Chapter 4. Diagon Alley.

                                    

                                          

Hermione couldn't fall asleep, no matter how much she tossed and turned in bed. She kept thinking about Professor McGonagall's fascinating stories of magic and her future education at the wizarding school. The idea of learning Transfiguration, Potion Making, and Defense Against the Dark Arts thrilled her. However, Hermione also worried she might not cut it, and end up being sent away from Hogwarts in disgrace. 
The thought of meeting other wizards excited her too. Hermione wondered if they would all dress as extravagantly as McGonagall, or if some would look just like normal people. 'What if one of my neighbors is a wizard too?' she pondered. 'That would be pretty cool.' These thoughts kept her up until she finally fell into a troubled sleep.
In her dream, Hermione found herself in a wild fantasy. Strange plants floated through the air, growing quickly and trying to snatch at her with their toothy petals. Mugs with long tails coiled around her feet, purring non-stop. Then, out of nowhere, unicorns charged in, scaring off the plants and mugs with their sharp, glittering horns. They looked worried and it seemed they were trying to tell Hermione something, but she couldn't make sense of their strange words. Hermione felt a growing sense of danger as if being chased. But whenever she tried to see who or what was behind her, Hermione only caught fleeting glimpses of shadows that disappeared as soon as she looked their way.
Then, Professor McGonagall appeared, riding atop an incredible creature that looked like a donkey with a fish head, and huge bubbles kept popping out of its mouth. McGonagall transformed the bubbles into various objects and, with a cowboy's yell, hurled them with her wand at the elusive enemies pursuing the unicorns.
Suddenly, a thick fog wrapped around everything, and Barbara Grayson stepped towards Hermione out of it. Pretending to be all innocent with her angel face, Grayson started picking on Hermione again. Then she blurted out, "Only damned witches can cast spells! I always knew you were evil!" Barbara's friends popped up next to her, also yelling that Hermione needed to be burned at the stake for being a witch. "Who should we burn?" Barbara shouted, and her friends loudly returned, "Hermione! Hermione! Hermione!" 
Hermione woke up to someone shaking her shoulder and repeating her name. She opened her eyes and saw her mom's face. Noticing her daughter was awake, Emma Granger said a bit flustered: 
"Hermione, some man has come... Says he's from the Ministry of Magic, and it's time to go... shopping..."
Hermione's head was splitting with pain. After coming to her senses from the chaotic dream, she winced and whispered:
"Just a moment, mom... my head is killing me..." 
"Oh, dear," Emma sighed softly and went to get the medicine kit. 
Hermione felt completely shattered. After a night full of thoughts and worries, she wasn't sure whether to be happy about being a witch. More than once, she thought how much simpler things would be if none of these oddities had happened, and if Professor McGonagall hadn't shown up at their doorstep yesterday. But the moment of doubt was brief. After taking the pills, Hermione quickly recovered and pushed aside all her doubts. Being a witch was a fact, and there was no point in wondering about what-ifs.
When Hermione entered the living room, she found her parents silently sitting on the couch, looking a bit anxious. Their gazes were fixed on the unusual guest occupying the chair across from them. This middle-aged man, with a tanned complexion, had an imposing appearance: his once-black hair was now streaked with strands of silver, giving him an air of mature wisdom. His beard, neatly trimmed and groomed, matched his slightly dandyish mustache, which was elegantly twisted upwards. He was dressed in a formal robe adorned with mysterious symbols and signs, and in his hands, he held a cane.