Disclaimer : Harry Potter and his world - JKR's
A/N. Harry just found out that Ron is in serious condition at St. Mungo's and Hermione is being held by the Ministry for murder.
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Chapter 6. The Ministry's Theory
"That's totally ridiculous! Hermione would never do that!"
He was screaming at no one in particular, a look of disbelief on his face. How could anyone come to that conclusion?
"I know, Harry. We don't believe it either but the evidence is overwhelming," Ginny tried to clarify. "Her wand revealed everything and she's not exactly doing much to clear her name."
"What do you mean? What is she saying about what happened?"
"That's just it. Nothing. She's not cooperating with the investigation. She's not even denying that she did it."
Harry was really confused. "Has anyone tried to reason with her?"
"We've all tried. But she doesn't want to talk to any of us. I tried and she wouldn't even look at me. It also makes matters worse that no one has actually seen her for the last four months outside of work. Aside from Ron, that is. The last few months one would think they were back together. They were spending so much time together."
Harry hesitated, "Ron and Hermione aren't married?"
Ginny shook her head.
"Hermione broke up with him around the time you left, you know, during one of those times he was going to propose. He did not really have a chance to be sore about it because everyone was kind of busy mourning your leaving. He eventually agreed with her that it was all for the best. They are much better off just friends, really."
Harry's heart sank. He remembered that night as if it was yesterday. How could he have assumed she had said yes? Would it have changed anything had he not come to spy on them that night and waited for news the following day? Would he have pursued a relationship with her had he known she had broken up with Ron? Would he have left? Maybe, Ron wouldn't be in St Mungo's, Hermione wouldn't be in trouble and he would be happier. Maybe.
"Wotcher, Harry," Tonks came into the room followed by Remus. He gave both of them a hug and asked what they knew.
"She made things worse by resisting arrest, Harry," Tonks added. "It took seven Aurors to subdue her and she actually put three of them into beds here that night. I'm just glad I didn't have to be there."
"How is she?" he asked, imagining a most horrible fate having to fight seven witches and wizards.
"She broke an arm and cut a leg trying to evade a curse. There is the bruising from the three Stunners she got on her chest. All in all, she was lucky to have come out of it with just that. Of course, she'll soon be moved to Azkaban. We all know that can be worse."
The Dementors were back guarding the wizard prison.
"We've got to help her! She didn't do this!"
"I don't see how we can if she doesn't want any help," Remus said quietly.
"I'd like to see her," he said finally.
Remus nodded, "We thought you would. The Minister has given his permission."
"But he would like to talk to you first to brief you on what the Ministry knows. Everyone feels you're key to getting to the bottom of this," said Tonks.
"She's innocent, Tonks, and if there is one person who has ideas on how to get Ron back it would be her."
Remus took him aside and said solemnly, "Harry, just to warn you, she's not the Hermione you know."
"What do you mean?" Harry wanted to understand.
Remus replied, "It's best if you see for yourself."
Remus was looking at him reflectively, "Harry, I'm sure you had your reasons and it's not the time to talk about why you left. I just want you to know, and I speak for Dora and a lot of the Weasleys, it's good to have you back."
Harry nodded and he gave Remus Lupin another hug. This was his family and he knew then he would never leave them again.
A few minutes later, Tonks escorted Harry to the bowels of the hospital. The lifts did not go there and they had to descend five more flights of stairs to reach a dark corridor. Obviously, no visitors were allowed in this section. She took him to a well-lit room. The walls were glass and at the moment, all the blinds were drawn down. At the centre of the room was a rectangular desk surrounded by eight chairs. A Pensieve was at the end of the table. A man, looking very much like a lion, greeted him with a handshake.
"Harry, I wish we were meeting under better circumstances," Rufus Scrimgeour retained his position at the Ministry and had gained more popularity as a leader following the defeat of Voldemort.
"We have to stop meeting like this, Minister," Harry replied as he shook the Minister's hand, "I see that you, again, have the wrong person behind bars."
The Minister showed no signs of being fazed by Harry's comment.
"I don't think we would expect any less loyalty from one of Gryffindor's finest alumni. However, I would hope that you would at least keep an open mind, particularly to what the evidence is showing us."
He motioned Harry to a seat beside the Pensieve and directed his attention to a short, youthful looking, waif-like wizard wearing what appeared to be the finest robes Galleons could buy.
"Harry, this is Miguel Gomez. He is the interim Head of the Department of Mysteries. He will brief you on what we have found out so far. What you will see is classified and I would hope it will not leave this room."
Harry nodded. He was anxious to find out how they came to the conclusion that Hermione did it.
"Mr. Potter, as you know Miss Granger is, was an Unspeakable. Eighteen months ago, the then Head, James Dorner, created a small division of elite witches and wizards to delve into the more controversial mysteries that we previously thought too dark to consider for appropriate study. He chose three and we believe Miss Granger was one of them."
"The very nature of the work they were going to embark on made it imperative that they were unknown, even to each other. They had cover assignments and they had to blend in with the rest. In fact, the existence of this division is so classified the Minister cannot confirm on any record that it actually exists. Mr. Dorner was the only person who knew who the members were and what they were working on at any given time."
"Why Hermione?" he asked.
"For the obvious reasons; her brilliant mind and seemingly lack of personal connection. She was putting in almost twenty hours a day at the Ministry and having fought Voldemort with you was a definite asset on her part."
"We think that in the course of her research, she stumbled onto something very powerful, but so dark that the Mr. Dorner pulled the plug on it. Against direct orders, she continued working on it and was consumed by its completion. She worked longer hours and her relationship with Mr. Weasley suffered as a result of her obsession."
"Five months ago, she asked Mr. Weasley to be assigned to protect her from what she referred to as potential threats to her work. We believe this was an attempt on her part to mend their flailing relationship."
"But things still did not work out. Mr Weasley began seeing another witch. She snapped when the Mr. Dorner confronted her about discontinuing her research on a Project Lumos and used the dark magic that she had been working on against him. Her wand was used to kill Mr. Dorner and its last spell was an attack on Mr. Weasley."
"But anyone could have used her wand to implicate her."
"True, but the evidence does not support that. Her wand was fingerprinted and examined for DNA, with help from our Muggle counterparts. All we could find was hers."
"And why do you think she would hurt Ron?" Harry asked.
"Revenge for a betrayal. She was about to lose the only relationship she still had and was out of control. She invited him to her place of residence later that night to curse him. He was likely already incapacitated when she started fighting off the first group of Aurors who responded to the call to apprehend her. At some point she realized and started feeling remorse for what she had done because she stopped casting curses and hexes. That was when the others finally subdued her."
"Is that it?" Harry asked after he noticed the Minister, Gomez and Tonks were looking at him.
"Well, yes," Gomez replied.
"It's the most unbelievable story I have ever heard."
"Why is that, Mr Potter?"
"Hermione would never intentionally hurt anyone or anything, unless she or someone she cared for was in imminent mortal danger. All her adult life, she has been fighting against the Dark Arts. I fought beside her against Voldemort and if she was going to turn that was the time to do it. And even if Ron was seeing someone else, she would not go to that extreme."
"Mr. Potter, you have been away for a couple of years," Mr. Scrimgeour interjected. "People change, and sadly, your friend had turned for the worse."
With that, the Minister flicked his wand and a blue screen appeared beside the Pensieve. On it was a frozen image and with another flick the image started to move. What he saw unnerved him. It was a replay of Hermione's interrogation in the very room they were in.
He almost did not recognize her; her bushy brown hair tied back haphazardly in a knot, her left lower lip was swollen and there was a fresh bruise on right cheek. She had lost a lot of weight since he last saw her and there was a rawness about her he had not noticed before. Her left leg was heavily bandaged and her right arm was in a cast. She was suspended mid air in some sort of a binding curse. She seemed to be only able to move her head, her face and her eyes, though she seemed to be looking straight at the person who's memory this was being replayed. Her brown eyes were detached and devoid of any emotion save for utmost rage.
Tonks came into the picture.
"Hermione, we can help, we want to help. Just tell us what happened tonight."
Hermione looked at her and did not answer. She reverted her gaze front and centre.
"What happened to Ron, Hermione? He's in bad shape and we can only help him if we know what hit him."
Harry saw that Tonks was trying to appeal to her. Surely she would try to save Ron, or help at least.
A cold uncaring voice came out of Hermione's moving lips, Harry had trouble accepting that it was Hermione's, "There are so many Aurors and so few dark wizards, maybe the Ministry can use some of them to actually solve cases and not rely on know-it-alls to answer everything for them."
A man's angry voice came from behind the recorder, "You put three Aurors in the hospital tonight!"
Hermione smiled, taunting, "It seems that we are not training them as well as we should. Somebody should look into that, Minister."
She laughed and grimaced as she felt a pain from laughing. She probably had a broken rib.
"Did you kill Mr. Dorner?"
"I don't want to speak ill of the dead but Mr. Dorner was an egotistical pigheaded asshole who deserved what he got."
"What about Mr. Lowes death?
"You mean the lowlife is dead, too? One less scum on earth."
"Did you curse your friend Mr Weasley in a fit of jealous rage?"
She laughed and again winced in pain.
"What is Project Lumos?"
She smiled, "We were trying to find out which filament is better to use for incandescent light."
There was a whisper from the crowd behind, "Someone should check on that."
"Why did Mr. Dorner want you to stop working on it?"
"We were not having much success and were breaking a lot of light bulbs."
"Were you asked by Mr. Dorner to work on unofficial projects?"
"All my projects came from Mr. Dorner; he's a Ministry official; if you passed Logic 101 you should be able to figure that one out."
"Your wand shows it was involved in the curses that were done tonight. It appears that prior to tonight, it hasn't been used for at least a month, possibly longer."
"It was on holidays. The Alps, skiing."
"It would be in your best interest to cooperate, Miss Granger."
"Let me see; witch works too hard, loses boyfriend, loses mind, kills slave driver boss and annoying co-worker, then invites ex-boyfriend over to get final revenge. And by the way, she does not even attempt to cover this up. She uses her own wand, makes no real attempt to flee and maybe has a death wish trying to battle Aurors all by herself. It sounds like you don't need any help from me to decide my guilt. After all, if I did indeed do all that I am a crazed lunatic, why should I cooperate?"
"We need a Legilimiens," one of the interrogators said. An assistant scribbled a quick note. He put it through what looked like a faucet and it disappeared in an instant.
"Miss Granger, who is Richard Tilly?
No answer.
"He's an Inspector at Scotland Yard."
No answer.
"He says he's your boyfriend."
She chuckled and retorted, "That's what he would say."
"Why should we believe him?"
"You shouldn't or else you'd have to re-think your theory."
"For a Muggle, he knows a lot about our world. Is he connected with Project Lumos?"
"I'm sure you asked him."
"When he tried to talk about it he started stammering. Then he said that you and Mr. Weasley were working on it with him, but had asked him to sign a contract that he could not discuss anything magic-related to the Muggles and Lumos related to us. He said it was so we did not have to Obliviate him."
"I'm sure you tried anyway. You can't say you weren't warned. I prefer my few friends to remember who I am."
There was murmuring in the crowd.
The interrogator broke the mumblings, "Mr. Greasely, the head of our Obliviator Squad, is on the 4th floor. Can you tell us how to set him right?"
"And I like Mr. Greasely. He'll stop quacking in two weeks."
Minutes later, a familiar pale-faced tall blonde man walked in.
"Granger, what a predicament you've got yourself into," Draco Malfoy drawled.
Hermione gave him a look of deep loathing and turned to the interviewer, "Are you sure you want him to look into my mind? Oh, I'm going to enjoy this."
Malfoy projected a blank image from his mind onto the blue screen so everyone could see what images he could retrieve from Hermione. He looked at Hermione who stared back at him.
The first image that appeared was Malfoy whimpering after being hit by Buckbeak. The second was an image of Malfoy covered with jinxes on the Hogwarts Express. Then there was an image of a bouncing white ferret. A third image of Malfoy was being humiliated by a Seeker during a game of Quidditch. Harry noticed that the face of the other Seeker who beat Malfoy to the Snitch was not well defined, and sadly, Harry knew it was him.
Finally, a Dark Mark on an arm, causing gasping from the room then an image of the back of a hand with just the middle finger unflexed.
"We could go on forever, Malfoy," she challenged. "Should we let everyone see what really happened on the tower that night with Professor Dumbledore?"
Harry noticed Hermione was tiring and recognized the empty threat she shot at Malfoy so he would stop. She was showing Malfoy her memories and thoughts, and not really Malfoy's.
Malfoy averted his gaze and muttered, "Sorry, I can't break her."
The Minister gave him a pat on the back and Malfoy left the room.
"What now?" he asked the room.
"Miss Granger, is there someone, anyone, you would allow a conversation with."
"Professor Dumbledore comes to mind."
"Dumbledore's been dead for years."
Murmurs from the investigators, "She's a lunatic."
"You did ask."
"How about Harry, Harry Potter?"
It was Tonks' voice. Hermione looked at her, amused.
"Well Tonks, sure, why not. I will talk to Harry Potter. Of course, best of luck in finding him."
With another wave of a wand, the image was gone.