"What happened, Albus?" Professor McGonagall appeared in the Headmaster's Office with the phoenix, wearing smooth wizard robes. Then she spotted Su Er standing before the desk, looking tense and dejected, and asked in surprise,
"Mr. Bones, why are you here too?"
"Something very serious has happened, Minerva." Dumbledore looked extremely grave. "Do you remember a third-year Gryffindor student named Hermione Granger?"
"Hermione Granger?" Professor McGonagall paused, closed her eyes to think, then shook her head. "I don't remember a Gryffindor student with the surname Granger."
Dumbledore sighed. "It seems Hermione Granger really has become lost in time."
"Lost in time?" Professor McGonagall looked startled and alarmed. "You mean..."
"Yes, precisely what you're thinking of." Dumbledore nodded, summoned the Elder Wand with a wave of his hand, and lightly tapped the picture frame behind him to his lower left.
The frame swung aside to reveal a blank wall. Dumbledore tapped the wall again, and a doorway appeared.
"We need to go and verify it."
With that, Dumbledore pulled the door open, revealing a long stone staircase whose end lay out of sight.
"You too, Su Er."
The three climbed the stairs. After walking for an unknown length of time, they finally reached an ancient stone door. Dumbledore gave it a gentle push and stepped inside, and Su Er hurried in after Professor McGonagall.
It was a tiny room made of bare stone blocks, so small that the three of them filled it once they entered. A round stone table stood inside, with a thick book on top and a dusty gray quill lying beside it.
Dumbledore raised his wand and tapped the book. Its pages immediately began rustling as they turned.
"Words recorded on paper with magic won't disappear because of time," Dumbledore said softly.
"Every wizard eligible for admission is