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I'm like Matilda: A Tale of Hermione Granger's Deductive Reasoning

By: Wanda

{Team Captain of The Caerphilly Catapults! Round 10 of The Quidditch League FanFiction Competition! Mascot Challenge: write about your mascot as a young child, before she started Hogwarts. }

"Hermione why don't you go outside for a while," spoke Mrs. Granger from the kitchen.

"All the neighborhood kids make fun of me," Hermione stated as she was sitting at the kitchen table with a nose in an overly large book on chemistry.

"You are only 6 years old, Hermione! You need to go outside, act your own age and make some friends. Please, take a break from your studies," Mrs. Granger replied as she walked over to her daughter, pulling the book from her grasp. Causing Hermione to look up into her mother's eyes with the look of horror. "You should be a kid for one moment, and forget about all the knowledge you can consume within an hour."

Hermione sighed as she stood up from her chair, and sighed exasperatingly. "None of the kids my age understand my intellectual speech, mom. I seriously do not see why I should have to mingle with them at all. All they do is make fun of me and pull on my hair!"

Mrs. Granger shook her head. "I'm not giving your book back, go outside, go to the park, and go swing on the swings. Do something other than studying. Otherwise you will end up like your Junior School Instructor, Mrs. Fletcher."

Hermione's jaw dropped as her mother outwardly insulted her overweight, and genuinely kind Junior School Instructor. "How could you say that, mom! She is such a wonderful person, she has been the only person I could talk to, and you are making fun of her as much as those bullies at Junior School make fun of me."

Mrs. Granger pointed to the front door. "Out! Get out of the house this instant or I will have your father go with you."

"Where is dad?" Hermione asked as she raised a single eyebrow questioning her mother, trying to calm herself down.

Mrs. Granger sighed. "In his study, in fact, RICHARD!"

"Yes, Hon?" Mr. Granger shouted back before he came down the hall and found his way into the kitchen.

"Why don't you take Hermione to the park. I believe she really needs to get out of the house once and a while," Mrs. Granger said softly.

"Okay, just-" Mr. Granger was cut off before he could say anything more.

"No just, both of you-go outside now!" Mrs. Granger shouted.

Mr. Granger hid his smile behind his hand as he offered his other hand to Hermione, "Come on, Pumpkin. Let's go to the park."

Hermione sighed as she grabbed her father's hand. "Do we have to?"

"Yes, unfortunately we must." Mr. Granger smiled as he shook his head and led his daughter outside of the kitchen.

Hermione sat on the swing as her father sat next to her in the one next to hers. Mr. Granger looked to his daughter and asked, "So, why are we at the park?"

"Because mom didn't like seeing me studying things that I shouldn't be able to comprehend," Hermione said bluntly.

"Ah, chemistry wasn't it?" Mr. Granger shook his head. "I think it's because she is jealous because she never could understand that subject. I had to tutor her in it during our University days. She most likely finds it difficult to see you gaining the knowledge so easily."

"But why does it mean I have to go outside, I mean I could have grabbed a different subject! I like learning Algebraic Equations." Hermione pouted as she started to swing her legs back and forth.

"You are only six years old Hermione, you shouldn't even what Algebraic Equations are, let alone understand them." Mr. Granger said as he started to laugh.

"Is that why all the kids make fun of me?" Hermione asked as she continued to swing higher.

"Most likely dear, I don't understand the children of any age. I wasn't quite in the same boat as you when I was a child, but I was over-studious and constantly at the butt end of someone else's jokes. I learned to laugh it off until they finally left me alone." Mr. Granger Shrugged.

"I tried to do that, but it didn't work. They still continue to make fun of me, regardless if I pretend to care or not. So I attempted to ignore them, and they still continued to poke fun at me. Mrs. Fletcher can only do so much to prevent them from bullying me," Hermione cried and then let out a long hard sigh. "Will it be this different when I go to College?"

"Will the same kids attend with you when you go to College?" Mr. Granger asked politely.

Hermione groaned. "I don't know, but they all act like a bunch of blundering idiots."

"No, Hermione. They act like the children they are, you are just...special," Mr. Granger stated smiling. "My very special Pumpkin."

"Do you think we can go home now? I am really interested in seeing that science show on television that Mrs. Fletcher recommended. It's suppose to be for children, and the experiments are safe to try at home," Hermione begged softly, as she halted her swing by dragging her feet in the sand.

Mr. Granger sighed, "Yes, I suppose we could do that that. You can watch your show in my study, so that you don't bother your mother while she is cooking. I need to get back to my paperwork, before it grows any bigger."

"How can your paperwork grow? I mean, I understand that you are doing the accounting aspect of the Granger Family Dentistry business, but how hard can that grow when you aren't even working?" Hermione asked politely.

Mr. Granger sighed as he shook his head, "It's a lot harder than it sounds, otherwise I wouldn't be struggling with it. Your mother, doesn't even want to know anything about the details because she claims it gives her a rather large headache."

Hermione bit her lower lip, "I might be able to help, if you teach me how."

Mr. Granger laughed, as he stood out of his swing, and held out his hand for Hermione to grab. "The reaction your mother will have...should she have heard you said that, would have been epic. I couldn't fathom how she would feel, if our little girl could do something that gives her a monstrous headache, merely thinking about all the numbers."

Hermione was sitting on the floor, consumed by the television in Mr. Granger's study. She was smiling as the science nerd was teaching her how to construct a perfectly safe experiment; whilst her father was sitting at his desk working out numbers and figures of the Granger Family Dentistry business.

"I thought I told you too to go outside!" Mrs. Granger stated as she entered the study, with her hands on her hips.

"We did hon, we went to the park and swung on the swings for a little while, but I really need to crank these numbers. Especially if we want to manage our income and go on that trip we discussed the other day." Mr. Granger indicated as he placed the papers on his desk and removed his reading spectacles. "Plus our daughter was so enthused about watching a television show that Mrs. Fletcher had recommended her."

Mrs. Granger sighed as she looked to her daughter who was laughing at the television. "It's so surreal, I never saw her so happy to watch the television. Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes, why don't you get out of the numbers crunch and help me set up the table."

Mr. Granger nodded as he stood up and walked past his daughter, patting her on the head. "I'll be back to collect you when dinner's ready, Pumpkin."

"Okay, dad." she said as smiled as she watched her parents leave the her father's study. "Finally," she whispered to herself as she stood up and looked at her father's bookshelf. "Ah, there it is, Number Crunching, Business Management and other Numerical Figures. Now, how do I reach it? Dad hates it when I step on his shelves. I wish I could bring that book down with my eyes."

The moment the thought and wish left her lips, the books had fell from the shelf and into her palms. "No way...that's not...is it?" She looked at an other book on the shelf that had been on the other side of the shelf, and was a thicker tome that shouldn't logically be able to fall off the shelf on it's own accord. "I wish the Dictionary of Dentistry would fall into my hands." Again, she was shocked when the book floated down to her which caused her to drop, the number crunching book in order to save the Dentistry Dictionary. "From all that is holy...I really did that." she stated in complete shock. "How did I do that? It isn't logical...it shouldn't have happened. But...here's the proof. Should I test my theory again, hmmmm..."

Hermione looked at the book in her hands, as she bit her lower lip, I wish The Dentistry Dictionary would return to the shelf from whence it came. When the Dictionary floated up and back onto the shelf; she could no longer deny the facts that she just willed a book to fall off a shelf and then to return to the shelf in it's proper place.

"I'm like Matilda," Hermione stated as she was still looking up at the shelf with wide eyes. "I wished for the book and it came to me, and I wished the book back onto the shelf and it returned. Oh my gosh, I must have a more powerful brain than I had originally thought." She covered her mouth in contemplation. "I need to document this, I need to figure out what my limitations are...I mean I thought the story of Matilda was strictly fictional...but this disproves that theory. I wonder what else I can do-"

"Hermione, it's dinner time," Mr. Granger said as he entered his study. "How did you manage to get that book? Don't tell me you climbed on the shelves again..." Mr. Granger said as he held out his hand for his daughter to grab.

"No dad, I didn't step on the shelves. I'm like Matilda, I made it come down with my mind!" Hermione exclaimed in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Has someone taught my daughter sarcasm?" Mr. Granger asked has he pretended to clutch his heart, with his other hand as he took his daughter's hand.

"No, dad. I'm telling the truth!" Hermione declared as she looked up to him with her warm cinnamon-hazelnut eyes. .

"Sure you are dear...come on, let's go get some dinner. Place that book down before mother sees you with it and eats her bonnet," Mr. Granger remarked as he laughed at his daughter's distraught face. "I'm not mad at you dear, no worries. Let's just go eat."

"You don't believe me, do I have to prove it to you?" Hermione asked begrudgingly.

"Perhaps later, right now I'm ready to eat dinner, aren't you hungry Pumpkin?" Mr. Granger asked as he lead his daughter back towards the kitchen.

Hermione released a long exasperated sigh, I wish I had my journal right now so I can document this moment of dejection. She smiled when she could literally feel her notebook floating down the hall. She didn't even have to look back when it floated in front of her father's face as she knew the expression on his face was too priceless. Hermione merely smiled as she grabbed her notebook from out of the air and when she saw her father's slack jaw, she smile wider. "Do you have a pen? I want to write this moment down, so I never forget the look on your face. It's completely priceless."

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this, thanks Suz (Caerphilly Catapults' Keeper) for the inspiring idea! Please leave a review in the Little box!

Lost O'Fallon Girl

P.S.-Changed Man Cave to study to appear more British and to eliminate a misunderstanding. LOL. Since I have been questioned about the meaning behind it.