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She's not a Weasley. She's not a Potter. She's not The Boy Who Lived and she isn't one of much-loved Weasley tribe of redheads, but she's intelligent enough to outwit the vast majority of the population – wizard, witch, Squib, Muggle – and yet, the papers snidely call Hermione naïve.
Granted, there's nothing outright. Not while she's the brains of The Golden Trio. But it's between the lines of every article, embedded in the ink of every headline.
Because she's gone back to Hogwarts to continue studying, like the bookworm she is.
Because she hasn't stepped up like the rest of the DA in becoming an Auror after the war.
Because she wants to work in the Ministry's Magical Law Enforcement Department – generally considered to be unfit for purpose, especially after a school of underage witches and wizards put up more of a fight than the whole Ministry did.
Everyone knows that the Auror Department is one of the worst hit. Aurors were always in short supply, thanks to the years of training and high levels of qualifications needed, but now they are almost all dead. The loss of Mad-Eye Moody was a huge blow to the morale of the Department. The loss of Moody's protégé in the Battle of Hogwarts, who was tipped to take over in a few years didn't help either. The death of Nymphadora Lupin was like losing Mad-Eye all over again.
The Auror Department's suffering continues even after the Battle of Hogwarts, as the surviving Death Eaters and Snatchers on the run become increasingly bitter with the taste of defeat. They pick off the remaining Aurors like flies, rendering all efforts to capture them useless.
The number of Aurors left can be counted on the legs of an Acromantula.
Britain needs repairing after the mess left behind, and there are still many witches and wizards on the run who need to be caught and sent to Azkaban. Who better to fill the gaping hole in the Auror Department than the survivors of the band of children who trained for a year, fought Voldemort's army and won?
They're born for the job, the Daily Prophet cries!
And Hermione Granger is shirking her duty.
It's shameful, actually.
She's abandoning the Aurors.
She's chosen paperwork over actual work.
She's chosen the easy job, while everyone else around her has chosen a career where their lives are at stake every day.
She thinks she's too good to be an Auror.
Behind closed doors and over restaurant tables, that's what everyone says about her.
Nobody really cares that the Auror Office is technically part of the Magical Law Enforcement Department, or that she isn't working to defend Death Eaters – she's actually working in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
She's not an Auror, so she isn't doing her bit.
But protecting the justice system means protecting the people - and protecting those in power from themselves. Protecting the justice system means no more faked trials. It means no more Pureblood bias. It means ending the enslaving of House Elves. It means prosecuting those responsible for the breakdown of wizarding society - including those with the money and influence to ruin your life and the lives of everyone you love.
Nobody thinks about that when it means that Death Eaters get fair trials and an actual defence and a chance to appeal. Wizards and witches everywhere are outraged whenever a Death Eater gets these things – and Hermione understands this. It's long and tedious and distressing and every minute of the trial period means a minute less of imprisonment in Azkaban for them.
But it must happen. Hermione doesn't agree with the pureblood bias, but she will defend to the death their right to say it. It's a very Muggle concept, and few people agree with her, but to Hermione, that is what justice is.
This is not something that is well understood.
And Hermione would be a fool to hope that it ever will be.