Disclaimer:
What do you mean, JK Rowling owns Harry Potter?
And yes, I am that bored writing the disclaimer…
.:/*\:.
Hermione quickly made her way to the Headmistress's office. She carried the Master Ward with her along with her notebook. She had managed to oversleep this morning and had to rush through her morning rituals. She had taken the time to put her bruise/Dittany salve on and wrap her arm as she now did every day. But she had simply grabbed a slice of toast for breakfast before dashing out. As she finally approached the Head office, the gargoyle leapt aside before she was even close enough to say the password. Hermione nodded to the statue, who bowed its head to her in return. As she went up the stairs, the witch tapped a finger on the Master Ward.
"Did you have anything to do with this just now?"
The chime that usually heralded a written answer from the semi-sentient notebook never sounded and Hermione smiled. As she made it to the top of the stairs, she could hear the Headmistress talking in her office.
"This is ridiculous. How are we supposed to get the school ready for the beginning of the new year without help from the Ministry? Despite the volunteers who have so generously taken the time to rebuild the school, we need wards masters to finish the job. We have only one person able to work with the wards at the moment, and she is not powerful enough to reset the protections without help."
"We are sorry, but the wards masters under Ministry contract are all occupied at this moment in time. You will need to find others to help you."
"The Ministry employs nearly half the wards masters. Most of the others are under contract with Gringotts. I cannot find anyone else."
"Maybe Hogwarts should not re-open so soon if you have troubles finding staff."
"The school has never needed wards masters before. We do not have any on staff."
"Maybe Hogwarts should look to employ one."
"We do not have the budget for a wards master, whether permanent or just for this one job."
Hermione hesitated for a moment then knocked softly on the door and opened it just enough to stick her head through. The Headmistress waved her in before returning her attention to the fireplace. The older witch was standing in front of her fireplace, leaning against the mantel with one hand and she was rubbing the bridge of her nose with the other.
"Please let me speak to the Head of the Education Office."
"Mr Wilkes has meetings through the day. I will tell him to contact you at the earliest opportunity."
Whoever the Headmistress was speaking to then closed the Floo connection on their end and Minerva McGonagall said something in her Scottish brogue that sounded suspiciously like a cuss to Hermione's ears.
"I gather the Ministry is not able to help."
"Not willing is more like it."
The Headmistress sighed and gestured for the younger witch to take a seat.
"Apparently, they have neither the funds nor the manpower. According to them, Hogwarts can either repair itself or not open this September."
"And I assume they are quite serious."
"I haven't been able to speak with either Mr Wilkes, who heads the Education Office as you have heard, or the Minister. I would send a Patronus to Kingsley, but I know he really is trying his best to sort everything out about Severus at the moment."
"They're still going ahead with Professor Snape's trial? Even after what Harry said? Even after seeing the Pensieved memories of both Professor Snape and Professor Dumbledore?" Hermione asked, disbelief clear in her voice.
"The public want the Death Eaters arrested and locked away."
"But Professor Snape is not a Death Eater. He was a spy. He was acting under orders from Dumbledore himself. And out of honor and friendship for Lily Potter."
"I'm afraid that many people simply do not want to see this. The memories were nearly stolen several times over the last couple of weeks." Minerva McGonagall sighed as she walked around her desk to sit. "I need to ask you to modify your plans once more. I want to have the most essential wards back to full power by September 1st. Everything else will have to wait."
Hermione shook her head. "That means taking the theory wards apart. Even with help from the Master Ward, it'll take me weeks. I… I'm not sure I'll be able to get everything sorted by September."
"You will do your best. And we - the staff of Hogwarts - will help as much as we can."
Hermione nodded slowly and stood, mind buzzing but without any real directions right now. She sighed and turned to leave until a quicksilver thought stopped her in her tracks.
"What happens if Professor Snape is convicted?"
"He will be sentenced to Azkaban," the Headmistress sighed. "He may even receive the Kiss for the murder of Albus. And Hogwarts will lose their Potion Master. And their Deputy Head."
"He is irreplaceable," Hermione whispered.
"Indeed, Miss Granger. I'm afraid that, if Severus is found guilty, Hogwarts will not open come September whether you have succeeded with the Wards or not. Professor Slughorn has already made it clear he will not be returning. I have a potential replacement for the Defense post. But no one to take Severus's place if the worst come to pass."
Hermione shook her head and huffed.
"When is the trial?"
"The date was advanced to next Monday."
"Monday? That's absurd! It's less than five days away. All the other trials are to take place starting September."
The Headmistress simply shook her head and Hermione gasped as she understood.
"They want Professor Snape to go down for this, don't they? They want to make sure he is found guilty and sent to Azkaban, or whatever punishment they deem good. They don't want him to have time to prepare a defense."
"Well luckily enough, the Order has had a couple of people working on just that since we found out about Severus's true role in all this. Between Dumbledore's Pensieved memories and Mr Potter's testament, Severus will be fine."
"Please tell me you're not counting too much on Harry," Hermione said quickly.
"Why?"
"He started Auror Training today. No one will be able to contact him or anything. And I'm pretty sure they won't let him leave training if they really want Professor Snape in Azkaban."
"It's fine, Miss Granger. I have witnessed Mr Potter's account of the events from two years ago until now. He also took the time to create a series of Pensieved memories revealing more about his relationship with Severus. And we have other Order members who will be present."
"Can I help in any way?"
"You may come, but you should know that you would certainly be called on if you are in the court room. And they will attempt to discredit Professor Snape through you. They will probably do this through everyone's accounts."
"Tell Professor Snape I'll be there."
The Headmistress nodded and Hermione left, taking the stairs down two by two. The Wards would have to wait. There was no way Hermione would let Professor Snape down after everything he had done for them.
.:/*\:.
The morning of the trial saw Hermione and the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry descend on the Ministry of Magic. Hermione had spent the rest of her week working on what she could possibly say to help her Professor out. She'd gone as far as going to the Room of Requirement to ask Hogwarts to put her in the witness stand, with an image of Umbridge acting as the prosecutor. The young witch had ended up hurling hexes at the pretend-Umbridge or crumpling in tears several times over the last few days. But Hermione felt she was now more than ready to take on whatever the Ministry might dish out. The news of Professor Snape's trial had run in the Daily Prophet for days now. The Ministry had requested that children and young adults kept away from the court room, due to the nature of the accusations. But Hermione was determined not to be pushed away.
The Hogwarts staff now arrived together via Floo, surrounding Professor Snape as they stepped out of the fireplace, in a very obvious show of unity and solidarity. Although Hermione was not a member of staff, she walked alongside them today. The rest of the Order would arrive separately. Mr Weasley had actually sent a Patronus to the Headmistress yesterday to confirm just who would turn up from the Order to support the dark spy. The Headmistress had commented over dinner that the Ministry might need a bigger court room.
For the occasion, Hermione had used copious amount of Sleekeazy to tame her hair into a long braid - and had noticed as she finished just how long they had grown over the last year alone. Professor Vector had caught her just before she entered the Great Hall that morning and given her some teaching robes to wear over her clothes, making her look very much like another member of staff. The outfit had been completed with a pair of sensible black pumps. Hermione huffed as she saw the many reporters in the Atrium. They rushed towards Professor Snape, each shouting over the others while attempting to get the best pictures. Between all the Professors though, no one got within two feet as they were repulsed by invisible barriers. The Hogwarts group calmly pushed forward, walking to the reception. The Headmistress stepped ahead of the group.
"Good morning, Miss Turner. We are here to attend the Trial of Professor Snape."
The witch at the desk made a squeak-like noise and set about processing everyone's wands as fast as possible. Hermione stood between Professors Flitwick and Vector, watching as the Headmistress and the Deputy Head of Hogwarts each presented their wand to the witch in front of them. Professor Vector let Hermione go before her and the younger witch chose to play it safe and presented both her wands for inspection.
"Which of these is yours, Miss?"
"They both are," Hermione replied with a calm she did not quite feel. "You may consult Mr Ollivanders on the matter. He created both, although Walnut was originally purchased by someone else. I have only recently acquired it."
The witch shrugged and passed both wands through the wand weigher, obviously not recognizing Walnut. Hermione was quietly glad of that fact. The group finally was able to continue on their way to the court room. Professor Snape was escorted away by a group of four Aurors and Hermione refused to let her most depressing thoughts to the forefront of her mind as he was marched off. She would study one last year under the man, come hell or high water. The rest of them were allowed into the court room and settled together as a group, occupying the two front rows of the gallery.
Hermione was both surprised and worried to see how quickly the room filled with spectators. The Ministry had declared this trial open to the public in an effort for transparency. But there was little doubt in her mind that they just wanted to make a public show of the Death Eaters' trials. Even the Dark Hero's own. Hermione tried to catch the eye of the Headmistress but Minerva McGonagall had eyes only for the currently empty chair that stood alone in the middle floor.
A door opened on the opposite side of the room and Hermione watched as the Wizengamot slowly filed into the court room. They efficiently took their seats and Hermione cringed as she recognized quite a few faces she would have preferred never to see again. Dolores Umbridge was present, as was Cornelius Fudge. How the two of them had escaped Azkaban was a true mystery to Hermione, but it was also a fact. Once all the wizards and witches in plum robes had taken their places, a loud gong echoed through the room making Hermione jumped.
"They are announcing that the trial is about to start and the doors will be closing soon," Professor Vector explained.
Hermione nodded at her teacher and watched as first the door through which the Wizengamot had entered was closed. Then the larger double doors Hermione and the staff had walked through were locked as well, with resounding clangs. Hermione swallowed nervously as the crowd behind her quietened slowly. A quick glance behind her confirmed her suspicion: she easily was the youngest person in the courtroom. A man came to stand in the middle of the floor.
"We are gathered here for the trial of one Severus Tobias Snape. Bring in the accused."
Professor Snape was shuffled into the room in near enough silence, hands bound behind his back. The Master Spy stood straight and impassive as he was led to the chair in the middle of the floor. Bright flashes erupted from behind, and Hermione took a deep breath as she resisted her first instinct to turn around and snarled at the reporters. Two steps behind the Dark wizard was Shacklebolt, wearing a rather splendid set of softly shimmering, orangey-red robes with a stylicized phoenix on the left lapel and a larger version of the symbol on the back. The effect was rather spectacular, in particular as the acting Minister came to stand beside the black-robed form of Severus Snape. Like light and darkness, working together in harmony, Hermione thought to herself.
"Please state your name, titles if any, occupation, and residence for the records," Fudge drawled lazily.
Hermione bit her tongue again. That this toady led the court was despicable, but the smirks on Shacklebolt and McGonagall's faces told Hermione the stupid man was currently playing in their hand.
"Severus Tobias Snape, Lord of the Prince line and Master of Potions, currently employed by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as Potion Master, Head of Slytherin House, and Deputy Headteacher, and residing at said-school."
Ah! They'd forgotten he was a Lord! Hermione thought gleefully. She knew just about enough about wizarding laws to know the Lords of the Pureblood Families were legally entitled to favorable treatment. Professor Snape should have been given a sixty-day notice that he was due to appear in court, the session should have happened behind closed doors, he should not have been bound, and only his titled peers should have passed judgment, not the entire Wizengamot. Of course, given many of his peers had probably be Dark sympathizers, maybe it was a good thing they had forgotten. Hermione thought this was unfair to Muggleborns such as herself, but the facts remained. And the crowd had now been made aware, if they hadn't known already.
Hermione couldn't help but smile as Fudge sputtered, clearly lost as to how he should proceed now. He spent a few moments shuffling the papers on his podium as the murmurs of the crowd grew. He finally banged his gavel a few times to call for silence. Shacklebolt ended up taking pity on the poor man.
"Charges?"
"Lord Snape is charged with the murder of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. He is also accused of multiple counts of murder and torture, as well as various other charges. How does the defendant plead?"
Snape calmly looked around the assembled Wizengamot.
"Although I am unclear as to which charges you are referring, I shall say not guilty to Dumbledore's murder."
Hermione very nearly laughed as the Court Scribe dutifully wrote Snape's answer and Shacklebolt checked it over. Although most plum-robed people sitting opposite her didn't seem to notice the Slytherin tactic, Hermione knew that the barbaric practice of crushing those who refused to enter a plea in court may have been stopped in 1772 in the Muggle World, but it still stood in the wizarding one. The trial was already over and done with. Between the facts that Snape had just effectively avoided entering a plea for the rest of his 'crimes' and that the Ministry had not followed the correct procedures, there were already enough technicalities to at least ask for a re-trial. And maybe even to throw the entire matter out of court. The only thing left to do was to redeem the image of Professor Snape, Master Spy for the Order of the Phoenix, in the eyes of the wizarding population at large.
"Lord Snape, we have several eyewitness accounts that place you at the top of the Astronomy Tower, in Hogwarts, on the night of Dumbledore's murder. These same people have already attested to the fact that, on that night, you cast the Avada Kedavra curse at Dumbledore. It should be noted that one of those people was Harry Potter himself."
Angry whispers swelled behind Hermione, and the young witch noted Fudge was not that quick at quelling the talking with his gavel this time around. The pompous man finally carried on after silence re-established itself.
"The curse struck the Headmaster, who then stumbled backwards and fell off the edge. Is that not correct?"
"It is correct," Professor Snape said. "The stage had been carefully planned by the Headmaster. He wanted his death to be witnessed by several high-ranking Death Eaters in order to give me the leverage necessary to continue my spying assignment."
"Ah! Yes. The spying. A convenient excuse that Dumbledore already attempted to make us believe at the end of the First Wizarding War," Fudge said rather self-importantly.
"I have here," Shacklebolt interrupted, "the sealed memories of both Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter. Both attest that Dumbledore ordered Professor Snape to continue working as a double agent after the staging of the Headmaster's death, in an attempt to protect the student body of Hogwarts from whatever Death Eaters would be assigned to teach at the school."
More whispers, confused this time, and Fudge quickly banged his gavel.
"We have received no direct account showing us Professor Snape's innocence."
Hermione shuffled in her seat and Professor Vector placed a hand on her back.
"Don't worry, Miss Granger. The Minister knows you are here and although we were not able to talk to you about all this, we are pretty certain you have a narrative prepared. There is a reason we took you with us when the Ministry has been telling everyone that the Death Eaters trials were no place for children."
The younger witch looked to her Arithmancy teacher with a question in her eyes. But the older witch simply smiled and returned her gaze on the proceedings. Hermione saw that most of the staff who had listened to Vector's words were now smiling.
"Mr Fudge, I have here the legal papers attesting that Lord Snape was officially if secretly inducted into the Auror Department in January 1982, to act as a spy for the Ministry in the event of Lord Voldemort's return." A series of gasps and cries followed the speaking of the vanquished self-proclaimed lord, which the Minister let die before he carried on. "As such, Lord Snape was all this time acting as a spy for both the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry of Magic."
More whispers followed this as Shacklebolt waved his wand to send copies of the papers he was holding to each quarters of the Wizengamot. The last copy made its way to Fudge, who snatched the papers from mid-air and quickly looked at them before returning his gaze to the man who currently held the position he once had.
"Is it not impossible for Lord Snape to have fooled even the Department of Magical Law Enforcement? There is no proof he wasn't all along working for You-Know-Who. And that he isn't trying to save himself now. I still see no direct evidence of Lord Snape's innocence."
"We have already presented the certified, Pensieved memories of Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter to the court."
"But I cannot see Mr Potter here today to confirm that this is all indeed true."
This time, Hermione couldn't stay silent and she coughed just loudly enough to attract the Headmistress's attention. At her mentor's look, Hermione jerked her head in direction of the two men in the middle of the court floor. The Headmistress pursed her lips but signaled Shacklebolt anyway. The dark-skinned wizard approached them and Minerva spoke quickly in his ear. The Minister smiled slightly and turned back to Fudge.
"We happen to have the next best thing. We would like to ask Miss Granger to step forward to act as a character witness on behalf of Lord Snape."
Hermione slowly stood and went to take a sit in the witness box.
"Miss, please state your full name, titles if any, occupation, and residence for the records," Fudge said with a glare in her direction.
"My name is Hermione Jean Granger, I am an incoming Seventh-Year student at Hogwarts School, and I currently live at Hogwarts."
"Miss Granger," Shacklebolt said with a small smile, "please state the nature of your relationship with Professor Snape."
"For the first five years of my schooling, Professor Snape taught me Potions. He then taught me Defense Against the Dark Arts during my Sixth Year."
"Please explain to the court on what you base your belief in Lord Snape's innocence."
"As everyone can attest, Potion making is a very volatile art. The slightest of errors can cause explosions or the release of harmful gases. As I have mentioned, Professor Snape taught myself and my friend Harry Potter Potions for five years. Which means that, during those five years, Professor Snape had the opportunity to kill or very seriously injure Harry Potter at least twice a week during term time. I believe anyone would agree that, at the very least between September 1991 and June 1994, any loyal Death Eater believing that Lord Voldemort was dead would have taken the occasion to kill Harry Potter, especially with the ready-made excuse of an unfortunate Potion accident.
"If this is not enough to convince this court of Professor Snape's innocence, I can personally attest that Professor Snape was one of the teachers charged with protecting the Philosopher's Stone during my first year at school. His test was a logic puzzle involving drinking an unidentified potion. Said potion could easily have been switched for a poison, which would have killed Harry Potter. That same year, he save Harry Potter from being jinxed off his broom by casting a counter-curse long enough for the culprit to be stopped.
"In my second year, Professor Snape correctly brewed a Mandrake Draught to restore the Petrified victims of a Basilisk. Given that several students, myself included, were of Muggle descent, it would have been easy to murder us by deliberately botching said Draught. In my third year, Professor Snape stood between Harry Potter, Ronal Weasley, and myself, and a fully-transformed Werewolf, knowing that said Werewolf had not taken any Wolfsbane Potion on that day.
"I could carry on, and present to the attention of the court every moment when Professor Snape could have seriously harmed or killed Harry Potter in retaliation for the apparent death of his supposed lord, but I feel that the court has better things to do with their time."
With this Hermione stood, curtsied slightly to the Wizengamot, and went back to her place after Shacklebolt had dismissed her. The trial after that lasted no more than ten minutes after that, just long enough for Snape to be cleared of all charges.
.:/*\:.
Hermione sighed as she rubbed a hand down her face, slowly making her way to the Great Hall for breakfast. The last few days had been quite hectic. After Professor Snape's trial was dismissed, the staff had made their way back to the Castle, but not before the press attempted to secure a multitude of interviews with each of them. Professor Vector and Babbling had thankfully stayed on either side of her and made sure she came out of the ordeal unscathed. Since then though, she had received several owls a day with the same requests. Or demands, in the case of Rita Skeeter. Hermione had asked the Headmistress to filter her mail after day two. For now, only owls from the Ministry and a few select people would make it to her. The rest were diverted to the House Elves. Hermione had considered saying something about it, but then wisely chose not to. She had no time to deal with it all and the Elves were happy and finally willing to work with her.
Hermione shook her head slightly as she continued her leisurely walk to breakfast. Yesterday's jaunt at the Ministry of Magic should have exhausted her. But she had then decided to stay up, reading a large tome on advanced warding she had checked out of the library. It had always both amazed and amused her to see what reads could be find in the Hogwarts Library that had absolutely nothing to do with what was taught at the school. With the Ministry not delivering on the subject of the wards masters, Hermione now had to find a way to get the wards back up with the limited resources she had had her disposal: namely the staff of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. To be fair, it had been an evening well spent. With the help of the Master Ward, she now had a greater understanding of what was expected of her. She could only hope she would be equal to the task.
The young witch finally walked in the Great Hall and made her way to the single table that stood in the middle of the room. She wasn't surprised to see only Professors McGonagall and Snape sitting there at this early hour. She took a seat opposite them and smiled as she helped herself to a large cup of coffee.
"Hello, Hermione. How are you feeling this morning?"
"Very well, Headmistress. Thank you."
"How are your studies of the Wards going?"
Hermione shrugged slightly at that.
"I am working on re-shuffling the plans I had made. The Master Ward has been a real help and hopefully, I will be able to give you a detailed plan of action by the end of the week."
"Yes. I'm still quite put out that Hogwarts finds it necessary to stop anyone but you reading the Master Ward and the Wards Map."
The Headmistress's smile and droll tone took the sting out of her words, and Hermione smiled back. Even Professor Snape was smirking behind his cup of coffee. The three finished their breakfast in companionable silence. Soon enough, the rest of the faculty and helpers arrived, bringing noises of laughter and silverware clinging. Professor Snape made his excuses early on, and Hermione was happy in a way to see that some things never changed.
"Hello, Hermione."
Hermione turned to see Luna Lovegood take her seat beside her.
"Hey, Luna. I thought your dad wanted you to stay home with him."
"Oh, I explained to him that there was little to no danger in coming back. Between Professors McGonagall and Snape, and with you studying the wards so intensely, the Nargles have all but disappeared from the Hogwarts Grounds."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Hermione said with a little smile.
The Gryffindor witch had been quite happy when she had seen the younger Ravenclaw in passing yesterday. Her father, Xenophilius, had come by to the Library at the request of Madam Pince. Some of the Library books had been damaged beyond repair and Madam Pince was busy chasing down copies to be donated to the school.
"You're going to work on the repairs?" Hermione asked her younger friend.
"Yes. Professor Flitwick asked me yesterday for some help with the Ravenclaw girl dormitory. According to him, it has been far too long since he stepped foot in there and he would like the advice of someone who was in there more recently. Of course, I wasn't at school long last year. But I'm still happy to help."
Hermione nodded slowly. Although everyone was moving on, they all had their fair share of memories from the war. For all that she was a Pureblood, Luna had been imprisoned at Malfoy Manor for several weeks in a bid to control Xenophilius Lovegood and his publication, The Quibbler. As Hermione opened her mouth to continue the discussion, the morning owls came flying in. The curly-haired witch watched as a large tawny owl dropped a letter onto her lap and flew away immediately, obviously not expecting an answer from her.
"Look. It's from the Ministry."
Hermione glanced at Luna, who was reaching for her glass of pumpkin juice even as she indicated the letter in her older friend's lap with a nod of her head.
"You know, my father heard they are already rumors going around about some of the fighters of the Final Battle being recognized with Orders of Merlin."
Hermione hummed then set about opening her letter. She frowned as she scanned the content.
"So?"
"It says the Ministry wants me to pay for the damages at Gringotts."
Although Hermione barely mumbled her answer, it was obviously loud enough for the Headmistress to hear.
"May I, Miss Granger?"
The witch let her former Head of House take the letter from her suddenly numb fingers. The Ministry wanted a million Galleon from her to repair the Wizarding Bank. She knew that, along with the boys, she had stolen a dragon and destroyed a part of the bank during their hunt for the Horcruxes. But she didn't expect the bill to be that large. She didn't have that kind of money.
"This must be a mistake, Miss Granger. Don't worry about it. I'm sure we can sort it all out."
With a shake of her head, Hermione summoned a piece of parchment and a quill. She quickly penned a letter requesting a meeting with the manager of Gringotts. Maybe she would be able to sort something out with the Goblins.
.:/*\:.
Author's Note: I wanted to give Severus a good, long trial, but then I realized that it wasn't really important to the story, beyond the fact that Hermione sticks up for him. So this is what I ended up writing. I hope that it doesn't disappoint too many people. Next chapter sets Hermione's fate for the next few years…
Thanks to all my readers, followers, and reviewers, old and new. It's always great to hear what you think about this story or my writing in general.
Now, as I'm outlining the sequel of Path of Power, I find myself in need of insults for the Ministry of Magic. My personal favorite - and Hermione's in the sequel - is 'Ministry of Morons'. I don't think I've come up with it, I think I saw it in another story but memory fails me. But to the point: remember the cookies from chapter 9? Well, I have freshly-baked, digital cupcakes for everyone that can give me more insults for the Ministry in general, or for particular people who work for them. Review or PM me with those, please. Let's hear it…