Hermione stood in front of the small shop window and took a deep breath before opening the door. She was immediately surrounded by the sound of buzzing needles, loud music, and idle chatter as she entered "Rhome," the tattoo parlor her roommate had recommended. She had never done anything like this before, but her roommate, Avi, insisted it was all part of her "cathartic recreation of identity." Pausing inside the doorway, Avi reached out and squeezed Hermione's hand, before pulling the young witch inside.
After the war, Hermione had struggled to adjust to her newfound fame as one of the members of the "Golden Trio." Following an amicable breakup with her boyfriend of six months, Hermione decided a much needed change was in order. With some thorough research and the help of her mentor, Minerva McGonagall, she had discovered and applied to a secondary education wizarding school, much like muggle college, in America. WISE, or the Wizardry Institution of Secondary Education, had accepted her application within the month, and by the following summer she had moved across the Atlantic to Chicago, Illinois. Through the student housing board, she had been paired with Avi, an American witch from Portland, to live with in a small two bedroom apartment on the school grounds.
When Hermione first saw WISE, she noticed that the grounds around it closely resembled Diagon Alley and its surrounding areas. There was an entire street of shops with alleys disappearing between them that she could only assume led to more shops. Above each storefront was an apartment, one of which she would be living in, thought she didn't yet know which one. At the end of the main street, there stood a large archway with the school name and crest worked into the wrought iron. Beyond that, she could see several old buildings that looked much like the buildings she had seen in her parents photographs from their days at Oxford. The large stone buildings had intricate architectural patterns with turrets and flying buttresses protruding from the sides.
Following the map that had arrived in her welcome packet, she made her way across the campus to the student commons where she was to meet with her advisor. The old witch, Mrs. Galvin, gave her an orientation packet and something she called a "swag bag" filled with items emblazoned with the school crest. From the bag, Mrs. Galvin pulled out a water bottle which she explained magically refilled itself with ice-cold water after every sip, a notebook that never ran out of paper, a lanyard that would respond to a wandless summoning charm, a school shirt, and a planner that would remind her of any dates and assignments she entered into it. As Mrs. Galvin continued onto the orientation packet, Hermione noticed that unlike her professors and most of the adults back home, Mrs. Galvin was dressed in stylish, and more importantly modern muggle clothes.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Galvin? If you don't mind my asking, were you raised in a wizarding family, or are you muggle born?"
"I come from a long line of wizards and witches. Why do you ask, dear?"
"It's just, well, you're clothing is very modern and muggle. It's not something I'm used to in magical adults."
"Ah, I see. I actually get that a lot from international students like you. Here in the U.S., the wizarding world is very involved with the muggle world. While we do have magical areas like this one, many of us live in muggle society, with muggle jobs, and interact with muggles on a daily basis. Our magic is a very prominent part of our lives, but we don't exactly isolate ourselves from the muggle way of life either." Mrs. Galvin turned in her seat to access a large file cabinet as she spoke. She pulled the bottom drawer out and rustled through the crammed files. After a few seconds of muttering to herself, she pulled out her wand and summoned the file she was looking for. She handed Hermione a sheet of paper with a list of names and businesses.
"Each one of these are wizard-friendly places in Chicago. We use muggle currency, but we have several banks with wizard staff members that will be more than happy to help you with things like school fees and accounts. There are several restaurants here that are staffed exclusively by wizards but cater to the muggle community. Many of our students get part time work at places like these. There are grocery stores located near discreet apparation points, clothing stores that have magical alteration specialists, and post offices that handle magical shipments, phone numbers for magical emergency services, television stations with wizard shows and quidditch matches, and much more. I'll let you go through those later. If you have any questions, my phone number is on the card in the front pocket of your orientation packet. After we schedule your classes, I'll let you go back to your apartment and get settled before you meet us back here in the lounge."
"Us?"
"Yes, dear. We've got an orientation scheduled for you and the three other international students joining us this year. Now, onto your course schedule. Are there any classes you're particularly interested in taking? Have you thought about your major at all?"
"Not much, no. This was sort of a last minute decision to attend. Back home, most wizards don't further their education past the age of seventeen, so once I found out I was a witch, I lost sight of attending college."
"If you don't mind my asking, what made you change your mind?"
"I was pretty heavily involved in the Second Wizarding War back home, so much so that people knew me. The fame and recognition got to be a bit much for my taste. I never aspired to be famous. When I was a child, I had dreamt of being an English teacher, or a librarian, or a shop owner in a bookstore. I buried myself in my books, and I was happy there. Suddenly I'm expected to attend galas, and interviews, and state dinners. I was constantly watched and studied, and it got to a point where even my books couldn't offer the sanctuary I missed. I hoped that being here would get me far enough away from all of that, allow me to be myself and to do my own thing for the first time in a long while."
"I thought I recognized your name, Miss Granger. Don't let that worry you though. You were right in this being far enough away from it all. We kept an eye on what was going on over there, but more so out of interest in making sure it didn't spread here. There were three of you, correct? Three of you who fought against, Riddle, was it?"
"Yes, I'm one of the three, but there were more of us. There was an entire army, so to speak, on each side of the battle. It was a mess, and I'm extremely proud of the part I took in it. In the beginning, I didn't realize the extent of what I was getting myself into by befriending the very boy whom Riddle had a personal vendetta against, but I wouldn't trade it. Not one bit."
"A very noble stance, dear. And like I said, you may have people who recognize your name, but I can almost guarantee you the anonymity you're wanting. That recognition will be more of an acknowledgement than admiration. People have heard your name, but they don't have a clue why it's significant other than the fact that you fought in a war across the ocean. But seeing as that's what you're looking for, you shouldn't have a problem with it. Now, as for your major, you mentioned a fascination with books? Perhaps you could look at an English major? That might interest you. You could end up doing any one of those jobs you mentioned here with that degree, and if you decide to move back home, the courses will help you there as well."
"You have an English degree here? Like at muggle schools?"
"Of sorts. You'll be taught muggle curriculum as well as magical curriculum for your degree. Speaking of curriculum, let's look at the first year program for an English degree." Summoning another form from a pile in her office, Mrs. Galvin began explaining the classes to Hermione.
"Like muggle schools, we have a set of general education requirements. You'll need to take at least one course in each of the four core subjects: transfiguration, potions, arithmancy, and charms. I recommend taking two of them your first semester. In order to graduate, you'll need at least twelve classes from the subject of your major. I usually tell most students to take one to two their first semester. For English, it could be a literature class, or a writing class, or something along those lines. There's a list of courses offered this year on the back of this paper. I'll also give you a course book that has a more detailed account of every class offered on campus this semester. If you take about five classes per semester, you should be able to graduate in four years with degree. You can fill out your remaining courses with electives, either muggle or magical. I'll give you a moment to look over the classes and we'll get you registered." Mrs. Galvin picked up the coffee mug off her desk and wandered out of the office, leaving her to look over the course magazine.
There were so many choices, Hermione was excited and overwhelmed. She decided to choose her general education classes first. First was potions, while it was still fresh in her mind. Then, she decided on transfigurations, knowing she'd be able to make McGonagall smile when she wrote her mentor letters of her progress. Choosing two classes, she wrote them on a small slip of paper she pulled from a pile on Mrs. Galvin's desk. She then selected two English courses. While flipping through her electives, Hermione saw a muggle painting class. She had always enjoyed art as a hobby, and what better way to expand on that than having it count towards a higher education degree. By the time she finished selecting her classes, Mrs. Galvin came back to the office, entered Hermione's selections into her computer, and printed out a schedule for the young witch.
"Well, dear, it looks like you'll be off to a great start in your classes. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, you'll have Intermediate Healing Potions from ten to noon. Then, from one to two, you'll have Non-Living Transfigurations. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, you'll have Introduction to Greek Mythology from ten to noon, Classic American Literature from one to two, and your art class from two to four. Don't forget to look over the list of extra-curricular clubs and activities in your packet. Now, why don't you go check out your new apartment, grab some lunch and get settled, and then meet back here at the lounge at six for dinner. Okay?"
"Okay. Thank you for all of your help, Mrs. Galvin." Hermione left the building and made her way back to the main street. She found the map to her new apartment in the folder of papers she was carrying and proceeded to look for her new home. It was above a place called "Zen," but aside from that, she had no idea what she was looking for. As she passed by the shops, she saw an ice cream parlor called "Scoops," a bustling candy shop called "Zanie's Sweets," a robe shop, a tea shop that would rival Madame Puddifoot's called "GiGi's," a book store called "Pages," and several Apothecary and magical supply stores. As she looked around, she almost missed Zen. The small shop was tucked in between a large Thai restaurant and an apothecary. As she entered the store, she saw that it appeared to be a tea shop. There were tiny tables and large, stuffed chairs. The walls were lined with shelves of books and old vinyl records. On some of the tables, there were turntables with headphones, and on others, there were stacks of books. The moment Hermione walked in, she felt like she had found her safe haven, and it was only fitting her home would be above it.
After making her way up the stairs and fumbling with the key, she managed to open the door to her new home. Dropping the beaded bag on the ledge next to the door, where it landed with an uncharacteristically loud "thud," she closed the door behind her.
"Yo! Is someone there?" Hermione heard a female voice call out from somewhere in the back of the apartment.
"Erm, yes, hello. I'm Hermione, I live here? I mean, I've been assigned this flat– or, apartment, rather." Hermione cautiously entered the room, unsure of who else was there, A tall girl with turquoise hair tumbled out of what appeared to be a bedroom door.
"Hermione, you say? From that accent, I take it you're an exchange student? I'm Avi, Avi Goldberg. I'm from Seattle, here in the states. Come on, I'll show you around the place and we can get you settled. Get to know each other and all that jazz."
Without pausing for further acknowledgement, Avi tucked her arm through Hermione's and began to lead her through the apartment.
"This is the living room. It came with this furniture but we could transfigure it if we wanted. I only just got here yesterday, so I figured I'd wait and we could do it together. And this here is the kitchen. I've got some basic cooking things in here, and after we add your stuff we can figure what else we need. There's a second-hand shop down the road that had a pretty good stock of kitchen supplies from what I saw, so that will be great. But we might want to get there soon. This one here is my bedroom. The bedrooms are identical in their layout, except your bathroom and closet are on the opposite side. And then this, here, is your bedroom. Right across the hall, so that's cool. And that's about it. That door right there is just a linen closet, but it's empty for now."
"If you don't mind, I think I'll go ahead and unpack now? I have a meeting on campus about the exchange program at six. But perhaps we could eat lunch together?"
"Absolutely, chickadee. I'm going to run to the grocery store in a bit to get some rations. Want to come with? I'll let you get settled first."
"That sounds fantastic."
Avi shot her a smile before heading back to her room. Hermione turned and opened the door to her room. The walls were a sterile white, but the floor was a beautiful hardwood that reminded Hermione of her bedroom back home. There was a desk in the corner, and a large bed. The closet was small, but she didn't have much to fill it with. The best parts, however, were the bookshelf next to the desk and the window seat. With a simple charm, Hermione frosted the glass of the window, allowing light to enter but giving her some privacy.
Next, she covered the walls in a light lilac color. She conjured a glass vase of white hydrangeas and set them on the corner of the desk. There was an immediate floral scent in the air, courtesy of the magical blooms. Opening her suitcase, she reached into the depths of the undetectable extension charm to pull out her bedding. Plum colored sheets and a fluffy down comforter in pristine white, along with several feather pillows, made their way to the bed. Another flick of her wand and the closet was filled with her clothes and shoes. Through the suitcase she went, her wand almost dancing through the air, she unpacked her belongings into her new home. When she finally got to the books, she set the wand down, preferring to unpack those by hand.
Hogwarts, A History
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
The Little Prince
Curses and Counter Curses
Hamlet
The Island of Doctor Moreau
Magical Water Plants of the Highland Lochs
1984
Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions
Emma
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
A History of Magic
New Theory of Numerology
Encyclopedia Lycanthrope, Second Edition
The Standard Book Of Spells: Grade One
The Standard Book Of Spells: Grade Two
The Standard Book Of Spells: Grade Three
The Standard Book Of Spells: Grade Four
The Standard Book Of Spells: Grade Five
The Standard Book Of Spells: Grade Six
The Standard Book Of Spells: Grade Seven
Defensive Magical Theory
Number the Stars
A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration
Advanced Potion-Making
A Brief History of Time
Advanced Rune Translation
The list went on. One by one, Hermione placed each book with care on the shelves. Every once in a while, she would pause to read a page she had bookmarked, or trace her scribbled notes in the margins of her old textbooks. She felt a twinge of sadness in her heart upon seeing Professor Dumbledore's name in his old copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
She had not asked to be a part of a world torn by war, and the scars she felt from it would be with her for the rest of her life. A tear slid down her cheek, but she wiped it away and stood up, placing the last book on the shelf. Despite not asking for war, she had fought, and she had won. Light prevailed, and that was not something Hermione could ever regret. The only sadness to be had was for the damage done and the lives lost. Now was the time to rebuild and move forward.