The last conversation Hermione had with her parents was unpleasant. It happened last year, just before she left for Hogwarts. With everything happening in magical Britain, she was sure she would be hunted. After all, she was the right hand of the Chosen One — moreover, she was his brain, and what is a person without a brain? Exactly, nothing.
Hermione would never admit it to herself, but deep down she believed that she was now the number one target for Voldemort's followers if they had any sense of evaluating their opponents — and they certainly did. This meant there would definitely be a hunt for her, and the enemies would inevitably come after her parents. This not only put their lives in danger, but they could also reveal the little she had let slip to them during the holidays under interrogation.
However, her parents refused to understand how real the threat was. Peaceful Muggles, they knew almost nothing about the wizarding war because Hermione couldn't tell them everything, and they couldn't fathom that in this modern, civilized time, someone might attack and torture them to death because of their seventeen-year-old daughter. Their little girl, the model student, simply couldn't be involved in anything like that. They still didn't take the magical world seriously, having never really seen true magic. First, the law for underage wizards prohibited Hermione from performing magic at home in front of her parents, and last summer, when she was allowed to, she no longer felt like doing it. They wouldn't understand anyway — after all, they were just Muggles.
No amount of persuasion worked on her parents, but Hermione had to save them and protect her secrets. Over her years at school, she had learned well that for the greater good, any violation of rules, laws, and ethics was acceptable — as long as it didn't involve the three Unforgivable Curses. Back in her second year, when she had access to the Restricted Section from Lockhart, she had read about a spell that could erase all memories related to a specific subject, case, or person. Hermione's memory was excellent, and the spell was preserved there with perfect accuracy. Under different circumstances, she wouldn't have dared use it, but now the necessity was undeniable.
And so, Hermione cast the spell on her parents. While they stared in confusion at their surroundings and the unfamiliar girl before them, Hermione cast the suggestion spell on them, convincing herself that a short-term version of the Imperius Curse wasn't the same as the actual Imperius and that it wasn't on the list of Unforgivable Curses. Now, the Grangers believed they were the Wilkinses and were obsessed with the idea that for their safety, they needed to leave for Australia immediately and stay there. Hermione magically altered their last name in their passports, and they were to take care of the rest themselves. As soon as she lowered her wand, her parents hurriedly began packing their suitcases, paying no attention to the stranger. Hermione sighed in relief — her plan had worked.
Now, the war was over, and Hermione was eagerly looking forward to reuniting with her parents. They might be a little angry at her at first. Maybe even very angry, but she would explain everything, and they would understand that it was for their own good. And when she told them that she and Ron were getting married soon, her parents would be happy and forgive her completely. They had already met Ron's parents — they had seen each other once in Diagon Alley, so no introduction would be needed. They would simply meet and work everything out.
But when Hermione stepped out of the portal in Canberra, she suddenly realized that she didn't know where to find her parents. She had spent a significant portion of her relatively short life among wizards and had become accustomed to the fact that the world was small and everything in it was done with a wand. Having entered that world as a child, Hermione hadn't known or guessed how many documents accompanied the life of an ordinary non-magical person. Her parents had insisted she get a Muggle passport, and she thought that would be enough.
Australia was enormous, and Hermione didn't even know which city her parents had arrived in. She had been so happy then that she had managed to send them far away from Britain that she overlooked this detail. Besides, she had more pressing matters to deal with at the time. But being a smart girl, she figured out to ask a police officer what to do if you wanted to find a resident.
At the inquiry office, they told her that there were several dozen Wilkinses living in Canberra alone, so she would need more precise details. Hermione didn't remember what else besides their surnames had changed in her parents' passports due to her spell — she couldn't have remembered because she hadn't checked. So, she gave their original names and birth dates. No Wilkinses with those details lived in Canberra. She then requested a search across all of Australia and received the same result.
Her parents should have flown here — the suggestion spell wouldn't have allowed them to act otherwise. They had hurriedly left their home, talking between themselves about needing to get to Australia quickly, so they were here, but for some reason, they weren't registered anywhere. If they were wizards, she could have sought help from the Australian Ministry, but they were Muggles, unimportant to anyone but her.
That day, they surely bought tickets for the next available flight, and the arrival city didn't matter to them. Hermione requested a flight schedule from Britain and wrote down all the Australian destinations for the day her parents left. Her search radius narrowed, but it still included several large cities. Only magic could help her now, so Hermione started recalling everything she had read about tracking spells.
Unfortunately, she couldn't remember anything that would help find two Muggles in the vastness of Australia. Hermione wasn't desperate yet, but she was at a loss when Snape contacted her. As soon as he arrived in Australia, he sent his Patronus to her, saying he was waiting at the Ministry.
Never before had Hermione been so glad to see that unpleasant Potions Master. She already knew that Snape had been on Dumbledore's side and had nearly died from Nagini's bite on the final day of the war, but she needed time to adjust to that knowledge. Besides, the Potions Master was thoroughly unpleasant in manner, no matter whose side he was on — but not today, when she had no idea what to do next. Today, she rushed to him as if to a dear friend.
"Professor..." she began when she saw Snape sitting in a chair in the portal hall. But she fell silent, not knowing why he had come here.
"Yes, Granger, I'm here about your case," he said irritably in response to her unspoken questions. "Yes, Dumbledore sent me to help you. So brief me on everything, without your usual vagueness. The sooner I figure out the problem, the sooner we can be done with it. And I'm no longer a professor — I don't teach at Hogwarts anymore."
"Alright, Mr. Snape." Hermione was beginning to realize that this task was beyond her alone. "I was afraid Death Eaters would come after my parents, so I erased all their memories of me and made them believe they were the Wilkinses and needed to move here, to Australia. Now I need to find them and restore their memories."
Snape stared at her for a while. If Hermione didn't know that she was an outstanding student who didn't deserve such a look, she would have said he was looking at her like she was a hopeless fool.
"What did you do, Granger?" he repeated as if he hadn't heard her the first time.
"I erased all their memories of me. There's a spell that completely removes knowledge of a particular subject, matter, or person."
"Where and when did you learn about it, Granger?" he asked in the same flat, stunned voice.
"In second year, in the Restricted Section."
"Granger, it's no secret to me that you're not particularly bright, but to this extent... Did it ever occur to you that books end up in the Restricted Section not to deny you knowledge but to protect you from it?"
"But, Mr. Snape, I never use knowledge thoughtlessly or for harm. This spell was necessary; it fit the situation — that's the only reason I used it."
"And how did you convince the victims of your... er... literacy to move to Australia?"
"I suggested to my parents that they were in danger in Britain and therefore needed to move to Australia immediately and stay there. There's a suggestion spell, I read—"
"I know. It's also called the minor Imperius."
"No, it's not Imperius; it doesn't even sound like that!"
"It's not about how it sounds; it's about what it does. But who am I talking to…" Snape waved his hand in frustration.
"But you'll help me, Mr. Snape?" Hermione asked fearfully.
"Granger, first of all, let me paint a picture for you because you're evaluating the situation incorrectly. The spells you subjected your parents to don't encourage rational behavior. Did you notice how your parents acted after you 'processed' them?"
"They immediately forgot about me, quickly packed their suitcases, and headed to the airport."
"And didn't you find it odd that they left their home without even noticing the stranger in it?"
Hermione paused.
"They acted like that until they left, but after that, they should behave normally."
"And why would they, Granger? Just because you want them to?"
"Because they would have already fulfilled my suggestion."
"Really? And don't your words 'and stay there' mean anything to you? Besides, you ripped out a whole eighteen-year chunk of their lives, so they were disoriented and incapable of behaving normally. Granger, if some people act suspiciously, they will attract the attention of the police, and their documents will be thoroughly checked. In your case, it would be revealed that no Wilkinses were born in the place specified in their documents, that they have no diplomas, no work references, and no evidence whatsoever that they ever lived, studied, or worked anywhere before moving to Australia. They have no relatives or acquaintances who could confirm their identities. So, if your parents were left slightly irrational after your intervention, they are probably in one of the Australian prisons; if they were completely irrational, then in a psychiatric hospital. Given what you did to them, I'd bet on the latter."
"No, that can't be!" Hermione exclaimed in horror.
"Why?"
"Because I did everything right! And you... you... you're just trying to scare me!"
"As you wish." Snape shrugged. "Shall I return to Dumbledore and tell him you're refusing my help?"
"No!" Hermione sobbed. "I'll never find them without you..."
"From what you've told me, we won't find them without blood magic. There are dozens of prisons and hospitals in Australia, and those aren't places where it's easy to get information about the inmates."
Hermione disliked any form of magic that was only performed by the wizarding aristocracy and was therefore banned by the democratic Ministry.
"But blood magic is forbidden!" she protested.
"You weren't bothered by using spells from the restricted section. Why are you bothered by blood magic?"
"Because it's dark!"
"No darker than what you did to your parents."
"But I won't be able to perform blood magic myself..." Hermione looked at Snape hopefully. "But can you?"
"I can't," Snape reluctantly admitted. "Blood magic requires a family estate and a family stone, and I have neither."
"Do you know anyone who can?"
"I do. The Malfoys, for instance."
Hermione shuddered. She hadn't yet forgotten her time as a prisoner of the Malfoys.
"No, we'll manage without them," she muttered. "Let's keep searching for now."
Snape suspected that he might have to spend the next few years in Australia.
"Alright, Granger, let's say we find your parents. How do you plan to restore their memory?"
"Finite Incantatem, of course."
"Memory removal is irreversible. You removed their memory, not blocked it."
"That's not true! It wasn't written like that in the book."
"Granger, I have no desire to argue with you, because you can't be argued with, and we're not in class where I could deduct points and shut you up. But I honestly can't imagine what kind of miracle will restore your parents' memories."
"So what do we do?" Hermione asked in a defeated voice.
"Pray to the god of this world, if you believe in one."