Hermione discovers a truth about her parentage.

September 1st came quickly and Hermione still hadn’t figured out how to open the box that her parents had given her that summer, and she’d put the diary away in her school trunk, deciding to wait until she got to school to research it.

When she’d opened it, the pages were blank but Hermione was sure that the book contained some kind of Dark magic.

Oddly she could feel it, but wasn’t enticed by it like she’d imagined she should’ve been.

Perhaps once she got to school and did some research, she’d figure it out.

One of the books that she’d bought at the bookstore on protective charms and wards had been a fascinating read and as soon as she’d gotten back to school and into her dorm?

She’d warded her trunk so that if anyone opened it, they’d suffer a nasty boil hex that wouldn’t go away for a week.

Hermione smirked on the third day of term when she heard Pansy Parkinson screaming in horror and come running out of their dorm room with green boils all over her face.

The looks from the other students ranged from shock, anger and in a few cases begrudging respect—as the whole of Slytherin House soon found out just how pug-faced Parkinson had gotten hexed.

When Professor Snape had entered the common room later that same evening and called Hermione down in front the whole of Slytherin to demand the counter curse and for her to apologize to Miss Parkinson or suffer detention for the rest of the term, however Hermione just smirked evilly at her Head of House and said coldly and clearly, “I’ll take the detention, Professor. And in the future, please—I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t insult my intelligence. I’ll always take the detention, as I have no plans on apologizing for defending myself against any person or persons who think they can treat me thusly. It’s not as if I can run to my Head of House for fair treatment after all.”

Professor Snape looked down at the small girl, who was glaring up at him with utter contempt.

It was true he’d been unfair to her, but he had a reputation to uphold and unfortunately he couldn’t be seen coddling a mudblood, even if she was a Slytherin.

The rest of the common room just gaped on in utter shock.

No one had ever addressed their Head of House so rudely.

Snape sneered at the young girl and said in his drawling baritone, “Very well, Miss Granger. Detention for the rest of the year.”

At this the majority of her housemates smirked and some laughed, but Hermione just raised her eyebrow in challenge and then proceeded to curtsy to her Potions Professor and say sweetly, “I’m looking forward to it.”

She then turned around regally with her nose pointed in the air and marched right out the common room door, not sparing a single glance at any of her fellow Slytherins.

Insufferable assholes.

The whole of Slytherin House decided to try and make the little Slytherin’s life a living hell, but they soon learned she gave as good as she got.

When Marcus Flint tripped her down a flight of stairs, and she’d ended up unconscious in the hospital for three days with a concussion, she later proceeded to sneak into the Slytherin locker room with a stolen wand that she’d “borrowed” (after successfully stealing from Professor Snape’s potions storage and brewing Polyjuice Potion to change into Vincent Crabbe), while slipping him a sleeping draught.

She’d hexed Flint’s broom, causing him to keep slamming into the Slytherin Quidditch stands until he fell from his broom and broke both legs and his right arm, along with sustaining a severe concussion. He’d ended up in the hospital for two weeks, while Slytherin lost the match to Hufflepuff, which was embarrassing for the dentally-challenged Quidditch Captain.

When the whole of Slytherin accused Granger of the deed, Snape came in with Dumbledore—who cast a ‘Priori Incantatem’ on Hermione’s wand to see what her last spells were.

Surprisingly, there was no proof that her wand had cast the hex that had been placed on Flint’s broom.

The whole of Slytherin House stood there in confusion as the little witch once again, stared down her Head of House, while the Headmaster just smiled serenely and told Professor Snape that it would appear that Miss Granger was innocent.

Snape stared at Miss Granger, who looked at him with such disgust and hatred in her eyes—he then realized that this little witch wasn’t going to ever give in to her tormentors. And for the first time, he considered her with something akin to respect and left the common room, robes billowing in his wake.

After Flints ‘accident’ the hazing and torment quieted down some, and Hermione was able to breath a momentary sigh of relief.

Her housemates still sneered at her, calling her mudblood, but for the most part they left her alone.

By late November, Hermione was no closer to figuring out what the diary was, but in a stroke of luck she did manage to figure of what the crest on her box represented.

It happened during a duel with Malfoy and Potter in Defense class.

Malfoy had conjured a snake from his wand, which slithered towards a boy in Hufflepuff. Potter had started hissing at the snake, and surprisingly Hermione could understand what Potter was saying to the snake. Professor Snape looked stunned by this new revelation of Potter speaking to snakes, and she had overheard Weasley telling Potter that he had been speaking Parseltongue, which was snake language.

Thinking about her box, Hermione decided to do some research on Parseltongue, and what she discovered shocked her.

It seemed that speaking Parseltongue was a rare gift, and only could be spoken by those who were direct heirs of Salazar Slytherin himself.

Hermione had never known she possessed the gift, as she’d never been around snakes as a child.

Determined to see if she truly possessed the gift, she decided to head down towards the Black Lake late one Sunday afternoon, to see if she could locate a snake to converse with it.

It didn’t take long for her to come across a snake on the edge of the lake near the Forbidden Forest. The snake was rather large and at first Hermione was a bit frightened, but the snake just looked at her curiously and then started hissing at her.

“Who are you?” The snake hissed questioningly, it’s eyes fixated on the small witch.

“I am called Hermione. I am very pleased to meet you, do you have a name?”

The snake came a bit closer and circled around the rock where Hermione was sitting, then stopped and raised its head so it’s face was at eye level.

“My name is Nagini.” The snake hissed. “You speak snake language. Your magic smells familiar. Who are you?”

Hermione just stared at the snake in shock.

How could her magic smell familiar?

“I am a student at Hogwarts. I am in Slytherin House, although they don’t like me much. They think I am a mudblood, but I was adopted by my parents, so I don’t know who my real parents are.” Hermione then pulled out the box from her bag and showed it to the snake. “I just found out recently that I can understand snake language, and this was left by my birth mother when she gave me away.”

Nagini came closer and eyed the box. She gazed up at Hermione and gently flicked her tongue on the young witch’s cheek, causing the her to giggle softly.

“The crest is from the House of Gaunt. They are heirs to Salazar Slytherin. Ask the box to open in snake language, it should open for you if you are a true heir to the House of Slytherin.”

Holy cricket!!!

Heir to Slytherin, but how could that be?

Hermione just stared at the snake and then looked down at the box again. She then hissed the word ‘open’ and the magical seal released opening the box. Looking inside, she noticed a ring with a black stone in the center. The stone had a weird shape in the middle of it, like a triangle with a line straight through it.

Hermione could feel the magic coming from the ring, and it was the same magic as she felt from the diary.

“You, Hermione, have the ring of my master. It is the Gaunt family ring, and belongs to its heir, the heir of Salazar Slytherin. The ring holds the soul of my master. Only his heir could hold his soul and not be corrupted by its magic. Try the ring on, if you are the true heir it will bind to you and protect you.”

“And if I’m not the heir?”

“Then young witch, you will die. But your magic is familiar. It feels like my Master’s.”

“Who is your master?” Hermione knew who it was, but she needed to hear it to confirm that her suspicions were true.

“The Dark Lord is my master. He is the Heir of Slytherin.”

Hermione nodded. “Where is your master, Nagini? Is he still alive?”

Nagini nodded once. “He is between life and death. The piece you have of his soul anchor him to this life. He seeks a way to return.”

Hermione nodded in understanding.

That was what happened last year with Quirrell and why he was desperate to get the sorcerers stone.

Hermione had heard the Gryffindors discuss the stone in the library when they thought no one else was watching. She’d researched it and found the information on Nicolas Flamel. She’d even left the book so the boys could find it, not realizing what exactly they needed it for. Now it would seem that somehow, she may have inadvertently prevented her own birth father from returning to full power.

This definitely required more research and thought.

She gazed at the ring and looked at the snake, who was watching her closely. Hermione nodded at the snake and slipped the ring onto her right index finger. The ring automatically sized down to fit and she could feel the Dark Magic swirling from the ring, binding to her magical core.

It was oddly familiar and comforting in a strange way.

She smiled at the snake, who looked oddly pleased for a reptile. Nagini moved forward and licked at Hermione’s face and hand, almost like a caress and suddenly the ring on her finger disappeared. It then hissed it’s approval, telling the witch the time had not come yet for her to reveal her true identity, and then made to move back towards the forest.

Hermione called out to Nagini, asking the snake if she would see it again.

The snake nodded and told her to come each month when the moon was full at sunset, and she would be there to greet her. She smiled and thanked Nagini for her help, watching her first friend slither back into the forest.

Staring down at where the ring should’ve been, she sighed.

So, it would seem she was the daughter of the Dark Lord.

Hermione doubted that fact would be popular within the majority of Hogwarts, particularly with the Headmaster. She doubted any in Slytherin House would believe her, as she’d never told anyone of her adoption. She figured they’d think she was making it up to stop them from tormenting her, and frankly didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. It was a matter of pride at this point. She hated everyone in her house, and when they found out that she was the Heir of Slytherin and the daughter of Lord Voldemort himself, they would all be eating crow.

Especially that prat Malfoy.

Hermione smirked evilly, she needed to plan.

She wasn’t sure if her birth father ever knew about her, he may not even want her, but she would make herself invaluable so that he’d have no choice but to acknowledge her. She had two pieces of his soul in her possession. It was a good bargaining chip if nothing else.

She needed to find out exactly what these things were, so she was off to the library for more research.

The rest of second year was mostly quiet and Hermione kept her newfound heritage to herself. She’d meet Nagini every full moon, and discovered that the snake was very sassy and surprisingly protective of her.

One day in the late spring when she went to meet her friend, she hadn’t noticed that Malfoy and his cronies were following her. When Hermione got to the spot where Nagini was supposed to meet her, the snake wasn’t there but Malfoy started tormenting her, calling her names and threatening her. She just stood there stoically with her wand hanging from her hand, when out of nowhere Nagini lunged at the blonde, hissing at him and his friends.

Malfoy screamed like a girl, and stumbled back nearly falling on his arse. He gaped at Hermione, who was laughing at him, and climbed over his friends running back towards the castle.

She thanked Nagini, who just nodded at her.

The two spent a little while conversing before Hermione headed back to the castle.

She began to notice Malfoy looking at her strangely after that, but she just ignored the hateful git.

He wasn’t worth her time.

On the last day of her detention for the year, Professor Snape silently handed Hermione a Potions book as well as a book on Occlumency for her to read over the summer. She stared at him questioningly, to which he told her that any second year who could brew Polyjuice Potion should be commended on her ingenuity. He also told her that if she was to continue being the brightest witch Hogwarts had seen in these many years, that Occlumency was key in making sure she didn’t project those thoughts which were better kept hidden.

To say she was shocked, would’ve been an understatement. But she kept her mask firmly in place and thanked her Professor for the books, promising to read them thoroughly over the summer.

For the first time since starting Hogwarts, Hermione felt like maybe she might be okay after all.