The Last Three Months
Chapter 1
There was an expectation within the magical world that muggle borns would give up their muggle lives, in favor of magical ones. What those with magical heritage didn't realize was that most muggleborns fully returned to the muggle world after their Hogwarts graduation. Right now, after everything she had seen, Hermione felt like she would do the same.
You see, no one knew of her life outside of Hogwarts. They hardly knew her family, and knew nothing of where, or how she grew up, it was as though once they learned she was muggle born they didn't care anymore. They didn't know of her love of animals, travel, or how much she loved her horses. They didn't understand how she was so much more than the muggle born daughter of two dentists, and she was over it.
This made it easy for her to lie to her friends, and the Order about what she had done to keep her parents safe. Those in the know were under the impression she had wiped her parents' memories, and sent them to Australia. In fact her parents had never left home. They just went on an extended trip to Africa with their favorite charity organization.
What the Order didn't know wouldn't hurt them. It's not like they cared anyway. They made that clear when she asked for help protecting her parents. Dumbledore told her it wasn't a priority before 6th year started, leading Hermione to come up with her own plan, and that she did.
The war was over…
The war was over, and Hermione Granger still felt like an outsider in the magical world. She had been by Harry's side, being the brains of the operation, and saving his ass since first year. But no matter what she did, or how much she gave of herself to the magical world, she still felt like an outsider.
Now, she wasn't looking for praise, or recognition. All she wanted was for the people she was close to, to care about her life. Not just her contributions to the magical world. She felt like a fixture in their lives, rather than a part of it. She felt like the friend that could be easily tossed aside, and forgotten about until needed.
See, in all her time in the magical world, her friends never tried to get to know her, outside of what they saw of her at Hogwarts. She was Hermione the bossy bookworm, who preferred books to people, and was the only person who could keep Harry, and Ron in line.
Since the war ended, she thought things would be different. She was wrong. Her time was spent between Hogwarts, helping to rebuild, and the Burrow. But still no one cared about her beyond her magical abilities, and What she could do for them. That's why she had no intention of returning to Hogwarts to redo her 7th year. She was ready to return to her muggle life.
Thinking over the war, and everyone they had lost or almost lost angered Hermione. How could the adults in the magical world let it get to the point where, A. Teenagers were responsible for bringing down the worst terrorist since WWII, and B. A major battle was fought at a school, with children present, and some even paying the ultimate price. This line of thought caused her to relive her memories of everything that happened in the immediate aftermath of The Battle at Hogwarts.
The first, and probably smartest, thing that happened that day was that Kingsley had the forethought to place an anti-apparation ward across the Hogwarts grounds the moment all underage students had been evacuated. He managed to periodically reinforce this ward during the Battle.
He ensured people could apparate in, but no one could go out regardless of which side they fought on. This allowed for all of Voldemort's death eaters, followers, and sympathizers to be detained immediately, and for statements to be taken from all survivors before permission was granted to leave.
Madame Pomfrey and Healers from St. Mungo's began triaging people on site. Kingsley allowed Madame Pomfrey through the wards he set, to ensure those who were gravely injured could be transported to St. Mungo's for treatment. This action alone saved the lives of Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Colin Creevey and 11 others who were not well known among Order members.
AlI of the Voldemort sympathizers were told to lay down their wands. The "light" fighters were told to stupefy anyone who refused. While they started rounding up followers, Kingsley sent a Patronus message to every trustworthy Auror, Hit Wizard, Unspeakable and Department Head asking for help with the situation at Hogwarts.
Kingsley had established a path forward that took months to establish following the end of the first war. With the help he was able to bring in, and the fact no Voldemort supporters were allowed to leave, they had more people caught red handed than they were able to bring up on trial at the end of the last wizarding war.
The Aurors and Hit Wizards prioritized securing those who sided with Voldemort into three groups. Those with the Dark Mark who immediately surrendered, those with the dark mark who continued to fight and the unmarked who needed to be thoroughly interrogated. Once they were secured, the hit wizards started transferring the prisoners to the Ministry. The Aurors stayed behind to take statements from everyone remaining.
Kingsley's last effort the day of the battle was to release a statement to the Quibbler and the Daily Prophet about the events at The Battle of Hogwarts including a memory photo of Harry killing Voldemort. In the days that followed, help began pouring in from all member nations of the lCW. Kingsley requested help vetting all ministry of magic employees. With the help of the ICW, who elected Kingsley as the interim British minister of magic, they were able to clear out any marked ministry workers with loyalties to Voldemort.
The ICW was pivotal in assisting with standing up the new Ministry of Magic. They were able to interview and assign new department heads who were proper for the role because of their merit, not their blood status. They also assisted with hiring throughout the ministry and maintained the same determination to hire based upon merit, rather than blood status.
Within the days following the end of the war the Wizarding World was truly changing. There were now muggleborns and “blood traitors” in positions of authority within the Ministry of Magic and hired into multiple departments throughout the Ministry. This gave Hermione hope, but also left her wondering if the changes would last.
Hermione remembered the weeks and weeks of trials, where she, Harry, and Ron were expected to testify against many of the death eaters they had fought. The trio had been bouncing between the rebuilding efforts at Hogwarts, trials at the ministry and the Burrow. She was thankful the ministry, and ICW, set up a court of international and local representatives that would vote on the fate of each of the accused.
The ICW had determined individuals captured on the grounds of Hogwarts would be questioned at trial using Veritaserum and a set of standard questions. This saved a lot of time, and minimized the number of people required to testif, allowing for trials, and sentencing to be expedited.
The surprises came from the Death Eaters wives and their children. Although most were expected to be on Voldemort's side it was quickly learned there was a pattern of threats, Imperius Curses, and abuse with nearly all the wives and children.
This led to a special session of the interim Wizenagemot where they decided the best path forward in these special circumstances. The Wizenagenot understood they couldn't punish everyone, but they were also aware of the need to help people change their way of thinking. This is what led to the headline in today's paper.
Hermione was pulled out of her memories when she heard an owl pecking on the kitchen window at The Burrow. She called out "Prophets Here!" before she looked at her own copy and noticed the headline. Apparently the Wizenagemot had finally figured out how they would be changing the young generations way of thinking.
DAILY PROPHET
1 AUGUST 1998
“MINISTRY OF MAGIC ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO CURRICULUM AT HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY”
Today the Daily Prophet will be publishing a letter from the Minister of Magic, in lieu of its standard material:
From the desk of the Interim Minister of Magic: Kingsley Shackelbolt
Wizarding Britain, these last few months have been turbulent and scary for all of us. Many of us have experienced fear and loss that we should never have to bear and now we are asked to move forward with life. I am not here to ask you to move forward as though nothing happened. I am here hoping to guide us into a brighter future where the mistakes of the past cannot come back to haunt us for a third time. I have been assured by the Unspeakables that Voldemort is dead with no chance of returning. This is a question that went unasked during the first Wizarding War.
Now we are plagued with an even harder question we must ask as a community. How do we move forward? This is not something we can answer in a published letter, but what I can do is share with you the outline for what I think will help all move forward. First, we have started placing those captured fighting for Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts on trial. We are ensuring each trial is handled fairly, and without prejudice, thanks to the help of our friends at the ICW. This process has not only helped us take criminals off the street, but also helped us learn their motivations so we can work to ensure something like this will never happen again.
Based on the motivations behind the heinous crimes we have seen committed in the last year, and discussions with our friends at the ICW, the Ministry of Magic will be taking a new approach to how we educate young Witches and Wizards from all backgrounds. We will be announcing the phases of our program over time, but have chosen to start by announcing the one that will affect the most individuals at this current time.
All individuals who were enrolled, or should have been enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on 1 September 1997 are hereby mandated to repeat the year of schooling they would have started on 1 September 1997. All educational credits, attained at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the aforementioned year are hereby expunged from each student's educational record. This policy is universal, and without exception as new educational requirements shall also be mandated and required for graduation.
Additional Changes:
-History of Magic and Magical Culture is now a required course for all seven years of education. (An abridged version will be offered for all non first years.)
-Study of the Non - Magical World will replace Muggle Studies, and is now a required course for all seven years of education.
-Divination will no longer be an elective course. All students will be screened to determine if they have the gift of foresight. Those with the gift will receive private tutoring.
-Arithmancy Mathematics Basics is now a required course for the first and second year of education, as mathematics is necessary in all aspects of magic.
-There will be multiple Professors for each course, to allow Professors to better educate their students.
-The Wizarding Examination Authority (WEA) is currently evaluating the curriculum for each course to ensure students are getting an education that is up to date with the field of each subject.
Signed
Kingsley Shacklebolt
Interim Minister of Magic
Well fuck. Hermione thought. This certainly changed her plans for the next year, and she was not happy.