Hermione walked into the Leaky Cauldron, heading once again to Diagon Alley for some shopping. Inside, a festive scene greeted her: under the glow of colorful garlands, people were sitting at tables, laughing and chatting cheerfully; the walls were decorated with Christmas patterns, and at the entrance, a small monkey dressed in a beautiful doublet joyfully beat drums, bringing smiles to everyone passing by.
'Why not have a butterbeer?' Hermione thought, captivated by the festive atmosphere. She walked up to the bar, gave a friendly nod to the bartender, and ordered a mug of butterbeer. While waiting, Hermione turned to look around the room. In the midst of the merriment, she noticed a pale-faced man with bright red thin lips sitting at a table. His long black hair was neatly styled, and his clothes, though simple, were spotlessly clean. His face looked familiar...
Wondering where she might have seen him before, Hermione suddenly sensed that something had subtly changed around her. People were still laughing and chatting, but now she could hear a hint of falsehood in their voices. And what Hermione initially took for smiles on their faces now seemed more like grimaces, just imitating smiles...
The festive atmosphere that had been there a moment ago seemed to have vanished, replaced by something strange, something different...
'Nonsense!' Hermione shook her head and turned away from the room. 'I'm just imagining things!'
She looked at the bar counter, at the garlands flashing festively above it. Then she realized that the flickering of the garlands had turned chaotic, casting strange shadows on the Christmas patterns on the walls.
'What the heck is going on?' Hermione thought as she looked more closely at the patterns. The shadows, intertwining with the patterns, started to look like figures of people reaching out to her and pleading for help.
"YOUR BEER!" the bartender suddenly shouted behind her.
"OH!" She jumped, gulped, and turned to the bartender. But he was nowhere to be seen...
In front of her was a mug of foaming butterbeer. She peeked behind the counter and didn't find the bartender there either. Hermione picked up the mug, which nearly slipped out of her suddenly sweaty hands. Her heart pounded in her chest.
'Okay... I'll drink the beer and leave,' Hermione decided, bringing the mug to her lips.
At that moment, she felt a piercing gaze on her and wanted to turn around but choked on the sip of butterbeer—it tasted awful. Spitting it out, she looked into the mug and pushed it away in disgust. Something was floating in it, turning all the beer a bright red color...
"What is happening?!" she gasped, lifting her eyes from the mug. Her heart was now racing, and her forehead was covered in sweat.
Something was definitely happening. And it wasn't good... Everyone in the bar started talking noticeably louder, as if trying to outshout each other. Hermione looked around in fright, but wherever she looked, the patrons suddenly fell silent, staring at her with threatening expressions. The once cute monkey was now foaming at the mouth and furiously beating the drums as if trying to break them.
Sticky fear began to envelop Hermione's mind. 'Perhaps it would be better to come shopping another time,' she decided, and carefully, afraid of bumping into anyone, stood up from the bar and slowly moved towards the exit.
"MUGGLE SCUM!" a shout came from somewhere.
"AHHH!" Hermione screamed and, panicking, ran towards the exit.
As if on cue, all the other patrons jumped up from their seats. Chaos erupted around her. A cacophony of sounds mixed with profanities that people hurled at Hermione, closing in on her from all sides. She tried to dart towards the exit, but her path was blocked by a huge gorilla in a torn doublet, who slammed two drums, ripped from the drum set, right in front of her face.
Hermione jumped back to the nearest wall and, nearly fainting from fear, pressed her back against it. Some of the people surrounding her, their faces red with rage, were shouting curses at her, while others lunged at the gorilla, trying to snatch the drums from it. Pressing herself against the wall, Hermione watched the scene of incredible madness that had overtaken the entire bar...
Suddenly, the noise stopped... Hermione, stunned, saw the crowd silently parting, bowing obsequiously. Even the crazed gorilla released the people it had grabbed and sat down on the floor, lowering its head. Through the newly formed passage, the pale-faced man slowly walked toward Hermione with his head down.
With each of his steps, reality around her seemed to dissolve, becoming hazier and more distant. People's movements slowed, sounds stretched into unrecognizable echoes, and then vanished entirely... The pale-faced man stopped silently a meter away from her and lifted his head, finally looking at Hermione.
His calm face showed no anger, just a haughty smirk that slightly twisted his otherwise perfect features. But when Hermione looked into his eyes, she saw... swirling darkness, ready to break free. She tried to look away, but her eyes were irresistibly drawn to him, held by a strange, incomprehensible force.
Shadows began to gather around his dark eyes, and his black hair came to life, reaching out towards her. Hermione wanted to pull back but couldn't move, paralyzed by a soul-chilling terror. His hair touched her face like vile spider legs, then started wrapping around her neck. The man's dark eyes grew larger, swallowing the light and reality around them. Just before the last glimmer of light disappeared, Hermione saw the pale-faced man's hand reaching out to her through the thickening darkness... and everything went black.
Hermione woke up drenched in sweat, her heart pounding in her chest. Gasping for air, she lay still, her eyes scanning the dark room. It took a while for her heart to calm down, even after she realized she was safe in her bedroom and that the terrifying visions were just a product of her imagination. A nightmare. So vivid and real, but just a dream.
Hermione sighed with relief, reminding herself that she had nothing to fear. She was lying in her bed, in her familiar room, where she had longed to return for the past few months. The soft light from the streetlamps came through the windows, casting strips of light on the walls and ceiling; her old toys watched her from the corner. Everything was as it always had been; there seemed to be no reason for worry. Yet, a lingering trace of fear still hid in the corners of her mind, reminding her of the nightmare that had so abruptly disturbed her night.
Turning on the light, Hermione once again glanced around the familiar outlines of her room. She took one of her favorite childhood books from the shelf to calm her frayed nerves. However, as she tried to read, she found that the letters seemed to swim before her eyes, refusing to form words and sentences. Her thoughts were completely consumed by the mysterious figure she had seen outside her house, and now in her nightmare.
The first evening of her holiday break hadn't gone quite as she had imagined. Everything seemed to match her expectations. In fact, her parents had probably made even more of an effort than usual: christmas decorations sparkled both inside and out, and the smell of cookies her mother had baked that morning wafted from the kitchen. However, despite this festive atmosphere, she couldn't shake off the recent, deeply unsettling encounter with a stranger at her doorstep. Sitting at dinner, surrounded by her caring parents, Hermione was lost in thought, repeatedly asking herself, 'What did he want from me? Why was he watching me? Who was he?' As a result, the evening felt disjointed, and she quickly retreated to her room, claiming fatigue from the long journey.
***
Sleep finally overtook Hermione closer to dawn. But she was soon awakened by the sound of a door opening and a joyful child's cry:
"Hewmione!" The owner of the voice, a blond boy of about six or seven, jumped onto her bed and hugged her.
"Hi, Robert!" Hermione forced a smile. "Where did you come from?"
Her little cousin from Coventry got off the bed, gave her a sly look, and announced:
"I flew here on a bwoom!"
Hermione, who had just taken a glass of water to drink after her sleepless night, choked.
"And you too?" was all she could say.
The boy laughed gleefully and ran off. A minute later, through the open door, Hermione heard him excitedly telling his parents how he had tricked her, and she had believed him!
Leaning back on the pillow, she tried to gather her thoughts. 'Of course he was just joking,' she thought. 'I shouldn't take everything literally. Most people aren't wizards, and I need to be careful not to reveal the secret.'
After lying down for a bit longer, she got up and went to the living room to greet her relatives from Coventry. Her uncle, aunt, and parents were chatting cheerfully, getting ready for breakfast.
"And here's our beauty," her aunt said, hugging Hermione as she approached.
Robert immediately demanded her attention.
"Hewmione, look what I have!" Her cousin was sitting on the floor, setting up toy train cars on a railway track.
"Wow, that looks impressive!" Hermione exclaimed, sitting down on the floor next to him. "Where is your train going?"
Robert looked at her with excitement.
"I thought of a thpecial woute. Wook, thethe will be mountainth," he pointed to a small pile of books serving as the mountains, "and hewe'th a bwidge over the wiver," he added, pointing to an improvised bridge made of pencils and a ruler lying on either side of the track.
Robert carefully set up the train cars, making sure all the tracks were connected properly.
"All thet!" he exclaimed joyfully, starting the train. It began to move, slowly gaining speed, passing by the imaginary mountains and then over the bridge.
"Wow! You're a real engineer!" Hermione praised him.
Robert smiled and happily continued playing with his toy train while Hermione joined the others at the table.
Her aunt was talking about their life in Coventry, difficulties at work, and neighbors making noise every morning. Listening to her relatives, Hermione enjoyed her oatmeal and the toast her mom had made. Then the conversation turned to Robert, how he was attending kindergarten and that next year he would start first grade. After discussing Robert's upcoming school year, her aunt turned to her niece:
"Hermione, you're studying at a new school, right? Hogwarts, I believe?"
"Yes, Aunt Kath."
"Richard and I tried to find out more about it from your parents, but they don't seem to know much. Just that the school is somewhere north of York. Can you tell us about this mysterious school?" Katharine asked with an interested smile.
"There's not much to tell..." Hermione hesitated. She didn't know her relatives were coming and wasn't prepared to talk about the school. "It's… just a regular school."
"Why go so far away then?" her aunt asked, looking at her niece skeptically.
Hermione realized she couldn't avoid talking about her studies and began carefully choosing her words, avoiding any mention of magic.
"It's... a special school with advanced studies in science and history. I really like it there. The lessons are interesting, and the teachers are great... with a few rare exceptions," she added, thinking of Professor Snape.
"How did you find out about this school? Is it hard to get in? Maybe Robert could get in as well in the future if it's so good?" Aunt Katharine asked, glancing at her son who was happily playing with his train.
"Oh... well, you can only get in by invitation. The headmaster purposely avoids public attention, so the school selects suitable students and sends them invitations. That's how I got into this school – I was invited."
"Interesting, I've never heard of such schools. Are there any subjects you particularly enjoy?"
"We have a wonderful botany course. Professor Sprout teaches us so many amazing things about plants we never knew existed," Hermione said truthfully. "And our astronomy class is special: we observe the stars and their movements at night. You probably wouldn't find that anywhere else."
"Incredible!" her aunt said, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "Anything interesting in the exact sciences?"
"Well... for example... we study the transformation of different materials," Hermione answered vaguely.
"Something like chemistry?"
"You could say that." Transfiguration was nothing like chemistry, but no other explanation came to Hermione's mind. Not giving her aunt a chance to ask more questions about the school, she quickly tried to change the subject to something less risky. "How are things at work, Aunt Kath?"
Her parents, who had been tensely watching the conversation, quickly supported Hermione, and the conversation shifted. Finally, she could relax. Sipping her coffee and comfortably settled in an armchair, she thought about how hard it would be to hide her magical education from her relatives in the coming years.
"Biwdie! Biwdie! Look!" Robert joyfully pointed at the living room window.
Outside the window sat an owl with a copy of the 'Daily Prophet' in its beak. Everyone in the living room fell silent. Overcoming her initial shock, Hermione opened the window and took the newspaper. The owl immediately flew away, and she carried the newspaper to her room and returned. Sitting back in her chair, Hermione calmly continued drinking her coffee. Her uncle and aunt watched her actions in bewilderment. Uncle Richard was the first to break the silence.
"Is that how they deliver mail now?" he asked, clearly surprised.
Hermione's parents looked at him, unsure of what to say. Hermione, pretending not to see any problem, shrugged and said:
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. At our school, there's a special class that takes care of animals and trains them to do various things that can be useful to people. For example, we have owls that deliver mail. And as you can see, they do it quite well."
Richard didn't seem convinced by Hermione's story.
"But how do they find you, and what is this 'Daily Prophet' anyway? I've never heard of it!"
"Honestly, I don't know how they find us. They're specially trained and guided somehow." Hermione realized she would have to come up with a convincing story to explain everything to her uncle. As unpleasant as it was to deceive her relatives, she saw no other way. "And the newspaper is printed at our school. It's about scientific predictions, it forecasts what discoveries and changes might happen in the future. I'm interested in that, so I subscribed to it."
At that moment, Emma suggested having tea with the cake the relatives had brought and started talking about the benefits of the green tea they had recently acquired. Hermione mentally thanked her mother and, citing a bad night's sleep, retreated to her room.
***
The next day, Hermione, her parents, and their visiting relatives all went to the Christmas fair together. Overnight, the frost had wrapped the puddles in icy embraces, and the fresh snow dressed the town in a festive white outfit adorned with Christmas decorations.
The fair was bustling with people. Everywhere, you could hear cheerful laughter and children's shouts. Colorful stalls and booths offered a variety of goods, from fluffy hats and mittens to delicious gingerbread cookies. Robert excitedly hopped from one booth to another, constantly begging his parents to buy him a candy or some toy he fancied. Hermione strolled calmly, looking around and enjoying the moment. She relished this "ordinary" day among "ordinary" people, half-listening to her parents' conversation with her uncle and aunt.
In the central square of the fair stood a gigantic Christmas tree, adorned with twinkling lights and bright ornaments. Around it, life buzzed: children skated, and local musicians played Christmas tunes. In the crowd of kids near the skating rink, Hermione suddenly saw her old classmate, Tommy. Excited to see him, she walked closer and called out to him. Tommy, who was arguing about something with one of his friends, didn't hear Hermione at first, but eventually he turned around, and his face lit up with a joyful smile.
"Hermione! Long time no see! How are you?"
Tommy was thrilled to see Hermione. He immediately suggested they walk around the fair, and they wandered between the rows of booths, reminiscing about school days and sharing stories about new friends. Tommy enthusiastically told Hermione about his achievements at his new school, trying to impress her with his successes.
"Things are better at the new school," he concluded, eyeing a beautiful scarf at one of the booths. "But Jake still bothers me. He picks on everyone, but he seems to focus on me the most." Putting the scarf back, they moved on.
"Just try ignoring him. If he doesn't get a reaction, he might lose interest," Hermione advised. "We have a bully at our school too. His name is Draco."
"Draco?" Tommy laughed. "What kind of name is that? Watch out, he might breathe fire on you."
She chuckled, and Tommy, pleased with his joke, continued, "He probably thinks that if he has a name like a dangerous creature, everyone will be scared of him. But where have you ever seen such beasts? They don't exist..."
Hermione barely held back a rebuttal, knowing that in her world, dragons were very real. But she caught herself in time and just smiled at Tommy. At that moment, he noticed an old wagon at the end of the row of stalls with a sign that read: 'Madam Zara – Fortune Teller.'
"Want to find out our future?" he asked with a grin.
She wasn't keen on visiting another charlatan, but seeing Tommy's eagerness, she decided to go along with it.
"Why not," she said and walked into the wagon first.
When Hermione entered, she felt a slight hint of magic in the air. But after looking around, her impression quickly changed. The place didn't resemble an oracle's lair at all. The walls were draped with rough, worn fabrics in dark shades of burgundy and blue, covered with various beads and cheap trinkets. The lighting was dim, and when the door closed behind them, it got even darker. The air was stuffy from the lamps burning aromatic oils placed in every corner.
Hermione was about to turn around and leave, but then a middle-aged woman, dressed in colorful scarves with large earrings dangling from her ears, appeared from behind a curtain at the back of the wagon. Madam Zara smiled and invited them to sit, carefully observing the friends. Hermione sat down with a bored expression, still looking around. Tommy, sitting next to her, kept sneaking glances at her.
The fortune teller took out an old set of Tarot cards and began shuffling them, focusing on Tommy.
"What's your name, boy?"
"Tommy."
"Very well." She placed the first card in front of Tommy and began speaking in a grave voice. "I see a bright mind and your hard work. You will achieve much. But you'll have to make tough decisions to get what you want." Drawing cards one by one, the fortune teller continued, "I see a difficult path to the heart of your chosen one. This icy heart will be hard to melt..."
For some reason, Tommy blushed as he listened to the fortune teller's predictions and looked down at the floor. Hermione found it very amusing and struggled to keep from bursting out laughing. And this was where she thought she sensed some magic? There was more magic in any decorated booth outside!
The fortune teller, after predicting a few more hardships and successes for Tommy, as well as a broken heart at the end of his journey, gathered the cards, shuffled them, and turned to Hermione.
"And what's your name, my girl?"
"Why don't you guess and tell me?" Hermione said with a sarcastic smile. She found Madam Zara's performance ridiculous and had no intention of making it easier for her.
"Very well," Zara's face seemed to turn to stone, but nevertheless she began laying out the cards in front of Hermione.
"You will face great losses in your difficult life..."
'How spiteful of her,' thought Hermione.
The fortune teller, meanwhile, didn't stop:
"Everyone will turn away from you..."
Madam Zara continued laying out the cards and speaking. But as she drew them one by one, her voice began to change, becoming more concerned, and eventually, she fell silent. The fortune teller lifted her gaze from the cards and looked at Hermione with a mix of surprise and worry.
"Is something wrong?" Hermione asked, amused.
"Oh, you poor thing..." Madam Zara looked straight into Hermione's eyes and continued in a rather sympathetic voice. "Your path will be very difficult and dangerous. You will face severe trials, and they will begin much sooner than you can imagine."
"What kind of trials?" Hermione still treated all this as a game, but a vague sense of unease stirred within her. She waited for an answer, but Zara remained silent, as if lost in thought. Hermione had just decided that the show was over when the fortune teller suddenly began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice, staring ahead with a glazed look:
What you gained will be lost once more,
The price of power is friends' blood or gore,
In an ancient prison someone is confined,
You cannot avoid this fate you'll find.
The key of time will cloud your sight,
Or understanding may set things right.
Step forward with care, in thought, don't be late,
Every move you make seals your fate.
Zara fell silent again. A slightly scared Tommy nervously laughed...
"Now that's a prediction," he said, his voice trembling a bit. "Much more interesting than mine."
Suddenly, as if snapping out of deep thought, Madam Zara gave Hermione a strange look. Then, without a word, she quickly stood up, hurriedly ushered them out of the wagon, and, after closing the door, hung up a 'closed' sign.
They walked back in silence, each lost in their thoughts. 'It was probably just a good show,' Hermione thought, but for some reason, she wasn't sure. 'What could 'What you gained will be lost once more' mean?' she wondered. Recently, so many things had happened in her life: she started studying at Hogwarts, made friends, bought many magical items, and even a hat at the fair today. Almost anything could fit that description. 'You will face severe trials, and they will begin much sooner than you can imagine... Well, when they start, we'll see,' Hermione decided, pushing the whole thing out of her mind.
They returned to the Christmas tree. Tommy suggested they go ice skating, and Hermione agreed. She wasn't very good at it, but her parents were nowhere to be seen. There were so many cheerful people around, skating back and forth, falling, and laughing, that she couldn't help but catch the infectious joy. Putting on her skates, Hermione awkwardly tried to move forward without bumping into anyone. This was easier said than done, as many kids zipped past her or crossed her path. Tommy, catching up to her for the second time, stopped beside her. He was great at skating and felt at home on the ice. Trying to help Hermione, he supported her and gave her tips. After a while, Hermione felt more confident and, laughing joyfully, tried to race Tommy.
Suddenly, Hermione sensed something strange happening. The sounds around her became muffled and stretched out. Still gliding on her skates with a happy smile, she looked around. People were moving as if in slow motion. They continued to smile and laugh, as if noticing nothing, but everything was happening slower and slower. Then, silence fell.
The smile faded from Hermione's face. This felt familiar to her, but at that moment, she tripped over a snowbank at the edge of the rink and fell. Cursing, Hermione was about to get back on her feet when she heard a chuckle behind her and turned around.