d charge you after seeing you kick the Quaffle away.

It never failed that you’d leave Quidditch practice sore, bruised and with a splitting a headache. You knew you couldn’t complain though. Flint was likely playing rough to ‘toughen you up’. Showing weakness and complaining about how he plays would get you kicked off the team.

Gemma Farley saw you staggering back from practice one night and pulled you into a hug. You were so exhausted and sore that it actually took you a minute to realise that your face was pressed against her chest. You flushed bright red and couldn’t meet her eyes.

“Feeling better?” she asked.

“A little,” you admitted.

“Sorry, Marvolo, even I can’t take on the entire Slytherin Quidditch Team,” Gemma consoled you. “The fact that you have to do that every practice is barbaric. I’ll see what I can do...”

You weren’t sure if your favorite prefect had said anything to your Head of House but shockingly it was Professor Snape who came to your rescue. As September ended and October began, your Potions lessons seemed to shift towards brewing medical remedies. First, there was a Headache Cure and then there was the Topical Bruise Remover. Granger seemed to think that, because these potions were in a different section of your book, your class wouldn’t be covering them until the Spring Term. Professor Snape’s skipping around and altering the curriculum ‘on a whim’ threw off her precious study schedule.

You, on the other hand, were motivated by much more than getting a passing grade. Learning these potions was essential to not just keeping your spot on the Slytherin Quidditch Team but also your survival. You threw yourself into memorising the recipes inside and out and ensured that you knew what each and every ingredient did. You frequently practiced brewing the potions on your own so you would have the finished products to soothe your headache and bruises after Quidditch practice. Before long you were able to alter the active ingredients in your personal medical potions in order to make them more potent.

This majorly paid off when Professor Snape ‘surprised’ your class at the end of October with an in-class exam. The Boil Cure, Headache Cure, and Topical Bruise Remover were the major topics as well as how to make these particular potions more potent. Professor Snape took great pleasure in announcing everyone’s exam grades to the class. The Slytherin first years all out-scored the Gryffindors. The lone Gryffindor standout was Hermione Granger but her expression showed that she wasn’t happy about her status considering she only had the second highest score and had once again finished after you.

Professor Snape rubbed it in even further by awarding you three house points for getting the top score. This brought your personal total up to forty-one.

Granger’s progress in making friends with her fellow Gryffindor first years was going about as well as her personal quest to best you in Potions. Which was why she was left walking alone while the rest of her housemates stormed out of class ahead of her while complaining about ‘cheating snakes’.

“Ouch, that must’ve hurt Granger,” you gloated as you caught up to her and pulled a vial of bruise remover out of your pocket. You had been saving it for after the coming weekend’s Quidditch practice. “Maybe this’ll help?”

The muggleborn girl glared at you. “It’s against the rules to take potions from the classroom.”

“Ah, but that’s only if the potion was brewed in the classroom,” you countered. “I made this beforehand as practice. It’s why I did so well on the exam. You can have it if you want it. Perhaps it’ll help mend your bruised pride after once again finishing in second place?”

Granger flinched back and your smile fell when you saw her eyes beginning to water with barely restrained tears. You hadn’t meant to make her cry. What’s the fun in coming in first if you can’t brag about it afterward? Gloating about your success and raising your personal stock was a huge part of being a Slytherin. Another major part was never showing any weakness. It’s why you never complained about your Quidditch injuries. In Slytherin, when someone senses weakness in another they jump all over it and exploit it however they can. Which is exactly what Draco did when he came up beside you.

“Look at that, Granger,” Malfoy commented, “you still don’t have any friends and you don’t even have being the top student to show for it.”

The Gryffindor girl let out a high-pitched squeak then turned and fled while the rest of your housemates laughed at her misery. But as she ran away you noticed that her shoulders were shaking. Draco’s barb had broken the dam and now the girl was crying. You immediately felt bad for the part you’d played in bringing Granger to tears.

“Hey, Draco, lay off,” you scolded your roommate.

“What’s that?” Malfoy challenged you.

“I’m the one who beat her in the exam so I’m the one who gets to mess with her,” you stated. “When you beat her in class then you can have a turn. But until you elevate yourself above third place... mocking Granger is my right.”

“You can’t do that!” Pansy whined. “You can’t just claim her! That friendless muggleborn is such an easy target! Just look at her hair! It’s an even bushier mop than usual!”

Now that she mentioned it, Granger’s bushy hair had seemed messier than normal. The only time you’d seen it this bushy was the day after your midnight duels. You still suspected that the four Gryffindors had seen something terrifying in the Forbidden Corridor. Nowadays, Granger having extra bushy hair and a frazzled appearance was a common occurrence. It also seemed like she was extra sensitive this week if a few choice words had driven her to tears. Having no friends and Professor Snape’s blatant bias and unfairness were likely sore points for the muggleborn girl. All that together told you that Hermione Granger was hovering close to her breaking point. And you refused to be the one to push her off that particular cliff.

You rounded on Pansy, “Easy Parkinson, you don’t exactly have room to talk when it comes to easy insults.”

The pug-faced girl glared at you and let out her usual shrill warning. “You! Wouldn’t! Dare!”

“You’re right… I wouldn’t,” you agreed. “Because easy insults are beneath me. Slytherins are supposed to be cunning and ambitious. That’s why I won’t settle for simple jibes at Granger’s hair, teeth or blood-status. That’s low hanging fruit in my eyes and it goes against the values attributed with my ancestor's house. I expect better from Slytherin House. Besting the top student in our year… now that’s something to boast about and I’ve worked hard to do it. Until Granger’s no longer beating you in your best subject… you don’t have room to talk.”

“...” Pansy was finally quiet. So was Draco. It looked like your speech had worked for now. But knowing them they’d be back to harping on Granger by this time next week.

As you turned to survey the other Slytherin first years you could’ve sworn you saw a black-clad figure listening in from the doorway to the Potions classroom. “Now who’s hungry?”

You strode out of the dungeon and the others fell into step behind you as you made your way to the Great Hall for lunch. Hermione Granger was heading towards a meltdown. Your speech to the other Slytherins had hopefully bought her a few days to sort out her issues.

But as the weekend went by and you snuck glances at Granger from across the Great Hall during meals, it didn’t seem as though muggleborn girl’s frazzled temperament was improving. Even though she sat near her fellow first years during meals, none of them really acknowledged her. Ron seemed to go out of his way to avoid talking to the bossy girl and Harry seemed to be going along with his friend. You would occasionally catch Brown, Patil or Longbottom saying something to her but it was usually just cordial or polite conversation. Definitely not friendly. The girl was an island.

Granger already had a bunch of pressure on her from being a muggleborn at Hogwarts. Many traditional purebloods like Malfoy and Parkinson followed your ancestor’s stance on blood purity and worked to make the muggleborns feel unwelcome. But when the so-called ‘blood traitors’ like Weasley and Longbottom wouldn’t stand by their muggleborn classmate you knew she was in trouble. Heap onto that, the spiteful git who taught Potions and went to every length he could to ensure that she would never be the top student in his class… well, you had a lonely girl who felt unwelcome and was stuck in a seemingly hopeless situation.

You thought about approaching the muggleborn girl and lending a friendly ear but you doubted that she’d accept it. Granger had been humiliated during your duel and you were the one who was consistently benefiting from Professor Snape’s blatant favoritism. Any attempt you made to befriend her would no doubt be met with suspicion and scorn. So for now, all you could do for Hermione Granger was keep Draco and Pansy off her back until she sorted out her problems. That still left the students in her house but since most of them were avoiding her you doubted any Gryffindor would be so spectacularly insensitive as to insult the muggleborn girl as she was approaching her wit’s end.

But apparently, you underestimated Ron Weasley.

Granger had finally reached her breaking point on Thursday which also happened to be Halloween. Something must have happened during her classes that afternoon because she wasn’t at the Gryffindor table during the Halloween Feast.

“Granger’s missing,” you remarked to your fellow first years.

“Who cares?” the ever-so-pleasant Pansy scoffed.

“Maybe she realised that she doesn’t belong and went home to the muggles,” Draco mused.

“Or she could’ve fallen down one of the moving staircases,” Blaise suggested.

You rolled your eyes, “And which of your mother’s ex-husbands did that happen to?”

“The second,” Blaise replied, “But he miraculously managed to survive the fall. He was brought to Saint Mungo’s where he was eventually strangled by a potted plant someone brought him. Apparently, it was a disguised clipping of Devil’s Snare. They never did find out who sent it...”

You shook your head at your morbid friend, “You worry me sometimes.” You shifted back to your original topic, “So none of you are curious about where she might be?”

Crabbe and Goyle were busy eating and likely wouldn’t have cared if the school was on fire. Theodore looked up from his meal and gave a silent shrug. The missing muggle-born didn’t matter to him either.

Daphne, on the other hand, did seem interested as she and Tracey were currently looking over their shoulders at the Gryffindor table.

“You’re right,” Tracey noted, “She’s nowhere at the table.”

“I don’t suppose you’ll want to come along and find out where she is?” you asked hoping to draw upon Daphne’s love of mysteries.

The dark-haired pureblood heiress thought for a moment then shook her head. “I’ll pass. But be sure to tell me what you find when you inevitably go over there to investigate.”

“Maybe now I won’t tell you out of spite,” you countered.

“I’ll go with you, Marvolo.”

You turned to Millicent who had been sitting quietly on the bench beside you. “Really?”

She shrugged. “I don’t want you to have to walk into the lion’s den alone.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” you replied and decided to be a gentleman and show some class by offering her your arm to get up. “Shall we?”

Millicent nodded and you made your way across the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table and stopped at the far end where the first years were sitting.

“My condolences, Potter,” you called out in greeting to Hogwarts’ other resident celebrity.

“What?” Harry asked. He seemed to be wondering whether or not you had just insulted him.

“October thirty-first -- Halloween, most people in Hogwarts recognise it as the anniversary of the night you vanquished the Dark Lord and became the Boy-Who-Lived,” you recounted. “But for you, it means something entirely different… it’s the night when you lost both of your parents. So I repeat -- my condolences.”

“...” Harry blinked and didn’t seem to have a response to you bringing up his dead parents.

Ron immediately jumped to his friend’s defense. “Oi, are you having a go at Harry’s parents? That’s low even for a Slytherin!”

“Quiet, Weasley,” you retorted, “You’ve got two living parents and more relatives than you can likely count. You have no idea what it’s like to be a war orphan.” Your attention went to Harry’s other friend who now looked concerned. “Your two friends are purebloods but I doubt they told you about Samhain. It’s traditionally recognized as a day of remembrance. One thing some wizards do is light a candle and say a prayer to the ones they’ve lost. Two thousand years ago the Celts recognized Samhain as a day when the ghosts of the dead return to the earth. So if there was any night where the spirits of the dead would hear you… it would be Samhain.”

“I can help you find a candle if you want, Harry,” Neville was quick to offer.

Harry nodded then directed his attention back to you, “What do you want, Gaunt?”

You looked over at Millicent, “Have I been talking to myself all this time?” She shook her head. “Obviously I came over to offer good tidings and to impart a bit of wizard culture on someone who was raised by muggles. Buuut… now that you mention it…” you made a show of counting the Gryffindor first years. Mr. Ollivander had said that your fifteen-inch wand was for someone dramatic. “There’s only seven of you. Where’s Granger, Potter?”

“...” Potter, Weasley, and Longbottom all went tight-lipped.

You decided to needle them into giving a response. “Wow, say what you will about Slytherins but at least we look after our own. If one of the other Slytherin first years went missing, we’d all know about it.”

“We know where she is, Gaunt!” Lavender Brown blurted out from where she was sitting with her friend Parvati Patil. “We just won’t tell someone like you. The last thing she needs right now is another jerk upsetting her.”

‘Another jerk upsetting her’. You mentally repeated her words then glanced over at the trio. Harry looked straight back at you, Neville look at Ron in annoyance, and Ron looked guilty.

“Say no more,” you told Brown, “You’ve already told me enough. Using my cunning Slytherin mind, I’ve come to the conclusion that Weasley opened his big mouth and said something impulsive and stupid. And now Granger - who you had to have noticed has been extra sensitive lately - is likely off someplace crying. The fact that I didn’t see her at lunch either tells me that she’s been at it all day.”

Brown and Patil’s expressions told you that your assessment wasn’t far off. Ron’s face had gone red as his guilt for upsetting Hermione turned into annoyance at you for putting him on the spot.

You decided to rub it in further. “For shame, Gryffindors. One of your own has been off crying all day and here you sit enjoying a feast without a care in the world. And you have the gall to call us Slytherins cold-blooded.”

“What are you doing here, Mr. Gaunt?”

Professor McGonagall had descended from the Head Table to see why you were bothering her Gryffindors and to stop an impending conflict.

“Happy Halloween, professor,” you greeted the Head of Gryffindor House. “I merely came over to inform Potter about some of the old traditions for remembrance since this is the anniversary of his parents’ ****. Then we started discussing your missing student. You are aware that one of your lions isn’t here for one of the biggest feasts of the year, right?”

“Of course I am,” Professor McGonagall replied before she surveyed the table. “Miss Patil, where is Miss Granger?”

“She’s in the first floor girl’s bathroom… crying,” Parvati Patil slowly answered.

“Crying?” the Transfiguration professor repeated. “And why is she doing that?”

“Well… someone said something to upset her,” the Gryffindor girl admitted.

Patil’s desire to not throw one of her housemates under the Knight Bus meant that Professor McGonagall rounded on you.

“Hey, don’t look at me,” you immediately defended yourself. “This was an in-house matter. I haven’t seen Granger all day. As a matter of fact, I noticed she was having a rough time of it and I went out of my way to keep the other Slytherins off her back for the last week.”

“It’s true,” Millicent spoke up in your defense. “He went off on Malfoy and Parkinson after Potions last week.”

“Then who is responsible?” Professor McGonagall demanded as she surveyed her first years.

“It was me, ma’am…” Ron Weasley eventually confessed. His face had gone pale which made his many freckles stand out even more.

“Mr. Weasley, having taught five of your older brothers I know that your parents raised you better than that,” Professor McGonagall reprimanded him. “When you arrived at Hogwarts I told you that your house would be like your family. This is not how a family conducts itself.”

“I was telling them that same thing,” you chimed in. “Say what you will about Slytherins, but at least we look after our own.”

“That’s quite enough, Mr. Gaunt,” Professor McGonagall snapped. “This is a Gryffindor matter so I’ll have to ask you and Miss Bulstrode to leave.”

“Of course,” you agreed with a polite nod. “By your leave, professor.” You found out what you wanted to know anyway so you turned and left the Gryffindor table with Millicent.

You made your way back to the Slytherin table and saw Daphne watching you over her shoulder with a curious and almost eager glint in her eyes.

Decision time… you knew where Granger was and that she had been there crying all day.

Did you want to go check on her? Or did you want to leave it to Gryffindors and return to your table?

Marvolo Gaunt House Point Ledger

Severus Snape: +3

*Points awarded ‘off screen’ were from Snape in Potions.*

New Total: +41

Points awarded by: SS, RH, QQ