When the Minister Calls
Chapter 9
August 17th, 1998. Granger Home - Adlington Hall
Hermione was surprised how much she enjoyed herself at the Order of Merlin ceremony. She hoped she wouldn't have to go to events like that frequently in the magical world, but at least she had a good time. With the ceremony out of the way Hermione was hopeful the last few weeks before returning to Hogwarts would be anticlimactic. That thought didn't last long. There was a large owl waiting for her just before she went downstairs to start her morning. Taking the letter from the owl, she rolled her eyes as she recognized the seal of the Minister of Magic.
Hermione,
I've also sent the following to Harry, and Ron. Two things I didn't want to bring up last night:
- We have had numerous requests for you, Harry, and Ron, to give some interviews about your defeat of Voldemort.
- The three of you will be meeting the Queen, and Prime Minister, this Thursday. Transportation will be provided.
Please give me your thoughts on the interview. I'm sure Harry, and Ron will want to get it out of the way if the three of you agree to it.
Kingsley
Sitting down with a reporter was the absolute last thing she wanted to do. Did Kingsley not understand that she had a life, and held no interest in playing celebrity in the magical world? This called for an in person conversation with the boys. She ran downstairs, grabbed something quick from the kitchen, and went to apparate to The Burrow.
Hermione landed at The Burrow and made her way inside. Thankfully she could hear that everyone was awake, so she knocked before entering.
"Good morning." She heard a chorus of good mornings back.
"Are you hungry dear?"
"No thank you Mrs. Weasley. I just needed to talk to Harry, and Ron about a letter we received from Kingsley."
She made her way over to where Harry, and Ron were seated. They both appeared to be done with their breakfast. She sat down and started bitching about Kingsley's letter.
"Did you guys see a letter from Kingsley this morning?"
Harry, and Ron nodded their heads. "We figured we would be hearing from you this morning." Harry added.
"Well Kingsley wants us to do a damn interview. Which I have no interest in doing, and I already told him that. I have no interest in becoming some magical world celebrity. Not after how I've seen the press treat you over the years. Sorry Harry." Hermione ranted.
"No need to apologize. I get it. The press hasn't exactly been friendly to you either."
"Guys, hear me out." Ron started. "Maybe we should give them one interview. Completely on our terms. That way we can control the narrative and questions." Harry, and Hermione were impressed with Ron's strategy.
"That actually sounds like a great idea. Maybe we give a live interview over the wireless, with a live audience. That way it's harder for the press to misconstrue the things we say."
"Exactly!" Ron exclaimed.
"I agree with you two." Harry added. "Let's write Kingsley, and tell him our terms."
Hermione, and Ron agreed with Harry. They pulled out some parchment, and drafted a letter to Kingsley.
Minister Shacklebolt,
We have discussed your previous letter in detail. We will give an interview upon the following, non-negotiable conditions.
- Must be a live interview, broadcast over the Wizarding Wireless.
- Must be in front of a live audience, for less than one hour.
- Must happen this week, ideally this Wednesday. We want to enjoy our last weeks before going to Hogwarts.
- We get to pick the interviewer - Luna Lovegood is our choice.
- This is the only interview we will give.
Let us know if these terms work for you.
Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Ronald Weasley
Harry threw the letter in an envelope addressed to Kingsley, and had his owl deliver the letter. The trio spent some time catching up. Hermione had gone from spending all of her time with Harry, and Ron, to only seeing them on occasion. Although it was nice to have her life back, she did miss her guys. Before long, Harrys owl returned with Kingsley's reply.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione
I will ensure all terms of your requests are met. The interview will take place on Wednesday at 6pm, with Quibbler reporter Luna Lovegood, live over the Wizarding Wireless.
Also, here is the additional information for meeting the Queen. You will meet the Queen at Balmoral Castle on Friday the 21st. We will portkey to the nearest Airport then take a car to her residence. This is a formal occasion so please dress, and behave accordingly.
Kingsley
They read Kingsley's letter, and rolled their eyes. Hermione was unsure if the boys knew what formal muggle dress meant. She was right, as that question was the next thing out of Ron's mouth.
"What does he mean to dress, and act accordingly?"
"Meeting the queen is a formal event. Men wear muggle business suits, and women wear dresses, have covered shoulders, and wear hats. As for acting appropriately, there is specific protocol for meeting the Queen. We will go over it all once we get this interview out of the way."
Harry, and Ron looked at Hermione confused. She was thankful they decided to not ask any further questions. With a plan in place for the interview, Hermione said her goodbyes to the boys and headed home.
August 19th, 1998 - Ministry of Magic
Hermione was ready to get this interview over with. She loved Luna, but hated doing press. Walking through the atrium, she could already see there were far more people present than usual for 5pm on a Wednesday. They would have quite an audience this evening. She was meeting Harry, Ron, Kingsley, and Luna in a conference room off the atrium at 5:15pm. They would be going over questions, making sure there wasn't anything off limits.
Luna's questions were fair, and kind. They would cover most topics people would be interested in, without things getting personal. Kingsley let the group know the stage was set up in the atrium. He added that audience members with questions would step up to a microphone, allowing their questions to be broadcast.
At ten of 6:00, the group made their way towards the stage. The Ministry had set up four chairs in an arc, with Microphones set up by each chair. Kingsley explained the microphones were connected to the wireless broadcast, and there was a sonorous charm on the stage that would project their voices to the in person audience. At 6pm sharp, the recording light turned on, and Kingsley made a quick introduction.
"Good Evening. Tonight we will be airing the first interview with the Golden Trio. They will be interviewed live, in the ministry atrium, by Luna Lovegood. At the conclusion of the interview they have graciously agreed to take a few audience questions."
After some light applause Luna started the interview. "Good evening. I'm Luna Lovegood, tonight I have the pleasure of interviewing Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. I'd love to start our interview with each of you introducing yourselves, and sharing a fun fact." They each introduced themselves and stuck with their fun fact bung their favorite Hogwarts Class. After that, Luna jumped right into her questions.
"Thank You for that. Now let's start simple. How did the three of you meet?"
Hermione, and the boys laughed. Hermione gave the first answer. "The simple answer is we all met in passing on the train to Hogwarts for the first time. Ron was trying to turn his pet rat yellow, and failed, so I fixed Harry's glasses to try some magic of my own. I was quite insufferable." She chuckled.
They had all agreed to be honest answering questions. Harry continued where Hermione stopped. "We didn't hit it off at first."
"Not at all." Ron added, with a laugh.
"It was the troll incident on Halloween of our First Year that really brought us all together." Harry continued.
"Troll Incident?" Luna questioned.
The trio looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders in a fuck-it type manner. Ron, who was clearly out of fucks, went ahead and shared the whole story. "So in first year, our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was possessed by Voldemort. He was trying to get to something in the school, and let in a fully grown mountain troll as a distraction."
Crickets could be heard in the atrium. Hermione continued the story. "I had overheard something rude someone said about me, so I had been hiding in the girls' lavatory crying. So I was completely unaware a troll had gotten into the school."
"When Ron, and I heard the announcement that a troll was in the building, we realized Hermione didn't know. So like the young idiots we were, we went to go find Hermione on our own. The problem was, the troll found Hermione before we did. So the three of us fought and took down a mountain troll together."
"The three of you took down a mountain troll in your first year?" Luna asked. The three of them all expressed a yes, and laughed nervously before Luna continued. "Did you also have a confrontation with Voldemort that year. "
"I did. That was the first time I defeated Voldemort. I couldn't have done it without Hermione and Ron."
"You say the first time. How many times have you faced Voldemort, Harry?"
"Nine times, if you count surviving the killing curse as a baby, and again in May."
"Are you willing to talk more about the times you defeated him?"
"As long as we can make it clear that I didn't do this alone. What do you want to know?"
"Can you give us all a brief rundown of the times you've faced Voldemort?"
Harry nodded. He gave Luna, and the crowd a rundown of all the moments he faced Voldemort. Saying it out loud sounded insane, and Harry felt like a nutter. Luna now asked Ron, and Hermione questions.
"Hermione, Ron, when Harry discussed facing Voldemort, he brought you both up a lot. Would you like to discuss your role?"
Ron jumped in first. "Luna, let's face it. Everyone knows Hermione is the brains of the operation." A laugh could be heard from the crowd. "Without her, we would've been dead our first year. l am good at planning and strategy, like in chess, but Hermione is the queen of critical thinking and problem solving."
Hermione was blushing. Harry joined the conversation. "Ron isn't wrong. Hermione keeping me alive goes far beyond interactions with Voldemort. She has always been there for me. Second year, she ended up petrified, but figured out the monster in the chamber before any teachers. She helped me save Sirius and Buckbeak."
Ron was nodding as Harry spoke. Hermione was embarrassed but didn't want to interrupt her friends. "She has helped Ron and I throughout school, let alone everything she did while we were on the run this past year."
"Harry's not kidding. She was prepared for everything. We had to leave suddenly, and she had everything we needed packed away. When we were injured she knew spells we had never heard of to heal us. She is the only reason we were able to find and destroy Voldemort's vessels. Every moment of her day she filled with research to ensure we were on the winning side. When I was a coward, and left the two of them, Hermione stayed by his side." Ron said.
"Hermione was my rock through everything. I don't think the magical world understands how much this victory comes down to Hermione. I truly believe that without Hermione this war would've had a much different outcome. Hermione, I don't know if I'll ever be able to convey how thankful I am for you, but thank you for being my sister, and always being there for me."
"Anything to add Hermione?" Luna asked.
"I just want to thank Harry, and Ron for their kind words. You guys are like family to me, and I'll always have your back. It was made clear to me during my first year at Hogwarts, that this world doesn't care much for people of my background. That got progressively more obvious each year, to the point I realized that if I didn't fight for myself, very few people would fight for me."
Hermione took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm thankful we came out on the right side of the war. I'm hopeful that the future will make the magical world a better place for all of us." Hermione squeezed Harry, and Ron's hands in thanks.
Luna spent her remaining time asking some more questions of the trio. She asked some more questions about the war, and their time on the run. She even touched on what their plans were for the future. They all laughed, and joked that any questions about the future should be saved for after Hogwarts. They were now entering the Q&A portion of the evening. This is what had Hermione the most nervous as it was unpredictable. Luna welcomed anyone with a question to line up at the microphone.
"Good evening. My question is for all three of you. What are you looking forward to most now that you're free of Voldemort?"
"I think I can answer this one for all three of us." Ron joked. "The thing we have always joked about was having a quiet year at Hogwarts. We are all hopeful that this might finally be our quiet year." Harry and Hermione nodded their heads in agreement.
"Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet. Can you tell us more about your post war romantic life?"
Kingsley went to the microphone on stage. "They won't be answering personal questions Rita." She harrumphed and walked away. "We only have time for a few more questions." Some audience members asked simple questions, and others asked more in-depth ones. The final question of the night got the trio thinking.
"How are you three recovering after everything you've seen this past year?"
Hermione started. "Taking care of your mental health after an ordeal like the war, is profoundly important for all of us. For me, the best thing I've done is spend time with my family. It's nice to not have to constantly worry about my family, but there are still things that scare me. Going back to Hogwarts is one of those things that scares me."
Harry joined the conversation. "Like Hermione, I think taking care of your mental health is important. I'm thankful for the family and friends I have, but there's a lot of loss I need to come to terms with. Recovery takes time, and that is okay. For me, seeing a mind healer has been quite helpful."
"My experience throughout all of this has been vastly different from Harry, and Hermione's. My family has been by my side throughout the entire war. So my recovery is different. The best thing for me has been remembering how to relay and have fun. I'm thankful for my family and friends who have been by my side."
This seemed like a good place to end things. The trio had fulfilled their hour, and were very forthcoming with their answers. Luna thanked everyone for their time, and questions before she stopped the broadcast, and the trio went home