Attention!!! There is a web series about a 25-year-old Hermione Granger, who is played by a black actress (!!!), and is essentially over it all.
Created by Harry Potter super fan Eliyannah Amirah Yisrael, it’s called “Hermione Granger and the Quarter Life Crisis” and the first five episodes (as well as a series of short, standalone clips) are already up on YouTube.
From the very first episode, it’s clear that this is the fan series that an entire segment of the Potterhead community has been waiting for, even if they didn’t realize it.
Here’s the premise: The year is 2004. It’s been a few years since the Second Wizarding War, and Adult Hermione realizes that she isn’t happy with her job at the Ministry of Magic, or her relationship with Ron Weasley.
So, she Apparates to LA (something that would get a lesser witch splinched) to get help from her best friend and former Gryffindor roommate, Parvati Patil (Sinead Persaud), who is still as glamorous as ever and working as a beauty editor at a huge magical magazine.
Parvati instantly goes into best friend mode, and welcomes Hermione into her apartment with open arms. Along the way, Hermione meets and reconnects with an interesting cast of characters, including...
LaQuita Granger (Tamara French)
Hermione’s fun, witty Muggle (well, No-Maj, since LaQuita’s from the U.S. branch of the Granger fam) cousin who has no idea that there’s a witch in the family.
Juniper Dias (Stephanie Ezekiel)
Parvati’s roommate and co-worker. She’s a No-Maj-born Ilvermorny grad and a computer hacker with a cutting remark for every occasion and little patience for her roommate’s famous houseguest.
Draco Malfoy (Nicholas D. Johnson)
Yup, the one and only. He’s living in LA for reasons the show hasn’t addressed yet, and while he gets on pretty well with Juniper and Parvati, you can bet things are awkward between him and Hermione.
Kang Tae Joon (Chase Maser)
Another Ilvermorny alum, Tae Joon is a professional Quidditch player from a family of professional Quidditch players. He’s a big flirt and is already becoming something of a fan favorite (they’ve officially nicknamed him #QuidditchBae).
And even though we haven't gotten to know these two friends yet...
...she also meets Leslie “Dez” Desmond (played by Robert Dowdy, left), a wizard activist who was once head of Ilvermorny’s Black Student Union and a chair of the Ilvermorny Brown & Down Student Organization, and Benjamin van der Brahm (DJ Ester), a research scientist who attended several magical schools, including Hogwarts.
The show is perfect for any Harry Potter fan who fits one or more of the following qualifications:
1. Before the movies, Hermione was black in your head canon.
2. You always wondered what being a young person in the magical community was like when there wasn’t a war on.
3. You know in your heart, that no matter what J.K. Rowling wrote, Ronald Weasley never proved that he deserved Hermione.
4. You’ve always known there was more to Parvati than giggling with Lavender Brown in Divination classes, and you’re still pissed at Harry and Ron for failing to appreciate the fact that they asked the Patil twins (who they explicitly said were two of the prettiest girls in their year) to the Yule Ball at the LAST MINUTE and then proceeded to ignore them for the entire dance.
5. You wanted to know more about Hermione’s dentist parents and the rest of the Granger family.
6. You’re entering, are in the middle of, or have previously experienced a quarter-life crisis.
7. You have a special place in your heart for the early ‘00s.
Of course, if you’re not a huge fan of Harry Potter, you can connect with it, too.
You might not understand some of the magical references, or completely understand why Hermione’s interactions with Draco are quite so awkward, but who among us hasn’t felt lost? Who hasn’t been worried that they’re making all of the wrong decisions about their future? Who hasn’t had to crash on a friends’ couch well past the time that you’ve outworn your welcome?
Basically, it is amazing and you should watch the first five episodes immediately. Check out the trailer below.
