Harry and his friends sat in the common room doing their homework. So far the day had been good for Harry. He had had fun in his new subjects, gotten an idea how to expose the traitor, showing Malfoy up and being praised by Flitwick for his results in charms. Yes it was nice to be him for once. He had already finished a letter to his father and sent Hedwig on her way. He had a suspicion that Malfoy would try to do something to get Hagrid into trouble, even if the near accident had been his fault completely.
He was mildly amused how Parvati and Lavender were talking about Professor Trelawney like she was a saint. Poor misguided girls. Ron was looking sour at having to do all of this work. Thankfully Hagrid didn't give them any homework, but McGonagall had given them a tricky essay about animagus transformation versus human transformation which had to be handed in on Friday.
Seeing Hermione taking up most of the space on the table with all of her books, Harry decided to talk to her in private. He wouldn't stand next to his friend and see how she was ruining herself with too much work.
"Hermione, could we please talk for some time in private?" He asked politely.
"Of course Harry. But it shouldn't take too long. I have much work to do." She answered.
"No problem, I think it won't take more than 15 minutes or so." He said.
They stood up, leaving a bewildered Ron behind and left the common room to find a more private place. Settling for an empty classroom, Harry stood in front of Hermione.
"Alright, I know you won't like what I am about to tell you, but I won't stand next to one of my best friends, watching how she ruins herself by being ridiculously overachieving. Hermione, you can't keep up with all the subjects you have taken this year." He held his hand up to stop her from interrupting him.
"I am not speaking about attending classes as I am really sure you have gotten some magical item that allows you to attend all your classes, probably when Professor McGonagall took you aside on our first day back. I am speaking about the loads of homework you are doing. For today you have been lucky as Professor Vector didn't give us any homework and obviously Professor Trelawney didn't either. But what will happen if this isn't the case? You have Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Divination, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures and Charms on Mondays. Hermione that is too much. I know you are really intelligent and that you can work really hard, but don't destroy yourself."
Harry took a deep breath.
"Have you put any thought in what you want to do after you graduated from Hogwarts?" He asked.
"Not really, there are some jobs that could interest me, but I am not sure which one I will go for later on" she answered, wondering where this talk would lead her.
"Good, I thought so. Your strength is your determination to work very hard on every subject. But even you can't do everything. To write an essay properly, you have to do research and take your time to figure out what is behind the theory. Only then you can hope for high marks. I know you don't want to miss anything important in your education, but think about it for some time. Which subjects are unnecessary for your future?"
He gave her a minute to think about it. She had to understand this for herself and not be told what he meant.
"I don't know Harry, what are you trying to tell me?" She asked insecure because her friend had never before spoken like this.
"Alright an example. What kind of stuff did you cover in Muggle Studies today?" He asked.
"Well, typing machines. But I wondered why they were covering something really outdated as there are way more recent inventions in this department."
'Finally she begins to see something.' Harry thought relieved.
"Hermione, what I am about to tell you, will probably shock you, but I would be a horrible friend if I didn't inform you. The curriculum in Muggle Studies is severely outdated in all parts. They teach things that were true in the 1940's but not today. Uncle Orion took his time to look into the book lists for the elective subjects and he advised me what things could be useful in my future and let me then make my own decisions.
"I chose Ancient Runes, because I find wards and rituals to be intriguing. Runes are a core part of them and I want to be able to understand them. Arithmancy is interesting for analyzing spells and coming up with new solutions for some problems, also undoing protections around areas or objects. As I know, I will have to confront Voldemort one day, I want to be as prepared as I can to survive the encounter. Don't argue it will happen. I know roughly how I can destroy him, I can't tell you at the moment, but I promise I will when I have figured out how to do it exactly."
Hermione looked affronted. It didn't sit right with her that Harry kept secrets from her.
"But why? I will help you to figure out how to defeat him." She said hurt.
"Hermione, this isn't a question if I trust you, but as you don't have the ability to use occlumency, the ability to protect your own mind that is, it would put you in danger. And I want to avoid this as long as I can. I will help you and Ron to learn it, so I can tell you my secrets, but until then I have to keep my quiet. It is not that I don't trust you or Ron, because I trust you two with my life but I found out what my enemies are able to do this summer and I don't like it one bit. Someone could use Legilimency on you to steal the information or torture you until you talk. It is better to prevent this by not telling you everything at the moment.
"Where was I before I drifted away? Oh yes, electives which are outdated. As I told you the stuff they teach in Muggle Studies is severely outdated and you as a muggleborn witch don't have to take it to be informed. You know more about the subject than all the kids born into magical families combined."
"But it is interesting to study it from the wizard's point of view." Hermione argued.
"How long did it take you to finish the essay for Professor Burbage?" Harry asked.
"Nearly an hour; why?" She wanted to know.
"Simple mathematics Hermione. You need one hour to finish an easy first day essay. Add to this two other hours on other days when Professor Vector and Professor Trelawney also give you homework. That makes three hours. Normally the essays for Professor McGonagall take two hours, three if they are especially tricky and effort research. I don't know what Hagrid has planned for his classes but he will give us homework the next lessons, add another hour. Professor Flitwick usually tells us to read up on the things we learned that day in class and practice. Another hour at least. Added this makes a minimum of seven hours. Our days end at five in the afternoon normally and I know you don't have the free hours like me, so you have to do all your work after dinner. That means you have to work into the night every day Hermione to even be able to get all your work done."
He waited for her to process his points. She needed to come to the conclusion herself to accept it. He knew her too well to think just telling her what would happen, would be enough. When he thought she had taken in the last parts he told her he continued.
"True, we normally have to hand in the essays some days later, but this was only one day. You will break down in weeks and I don't want to see that. So please, be reasonable and drop some subjects like Divination, which is total crap for you to study as I can tell you, that you are no seer and never will be one. Additionally Professor Trelawney sounds like an actress who can't predict shit. All the talk about death omens every year, bad things happening to all of you, just deception. She makes it look mysterious so nobody really questions her."
He stopped to ponder something he had wanted to do after finding out what had happened in Divination.
"That reminds me, I have to talk to Neville next to get him out of that class. His confidence is already really low and with Professor Trelawney continuing to predict his death it will fall even further. And I know for a fact that Neville could be a lot better if he was encouraged to do so, otherwise he wouldn't be as good as he is in Herbology. It's the only subject he is at ease and it shows in his competence. Think what he could be able to do if he was encouraged in the other subjects instead of ridiculed. But back to your timetable."
Hermione was lightly confused about the change in topics but looked at Harry expectantly.
"Muggle Studies may be interesting to see from another point of view, but is it worth your health? You will get ill if you do this, trust me. You will be thoroughly exhausted every day physically and mentally. And I am rather sure they would let you take the O.W.L. in Muggle Studies even if you didn't take the class. Please Hermione, I don't want this happen to my friend." Harry pleaded.
Hermione was taken aback. She hadn't thought about it from this point of view. Was Harry right? She had the impression, that Divination was a waste of time. And the things Professor McGonagall had told them strengthened this opinion. And did she want to take an outdated subject if she knew everything about muggles, being born to two?
"Take your time to think about it Hermione. If you want to talk, I will be there for you. Thank you for listening to me. I can't make the decision for you, but I think it is my duty as a friend to make you see what could happen to you."
"No, I have to thank you Harry. You have given me some important things to think about. It is just, it is so hard to get a good job as a muggleborn. When I got my Hogwarts letter I was so excited. The possibilities I could have in this world were so unbelievable. But then I found out about the prejudices against muggleborns. Only if I am at the top of everything I could hope to make it into a decent rank at the Ministry for example."
"I know. And I intend to change some things when I get of age. I don't like a lot of things in the wizarding world, sending people to Azkaban without a trial for example." He added murmuring.
"I am the heir of some of the most respected and influential wizarding families Hermione and as much as I hate it, I am The-Boy-Who-Lived. I can't get away from this, but I can use it to better our world and push it into the next century. British wizarding society is falling behind the rest of the world and I don't like that. We will lose our best talents to overseas of we don't change our ways of thinking."
"How did you find out all of this?" She asked surprised.
"Uncle Orion has many acquaintances all over the world. He told me a lot of things. I decided that I didn't want to sit aside and let things happen. I want to do something. Make a difference. Voldemort only got as powerful as he was, because nobody really cared about the groups he attacked. The overall wizarding population outnumbers the death eaters by far, but nearly nobody dared to oppose him because they were terrified of what he could do to them. It is like in the history of Germany in the 1930's till the 1940's. The Second World War wasn't some stupid accident, it was planned methodically.
"Voldemort's methods are very similar to those Hitler and Grindelwald used. Rally your supporters until they believe everything you feed them with, use an existing scapegoat, go for those who nobody will miss first and then go for the bigger fish when they have lost their backup; push for power in the intent to change everything for the better, because only then people will help you in the beginning and when everything became a habit, get the big guns out and terminate those you see as lesser beings. Voldemort is as crazy as Hitler was. Only he has magical powers."
Hermione was impressed. Where did Harry's sudden increase in knowledge come from?
"Where did you learn all of this? It isn't part of what you learn in primary school."
Harry found himself caught. Well, this wasn't an important secret to keep, he could tell Hermione.
"I have gotten some extra lessons on history and history of magic Hermione. Uncle Orion was interested in a company who advertises lessons for home-schooled wizards and witches. So he ordered some test lessons and I took them to tell him what I thought about them. They were great, far better than anything Binns ever taught us. The stuff was presented in an interesting way and you were hard pressed not to want to really participate in the lessons. They use memories that can be viewed in a pensieve, a magical basin where the memories of a person can be seen from a bystander's perspective. I had three lessons on history so far, before the new term started. One was on goblin wars, one on the war with Voldemort and parallels to other wars in Europe and one on druids."
"That's sounds really interesting Harry. I'm impressed you remembered so much of it. Last year you had massive problems to remember the lessons here."
"There was a reason for it, I just can't tell you yet. Just know that it has changed and I will do a lot better in classes than before. So don't wonder if I suddenly begin to excel, because that will happen. Additionally to the lessons we have here I will take the pensieve lessons in History and Potions to make up for the lack of professional instruction. While you are able to at least cope with Snape, I am not due to his childish hate of my father."
Hermione looked like she wanted to protest his dismissal of a teacher but even she had accepted that Snape wasn't a very good teacher and his dislike for Harry was infamous.
"I can do nothing to change that but I can look somewhere else to get at least the theoretical base to do the potions he wants us to brew in his classes. I hope you don't take it the wrong way and feel your position as the best student threatened."
"Honestly Harry, I would never feel threatened if you take your studies serious. I only would be miffed if I had the feeling you were cheating in your work."
"No, I don't think I will. I prefer earning my marks fair and square. Even if I doubt Snape will ever see it this way." He sighed and Hermione chuckled.
"You are probably right. He will be hard to convince that you are not a dunderhead as he so readily labeled you."
They laughed and decided to return to the common room. But before they left the classroom Hermione had one last question.
"Harry, how did you come to the conclusion I was using some magical thing to attend all my classes?" She asked.
"Well, it was somewhat obvious in Transfiguration. You were as subdued as the others when you were just fine when we left Arithmancy. So there had to have happened something I had missed. When you told Professor McGonagall that you had had Divination while I had spent the last double lesson with you in Arithmancy, it had to be something like that. You don't need to tell me what it is. I think you probably had to promise to not tell anybody."
"You are right, I had to promise that. Thank you for understanding Harry. It will need some time to get used to the new you. By the way, why did you decide to use contacts instead of glasses?" She asked.
"My glasses were always broken, so it would be easier, I thought. Additionally I think it looks good. Uncle Orion teases me that I soon will have to beat girls away with a stick. I think he is exaggerating. Like that would happen."
Hermione giggled. Even if Harry had matured over the summer he sure was still clueless in some regards. The prediction of his uncle could become reality really soon.
Tuesday went by really smooth. Ancient Runes was interesting for Harry and Professor Babbling was a nice teacher. Harry really liked the fact that she didn't get excited when she called his name during roll call. To Harry's surprise Neville had also chosen ancient runes. He said it was because he wanted to know more about the protective rituals you could do by using runes. Harry suspected it was in regard to his parents' condition. Harry began during that lesson to start getting Neville to believe more in himself. Hermione knowing what Harry wanted to do was supporting him and as this was a new subject they got Neville to relax and do really well for a first lesson.
History of Magic was, as always, a waste of time. Harry, having given up on listening to Binns, took out his alternate history book and began reading, even most of the Ravenclaws ignored Binns and did their own thing and they were known to be extremely studious. The Hufflepuffs had taken to sleeping like the Slytherins and the rest of the Gryffindors. Yes History of Magic was good for one thing, catching up with missed sleep.
Outside the classroom, Hermione questioned Harry about his behavior.
"Why didn't you even try to listen to Professor Binns?" She wanted to know, slightly pissed.
"As I told you yesterday, I do it because it is completely useless. No normal student can keep up with his monotone drowning on and on about normally interesting historical topics. I prefer learning from the books as they are way more interesting. A good teacher could probably make the lessons enjoyable. I really look forward to continuing my pensieve studies at home. Binns is wasting our time, nothing more and I am done with wasting time. You should try reading other history books in class. I mean, we always have had to read up on the things he taught. So it is nothing new and I already learned ahead. And in case Binns tells us something interesting, well I am sure it is in some book. Perhaps you could use an auto dicta quill to get our notes Hermione, then you had the advantage of Binns droning on and the much more interesting books."
"You learned ahead?" Ron asked surprised.
"Yes, I can't wait for our first Potions class. I really prepared for this. It will be hilarious to see Snape getting annoyed because he can't find something I haven't read in the third year book. He won't be able to make me look like an idiot this year and I also learned some really sweat spells to stop the Slytherins from sabotaging my potions. They will get a nasty surprise if they should try." He grinned evilly.
Ron seemed pleased at this. Showing up Slytherins and in Snape's class no less was something to look forward to.
Herbology with the Hufflepuffs was as always a nice class. They were taken to more interesting and dangerous plants this year and Harry paid close attention. As always Neville was the one to shine in this class. With Herbology being the only subject for Neville to truly show his abilities, everybody was only too happy to let him answer most of the teacher's questions.