Albert was not surprised at all that Riddle's diary was stolen, because he had expected this to happen. Ginny waited until no one was in Harry's dormitory and entered the dormitory to steal the diary. Albert just gave her a gentle push from behind, making her determined to do so.
Now is not the time for Albert to touch Riddle's diary. With his ability and caution, it is impossible for him not to find something suspicious in the diary after touching it.
Letting the diary return to Ginny Weasley's hands is conducive to the "return" of the plot, or he can't just hand Riddle's diary to Dumbledore, otherwise how can the next panel task be completed
Those are all experiences and rewards!
The only problem is the hidden danger and uncertainty. No one knows whether Tom Riddle, who has been fooled by Albert, or should I say, by Lockhart, will become angry and do something irrational.
The danger would most likely fall on Lockhart's head.
Albert didn't care about Lockhart's life or death, he just didn't want the situation to get out of control. He made so many preparations because he wanted to control the situation in his own hands as much as possible, so he did that instead of foolishly believing that the inertia of history would make the plot return to its original course.
Although most of the danger fell on Lockhart, Albert would not be stupid enough to think that he was safe.
After Riddle's diary was returned to Ginny, Albert became extremely cautious. He rarely acted alone, and his activities were reduced to the library, the hall, and the common room. Moreover, he no longer passed by the girls' bathroom on the second floor, trying to keep himself away from any possible danger.
There were only a few months left, and he estimated that Riddle would take action at the next Quidditch game at the latest. Albert did not want to fall down inexplicably before the finish line. Although the possibility was not high, Albert was afraid of death and did not want to die, so it was necessary for him to survive for the time being, and he even regarded it as the top priority in his life.
Isobel, Albert's girlfriend, immediately noticed something was wrong when she saw the changes in him.
"Is that man planning to launch another attack?" Isobel understood the reason after taking the detection ball. It was obvious that Albert had predicted something again.
"Well, it's not safe recently, don't run around." Albert said softly, "But I'm sure that guy won't be able to jump around for too long."
"You should be careful too." Isobel felt that Albert was hiding something from her, but she didn't ask. She guessed that it was related to the secret room.
Isobel was a little angry that Albert was doing some risky things without telling her, so she stopped going to the Room of Requirement and planned to "leave him alone" for a few months. She had a ready-made excuse.
Albert didn't pay much attention to being intimate with his girlfriend. After all, his life was more important. After this matter was resolved, both sides had plenty of time.
However, neither Ginny nor Tom Riddle was aware of Albert's defense against them, nor did they focus their thoughts and attention on Albert.
After Ginny stole Riddle's diary from Harry, the first thing she did was to reconnect with Tom Riddle and try to find out whether Tom had revealed his secrets to Harry.
Ginny knew that Harry was looking for the heir of Slytherin. She didn't want her secret to be discovered, and she didn't want to be expelled from school because of it.
Tom Riddle was so annoyed when he found out that the person writing in the diary was not Harry Potter as he expected, but Ginny Weasley.
Although he was very angry inside, Tom had to suppress his anger, try his best to comfort Ginny with words, and assure Ginny that he did not tell Harry the secret.
After all, he still needed to regain control of Ginny, and she obviously no longer trusted him as much as before.
Tom, I can't remember how I lost my diary.
Ginny hesitated for a long time before she mustered up the courage to write this sentence in her diary.
Tom Riddle was also hesitant about whether to tell Ginny about Lockhart.
Lockhart is indeed a more serious problem. If he knew that the diary was back in Ginny's hands, he might do something else.
For example, telling Dumbledore that it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets and attacked the cat and Colin.
Tom would never allow himself to fall into Dumbledore's hands. If this really happened, he would have no chance of recovery.
As expected, we should take the initiative and directly solve the existing hidden dangers.
Tom began to play the role of a kind, understanding and caring big brother, listening to an eleven-year-old girl talking about her childish troubles, and patiently writing some words to reply her to comfort the anxious Ginny.
Tom needed Ginny to open her soul to him so that he could gradually devour her, become strong again, and try to control her again.
As for Lockhart, who dared to disrespect him, he would naturally find an opportunity to kill him.
He, Voldemort, holds grudges!
…
"What's wrong with you lately?"
George ignored Lockhart who was boasting on the stage and Lee Jordan who was playing the "werewolf" who was hit by the Humanoid Spell, and asked about Albert's recent abnormal behavior.
Albert lowered his voice and said, "I predict that something bad is going to happen soon."
"What's wrong?" Sana turned her head and looked at Albert in the back seat. She was obviously not interested in the performance on the stage either.
"Attack?"
Fred immediately guessed what Albert meant. "Is the Heir of Slytherin planning another attack?"
"I don't know, but it's always better to be careful recently." In fact, Albert had predicted this with the crystal ball, but it seemed that his level was not good enough or for other reasons, there was nothing on the crystal ball, so he could only find a reason to fool them now.
Anyway, the attacks are bound to happen again.
The whispering on their part was noticed by Lockhart, and George was unfortunately called up to ask questions.
"Professor, can you show us the human-recovery spell?" George asked Lockhart, picking up the spell in the book according to Albert's instructions.
Many students have discovered that Lockhart never teaches them the spells in the textbooks, and every Defense Against the Dark Arts class is like a storytelling stage play.
Many students maliciously speculated that Lockhart actually did not know the magic in the book, and that the things in the book were all made up by Lockhart.
"Professor, we also want to learn the human-recovery spell." Fred offered his assistance, "This way, if we really encounter a real werewolf that day, we can use this spell to turn it into a human, and then we won't be threatened by the werewolf."
"Yes, yes, what you said makes sense, but I can't take away your job as Transfiguration Professor, otherwise Professor McGonagall might come to trouble me." Lockhart is really experienced and thick-skinned. He quickly found an excuse for himself. "Besides, I remember Mr. Anderson asked me about this question. If you want to learn, you can go to him."
"Sorry, professor, I haven't learned the human-recovery spell." Albert said honestly.
"Well, you've heard it. Even Mr. Anderson hasn't mastered it. So don't aim too high." Lockhart was quite satisfied with the result. It was one of his few small victories.
If Lockhart knew that his name appeared on the Dark Lord's death list because of someone's outrageous actions, he would definitely not be in the good mood he is now. He might even resign and run away instead of continuing to brag about his false deeds in class.