Job Interview
Summary: Hermione's interviewing for a job that no Muggleborn could ever get ... unless...
"Hermione Granger?" said the middle-aged witch entering the waiting area.
"Yes," she answered, standing up.
"Jupania Stoat, leader of the Hogwarts' Board of Governors. Come this way please."
Hermione followed her through the long hallway. The Board was technically an autonomous collective, but nonetheless it was headquartered in the Ministry Building, like almost anything else.
"Unfortunately I have a vitally important meeting to attend, so I've allowed the vice-president to conduct your interview today, come right through here," said Ms. Stoat as they walked, opening one of the doors on the left.
It looked like an ordinary office, perhaps slightly more luxurious than most, but not ostententatious. Green leather armchairs surrounded a mahogany wood desk that Hermione thought she'd seen at Harrods as a little girl. Probably not the same one, of course. She'd spent many a Saturday afternoon pretending that desk was hers and that she was an important person, one week a Parliament member, one week a scientist, the next... a ballerina princess. Well, she had been quite young, and the desk had inspired her.
"Oh dear, where is that man?" Ms. Stoat waved her wand at some contraption that made a noise at her. Hermione couldn't hear it, but apparently she could, because she immediately said, "Excellent. Ms. Granger, I'm afraid you'll have to wait five minutes alone, make yourself at home." She conjured a teapot filled with cold water, a small creamer, a cup of sugar cubes, and a labeled selection of various teas.
Hermione replied, "Thank you very much," but the woman was out the door before she completed her sentence. She sighed, said "Accio Darjeeling" to put the tea into the pot, then recited the charm to set the water heating to just under boiling. Three minutes, and she poured the tea. Tea was always a wonderful way to occupy oneself.
The desk really was similar to the one she adored in her youth, although there were several runes on it to prove it had been produced by the Wizarding World. She tried to remember who was the current second-in-command of the school governors. She honestly didn't know - she'd have thought, to get a job at Hogwarts, she'd only have to deal with McGonogall. But of course that was ridiculous. Hogwarts was the most important magical school in Britain, molding the most powerful and intelligent young witches and wizards into the leaders of the future. Hmm, that's a good line, I should use that in my interview.
Suddenly the door swept open and Hermione gasped. Lucius Malfoy walked in as if he owned the place. With his every step, a small voice in the back of Hermione's head seemed to be chanting death eater, death eater, death eater. Although he seemed very angry and preoccupied, a snarl on his face as he came to his desk. He seemed incredibly taken aback to see her sitting there, but his face smoothed over quickly, and soon he wore the expression that she was most used to seeing on him, that of polite disdain.
"Well, well, well. Ms. Hermione Granger." He looked at the papers in his hand, then looked at her. A moment, nothing more, of surprise. "Applying to be the new Hogwarts Potions Master?"
"Correct. I do have the highest O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. scores in Potions since Professor Snape himself," she said in her most professional voice, trying to ignore the death eater, death eater, death eater echoing in her head.
"Severus only got that job because Dumbledore insisted on having him under his nose," he sneered as he sat at his desk.
DEATH eater DEATH eater DEATH eater - "Dumbledore had many eccentricities, but Snape was fully qualified to teach."
Malfoy shrugged. "He knew his material, but he wasn't exactly, ahem, good with children."
"I suppose one could say that, although he was your child's godfather, was he not?"
A slow smile turned half of his face. "Therefore I truly know of which I speak." He coughed once. "But Severus is not truly relevant to this interview. If you are appointed, you will spend three years as an apprentice to a Potions Master before you are allowed to teach fulltime at Hogwarts. Normally this would be spent in Europe, to prove a lack of bias, but as you know there's something of an urgency now. So you would be Slughorn's apprentice and teach the first three years till he retired once again."
"I am fully cognizant of this," she replied coolly. "Professor Slughorn and I discussed it in depth before he wrote my recommendation letter.
"But Slughorn was head of Slytherin House," he blurted out, and seemed horrified at doing so. death EATER death EATER death EATER -
"He is an accurate judge of talent, wherever it lies," she said icily.
Malfoy resumed his own coolness. "Wherever it lies. You aren't talking about Houses now, are you."
DEATH EATER you WORTHLESS bootlicker VOLDEMORT scum - "Are you?" she asked, trying not to slap this man, this - this Death Eater! How dare he even attempt to bring up -
He frowned. "I was. But to be frank, Ms. Granger, what on Earth made you think that someone like you could get this job?"
And that was it. Someone like you. That phrase out of the mouth of Lucius Malfoy was worse than any Mudblood she'd ever heard. She stood up, feeling fire in her veins. "You know, seeing you standing here, makes me wonder the same thing about you. How on Earth could they let you back on the Board after everything you've done? After all the laws you broke, all the people you killed?"
"Ms. Granger, I have paid my debts to wizarding society," he said coolly. "My wand was fully tested, to the very moment it was purchased from Ollivander, and absolved me of some crimes, while convicting me of others. You see, I have never cast that Unforgivable you accuse me of, while my sorry companions that did are still rotting in Azkaban." He was quite calm; he's probably used to people calling him a Death Eater, Hermione supposed.
"I see! And as for the other Unforgiveables, you simply bought your way out of Azkaban. How very convenient," she snapped, still furious.
"As you well know, there is no way to test if someone was under the Imperius Curse or not when they then cast it," he answered.
"Unlike the Cruciatus Curse!"
Malfoy rolled his eyes. "These histrionics, Merlin's Beard. This is the very reason I'm not going to give you this job, you realize."
Her jaw dropped. "Because I have personal issues with someone casting Unforgiveables and paying their way out of life imprisonment?"
He smirked at her. "Not at all. Many people do, but they understand that a job interview is obviously not the time nor place to discuss it." He was glaring at her. "If you actually had any proper breeding you'd understand that. Honestly, even Snape knew what tact was, although granted he wasn't very good at it. Blood always tells," he muttered.
Hermione sat down, her ears still hot and roaring. DEATH EATER DEATH EATER DEATH - "If you weren't even going to consider giving me this job, why did you bother with this interview?"
"I was curious to see if your years at Hogwarts had tamed you at all. The answer is clearly no."
"You purposely tried to anger me! You were the one who brought up -"
He cut her off smoothly. "I merely asked why the head of Slytherin would recommend a Gryffindor. You were the one who thought I was implying something else."
Hermione suddenly understood. "And you - you weren't." He was, in fact, trying to anger her. That was the test.
"No. I was still referring to your House."
"So this isn't because I'm Muggleborn? It's because I'm a Gryffindor?"
He shrugged. "The former does matter, but only because the Potions Master has been Head of Slytherin for over a hundred years. Now do you understand my dilemma?"
She did. "Don't they need a new history teacher as well? And - and Muggle Studies?" Her seventh year, most of the teachers were simple substitutes, recent Hogwarts graduates with high scores.
"Indeed, but I notice you applied for neither position." He eyed her for a minute, and a soft smile appeared on his face. "Were you aware that Professor McGonogall also has asked for a new Transfiguration teacher?"
"I wasn't, but it's not really a surprise." Hermione finally felt like she was back in control of herself. That little voice was still there, but she felt like she could ignore it now. "I assume the requirements are similar?"
"It'll be only two years as an apprentice, but you'd have to immediately take over Gryffindor House."
"And for this job being a Muggleborn isn't an issue?"
"Of course it's an issue, but you're beginning to prove to me that you can in fact overcome your upbringing. Let's see how long you can go without doing something particularly Muggle-headed," he said dryly.
Muggle-headed. That was what he would say now instead of Mudblooded. The slur was now illegal, merely a ticket and a fine, but it was the principle. All hate speech against Muggles and Muggleborns had become illegal after Voldemort's final defeat. Hermione bit her lip, trying to think of something to provoke him. "Tact and propriety are not the sole provenance of Purebloods. I rather have to admit that my years in Gryffindor are more responsible for my temper." She gave a soft laugh. "But you'd understand that, I'm sure. I do recall that very interesting brawl you had with Arthur Weasley a few years ago."
He sneered. "Weasley has never been a very good example of a finer wizarding heritage. If he'd wanted to be a good example to his children, let alone yourself and Potter, he'd have challenged me to a proper duel if he felt I insulted him -" Malfoy stopped talking and snapped his mouth closed.
"As I recall, the insult was because he was speaking to my parents," Hermione said in her silliest tone of voice. She grinned gleefully, for now he was trapped. He couldn't say anything overtly, even if he still privately hated Muggles.
He slowly nodded. "Arthur Weasley is a fool, but you are not. Congratulations. I am certain Minerva will be pleased."