After eleven o'clock in the evening, when Albert quietly passed through the portrait passage and returned to Gryffindor Tower, the students had already returned to the dormitory to rest. The common room was left in deathly darkness, with only some embers flickering in the fireplace.
Albert was just about to go back to the dormitory to rest when he noticed a dark shadow next to the armchair nearest to the corridor. When he moved the light of his wand over there, he found Hermione sitting at the table, sleeping soundly with her head resting on a book.
"Hermione, wake up, wake up quickly, don't sleep here, be careful not to catch a cold." Albert gently pushed the girl's shoulder to wake her up.
"Ah... I accidentally fell asleep."
After Hermione opened her eyes and woke up, she looked around confusedly, her eyes fell on Albert again, and she forced herself to ask, "Where have you been? I've been looking for you all afternoon."
"What do you want me for?"
Albert took off his cloak and put it on Hermione, motioning her to sit with him by the fireplace. The fire was reignited, and the blazing flames illuminated their faces.
Hermione looked at the blazing fire, tightened her cloak around herself, and seemed to remember something. She took out a letter from her pocket and handed it to Albert. "Hagrid lost the lawsuit, Buckbeak is going to be executed, and he sent me this letter."
Albert took the letter but did not read it. He could guess what was in it.
"Although I can still appeal, I can hardly see any hope. Malfoy's father threatened the committee." Hermione bit her lip and said, "You are right. It was simply a luxury to save Buckbeak by suing from the beginning."
"It's expected, isn't it?" Albert corrected, "I think Lucius has bribed the committee. It would be a waste of time to continue the appeal."
"What are you going to do next?" Hermione raised her head and stared at Albert hopefully. "If necessary, Harry, Ron and I can help."
"No, you don't need help with this matter. Just keep it a secret. I will handle the rest myself. The fewer people who know about it, the safer it will be." Albert rejected Hermione's kindness straightforwardly.
Hermione opened her mouth, looking a little lost.
"However, you can ask Hagrid to continue to appeal. At least he should show that he will never give up."
"You didn't mean..."
"Some disguise is necessary."
"Oh." Hermione nodded to show that she understood.
"In fact, it shouldn't be difficult for you to guess what I'm going to do next. I think you probably don't want to break the law." Albert said soothingly, "Go and make peace with Harry and the others, and then go visit Hagrid together. Hagrid needs someone to comfort him."
"I've made peace with them," Hermione whispered.
“That’s great.”
Albert quickly glanced at Hagrid's letter and threw it into the fireplace. After watching the parchment turn into ashes in the flames, he asked, "Have you shown this letter to anyone else?"
"Harry and Ron have seen it."
Hermione noticed Albert's frown and asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"
"Hagrid is so careless that he actually wrote this in the letter. I have told him so many times." Albert couldn't help but shake his head. "Sooner or later, he will get himself into trouble by being so careless. Then no one will be able to help him."
"Is there something wrong with the letter?" Hermione was a little puzzled. She had also read the letter and found no problems.
"Of course there is a problem, and it's very serious." Albert reminded seriously: "What will others think if they see this letter? If the Hippogriff runs away by itself, everyone will know that it was Hagrid who let it go. Even if he has an alibi at the time, everyone will think it was him who did it. If Malfoy gets this letter, the Hippogriff will definitely be dead. Even if I let it go in the end, it will directly confirm the fact that Hagrid violated the laws of the Ministry of Magic."
"But... this shouldn't be considered evidence, right?" Hermione asked confusedly.
"Do they need evidence? No, they don't." Albert looked at the uneasy Hermione and shook his head. "As long as he has this letter, Lucius can ask the Ministry of Magic to sentence Hagrid, make him lose his professorship, and imprison him in Azkaban prison."
"How could they ..."
"Of course they can. They don't have to care too much about the laws of the Ministry of Magic." Albert said sarcastically, "Besides, I will be in trouble by then. Those pure-blood wizards want to make trouble for me anyway, and they can find a suitable excuse."
"Looking for trouble with you?" Hermione was even more confused.
"Because I embarrassed them, you understand?"
Hermione shook her head.
"I am a Muggle wizard. The greater the halo around me, the more of a mockery it is to most pure-blood wizards. Stubborn pure-blood wizards are always superior. I think it should not be difficult for you to see this from Malfoy."
"But... they really..." Hermione seemed to want to say something, but finally shut up.
"Last time, when I won the International Wizarding Chess Championship, some bad voices appeared? They will not allow Muggle wizards to shit and piss on their heads, just like they once killed the first Muggle Minister of Wizardry in the wizarding world." Albert said shockingly.
Hermione opened her mouth in shock and looked at Albert in disbelief.
"Don't look at me like that. Someone told me this." Albert recalled, "Nobby Leach was the first Muggle-born Minister of Magic in history. In 1968, he was forced to resign due to a mysterious disease and died that year. Nobby Leach actually suffered from dragon pox. It is said that it was Abraxas Malfoy who did it. Abraxas Malfoy is Draco Malfoy's grandfather. However, the old guy played too much and died of dragon pox himself."
Albert stopped talking and forced the subject back, saying, "I'll help Hagrid deal with the Hippogriff matter. You three don't have to worry about anything and don't talk nonsense, otherwise it will only make Hagrid suffer."
Hermione nodded vigorously, then lowered her voice and asked, "The relationship between pure-blood wizards and Muggle wizards is really bad."
"That's terrible. How do you think those Death Eaters around You-Know-Who came from?" Albert said calmly, "Just like some Slytherins would call Muggle wizards Mudbloods."
Hermione's first thought was Malfoy.
"Okay, you don't have to worry about these things. Don't tell Ron and Harry what we are talking about now. You can keep it as our secret." Albert winked at Hermione and said.
"Why are you telling me this?" Hermione suddenly asked.
"You can regard it as my advice and suggestions as a friend."
"Friends? Thank you, Albert." A bright smile appeared on Hermione's face.
"It's late at night, go back to bed, be careful not to catch a cold."
"Well, good night."
Hermione handed her cloak back to Albert and walked towards the stairs with the book in her arms.
"Good night."
Albert looked at Hermione's departing back and murmured, "What a naive little girl."
He put his hand up to stifle a yawn, raised his wand to extinguish the raging fire in the fireplace, and walked towards his dormitory.