Summary: Hermione had always been the kind of person to do research before making a decision, but then decides to follow Dumbledore blindly? I set out to find, or create, a logical reason, and this was born!

IWSC:

School and Theme: Ilvermorny, The Coffin Shop

Main Prompt: [Action] Being Kidnapped/Kidnapping

Additional Prompts: [Dialogue] "I don't tip." / "You don't tip?" / "I don't believe in it." / "You don't believe in tipping?" - [Setting] London Underground

Year: 7th year

QLFC:

Team: Pride of Portree

Position: Chaser 3 - The Explorer

Main prompt: Fear: Entrapment

Other prompts: [Animal] Swan - [Colour] Gold - [Dialogue] "You don't understand." / "No. But I want to."

Story Title: Magical Entrapment

Wordcount: 1129

Trigger Warnings: Kidnapping, Manipulative!Dumbledore

A/N: So, this is going to feel out of place in the HP-verse, and I apologise for that. This is only a figment of my imagination, created because I wondered why Hermione was so resolute in researching things before making a decision, and then followed Dumbledore blindly without any reason, other than the fact that he had so many major roles in the Wizarding World.

Because her parents had dropped her off earlier than planned, Hermione decided to go and have some hot chocolate before going down the Underground. Her grandmother was only expecting her in an hour and the train ride—even at rush hour—took just forty minutes on average. Already having taken some money from her savings bank, Hermione slipped out of the car and grabbed her bag before walking to her mother's window. Her parents gave her a tense hug each, the family having distanced since Hermione got her Hogwarts letter, and left the station after very little persuasion.

Hermione had found a coffee shop, Redemption Roasters, outside the station the last time she went to visit her grandmother, and decided to purchase a hot chocolate to satisfy her craving as well as a cookie. Hermione walked up to the register, and then informed the cashier of her decision and paid, before she sat down and waited for her order to be ready. When her name was called, Hermione stood up to collect the hot chocolate, and was asked if she wanted to leave a tip.

"I don't tip."

"You don't tip?"

"I don't believe in it."

"You don't believe in tipping?"

The dark-haired male's eyebrow rose, not believing her. Hermione just sighed, before leaving the cafe with her to-go hot chocolate and cookie. She headed towards the Euston Station and carefully took her ticket out of her purse. Seeing how many people there were now, she was glad she'd bought it the previous night. Hermione checked the timetable; she had good 5 minutes before the next Morden train arrived at platform 4 and then the following was after 6 minutes on platform three. She arrived with 3 minutes to spare at platform three. Finding a seat, she sat down to eat before the Northern line via Bank train arrived. An elderly couple Hermione saw in the coffee shop came over and asked if they could share the bench and she happily obliged, moving aside so they could sit together.

"We saw what you did in the coffee shop back there and we're surprised you don't believe in tipping," said the man.

"No, well, I don't usually do it, and it just became a habit. I also don't believe in tipping a company or person for no reason; they have to earn the tip. Most places I go don't earn the tip, so I don't leave one."

This ended up starting a conversation branching from the coffee shop, to games they might enjoy.

"You don't understand."

"No," the woman, Marleen, agreed, "but I want to. And I'm sure Kent does too. Jeopardy seems like an interesting game."

Their conversation was cut short when the tube arrived, the three of them standing up to board it. Because of the rush hour, Hermione got separated from the couple, but managed to wave them goodbye before being squeezed inside along with the rest of the people waiting on the platform.

Hermione was continuing up to the streets, when suddenly, she felt a spell hit her in the back and briefly wondered why her golden swan-shaped necklace's protection didn't work, before, losing consciousness.

Albus Dumbledore had been considered the Leader of the Light Side in the last Wizarding War, but that didn't mean his intentions were entirely pure. However, he had decided to lead the Light Side only because Voldemort was winning the war and that would have been contradictory to his plans. Of course, so was one Muggle-born girl, Hermione Granger's friendship with Harry Potter.

In light of this, Dumbledore had to make sure Miss Granger didn't lead Harry down a different road. Albus had worked extremely hard to create a path for Harry to follow, and he didn't want Hermione Granger to mess it up. He had to drastically change how the Muggle-born acted so she didn't counteract his plan. To remedy her different opinion, Albus had sent out one Dedalus Diggle to, essentially, kidnap her and bring the girl to him. Thankfully, it had been a successful feat, and Miss Granger was now sitting in the Room of Requirement, unconscious due to the stunner spell Dedalus had fired.

Hermione Granger was an oddity. Albus had been so sure he would have all the Muggle-borns at his feet – willing to do anything for him, but Hermione Granger wasn't like the rest. No, she did her research before making a decision, and Albus couldn't have anyone thinking on their feet if he was to rule the Wizarding World, like he should. After all, he had sacrificed so much for the community, and in order to continue doing so, he had to rule them all.

But not everyone thought the same. Sure, he was in the International Confederation of Wizards, and in the Wizengamot, but not everyone supported him. Albus had to be careful with how he went about executing his plan to take over Wizarding England, especially since he didn't want to break the Statue of Secrecy.

Ah, the Muggles. They had made Dedalus Diggle's task more difficult. It had been rush hour when he'd gone to collect Hermione, and when the girl in question had collapsed, the Muggles started freaking out. They then had called an ambulance and got the Muggle-born to one of their hospitals. Even if the collection wasn't as smooth as Albus would have liked, in the end, they had gotten Hermione back to Hogwarts without anyone being any the wiser.

Now, all he had to do was either remove the girl's memories of her doubting Albus, give her a loyalty potion, or cast a loyalty spell on her. Considering that the potion would be hard to keep up, and that it would be best to have her take it every few hours. Removing Hermione's memories of the doubt she held would be more difficult; the loyalty charm was the best method left.

Having made his way to the Room of Requirement, Albus paced before where the door would be three times before the door appeared. Slipping inside with as much grace as he could muster, Albus reflected on how to cast the loyalty charm. Should he cast it while Hermione was unconscious, or should he wake her up first?

'It may be best to cast the charm while the girl is sleeping,' Albus mused, debating the matter heavily. 'Yes, that would be best,' he decided. Albus strode over to the unconscious form of the girl. Careful, so as not to alert the house elves of his location, as they may come to check on the girl like Albus had asked, the elderly wizard cast the loyalty charm and brought Hermione back into consciousness.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore, how are you?"

Dumbledore smiled; Hermione Granger was trapped in the spell.