Albert never thought that Hermione would be attacked at this time.
In his opinion, Tom Riddle's first target should be Gilderoy Lockhart, not other Muggle wizards.
At least, Albert, who is busy with panel tasks, has a higher chance of being attacked than others.
Hermione's attack was probably just an accident.
In the novel, Nearly Headless Nick also happens to save a Hufflepuff student, and this ghost now happens to save Hermione, which feels a bit like a revision of history.
However, the petrification of Nearly Headless Nick always gave Albert an indescribable sense of weirdness.
Is it really just a coincidence
Albert actually didn't know either.
This strange feeling arises mostly from some weird operations of the time converter.
After Albert determined Ginny Weasley's location and took out the detection ball to make sure that the basilisk had returned to the Chamber of Secrets, he went to the school hospital to visit the petrified Hermione.
He ran into Harry and Ron in the corridor outside the hospital wing. They looked sad, and clearly had not expected Hermione to be attacked.
Albert stopped Harry and asked, "Where was Hermione found?"
"On the third floor, near the corridor leading to the second floor." Harry saw that there was no one around and said in a low voice, "I heard that voice again."
"It seems that my guess is correct. Okay, Harry, don't be sad. You should think positively. Hermione was just petrified. She is very lucky." Albert reached out and patted Harry's shoulder to comfort him: "At least, you don't have to worry about being attacked again."
Harry and Ron were speechless when they heard this. They didn't expect Albert to be so comforting.
If you can’t comfort others, don’t speak!
The two men failed to understand Albert's meaning, and they were undoubtedly lucky not to lose their lives in the attack.
After separating from Harry and Ron, Albert went to the school hospital alone.
If he had not been very familiar with Madam Pomfrey and claimed to be a good friend of Hermione, he would probably not have been given five minutes of visiting time but would have been kicked out of the school hospital directly.
Albert walked to the bedside and looked at Hermione, who was lying stiff on the bed. The girl's eyes were wide open and full of fear, and it was obvious that she had also witnessed the ugly basilisk with her own eyes.
If it were me, would I be frightened to the point of my legs going weak
After leaving the school hospital, Albert looked at the triggered panel task and was quite satisfied. He came to the school hospital just to see if he could find any clues, preferably to trigger the panel task.
sleeping Beauty
Well, the task is simple.
The task was probably to wake Hermione up before Snape prepared a powerful restorative potion. The reward was also average, some experience and favorability. It was a task that was better than nothing.
Albert has a powerful restorative potion in his hand, and he can give it to Hermione to wake her up at any time.
Of course, Albert did not intend to let Hermione wake up from the petrification right away. She had to wait until Tom Riddle's diary was destroyed. Otherwise, removing the petrification early would only put her life in danger.
After leaving the school hospital and about to return to the library, Albert saw a glove waving at him in the air, then made a hook gesture and led him to an empty classroom. There was no one in the classroom, but there was a piece of parchment on the dusty table.
There is indeed something wrong with this matter!
Albert saw the glove pointing at the parchment on the table, motioning him to look at the contents on it, and then it lost its power and fell on the parchment.
As he walked into the classroom and reached out to pick up the parchment, his eyes were caught by something in the corner of the classroom.
Albert turned his head and was so frightened by the dark shadow in the corner that he pulled out his wand.
When he looked carefully, he recognized it as Nearly Headless Nick.
The ghost was no longer milky white and transparent, but turned completely black and shrouded in smoke, looking like a hideous evil ghost.
There was no way, Nick's head was half gone and he looked horrible.
The ghost was also petrified, lying motionless, his body suspended six inches above the ground. His face was filled with undisguised horror, but Albert could see a bit of determination to die bravely in the horror.
Albert picked up the parchment and began to read its contents. The parchment was written in scribbled words: 4:30 pm, West Tower, 3rd floor, 1st circle, map.
"There is indeed a problem." Albert stuffed the parchment back into his pocket. This was undoubtedly a hint he left for himself, asking him to go back in time and save Hermione.
Very weird!
However, Albert did not think about it and took out the time converter, ready to go back an hour ago, recalling the information on the paper in his mind:
Four thirty in the afternoon should refer to the time when Hermione was attacked.
The third floor of the West Tower should refer to Nick's location.
One circle should mean going back one hour.
The map should refer to the Marauder's Map.
I wrote a special reminder on the parchment, which means it will definitely be used.
Albert put away the time converter, stuffed his gloves into his pocket, and hurried towards the boys' dormitory. He knew where the twins put the Marauder's Map.
After returning to the Gryffindor common room, Albert found that the place was in an uproar, and everyone was discussing the attack on Hermione and Nearly Headless Nick.
Strangely enough, people seemed more concerned about Nick's attack.
Kenneth Toler approached Albert almost as soon as he returned to the lounge, hoping to continue cooperating with him on the amulet, but Albert found an excuse to put it off until the evening. He didn't have time to argue with him now.
After taking the Marauder's Map from the drawer, Albert used the time-turner and went back an hour.
After going downstairs, I accidentally glanced at the corner of the common room. Ginny was still in the common room. I don't know if she was controlled by Tom now.
Hermione is also here, and seems to be talking to Harry and Ron. Everything looks peaceful. Who could have guessed that there would be an attack soon
Albert was a little suspicious. Could it be that the attack was caused by something he did
He quickly suppressed all his emotions and quickly left the Gryffindor common room to find Nearly Headless Nick. He had to convince Nick to protect Hermione from the Basilisk.
Nick, who was almost headless, was not difficult to find. He was around the third floor of the West Tower. Albert quickly found Nick's specific location through the live map.
When he rushed over, he found Nick talking to a female ghost.
Albert hesitated whether to go up and disturb the other party directly, but after seeing Nick's back gradually going away, he finally couldn't help but quickly stepped forward and called out to Nick who was almost headless.
"Is there anything you need from me, Albert?" Nick took off his head like taking off a hat and greeted Albert.
"Yes, sir, there is something that I'm afraid only the brave Sir Nicholas can do." Albert did not forget to compliment the other party.
"Oh, what's the matter?" Nick became interested. He was very pleased with Albert's flattery.
"Are you aware of the attack happening at the school?" Albert inquired.
"I know." Nick nodded.
"There will be another attack in the school soon." Albert took out a time converter from his pocket, handed it to Nick and said, "This is a time converter that can allow people to go back a few hours."
"So, you're from a few hours later?" Nick asked suspiciously.
"An hour later, to be exact." Albert put his index finger to his lips, made a hushing gesture, and said softly, "Remember to keep this a secret for me. This matter was not originally to be told to anyone, including the ghost."
"I will," Nick promised with a nod, "What do you need me to do?"
"I need Sir Nicholas to save a friend of mine at a critical moment." Albert asked solemnly.
"I'm just a ghost," Nick reminded.
"I know." Albert explained, "The attacker was actually the Hydra. It was the monster that Slytherin left in the Chamber of Secrets, and someone released it."
"You just said... Basilisk!" Nick's voice was a little stuttering.
"Yes, the basilisk. If you look directly into the eyes of the basilisk, my friend Hermione will lose her life. But if you stand in front of Hermione in time, you can avoid the loss of a life and let her only be petrified by the eyes of the basilisk."
"Please don't worry, the basilisk can't hurt you. Looking directly into its eyes will only make you temporarily incapable of movement, and you will save a life." Albert was trying to persuade Nick, "Only brave Gryffindors have the courage to face the basilisk. In the near future, you did it and successfully saved Hermione's life."
"Well, you're right, not all ghosts have that kind of courage." Nick agreed to help.
"There is one more thing. Please keep it a secret for me. Otherwise, I will be severely punished for violating a large number of Ministry of Magic laws." Albert reminded.
"I will." Nick patted his chest to show that he was willing to help, and he also realized that he was doing something great.
Yes, they were trying to save a student's life, something only a brave Gryffindor ghost could do, and the most important thing was that he succeeded, and that was what mattered.
After some persuasion from Albert, Nick agreed to help. He hurried to the third floor of the school and waited for Hermione's arrival in the corridor according to Albert's plan.
There are still fifteen minutes until 4:30 in the afternoon.
While Albert was working to save Hermione, Hermione was sneaking out of the Gryffindor common room behind Ginny Weasley, trying to figure out what Ron's sister was doing.
In fact, Albert's guess was correct. This incident was indeed caused by him going back to the past.
Not long ago, when Albert hurriedly left the Gryffindor common room, he caught Hermione's attention. The inadvertent glance at Ginny Weasley just happened to be noticed by Hermione.
Hermione was very curious about why Albert paid special attention to Ginny. Obviously there was some reason, after all, they were not familiar with each other.
Although Hermione didn't know why, after she secretly observed Ginny, she soon discovered Ginny's abnormality. This abnormality was probably the reason why Albert glanced at Ginny inadvertently.
Although Hermione didn't understand what was going on, she quickly connected it to some of Ginny's abnormal behavior at school.
Ginny had nightmares and emotional breakdowns recently, her face was pale as if she was sick, and she was very sad when Filch's cat was attacked... All of this proved that Ginny's behavior was abnormal.
Moreover, Riddle's diary was stolen. The one who stole the diary was a Gryffindor student. Albert thought there was something wrong with the diary. Albert noticed Ginny. Maybe he had already noticed that Ginny's behavior was abnormal and had doubts about her
Could Ginny Weasley be the thief who stole the diary
There is another possibility.
A ridiculous idea came to Hermione's mind, that Ginny was related to the Chamber of Secrets, she knew who opened the Chamber of Secrets, or even that it was Ginny who opened the Chamber of Secrets.
How is that possible!
But Albert never made a point without a purpose, he must have a reason for suspecting Ginny.
Ginny's expression just now was also very wrong.
Hermione couldn't help but stop. She felt that she should tell Harry and Ron what she knew, but she was also a little curious about what Ginny was going to do. If she returned to the common room, she would definitely lose her. Besides, Ginny was Ron's sister, and Ron might not believe what she said.
In the end, Hermione secretly followed Ginny, intending to find out what Ginny was doing. But she didn't know that Ginny Weasley already knew that someone was following her.
Yes, Tom knew that someone was following him, but he didn't care. Especially after he learned from Ginny Weasley's mind that the person following him was a Muggle wizard and a friend of Harry Potter, Tom had other ideas and planned to summon the basilisk to kill the other person.
Presumably, after his friend's death, Harry Potter would definitely try his best to investigate the matter. By then, he believed that he would meet Harry again, and he would have the opportunity to find out the reason why Voldemort failed and completely kill Harry in the cradle.
As for that despicable guy like Lockhart, Tom Riddle originally planned to kill him this time, but the appearance of Hermione behind him made Tom change his mind.
After all, Lockhart still has some value. He can guide Harry to find the Chamber of Secrets, and then they can be killed together.
If Lockhart were to die too easily, it would obviously not be in Voldemort's style. He would lead him to the Chamber of Secrets, and then he would have the final say on how to kill him.
Ginny quickened her pace and easily got rid of Hermione on the second floor. She sneaked into the Chamber of Secrets and controlled the basilisk to attack Hermione.
Tom didn't know that everything he did was seen by Albert through the Marauder's Map.
To be honest, when Albert saw Hermione following Ginny on the Marauder's Map, he was actually very surprised. He never thought that Hermione would actually suspect Ginny. She really should not be underestimated!
It’s just that Gryffindor’s suicidal personality is very problematic. If it weren’t for herself, Hermione would probably be dead.
Curiosity really kills the cat!