Hermione Granger and the Paradigm Shift

Chapter 2 - Part 3

"Best to leave them to it," the voice supplied. "He won't give up until your friend makes the proper connections. If you let him have his fun now he'll leave you two alone for the rest of the night."

She turned to look at the source of the advice. He was a middle-aged man...calm and casual...extremely comfortable in his own skin. There was a handsomeness to his face that suggested he was quite the catch when he was younger. The years and his seeming inattentiveness to staying in shape had dulled the impact...but it was there.

"Klaus Dagworth," he supplied warmly, offering his hand in greeting.

"Hermione Granger," she greeted cautiously as she shook his hand, still a bit taken aback by the stranger's forthrightness. The man's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Ahhh...I was hoping to meet you tonight," he answered, clearly pleased at the turn of events.

Hermione instantly felt on edge, realizing that this was simply another moron wanting to get closer to Harry. He had most likely read Skeeter's articles from fourth year and was coming to all the wrong conclusions.

"I'm not sure what your expectations are but Harry is my friend and he doesn't like people who fawn over him."

"Who?" Dagworth answered, now clearly confused.

"You want me to introduce you to Harry Potter, right? Well, it's not going to happen," she stated, folding her arms in annoyance.

"That was Harry Potter?" he asked as he motioned to a nearby couch, inviting her to sit. "He's shorter than I expected."

As the man sat Hermione stood firm, arms still folded. "You expect me to believe you know me but not Harry? I may be a student but I'm not stupid, you know."

He held up his hands in contrition. "Let's begin again. I go by Klaus but my proper name is Nickolas."

Nickolas Dagworth...the name sounded familiar but she couldn't quite place it.

"I work at the Ministry...in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," he continued.

Then it clicked. He was the person who had politely responded to all of her impassioned letters regarding house-elf rights. Her mind coursed through all of the outraged insults this man had to suffer through thanks to her. Despite her rantings, his replies were always polite and gracious, always thanking her for her advocacy and updating her on the department's ongoing efforts.

"Oh god," she muttered in embarrassment as she took a seat.

He laughed and gave her a consoling pat on the shoulder as he handed her a drink. "There's nothing to apologize for, Miss Granger. Your passion and empathy on the subject was a breath of fresh air. Although sorting out the elves you set free from Hogwarts was a bit of a wrench."

"It worked?" she asked, stunned and pleased that her knitting had yielded results.

"Just temporarily until the elves caught on to what you were doing. We were able to re-establish the bond relatively quickly for the few who fell for it," he reassured.

Typical. She should have known his kind words were just that...words to placate a schoolgirl on a pointless crusade.

"Well, you certainly lived up to your department's name. Wizards and Witches must establish control, right? Can't mess with the brainwashing after all."

She expected him to laugh and patronize her for being so naive. Instead, he waited for her to calm before speaking.

"As I recall from your letters you are muggleborn. Are your parents still married?" he asked inexplicably.