Chapter 3: In Which Hermione Learns of Her Captor
Standing in the doorway was none other than Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. He was a short man with light blue eyes and rumpled gray hair that was crammed under a lime-green bowler. For some reason, he appeared tall to Hermione now and broader shouldered.
When his eyes met hers, he gave her a strange, small, distant smile and removed his bowler hat.
"Hello, Miss Granger," he said quietly as he stepped into the small cell. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Hermione couldn't exactly say the same. She could only gape, open-mouthed, in astonishment and shock.
"You're the one who kidnapped me?" she blurted out before she could stop herself. "But- but it couldn't have possibly been you! You- you're the Minister of Magic, and the Minister of Magic would never- would never…"
But her words utterly failed her, and her voice trailed off, unable to finish. This was too much to believe.
Fudge's eyes widened innocently as he waved off her near accusation.
"Of course not, Miss Granger," he replied. "As you said so yourself, I am the Minister of Magic, and I would never kidnap an innocent little girl like yourself." He chuckled under his breath. "Oh, no, I would never do that. It never looks good for the Minister of Magic to go around kidnapping children, does it? Well, all I have to say, Miss Granger, is that this is just a little misunderstanding. You can go free…"
"I can?" Hermione said, startled.
"…Yes. As soon as you answer some simple questions for me," Fudge replied, smiling that innocent, unthreatening smile. His voice was calm and coaxing. "You're a very smart girl, Miss Granger. I know that you have very good grades too. I'm sure that you can answer these little questions for me."
"What kind of questions?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"They are questions that I am sure that you have the answers to," Fudge said simply. He went on conversationally, "After all, you have the answers to almost every question in your classes back at Hogwarts, right, Miss Granger?"
She said nothing to this. She merely stared blankly.
"Oh, yes, I've heard all about the great, smart Hermione Granger," Fudge went on. "Yes, I hear that the teachers are greatly fond of you, Miss Granger. They tell me about you all the time, how clever you are, and what an extraordinary student you are…I'm sure they praise you and talk to you all the time…Tell me, Hermione, did your teachers ever mention anything odd to you? Anything that seemed mysterious that they didn't share with the other students?"
Again, Hermione stared. What was Fudge getting at?
Fudge hesitated, as if trying to decide whether or not to continue. Finally, he just said without preamble, "Miss Granger, have the teachers at Hogwarts ever mentioned anything to you, anything at all, about a secret organization called the 'Order of the Phoenix'?"
She shrugged. Her voice was small and frail. "No. I've never heard of it. What is it?"
"Miss Granger," Fudge said impatiently. "As far as the Ministry knows, the Order of the Phoenix is a secret organization of those who want to eliminate the Dark Lord, but in the end, will eliminate us. Frankly, our Ministry believes that some of the teachers at Hogwarts may be members of this Order of the Phoenix. The members of this organization have strange, crazy ideas of making treaties with our mortal enemies so that we can join up with them to destroy the Dark Lord."
"Well, what's wrong with that?" Hermione asked. "As long as they're helping us, why should we-"
Fudge waved his hand and interrupted her impatiently. "Miss Granger, joining up with our enemies, such as the vampires, giants, wraiths, and other misfits of the magical world will be our end. It doesn't matter if they help us destroy the Dark Lord or not. If they are freed from the regions in which they are held captive, they will never be able to be bound again. As soon as they are freed, even if it was believed that they would be our allies, they would destroy us because of their anger. They will be our end if we allow the Order of the Phoenix to make such a corrupt, utterly dangerous treaty and free these misfits."
He demanded, "Now do you know anything about the Order of the Phoenix or not, Miss Granger?"
Again, she shook her head. She said quietly, "No, Mr. Fudge, I don't. I don't believe that the teachers at Hogwarts would ever join any group that would cause harm to other people. They are good and kind, unlike you. They are-"
"SILENCE!" Fudge roared, suddenly jumping. "I will not be spoken to like this by a lying, filthy, stupid, little girl!" He controlled his anger momentarily, his eyes bulging, and a tic going in his temple. He lowered his voice, muttering, "Listen to me, Miss Granger. I am the Minister of Magic, and I am much more significant than you are. I have many more people under my influence than you do. I believe that you are lying to me to protect your precious Hogwarts, your friends, and your teachers because you have silly delusions of what you're doing is brave and good. It is not at all brave or good. You will be the one to kill us all if you don't tell us about this Order of the Phoenix."
Hermione sat frozen in her chair, watching him as he crammed his bowler hat hastily back on his head.
He said curtly, "When you want to tell me the truth, tell the jailer when he comes to bring you your meal, and he will bring you to come see me."
He then turned around and began to storm out of the cell. Just before he slammed the heavy stone door, he spoke to her maliciously.
"Oh, you should have a good look around your cell. It is the only thing you'll be seeing for a long time," he hissed.
The heavy door slammed shut with a loud thud, and then the iron gate outside of it squealed shut.
Now Hermione truly was alone and hopeless.