It Clicked

Albert had never expected Hermione to come directly to him and ask about his clone. Albert was surprised that their relationship had become so close.

Facing Miss Granger, who was staring at him with wide eyes, Albert smiled faintly, raised a finger to his lips, and said mysteriously, "Just think of it as a Clone Charm for now. It's actually a secret, and I can't tell you how I do it yet. If you really want to know, when you're in your third year, take all the courses, and you'll be qualified to know how I can appear in two places at the same time, and then you'll be able to do it too."

Actually, Hermione hadn't expected Albert to give her an answer when she asked him directly. She just wanted to see how Albert would react to discovering his little secret. But Albert's reaction was calmer than she expected, and he even revealed that the "doppelganger" was related to choosing all the courses in her third year? "Courses?" Hermione couldn't help but ask, "How many courses do you need to take?"

"Twelve courses." Albert made no attempt to hide anything. "If you want to take all the courses, you need to be prepared to handle the workload."

"Five more courses than we have now, I see." Hermione remembered Albert's emphasis on choosing all courses and guessed what was going on. Obviously, allowing someone to appear in two different places was to allow students who chose all courses to attend other classes at the same time.

"You can guess it yourself!" Albert said quietly. "Don't spread it around, or Professor McGonagall will be unhappy."

"I will keep it a secret." Hermione nodded seriously. From Albert's words, it was clear that Professor McGonagall also knew about this, and it was even possible that Professor McGonagall had taught him how to appear in two places at the same time.

"I have another question."

"Ask away."

"The thing in the Fourth Floor Forbidden Area Corridor must be Philosopher's Stone."

"Didn't you all guess it?" Albert neither admitted nor denied it.

"Harry said Snape wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone that Dumbledore had left in the school." When Albert didn't answer, she continued, recounting how Snape had Dark Curse Harry's broom during the last match against the Slytherin Team, trying to kill Harry by throwing it.

"Yes, Snape, he was definitely not a good person."

Albert noticed Hermione staring at him and thought for a moment before saying, "However, I don't think that even if Potter did fall off the broom, he would necessarily die instantly. In fact, as long as you learn the Shock Absorption Charm, a wizard will basically not die from a fall. The professors all know this spell, so the possibility of Potter dying from a fall is almost zero."

Hermione was stunned. She found that her thoughts had been easily overturned. What Albert said made perfect sense. Although she had never heard of the Shock Absorption Charm Shock Absorption Charm, it was not difficult to infer its effect from Albert's words.

At the time, most of the Hogwarts professors were in the audience. Would Harry really have been killed by the fall?

If they really died from the fall, it just means the professors were incompetent.

"Why would Snape do that?" Hermione was even more puzzled.

"You need to think about why for yourself," Albert guided. "Think about it from all angles; the truth may be completely different from what you think."

Why didn't you just tell me?

"What I call the truth may not actually be the truth. Think about it more, and maybe you will be able to find the truth," Albert explained.

Hermione paused for a moment, then frowned as she considered the various possibilities.

"If I were you, I wouldn't easily believe Albert. He's very good at using Eloquent Deception to deceive girls." Isobel smiled and winked at Hermione.

"I'm leaving now."

"See you later," Albert said.

"But why did Snape want to steal the Philosopher's Stone?"

Hermione made a mental note of this, then looked at Albert again and asked, "Does he want gold, and immortality?"

"The Elixir of Life is indeed an irresistible temptation for many people," Albert nodded. "If Potter is really worried about the Philosopher's Stone, I suggest he talk to Dumbledore about it. He is the savior, and I think even if he can't persuade Dumbledore, he should be able to raise his guard and prevent anyone from trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone."

"The professors certainly won't believe it..."

"I know the professors won't easily believe Potter, but the headmaster might. He's a very remarkable person," Albert said. "As the most powerful wizard of all time, Dumbledore can tell if someone is lying to him. I don't think anyone could hide from him and secretly steal the Philosopher's Stone from the school."

Hermione opened her mouth, unsure of what to say.

"Why can't others think of the things you can think of?" Albert said, looking into Hermione's eyes. "Am I right? But it's always good to use your brain, even though it doesn't fit the character of most Gryffindor students."

"You mean, Albert thinks Snape couldn't steal the Philosopher's Stone from under Dumbledore's nose?"

Harry and Ron were quite surprised by Hermione's account; Albert had almost overturned most of their guesses.

However, Harry had to admit that some of Albert's points were indeed quite reasonable. Did Snape really want to kill himself by casting a spell on his Nimbus 2000? According to Albert, even if he fell off the broom, the professors in the audience certainly wouldn't let him die.

Would Snape not know that?

He must know, unless he's an idiot.

Snape was clearly not stupid, so why would he do such a thing? "He wanted the Slytherin Team to win the game. Don't forget, those Slytherin guys are known for doing anything to win." Harry shared his guess with Hermione and Ron. "Besides, Snape is their headmaster. I'm not surprised at all that he would do something like this."

At this point, Harry's face darkened further. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. "Don't forget, Snape is also planning to personally officiate the Quidditch Match."

Even Hermione had to admit that Harry made a lot of sense!

"Harry, are you going to tell Dumbledore about this?" Hermione asked in a low voice.

"I don't think I can convince the principal."

Harry shook his head. He was self-aware enough not to believe he could convince Dumbledore to suspect the professors without any leads.