At this the Coven cheered. Mortals were useless. They had no power, and, Hermione thought snidely, they lived such  short lives. Hermione’s own mother had roamed the Earth for four hundred years before she had given birth to Hermione. Mortals were weaker than bugs. They couldn’t even bind a demon to themselves as a pet. Hermione had done that to Crookshanks without help when she was only five!