In the Library, Ginny sat alongside Hermione, deeply engrossed in a book, her forehead furrowed in a pronounced frown. The book in question was titled: ‘The Seven Magical Maturities and Their Significance’. The book expounded upon the Magical Maturities a Magical undergoes throughout their lifetime and what each of them meant and how they affected the Magical.

The book explained how the process of Magical Maturity related to Arithmancy, more specifically 7 and 3 and their combinations.

At the age of 3 (one 3 and no 7s), a child’s dormant Magic activates. Before this, a child is simply incapable of displaying any sort of Magical ability. This fact made her question the intelligence of the Magical Community as a whole: they somehow gave credit for Voldemort’s downfall to a baby that could not even wield magic! Sheep, indeed. Though, there might be a deeper reason for it: like the malice the British Wizarding Community held towards Muggle-borns. It was not obvious, but it was there. Ginny was rather relieved that she was a pureblood, as her plans - which were now slowly taking shape - would be much easier to enact. As for the muggle-borns, well, she did not care much. She would take care of those close to her - like Hermione. As for the rest? She would try and help as long as it did not affect her too much.

Though, this was not the reason she was frowning.

At the age of 7 (no 3s and one 7), the child’s Magic becomes much more active. And it is between the ages of 7 and 10 that children are most prone to Accidental Magic as their Magic becomes extremely active and reacts to their emotions very quickly.

When a child reaches the age of 10 (one 3 and one 7), their Magic starts to stabilise and become more controllable; this process continues up to the age of 11 (which in Arithmancy signifies the first step of a new beginning). Even if a child is given a wand before this and taught spells, they would not be very good at using it.

Then at 13 (two 3s and one 7), their Magic forms a sort of foundation on which the next period of explosive growth up to the age of 17 (one 3 and two 7s). After this Maturity, there would not be any major change in their Magic. At least, not without a strong emotional upheaval. This was also the period in which the Body, Spirit and Magic very deeply influence each other.

This was why the cause of her worry.

It was rather obvious that she still had unresolved issues: like the dichotomy between her Body and her Spirit. On top of that, after assimilating the basilisk, her Body and Spirit had become even more deeply intertwined with her Magic - far beyond any normal Wizard or even Magical Creature.

She had resolved to deal with it, but she had expected at least a few years' worth of time: psychological issues are often difficult to deal with - even with Magic. Especially with Magic; it allows for change in a way that would normally be impossible, making it very easy for things to go very wrong, very fast.

Becoming some sort of deformed monstrosity was within the realm of possibility - even if remote. One such case had been recorded in the book: A 12-year-old Wizard had somehow ended up believing he was a house elf through some freak accident and by the time he reached 15, he had elf-like long ears and comically large eye sockets. Yes, just eye sockets - not the eyes. By the time he was 14, his eyes had a tendency to literally fall out of their sockets, and it wasn’t nearly as hilarious as it was in the cartoons.

In a nutshell, she was screwed if she didn’t resolve her issues in less than a year. Even if the mentioned case was a rather extreme one, it was within the realm of possibility. She continued to read the tome, hoping to figure out if the later Maturities could help her in the resolution of her issues.

The fifth Magical Maturity at 17 stabilises one’s magic again after the explosive growth it went through. There is also a qualitative change that occurs to every Wizard’s Magic, but it was rather personal, so it was not very talked about. And the writer obviously thought it should remain that way. They did note, however, that changes were never physical.

The author also noted that some wizards were not even aware of their change until much later - decades later.

After the penultimate Magical Maturity at 21 (three 7s) the Wizard’s Magic entered a period of stable growth. It was during this period that one’s Magic grew in complexity and quality. The complexity of a wizard’s Magic was related to how well they mastered Magic and quality was rather iffy since no one other than the wizard themselves could judge that - unlike complexity that could be judged from one’s spell casting.

The final Maturity at 49 (seven 7s) completely stopped the natural growth of magic. After that one needs to actually learn and cast magic for it to grow. Though, that was not a big deal since Wizards would never stop using Magic. It was their way of life.

It was just that the author and his few friends were weirdos even among Wizards. They actually stopped using Magic for a year just to test their theory. And, one of them nearly died trying to live like a muggle. The witch had, through some freak accident, ended up hanging from the bottom of the carriage of a high-ranking aristocracy. And under extraordinary duress had a bout of Accidental Magic, which led to a series of incidents, and somehow ended with the two of them falling in love with each other.

Ginny looked up in utter bafflement, “...Cupid must have been on some serious shit that day!”

The author had even written a whole Romance story based on their encounter. It was - and still is - quite popular. He ended up becoming more famous for this story than for his academic work.

“Gotta read this later…” she quietly added this to her list of to-reads.

However, her light-hearted mood soon disappeared and was replaced by the heaviness of the realisation of what was to come and that the other Maturities would not help in her predicament. Her brows once again scrunched up into a frown as she fell into thought.

Hermione, who was by her side, looked at her concernedly, “What’s wrong, Ginny? What’s the matter?”

Startled out of her thoughts, Ginny remained silent for a moment; she could not tell her about her situation, that was impossible, but she also did not want to brush it off with a ‘nothing’ - that wasn’t conducive to keeping friendships and Hermione could be really persistent when she wanted to, so, she pushed the book towards her and said, “... Read this,” she pointed to the part that dealt with the first Magical Maturity after flipping over to it.

Hermione did. As she frowned as she read, she looked up at Ginny, her right eyebrow quirked.

“And what of it? It’s good to know and all, but how is it relevant?” she asked, apparently quite confused.

“Harry. He wasn’t even close to three, when, you know, You-know-who fell,” she continued slightly more loudly when she saw Hermione about explain, “I know it was his mother’s protection, Hermione - Ron doesn’t have the tightest mouth. No, my point is that this” - she gestured towards the tome - “is common knowledge. Most of the Magical Population knows this. Maybe they don’t know about it in as much detail, but it is still common knowledge.

Now, why would anyone believe that a baby barely older than one, with no magical ability, was able to shrug off a Killing Curse? It’s absurd isn’t it?”

“... It is absurd. But again, how does it matter? People wanted a hero who could save them from the Dark Times; they wanted someone to believe in, I suppose?” Hermione rationalised.

“Then why not simply say it was his Mum? That would be more believable, right? After all, she’s an adult wizard - she’s definitely more capable than a baby with no magical ability. And the people in power probably know the full truth. It is impossible for them to not know.”

Hermione frowned, “What are you getting at?”

“What I am saying is that they - the people in power - would rather have the people believe in the half-blood scion of the Potter Household - who’s a just baby - rather than an adult muggle-born witch who is actually quite powerful as a hero,” Ginny said. She was stretching quite a bit, and she didn’t know the actual circumstances, but that didn’t matter. She wanted to give Hermione an idea of the oppression the Muggle-borns faced.

Hermione’s eyes widened before she frowned, “... I thought it was only Slytherin that discriminated against Muggle-borns?”

“Well, he hated them, not discriminate. There’s a difference.” Ginny still didn’t believe that Slytherin truly hated Muggle-borns.

“Most Half-bloods and Purebloods discriminate against Muggle-borns, Hermione. Even if they don’t realise it. We’re Magical Britain, but since the establishment of the Statute, we’re essentially a different country.” she continued, as she looked at Hermione whose expression had become slightly odd, “Foreigners will always be discriminated against; be it because of their culture, mannerisms or common sense.”

“I see…” Hermione looked a little lost, her eyes unfocused and her expression vulnerable.

‘Ah shit, did I bring this up too soon? Damn it, I should have brought this up later. Stupid me and my stupid decisions!’ she mentally cursed herself. In trying to hide her own insecurities, she might’ve ended up giving her friend one. She could only try and salvage the situation.

“It’s okay, Hermione,” she gave the girl a one-armed hug, trying to sound as soothing as she could, she continued, “And it’s not like everyone discriminates against Muggle-borns. Me and my family obviously don’t. The Bones - who are one of the more politically powerful Houses don’t discriminate. Neville’s family - the Longbottoms don’t either. And so on. The Abbotts, the Coltens, and many similarly powerful Magical families don’t.”

Hermione pulled herself out of the hug and looked at Ginny, her eyes slightly wet, “But what am I supposed to do if I don't get a job, Ginny? If I don’t make it here, there’s nothing else I can do. I never bothered continuing my Muggle education - even though Mum and Dad insisted - because I naively thought that I’d do well in Magic! That I’d have a bright future here! That I’d work hard to land the job I desired!

“Then I find out that apparently, my blood matters! Something I never had control over!” her voice grew so loud and shrill by the middle that Ginny had to cast a Muffliato to ensure they didn’t kicked out of the library.

“Now I find out that they’re willing to bend common sense just so they can keep their perceived superiority! If they’re willing to go to such lengths to keep Muggle-borns oppressed then what chance do I - a lone muggle-born - have against a heaven-damned government that is bent on suppressing people like me?!” Tears flowed down her face as she quivered in her seat.

“What chance do I have, Ginny?” her voice was now low and shaky as she asked of her friend.

Ginny was utterly dumbfounded at the outburst. Hermione had never been shown to be as concerned about her future as much as now. She was mostly an innocent, straight-laced, curious and very hard-working girl. She had her fair share of worries, but not one so heavy. Maybe she would have worries later on, but not right now!

Unbeknownst to Ginny, because there never was a Heir of Slytherin or a basilisk running around, Hermione wasn’t distracted by it and had time to research a lot of things.

Ever since that day at the Quidditch pitch where Malfoy had called her a Mudblood, she had tried to find out what it meant, which led her down a rabbit hole. She spent hours in the library, poring over books and scrolls trying to understand how bad the discrimination was and how it would affect her. Along the way, she stumbled upon various records and historical accounts that chronicled the mistreatment and discrimination faced by Muggle-born witches and wizards throughout the ages. And some of the cases chilled her to the very bones.

No matter how right the Muggle-born was, it always somehow ended to their disadvantage. Some of them were so blatantly unfair that Hermione questioned whether this was even an official Trial rather than really dark humour.

Even if cases of such vastly unfair treatment were rare and had, under the influence of Dumbledore, mostly disappeared, it didn’t mean the mentality that was the root cause of it, had. It was still there, just suppressed. And when Dumbledore was not around anymore, she was sure it would show itself in all its malefic glory.

That was why she was scared. She was scared for her future. Scared for her family. Scared for her safety.

And the worst part? She couldn’t even tell her parents about it. They still thought that their little girl had a bright future in the Magical World. Where she would live out all her dreams. They had noticed her worry, obviously, but she had casually brushed it off, giving different excuses every time.

Because she knew the moment they learnt about it, they would forbid her from ever returning to the Magical World.

But how could she?! How could she live outside the Magical World, knowing it existed? How could anyone? Here, in the Magical World, her life was so colourful. Here, she learned the Magic she so loved! Here, she made her first real friends! Here, she had a rival who was just as smart as her if not more! Here, she was happy.

Life without Magic felt so dull. So boring. Every summer she yearned to go back to Hogwarts.

“What am I supposed to do, Ginny?” her voice was barely above a whisper.

She felt her friend hug her once again, pulling her to her chest. She felt strangely calm in her warm embrace.

Ginny kept silent for a few moments before she spoke firmly, “I will take care of you,” she caressed the girl’s head, “No matter what happens, I’ll stand by you.” Ginny held the girl in her arms and caressed her head. She didn’t know the whole story but she knew that her friend felt insecure and unsafe and that she needed support. She also knew that she was at least partially responsible for this whole thing - being the only thing that could make the ‘plot’ diverge from its initial path.

There was a soothing quality to her voice that somehow reassured Hermione, making her feel safe.

They two stayed like that for a while before Ginny spoke up - when she felt her friend had calmed down a bit.

“You know, it’s not like everyone discriminates - especially academics. They couldn’t care less about your ancestry. All they care about how smart you are. And you’re the smartest person I know!” she let Hermione go from her embrace and smiled at her. “There are already many Muggle-borns who are renowned in the academic circle, you know?

“And if you do well and are renowned enough, you could come back to Hogwarts as a professor! That’d be awesome wouldn’t it?”

“Then there’s the Department of Mysteries - they only look at skill. They’re the frontier of Magical research, after all. They don’t care about whether you’re a muggle-born or half-blood or pureblood. Many, many wizards dream of becoming an Unspeakable.

“Then there are Curse-breakers. Gringotts stands head and shoulders above any other organisation in the field. And the Goblins hate all wizards equally, so you don’t have to worry about that either.

“Many of the manufacturing companies - like Nimbus - hire based on skill. Their products aren’t gonna be better if a pureblood has made it.”

She continued giving Hermione examples where blood purity did not matter. In fact, it was not difficult for a Muggle-born to make a living in the Wizarding World. As long as the ones in power weren’t threatened and the Muggle-born didn’t have particularly shitty luck, they would mostly be left alone.

Though, the moment a Muggle-born tries to gain any real political power, the conservative purebloods will stamp that out faster than one could say ‘Magic’. Even someone like Dumbledore - who wields tremendous influence - would not be able to do anything to counter it.

“And if all else fails,” Ginny patted her chest, “I can always hire you.”

“Thank you, Ginny.” Hermione sniffled a bit before she smiled at Ginny.

They spent a while more at the Library before going back to Common Room.

{“Tsk. So loud, doesn’t she know we have sensitive ears? What a crybaby-”}

‘Fuck off.’