Chapter 193: 0192 Exposed
Hermione felt like she had gone back to her first year at school, when she was always alone, going to class by herself, eating by herself, going to the library by herself, and the other students kept their distance from her as if she had some contagious disease. Well, not exactly, she could feel a few worried glances on her from time to time, but no one dared to approach her or offer any comfort.
"We should go and comfort her."
The students were leaving the Great Hall in droves, and only a few people remained at the Gryffindor table. Harry, feeling sorry for her, tried to persuade Ron, but he was met with Ron's angry refusal,
"I think we can use this opportunity to make her change her arrogant and conceited personality!"
When Ron's resentful words reached her ears, Hermione's lips tightened, and she suddenly felt like crying, but she tried hard to hold back the urge, grabbed her bag and got up to leave.
"Miss Granger, please wait–"
Hermione turned around in surprise, and saw Professor Watson stand up from the staff table and walk towards her.
"I hope you can spare some time before dinner to come to my office, Miss Granger."
Ignoring the curious stares, Bryan looked at the pale-faced Hermione and calmly said this.
"But, Professor–"
Suddenly, Hermione realized that she hadn't visited him alone since Professor Watson returned to Hogwarts, which was very rude, especially for a professor who had helped her many times,
"I probably don't have time, Professor Watson, I have two classes in the afternoon, I need to finish my history of magic essay at dinner time, and I have Professor Sinistra's astronomy observation at night."
Bryan raised his eyebrows, feeling a bit troubled by Hermione's honesty and stubbornness,
"In that case,"
Bryan said in an indisputable tone to Hermione, "You come with me now, Miss Granger."
"Professor Watson must know about Hermione's annoying beast,"
When Hermione, who looked confused, followed Professor Watson out, Ron immediately said eagerly,
"Do you think he called her to persuade her to get rid of it?"
"I don't think so, Ron" Harry said helplessly, "Professor Watson wouldn't make a fuss about a cat eating a mouse."
"Professor–"
Pushing open the window, Hermione saw the sky was still that unpleasant gray, and on the damp lawn, Madam Hooch was teaching the first-year Ravenclaw wizards how to sit steadily on a flying broom. She could hear their excited shouts and nervous laughter.
Bryan fumbled in his arms, took out a bottle of light green potion and dripped a few drops into the teacup, then poured boiling tea, and handed it to her after seeing Hermione's puzzled eyes, and returned to his seat behind the desk. His office was cozy and warm, with a fireplace, a bookshelf, and a few paintings on the walls.
"When I visited Professor Snape yesterday, I took some dried Billywig stingers from him and made myself some stimulant, but,"
Bryan put the bottle of stimulant in front of Hermione, "I think you might need it more than me."
"Oh, thank you, Professor!"
Hermione bit her lip and said gratefully. She took a sip of the tea, and felt a surge of energy in her body. Bryan waved his hand casually, indicating that Hermione should drink up first, and the office fell silent, only the cold wind that broke through the window bars fluttered their robes.
"Yesterday afternoon–"
Bryan, who had been staring at the ripples on the Black Lake, noticed that Hermione, who had breathed a sigh of relief, looked much better, he turned his head and smiled,
"Potter and Mr. Weasley came to see me,"
Hermione immediately became nervous, she thought Professor Watson was going to blame her for not coming with them to visit him, but she was caught off guard when she heard,
"They told me that, because of Crookshanks, Ron's rat named Scabbers seemed to be in a bad state lately?"
Hermione suddenly showed a sad expression, she lowered her head, tears rolling in her eyes,
"Scabbers is dead."
She said with a sob after a while as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and looked up at Bryan with a pained expression.
'Dead?!'
"They think it was Crookshanks who did it, when did it happen?" Bryan asked in surprise.
After understanding the general course of events, Bryan looked at the thin shoulders of the little witch trembling slightly, and his eyebrows wrinkled imperceptibly, feeling a bit puzzled.
He had set a circle of warning spells around the Shrieking Shack, the most haunted house in Britain, to prevent some inexplicable people from entering and leaving. The spells would feedback any living thing with a certain amount of magic that tried to break into the room, and automatically attach a location mark. Bryan had done this to make it easier for him to find them and erase their memories if someone accidentally broke in and really found something.
Last night at dinner in the Great Hall, according to the information from the warning magic, Crookshanks, Hermione's ginger cat, should not have had enough time to 'commit a crime'.
"It's not necessarily a cat that eats mice, could it be an owl that slipped in through the window?"
Bryan suggested, trying to ease Hermione's guilt.
"But there was Crookshanks' fur on Ron's bed."
Professor Watson didn't immediately accuse Crookshanks of committing the crime, which Hermione appreciated, but she couldn't deny Professor Watson's guess. She remembered how Ron had screamed when he saw the bloody sheets and the tufts of orange fur.
"Hmm, in that case"
Bryan rested his elbow on the armrest, his palm supporting his chin, and said thoughtfully,
"Have you tried to sneak back and see with the Time-Turner?"
"No, Professor–"
After drinking some stimulant, Hermione, who was quick-witted, shook her head immediately,
"That's against the law, Professor Watson, Professor McGonagall warned me sternly when she gave it to me, not to use it for--"
As she spoke, Hermione suddenly realized what she was saying, she widened her beautiful eyes, staring at Professor Watson, who was smiling faintly, with a shocked expression.
Silence continued, one second, two seconds, three seconds.
Clang!
Suddenly, Hermione jumped up from her seat, stumbled back a few steps,
"Pr- Professor Watson, you know. You, Did Professor McGonagall- Oh, impossible, this is something that needs to be kept strictly confidential, I didn't even tell Harry and Ron, Professor McGonagall wouldn't tell you!"
She blurted out, feeling panicked.
"Hehe, don't be nervous, Miss Granger, I have no intention of sending you to Azkaban."
Looking at Hermione, who was a bit over-nervous, Bryan joked. He was amused by her reaction.
"But!" Hermione still looked doubtful, "How did you find out if it wasn't Professor McGonagall who told you?"
She wondered how he had discovered her secret, and if he had told anyone else.
"Harry and Ron didn't tell you the Weasley twin's guess, about my method of preventing Black from breaking into the castle again?"
Bryan asked, changing the topic. He wanted to divert her attention from the Time-Turner, and to make her feel less guilty and isolated,
Using the Time-Turner, this amazing alchemy device, meant that she could have more time to study than others, which in the eyes of others, was equivalent to cheating to improve her grades. Being exposed by Professor Watson, Hermione's face was red, but when she heard this question, her cheeks showed a touch of sadness.
"No, Professor–"
At Professor Watson's request, Hermione sat back in her chair, she shook her head pitifully,
"Because of Crookshanks, they don't like to talk to me lately"
She said, feeling lonely and hurt.
Bryan had called Hermione to his office, not to chat with her, but to show her something. He waved his hand, and the black curtain behind the desk opened with a swish, revealing hundreds of small screens with swaying figures of Hermione.
"You are very cautious, Hermione, you strictly followed the operating procedures of the Time-Turner–"
Bryan said with a bit of amusement, "But for me, seeing your sneaky figure all over the screen is always a bit weird.
Fortunately, my brain is flexible, and I guessed what was going on, otherwise, I would have rushed into Professor McGonagall's classroom and checked carefully, among these many 'Hermione Grangers', if there was any Sirius Black who had drunk the Polyjuice Potion!"
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