"...Ron, can this... really be lent to her?"
"Of course it's best not to."
"That-"
"I know what you want to say, but now... Well, let's give it to Hermione first! But we have to follow later... Let's do it! Then I will follow Hermione secretly, and you will go to Maka's Find him in the office. After lights out, he seems to basically stay in the office and go to bed very late... "
In a certain boys' dormitory in Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Ron were quietly discussing what to do for a while.
However, today's Hermione obviously cannot be changed by the two of them.
"Speaking of which, what happened to Hermione?"
After the two of them had more or less made a plan to continue looking for Maka for help, Harry finally expressed his doubts. Although Hermione always liked to go to the library and was far more interested in books than other classmates, Harry had never seen Hermione who seemed to be burying herself in books like this.
"Didn't she say it herself?" Ron sighed, "She's looking for clues about Horcruxes."
"I know that too..." Harry said, glaring at Ron angrily, "Hey, you understand what I'm asking, don't dismiss me with such an indifferent answer."
"Oops -" Ron couldn't help scratching his scalp when he saw this, "Harry, please don't embarrass me. Among the three of us, Hermione is the one who thinks the most. Her thoughts... Yes, I do, a little bit. Guess, I don’t have any confidence that the guess is correct! If I guess wrong, not only may it not solve the problem, but it may also make the current situation worse... "
"Uh, can we just go find Maka first?" Harry said helplessly.
To be honest, he hated this feeling of powerlessness, especially when something seemed to be wrong with his best friend.
However, Ron nodded affirmatively.
"If it were Maka, he would be able to quickly understand Hermione's current situation and find the most appropriate solution." He said, "Actually, if I say it, what Maka is best at may not necessarily be the powerful ones. Magic, don’t you think?”
"Well," Harry nodded after hearing this, "Then... the time to turn off the lights is coming soon. After everyone goes to bed, we will send the invisibility cloak to Hermione first, and then-"
"Then, we will split up according to the plan just now." Ron continued.
About an hour later, the dormitory was completely dark as usual. Neville, who was used to going to bed early and getting up late, and Seamus and Dean, who were always energetic during the day, had fallen into a sweet dream. .
So, Harry took out the invisibility cloak that had been prepared from under the bed, and then quietly walked out of the room with Ron.
This is already the sixth year at Hogwarts, and the two of them have long been accustomed to night walks in the castle. It was dark all the way, and they walked smoothly from the stairs to the common room.
As for wandering around the castle without being invisible for a while, it was naturally easy to do. Even for Hermione, unless she was determined to stay in the library for a long time, she obviously wouldn't need an invisibility cloak or a Disembodiment Charm.
When the two of them arrived at the last staircase leading from the boys' dormitory to the common room one after another, they nodded to each other in the dark to confirm, and then finally entered the lounge with only a little moonlight providing illumination.
As expected, Hermione came out earlier than they did - she was already there waiting.
"Oh, Harry... have you taken it out?"
As soon as she saw Harry and Ron appearing at the doorway, Hermione immediately stood up from the sofa chair by the window.
"Ah, um..." Harry pursed his lips and didn't say anything more. He simply stretched out his hand in Hermione's direction, "It's right here, you... you can take it and use it..."
"Here?"
Since the invisibility cloak was completely invisible to the naked eye, Hermione only grabbed it after touching the physical object Harry held in his hand.
"Thank you, Harry!"
Not to mention that Harry's invisibility cloak is very special. Even an ordinary invisibility cloak is a very precious thing nowadays. Because the fur of the invisible monster, which is the material for its production, has never been mass-produced, its value has always been very high. Even the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic have to go to the warehouse to sign for it when needed to handle a case.
No matter what mental state she was in now, she was still very grateful for Harry's loan of the invisibility cloak.
"Then I'll go first..." After thanking Harry, Hermione quickly said, "You guys go back! Don't worry, I'm just going to check again, and I'll go back to the dormitory to sleep in a while."
After saying that, she hurriedly turned around and walked towards the doorway leading to the corridor outside. Before leaving, she put on an invisibility cloak and disappeared from their sight in the blink of an eye.
Seeing the portrait being gently closed again, and the faint sound of the Fat Lady murmuring in her sleep, Harry and Ron waited in the common room for a while before taking action.
…
The castle corridors at night were as dark as ever, especially in the inner corridors without window openings.
Hermione was naturally going to the library, so even if Ron couldn't see where Hermione was, he didn't have to worry about finding the wrong place. The office of the Professor of Ancient Runes that Harry was going to was also on the same floor of the library.
Therefore, there was no need for the two of them to separate until they reached the entrance of the library.
Of course, on the way down, they must also pay attention to the movements in front and behind. It was now an hour after lights-out time. The professor in charge of the night watch should have gone back, but Filch and his cat were still wandering around. Moreover, Peeves, the spirit monster that always wanders around and makes noise at night, is also something they need to pay attention to.
However, Harry and Ron already knew all of this.
Filch's patrol route and rest time have not changed much. Peeves usually plays ball against the wall on the first floor or takes over the auditorium to enjoy his "headmaster addiction", except for Filch's cat, which is not easy to predict. Other than that, everything else is easy to talk about.
However, none of them expected that a figure was standing at the stairs of the second floor. When the two of them discovered the figure, the other person waved directly to them, as if he was waiting for them there.
Behind that person, the moonlight outside the window became a special background. Because of the backlight, Harry and Ron couldn't see clearly who it was for a while.
However, when one is discovered, running away does not seem to be a wise move. The other party was obviously not that idiot Filch. If it were a certain professor, there was no way they could have successfully escaped without discovering their specific identity.
There was no way, Harry and the others could only bite the bullet and walk down the steps, while they kept thinking about what kind of explanation they should give.
"Shhh."
Harry was about to say something, but he heard the other party immediately put his index finger to his mouth, signaling him to silence. It was only at this moment that he and Ron discovered that standing there was actually Maka, whom he planned to find later.
But after asking Harry to stop talking, Maka waved her hand toward the corridor in the direction of the library, as if she was casting a spell. After that, he waved to the two of them and told them to hurry over.
"Hermione is already in the library, I put a silencing spell over there," Maka said after both of them stood next to her, "Now, please tell me what happened. What happened?"
After Harry and Ron heard this, they looked at each other again. Finally, Harry reached out to Ron and signaled that it was up to him to do the talking.
Ron nodded, turned to Maka and explained: "Actually... we're not quite sure what's going on. It's just that after what happened this morning, Hermione said she was going to the library... "
As soon as he said this, he suddenly realized something - they were looking for Horcruxes, and there was nothing they couldn't say to Maka. But since they had made up their mind to do it themselves from the beginning, What I want to say now feels a bit "half-way".
However, this thought only flashed through Ron's mind for a moment. After all, the most important thing now is Hermione's matter, and everything else is secondary.
"Well, actually..." Ron spread his hands helplessly, "We have been investigating matters related to Horcruxes during this period..."
When Ron said this, both he and Harry were prepared to be blamed. Because they all know that terrible black magic items such as Horcruxes are absolutely prohibited from even reading related books.
But they didn't expect that under the moonlight, Maka's expression didn't change much.
"Are you checking about Horcruxes? Are you... Forget it, let's not talk about it for now." He just raised his eyebrows, but then he skipped the topic, "So, Hermione is going to the library. Did you check the information?"
"Yes, yes!" Ron nodded, but then shook his head again, "But it's not just that, in fact... Hermione is very strange today. She stayed in the library for too long, except for eating. She went to the bathroom and never left once during other times, and now... you see, she doesn't even plan to miss her bedtime at night!"
"Hermione..."
After listening to Ron's narration, Maka settled down and thought about it secretly.
Since Hermione's change occurred after she resolved her misunderstanding with the African wizard in the morning, that's probably where the problem lies. However, other possibilities cannot be ruled out.
After a while, Maka's expression became a little complicated.