Day 6: Notes by Laney
Title: Notes
Author: laney_1974
Crossover: BTVS/Harry Potter
August Fic-a-day Challenge Contribution Date: 6 August 2015
Characters: Dawn Summers, Hermione Granger
Word Count: 1,130
Rating: 15
Timeline/Authors Notes: BTVS: Post series and completely ignores the comics. Harry Potter: after the books. The timelines are concurrent so, for example, Harry and his friends would be around the same age as Buffy and the gang give or take.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Buffy and Angel people belong to Joss and Mutant Enemy. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling
Summary: She was a thirty-nine year old woman, she was instrumental in taking down a dark lord... So why was she so nervous about attending a Muggle university for the first time?
Hermione Weasley arrived for her first lecture an hour before it was scheduled to start. Thankfully, the room was free and she could sit down in front and set herself up. Her hands shook as she unpacked her bag, and once again question if she was doing the right thing. Both of her children were now at Hogwarts and, by all rights, she should be enjoying being back at the Ministry full time.
Instead, she was at Oxford University as a full time student.
The year Rose first went to Hogwarts, Hermione found herself being jealous of her daughter. The fact of the matter was that her career at the Ministry had ceased being a challenge years ago. Oh, it was still challenging trying to change the rigid minds of the wizarding public, but it didn't challenge Hermione intellectually.
She missed devouring knowledge. She missed the challenge of getting a perfect mark, of mastering a field.
She missed school, full stop.
It only became worse when Hermione met up with her cousin, who had just obtained her second degree with the University of London, and had spent the entire evening telling Hermione all about the wonderful area of genetic engineering she was studying. Hermione had left her mother's home feeling completely out of touch with the muggle world.
It was then the spark had ignited and the desire to learn again was reborn. Hermione had quit her job at the Ministry and stayed at home with Hugo full time - and during that time she completed her A-Levels and now, here she was, at Oxford University getting her first muggle degree.
And she was absolutely terrified.
Hermione couldn't understand it. She was a thirty-nine year old woman, she was instrumental in taking down a dark lord... So why was she so nervous about attending a muggle university for the first time?
She started slightly at the sound of the other students filling the lecture hall. Hermione was still undecided with what her major was going to be, so this term she was sampling a variety of subjects. This particular subject had caught her eye and she only selected it out of personal curiosity, and not any real intellectual desire.
To be honest, she was just curious to see how accurate Myths of the Supernatural World was.
Looking around, Hermione was surprised to see how unpopular the class was. The lecture hall wasn't even half full. Her mother had commented, not too long ago, how obsessed muggles were with the supernatural. Apparently there were countless movies and books about them. She would have thought more muggles would have been interested
In a way, maybe it was a good thing that Hermione was here. After all, checks had to be kept about how much they knew.
Hermione sat up straight when the Professor came into the room, as did almost everyone else. In fact, the woman sitting next to her - who, strangely, made the hairs on her arms stand up - looked almost scared.
The Professor herself looked quite young, younger than Hermione. In her early thirties or possibly a little younger. She was quite pretty... or would have been if not for the scratch mark that ran diagonally along the whole of her face. Hermione leaned forward in her seat. To a muggle, that scratch would have looked as though it came from an lion or a tiger, but for Hermione it didn't. The width of the claws was too wide. It didn't look like it came from any large animal she knew of, muggle or magical.
The Professor, however, didn't seem to care that she was under such scrutiny.
"Good morning, my name is Doctor Dawn Summers," she greeted them. "And for those interested, yes, I am related to that Summers."
Loud whispering erupted at the words, making Hermione frown. Obviously they knew something she didn't.
"With that out of the way, Welcome to Myths of the Supernatural World... or as my sister's best friend calls it 'How to Not Die 101'."
The room chuckled at her words, though Hermione had no idea as to why. What was going on?
"Now, as most of you probably would have worked out, every person in this room is either a supernatural being or has been touched by the supernatural. You would not have been able to see the course information or enrol in the class if you weren't involved in the supernatural world. First things first - I don't care if you're a demon, witch, wizard, vampire, werewolf, halfling, cherub, seer, angel, hunter, slayer, former Old One or just a normal human who has found themselves involved in the supernatural world. I don't care if you belong to a supernatural society or clan. The only thing I care about is what side of the fence you're on. Only those neutral or on the side of the light would have gotten through the wards on the door."
WHAT?!?!
"For those who don't know who I am, aside from being lecturer at this university, I am also Head of Research and Linguistics at the International Council of Slayers and Watchers. I have been a member of the ICSW since I was 18, and I have found that, like countries around the world, some supernatural societies and clans can be completely isolated, and know very little about how other supernatural societies and clans work. And that is what this class is about. Dispelling myths misinformation about the supernatural world and, as Xander says, how to survive an encounter with other supernatural beings you meet. Because, believe me when I say, if you think you know everything there is to know about the supernatural world... you're fooling yourself. Too many innocent demons and supernatural beings have been killed because others knew nothing about them and didn't know they were good or neutral. The supernatural world has been in conflict for two long simply because we didn't understand each other."
She couldn't comprehend what Dr Summers was saying. Was she saying what Hermione thought? As far as Hermione knew, half of the supernatural creatures Dr Summers mentioned were myths. Right? And was she implying that more supernatural communities existed than those in the wizarding world? She had never heard of the ICSW. In fact, according Fantasic Beasts and Where to Find Them slayers were a myth. More than anything Hermione wanted to go back and speak to the Minister.
"So, I think we should start at the very beginning," Dr Summers continued. "The world is far older than you know..."
She sat frozen in her seat and, for the first time in her life, Hermione failed to take notes.
End
Author: laney_1974
Crossover: BTVS/Harry Potter
August Fic-a-day Challenge Contribution Date: 6 August 2015
Characters: Dawn Summers, Hermione Granger
Word Count: 1,130
Rating: 15
Timeline/Authors Notes: BTVS: Post series and completely ignores the comics. Harry Potter: after the books. The timelines are concurrent so, for example, Harry and his friends would be around the same age as Buffy and the gang give or take.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Buffy and Angel people belong to Joss and Mutant Enemy. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling
Summary: She was a thirty-nine year old woman, she was instrumental in taking down a dark lord... So why was she so nervous about attending a Muggle university for the first time?
Hermione Weasley arrived for her first lecture an hour before it was scheduled to start. Thankfully, the room was free and she could sit down in front and set herself up. Her hands shook as she unpacked her bag, and once again question if she was doing the right thing. Both of her children were now at Hogwarts and, by all rights, she should be enjoying being back at the Ministry full time.
Instead, she was at Oxford University as a full time student.
The year Rose first went to Hogwarts, Hermione found herself being jealous of her daughter. The fact of the matter was that her career at the Ministry had ceased being a challenge years ago. Oh, it was still challenging trying to change the rigid minds of the wizarding public, but it didn't challenge Hermione intellectually.
She missed devouring knowledge. She missed the challenge of getting a perfect mark, of mastering a field.
She missed school, full stop.
It only became worse when Hermione met up with her cousin, who had just obtained her second degree with the University of London, and had spent the entire evening telling Hermione all about the wonderful area of genetic engineering she was studying. Hermione had left her mother's home feeling completely out of touch with the muggle world.
It was then the spark had ignited and the desire to learn again was reborn. Hermione had quit her job at the Ministry and stayed at home with Hugo full time - and during that time she completed her A-Levels and now, here she was, at Oxford University getting her first muggle degree.
And she was absolutely terrified.
Hermione couldn't understand it. She was a thirty-nine year old woman, she was instrumental in taking down a dark lord... So why was she so nervous about attending a muggle university for the first time?
She started slightly at the sound of the other students filling the lecture hall. Hermione was still undecided with what her major was going to be, so this term she was sampling a variety of subjects. This particular subject had caught her eye and she only selected it out of personal curiosity, and not any real intellectual desire.
To be honest, she was just curious to see how accurate Myths of the Supernatural World was.
Looking around, Hermione was surprised to see how unpopular the class was. The lecture hall wasn't even half full. Her mother had commented, not too long ago, how obsessed muggles were with the supernatural. Apparently there were countless movies and books about them. She would have thought more muggles would have been interested
In a way, maybe it was a good thing that Hermione was here. After all, checks had to be kept about how much they knew.
Hermione sat up straight when the Professor came into the room, as did almost everyone else. In fact, the woman sitting next to her - who, strangely, made the hairs on her arms stand up - looked almost scared.
The Professor herself looked quite young, younger than Hermione. In her early thirties or possibly a little younger. She was quite pretty... or would have been if not for the scratch mark that ran diagonally along the whole of her face. Hermione leaned forward in her seat. To a muggle, that scratch would have looked as though it came from an lion or a tiger, but for Hermione it didn't. The width of the claws was too wide. It didn't look like it came from any large animal she knew of, muggle or magical.
The Professor, however, didn't seem to care that she was under such scrutiny.
"Good morning, my name is Doctor Dawn Summers," she greeted them. "And for those interested, yes, I am related to that Summers."
Loud whispering erupted at the words, making Hermione frown. Obviously they knew something she didn't.
"With that out of the way, Welcome to Myths of the Supernatural World... or as my sister's best friend calls it 'How to Not Die 101'."
The room chuckled at her words, though Hermione had no idea as to why. What was going on?
"Now, as most of you probably would have worked out, every person in this room is either a supernatural being or has been touched by the supernatural. You would not have been able to see the course information or enrol in the class if you weren't involved in the supernatural world. First things first - I don't care if you're a demon, witch, wizard, vampire, werewolf, halfling, cherub, seer, angel, hunter, slayer, former Old One or just a normal human who has found themselves involved in the supernatural world. I don't care if you belong to a supernatural society or clan. The only thing I care about is what side of the fence you're on. Only those neutral or on the side of the light would have gotten through the wards on the door."
WHAT?!?!
"For those who don't know who I am, aside from being lecturer at this university, I am also Head of Research and Linguistics at the International Council of Slayers and Watchers. I have been a member of the ICSW since I was 18, and I have found that, like countries around the world, some supernatural societies and clans can be completely isolated, and know very little about how other supernatural societies and clans work. And that is what this class is about. Dispelling myths misinformation about the supernatural world and, as Xander says, how to survive an encounter with other supernatural beings you meet. Because, believe me when I say, if you think you know everything there is to know about the supernatural world... you're fooling yourself. Too many innocent demons and supernatural beings have been killed because others knew nothing about them and didn't know they were good or neutral. The supernatural world has been in conflict for two long simply because we didn't understand each other."
She couldn't comprehend what Dr Summers was saying. Was she saying what Hermione thought? As far as Hermione knew, half of the supernatural creatures Dr Summers mentioned were myths. Right? And was she implying that more supernatural communities existed than those in the wizarding world? She had never heard of the ICSW. In fact, according Fantasic Beasts and Where to Find Them slayers were a myth. More than anything Hermione wanted to go back and speak to the Minister.
"So, I think we should start at the very beginning," Dr Summers continued. "The world is far older than you know..."
She sat frozen in her seat and, for the first time in her life, Hermione failed to take notes.
End