Chapter Summary: Hermione would like to strangle one Sirius Black for throwing a spanner in the works.
"You have to understand, Miss Granger. Your situation is already extremely irregular as it is." Zephyrus Durmont said, arms slightly crossed as he sat in front of one Hermione Granger in a small office in the department of magical law enforcement. The tall blond had been surprised about Granger's case when his boss passed down the files to him, saying she had no time to deal with Albus fucking Dumbledore and a Hogwarts student when the DMLE was in absolute chaos with the Sirius Black fiasco. And since he was the most recent addition to the DMLE's legal team - and the youngest as well at 20, he wasn't about to be assigned to the Black case anyway, or any of the heavier cases for that matter. "With Black's escape from Azkaban, they've had to tighten the security."
A small frown tugged on Hermione's mouth as she considered the ministry employee before her. It took her a second before she replied, shoulders slumped, "I do understand, sir." She really did. She and her dad, Daniel Granger, had been following the updates on Sirius Black very closely after they read his name on both the Prophet and the muggle news. After all, it wasn't everyday that the magical and the muggle world intertwined like that. Rosalie Granger had only shaken her head in amusement as Hermione and Daniel speculated on the many methods Sirius Black could have used to escape from the previously inescapable prison.
Zephyrus regarded the brunette, taking a second before his gaze fell on the file on his desk once more. Intellectual curiosity, Dumbledore had named in his request to let the girl come in contact with one of the more dangerous Death Eaters to grace the cells of Azkaban. "Are you a Ravenclaw, Miss Granger?" He couldn't help but ask, giving Hermione a once over as if trying to look for any hint of her house in her current attire. Having donned the blue and bronze himself, he has used the same excuse with some of his professors to access the Restricted Section.
Much to Zephyrus' surprise, Hermione shook her head, "No, sir. The Sorting Hat decided to change its mind at the last minute. Called out Gryffindor after telling me that Ravenclaw would be a comfortable choice." She shrugged before adding, "I do know that there some students that petitioned to get me resorted. After all, you can't really have a rowdy Gryffinfor at the top of the class, can you?"
A laugh escaped Zephyrus, "The headmaster wrote that you're quite the model student, Miss Granger. I doubt you fit the usual Gryffindor stereotype. So tell me, why exactly did you want to get in contact with Dolohov?"
Eyebrows furrowing, Hermione carefully answered, leaning forward in her seat, "Professor Dumbledore didn't say why?"
Zephyrus raised an eyebrow, before answering, "Aside from saying it was intellectual curiosity and pulling some of his strings? No, he didn't really elaborate why you wanted to meet Dolohov of all people."
"Well, his methods in using runes and arithmancy in the curse-breaking field, are almost revered. He didn't use the traditional Elder Futhark that everybody uses, even until today. According to Bill, he used a lot of short-twig Younger Futhark runes, which is considered even controversial on the continent despite the fact that it has the largest collection of known inscriptions." It wasn't as if it was a lie that she wanted to meet Antonin due to intellectual curiosity; he is rather known in some academic circles. She just happened to have another agenda that she might have forgotten to tell the headmaster about. After all, you can't really blame her memory when she had been through that unfortunate ordeal with the basilisk and the Slytherin Heir.
The blond interrupted Hermione's rambling a bit to ask, "Do you mean Bill Weasley?"
Hermione brightened considerably, "Yes, I'm friends with his younger siblings, Ron and Ginny."
Of course, her answer prompted another raised eyebrow from Zephyrus, "So why not ask him about Dolohov's methods, then?"
Hermione didn't miss a beat when he asked that; she had come prepared for the meeting, knowing that she'd be asked that eventually. "He said he doesn't quite grasp the concept of using that system, and he's too preoccupied with his work to take the time to correspond with me about being a cursebreaker." Then she shrugged slightly, "And he is still bound by his oath to Gringotts not to divulge information about the nature of his work."
"Do you have the intention to be a curse-breaker, Miss Granger?"
This time, it did take her admittedly a few seconds to reply, "Not quite. I just want to know what career options I have, and right now I'm looking into the ones that rely on the electives that they offer in Hogwarts." Her eyebrows furrowed by a fraction, before she gazed back intently at the ministry employee, head inclined slightly, "Then after that I'm looking into the ones that require further education, like Law, local and international."
Zephyrus shook his head slightly, allowing a huff of laughter escape from him, "Sometimes the hat can be very funny, you'd have been a nice addition to the Ravenclaw house. So you're considering Magical Law as well? An auror, perhaps?"
In contrast, Hermione shook her head vehemently, "That's better suited for Harry and Ron; I'd quite like your position, I think." The brunette made a point of glancing at the impressive collection of books he had in his shelves, ranging from ancient, archaic laws that the Wizengamot still followed to the newer legislations the International Confederacy have set in place. "You're... sort of a lawyer?"
"I help deal with the consequences of the auror teams' actions, so quite like a lawyer, I suppose." He didn't feel the need to tell her that all he's been doing so far was deal with petty, internal cases between aurors who can't see eye to eye. More human resources for now, really.
Hermione clasped her hands together, not having to fake the interest in the position at all, "I don't suppose you'd be alright if I contacted you if I have any questions regarding your career, Mr Durmont?"
"I wouldn't mind, and Merlin knows my boss would love it if we had more people interested in applying to the legal team. Everyone wants to be a damn auror nowadays." He grabbed two cards off his desk and reached across to hand it to Hermione, "Here's my contact information and Silvia Vane's if you have any questions about the team."
"And my request?" Hermione asked after pocketing the cards; she will be absolutely taking full advantage of the opportunity to know more about the ministry. "I really do want to learn more about Mr Dolohov's methods and the curse-breaking field. I promise I'll follow any rules the ministry will set for me." She added the last part with conviction dripping from every syllable.
Zephyrus sighed, leaning forward on his desk, resting his chin on one hand, "I'll see what I can do, Miss Granger. I think we can all benefit from having someone as bright as you learning as much as you can, even if it is from a convicted Death Eater. And I do have to admit, I'm rather curious about Dolohov's works myself now. Ancient Runes was one of my best subjects." His gaze shifted briefly from the brunette towards one of the shelves that had his copies of runic inscriptions. "I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can, is that alright?" He slowly stood up, prompting Hermione to quickly mirror his actions. It didn't take a genius to notice the dismissal.
"That's more than enough. Thank you very much, Mr. Durmont!" Hermione said, smiling brightly at the former Ravenclaw before bowing her head slightly.
"You're very much welcome. And if it does go through, update me as well. Once a Ravenclaw, always a Ravenclaw after all." The answering laughter from the girl prompted the ministry employee to laugh as well while he escorted her out of his office. "You know your way out from here? I'm supposed to get a debrief in five minutes, but I'm sure I can spare some time if you don't."
"I know my way, I think. And if not, I can ask someone for directions. I've imposed on you too long already."
"It's fine, don't worry about it. I'll see you around, Miss Granger."
"Thank you again!" Hermione said once more before darting down the hall as quietly as she could. She was already thinking on how to tell her parents that she not only managed to get some sort of solution to the Antonin situation - the Grangers have been nothing but supportive of her finding her biological family and was ecstatic to hear she found her father; she supposed it was a smart move to omit the fact that the Dolohov patriarch chose to follow a genocidal megalomaniac - but that she also made a contact within the Magical Law division. Her dad, in particular, had also been curious about the laws within the magical community, and was actually probably cleaning out the legal section of Flourish and Blotts at the moment; he'd certainly be excited about that.
Looking after the girl as she walked away in the right direction for a bit, Zephyrus couldn't help but understand just why the Headmaster would let the girl get in contact with Dolohov. After all, it didn't hurt to help a bright student like that, and as dangerous as Dolohov was, he does hold one of the top scores for NEWTS and OWLS, something he knew that must have irked the Ravenclaws of his time.
Four days later, Zephyrus Durmont floo'd into the guards' office at Azkaban to personally deliver a missive from the Head of the Wizengamot Advocate Office, regarding the correspondence between an upcoming third-year Gryffindor student backed with strong recommendations from the Head of the Advocate Office herself and as well as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and one of the most violent and blood-thirsty Death Eaters.
