More Than Expected - by Clover Bay
Summary: As another school year ends and the summer break begins, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore finds himself needing to hire a new Charms Professor. A relatively unknown applicant, Hermione Granger emerges as the premier candidate for the teaching position.
Potions Master Severus Snape is intrigued by his newest colleague and can't help but want to get to know her better. She, too, feels drawn to him as they spend more time together in the castle.
The Ministry of Magic, much to the dismay of the Hogwarts' staff, is once again trying to garner some control over the school by issuing a new decree to insure that the staff's teaching is up to par. The additional interference from the Ministry may put Severus and Hermione's budding relationship on hold as they struggle to fulfill the new requirements.
Looming in the shadows of Hogwarts is an unknown villain whose sights are set on the newest teacher as well as the Potion's Master with a haunted, darker past.
Author's Note: This post-war story is not fully DH compliant in that neither Dumbledore nor Snape are dead. In an effort to avoid the baggage of Snape being Hermione's former teacher, she did not attend Hogwarts as a student and she has no prior entanglements with the British wizarding world.
Disclaimer: All characters and setting references to Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling.
Hogwarts
Accepting
Charms
Simultaneously, four people read the short advertisement in the Daily Prophet: one knowing the listing verbatim as he had submitted it, two who had been anticipating its arrival since the beginning of the summer, and the other who had barely finished reading it before rushing to update her resume.
Many of the Hogwarts professors vacated the ancient castle to enjoy the precious few weeks of summer before returning to begin again in the fall. For the Headmaster and his deputies currently sitting in the Great Hall, though, another season of work was underway. Their task of finding a new Charms Professor highlighted the morning's breakfast conversation.
"Really, Albus," Minerva McGonagall said with an air of impatience, "this has to be the smallest ad in the entire paper. And I don't just mean the brief description, the writing is tiny."
"As much as I would rather disagree with the esteemed head of Gryffindor, Minerva does have a point." The reluctance in Severus Snape's tone almost masked the sarcasm of his words - almost, but not quite.
With a barely smothered chuckle, Professor Dumbledore reminded them of their own applications to Hogwarts. "As I'm sure you both remember, the advertisements are concealed within the word 'Hogwarts'. Only an exceptionally trained Charms master will be able to fully read it, just as you were among the few able to reveal the transfiguration and potions openings those years ago."
"I'd forgotten that . . . and not a single word from you, Severus."
Severus never missed an opportunity to rile up Minerva. However, not all things needed to be said, so he settled for a smirk that conveyed every unspoken word.
The three leaders of Hogwarts were very much like a family. There was no mistaking that Dumbledore was in charge, nor that he trusted and relied heavily on his two deputies. For her part, McGonagall had long since moved past the days in which she was Severus's professor and had embodied the role of colleague and good-natured adversary, at least in all things house-related. Severus's tenure and professional life at the school had earned him equal status with the formidable witch who was currently sitting on the other side of Dumbledore. The two bickered among themselves but fiercely defended the other whenever necessary.
As they enjoyed the remainder of their meal, Hermione Granger sat at the table in her parents' kitchen gently blowing the last of the ink dry as she proof read her resume and cover letter one more time. A half-hour earlier she had been combing through the help wanted pages of the Daily Prophet when she read a curious ad that contained only three words: Hogwarts - Accepting - Charms. She knew that they charged by the word and that it was a widely circulated paper, but something just seemed a bit odd; surely a school like Hogwarts could afford to print a full advertisement.
Tapping her finger against her lips, she decided to try something. After placing a complex charm on the paper, the advertisement expanded to reveal a lengthier, more elaborate listing:
Hogwarts is currently accepting applications for the post of Charms Master or Mistress
Time is of the essence as the term begins September the first
Send inquiries to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore
We expect your owl within the hour
Almost forty-five minutes had elapsed since she opened the paper; rather than miss the one-hour mark, Hermione aparated to a small town near the school. Hogsmeade was, among other things, the nearest post with delivery owls. While she couldn't figure out the significance of the mysterious deadline, which for some reason seemed vital to the application, Hermione wasted no time in tying the scrolls to one of the quicker owls to make the now short delivery.
It felt really good watching the owl disappear into the distance. Having earned her charms masters only a few months ago, Hermione knew that she didn't want to wait any longer to get back in the classroom. She'd loved every minute of her challenging apprenticeship and couldn't imagine what the fall term would feel like if she wasn't teaching.
She'd been searching every day in hopes of finding an opening like this. It was heart-wrenching to think that the dream she'd so ardently pursued might end with her studies - going unfulfilled for even a year was unimaginable.
In a moment of panic, she thought What if her resume wasn't good enough? Would they even consider someone who wasn't a Hogwarts alum? Maybe it was just an obligatory posting and they already had someone in mind for the position . . . Ugh! This only made her feel worse.
Shaking off her insecurities, Hermione tried to remind herself of the strengths listed in the letter she penned earlier this morning. With a small smile, she returned to London.
No sooner had Hermione left the little village than Dumbledore unfurled the parchment attached to an owl he recognized as the fastest among those perched for use at the Hogsmeade post. The letter seemed particularly thick to the deputies and it wasn't until Dumbledore chuckled, revealing the resume sent in triplicate that the volume of the correspondence made sense.
"She certainly must be talented to discover so much from so little," he said cryptically.
With a flourish of robes, he descended the steps of the Great Hall leaving his two deputies intrigued by the witch who rendered the power to impress the headmaster with only a letter.
