. . . . . .
The night sky was dotted with stars, twinkling in long established patterns. It was easy to decipher that, living here long enough. Hermione could count, over and over, the many times she had analyzed the sequence out of sheer boredom if nothing else. And then do a sequence of that based on time of day, location she'd done it in, and so on...
A buzz filled the air, and she pushed herself against the nearby tree more fully. Bright lights shone down on her, tracing shadows from the trees onto the dark ground. She held her breath as the buzzing sound slowly faded and the lights dimmed.
Focus, she told herself. Focus...
She ran up over the hill, scrambling over rocky crags. The Hogwarts Castle loomed up over her, windows shining with inner light. Spotlights shone upwards to the blinking sky, as constructs floated overhead. She allowed herself a nostalgic look at the huge castle, before running down the hillside. A statue of a gargoyle loomed over her in the shadow of the hill, and she kneeled down. She drew her wand, and tapped out a sequence on the toes of the statue.
Five... Eight... Thirteen... Twenty-One... Five... One... One... Three... Two...! The statue stood up, and stepped aside from a panel on the stone block it rested upon. The panel slowly opened, and Hermione swung up and over the lip into the tunnel below. The panel slid shut above her, and she heard the statue resume its vigil above. She held up her wand. "Lumos!"
The tunnel came to life, lights running down the seams of the rock itself. Hermione ran through, pointing her wand to keep up the illumination so she could see where she was going. Doors flashed by her as she ran, and she mentally kept a count.
Ten… Thirteen… Here! She skidded to a halt in front of a particular door. She pressed her wand against the keyhole, and took a deep breath.
“Alohomora,†she murmured. The door clicked, and Hermione turned the knob. It opened out forth into a stone hallway, torches glowing overhead. She closed the door behind her and resumed taking deep breaths.
All right… She resumed her trek, taking care to walk normally. She pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head. A pair of students talked in the hallway nearby, a boy and a girl. The girl giggled at something the boy said, and leaned closer to him. Neither paid any mind to Hermione as she strode by slowly. She walked down the hallway, and went down a curling staircase to a lower level. She began her way to the Hallway of Hexes, cloak waving behind her slightly. She found herself holding her breath longer and longer, as she tried not to look nervous or out of place.
“Halt!â€
She froze, and slowly turned around at the harsh voice. A tall wizard in armored robes lined with yellow glowing lines stood. On either side of him were two hippogriffs, similarly colored.
“Identify yourself,†the guard ordered. Hermione gave him a charming smile, and held up her wand. She projected an image in front of him of a normal witch, smiling as her form was outlined in sparkling magical form. The guard assessed it with a trained eye.
“... You have not logged in properly,†he stated.
“I’ve been tasked with critical repair, there was no time for formal channels,†Hermione replied glibly. “You wouldn’t want to hold up critical repairs, would you?â€
The guard hesitated. His hippogriffs continued to stare at her. They then slowly went to preening their feathers, a default action for them. The guard nodded.
“Continue,†he stated. Hermione turned and resumed her trek down the hallway. She passed by a portrait that had been rendered poorly, and she slid up next to it to wait. The guard and his hippogriffs walked by, oblivious. She took a deep breath and headed down the corridor as fast as she could, finally finding the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy. She walked up and down the corridor three times, thinking one thing over and over.
I want the entry portal… I want the entry portal… I want the entry portal…
A door morphed into existence, and opened up. Hermione entered, and shut it behind her. She looked around the wide room in a bit of awe, and smiled when she saw what she wanted. A wide flat pane of glass, suspended in the middle of the room by nothing. She walked up to it, and tapped her wand against the screen. It lit up and the screen gained icons. All very low grade, all very simple.
After all, it was how the world was expressed to the outside… At least, the last time this happened.
She saw the data entry codes. She saw commands being inputted. Her eyes widened in disbelief and shock. She raised her wand and tapped into the program running. She studied the interface… And added her own new subroutine. She then raised her hands up, willed them to stop shaking… And typed.
Hello? Who is this? She typed out. There was no activity on the screen for a time. Hermione frowned. She doubled checked the lines. She didn’t do it wrongly, did she?
Then, words appeared on the screen. Who is this?
Hermione trembled, a sense of relief and elation filling her. This is Hermione… Who are you?
More silence. Then, This is Hermione Granger. Who are you?
Hermione’s jaw dropped. She worked it, swallowing suddenly. She typed furiously.
Then you must be… The Creator, correct? She asked. You made me… In your image.Please… Tell me more. There’s so much I want to know.
Silence. Then… Where would you like to start?
And Hermione Granger, Program 00001 of the Hogwarts Simulation, smiled.
- - - - - -
Keep in mind, I know about as much about computer programming as the guys who made the actual Tron movies-That is, not much. So a lot of this is going to look kind of silly. But on the plus side, I have magic on my side to explain away truly heinous plotholes in a story where Hermione Granger created a computer sim of her school and classmates.
The title, Trutina, is actually the Latin word for "Balance" and led to the word "trone", a kind of balancing device. Trone thus helped contribute to the word "Tron" from which we get electronic and so on. And the term "Balance" is going to be important to the story further on. As usual for my projects, it is acceptable to submit ideas and snippets that can be incorporated into the story. After all, a writing community should be a writing community, right?
But the premise is simple: Hermione started a little computer sim of Hogwarts in Year 3 during her time looping. She went a bit batty and being a genius and Muggleborn, she decided to experiment a bit with writing a computer game based on her school and classmates. Think of it a bit like Minecraft (I'm bumping the timeline up to the 2000s as in most of my other fics). She forgot about it at the end of Year 3 due to stress from the time travel and the werewolf stuff, and it has lain in Hogwarts ever since.
... And one day, Hermione finds it. And logs in. And that's where our story begins.
The night sky was dotted with stars, twinkling in long established patterns. It was easy to decipher that, living here long enough. Hermione could count, over and over, the many times she had analyzed the sequence out of sheer boredom if nothing else. And then do a sequence of that based on time of day, location she'd done it in, and so on...
A buzz filled the air, and she pushed herself against the nearby tree more fully. Bright lights shone down on her, tracing shadows from the trees onto the dark ground. She held her breath as the buzzing sound slowly faded and the lights dimmed.
Focus, she told herself. Focus...
She ran up over the hill, scrambling over rocky crags. The Hogwarts Castle loomed up over her, windows shining with inner light. Spotlights shone upwards to the blinking sky, as constructs floated overhead. She allowed herself a nostalgic look at the huge castle, before running down the hillside. A statue of a gargoyle loomed over her in the shadow of the hill, and she kneeled down. She drew her wand, and tapped out a sequence on the toes of the statue.
Five... Eight... Thirteen... Twenty-One... Five... One... One... Three... Two...! The statue stood up, and stepped aside from a panel on the stone block it rested upon. The panel slowly opened, and Hermione swung up and over the lip into the tunnel below. The panel slid shut above her, and she heard the statue resume its vigil above. She held up her wand. "Lumos!"
The tunnel came to life, lights running down the seams of the rock itself. Hermione ran through, pointing her wand to keep up the illumination so she could see where she was going. Doors flashed by her as she ran, and she mentally kept a count.
Ten… Thirteen… Here! She skidded to a halt in front of a particular door. She pressed her wand against the keyhole, and took a deep breath.
“Alohomora,†she murmured. The door clicked, and Hermione turned the knob. It opened out forth into a stone hallway, torches glowing overhead. She closed the door behind her and resumed taking deep breaths.
All right… She resumed her trek, taking care to walk normally. She pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head. A pair of students talked in the hallway nearby, a boy and a girl. The girl giggled at something the boy said, and leaned closer to him. Neither paid any mind to Hermione as she strode by slowly. She walked down the hallway, and went down a curling staircase to a lower level. She began her way to the Hallway of Hexes, cloak waving behind her slightly. She found herself holding her breath longer and longer, as she tried not to look nervous or out of place.
“Halt!â€
She froze, and slowly turned around at the harsh voice. A tall wizard in armored robes lined with yellow glowing lines stood. On either side of him were two hippogriffs, similarly colored.
“Identify yourself,†the guard ordered. Hermione gave him a charming smile, and held up her wand. She projected an image in front of him of a normal witch, smiling as her form was outlined in sparkling magical form. The guard assessed it with a trained eye.
“... You have not logged in properly,†he stated.
“I’ve been tasked with critical repair, there was no time for formal channels,†Hermione replied glibly. “You wouldn’t want to hold up critical repairs, would you?â€
The guard hesitated. His hippogriffs continued to stare at her. They then slowly went to preening their feathers, a default action for them. The guard nodded.
“Continue,†he stated. Hermione turned and resumed her trek down the hallway. She passed by a portrait that had been rendered poorly, and she slid up next to it to wait. The guard and his hippogriffs walked by, oblivious. She took a deep breath and headed down the corridor as fast as she could, finally finding the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy. She walked up and down the corridor three times, thinking one thing over and over.
I want the entry portal… I want the entry portal… I want the entry portal…
A door morphed into existence, and opened up. Hermione entered, and shut it behind her. She looked around the wide room in a bit of awe, and smiled when she saw what she wanted. A wide flat pane of glass, suspended in the middle of the room by nothing. She walked up to it, and tapped her wand against the screen. It lit up and the screen gained icons. All very low grade, all very simple.
After all, it was how the world was expressed to the outside… At least, the last time this happened.
She saw the data entry codes. She saw commands being inputted. Her eyes widened in disbelief and shock. She raised her wand and tapped into the program running. She studied the interface… And added her own new subroutine. She then raised her hands up, willed them to stop shaking… And typed.
Hello? Who is this? She typed out. There was no activity on the screen for a time. Hermione frowned. She doubled checked the lines. She didn’t do it wrongly, did she?
Then, words appeared on the screen. Who is this?
Hermione trembled, a sense of relief and elation filling her. This is Hermione… Who are you?
More silence. Then, This is Hermione Granger. Who are you?
Hermione’s jaw dropped. She worked it, swallowing suddenly. She typed furiously.
Then you must be… The Creator, correct? She asked. You made me… In your image.Please… Tell me more. There’s so much I want to know.
Silence. Then… Where would you like to start?
And Hermione Granger, Program 00001 of the Hogwarts Simulation, smiled.
- - - - - -
Keep in mind, I know about as much about computer programming as the guys who made the actual Tron movies-That is, not much. So a lot of this is going to look kind of silly. But on the plus side, I have magic on my side to explain away truly heinous plotholes in a story where Hermione Granger created a computer sim of her school and classmates.
The title, Trutina, is actually the Latin word for "Balance" and led to the word "trone", a kind of balancing device. Trone thus helped contribute to the word "Tron" from which we get electronic and so on. And the term "Balance" is going to be important to the story further on. As usual for my projects, it is acceptable to submit ideas and snippets that can be incorporated into the story. After all, a writing community should be a writing community, right?
But the premise is simple: Hermione started a little computer sim of Hogwarts in Year 3 during her time looping. She went a bit batty and being a genius and Muggleborn, she decided to experiment a bit with writing a computer game based on her school and classmates. Think of it a bit like Minecraft (I'm bumping the timeline up to the 2000s as in most of my other fics). She forgot about it at the end of Year 3 due to stress from the time travel and the werewolf stuff, and it has lain in Hogwarts ever since.
... And one day, Hermione finds it. And logs in. And that's where our story begins.