The Mudblood And The Werewolf

Chapter 14: Hermione Surprise

            The notice
on the common rooms, explaining that a new company called Top Witch Broomstick
Company was showing off their launched product caused a wave of excitement
through the school, especially with the Quidditch teams. Hermione listened as
Ron, who had recovered from his shock, read out-loud for the rest of the common
room to hear.

                                    The
Dragonfire 2000

            This
top-of-the line racing broom is the fastest broom to meet the market. Made of
solid willow and polished with a diamond and emerald polish it has been molded
to aerodynamic perfection. Every oak broomtail has been charmed and tested for
the fasted speed possible. It can go from 0 to 200 miles in under three seconds
and incorporates an anti-burning, hurling, and thief charms. The tail end when
under acceleration leaves a stream of red sparks that will dazzle those
watching the game.

            The front
end has an ivory handle with an anti-sweating and identification charms and the
rider, upon kicking off will be kept dry with a drying charm that encircles the
rider, but doesn’t interfere with the rider’s ability to pass, block, defend,
or catch the golden snitch. The handle also has an intricate design of a dragon
that is decorated around the edges with solid gold and the eyes have real
emeralds. This broom is sure to delight those with its good taste and solid
performance on the Quidditch field.

   “Oh god, that broom
is going to cost a fortune,” Neville said.

   “Ya, you can bet
Malfoy is going to have one,” Harry muttered darkly. “He always has the best of
everything.”

            The hole
opened and Professor McGonagall climbed through. Hermione noticed that she had
a box with her and she grinned mentally, knowing exactly what she was going to
tell them.

   “Gryffindors, I’ve
got some exciting news,” she informed them. “I’ve just got a notice from
Dumbledore that there will be a drawing and a selected number of students will
receive the Dragonfire 2000 before it hits the market.”

Like Hermione predicted there was a roar of excitement.

   “Just put your
names inside the box and tonight there will be the drawing, so I expect that
you all to be there.”

   “Everyone, calm
down,” Dumbledore yelled, when dinner had arrived and the students had all
gathered. “I would like to introduce you to Thomas Hawk, the owner of Witch Broomstick.”

There was a round of applause when Thomas Hawk appeared.

   “Thank you,
Dumbledore,” Thomas said. “Now I’m going to have a short demonstration on how
fast this broom is and then everyone will get to see an up close look at the
broom itself. I asked the owner of Top Witch to come and she’s delighted to
join us. She will be choosing the winners and handing them their new
broomstick.”

He then took out a whistle and
giving it a blow the doors opened and a sudden rush of speed a figure in white
zoomed all around the hall, the spark of red following it. When it stopped they
all saw Lee Jordan riding on top of a broom they had never seen before.

   “Thank you, Mr.
Jordan, for that demonstration,” Thomas said. “Now dismount and let each of the
students see the broomstick. Start with the Gryffindors, if you don’t mind.”

Lee landed and walked over to the Gryffindor table. The
broom was inspected at all angles up and down the table. Finally it was handed
over to the Ravenclaw’s, then the Hufflepuff’s, and finally the Slytherin’s.
When it returned to Lee he stood aside.

   “Now I would like
to welcome the owner of Top Witch Broomstick Company and no, I’m not making
this up, Mrs. Hermione Lupin.”

Everyone muttered when Hermione walked in, a pair of thick
dragonhide gloves on, her husband hauling the brooms that she was giving away.

   “Thank you, Mr.
Hawk,” Hermione said. “Now I know that all of you are surprised that I’m the
one that designed such a fast broomstick, but it was either this or being a librarian
and I’m not wanting people to say, yep that what I knew she would become. Now I
decided to start this company because I wanted to prove that a female could do
this and be successful. Now I think it’s time to announce the winners.”

Dumbledore handed her the first box, which had the blue and
bronze of Ravenclaw house. She opened the box up and pulled out the first name.

   “Luna Lovegood,”
Hermione called.

The Ravenclaw table cheered when Luna’s name was called. She
walked over to Hermione and was handed her broom.

   “Terry Boot.”

Again the Ravenclaw table cheered as he went up and got his
broom.

            Hermione
called each name until she had the ten that she intended to call from the
Ravenclaw table. Dumbledore then handed her the Hufflepuff box and Hermione
started the process all over again. When he handed her the Slytherin box she
knew that Snape had something to do with this. However, she wasn’t going to
deny the Slytherin’s the right to have them just because they had been mean to
her. She opened it and started to call out the names.

   “Pansy
Parkinson.”

Pansy slowly got up and walked over to Hermione. She took
the broom and then returned to her table.

   “Vincent Crabbe.”

Crabbe got up and yanked the broom out of her hand. He
grinned at her as though she had done the worst thing. However, Hermione
ignored him.

   “Gregory Goyle.”

Goyle did the same thing that Crabbe did, but like before
she ignored it.

            She called
the rest of them, this time it didn’t include Draco Malfoy. Hermione knew that
she would be hearing about this for a long time. When Dumbledore finally handed
her the Gryffindor box she hoped that none of her friends would be upset with
her if their name wasn’t called. She pulled out the first name.

   “Seamus Finnigan,”
Hermione called.

The Gryffindor table cheered when his name was called. She
handed him the broom and with a quick thank you, he returned to his seat.

   “Ginny
Snape!”

            Everyone on
the Gryffindor Quidditch team cheered when Ginny’s name was called. Hermione
was glad that she had been able to give her something as nice as an expensive
broom.

   “Lavender
Brown.”

Lavender got up and giving Hermione a quick thank you,
returned to her seat.

   “Ron Weasley,”
Hermione called next.

Ron got up to accept his gift.

            Hermione
continued to call out the names until she was down to one last broom. She
pulled out a piece of parchment and read:

“Harry Potter.”

Note: I bet no one was expecting Hermione to do that. Next
chapter: Things are going to get a little strange for Hermione and Remus,
Hermione discovers some interesting news, and Ginny and Severus have an
accidental kiss.