Hermione Granger takes her first suppressant and steps into an experiment that will define her freedom. Under McGonagall’s cool supervision, Neville Longbottom returns to apologize and to test whether Alpha command can bend Hermione’s will. It does not. The potion steadies her mind, her fists prove faster than instinct, and the lesson leaves both of them changed. When Professor Vector reveals that Hermione’s Arithmancy partner was Draco Malfoy, and that he has asked to be reassigned, the cut bites deeper than she expects. In the Great Hall, eyes follow her, Alphas drift closer, and a polished Ravenclaw named Selwyn makes his intentions known while Draco looks away and sits with his own. By nightfall, Hermione must decide how to carry a scent that will not wash off, how to protect her future in a school that suddenly feels like a hunting ground, and how to face the boy who fed her fruit and called her his.
