It had been the same last time, when they stopped Quirrell from stealing the Philosopher's Stone.
The moment Harry saw Voldemort, he passed out.
When he woke up, he was told, to his bewilderment, that everything had already been resolved.
But Hermione had handled it last time, so naturally, he had never doubted it.
This time, though, it was Lockhart. How was he supposed to believe that?
Rather than believe Lockhart was capable of that, he would sooner believe Voldemort had stepped on his own foot, tripped over flat ground, and impaled himself on the Basilisk's fang.
But Luna insisted that was what had happened. He had been unconscious at the time and had no idea what the truth was, so he could not argue.
Ron chimed in:
"Lockhart can barely manage a Levitation Charm most days. How could he possibly defeat a Basilisk? And he even destroyed that... Horcrux thing of Voldemort's? That's ridiculous!"
He felt the same way. The whole sequence seemed terribly familiar.
Arrive, pass out, wake up, all over.
"Stop overthinking it, you two."
Hermione's tone was calm.
"It's over now. What matters is that Hogwarts is safe, the villain has been destroyed, and the petrified students can be saved. Does it matter who the hero was?"
"But..."
Harry kept feeling that Hermione was hiding something.
Although something felt terribly off, he could only choose to believe her.
It was Hermione, after all.
"All right." Harry finally nodded. "I understand."
Beside them, Ginny's gaze settled on Hermione.
She wanted to say something and opened her mouth, but in the end, she said nothing.
She had already handed that strange Diary to Hermione, so why had the petrifications still happened?
And in the end, the Diary had somehow appeared in Malfoy's hands. Everyone was calling him the