Entry for "Astronomy" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"
Task: Write a story based only on Communication. Min 400 words
Entry for the "Chocolate Frog Card Club" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"
(Bronze) Tobias Misslethorpe; Challenge: Write a fictional article for Witch Weekly.
The first issue of Witch Weekly's series of exclusive interviews and articles with and about our female heroines of the Second Wizarding War.
Women of the War
Hermione Granger – Her life after the Battle of Hogwarts
Everybody would think that Hermione Granger, who had already been named the brightest witch of her age at the sweet age of thirteen, had seeked for relaxation after the war had ended, that she would make shorter steps – after all, she had been on the run for nearly a year, had been under immense stress and encountered many dangerous situations whle accompanying her best friend Harry Potter, the boy who lived, and her now boyfriend Ronald Weasley.
But to everybody's surprise Miss Granger decided to end her school education as soon as the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry opened again – after all the new Ministry of Magic, led by Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt, would have accepted her in its rows without her degree.
It seems like the young lady just needs to be busy, and during the exclusive interview with our Witch Weekly columnist she also revealed that she would consider herself a workaholic, and everything she does just underlines this statement.
Immediately after receiving her excellent N.E.W.T. results Granger accepted a post at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures where she is currently committing herself to improving the rights of houseelves, a topic that, according to her own informations, had been an important issue to her for a long time. (See page 25 for a detailed interview about her current work)
But it is not all success and joyful stories, of course there are always two sides of the medal. Read now Witch Weekly's interview with Miss Granger about a topic that always seems to fall by the wayside – what being in a war really means and how these experiences still influence her today.
Witch Weekly: Miss Granger, it is very easy to forget all the emotional difficulties you went through over all your deeds during the war. Do you feel that people in the magical community are overlooking the trauma every fighter at the Battle of Hogwarts has?
Hermione Granger: Yes, I have to admit that I indeed feel like we are all being put on a podest, we are being idealised, and Witch Weekly is actually the first magazine that is really interested in the wounds we are all carrying with us. They all want to hear about all the dangerous situations we managed to escape, but it would probably destroy their image of the perfect war heroes if they heard how much we are struggling.
Witch Weekly: It must be making it worse that nobody is interested in the dark sides.
Hermione Granger: Right. We are feeling misunderstood, really, and it can lead to very uncomfortable situations. The society seems to forget that we are only humans too, no matter what kind of things we mastered so far.
Witch Weekly: And how are you all dealing with this?
Hermione Granger: We are all very lucky that we are a strong group of close friends. Harry, Ron and I are able to speak very openly about all the nightmares we have or if we have flashbacks during our every day life. But I also find a lot of support in my best friend Ginny
Witch Weekly: We also heard that the whole Dumbledore's Army is having frequent meetings during which you offer each other support and an open ear.
Hermione Granger: Yes, and we could not have made a better decision. Already during our first meeting we observed that many were struggling heavily with all the rejection from the community. For some of them, the DA meetings were sort of an anchor, they really saved them from loosing their grip on life because they found a place where they were finally being understood. Over the time many other people who fought at the Battle of Hogwarts joined us and I really feel good when I think about what we achieved by helping each other.
Witch Weekly: So, like so often before, you just did choose to help yourselves.
Hermione Granger: (laughs lightly) Yes, and as always, it worked out.
Witch Weekly: Let us talk about your personal experiences with this topic. Do you think you have PTSD?
Hermione Granger: I am not a specialist, but I think you could say yes. Though I doubt that there are many who fought with us who do not have it. There just were too many horrible things to be witnessed. All the friends we saw die, some of us lost close family members. Also the feeling that you too could be killed any second changes you. I used to have heavy anxiety attacks in the weeks after the battle, I was constantly filled with adrenaline.
Witch Weekly: How present are your experiences to you nowadays?
Hermione Granger: It is a long process to deal with it, and I guess that it will take years until I won't have these frequent nightmares, the days where I am fighting against a heavy depression or feel something like survivors guilt. I am just happy that I have my friends who support me and that I find distraction in my work.
Witch Weekly: We wish you all the best, Miss Granger, and we hope that this interview was a little step towards more acceptance of war traumas in the society.