"And the direction to get in touch with her parents? It might be better to just call them and tell them where they can find her," Severus said coming into the kitchen where Harry was defrosting a casserole in the microwave. Thinking to himself, 'And that way I can suggest again they move out of the country. Even if Albus is no longer a threat, he did have friends.
"I used to. I unplugged it when the Dursley's left. Didn't want to deal with his sister getting drunk and trying to find them. Then getting angry to discover I'm still here. Might still be connected though. I'll check. And yes I have her direction. She gave it to me at the end of first year before I learned what kind of a person she was."
He plugged the cord back into the wall and picked up the receiver. He passed it over when he heard a dial tone. He was pleased to discover he did still have service. Then he hunted down Hermione's home direction and called her parents. Severus took the phone from him and, when the adult Grangers answered, informed them of what had occurred this afternoon and where they could find their daughter now. It was a short conversation and Severus was scowling as he set the receiver back in the cradle.
After he hung up he explained, "The last time I saw them, her parents were justifiably upset at her branding. They blamed us for not putting a stop to the behavior she was displaying that led to it. But they also blamed you for doing it to her. It doesn't help that she can't admit she did you wrong. I know they are taking her to a mind healer but she isn't cooperating with her treatment. And they're still angry. I think now they're mainly angry with the staff at Hogwarts or maybe it's her they're angry with. But still they weren't too happy to hear from me."
"When she got expelled, did she keep her wand rights?" Harry asked as he sat down and waited for Severus to take the seat across from him. Winky set the meal she'd fixed for them on the table and they began to eat as they discussed the potential problem. Hedwig flew in the open kitchen window and perched on the back of the chair next to Harry barking softly and happily to see her wizard again. Harry fed her small bits of meat as he barked back to her in her own language. Severus just watched and listened in awe as the two reconnected after a long separation.
When it seemed that conversation was finally over for now, he answered the question Harry had asked him. "Yes. The ministry provided a list of tutors and the issue with her stealing from your vaults was hushed up. Apparently they believed Albus authorized it and he was high up in the Ministry as well as at Hogwarts. That he had no right to do it was a moot point, since the public believes he was your magical guardian. The Ministry knows and admits they know he isn't and never was. But the public thinks he is because he said he was. She claimed to believe he had the right to pay her for her service to him in his care of you. So to avoid bad press over it, the Ministry was willing to do whatever they needed to in order to make the problem, ie: her, go away. Her parents selected a tutor from the list and the Ministry paid them to get her through her Owls."
Bitterly Harry replied, "I'm perfectly sure quite a few of my galleons went along way towards hiring those tutors for her so she could sit for her owls and keep her wand rights here in Britain."
"It doesn't really matter though, Harry. Because she lost far more than I think she realizes she did in making that agreement with the Ministry. She still has her wand rights though she doesn't, and never will, have a place in the British magical world. She had to agree to never again enter magical Britain in exchange for that concession. She is also magically bound to that agreement. Given her tendency to lie and cheat, no one was willing to simply accept her word to stay out of our territory. Considering her other option was to be prosecuted for the wrongs she did you where her sentence would most likely have been a one way trip through the Veil of Death, I don't blame her parents for taking the deal on her behalf and making her swear the oath."
Harry thought about it and decided Severus was right. Hermione had lost far more than she'd gained with that deal. "Agreed."
Harry shook his head and dismissed the hard luck of his former friend from his mind as he ate his dinner. Over the next two weeks Severus took Harry by apparition each day to the Ministry so he could sit for another Owl on the esoteric subjects he had been studying while still a Hogwarts student. He also took the Owls for Muggle Studies, Arithemancy and Ancient Runes which were offered at Hogwarts though he wasn't eligible to take them there since he wasn't in those classes. His results came in the middle of July.
On July thirty-first, Harry, with Severus' help, filled out and filed his emancipation papers for the magical world and his withdrawal notice for Hogwarts while the two elves were packing up and shutting down the house for another long absence. With all his Owls in hand, he was no longer required by law to return to Hogwarts or any other recognized school. He was already an emancipated minor in the muggle world having filed that while in his final year at Hogwarts with the help of Dobby and the goblins. So all he needed to do was send both these to the appropriate location and he was free and clear of Britain and it's people. Much to Hedwig's disgust they weren't using her to deliver them. Rather Dobby would pop each form as well as Severus' resignation to the appropriate location for them.