The Library was cast in warm hues of orange and gold as the sun set, leaving a gentle glow over its wooden shelves. In a quiet corner, Hermione sat hunched over a desk, surrounded by books and parchments, scratching down notes while muttering to herself. With immediate threats temporarily out of the way, she had allowed herself to dive into a new project: warding.

  Hermione's thoughts drifted back to a conversation with Daphne about warding's natural limits. Daphne had said that wards struggled in the water, likely due to interference between magical and natural energies. This was why creatures like grindylows could inhabit the Bck Lake despite Hogwarts' protections. The insight pnted a seed in Hermione's mind about warding on frequencies, a concept she was all too familiar with from her past life.

  Thinking about magic in terms of the ws of thermodynamics, Hermione realized that Hogwarts' wards might function on specific magical frequencies. Much like Muggle electronics, they probably competed for "bandwidth," causing magical interference in water and underground. Just as interference in her past life had required new solutions, Hermione now aimed to design protections for herself and her home with innovative warding approaches; she was penning ideas in her bound book.

  Designing the Detection ArraysInstead of setting up a solid, power-draining shield, Hermione decided to focus on detection arrays. These arrays wouldn't act as a barrier but would monitor for any disturbances and activate defences only when necessary. This approach would make her protections more energy-efficient and complicated for an intruder to detect.

  She would use two primary arrays:

  The Aetheric Array: Operating like a magical radar, this array would detect disturbances above her home, catching any magical approach from the sky. Its sensitivity to magical fluctuations would be particurly valuable for high-level airborne threats.The Terran Array: This array would detect any movement below ground, using vibrations and magical pulses to monitor the earth. Simir to ground-penetrating radar, it would sense any attempts to tunnel toward her home or enter through underground passages. Building a Resilient Ward Stone ClusterSince relying on a single point of failure was risky, Hermione pnned to install a cluster of wardstones around her home. Each stone would host part of the detection arrays, forming a network that could triangute any disturbance. If one wardstone were tampered with, the others would detect the gap, using the information to pinpoint the threat's location. This cluster setup would protect her home more effectively and ensure that one disabled wardstone wouldn't compromise her defences.

  The wardstones would support each other, each taking on a part of the magical workload. This distributed network of protections would help maintain coverage even if part of the array was compromised.

  Safeguarding Against Magical Interference: The Virus-Checker StonesThere was one vulnerability Hermione couldn't ignore: if someone tried to spread interference through her arrays, they could potentially corrupt or disable her entire ward network. To counter this, she devised virus-checker stones.

  Interference Detection: These virus-checker stones monitor the network for any attempts to corrupt or interfere with the warding. If one of her ward stones begins behaving irregurly, the virus-checker detects it and triggers an immediate lockdown, giving her a chance to respond.Reboot and Recovery: If a ward stone were disabled by interference, the virus-checkers could reboot it, pushing energy through the network to bring it back online. The virus-checker stones could even redistribute energy across the array, keeping the system functional under attack.Containment Protocols: To prevent a breach from spreading, the virus-checker stones would isote any compromised section, holding the disruption in pce. This containment feature would ensure that even if one part of her protection was under attack, the rest of the defences would remain intact.Satisfied with her pns, Hermione turned to a fresh sheet of parchment. She wanted advice on refining her theories and knew exactly who to ask.

  Dear Madam Fmel,

  I hope this letter finds you well. I've been developing a new system of protections for myself and my home, focusing on a detection-based approach rather than a constant barrier. Here's a summary of my approach:

  Dual Detection Arrays:Aetheric Array: To sense threats approaching from the sky by detecting disturbances in magical energy above.Terran Array: To detect underground threats by monitoring vibrations and magical pulses beneath the ground.Ward Stone Cluster:Instead of relying on one wardstone, I pn to use a cluster around my home. Each stone would contribute to a network, allowing the array to pinpoint threats by trianguting disturbances.Virus-Checker Stones:To guard against magical interference, I've designed these stones to monitor and isote any part of the array that shows signs of corruption. They can also reboot deactivated stones to maintain overall system functionality.Do you have any advice on refining this design further, especially with coordinating the detection arrays or stabilizing the network against high levels of interference?

  Thank you, as always, for your invaluable insights.

  Warm regards,

  Hermione Granger

  Sealing the letter, Hermione leaned back, pleased with the result. It was a complex system, but she felt confident it would provide her with a new level of security. With Madam Fmel's feedback, she knew she could turn these pns into a resilient protection for her and her home.

  As she made her way down from the owlery, someone shouted her name, bringing her out of her musings.

  "Hermione!" Harry's voice echoed in the circur tower. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

  She turned, raising an eyebrow. "Good morning to you too, Harry. What's got you in such a state?"

  Harry caught his breath, leaning against the stone wall. "It's about Luna Lovegood. Ginny's friend from Ravencw. She's being bullied, and I thought... well, I thought you might be able to help."

  Hermione's eyes narrowed slightly. "Bullying? What kind of bullying?"

  "They call her 'Loony,' hide her things, they locked her out of the tower with only her underwear", Harry expined, his voice tinged with anger. "Ginny's worried sick about her, but she can't do much since she's not in Ravencw."

  A calcuted look crossed Hermione's face. "I see. Well, we can't have that, can we?" She paused, considering her options. "I assume Luna doesn't want you to help? Well, she never said I couldn't. Very Slytherin of you, Harry." She smirked, then turned and walked away, a pn already forming.

  Over the next few days, Hermione observed Luna's tormentors with careful precision. She noted their routines, their preferred corridors, and, most importantly, the secluded pces they frequented to ensure they could taunt Luna unbothered. The ringleaders were a group of fourth-year Ravencws who found perverse pleasure in tormenting their eccentric cssmate, a cruelty Hermione couldn't, and wouldn't, let stand.

  Her surveilnce revealed that they had turned a disused cssroom into their own hideaway, a private clubroom where they could pn their "fun" without interruption. Hermione filed this away with satisfaction; their isotion would make it all the easier to ensure they received a taste of their own medicine.

  Her pn crystallized when she recalled an interesting tidbit from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Boggarts were harmless; their transformations merely meant to scare away predators. A Boggart would never cause real harm—unless fear itself counted.

  Under the cover of night, Hermione tracked down a Boggart and coaxed it into a wardrobe. With a bit of effort, she levitated the wardrobe into the abandoned cssroom, double-checking her spellwork to ensure the Boggart couldn't escape prematurely.

  The following afternoon, she waited patiently in a nearby corridor, hidden under a Disillusionment Charm. The Ravencws arrived, as usual, ughing and unaware. As they entered the room, they barely had a moment to notice the wardrobe before it burst open, releasing the Boggart. Hermione watched as the Boggart transformed, twisting into each girl's worst fear in rapid succession, a shifting, terrible kaleidoscope of horrors.

  Panic erupted. The girls screamed, cwing at the door, which was sealed tight with Hermione's non-verbal Colloportus. The muffled cries only added to their helplessness as they struggled to escape their own nightmares. Hermione held the charm steady, waiting just long enough to make sure the experience would linger in their minds before releasing the door with a flick of her wand.

  As they stumbled out, dishevelled and pale, Hermione watched them go with a steely satisfaction. She slipped quietly away, knowing that, for now at least, Luna would be free from their taunts.

  That evening, Hermione prepared her final warning. She needed to stay unseen and untraceable, so she borrowed Harry's invisibility cloak. After catching him in the Library, she convinced him to lend it with a few well-chosen words and a determined look. Harry didn't ask questions, though he smiled knowingly as she took the cloak.

  Under the cloak's cover, Hermione slipped silently through the castle halls toward the Ravencw tower. Her footsteps were soft on the stone floors as she approached the girls' dormitory, the weight of the cloak settling around her like a shadow. She had prepared several notes, each written in neat, anonymous handwriting:

  If you ever bully someone again, I'll find you. You're not safe anywhere.

  Carefully, she slid each note under the girls' doors. Satisfied, she made her way back to the Library, returning the cloak to Harry with a quiet "thank you."

  The following day, Hermione kept an eye out for her targets, curious to see the effect of her warning. The Ravencw girls arrived at breakfast visibly shaken, eyes darting around the hall. They huddled close, casting wary gnces over their shoulders and whispering nervously. Most importantly, they kept a careful distance from Luna, avoiding her gaze entirely.

  Hermione allowed herself a small, triumphant smile. She'd ensured that the Ravencws would think twice before tormenting anyone again. And no one, not even Luna, needed to know who had intervened.