Chapter Text
Hermione stared across the frozen lake, fiddling with her DA coin.
They didn't have any meetings over the Christmas break, which she was thankful for. It gave her time to think and process.
She knew when she first got her letter that things wouldn't be easy, and assumed that she would have to work harder at magic than most of her peers.
Because of this, she had done research and found books on wand movements and potion brewing, so she knew just what to do when instructed to 'swish and flick' or how fast to stir when told to do so for 2 minutes. She also picked up a few books on magical theory, and how to get in touch with your magical core.
As it turned out, most of her peers didn't know those things, so she was actually getting better results than was expected.
The potions books turned out to be a good idea, as Snape would penalise ignorance heavily (unless you were a Slytherin, of course).
It irked her that she couldn't get a corporeal Patronus. She had done research about the Patronus charm in preparation for Dumbledore's Army, and had done what the books said.
She had brought her magic up, imbued it with happiness, asked it to complete the charm, and yet all she got was vapour!
Everyone but her had managed a corporeal Patronus, and Ron had taken great pleasure to point that out.
She had brushed it off at the time, but it hurt nonetheless.
And there was no reason that she shouldn't be able to do it!!!
Well, actually...
She didn't want to appear arrogant, but there was that one book on wandlore...
Wands are, at their core, a channel for magic. You can push as much magic into the spell as you want, but only a certain amount will go through them. This fact makes them good for children who cannot control their magic yet, who would overpower their spells without them.
Indeed, it is vital that you find a wand that is compatible with your magic. The more compatible you and your wand are, the bigger that channel will be.
Near the end of second year, Neville had complained that it was almost impossible to cast magic with his dad's stupid wand, and Hermione's mind went straight to that passage.
She showed Neville and copied it over for him onto parchment, and at the start of third year he had shown her a brand-new wand. His grades had shown a marked increase after that, though potions remained his worst subject.
The downside to wands is that they can only channel a certain amount of magic. If the spell in question requires more magic than that, attempts at casting will be unsuccessful.
It made sense that a Patronus took lots of magic, especially since there was that other book that said that the amount of magic a Patronus took to cast was directly proportionate to the size of the animal it showed as.
So maybe her Patronus was just really big?
But if that was the case, then the only way she could cast it was wandless.
She had never even tried to cast wandless.
But...
Well it was worth a try.
Hermione put the coin away and closed her eyes, calling for her magic. It felt cool and fresh and slightly salty, and rolled over her like the tide.
She pushed the concept of the Patronus towards it, and more magic came from within her, writhing and coiling around her hands.
She flinched in surprise as a tendril of foreign power wrapped around her wrist. It took her a moment to place, and her eyes snapped open in surprise when a mental image of the Giant Squid popped into her mind.
Her eyes widened further as she looked down and noticed that her magic was visible. It was shifting and coiling around her whole body, and appeared as a dark blue-grey colour. In contrast, the Squid's magic was a deep, burnt orange that curled calmly from her wrists to her elbows. A thin thread of orange snaked down across the snow, passed through the ice, and presumably led all the way down to wherever the Squid resided.
Hermione took a breath and centred her mind, imbuing the gathered magic with love and happiness. The orange magic pulsed once, and new memories flitted across her mind.
Memories of being young and free, deep in the open ocean. Memories of another, a sibling, a friend. Love, strengthened over decades of isolation, roared through the magic connection and crashed into Hermione like a tidal wave.
Her magic brightened, and she directed it all towards her hands, raising them in front of her.
She knew Harry needed to shout the incantation, but that felt disruptive.
Actually, even speaking at all felt disruptive.
Oh, what the hell!
“Expecto Patronum.”
The magic rushed away from her, merging and expanding and shifting into a huge pearly something.
Hermione stared at the hulking shape, shocked laughter spilling from her.
"Well I suppose that explains why I have to cast wandless."
As the shock wore off, her curiosity increased.
"What even is that? I mean there isn't a land creature that size that I know of." The creature's tail shifted, catching her attention.
Her mouth dropped open as things clicked into place.
"There's no way..." She flicked her fingers and cast a measuring charm at the massive translucent whale.
She froze in shock once again when she processed the use of another wandless spell.
"How did I? But everything I've read says that shouldn't happen?"
She snapped her jaw shut reflexively. "I can't even- why am I not tired?"
Indeed, Hermione felt quite energised, as if she had just started a particularly fascinating essay.
It countered everything she had read about wandless casting, and quite honestly irritated the shit out of her. It was Harry that broke the laws of magic, not her!
A deep chuckle reverberated around her head and she spun around, staring at the empty space behind her.
"I am not behind you, child."
The voice felt the same as the Squid's orange power had, and Hermione haltingly attempted to project a thought back to it.
"Are- are you the Giant Squid?"
"Indeed, child," it said, amused.
For once, Hermione's manners worked in tandem with her curiosity. "Well, my name is Hermione, I use she/her pronouns. May I ask yours?"
"I haven't had a name in a long time, Hermione. But, I suppose you may use Skyeirohn. Or Great Old One, if you wish. I am not familiar with 'pronouns', what are they?"
Hermione struggled to find the right words to explain. ”Well, pronouns are like, nicknames? Except not really. You use them where you would use a person's- wait do I refer to you as a person? Is there a term you prefer?”
Skyeirohn sent an amused yet affectionate warmth through the link. "I find entity and being to be quite all-encompassing."
Hermione returned the warmth as best she could. "Right. Well, you use them where you would use a being's name. So instead of saying Hermione all the time, you can say she or her, for example. There's also he/him, they/them, it/its, and a number of others, though those four are the most common."
Skyeirohn floated lazily in the depths of the lake, considering. ”I think that I do not particularly care. I hear the young ones use ‘it’, and the older ones ‘he’. Though I like the way she and her feel. I have also observed that the ones in skirts are often ‘she’, and the ones in pants are ‘he’. Is there a reason for this?”
Hermione took a breath. ”Ah. Yes, there is a reason. But I’m going to be honest, I don’t think now is the right time to explain all of that. I have to get to dinner soon, and I need to re-centre myself and my magic.”
”Of course. Our magics know each other now, so we will be able to communicate regardless of distance. I would enjoy conversing with you again.”
Hermione felt something pull away, and her mind was suddenly quieter.
She breathed for a moment, re-centering herself and calming her magic.
A number popped into her mind, and Hermione abruptly remembered her giant whale Patronus.
Apparently, said giant whale Patronus was roughly 100 feet long.
The only species that fit that size were Blue Whales.
So, her Patronus was more than double the size of the world’s previous recorded largest Patronus, a 47-foot Hungarian Horntail, produced by a wizard somewhere in Asia.
Of course it was.
Hermione speed-walked into the dining hall just as the food appeared. She smiled in thanks at Harry, who had saved her a spot by him, Ron, and Ginny.
Once they were all served and eating, Ginny spoke up.
“Hey Hermione, where were you this afternoon? I checked your dorm, the common room and the library, but you weren’t there.”
Hermione shrugged, pouring gravy over her beef. “I was by the lake.”
“Right. Were you reading?” Ginny snorted.
Hermione gave her a Look. “No, actually. I was working on my Patronus.”
“Oh cool!” Harry grinned. “Did you get any closer to corporeal?”
“Yes, actually!”
Ron scoffed into his carrots.
The other three ignored him and Ginny high-fived her. “That’s great! What’s your animal?”
Hermione smiled, a touch mischievous. “Blue Whale.” She was fairly certain that wizards didn’t know what they were, and she wasn’t disappointed.
“Wow ‘Mione. I’m sure I would be amazed at that if it actually existed. Try a little harder next time.”
Harry looked confused when Hermione stayed silent, but she caught his eye and winked.
Ginny looked a little more wary than her brother, but she too didn’t believe her muggleborn friend.
As much as Harry knew what a Blue Whale was, he didn’t want to ruin Hermione’s fun, so kept quiet.
"Hey wait, if you were by the lake, did you see what those Ancient Runes students did? The giant dome over the lake?"
Hermione fought to keep a straight face, knowing full well that the ‘dome’ was actually her Patronus. "Oh, is that what that was? I saw it, but didn't realise what it was. Makes sense though."
Hermione kept eating, and the other three ended up moving the conversation to the inevitable topic of quidditch. She smiled, and pulled a small book from her robes, opening it to a bookmarked page and diving in.