Harry Potter and The Other

Hermione rented a room at the Leaky Cauldron and cried there all night. By morning, she managed to convince herself that a terrible misunderstanding had occurred, that soon everything would become clear, and Ron would surely come to apologize. At first, she didn't want to forgive him, but eventually, she decided she would, though she planned to make him grovel and make it clear he was completely in the wrong.

But for now, she needed a place to live and some means of support. In previous years, Hermione had been well provided for by her parents, but now, a year after taking money from them, her funds were nearly gone. Her family home and accounts were sealed by the police, and she didn't know how to live among Muggles, nor whom she could send Obliviators after to release her family's assets from police control. This would have to wait until she understood how Muggle society worked, but she needed money now. So, she had to find a job urgently.

Hermione had started working at the Ministry a month ago. As a top student and war heroine, she could choose almost any position, but they didn't let her head the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures. They apologized profusely, saying she lacked work experience, and specially created a deputy department head position for her. Before starting work, they allowed her to settle personal matters by giving her unpaid leave for an indefinite period.

Mental tasks had always distracted her from life's problems. It had been the same with her studies, and now Hermione hoped work would do the same, so she arrived at the Ministry half an hour before the start of the workday. Her desk was spotless, and she waited eagerly for her superiors. Mrs. Fawcett, a thin, elderly, pure-blooded, and seemingly prim and pedantic woman, ran the department. When Hermione saw her, she approached and received a folder containing the department's subdivisions for review.

It didn't take her long to review – about five minutes. One minute to read the list of subdivisions, and four to grasp what was written. Once she understood, Hermione was horrified by how much injustice had been trampled on a measly half-page. Her brows knit resolutely, and she went straight to her boss.

"I need clarification immediately!" she demanded, ignoring Mrs. Fawcett's words that she was busy.

"What's the matter, Miss Granger?" sighed the boss, refraining from calling the privileged employee to workplace discipline.

"Why are centaurs classified under the Beasts division instead of the Beings division?" Hermione asked indignantly.

"Because, according to the current definition from 1811, a magical being is any creature intelligent enough to understand the laws of the wizarding world and take responsibility for following them. Centaurs don't want to understand the wizarding laws and don't wish to take responsibility for following them, so they are classified as Beasts."

"But they're sentient beings!"

"If you, Miss Granger, can persuade centaurs to follow our laws, we'll transfer them to the Beings division."

With a Muggle ballpoint pen in a Muggle notebook, brought for this purpose, Hermione noted down the first injustice she planned to address.

"Is that all, Miss Granger?" asked the boss.

"Oh, no, I'm just getting started! Why are werewolves in the Beasts division too?"

"For the same reason as centaurs. They refuse to acknowledge our laws and follow them."

"But by your laws..."

"By 'our' laws," Mrs. Fawcett interrupted.

"Right, by our laws. They're discriminatory, which is why they refuse to follow them."

"Lycantropy, Miss Granger, is an extremely dangerous, incurable disease. Muggles, for instance, also isolate those with leprosy."

"But if werewolves are ill, then society is obliged to take care of them. They're not to blame for their illness!"

"There is a werewolf support division in the Beings section, you may familiarize yourself with its work. It was introduced recently, during Voldemort's rule."

"Yes, I see..." Hermione delved into the list. "Wait – during Voldemort's rule?"

"He promised them help in exchange for their support during the war. I was notified recently that the Wizengamot will soon consider repealing previous government changes, including this one."

"But that's unacceptable! Werewolves need rehabilitation programs; there needs to be oversight to protect their employment rights! Moreover, the government must ensure they have sufficient amounts of Wolfsbane Potion."

"Miss Granger, Wolfsbane Potion contains rare and costly ingredients, it's difficult to make and lasts no more than twelve hours. The government can't afford to provide it to all werewolves."

"They need to make it work," Hermione wrote down another point in her notebook. "And why are house-elves not mentioned at all?"

"They're not a magical community, Miss Granger. A house-elf belongs to the family it serves."

"What do you mean, they're not a community?! They're intelligent beings! It's slavery, forced labor! All house-elves should be freed immediately and given the right to freely seek employment – with pay, time off, holidays, and work regulations – and we must make sure they're paid well."

"Miss Granger, house-elves don't need money."

"How can they not need money? Everyone needs money."

"They're magical beings who draw everything from magic. Their work, which you call forced labor, is more of a pastime for them."

"That's impossible," Hermione insisted, as if she couldn't be torn away from her textbooks. "House-elves must rest."

"House-elves don't tire, because they use borrowed magic for household spells. They don't do anything by hand, and with magic, they finish their tasks quickly and then spend the day idle."

Hermione gave her boss a suspicious look.

"Mrs. Fawcett, you're saying that because you don't want to part with your house-elves?"

"I don't have any, Miss Granger. My family isn't powerful enough."

Hermione grabbed her notebook again, jotting down ideas, then turned to her boss.

"I believe we should conduct raids on pure-blood homes, take a census of all house-elves, and ask how they're treated. Moreover, we need to organize awareness lectures on the benefits and advantages of a free life for them. How and where can this be organized?"

"If you insist on raids, contact the Auror Office," Mrs. Fawcett replied coldly.

Hermione added another note and looked at the list.

"There's no mention of veela or vampires here. Why?"

"There are no veela in Britain. They all live in continental Europe."

"What do you mean, none? Bill Weasley is married to a half-veela!"

"Alright, there is one half-veela in Britain," said her boss patiently. "You're welcome to draft legislation for her and submit it to the Wizengamot."

"And vampires?" Hermione prompted, making another note.

"Vampires are outlawed; they're to be exterminated. We don't hunt them down specifically, it's too dangerous, but there's a reward for killing one."

"But they're sentient beings! How can you kill them?"

"These sentient beings feed on the blood of other sentient beings. To them, we're only food, Miss Granger."

"They're not to blame for needing blood. We should establish donor centers and provide vampires with nourishment so they're safe. No one has ever tried to negotiate kindly with them – and any sentient being understands kindness. I believe we need to hold talks with them and present our peaceful proposals. I'm sure vampires will respond to our initiative."

Mrs. Fawcett looked at her as if she were insane.

"People still value their lives, Miss Granger. No one would agree to meet with vampires."

"That's just prejudice speaking, Mrs. Fawcett," Hermione said, irritated. "And it's your duty to arrange talks with magical beings. You're simply neglecting your duties, ma'am!"

For a moment, her boss was speechless, but she was an experienced witch with decades of dealings with all kinds of eccentric beings.

"Miss Granger, you're my deputy and also authorized to conduct such talks. I'm currently swamped with urgent matters that I can't set aside, while you've only just started, with nothing pressing. Why don't you handle this yourself?"

"And I will!" Hermione's gaze blazed with righteous enthusiasm. "Where do these vampires live?"

"The Auror Office surely knows, you can arrange security there too," the boss informed her coolly.

"Bringing security to peace talks signals distrust," Hermione advised sternly. "That's why all vampire talks have ended in failure."

Mrs. Fawcett didn't point out that no such talks had ever taken place. She didn't want to spark another outburst from the zealous Muggle-born.

"Do as you see fit, Miss Granger; you're the war heroine here. Who am I to teach you sense and reason?"

Hermione didn't wait for her to finish; she already knew what to do. She hurried toward the fireplace to get to the Auror Office. Her boss watched her go and shook her head – lucky the girl didn't think of dementor rights.

At the same time, Ron was hurrying to see Lavender Brown, ready to propose before his mother, Molly, changed her mind.

In the Auror office, they weren't willing to listen to Hermione. They kept trying to convince her that the nature of vampires was such that they would never cooperate with humans, until she reminded the Auror leadership that she was a First-Class Order of Merlin recipient, the right-hand of the Chosen One, fiancée of none other than Ron Weasley, and on very good terms with the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Naturally, Hermione was a very modest young woman and would have preferred not to have to make such a reminder, but there was no other way to press the Aurors into action, and the cause was more important than anything. Only then did they accept that she wouldn't leave them alone, and finally, they started to move.

They showed her several potential vampire hideouts, cautioning that they couldn't guarantee vampires would actually be found there, and assigned her five guards. Hermione was forced to agree to the escort since she couldn't Apparate to an unfamiliar location alone, but once they all arrived, she firmly insisted that her guards stay back and not interfere with her negotiations.

The area was rugged, with thick woods and ravines, so it took the Aurors some time to reach Hermione when they heard her desperate scream. They managed to rescue her from the vampires at the cost of two guards' lives, finding her unconscious, severely wounded, and covered in bite marks. At first, they thought she was dead, but she was still breathing, and one of the surviving Aurors used an emergency portkey to rush her directly to St. Mungo's. The clinic's best healers did everything they could to save the war heroine but only managed to stabilize her condition. Now all their hopes rested on Hermione's strong constitution and her magic, which, by some miracle, was still keeping her alive.