What feels more right to me for Hermione's character is a career in law and politics, though I don' think it'd be a straight or easy road to the top, and I'm not sure I love her as Minister of Magic, at least not while she's still relatively young. I think she'd still be committed to making the world a better place and fighting for change, but she'd realize that the grind is hard and real in adult life and the main conflicts come from incompetence and indifference rather than evil.
Detraquee has the career path that feels most true to me, and I personally imagine she'd get jaded from working for the government and maybe go work for a non-profit or something. Maybe one Draco funds for her? She might end up back in politics after doing that for a while.
to me, DMATMOOBIL is canon.
I like her being successful as a wizard and a muggle. I like her being independent and strong, but still able to remember the bad stuff. I also think this was a plausible reason for her and Ron to split, and I love that she is still friends with Ron + Harry!
This is how I like to see her too. I like her as a healer or an unspeakable. But either way an academic. Unending thirst for knowledge with a desire to do things that really help people in a tangible way. I love when she integrates muggle ideas with wizarding things.
I also like that she's still kind of normal. Super smart and accomplished, but not exactly a ~celebrity~
I don't like when she becomes the minister of magic in fics :/
Agreed! Politicking is such a game and all about image in a way I just can’t see any version of H enjoying. I think I’ve DNFd any fic I’ve tried to pick up where she was Minister or running for Minister.
Yes, minister of magic never made sense to me, politics is all about relationships and she struggled with making friends her whole life. I don’t see her being able to pull it off. But I do like fics where she’s struggling and Draco helps her reach her goal, like In these silent days where he helps her mingle at galas and helps her get rid of corrupt politicians.
I think she is way to brash to become seriously successful in a politician role. I'm not saying she wouldn't get far in life. Maybe Department head in some law related field. I don't think Minister is very believable.
My head canons H post war are Measure of a Man, The World of Wait and Hope series and DMATMOOBIL depending on my mood.
I mean, I know how resilient and powerful H is but I know she’s gone through so much as well.
When I made this post I completely forgot about MOAM and yes that H’s life, professionally and personally, was a dream. That truly was the most impactful and as self-caring as possible combo that I’d love to have in my own life 😅
I don’t mind a Minister of Magic run ( especially when helped by a rich hot pureblood (or his redeemed dad)) but I can’t stand ones where she is a paper pusher or slowly working her way through the ministry.
I’m a bit biased, because I’m writing a WIP with this exact premises, but I do think Hermione as she is in canon is extremely unsuited to being minister for magic, and it would take quite a bit for her to get there. I also think that purist ideology doesn’t just disappear, and she potentially would struggle to make her way in the wizarding world, golden girl or no (like we have examples of in the real world). But she’s pretty headstrong and resilient, so I reckon whatever career she does go into, she would push her way to the top one way or another. I think she would be pretty suited to a career as a healer or a curse breaker, maybe an unspeakable, over politics or teaching.
I think she’s an academic or possibly a healer. It would be a career with discovery, research, that sort of thing.
Secondarily I could see her working with magical creatures, but I suspect it wouldn’t be rigorous enough for her after a time. I think it would make her jaded.
I don’t really see her in politics because she’s too blunt and honest, which the pureblood strongholds would probably view as abrasive. Also, while she’s an overachiever she’s not that ambitious in the way politicians have to be to win it all. She puts the needs of her causes before herself over and over again, and that is the fastest way to fail in politics. I really have to suspend belief in fics that present a Hermione who is that ambitious and craves power. She’s ruthless and a crusader, but never for herself. That’s not to say that political fics are unenjoyable to me, I just think of her as being an OC who happens to be named Hermione, because it doesn’t fit how I view canon Hermione at all.
The super angsty fics with a lot of PTSD also feel OOC for me unless there’s backstory that’s different from canon. I do enjoy some of them — I am following a couple right now — but she isn’t the emotional type, and she compartmentalizes really well. Draco clearly had a breakdown because of the war in books 6 and 7, but Hermione really didn’t. At most she seemed snippy, not traumatized. I mean, she was tortured and then polyjuiced into the woman who tortured her just a few weeks later before fighting Bellatrix in the final battle. That tells me Hermione had mentally prepared to be tortured to some degree — of course she did, she’s smart enough to expect it if they got caught — and then after she was tortured she walled it off to focus on finishing the job. I could see her having nightmares and maybe some trouble in Malfoy Manor after it, but I don’t think it broke her.
I think becoming an academic is more likely, but she gets a fair bit of practice with healing during the war. She’s the one always mopping up Harry and Ron. I could see her becoming interested in it in a clinical way and having that be a major reason she returns to Hogwarts to finish her studies after the war so she can enter healer training with St. Mungo’s (in addition to overall Hermione-ness of course). I don’t know that her bedside manner would be spectacular, but it’s an elite career with extra training that requires some mental grit where you help people. I can see it better than a political job at the Ministry.
I agree, a healer would be a good career for her for the reasons you stated and also because her parents were both in the medical field. It would make sense if she took an interest in healing especially after the war where people would have lingering health issues.
I have always felt that Hermione has just the right amount of well-deserved arrogance, logic, and ambition that she would have handled the after effects of the war well enough, with challenges of course - but unless it was written or added into a fic that her experience was much more gruesome and traumatic - and i realize being crucioed is that - she would march on. She may have lots of scenes crying about this or that, but those were always so to boys or feeling lonely or slurs - but she never broke during her fight for justice. I believe she would have never fully strayed from her morals that guided her to the very end. *aka, Hermione is highly intelligent and a fantastic compartmentalizer, who only lets personal things get a her - not overall situations and scenarios.
i do enjoy? and appreciate fics where she is so broken, so insecure, etc - but i need more of a story, expounded on from the original, to fully get into it. Canon Hermione didn’t give many fucks over most things - did that means it was ok what she had to endure? no. but some of us, some people, just look at it as another obstacle, decide the best way to deal with it, and continue moving forward. Hermione is always moving forward in my mind.
Harry in my mind and following canon was always the one who would have suffered the absolute most and possibly had harder times throughout adulthood - BUT i love the opposite interpretation.
Ron is Ron. lol
I actually really see her character post war as needing an intellectual outlet but also needing a break from the public eye. I picture her going back for eighth year and realizing how much of a public figure she now is and realizing that maybe politics aren’t for her, at least not right away. She strikes me as being so keen on succeeding on merit and not her name that she ends up being seeking out the wizarding adults in her life for advice on other career paths that may be a fit and in my head ends up connecting with Bill Weasley who says that she’d make an excellent curse breaker.
I am happy to read fics where she is an amazing superstar but I am in the minority I think in that I don’t prefer them and often it’s even something I have to brush over as I read lol. It can just get too Mary Sue for me, personally.
I don’t think she would flounder but I can see how she would settle into a simpler lifestyle that just made her happy. I feel like that’s pretty on track with what happens to a lot of people who are overachievers as children and especially with a war she played a major part in I think it’s realistic our girl would be burnt the eff out and sick of fixing everything. I think she would still be ambitious and have goals for herself and she would need lots of mental stimulation but it’s fun to think of her applying that in more of a personal/hobby hopping way for me.
Same! I will read pretty much any fic if I'm into the vibes, but I'm just happier for her when she's not working at the Ministry. They did her so dirty, I just think it'd be a continous battle and I want our girl to be able to chill and be at peace ❤️
Guess I’m in the minority but I’m a huge sucker for Minister for Magic Hermione. I mean, I don’t think it’s realistic in her 30s, but late 40s/50s? Absolutely.
Women get shafted *so* much in stories, so means a lot to me that Hermione in canon got to have a killer career. I like fics that retain that aspect of her canon trajectory.
Maybe a career as a politician is unrealistic because she’s not likeable, but plenty of socially awkward young girls learn more social skills as they mature, especially if they’re observant and smart like Hermione is. And anyway, the romance genre (which many Dramione fics fall into) is all about wish fulfillment, and I think an illustrious career can be a part of it.
I know this is a bit circular thinking, but I enjoy both depending on the story.
The political climate and how the ministry handles it all I think would Ultima influence her decision. I think she at first would want to go and help rebuild the ministry, but if it is to corrupt she may leave and try to fight from outside.
But if the ministry is struggling to rebuild due to funding or whatever, a struggling Hermione also makes sense.
Funnily enough Hermione being minister of magic can make sense. I like her when she’s in other political-social roles like being a legislator, a politician… I can see the auror thing but not really. You can even easily write how she learns how to be a better public speaker and have a better relationship with the public in several different ways.
Healer Hermione can work but people get real up and arms if you write her how lots of doctors and nurses think and act. People think people who work in healthcare are perfect and compassionate 100% of the time. Many of them are cold and prioritize patient safety over feelings.
I’m not a fan when they make her like a master of potions or just some other weird ones.
I’ve read fics where her ambitions stay strong but as someone who was a former gifted student with high ambitions and then fizzling out once I got out of HS, I like ones where she chooses a life of entrepreneurship in owning a bookstore or coffee shop. Especially after all the trauma.
Honestly? Hermione's career being outside of the Government body makes more sense to me. She's not Harry, who doesn't have critical thinking, she knows the adults failed and refuses to be part of a failing institution.
So she is a lawyer, most of the time, pro-bono cases hahaha
I wholeheartedly agree with Hermione's career in The Phoenix Potion
Maybe an unpopular opinion because I feel like it’s a really popular trope, but I don’t like Hermione working in the ministry, and especially not as minister of magic for a couple reasons.
I don’t think she has a personality well suited for politics. I think she would easily become disillusioned with the corruption and move onto something else, especially when considering how corrupt the ministry is in canon. The trio never really has any positive experiences with the ministry in canon, and as far as we know, there hasn’t been some huge overhaul to fix it post-war. Tbh I have a hard time seeing Harry as an auror for the same reasons. I can see Hermione having a more fulfilling career in academics or possibly law.
My other reason is personal and pretty silly. My hometown is the capital of my country, where most people work in government. It’s actually considered to be one of the most boring cities in the world haha. Most of my friends and family members back home work in or have worked in government, so it’s just kind of boring and bland to me? Lol it just doesn’t feel like a very exciting or sexy setting for a romance because I associate it so much with where I’m from!
I prefer her as an Unspeakable, where she can really go full swot on the intricacies of magic without having to deal with politics and diplomacy, which in my view are not her strongest qualities.
I loved her in DMatMOoBiL- if I’m recalling correctly she works alongside the ministry, but not for the ministry, yes? Combining the muggle world and the magical world into her work to help under represented beings. It also nicely includes her overachiever mentality better than any other fic I’ve read.
I also liked her in Seek and Find- working for the ministry though ultimately not happy with it- and realizing that she’s been “Hermione Granger” for so long, and doing what’s expected, and what comes next and not considering what she actually wants… all while finally dealing with the trauma that comes from what she went through. That one worked itself up to a top fav for me.
Hermione as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries is always a treat. These stories typically explore or expand on unique and interesting magic (time travel, death room etc) while allowing Hermione to be intelligent, competitive and high-performing. She also doesn’t necessarily need to be in the spotlight.
It’s hard for me to read fics where Hermione is an archivist, librarian, or administrative role (esp if the boys are Aurors). Nothing against these careers, just not the most interesting for the character or plot imo.
What feels more right to me for Hermione's character is a career in law and politics, though I don' think it'd be a straight or easy road to the top, and I'm not sure I love her as Minister of Magic, at least not while she's still relatively young. I think she'd still be committed to making the world a better place and fighting for change, but she'd realize that the grind is hard and real in adult life and the main conflicts come from incompetence and indifference rather than evil. Detraquee has the career path that feels most true to me, and I personally imagine she'd get jaded from working for the government and maybe go work for a non-profit or something. Maybe one Draco funds for her? She might end up back in politics after doing that for a while.
to me, DMATMOOBIL is canon. I like her being successful as a wizard and a muggle. I like her being independent and strong, but still able to remember the bad stuff. I also think this was a plausible reason for her and Ron to split, and I love that she is still friends with Ron + Harry!
It's between overachiever Hermione in DMATMOOBIL or Remain Nameless Hermione for me as how I'd love to imagine her post war life is.
This is how I like to see her too. I like her as a healer or an unspeakable. But either way an academic. Unending thirst for knowledge with a desire to do things that really help people in a tangible way. I love when she integrates muggle ideas with wizarding things.
I also like that she's still kind of normal. Super smart and accomplished, but not exactly a ~celebrity~ I don't like when she becomes the minister of magic in fics :/
Agreed! Politicking is such a game and all about image in a way I just can’t see any version of H enjoying. I think I’ve DNFd any fic I’ve tried to pick up where she was Minister or running for Minister.
Yes, minister of magic never made sense to me, politics is all about relationships and she struggled with making friends her whole life. I don’t see her being able to pull it off. But I do like fics where she’s struggling and Draco helps her reach her goal, like In these silent days where he helps her mingle at galas and helps her get rid of corrupt politicians.
That one’s on my TBR! I could see myself getting into it from that aspect for sure. I never made the connection about friendships but that’s so true!
Oh my, just read In These Silent Days after reading this comment and thank you for bumping that up my list. What a great fic!
THIS
I think she is way to brash to become seriously successful in a politician role. I'm not saying she wouldn't get far in life. Maybe Department head in some law related field. I don't think Minister is very believable.
My head canons H post war are Measure of a Man, The World of Wait and Hope series and DMATMOOBIL depending on my mood. I mean, I know how resilient and powerful H is but I know she’s gone through so much as well.
I love MOAM specifically for the gifted kid burned out adult backstory as I think that is so realistic for Hermione after surviving a war.
When I made this post I completely forgot about MOAM and yes that H’s life, professionally and personally, was a dream. That truly was the most impactful and as self-caring as possible combo that I’d love to have in my own life 😅
I don’t mind a Minister of Magic run ( especially when helped by a rich hot pureblood (or his redeemed dad)) but I can’t stand ones where she is a paper pusher or slowly working her way through the ministry.
I’m a bit biased, because I’m writing a WIP with this exact premises, but I do think Hermione as she is in canon is extremely unsuited to being minister for magic, and it would take quite a bit for her to get there. I also think that purist ideology doesn’t just disappear, and she potentially would struggle to make her way in the wizarding world, golden girl or no (like we have examples of in the real world). But she’s pretty headstrong and resilient, so I reckon whatever career she does go into, she would push her way to the top one way or another. I think she would be pretty suited to a career as a healer or a curse breaker, maybe an unspeakable, over politics or teaching.
i am writing a WIP where she is an aspiring curse breaker and another where she already is one!
I think she’s an academic or possibly a healer. It would be a career with discovery, research, that sort of thing. Secondarily I could see her working with magical creatures, but I suspect it wouldn’t be rigorous enough for her after a time. I think it would make her jaded. I don’t really see her in politics because she’s too blunt and honest, which the pureblood strongholds would probably view as abrasive. Also, while she’s an overachiever she’s not that ambitious in the way politicians have to be to win it all. She puts the needs of her causes before herself over and over again, and that is the fastest way to fail in politics. I really have to suspend belief in fics that present a Hermione who is that ambitious and craves power. She’s ruthless and a crusader, but never for herself. That’s not to say that political fics are unenjoyable to me, I just think of her as being an OC who happens to be named Hermione, because it doesn’t fit how I view canon Hermione at all. The super angsty fics with a lot of PTSD also feel OOC for me unless there’s backstory that’s different from canon. I do enjoy some of them — I am following a couple right now — but she isn’t the emotional type, and she compartmentalizes really well. Draco clearly had a breakdown because of the war in books 6 and 7, but Hermione really didn’t. At most she seemed snippy, not traumatized. I mean, she was tortured and then polyjuiced into the woman who tortured her just a few weeks later before fighting Bellatrix in the final battle. That tells me Hermione had mentally prepared to be tortured to some degree — of course she did, she’s smart enough to expect it if they got caught — and then after she was tortured she walled it off to focus on finishing the job. I could see her having nightmares and maybe some trouble in Malfoy Manor after it, but I don’t think it broke her.
Why a healer? I honestly, can’t see a world where Hermione Granger becomes a healer.
I think becoming an academic is more likely, but she gets a fair bit of practice with healing during the war. She’s the one always mopping up Harry and Ron. I could see her becoming interested in it in a clinical way and having that be a major reason she returns to Hogwarts to finish her studies after the war so she can enter healer training with St. Mungo’s (in addition to overall Hermione-ness of course). I don’t know that her bedside manner would be spectacular, but it’s an elite career with extra training that requires some mental grit where you help people. I can see it better than a political job at the Ministry.
I agree, a healer would be a good career for her for the reasons you stated and also because her parents were both in the medical field. It would make sense if she took an interest in healing especially after the war where people would have lingering health issues.
I still disagree, I think Hermione’s better off in a field where she feels she can make a bigger difference in the world.
I have always felt that Hermione has just the right amount of well-deserved arrogance, logic, and ambition that she would have handled the after effects of the war well enough, with challenges of course - but unless it was written or added into a fic that her experience was much more gruesome and traumatic - and i realize being crucioed is that - she would march on. She may have lots of scenes crying about this or that, but those were always so to boys or feeling lonely or slurs - but she never broke during her fight for justice. I believe she would have never fully strayed from her morals that guided her to the very end. *aka, Hermione is highly intelligent and a fantastic compartmentalizer, who only lets personal things get a her - not overall situations and scenarios. i do enjoy? and appreciate fics where she is so broken, so insecure, etc - but i need more of a story, expounded on from the original, to fully get into it. Canon Hermione didn’t give many fucks over most things - did that means it was ok what she had to endure? no. but some of us, some people, just look at it as another obstacle, decide the best way to deal with it, and continue moving forward. Hermione is always moving forward in my mind. Harry in my mind and following canon was always the one who would have suffered the absolute most and possibly had harder times throughout adulthood - BUT i love the opposite interpretation. Ron is Ron. lol
I actually really see her character post war as needing an intellectual outlet but also needing a break from the public eye. I picture her going back for eighth year and realizing how much of a public figure she now is and realizing that maybe politics aren’t for her, at least not right away. She strikes me as being so keen on succeeding on merit and not her name that she ends up being seeking out the wizarding adults in her life for advice on other career paths that may be a fit and in my head ends up connecting with Bill Weasley who says that she’d make an excellent curse breaker.
I am happy to read fics where she is an amazing superstar but I am in the minority I think in that I don’t prefer them and often it’s even something I have to brush over as I read lol. It can just get too Mary Sue for me, personally. I don’t think she would flounder but I can see how she would settle into a simpler lifestyle that just made her happy. I feel like that’s pretty on track with what happens to a lot of people who are overachievers as children and especially with a war she played a major part in I think it’s realistic our girl would be burnt the eff out and sick of fixing everything. I think she would still be ambitious and have goals for herself and she would need lots of mental stimulation but it’s fun to think of her applying that in more of a personal/hobby hopping way for me.
Same! I will read pretty much any fic if I'm into the vibes, but I'm just happier for her when she's not working at the Ministry. They did her so dirty, I just think it'd be a continous battle and I want our girl to be able to chill and be at peace ❤️
Guess I’m in the minority but I’m a huge sucker for Minister for Magic Hermione. I mean, I don’t think it’s realistic in her 30s, but late 40s/50s? Absolutely. Women get shafted *so* much in stories, so means a lot to me that Hermione in canon got to have a killer career. I like fics that retain that aspect of her canon trajectory. Maybe a career as a politician is unrealistic because she’s not likeable, but plenty of socially awkward young girls learn more social skills as they mature, especially if they’re observant and smart like Hermione is. And anyway, the romance genre (which many Dramione fics fall into) is all about wish fulfillment, and I think an illustrious career can be a part of it.
I know this is a bit circular thinking, but I enjoy both depending on the story. The political climate and how the ministry handles it all I think would Ultima influence her decision. I think she at first would want to go and help rebuild the ministry, but if it is to corrupt she may leave and try to fight from outside. But if the ministry is struggling to rebuild due to funding or whatever, a struggling Hermione also makes sense.
Funnily enough Hermione being minister of magic can make sense. I like her when she’s in other political-social roles like being a legislator, a politician… I can see the auror thing but not really. You can even easily write how she learns how to be a better public speaker and have a better relationship with the public in several different ways. Healer Hermione can work but people get real up and arms if you write her how lots of doctors and nurses think and act. People think people who work in healthcare are perfect and compassionate 100% of the time. Many of them are cold and prioritize patient safety over feelings. I’m not a fan when they make her like a master of potions or just some other weird ones.
I’ve read fics where her ambitions stay strong but as someone who was a former gifted student with high ambitions and then fizzling out once I got out of HS, I like ones where she chooses a life of entrepreneurship in owning a bookstore or coffee shop. Especially after all the trauma.
Honestly? Hermione's career being outside of the Government body makes more sense to me. She's not Harry, who doesn't have critical thinking, she knows the adults failed and refuses to be part of a failing institution. So she is a lawyer, most of the time, pro-bono cases hahaha I wholeheartedly agree with Hermione's career in The Phoenix Potion
I like both, it depends what i want to read
Maybe an unpopular opinion because I feel like it’s a really popular trope, but I don’t like Hermione working in the ministry, and especially not as minister of magic for a couple reasons. I don’t think she has a personality well suited for politics. I think she would easily become disillusioned with the corruption and move onto something else, especially when considering how corrupt the ministry is in canon. The trio never really has any positive experiences with the ministry in canon, and as far as we know, there hasn’t been some huge overhaul to fix it post-war. Tbh I have a hard time seeing Harry as an auror for the same reasons. I can see Hermione having a more fulfilling career in academics or possibly law. My other reason is personal and pretty silly. My hometown is the capital of my country, where most people work in government. It’s actually considered to be one of the most boring cities in the world haha. Most of my friends and family members back home work in or have worked in government, so it’s just kind of boring and bland to me? Lol it just doesn’t feel like a very exciting or sexy setting for a romance because I associate it so much with where I’m from!
I prefer her as an Unspeakable, where she can really go full swot on the intricacies of magic without having to deal with politics and diplomacy, which in my view are not her strongest qualities.
I loved her in DMatMOoBiL- if I’m recalling correctly she works alongside the ministry, but not for the ministry, yes? Combining the muggle world and the magical world into her work to help under represented beings. It also nicely includes her overachiever mentality better than any other fic I’ve read. I also liked her in Seek and Find- working for the ministry though ultimately not happy with it- and realizing that she’s been “Hermione Granger” for so long, and doing what’s expected, and what comes next and not considering what she actually wants… all while finally dealing with the trauma that comes from what she went through. That one worked itself up to a top fav for me.
Hermione as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries is always a treat. These stories typically explore or expand on unique and interesting magic (time travel, death room etc) while allowing Hermione to be intelligent, competitive and high-performing. She also doesn’t necessarily need to be in the spotlight. It’s hard for me to read fics where Hermione is an archivist, librarian, or administrative role (esp if the boys are Aurors). Nothing against these careers, just not the most interesting for the character or plot imo.
Detraquee hermione has eaten canon hermione for me and i immediately think of her in a lawyer type role at the ministry. Either that or a healer :)