Hermione Granger
Water splashed into her face, waking her up.
Shocked by the sudden sensation, Hermione tried to move, driven by instinct and the disorientation she was experiencing, only to immediately find that she was unable to do so. Startled, she opened her eyes and found herself strapped to a chair, her arms and legs tied with a rope . What in the world?! Why was she tied up?! The last thing she remembered was following Michael Brown to his hideout and asking him about the monster. What happened after that?!
"So you're finally awake," she heard a voice say. Raising her eyes, she saw Brown. The boy was standing in front of her, watching her with a cold gaze. He was holding an empty glass in his hand, making it clear that he was the one responsible for splashing her with water. Wait, did that mean he was the one who tied her up? Why did he do that?! "Would you mind answering a few questions for me, Granger?"
"What?! Are you being serious right now?! You knocked me out! You tied me to a chair! Do you really expect me to..." Hermione began screaming, outraged by his actions, only to realize something really important. She broke off, fear oozing into her voice "...what did you call me?"
"Hmm? Ah, yes. The effect of the Polyjuice potion wore off a few minutes earlier. You're Hermione Granger again," Brown replied. Hermione hurriedly moved her head to the side, hoping that Brown was just bluffing to get her to reveal her true identity, but the sight of bushy brown hair entering her field of vision quickly killed any hope she had. The Polyjuice potion was no longer working, just as Brown said. She was busted. Not caring about her growing panic, Michael Brown approached her slowly, forcing Hermione to look him in the eye "Don't take this the wrong way, but there are more pressing matters to discuss than your identity. Let me start with the most important issue: Did you kill Luna Lovegood?"
"What?!" Hermione exclaimed, shocked by Brown's ridiculous question. What was he even talking about?! "Of course not! Why would you even think that?!"
"Well, you had to acquire her hair somehow. You also had to ensure she wouldn't disrupt your mission" Brown replied calmly, as if he wasn't suggesting Hermione was responsible for another student's death! What was wrong with that boy?!
"Luna Lovegood gave me her hair voluntarily, you loon! I sent her a letter to make her go away while I talk to you in her body! Did you really expect me to kill someone just to talk to you?!" shouted Hermione, outraged by the boy's wild accusations "I mean, what is wrong with you?!"
"You know, I get the feeling that you're trying to take some sort of moral high ground here, which I find quite interesting," Brown stated, looking at Hermione with a puzzled expression on his face. When he noticed Hermione's confusion caused by his words, he decided to explain, "Even if Luna gave you her hair willingly, which I still have no reason to believe, you deliberately decided to impersonate a child to trick me into revealing my secrets. Face it, Granger. You are the bad guy here."
"I am not!" Hermione screamed. How dared he accuse her of doing something bad. She was just trying to save the school for the terrible monster! He was the one making everything around him worse! "I was trying to prove you are the one responsible for petrifying Mrs Norris and Burke!"
Dammit! She accidentally blurted out the truth! She wasn't supposed to tell Brown about her mission! Wait, it could actually be beneficial for her! Maybe hearing this would make him reveal something incriminating? Most people would be shocked after being accused of such a thing, after all. Hermione looked at Brown, hoping she would learn something useful.
"Okay, so you suspect me of being the heir," declared Brown simply, surprising Hermione. Why didn't he have any reaction to her statement? She had just accused him of attacking people, and yet he was perfectly calm, his voice steady and controlled. He then looked at Hermione intently, most likely trying to intimidate her "But there is no way you decided to investigate me on your own. Who ordered you to do that? Was it Dumbledore? Fudge? Some high-ranked unspeakable?"
"…Are you stupid?" Hermione couldn't help but ask, not expecting his question at all. Did Brown think someone as important as the Minister of Magic would know about him, let alone suspect him? Where did this self-importance come from? "No one 'ordered' me to do it. I just decided you were suspicious, so I decided to investigate you!"
"So your first instinct after suspecting me was not to report me, but to carry out some 'vigilante justice'? Really?" Brown asked doubtfully, clearly not believing her. Hearing this, Hermione once again flew into a rage, offended that he was accusing her of something so deplorable as vigilantism. She wasn't even doing anything illegal! Yes, impersonating another person could be considered a bit controversial, but it was all about saving the school! And why was she even being forced to explain herself to this madman?! He had knocked her out and tied her to a chair! He was the bad guy here!
"Enough! I already told you I didn't do anything to Lovegood! Now let me go!" shouted Hermione, fed up with the whole situation. Who did he think he was?! He corrupted other students, kidnapped and interrogated her, and still had the nerve to judge her?! He had no right to keep her there, "If you don't, I'll tell everyone what you've done! You'll be in big trouble!"
"Do you think I'll believe you, just like that? Luna could be dead in a ditch for all I know! I won't let you go until..." began Brown, becoming increasingly agitated, only to fall silent after hearing someone knock on the door of the room they were currently occupying. Surprised by this unexpected development, Brown and Hermione looked at each other, unsure of the identity of the person knocking. Seconds later, they heard a voice from the other side of the door, clearly belonging to Luna Lovegood.
"Michael, are you there?" The girl asked, her voice a little distorted by the door between them, but otherwise fine. For some reason she was looking for Brown, apparently no longer searching for the imaginary magical creatures Hermione had informed her of, "Sorry to bother you while you're busy, but someone told me you were looking for me and I can find you here."
Brown stared blankly at the door for a few seconds, apparently not really sure how to react to Lovegood's arrival. After a moment, he turned to Hermione with a sheepish smile on his face and coughed into his hand, clearly embarrassed.
"Would you excuse me for a moment?" asked Brown, doing his best to keep a straight face. Without waiting for Hermione's answer, he left the room to talk to Lovegood. What followed was two or three minutes of hushed conversation between the two, which Hermione, still strapped to her chair, was unable to overhear. She tried to free herself in Brown's absence, attempting to pull her arms out of the rope, but was unsuccessful to do so by the time Brown returned to the room, a sheepish smile still plastered on his face.
"Sorry about that, apparently Luna met some old man during her search for Nargles, who told her about my presence here? Something I'll have to investigate later, I guess..." said Brown, scratching the back of his head in obvious embarrassment "Also, I apologize for accusing you of killing Luna. She confirmed giving you her hair. I mean, don't get me wrong. I still think you were sent by the Ministry to force me into revealing my secrets. But I can't really justify keeping you here, so how about I let you go and we let bygones be bygones?"
Hermione couldn't believe what he was saying. Let bygones be bygones? He kidnapped her!
"Are you kidding me?! Do you expect me to just forget about you knocking me out and strapping me to a chair?!" Hermione shouted, looking at Brown in disbelief. Was that boy that delusional?"
"Well, yes. That's exactly what I expect you to do," replied Brown calmly. He then took something out of his pocket. It looked like a recorder, though Hermione had no idea why he was showing it to her. Magic interfered with the electronics, so the device wouldn't work anywhere near Hogwarts. Ignoring her thoughts, Brown pressed one of the recorder's buttons.
"Luna Lovegood gave me her hair voluntarily, you loon! I sent her a letter to make her go away while I talk to you in her body!" Hermione's voice came from the recorder, making the girl look at the device in shock. How was it possible?! Electronic devices weren't supposed to work near magic! Was it…enchanted? Was Brown blackmailing her?! That…wasn't good. While the polyjuice potion was not technically illegal, brewing it in secret and using it to trick another student would look... bad. Unaffected by Hermione's quiet panic, the recording continued "Did you really ex^%# *WHO CALLS THE GREAT…"
At this point, Brown pressed the button again, stopping the recording. He looked at the recorder with a slight frown, clearly dissatisfied with what had just happened.
"I'm sorry, it clearly needs a few more tweaks," Brown said, before looking her in the eye, his stare once again serious "The important thing, however, is that I have evidence that you used the Polyjuice option to approach me. I don't think either of us wants the others to know about today, so why don't we just forget about today's events and go our separate ways?"
Blackmailed and outsmarted, Hermione could only nod in silence, broken and utterly defeated.
Next chapter, Polyjuice mission conclusion.
Also, you don't even know how hard it was for me to stop myself from making the whole chapter completely grim. The sad thing is that Michael using 'enhanced interrogation techniques' would certainly be in-character for him, but it would have irrevocably changed the tone of the entire story. I doubt I would be able to return to Michael's crazy misadventures after describing him waterboarding Hermione.