Professor Snape joined the conversation:
"Headmaster, I agree with Minerva to some extent. The culprit must be found. However..." He gave McGonagall a pointed look. "The students will take a very dim view of having their belongings searched. It would be an extremely unpopular measure in any circumstances. We might even have a rebellion on our hands."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" McGonagall snorted contemptuously. "A rebellion? Whatever for?!"
"Minerva," Professor Snape replied, his expression positively dripping with sarcasm, "if you paid any attention to your students, you would know that teenagers have things to hide. For instance, search the belongings of any student over thirteen, and there's a good chance you'll find magazines of an indecent nature. And that's merely the tip of the iceberg. The resulting uproar would be so great that Hogwarts would find itself under siege by the students' parents."
"But we have to do something!" McGonagall pressed her lips together angrily.
Professor Snape replied with an ironic expression:
"Then call in the Aurors!"
Dumbledore shook his head and half-closed his eyes.
"We can't, my boy," he replied. "You know perfectly well that the Time-Turner is prohibited. Minerva should have surrendered it to the Ministry of Magic. She herself could get into trouble."
McGonagall could bear it no longer and declared:
"I'll find the culprit myself."
She marched determinedly towards the Gryffindor table. The students of that house fell silent. The other pupils also stopped talking and turned their curious gazes towards the lions' table. Draco Malfoy smirked maliciously and began whispering something to his companions.
"Miss Granger!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out loudly.
Both Hermiones flinched.
"Yes, Professor?" the original Granger asked.
"Not you." McGonagall shook her head. "I want you, Miss Granger." She fixed the displaced Granger with a penetrating stare. "Come with me."
Hermione from the other world tried to conceal her anxiety. The girl rose from the table and followed the Transfiguration professor.
For the first time, Richard exercised his administrator privileges and activated the eavesdropping function on the girl's wrist-mounted AI. Moreover, he connected to the video feed from the second Hermione's glasses. Now he could see and hear everything she did.
Hermione Two and Professor McGonagall were heading towards Gryffindor Tower. Minerva asked sternly:
"Miss Granger, did you steal the Time-Turner?"
"Steal it?" The girl sounded quite convincingly surprised, firmly believing that she had merely taken back what belonged to her. "Of course not, Professor McGonagall!" she exclaimed with perfectly genuine-sounding indignation. "I'm not a thief! Have you lost a Time-Turner, then? Have you tried calling the Aurors?"
"There's no point denying it." The Deputy Headmistress shot the girl an irritated glare. "Theft is not tolerated at this school. If you are found guilty, you will be expelled and your wand will be snapped!"
"Professor McGonagall, I haven't stolen anything," the time traveller replied truthfully.
"We shall soon see about that," the professor said curtly.
Minerva and Hermione entered the Gryffindor common room and made their way to the girls' dormitories. The professor unceremoniously burst into the third-year girls' bedroom and headed straight for the second Hermione's bed.
"Professor, what are you going to do?"
"Isn't it obvious?" McGonagall gave the girl a smug, condescending look. "Why, we're going to search your belongings, of course."
"Professor McGonagall, but is that even legal?" Hermione's voice was filled with astonishment. "You haven't even called any witnesses. When Muggle police officers conduct a search, they always bring along at least two independent witnesses to prevent evidence from being planted."
McGonagall grew furious and demanded in a voice trembling with outrage:
"Are you suggesting that I would plant something among your belongings?!"
"Professor, I'm not suggesting anything, but you do seem rather prejudiced against me. Is it because I'm from another world?"
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for insulting a teacher!" the Transfiguration professor declared. "One more word and your house will lose another fifty points, and you'll be serving detentions for the rest of the year! If you confess honestly, I promise you won't be punished too severely."
"Professor McGonagall," Hermione from the other universe said, her voice vibrating with barely suppressed fury, "I haven't stolen anything. You're welcome to search my belongings."
With a sharp movement, the girl pulled her magically expanded trunk out from beneath the bed.
McGonagall flung the trunk open and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Where did you get such an expensive item, Miss Granger?" she hissed accusingly. "All these clothes, all these possessions... You arrived in our world with absolutely nothing!"
"Exactly!" Hermione folded her arms across her chest. "And it's certainly no thanks to you that I have any personal belongings now. They were a gift from a friend."
"What sort of friends do you have, then?" The professor continued to scrutinise the student suspiciously over the rims of her spectacles.
"Good friends, Professor," Granger Two snapped. "Everything you see here was given to me by Richard Grosvenor. He was very kind to me and helped me settle into this world, unlike you."
McGonagall's jaw practically locked, and her head jerked as though she had been struck. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she descended into the trunk with all the grace of a locomotive and began rummaging through everything inside, aided by the occasional flick of her wand.
Finding nothing, the Deputy Headmistress was thoroughly disconcerted. But she didn't stop there. Climbing out of the trunk, she proceeded to search the displaced girl's bed, then cast a variety of spells throughout the room.
With every wave of her wand, McGonagall's expression grew sourer, as though she were eating one lemon after another.
"Well, the Time-Turner isn't here," McGonagall said, her jaw muscles twitching. She couldn't bring herself to admit that she had been mistaken. "You may go to your lessons, Miss Granger."
Richard was relieved that everything had ended well. He was about to get up from the table and reassure both Hermiones when the owls flew into the Great Hall with the morning post.
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
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