Managing the overload of homework with the stress of upcoming exams along with the Wizengamot was a balancing act of the highest degree, and Hermione often felt like she was walking a tightrope while balancing platters of cakes on her hands and head. If she lost focus or misbalanced, everything would come tumbling down.
It helped that the Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew nonsense was wrapped up. The Daily Prophet was still blasting headlines all over like
SIRIUS BLACK RETURNS TO HIGH SOCIETY
Newly declared innocent, we ask - what is next for Sirius Black?
but it wasn't actually news or relevant to Hermione's life. The trials were completed, Sirius was innocent, Peter was guilty, and everything was neatly tied up.
Delegating tasks was proving massively helpful, too. Draco had finally taken a detour on the way back from the hedgewitches to swing by Twilfitt and Tattings, and he'd been impressed when he made it back to the castle.
"Giulia and Aurora only gave me the records, not account access, but they're meticulous," he told her. "Whatever you've invested and got going with them – it's proving extremely lucrative. Your initial investment made over 5000 galleons. It's slower now, but you've got a steady stream of about 300 galleons a month." He glanced up at her. "What do you want to do with it? Reinvest it?"
"Eventually," Hermione said. "There's a lot going on right now."
"It's not going to do you much good sitting there," Draco pointed out. "You should invest it or spend it."
"It can wait a month," Hermione objected. "Let's get to the summer when I can actually go and look at the gold myself."
Draco grumbled but accepted this, telling her he'd draw up different investment plans for her that she could look over later. Hermione had no idea what a magical investment plan would look like, but if it made Draco happy to help by making them, she wasn't about to tell him to stop.
Daphne Greengrass was also proving unexpectedly helpful. She'd taken to planning a fundraiser like a broom to air, and she loved giving Hermione updates.
"It's going to be an art auction," Daphne told her, eyes sparkling. "One of the best ways to get money is to make sure other people see each other spending it. Everyone wants to be seen as being wealthy enough to make large donations." She paused. "That does mean we're going to have to get art from the werewolves, though. Pieces that capture the nature of their torment. Or maybe paintings of werewolves? Though that might be scary." She frowned. "Well. We have time. I have it tentatively scheduled for July 31st, but July 30th is the Saturday, so that might be the better option."
"You'd host it on a Sunday night?" Hermione blinked. "That's… unusual."
"Yes. Well." Daphne flushed. "It's also Bilberry Sunday. It'd be good luck to leave out berries and meat to see if Magic would provide."
Hermione gnawed this over in her mind.
"You mean Lughnasadh," she said slowly. She gave Daphne a pointed look. "Right?"
Daphne turned a darker red.
"Don't say that too loudly," she advised her. "But yes, essentially, alright? It seems like an auspicious day, and celebrations are traditionally held on such days."
Hermione considered.
"Go with the Saturday," she advised her. "If we want to leave out an offering for Magic, we just need to make sure the event lasts past midnight into Sunday. We can make sure to provide Wide-Eye Potions or Invigorating Draughts for guests so they can stay awake."
"Or a coffee bar," Daphne suggested, wincing. "It's considered impolite to potion your guests."
Daphne's support meant many of the Sacred 28 were at least aware of a political fundraiser being planned and had promised their support, though Daphne had been careful to be vague on the details when sharing. Hermione was mentally keeping a tally of votes she could count on, and she wrote to Sirius Black to confirm he would vote for it as well.
Of course I'll vote for your bloody bill, he wrote back. Dunno who else I could bully into voting for it. I could probably get Weasley and Prewitt on board. They're not likely to report being threatened or cursed.
Hermione despaired that she'd helped free an innocent man, only to end up seeing him condemned and charged as a convict within a month.
"Are you ready?" Era Hornbeam asked Hermione as she slid into her seat. "Today's your big day."
"I am," Hermione said, setting a large pile of parchment down on her desk. "I've got copies of the latest verbiage, and I got confirmation from Amaia a couple days ago that they're just waiting on us before they start construction."
"I am incredibly ready for this," Royce Fiddlewood added. He gave Era a vicious look. "My department has been working overtime, preparing counter-arguments to objections people are likely to put up. I have facts and figures at the ready."
Hermione laughed. "With any luck, we won't need them."
Era scoffed.
"This is politics, Hermione," she reminded her. "Arguing is what it is."
Dumbledore called the Wizengamot to order, and everyone settled down. He addressed a lingering concern that had been brought up before (the import of foreign brooms without going through Ministry of Magic safety testing), with Ludo Bagman from the Department of Magical Games and Sports getting up to talk about it. Hermione stared as he talked, unable to get the weird story about the Unspeakable being obsessed with him out of her head.
She chanced a glance down the row at the Representative from the Department of Mysteries. The Unspeakable was leaned back in their chair, hood drawn, digging at their filthy fingernails with what looked like a cursed dagger. The Unspeakable raised their head to look at her, and Hermione quickly looked away, flushing.
There was a brief vote to allow the Department of Magical Games and Sports jurisdiction over foreign broom imports (confirmed, 39 to 10) before Dumbledore announced that there was a new bill being proposed, causing a slight stir among those representatives not in the know.
"The Wizengamot recognizes Hermione Granger, representative for the British Youth."
Hermione picked up her stack of parchment and carefully walked down the stairs to the front. She had a mental image of tripping on the hem of her robe and tumbling down the stairs in front of everyone, so it was with measured, deliberate steps that she made her way to the floor. She opted to use the podium a bit unconventionally, setting her pile of parchments down on it, before turning to face her peers.
"Esteemed members of the Wizengamot," Hermione began. "I bring to you a concern of the British Youth. It is a concern shared by many." She paused. "Werewolves."
There was a stir and murmur, many dubious looks exchanged.
"The British Youth have been terrified of werewolves for decades, and for good reason," Hermione said, looking around pointedly. "Being weaker than adults, they are the most likely to be targeted by werewolves. Fenrir Greyback is known to prey on children. And one bite can expose an entire community to a terrible risk."
"We already agreed to do the silver wards," Amycus Carrow complained.
"And for the children not in a tenancy?" Hermione challenged. "For those people who live in Diagon Alley, or above their shops in Hogsmeade?"
Amycus fell silent, grumbling.
"Wolfsbane is an expensive potion to brew, and it offers no guarantees," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Locking werewolves up is only as effective as is their willingness to lock themselves away. And giving them their own forest to run and roam is only safe if no poor soul ever chances their way in."
She moved back to the podium, picking up her stack of papers.
"There is one way to prevent more werewolf bites and protect the public," Hermione said firmly. "And that is to not have werewolves on British soil at all."
She threw the stack of parchment into the air, and there was a whirlwind as they were blown wildly about, a bill making its way onto the desk of every Wizengamot member. There was a shocked murmur and impressed glances at the wandless magic, and Hermione suppressed her grin. Drama had its place in rhetoric.
"Thank you, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said. He adjusted his half-moon glasses. "Let us go over this legislation before we discuss."
Hermione nodded and returned to her seat. Her own copy of the bill had made it to her desk, and as Dumbledore read the bill out loud, she followed along, very proud of her work.
A Bill to Prevent the Transformation of Werewolves
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE WIZENGAMOT HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:
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SECTION 1: Werewolves are hereby forbidden from transforming into werewolves on British soil. For the protection of all British citizens, all werewolves must spend full moon nights elsewhere.
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SECTION 2: Werewolves will be sent to a safe house for the duration of each full moon night in order to prevent the dangerous and painful lycanthropic transformation.
— A. To facilitate this, all werewolves are required to register with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, where they will receive a Moon-key. This list will be kept confidential and will not be accessible to the public.
— B. Each Moon-key will be an enchanted, reusable Portkey, designed to activate at the beginning of sunset before the night of a full moon. This Portkey will take the werewolf wearing it to the Auckland House of Irawaru's Chosen. The Portkey will reactivate and return them at the British dawn of the next day. The Portkey must be worn about the ankle at all times.
— C. As New Zealand is near the antipodes of the UK, it will be daytime upon the werewolves' arrival. They will be required to stay in the Auckland House of Irawaru's Chosen, which shall be equipped with beds, so they might sleep during the British night.
— D. In exchange, the British Ministry of Magic agrees to fund the creation of an equivalent facility, where the Moon-Mad individuals from New Zealand society will be transported to spend the day while the full moon night elapses in New Zealand, being transported back at the New Zealand dawn.
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SECTION 3: Moon-keys will be funded through the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (DRCMC).
— E. Maintaining the Werewolf Registry and the distribution and maintenance of Moon-keys will fall under the purview of the DRCMC.
— F. Initial funding to finance the creation of a House for the Moon-Mad of New Zealand to spend their full moon nights in will be generated through a charity fundraiser. The facility can be named at the discretion of whomever funds the majority of the facility (with the oversight of the DRCMC).
— G. Upkeep and maintenance for the house will fall under the annual budget for the DRCMC.
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SECTION 4: Werewolves found in violation of this law without a Moon-key will be fined or jailed. Werewolves found creating other werewolves will be killed.
— H. If a werewolf is caught unregistered, and it is their first transformation, the werewolf will be taken to the Ministry of Magic to be registered and given a Moon-key. The DRCMC will provide the appropriate education on lycanthropy to the afflicted individual and advise them about laws pertaining to werewolves.
— I. If a werewolf is caught unregistered, and it is not their first transformation, they shall be fined 50 galleons and made to register with the DRCMC.
— J. If a werewolf is registered, but is caught transforming on British soil, they shall be fined 500 galleons and given a more powerful Moon-key that cannot be tampered with. The only exception to this is if the werewolf's Moon-key is found to have failed without any outside influence, as determined under the judgement of the court.
— K. If a werewolf is caught transforming on British soil more than once, harsher fines and jail time are to be used at the discretion of the court to ensure the werewolf's future compliance with the law.
— L. If a werewolf bites a human at any point and turns them into a lycanthrope, they shall be put to death. All the werewolf's earthly possessions and estate shall be turned over to the werewolf's victim(s).
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SECTION 5: This bill will be enacted on September 1, 1994. All laws in conflict with this legislation are hereby declared null and void.
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As Dumbledore finished reading, there was a murmur about the room.
"We will begin initial discussion," Dumbledore said.
"This is ridiculous and too expensive," Amycus Carrow snapped. "Werewolves aren't nearly the problem you're making them out to be."
"What do you care about expense, Carrow?" Augusta Longbottom snapped back. "That's up for the Ministry Departments to determine."
"Portkeys can't travel halfway around the globe," Geraint Weasley said flatly. "Great idea, but—"
"They can, actually," Muse Boothe drawled.
Geraint Weasley looked up at Muse. "I'm sorry, Miss, but they can't, actually. Portkeys work by—"
"I know how Portkeys work," Muse cut in. She grinned, eyes glinting. "I'm the rep from the Department of Magical Transportation, remember? And I say it will work."
Geraint faltered. "Ah, that's—"
"Just because your family's never been able to afford an international Portkey doesn't mean the rest of us are in a similar situation," Lucius Malfoy drawled. "Stop embarrassing yourself, Weasley."
"Oh, because you support this bill?" Macmillian snapped, defending Geraint as his ears turned red. "Worried about werewolves, are you?"
"I am, actually," Lucius said, folding his arms. "So soon you forget the woes of your own tenants, Macmillian. Or do you never speak to them to learn of their fears and needs?"
Hermione highly doubted that Malfoy truly gave a damn about his tenants either.
"Werewolves will never go for this," one of the local representatives protested. "Register with the Ministry? Leave their families for New Zealand once a month?"
"Werewolves are already supposed to register with the Ministry," Amelia Bones cut in. "And I damn well hope they're already spending that night away from their families!"
"Preventing the transformation would go a long way into helping these people keep jobs and live normal lives," one of the other regional representatives said. "The idea is what, they Portkey to New Zealand right before dusk, sleep in a building with blacked-out windows, and come back to the UK at dawn when the danger's passed?" He shrugged. "I don't see a downside."
"The downside is this is likely to enrage the werewolves further," Thoros Nott said, his deep voice resonating strongly. "Right now, the werewolves are a threat, but no more of one than usual. A new restriction like this is likely to anger them and cause them to act out more."
"Then we catch them," Amelia Bones snapped. "And punish them according to the new law."
"We can't not pass legislation for fear that what amounts to guerilla terrorists will act out," Barty Crouch said loudly. "What government cowers in the face of its people?"
"Making smart decisions isn't cowering," Yaxley snapped.
Argument broke out in the chamber, people yelling, and Dumbledore banged his gavel.
"Order!" he boomed. He looked out over them. "We will discuss this bill in an orderly manner. Please designate if you wish to speak using the controls at your desk." There was a murmur, and Dumbledore shot everyone a look. "The Wizengamot recognizes Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Sports and Games."
Bagman ambled down the stairs to the floor, offering everyone a self-aware grin.
"Now, I don't know much about werewolves, but I do know they like forests," he said. "And—well, for the Quidditch World Cup, we've essentially got a giant stadium in the middle of a forest. The full moon's a few days before the World Cup game is set to begin, but when we have international guests Portkeying in for a couple weeks beforehand…"
Hermione sat back in her chair to listen, happy. The initial support seemed to be there, and now it'd just be a matter of settling on the specifics and arguing on timing and price.
