The smile froze on Rita's face.
She paused, unable to understand what Hermione meant.
Was she mocking her?
Before Rita could work it out, Hermione continued. Her voice was quiet, but what she said left everyone stunned.
"Why would I be colluding with him?"
Hermione tilted her head slightly.
"Have you ever considered... well, another possibility?"
Rita instinctively held her breath as an ominous feeling rose in her chest.
Hermione looked at her, her gaze clear, and slowly spoke those words.
"For example... what if Voldemort is actually my subordinate, and he's acting on my orders?"
The air froze.
Rita looked bewildered, then shocked. In an instant, all the words she had prepared stuck in her throat.
One sentence had left her utterly at a loss.
Outside the door, Harry was dumbfounded too, wondering whether he had misheard.
The corner of Snape's mouth twitched, and a look of I knew it flashed through his eyes.
Hermione elegantly picked up the teacup on the table and took a small sip, her movements composed, as though those astonishing words hadn't come from her mouth.
"Ms. Skeeter." Hermione set down her cup. "As a professional journalist, you always need something sensational for your stories, don't you?"
"Why don't I give you something?"
"For example, I'm actually a transmigrator, and you're all characters in a book."
"So I don't actually have any prophetic ability. I've just read the original books and know how the plot unfolds. Using that foreknowledge, I found Voldemort, made him my underling, and had him infiltrate the Ministry of Magic so that, when the time was right, we could overthrow the wizarding world in one fell swoop."
"What do you think of that version?"
Hermione spread her hands, her expression innocent.
"See? Doesn't that make everything I did at the