Hogwarts lazy snake

"Have you heard? It seems that Carlo from Slytherin was beaten black and blue. I saw it with my own eyes! That guy is annoying on weekdays, but now it's really gratifying." A wizard said excitedly with a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.

"That's right! What a pity I wasn't there, otherwise I would have gone up and beat him up a few times." Another wizard echoed with regret.

When Ginny heard these words, she immediately looked at Ron and Neville beside her, with a hint of suspicion in her eyes: "Did you two do it?"

Ron's heart skipped a beat, but he immediately pretended to be calm and answered, "Of course... no! I'm a brave Gryffindor, how could I do such a thing? Let's go, we have to go to the school infirmary to see how Hermione is doing."

He said so, but when he heard those words, the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously, which was a kind of pride in his "great achievements". However, when he heard Ginny's question and answered her seriously, he almost gave himself away.

Neville also became nervous. He didn't dare to admit it. After all, it would be bad if his grandmother knew about it. He quickly shook his head to deny it: "Yes, it's not us, Ginny, don't make random guesses."

Ginny narrowed her eyes, and her gaze was like two sharp swords, scanning Ron and Neville, as if to penetrate their disguise and find flaws. "Well, you two better not be lying. If I find out that it was you who did it, I won't keep it a secret for you."

Ron and Neville looked at each other and saw guilt in each other's eyes, but they still nodded.

"We really didn't do it, Ginny, stop guessing." Ron tried to make his voice sound calm, but Ginny still keenly caught the slightly trembling tone.

"That's right, Ginny, how could we do such a thing?" Neville also echoed, but his lack of confidence in the voice seemed a little abrupt in the quiet atmosphere.

Ginny frowned, but didn't press the issue further.

The three of them walked towards the school infirmary. Along the way, Ron and Neville were both nervous, as if every step they took was on thin ice. They nervously glanced at Ginny from time to time, fearing that she would ask another difficult question.

The school clinic was filled with a faint herbal scent. White curtains separated the beds, creating a quiet and somewhat mysterious atmosphere.

They walked into a bed covered by a curtain and saw Hermione with a face full of silver hair and two ears standing up on her head. She was sitting on the bed, concentrating on reading a notebook.

"Hey, Hermione, Harry, we're here to see you." Ron said, taking out some snacks from his small bag and placing them on the small table beside the bed.

Ginny walked quickly to Hermione and asked with a worried look on her face, "Hermione, how are you? Did Madam Pomfrey say when you can change back?"

Hermione looked at them with her amber eyes with vertical pupils. Just as she was about to speak, a ball of fur came out of her mouth.

"Pfft~ It's nothing. Madam Pomfrey said it might take a day or two to get better. Maybe he'll recover with Harry. Meow~" As she said that, she looked at Harry in the bed next to her.

"Meow~" At this time, a cat's meow came from Hermione.

"Mrs. Norris, are you awake?" Hermione put down the notes in her hand and took out a piece of jerky from the bag beside the bed.

Ron, Ginny and Neville then noticed the Maine Coon cat, Mrs. Norris, curled up next to Hermione. It was stretching and enjoying the jerky.

Ron looked at Mrs. Norris with curiosity: "Hermione, why is Filch's cat here too?"

Ginny also moved closer, wanting to reach out and touch Mrs. Norris, but as soon as she got close, Mrs. Norris bared her teeth and frightened her. Ginny was so scared that she quickly stepped back: "Yeah, this is the first time I've seen it get so close to someone other than Filch."

Ron stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "I remember that Harry and I encountered it many times, and it was not very friendly every time. It was strange that it took the initiative to approach Hermione this time."

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, his eyes lit up, and he pointed at Mrs. Norris who was eating jerky and said, "Hermione, could it be that... what was put in the Polyjuice Potion you drank...?!!"

Hermione nodded helplessly: "I don't know what happened. I don't know why the hair put in was not Millicent's, but Mrs. Norris's."

"Huh? When was this place cordoned off?" A deep voice came, and it turned out that Hagrid's tall figure appeared beside the bed, half of his head protruding from above the white cloth of the enclosure.

"Ron, you guys are here to see Harry too, huh? What is...?" Hagrid looked confused when he saw the cat-like Hermione lying on the bed.

Ron was a little nervous. Just as he was about to speak, Ginny said, "Hagrid, Hermione accidentally made a mistake while practicing magic, which is why she became like this. Madam Pomfrey said she will recover in a few days."

"Yes, Hagrid, Ginny is right." Neville quickly agreed.

Hagrid frowned and looked at Hermione with worry. "Yes, Hermione. It seems that you are too worried about Harry, which is why this happened. Harry is so lucky to have a friend like you."

As he spoke, he took out a small handkerchief and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, his eyes full of heartache, "You kids, why do you always encounter such bad luck? I don't know what's going on in the school recently, there are rumors of a secret room, and mysterious monsters appearing. On the way here, I heard that the Carlo kid was beaten badly."

Ron's heart skipped a beat and his throat felt dry. He quickly said, "We heard about it, but we don't know who did it."

Hagrid shook his head helplessly. "Well, no matter who did it, fighting in school is not a good idea. It can easily cause a big mess."

As he spoke, Hagrid's eyes suddenly fell on the notes in Hermione's hand, and he said in surprise, "Riddle?"

"What's the matter? Hagrid, do you know this student named Riddle? Mrs. Norris brought this thing from somewhere this morning." Hermione looked at Hagrid curiously, with a gleam of curiosity in her eyes.

Hagrid scratched his head and fell into recollection. "Riddle, of course I remember him. He was so smart when he was in school, and the teachers all praised him highly. He was like a shining star, with a very high talent for learning magic and a unique and profound understanding of magic."

At this point, Hagrid shrugged his shoulders. "But I don't have much interaction with him. His name is like a gust of wind, often mentioned in every corner of the school. After all, his performance in school is really outstanding."

Hermione tilted her head, blinked, and asked, "So what happened to him? Do you know?"

Hagrid shook his head, a trace of confusion on his face. "I'm not sure. I haven't heard much about him since graduation. But it's strange, why are his notes here? After so many years, they still appear in Hogwarts."

Ron scratched his head and looked at the notebook. He saw Hermione reading the notebook when he first came in, but he didn't pay much attention to it at the time. If Harry was reading it, he might find it strange.

"Riddle? I seem to remember seeing this name somewhere." Ron frowned and tried to recall. When he heard Hagrid say that Riddle was very good, the sense of familiarity became even stronger.

"I remember one time when I was cleaning the medal display room..."