Chapter 635 Curiosity killed the cat

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 probability of being attacked than others.

 Hermione’s attack was probably just an accident.

In the novel, the almost headless Nick happened to save a certain Hufflepuff student, and this ghost now happened to save Hermione. It feels a bit like a historical revision.

 However, the fact that the almost headless Nick was petrified always gave Albert an indescribable sense of weirdness.

 Is it really just a coincidence?

Albert actually doesn’t know.

　　This kind of weird feeling comes from some weird operations of the time turner.

Albert determined the location of Ginny Weasley and took out the detection ball to confirm that the Basilisk had returned to the Chamber of Secrets, and then he went to the school hospital to visit the petrified Hermione.

 He met Harry and Ron in the corridor outside the school hospital. The two looked sad, obviously not expecting Hermione to be attacked.

 Albert stopped Harry and asked: "Where was Hermione found?"

“Third floor, near the corridor leading to the stairs to the second floor.” Seeing no one around, Harry lowered his voice and said, “I heard that voice again.”

"It seems that my guess is correct. Okay, Harry, don't be sad. You should think on the bright side. Hermione was just petrified, so you are lucky." Albert reached out and patted Harry on the shoulder. Comforting: "At least, you don't have to worry about being attacked again in the future."

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 of them failed to understand what Albert meant. They were undoubtedly lucky that they did not lose their lives after being attacked.

 After being separated from Harry and Ron, Albert went to the school hospital alone.

If he wasn't very familiar with Madam Pomfrey and said that he was Hermione's good friend, I would probably have been kicked out of the school hospital instead of being given a five-minute visit.

 Albert walked to the bedside and looked at Hermione who was lying stiff on the bed. The girl's eyes were wide open, full of fear, and she had obviously witnessed the ugly basilisk with her own eyes.

 If it were you, would you be so frightened by the basilisk that your legs would become weak?

 After leaving the school hospital, Albert looked at the triggered panel tasks and was quite satisfied. He actually came to the campus hospital just to see if he could find any clues. It would be best if he could trigger the panel tasks.

sleeping Beauty?

Well, the task is simple.

Probably just to wake up Hermione before Snape prepares a powerful recovery potion. The reward is also very average, some experience and favorability, a task that is better than nothing.

 Albert has a powerful recovery potion in his hand, which he can give to Hermione to drink at any time to wake her up.

Of course, Albert has no intention of letting Hermione be de-petrified and revived now, at least until Tom Riddle's diary is destroyed, otherwise de-petrifying her early will only put her life in danger.

After leaving the campus hospital, when Albert was about to return to the library, he saw a glove waving at him in the air, and then made a hooking motion, leading him to an empty classroom that no one was using. There was no one there, but there was a piece of parchment on the dusty table.

There is indeed a problem with this matter!

Albert saw the glove pointing at the parchment on the table, gesturing for him to read the content on it, and then lost its power and fell on the parchment.

He walked into the classroom and when he reached out to pick up the parchment, his eyes were attracted by something in the corner of the classroom.

Albert turned his head and looked around, and was so frightened by the black shadow in the corner that he pulled out his wand.

 When he looked carefully, he recognized it was Nearly Headless Nick at a glance.

This ghost gentleman no longer appears milky white and transparent, but becomes completely black and smoky, looking like a ferocious evil ghost.

There is no way, half of Nick's head is missing and he looks terrible.

This ghost gentleman was also petrified, lying motionless on his back, his body suspended six inches above the ground. There was unconcealable horror on his face, but Albert could see a bit of determination to die heroically from the horror.

Albert picked up the parchment and began to read the contents. Scrawled words on the parchment read: 4:30 pm, third floor of West Tower, circle, map.

"There is indeed a problem." Albert stuffed the parchment back into his pocket. This was undoubtedly his own reminder to go back in time and save Hermione.

 Very weird!

However, Albert didn't think about it. He took out the time converter and prepared to go back to an hour ago, recalling the information on the paper in his mind:

 Four thirty in the afternoon should refer to the time Hermione was attacked.

 The third floor of the west tower should refer to Nick's location.

 One circle should mean returning to one hour ago.

 The map should refer to the Marauder's Map.

 I specifically reminded myself on the parchment that I would definitely use it.

Albert put away the time turner, stuffed his gloves into his pocket, and hurried towards the boys' dormitory. He knew where the twins had placed the Marauder's Map.

After returning to the Gryffindor common room, Albert found that the place was in a state of chaos, and everyone was discussing the attack on Hermione and Nearly Headless Nick.

Oddly enough, people seem to be more concerned about Nick’s attack.

Kenneth Toler came to Albert almost when he returned to the lounge, hoping to continue working with him on the amulet, but Albert found an excuse to postpone it until the evening. He had no time to argue with him now. .

 After picking up the Marauder's Map from the drawer, Albert used the time turner to go back to an hour ago.

Going downstairs, I accidentally glanced at the corner of the common room. Ginny was still in the common room, and she didn't know if she was controlled by Tom now.

Hermione is also here, seeming to be saying something to Harry and Ron. Everything looks calm. Who could have guessed that there would be an attack soon?

Albert was a little doubtful, could this attack be caused by something he did?

He quickly suppressed all his emotions and quickly left the Gryffindor common room to find the almost headless Nick. He had to convince Nick to protect Hermione from the basilisk.

 Nearly headless Nick is not difficult to find. He is around the third floor of the west tower. Albert quickly found Nick's specific location through the Marauder's Map.

 When he rushed over, he found Nick talking to a female ghost.

Albert hesitated to directly step forward to disturb the other party, but after seeing Nick's retreating back, he finally couldn't help but quickly stepped forward and called out to Nick, who was almost headless.

　　"What do you want from me, Albert?" Nick took off his head like a bowler hat to greet Albert.

"Yes sir, there is something that only the heroic Sir Nicholas can do." Albert did not forget to compliment the other party.

 “Oh, what’s the matter?” Nick became interested, and Albert’s compliment was very useful to him.

 “Are you aware of the attacks that are taking place in the school?” Albert asked.

 “I know.” Nick nodded and said,

"Not long after, there will be another attack in the school." Albert took out the time turner from his pocket, stretched it out in front of Nick and said, "This is a time turner that can allow people to go back several hours. forward."

“So, you’re from a few hours in the future?” Nick asked suspiciously.

"An hour later to be precise." Albert put his index finger up to his lips, made a shushing gesture, and said softly, "Remember to keep it a secret for me. This matter was originally not allowed to be told to anyone. Of course, Ghost No way either.”

"I will." Nick nodded and promised, "What do you need me to do?"

"I need Sir Nicholas to save a friend of mine at a critical moment." Albert solemnly asked.

 “I’m just a ghost,” Nick reminded.

"I know." Albert explained, "The attacker was actually a basilisk. It was the monster that Slytherin left in the secret room, and someone released it."

"You just said...basilisk!" Nick's voice stuttered.

"Yes, basilisk. If you look directly into the eyes of the basilisk, my friend Hermione will lose her life. But if you block Hermione in time, you can avoid the loss of a life and let her just be killed by the basilisk." His eyes were petrified.”

"Please don't worry, the basilisk can't hurt you. Looking directly into its eyes will only make you temporarily incapacitated, but you will save a life." Albert was trying to convince Nick, "Only the brave Gryffin Only then can we have the courage to face the basilisk. In the near future, you will indeed do it and successfully save Hermione's life."

"Well, you're right, not all ghosts have that kind of courage." Nick agreed to help.

"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 did not forget to remind me.

"I will." Nick patted his chest to express his willingness to help, and he also realized that he was doing a great thing.

Yes, they were trying to save the life of a certain student, something that only a brave Gryffindor ghost could do, and the most important thing was that he succeeded, and that was important.

After a while of Albert's deception, 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.

 It is now fifteen minutes until 4:30 pm.

While Albert was trying to save Hermione, Hermione was secretly following Ginny Weasley out of the Gryffindor common room, trying to figure out what Ron's sister was doing.

 Actually, Albert's guess was correct, this incident was really caused by his return to the past.

Not long ago, when Albert hurriedly left the Gryffindor common room, he caught Hermione's eye. That unintentional glance at Ginny Weasley just happened to attract Hermione's attention.

Hermione was curious as to why Albert paid special attention to Ginny. There was obviously some reason, after all, the two parties were not familiar with each other.

Although Hermione didn't know why, after she secretly observed Ginny, she quickly discovered Ginny's abnormality. This abnormality was probably the reason why Albert glanced at Ginny unintentionally.

Although Hermione didn't understand what was going on, she quickly connected it with some of Ginny's unusual behaviors in school.

 Ginny had been having nightmares a while ago, had an emotional breakdown, her face was as pale as if she was sick, and she was very sad when Filch's cat was attacked... all of which proved that Ginny was behaving abnormally.

Moreover, Riddle's diary was stolen. The person who stole the diary was a Gryffindor student. Albert thought there was something wrong with the diary. Albert noticed Ginny. Maybe he had discovered Ginny's Behaving strangely and becoming suspicious of Ginny?

 Could Ginny Weasley be the thief who stole the diary?

 There is another possibility.

A ridiculous idea came to Hermione's mind. Ginny was related to the Chamber of Secrets. She knew who opened the Chamber of Secrets, or even Ginny opened the Chamber of Secrets.

How can it be!

 But Albert never makes a mistake, and he must have a reason to suspect 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, and Ginny is Ron's sister, and Ron may not believe her own words.

 In the end, Hermione secretly followed Ginny, intending to find out what Ginny was doing first. But she didn't know that Ginny Weasley had already known that someone was following her.

Yes, Tom knew that someone was following him, but he didn't care, especially after learning from Ginny Weasley's mind that the person following him was a Muggle wizard and a friend of Harry Potter. He had other thoughts and planned to summon a basilisk to kill the opponent.

Presumably after the death of his friend, Harry Potter will definitely pursue this matter desperately. When the time comes, he believes that he will meet Harry again, and he will have the opportunity to figure out the reason for Voldemort's failure and completely kill Harry. In the cradle.

As for the 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 the Chamber of Secrets, and then they can kill him together.

If Lockhart is allowed to die too easily, it is obviously not in line with Voldemort's style of doing things. It is up to him to lead people to the secret room and kill them how they want to be.

Ginny quickened her pace and easily got rid of Hermione on the second floor. She secretly entered the secret room and controlled the basilisk to attack Hermione.

What Tom didn’t know was that everything he did was seen by Albert through the Marauder’s Map.

To be honest, Albert was actually very surprised when he saw Hermione following Ginny through the Marauder's Map. He didn't expect that Hermione would actually suspect Ginny. She really shouldn't be underestimated!

It's just that Gryffindor's death-seeking character is very problematic. If it weren't for him, Hermione would probably be in trouble.

Curiosity killed the cat!

 (End of this chapter)