Lavender spoke up first.
She had been quietly proud of the two points she’d earned in Charms the day before.
The fact that Hermione not only remembered them but treated them as equally important as the dozen or so points she herself had won instantly endeared the Muggle-born to her.
“Well, first of all, he mocked Professor Snape’s grooming habits to his face,” Lavender said.
“Then he went on about how his father and Snape hated each other, so his dad basically told him it was fine to be disrespectful. Then he called him ‘Snivellus.’ Did I miss anything?”
“Honestly,” Hermione added, “it was obvious he hadn’t done the reading, but that almost seems trivial after everything else.”
“I’m sure he would have kept going and lost even more points if you hadn’t shut him up,” Neville said.
He turned to the prefects.
“For which she earned us five points back, by the way.” Ralph waved that off and fixed Jim with a hard stare.
“Why, in Merlin’s name, would you deliberately insult a Hogwarts professor on the first day of class?”
Jim stiffened, looking around at the sea of disapproving faces.
“Because I shouldn’t have to put up with abuse from someone who’s had it out for my family since before I was born. I shouldn’t have to stand there and be embarrassed by obscure questions no first-year is expected to know.”
Hermione rolled her eyes.
“Show of hands, please. Are there any other first-years who didn’t know the answer to at least one of Professor Snape’s questions?”
A chorus of responses followed: “I knew all three.” “I knew two, but not the bezoar one.” “It was highlighted in bold on page three.” “Oh, damn—I always forget to read the sidebars.” Apart from Ron, every first-year Gryffindor had known at least one answer.
Jim finally snapped.
“SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU! I SHOULDN’T BE TREATED LIKE THIS! I’M—”
“The Boy-Who-Lived. Yes, we know,” Hermione finished for him.
“Harry was right about you last Monday. You really do think the rules don’t apply to you.”
Jim blinked rapidly, eyes glistening.
Almost.
“I destroyed You-Know-Who!” he cried.
“That should mean something!”
Hermione stepped forward and looked him straight in the eye.
“How?” “Wh-what?”
“How exactly did you destroy You-Know-Who? I’ve read every book I could find about the war. They all say the same thing: he broke into your house, stunned your parents, tried to kill you with the Killing Curse, and you somehow ‘vanquished’ him. How did you do it?”
Jim stared at her, mouth opening and closing like a fish.
“You don’t know, do you?” she continued quietly.
“You’ve been internationally famous and universally adored your entire life for something that happened when you were a baby, and you have no idea how it actually happened. For all anyone knows, it was nothing more than a magical fluke. Yet you expect to be treated like royalty because of it.” She shook her head and turned toward the stairs to the girls’ dormitories.
At the bottom step she suddenly whirled back around, a dangerous little smile on her face.
“You know, I just had the funniest thought. Wouldn’t it be amusing if it had actually been Harry who defeated You-Know-Who that night? And your parents sent him away to Muggle relatives just to keep him hidden while they pushed you forward and made you famous to cover it up?”
Jim’s face twisted with rage.
With a vicious snarl he yanked out his wand—but before he could cast anything, two older Gryffindors grabbed him.
That didn’t stop him from screaming, “SHUT UP! SHUT YOUR FILTHY MUDBLOOD MOUTH!”
Gasps rippled through the room.
Neville took an angry step forward, fists clenched, but Hermione called his name sharply and he stopped.
“Mudblood, Potter?” she repeated coldly.
“I wonder what your mother would think of that. Perhaps we should ask her.”
She turned her head.
“M-Mum?” Jim stammered.
“Not. One. Word.” Lily’s voice was quiet, but terrifyingly intense.
“Come here. Right now.”
Slowly, Jim walked over.
Lily placed a firm arm around his shoulders and steered him out of the common room.
Once they were gone, McGonagall exhaled slowly and turned to her Lions.
“I will not deduct any further points for what I have just witnessed. Mr. Potter will, however, serve detentions with me for the next week. Miss Granger?” She regarded the girl with something close to pride.
“As I understand it, this is the second time today you have stood up to one of our society’s most famous figures and called him out for disgraceful behaviour. Professor Snape already awarded you five points for the first instance. I will match it for the second.”
McGonagall surveyed the room.
“I do not know how each of you feels, but I, for one, would very much like to win the House Cup. It saddens me to think any of my Lions lack the pride to share that goal. While I cannot force you to care, I can make life difficult for those who undermine those who do. From now on, any individual who causes more than five points to be lost in a single day will serve detention, as will anyone who shows willful defiance or disrespect toward a Hogwarts professor. Am I understood?”
The chastened Gryffindors murmured their assent.
“Good. Carry on.”
Three hours and ten minutes later…
Harry stared slack-jawed at Hermione as Neville finished recounting the tale.
No wonder Jim had looked so subdued leaving the Headmaster’s office.
“I hope you won’t think it forward of me, Hermione,” Harry said gravely, “but will you marry me?”
“Back off, Potter,” Neville replied with mock gruffness.
“I saw her first.”