While waiting for a few seconds the two wizards were able to hear a short conversation inside, though they couldn't distinguish what was said, before the sound of steps closed in on them, stopping for a moment, presumably to look through the peep hole in the door.
When the door finally swung open, inside was an ordinary-looking man with short brown hair, dressed in jeans and a white shirt underneath a blue sweater.
Confused by the sudden appearance of a well-dressed older man and an equally well-dressed child, not even a teenager, Wendel Granger just stared at them for a short moment, before George introduced the both of them.
"Good morning," George started. "I apologize for the unannounced intrusion but I assure you this is an important matter. My name is George Williams and this is Julius."
At these last words he gestured towards Julius who was standing a bit further back.
Without giving Mr. Granger the chance to reply George continued:
"Excuse my rudeness but may we come in? We have something very important to discuss regarding your daughter."
At this Mrs. Granger appeared in the doorframe as well, both now understandably apprehensive.
"This isn't a sales pitch, I hope," Mr. Granger said, eyeing George suspiciously.
At this George gave him a reassuring smile.
"No, Mr. Granger. Nothing of the sort. The matter is rather... unique. It concerns your daughter's future. Specifically her magical future."
As soon as George mentioned magic Julius saw a slight change in both of the Grangers' expressions, though, after a short moment Mr. Granger managed to get his expression under control again.
"Magical future? I don't understand, is this some kind of prank? What are you talking about?"
Still smiling gently, George took a step forward:
"I know this will sound strange and I am prepared to explain everything. But to put it simply; your daughter, Hermione, is a witch."
The silence that followed was thick and filled with a feeling Julius couldn't quite grasp.
Then a slight movement inside of the house attracted his attention; through a small gap between Mrs. Granger and the doorframe he saw a flabbergasted little girl, with a thick book underneath her arm who had seemingly followed the conversation at the door.
But before Julius could even decipher the title of the book or focus on what had to be Hermione in general he was interrupted by Mr. Granger:
"I hope you understand, but I can't help but feel pretty sceptical about all of this. Could you please explain why exactly you are here?"
"Of course," George replied while giving the Grangers a small nod. "I understand your skepticism. Most parents react similarly when we come to deliver these news, but I assure you, we are not pranksters. We represent the Hebe Foundation, an organization that helps young witches and wizards like Hermione, children born to non-magical families, understand and control their abilities before they attend a proper school for magic. I am sure you have noticed that things are happening around you daughter that aren't exactly what most would call natural, those are what is called accidental magic and signifies, that someone has magical potential."
This time Hermione aparently couldn't help herself, as she spoke up from directly behind her parents:
"Are you saying... I can do magic?"
George turned his gaze toward her, his smile warming.
"Yes, Hermione. You have magical potential and in a few years you will receive an official letter inviting you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, we from the Hebe Foundation believe that muggleborn witches and wizards, meaning children born to non-magical parents, should have the opportunity to start their education a little earlier. After all the descendants of magical families do so as well and they in contrast to the average muggleborn do have connections in Magical Britain that will make finding a job much easier for them after graduating."
As the realization of what all of this meant began to visibly dawn on the muggle couple Julius, who had remained silent until now, stepped forward.
"I can assure you, that with our help, your situation will be entirely different. As you can see I am quite young myself, in fact I just started my first year at Hogwarts a few months ago, this summer. This is why I would like to demonstrate to you what can be accomplished by already receiving training beforehand. Though, you would need to allow us inside for that."
After hesitating for a moment and sharing a quick gaze with her husband, Mrs. Granger invited the two inside and lead them into the living room, where Hermione now openly followed them, giving Julius the opportunity to at least read the title of the book she was carrying, it appeared to be a beginners' guide to greek.
(A/N: can anyone tell me if it's a 'beginner's guide' or a 'beginners' guide'? I have never had this 'problem' tbh so this just left me a bit confused.)
As soon as all of them had arrived in the living room Julius pulled out his wand and with a flick of it conjured a bit of water using Aguamenti, which he then manipulated to take the form of a parrot before freezing it with Glacius, the before then transforming the resulting figurine into a living version of itself which glided to the ground where it sat down and preened its feathers.
"This is what I learned to do with additional studies," Julius announced, while the Grangers were still staring at the parrot in shock. "Now I will show you some of what I have actually learned at school."
Again Julius raised his wand before first igniting it with a lumos charm and then, after extinguishing the light again, making a candle standing on a table next to him float using wingardium leviosa.
After he set the candle down, he spoke again:
"As you can see there is a big difference between these two categories and a big part of this is because at school the Professors have to take care of muggleborn who have never seen a wand in their lives, which then in turn results in most children of magical families practicing and learning new magic at home too, using resources only they have access to. Resources we could provide to Hermione as well."
"Can I maybe touch the parrot?" Hermione asked tentatively as her parents were seemingly still in shock.
With Julius permission she then did so, with the parrot happily nesteld up into her hand before Julius dismissed it again with another flick of his wand.
Mr. Granger, still processing the demonstration, cleared his throat.
"So if we agree to this... what exactly would this training involve? And where would it take place?"
"We would arrange for Hermione to receive introductory lessons over the next three years", Atwell explained. "It would be mainly to help her control her abilities and build a solid foundation of knowledge for both, magic and her life in this hidden world. Of course lessons would continue even after she has started attending Hogwarts, though then it will be confined to the breaks. During these seven years she will be learning the most actual magic from us as well as gain valuable insights into the business side of the magical world to explore her options. I can assure you, during the next three years we would not do anything dangerous, these lessons can be arranged around her existing schooling and you wouldn't have to send her away. The trainers would come here."
Mrs. Granger glanced at Hermione, who was practically vibrating with excitement. The logical part of her mind still rebelled against the notion that her daughter was a witch, but she couldn't deny what she had just seen with her own eyes.
"How can we be sure this is safe?" Mrs. Granger asked, her voice tinged with concern. "We don't know anything about magic."
"That's precisely why we're here," George said gently. "To guide you through it. I assure you, Hermione's safety is our top priority. She'll be learning in a controlled environment, under the supervision of trained professionals."
Hermione, who had remained quiet throughout the conversation, finally spoke up.
"I want to do it."
Her parents turned to her in surprise. "Hermione..."
"I want to learn magic," she said, her voice steady. "If it's real, if I can really do this... then I want to try."
George nodded approvingly. "Very well. We don't need an answer right away. Take your time, discuss it as a family. But know that we'll be ready to help whenever you are."
After giving them an adress they could contact, should the Grangers decide on the matter, George gave a polite bow, which Julius mimicked, before they both turned to leave.
As the door closed behind them the Granger household was left in stunned silence. But for Hermione, a new world had just opened and she couldn't wait to step into it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Well, that's the first appearance of a member of the golden trio and I hope I did well.
I originallyl planned to get this done much earlier, but I just felt as if I couldn't get it right no matter what I did. So now I just read a few other chapters with a similar role as this in other Harry Potter fanfics on this site before finishing this chapter today.
I really hope you like it.
Thanks for reading :)