Chapter 2
Kingsley Shackbolt had become The Minister of Magic, a role that suited him. He was fair, reasonable, always willing to listen to both sides of the argument before making any decisions.
But because of the wizarding war, because of the damage done, even ten years later he was always so busy it was hard to get a moment alone with him.
Hermione hadn’t let that dissuade her and she had stopped by at least once a day, requesting a few minutes of his time, letting his secretary know she had something important to discuss with him.
She didn’t enjoy being a war hero, didn’t enjoy being recognized so quickly anywhere she went, but for the first time she was using it to her advantage.
Most of the time the wait list to de Shackbolt was months long. She had only had to wait two weeks before being ushered into his office, told to sit in a chair, and left alone to await his arrival.
She could only imagine the wards and spells placed on everything in this room. What would need to be protected so that no one could snoop through confidential information as they waited for the minister to arrive in the room.
When she had been younger, she had had the desire to snoop, the desire to see what other people were doing. Partially because she couldn't always understand what people were thinking and feeling and partially because having that knowledge meant she, harry, and Ron were more likely to survive another day. there was no desire to snoop now, merely vibrating excitement inside of her as she waited for Shackbolt, hoping he would be as interested in her idea as she was.
“The Golden Girl! brightest witch of her age!” She fought to not roll her eyes as she put a smile on her face to greet Shackbolt as he came into the room. so often people chose to not address her by her name, but instead by her accomplishments. it felt like they were stripping away the person she was to replace it with the idea of who they wanted her to be.
“Minister, it is good to see you.” that at least was true, it was good to see him. the few times she had seen him since the war had ended, they had often been on separate ends of an argument.
“I was told this meeting was urgent, that you had something you wanted to present to me that could change the wizarding world?” he asked as he walked to his desk and sat down. “as you have already changed the wizarding world more than once, of course I had to know what that was, and how I could help.”
Hermione couldn't stop the flush of pride, of pleasure that came to her cheeks as she thought about what she was about to show him. her hands trembled, actually trembled with joy, as she reached into her bag and pulled out her e-reader.
“this is something the muggles have recently invented.” she handed it over to him, trying not to deflate at the way she could tell Shackbolt had already written off what it was she had to say.
“it looks like a piece of plastic Ms. Granger.”
“and a wand merely looks like a piece of wood.” she couldn't stop herself from the sharp jap. “and yet what is inside the wand, makes it magical does it not?” Shackbolt put her e reader down on his desk, and she leaned forward, taking it so that it wouldn't be left behind, or worse, so that he couldn't take it from her.
“in this small piece of plastic, there are hundreds of books. it can hold over a thousand books total. right here, in my hands.” she tried to pretend the raised brow he offered her was interest, and not him trying to hurry her along.
“and what is your point Ms. Granger.”
“the muggles have come up with some incredibly creative things ways to contact each other, ways to store information, that we currently don't have access too.” now she couldn't stop herself from standing, from pacing around the room, her excitement too grand to sit still. “if we used only a fraction of that information, we could make the knowledge that is typically held by one person, or a private library, readily available to everyone.” she turned back towards Shackbolt, eyes lit up, body practically vibrating with excitement. “I would like to work on getting our books, or journals, our scrolls, all digitized for easy access.”
She could feel the smile lighting her face, knew she had presented just enough information to intrigue him, couldn't wait to hear what he had to say about her proposed project, to see if his excitement matched her own.
Shackbolt sighed. it was a sound filled with regret, and not happiness.
“I had hoped, Ms. Granger, that when you requested to meet me and told me it was urgent that you had finally considered my offer to become an auror.” he clasped his hands and laid them on his desk. “I see that is not the case.”
“my talents would be wasted as an auror. I don't want to police people, to be in control.” it was the same argument they had had time and time again. the same argument she had with run and harry, who both brought it up every single time they saw her. both of them were aurors, content, happy with the lives that had been carved for them.
She wondered if they realized that every time she thought about it all she could see were the faces of those that had died to Voldemort.
“I appreciate you bringing this information to me Ms. Granger, but unfortunately this is not something I can help you with.” he picked up a pen, started writing something down. “thank you for stopping by to say hello.” he didn't even bother to raise his head as he dismissed her.
As she put her e-reader back into her bag and walked out of his office, she struggled to contain the emotions she was feeling. the disappointment, the anger, the resentment. if she wasn’t exactly what they wanted, they didn't want her. if she wasn't getting top grades and using her talents for their benefits, they didn't want her.
As if her only purpose, her only reason to exist, was to serve their purposes. to help The Chosen One fulfil his prophecy. She was so sick, so angry, so frustrated, with everyone else’s expectations. if Shackbolt wasn't going to help her, if he was going to dismiss her idea so casually, then she would find another way to do it, another way to fulfill this new dream burning inside of her.
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The minute she had gotten home from her meeting with the minister, she had sat down and penned a letter and request to McGonagall. They had kept in touch often throughout the years, and her favorite professor had asked more than once when she would be returning to Hogwarts. There was an open invitation for all students, no matter what side of the war they had been on, to return to the castle and complete their final year of education. Everyone had thought she would be one of the first to take them up on that offer, eager to finish and take her N.E.W.T.S.. But the thought of going back to school, of sitting in a class and pretending muggle studies was important made her want to cry.
Now she had a reason to go back, not as a teacher, not as a student, but someone to work in the library. The place that had always brought her peace, helped her find happiness. She had known the position was open, a boring position not many wizards wanted. McGonagall had been holding the position for her, just in case she wanted it. Initially she hadn't, no desire to go back to the school, no desire to try to relive her school days. The minute Shackbolt had said no, she had written to McGonagall accepting the offer, asking when she could arrive, and what she would need.
As she wasn't going to be a teacher, she didn't need to arrive to prep lessons, or prepare a school room with ingredients as others did. but she could arrive any time in July to get settled into her quarters and make herself comfortable on the grounds. She would be paid on the first of every month, and all of her meals would be part of the package of her working there.
The dreams she had kept secret of the cherry tart pudding that the house elves at Hogwarts had made started popping up in her mind again. she had loved the dessert while she was there, would eat it slowly to savor it, and she was looking forward to having it again when she returned.
As she would be spending most of her time in the library, she would have plenty of time to work on her secondary goal of being there, digitizing everything. She could get her hands on. it was June 18th, only a few more days until July 1st, and she was determined and prepared to be at Hogwarts castle on the first day she could. which meant she had things she had to prep now.
First was seeking out her landlord, letting them know she would be traveling for work soon, and could she pay them the money up front for the next few months of rent. They had been bewildered, but agreed readily, accepting the money with an updated contract that Hermoine had provided. Once that had been taken care of, she went to a muggle electronics store, looking to get a portable computer.
There was no internet at Hogwarts, no way to browse online, but she didn't really need too. What she needed was something to store the documents she was transcribing so she could turn them into files ready for her e-reader. Thanks to some magic she had been working on, she was almost able to duplicate her e-reader entirely so that she would have as many as she needed or wanted. the muggles in the store had looked bewildered as she listed off her requirements. a large amount of storage, a long battery life, a way to write documents in many different formats. They even laughed and said most people came in looking for computers with lots of ram and memory so they could process games. She had laughed with them, but couldn't stop the thoughts that they were making fun of her.
Once she had the computer, the laptop as they called it, she took it home and started getting it set up. with magic, she put password protections on it, wards so no one could break in. once she was certain of its security, she walked to her own bookshelf and pulled down Hogwarts A History, one of her favorite books, one of the first books she had ever read about the new world she was being thrust into. It seemed only fitting that this be the first book she transcribed and digitized.
Given what she had been looking for at the muggle electronic shop, they had included, for free, a program to teach her how to type. she had said thank you, and stuffed it in her bag, already forgetting about it in the grand scheme of her goals. After four hours of trying to transcribe Hogwarts A History, and only getting a few pages in, she groaned and reached for the disk, hoping it made sense.
She hunted and pecked for keys, not entirely sure where they were. Just when she thought she had it memorized, instead of hitting the letter “E” she would hit the letter “w” and have to back up and try again.
While she wanted to learn to type, wanted her fingers to be able to fly over the keyboard to write down any and all thoughts she had, Hogwarts A History was 1000 pages. Even if she managed to type one page every thirty minutes, it would take her 500 hours (about 3 weeks) to finish just this one book. It was too long, and it wouldn't help her reach her goal.
Which made her thankful she was going back to Hogwarts as a librarian, because it meant she could research and create her own spells to help her meet her end goal.
Now she just had to pack, prepare, and wait for another 13 days so she could go home.