Agatha was right. Having lived for centuries, she was second to none when it came to staying alive and remaining hidden.
Hydra might have been powerful and deeply entrenched, but its intelligence gathering still relied mainly on technology and manpower. It knew next to nothing about the hidden denizens of the wizarding world.
Since when had Hydra become so capable? How could it pinpoint a seasoned witch deliberately hiding herself among billions of people?
Unless...
A thought flashed through Hermione's mind like lightning.
"Ultron," Hermione said slowly.
Both Agatha and Wanda froze.
Hermione explained:
"Only it could sift through vast amounts of network data worldwide and analyze it deeply enough to dig out a big fish like you from seemingly unrelated clues. An ordinary human organization, even Hydra, couldn't do that."
She had been wondering about that earlier. Although Ultron had been wreaking havoc across the global network and causing considerable chaos, it had never taken more aggressive, destructive action. It seemed wary of something-or perhaps that wasn't its objective at all.
Now she understood.
"I was wondering why Ultron had caused such a huge commotion without ever really going for the kill. So this was what it was after."
A cold smile curled Hermione's lips. "It created chaos to tie up the Avengers, leaving them overwhelmed and too busy to deal with anything else. Its real objective was to find forces that could help it fight me."
"So it found Hydra?" Wanda said, realization dawning on her. "It wants to use Hydra against you?"
Hermione suddenly smiled, a hint of amusement and... anticipation in her expression.
"Interesting." She tapped her fingers lightly. "If Ultron had approached some other organization, I might actually have been stumped for a while. But Hydra..."
She drew out the last word, a sly gleam