Hermione Granger and the Theft of Magic

Chapter 1: Esoteric Interests

Summary:

(AU) Hermione Granger's dissertation advisor and even her parents think she's crazy to suggest Britain may once have had magic, but a concerned DMLE sees her research as a risk to the Statute of Secrecy and sends a messy-haired, green-eyed Auror to investigate. Her tenacity combined with his fast thinking uncovers a conspiracy against wizarding Britain and an impossible test standing between her and the life they stole from her. Hermione has never failed a test in her life, though, and she's not going to start now.

I'd like to give a shout-out to the sadly unfinished "Something There" by "angel of moozik" for the basic idea of this story, though I've taken it in a very different direction. Hermione's characterization in this piece is also indebted to "There's a Crown, Covered in Glitter and Gold" by MissELY.

Thank you to Feelslikeivy and TallulahEuphemia for beta-reading Chapters 1 & 2!

Trigger warnings:

Canon-typical violence, torture (Cruciatus Curse usage), child abuse (referenced; i.e., retellings of canon Dursley incidents)

Shipping notes:

Harry/Hermione; Remus/Sirius (pre-existing); Susan/Neville (slow burn). No Ron bashing and just a bit of posthumous Dumbledore bashing. Susan will be OOC, but IMO this Susan is more like someone raised by Amelia Bones than the Susan from the books.

AU Notes:

I apologise for the extensive notes, but there are a lot of changes from canon that you should be aware of.

For reasons that are, as yet, unknown, Hermione and other muggle-borns of her age from canon are never discovered to be magical and thus never come to Hogwarts.

O.W.L. tests are more important than in canon and are treated as the wizarding equivalent of getting one's citizenship. If you can't pass at least four by your eighteenth birthday, you're considered a danger to everyone around you (as well as the Statute of Secrecy), and your wand is snapped along with your magic being bound. I'm pretty sure I first saw this in a story by the inimitable Keira Marcos, but I'm not positive. W.O.M.B.A.T.s do not exist in this story because they're not in the books and I think they're kind of pointless.

Voldemort only managed to create a single horcrux (the Diary), and that only by accident. He never succeeded in recreating the incident but came closest with Harry, who was left with a nasty dark curse scar.

A quick summary of Harry's time at Hogwarts:

Year 1 went pretty much the same without Hermione, except with Neville as the target of Ron's bullying and the troll. Harry, Ron, and Neville become inseparable friends.

Year 2 went similarly. Lucius realised that he had the opportunity to either put Voldemort in his debt or get rid of him entirely by giving Ginny the diary. Only half-bloods are attacked, since there are no muggle-born students present, and there are fewer attacks in total. Since Lockhart didn't know what was in the Chamber, he went with them and died. That gave Harry and Ron enough warning to close their eyes and run. Tom tried to stop them, but only succeeded in trapping Harry, at which point things returned to canon. Harry's killing of the horcrux fulfilled the prophecy.

Year 3 went similarly, with one major exception: the perma-death of Voldy means that Snape no longer needs protection, so he moves to an isolated house on the North York Moors with the goal of never seeing another child again. Andromeda Tonks takes over as Potions Mistress, and Pettigrew is captured without Snape there to bollocks things up. Sirius ends the year a free man and takes custody of Harry. Over the course of this year, Susan Bones gradually joins Harry's group of friends.