Sunday March 7th, 2021

The exercise:

Write about: introspection.

2 comments:

Greg said...

Hmm, I'm not sure I have much in the way of introspective characters. Maybe Misses Hyde and Sikh? But... ah, I may have an idea!

Introspection
Hermione wasn't given much to introspection. Between the amount that she was trying to learn, the astonishing stupidity (in her educated and well-formed opinion) of the general student body at Pigpimples, and the need to keep Harry obliviated rather more than any magical medical book said was good for a person she was generally relieved to sink into her pillows at night and fall asleep. Lying awake and wondering if her actions were ethical, appropriate or even legal really wasn't productive. Still, as she invoked the Four network and stepped from grandmother clock to grandmother clock, there was a long instant of time where she thought about what she was going to do next. Genius, the MILF, was a very unexpected change to the game she thought she'd been playing, as was learning that people were keeping an eye on her, Harry and the Weasel boy. Raymond, or whatever he called himself when he wasn't being an embarrassment to humanity.
"Where did you come from?" Susan Natomy, a tall black-haired girl with piercing green eyes and a smile that she reserved for schadenfreude, stared at her. Susan was in the sixth-form and a prefect and had every right to ask Hermione that question. The problem was that if Hermione told her the truth she'd have every right to report it as well.
Hermione raised her hand and Susan's wand leapt to her own. "Don't try any spells," she said. "Since you joined the school there's been a new sixth-form class taught on shields and defense wards. I have three active at the moment and two passivated."
Hermione scratched her nose with her raised hand, pretending that the idea of obliviating Susan after telling her the truth had never even crossed her mind. "I was checking the time," she said, since she was stood in front of a clock. "Did you know that the clocks in the castle all tell different times?"
"Yes," said Susan. "Though... well done on spotting that. That's a four-year class exercise, you know. There's a bit more to it--"
"The clocks are all correct," said Hermione. "I just needed to check here as well, but they're all time-zoned aren't they? So that would suggest they're all connected to the Four network and they tell you the destination time?" She made her voice sound questioning just in time; Susan was starting to frown thoughtfully.
"You're not really supposed to know about the Four network," she said after a moment, but her face relaxed. "You don't have magical parents so you shouldn't ever have seen it, but... that's some very good deduction. I'm impressed."
Hermione smiled, suddenly seeing an opening. "Thank-you," she said, trying to simper. "I was wondering if I could maybe get involved in some research project? I know the undergraduates do, and I heard tell that the best junior students sometimes get to help out."
Susan's frown returned. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," she said, her voice turning stern. "You've done well, but that's a big step. A jump, even."
"I'm sorry," said Hermione, looking down at her shoes and wondering if this what people who were sorry actually did. She couldn't remember being sorry about anything for years.
"Talk to Professor Snipe," said Susan slowly. "Don't say I said anything, just tell him what you figured out about the Four network and then ask him if he's got a project for you. And get back to your House; it's rather late by Castle time for a student to be wandering around the corridors."

Marc said...

Greg - hah, I would not have expected Hermione for this prompt!

But you did very well with it, and I appreciated getting a look at her inner workings, despite how troubling they might be...