The Hogwarts Challenge: Evolving Magic

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me. This is just fanfiction, written to amuse myself and (hopefully) others and not for any profit or material gain.

A/N: Sorry about the wait, I\'ve been in finals hell ;_;

Chapter 2 Sorting the Challenge Part 2

Hermione felt the sorting hat plop onto her head, and the familiar, taunting voice greeted her, “Why Granger, brains enough for Ravenclaw, stubbornness enough for Hufflepuff, drive enough for Slytherin, I had so much fun putting you in Gryffindor!”

Hermione tried very hard to think happy thoughts, best not to insult the thing she wanted information from, and after all, being put in Gryffindor had turned out well, no matter how disconcerted she’d been at the time. But the hat must have been a distant ancestor of the Weasley twins, and she was rather ambivalent about what it would do next.

“First clue, location. Lets just say, you’ll need to dig a little,” there was an emphasis on dig, “don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty” the hat seemed to find this inordinately amusing, and she felt and heard it’s dry laughter, like the ripping of seams.

“Second clue. Mentor. Well that at least should be pretty obvious, if you think about it.”

McGonagall of course, Hermione thought. Transfigurations was one of her best subjects, and she’d always particularly admired Professor McGonagall.

Chickalupe: Thanks for the encouragement! the ear scene was so much fun to write, although I\'ll be concentrating more on HG/SS in the next few chapters, I won\'t be neglecting Harry and Draco either

Snapeaholic: thanks for the support, hope you like the story development this chapter.

Star: heh, sorry I took longer than a week -_- but once finals are over I\'ll be updating a lot more often.


The hat was suspiciously silent for a moment. Hermione’s gaze wandered. Everyone was staring up at the platform, either anxiously for those who had not yet gone, or contemplatively, as if trying to eke out some last clue, for those who had preceded her. Ron was biting one thumbnail absently and staring at the hat as if he half expected it to turn into a howler. Harry was . . . Hermione’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Was the hat giving her hallucinations now? Harry was leaning back into DRACO MALFOY who was cradling her best friend lovingly, one finger in his mouth, the other clasping Harry against him, and sucking on Harry’s earlobe as eagerly as if it had been a sugar quill. And they both seemed to be enjoying themselves. A lot.

“and that” whispered the hat gleefully, “is your last clue. Go away. Time for the next person. Don’t dawdle.”

“No, wait!” she thought in desperation, but the thing, with a rippling of material did a sort of hop off her head, calling loudly for the next person, and, and blew her a raspberry! With shaking legs, she stepped off the platform, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She had absolutely no idea what the third clue was, and that damned hat knew it! It was like one of those nightmares, of having a test and realizing that you hadn’t studied, that everyone else had done their homework, but you had forgotten, only it had finally, actually happened, she hadn’t been paying attention. And with a snap she remembered the reason, turned her head, and realized that they were still doing it! Malfoy, as if feeling her eyes on him, looked up, held her gaze for a moment, then gave her a slow wink, propped Harry back up on his feet (who to his credit, was looking every bit as stunned as she felt) and stepped up to where the sorting hat waited. It would probably tell him everything, the bastard.

Harry was looking around frantically now. He’d lucked out, everyone was too caught up with the sorting to notice anything else. Well almost everyone, she smiled grimly, time to give him hell, since the sorting hat and Malfoy were beyond her reach at the moment. How do you punish a magical hat? Moths maybe? Stepping closer, she noticed that his ear was bleeding. Practical things first, “Harry?” She touched his ear lightly, getting some of the blood on her finger, best to test it, make sure there wasn’t anything nasty, she wouldn’t put it past Malfoy. “Are you alright? Your ear is bleeding. Shall I heal it?”

Harry jumped violently. Good, let someone else be shocked. “No, I’m alright” he sounded like he was trying to convince himself, “It’s, it’s nothing. Leave it.” His hand curled protectively around his ear. Hermione looked at him thoughtfully, well that was an interesting reaction. She’d corner him somewhere a bit more private on what, exactly, was going on. At the moment, it was his turn at the sorting hat, “Malfoy didn’t take long, you’re up next.” and she knew exactly what to say to put him in the right frame of mind, now that he was starting to look slightly less peaky, “At least clean the cut, saliva can cause infections.” She smirked, and pushed him towards the sorting hat, there now she felt better.

Dumbledore watched the prefects gather up their houses. All of the students were talking excitedly, speculating on the new challenge, or discussing course schedules. Except for the first years, who were just looking at everything with wide-eyed amazement and a little fear. Hagrid was leaving, a bit more decorously than he’d come in, but he still managed to topple a few chairs, the first years were giving him a wide birth. The rest of the staff were filing out as well, with the notable exception of Minerva, who had been looking upset all evening. She was one of the most restive people he knew, and tonight she was in particularly good form. As the last of the professors left the table, she turned to him, giving him a severe look, “Albus, a word with you in private, if you please.”

“Minerva, it’s always a pleasure. Shall we adjourn to my office then?” standing up, he hunched slightly over his cane, and offered her his arm. She ignored it, she always did. Back ram-rod straight (as usual) she swept ahead of him.

Oh dear, she was in a mood. He’d been hoping for a bit more time before they had this discussion. Suppressing a sigh, he walked after her. She was standing stiffly in front of the stone gargoyles that guarded the entrance to his office, perfectly still, perfectly straight, all suppressed tension.

“Gum drop” he told the gargoyles cordially, then stepped to the side and ushered Minerva up the spiral staircase into his office.

The moment he had cleared the entrance way, she turned, her poise finally slipping as she snapped, “You haven’t told him yet, have you?”

“My dear” he started walking towards his desk, eager to put something between them.

“Don’t ‘my dear’ me Albus, after all this time you should know better than to think you can put me off! Why haven’t you told him?”

Putting on his best kindly old man face he interceded gently, “Minerva, you know our policy has always been non-interference. You remember what happened last time. Lemon drop?” he held the candy dish out hopefully.

“This” she snarled, “is different and you know it! He has never been targeted like this before, he’s not prepared for this, they’re not prepared for this!”

“Quite frankly, I’m surprised that it took them so long to try something like this. I’d been expecting it much earlier.” He steepled his fingers and stared penetratingly at the candy dish.

“Don’t try to change the subject. Are you going to tell him? At least tell him that you-know-who is alive, for pity’s sake! Give him that much at least.” Minerva glare him him, refusing to break eye contact.

It must be nice, to have such conviction, Dumbledore thought idly. “My dear, Harry has always pleasantly surprised us, I’m sure this time will be no different. We have this conversation at the beginning of every year, I was rather hoping that this year we could dispense with it. Haven’t you learned to trust them yet?”

Minerva bit back a growl. He still hadn’t changed, it was one extreme or the other. “So you’re going to allow it then?”

Sucking quietly on a lemon drop, he smiled benevolently and let his eyes twinkle, just a little, “you know, it might actually be for the best.”

“So you’ve given Snape carte blanche then? Let him actually carry out Voldemort’s plan, at Hogwarts!” she asked, incredulously, upset enough to actually use his name.

“There really wasn’t any other way. But it will turn out well in the end. Really, these lemon drops are quite good, are you sure you won’t try one?”

Wordlessly, she turned around and left the room, the door slammed shut behind her.

*****************************************

Sun streaked into the windows, turning dust motes into sparkling bits of light. There were more dust motes in this room than most, it being a library. And there were more dust motes around a particular student, hunched over a table in the far corner of the library, considering the age and quantity of the books stacked around her.

As soon as the sorting ceremony was over, she’d made straight for the library to look up everything that she could about the history of Hogwarts and the sorting hat and ceremony, wanting to find some sort of clue. The rest of the school would probably be here tualtually, but most of them seemed to be in a sort of shock, except for a few of the older Ravenclaws, but then they seemed to be as solitary as she was at the moment.

She’d expected something more, well, concrete from the sorting hat. It was as vague as one of Trelawney’s prophecies, she scowled, down at the copy of The Four Founders that was open in front of her, not really seeing it, remembering her discussion with the sorting hat, trying to tease some hint of the third clue out of her memory, it had to be in there somewhere.

She heard the soft scrape of the chair legs against the varnished wood floor and looked up, as Harry sat down quietly in the chair across from him. He was more subdued than normal, but really, that wasn’t very surprising, all things considered. She scowled harder at the copy of the four founders, and the book slammed shut, slid across the table, and buried itself in one of the stacks of books, shivering. Books got strange after they’d been in the library for awhile, might be time to move it to the restricted section. Harry cleared his throat nervously, she transferred her scowl to him.

He was staring down at the table, deliberately not meeting her eyes. “So. You saw.” He said awkwardly, picking at a dent on the surface of the battered wooden table.

She scowled harder.

“I-it’s not what you think!” Harry stammered, meeting her eyes briefly. “The truth is, I’m not entirely sure what it is. It all started on the train.” He gave her a look of utter misery.

Well, that wasn’t really so bad. He wouldn’t have really had time to say anything. No grand summer love affair or anything then. Hermione’s lips twitched, and he sounded pretty miserable too. “So what did happen?” curiousity got the better of her, besides, he’d suffered enough she decided.

“Well, remember when Draco came in and the train threw all of us?” Harry was blushing furiously now, “ we kind of, well, he landed on top of me, and, and our lips sort of brushed accidentally, and then we were kissing! I was pretty stunned, thought I must have imagined it or something. But then, in line for the sorting ceremony, Hagrid accidentally knocked me over while he was running to Dumbledore’s table, and Draco caught me, and well, I gueou sou saw all of that. I must be going insane.” He muttered and buried his head in his arms, looking even more pitiful, if possible. “The worst thing is,” he said quietly, green eyes glassy, “it felt really good. Better than anything I’ve ever done with anyone else. Which isn’t much really, but . . .” he trailed off, staring absently at a stack of books and running a hand through his already messy hair.

Hermione chewed her lip thoughtfully, “that’s really bizarre,” she commiserated, examining him, had he changed ovhe she summer? Gotten suddenly more handsome, developed some sort of irresistible charm? She couldn’t tell, he just looked like Harry, the same as ever. Tallish, messy black hair, bright green eyes, not quite as gangly as before, handsome, but not breathtaking. “maybe, with Voldemort gone, he’s turning over a new leaf? He hasn’t said anything nasty or hexed anyone yet.” It didn’t really sound very plausible, and even if it were, it wouldn’t really explain Malfoy suddenly wanting to snog Harry. “Well, better you than me, let me know if anything else happens.” She shrugged and grinned at him.

“Well, thanks!” he threw one of the smaller books at her, looking indignant, “very concerned aren’t you!”

“Well, after worrying about Voldemort for six years, it’s difficult to get worked up about Draco suddenly thinking that you’re hot.”

Harry looked at her anxiously, “But, it’s Draco! Draco Malfoy. The person who called you a mudblood and”

“Yes, but it’s not the same, Voldemort has been defeated, both of his parents are on trial, half his house is gone, have you noticed that Crabbe and Goyle aren’t hanging around anymore? There are a lot of other Slytherin students missing too, and nobody is talking about it. If he decides that he wants to change, that’s not a bad thing! You’ll be promoting inter-house relations”

“Hermione, you’re supposed to be the voice of reason here!” Harry interjected a bit desperately, “but it sounds like you’re rather tie a bow around my neck and drop me in his lap.”

Hermione paused a moment at the mental image, maybe if she got him really drunk around Christmas . . . “Hardly! Calm down. I’m just saying that if you’re enjoying it, maybe you should give it a chance. When you look at it, you two actually have a lot in common.”

“Then how come you were upset with me earlier?”

“Well of course, if I thought you were keeping it secret from me!” she exclaimed, “what a way to find out, there I was, getting my clues from the hat, when I look over and there you two are, practically ready to rip each other’s robes off, and worse, I was so surprised, I didn’t hear the third clue!” her voice rose to a wail.

Harry tried very hard not to laugh. But his lips kept twitching and it came out through his nose instead, making it sound even worse. He should have known that only something like that would have been able to upset Hermione.

She glared at him balefully. “This is all your fault, you realize.” She growled at him, “if you and he hadn’t been making out in the most inappropriate of times and places, against school rules,”

“And third ird clue was the only really useful one too,” Harry commiserated, patting her head sympathetically. She was the only one in his year with worse hair than him, it was funny the things that made you feel better.

Hermione scowled and brushed his hand off, she hated it when he did that. “Really?” she it, it, of course the one she didn’t hear would be the only useful one. “What was your clue then?”

“I don’t know,” Harry went back to scruffling her hair, this time with both hands. “I was too busy thinking about Draco, blood transmitted poisons, and my best friends opinion, I couldn’t tell you what any of them were. Just remember the hat saying ‘I hope you like Slytherin’ and cackling manically, that thing’s evil you know?” Hermione had gone for her wand about halfway through, he figured it was time to beat a hasty retreat before she made up her mind on a suitable jinx. Grinning and whistling to Ron’s our king, Harry dashed for the library exit, feeling a slight tingling as he passed through.

Well this was all bloody unhelpful, Hermione thought, jamming her wand back into her cloak’s pocket and carrying the stacks of books to the reshelving cart, which was developing an irritating tendency to wheel itself away when it saw her coming, the thing had gotten lazy over break. Maybe the restricted area would have something she thought, and smiled faintly. The restricted area was her favorite place in Hogwarts, the fact that she had official access (sneaking there with Harry’s invisibility cloak just wasn’t the same, and she always felt so guilty, since it was just for personal pleasure), first as a prefect, then as head girl, made all of the extra duties worthwhile.

Hermione stood at the entrance to the restricted area, letting her eyes adjust to the dimmer light. Somehow, the light never quite penetrated here, the cobwebs were thicker, the dust heavier, the corners more shadowed, than in the rest of the library. And the books whispered, a dry hissing sound, of paper on paper. There hadn’t been anything new in the rest of the library, but perhaps here. She raised a hand hesitantly to one of the shelves, she didn’t know this section well at all. It was different every time she came. She examined the titles thoughtfully, half of them were in languages she couldn’t read. But they probably wouldn’t be on Hogwarts anyway. A flicker at the corner of her eye caught her attention. That seen yet unseen perception of movement. She hadn’t thought that anyone else was back here. Curious, she walked further down the row. It was empty. She frowned, the row dead-ended here, there was only wall, no place for anyone to go. But there had been someone, the flicker of robes, she’d been sure of it. So she examined the wall more closely, pressing her palms against it and applying pressure, feeling for seams or unevenness. Methodically, she checked, starting high, then going lower, about midway through, her hands encountered no resistance, passing entirely through the wall, as if it were an illusion. Eyes widening in surprise and triumph, she bent down to examine it more closely. As she leaned closer, the hem of her school robes caught rnearneath the heel of her shoe, tightened about her ankle and sent her sprawling, face first through the illusory wall.

Next Chapter: Dungeon Crawling

A/N: It\'s a bit rougher than the first two chapters, but I wanted to get something up and develop the story a bit more. The next chapter will have action (finally ^^\') and be up a bit after I finish finals (5 more days, just 5 more). Please oh please review, I need something to get me through this finals hell, if only papers were as easy to write as fanfiction.