DECEMBER 2023 ISSUE

[witch weekly]

[witch weekly]

Hermione Jean Granger

Senior Undersecretary

From young muggleborn to 1/3 of the trio that defeated the darkest wizard of all time, Hermione Granger is not to be trifled with. First in her graduating class, Hermione went on to do work with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to further her work with S.P.E.W (Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare,) an organization she founded in her fourth year. There she worked with underprivileged non-humans like house elves. She then went on to become the Head of Magical Law Enforcement before her recent promotion to Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic. We were fortunately able to sit down for an interview with the lovely Senior Undersecretary for Witch Weekly!

Thank you so much, Madam Undersecretary. How are you? The Ministry seems to be keeping you busy?

Thank you for having me. I’m doing well - transitioning from Head of Magical Law Enforcement to Senior Undersecretary has been quite an undertaking, but I have had an excellent support team in my Deputy Head and thankfully my predecessor did a fantastic debriefing before he left, so I feel like we are in an excellent place here. Hectic of course with the Tournament but still in an excellent place.

And how is your family?

They’re doing wonderfully thank you! Rose was named Head Girl this school year and my husband and I could not be more proud of her. Everyone is happy and healthy, which as a mother and wife is the best I could ask for.

Can you tell our readers a little about what it was like transitioning from the muggle world to the wizarding world?

As some will be familiar with, when you’re a Muggleborn witch or wizard a representative from the school comes to sit down with you and your family and explains your magical abilities to you and offers to take you to Diagon Alley for the first time. I was fortunate enough to have Minerva McGonagall as my representative; she was why I wanted to be sorted into Gryffindor initially. She made the transition easy - I obviously had loads of questions from how this world had been hidden from us all these years, to what were the laws of practicing magic, to Hogwarts itself. I’m sure she was quite overwhelmed by me but if she was she hid it well. For me, because I read all of my schoolbooks before coming to Hogwarts, I felt better prepared for what to expect, but I know my methods are not the norm. It did take me a bit to remember that I actually had a wand that performed physical magic, rather than just reading about the spells themselves.

You've become such a prominent name in wizarding history. Has that affected your life at all? In what way?

It’s all a bit surreal to be honest. Being a Muggleborn witch that sort of was thrown into everything really because I formed a friendship with Harry Potter isn’t something you expect happening ever. People recognize my name and my face from the Wanted posters from 1997 and of course the modern updates to our Magical History books, and there are people who stop and stare openly sometimes. I try to use this fame for good though; I was able to pull off the Werewolf Rights Reformation, plus I was able to gain more rights for house elves, goblins and centaurs, all things I had voiced wanting to accomplish in school but really couldn’t get off the ground. I think that who I am had something to do with that, but because of how it’s helped the greater population, I’m happy to get a few stares or the ‘are you REALLY Hermione Granger’ question, if I’m able to succeed in causes I’ve been championing for nearly thirty years.

Do you have any advice for young witches, much like yourself when you were young, aspiring to really make a difference in our wizarding community?

Yes! Be true to yourself, and never waive your beliefs because someone else tells you they’re silly or not realistic. I can’t tell you how many times I got push back, even when I joined the Ministry for my beliefs. But, I never gave up, and look how far we’ve come as a whole society. It’s remarkable, and yet I still think we can go even further. That’s why we need young witches who have unique and forward-thinking ideas to maintain their beliefs and never stop fighting for them. In fact, I believe in the future so strongly, that any young witch or wizard reading this, whether you have an idea that you’re scared to tell others, or you feel bullied because of your beliefs, please contact me here at the Ministry via owl, and I will respond to you.

@hermionejean , interviewed by Dora Redfern

MEL @ ADOXOGRAPHY

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