Putting aside the question of Ravenclaw's Diadem's whereabouts, there was one other thing Hermione cared about very much.
That was... why Harry Potter suspected Snape, to the point that he had even begun watching him.
Could Snape really be a spy Voldemort had planted beside Dumbledore?
Surely Dumbledore had not grown so old and blind that he could miss something like that?
Unless...
"A double agent."
"It's even very possible that Voldemort and Dumbledore both know perfectly well what's going on."
The deserted garden.
Two people alone.
From behind, they appeared to be Draco and Hermione.
It seemed Pansy had not come with them for some reason, giving Hermione this rare chance.
The words just now had in fact been Hermione talking to herself. She had not waited for Draco to answer.
But instead of sounding puzzled or even angry, as one might expect, Hermione's voice carried a faint, subtle tremor.
Almost as if she were being bullied...
"Mm... you jerk!"
"What's wrong? Keep going. I'm listening."
"How am I supposed to keep going when you're doing this?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione glanced at the large hand resting on her waist and gently caressing her. She gritted her teeth, blushing as she glared back at Draco behind her.
Unexpectedly, Hermione not only did not push Draco's hand away, she even pressed her back more firmly against his chest.
Although that was what she said, her body was honestly enjoying this closeness...
And in truth, this was perfectly natural.
After all, after going through so much together, the feelings between the two of them had long since fallen into place. Both of them had grown somewhat hungry for this kind of physical contact.
It was something sweet, something they liked, with a hint of a racing heartbeat...
...
Although being held close like this was not exactly unpleasant, as time passed, Hermione's legs began to feel weak and her body started to heat up. At last, her voice came out almost like a plea.
"You... don't go too far, Draco."
"..."
She said she was angry with Draco, but those watery eyes had no force behind them at all. On the contrary, seeing Hermione so soft and adorable only made Draco's breathing grow heavier.
Noticing his increasingly warm hand and feeling that her "safety" was under threat, Hermione finally pressed down on the hand that was moving to more and more outrageous places, embarrassed and annoyed.
"You still haven't... answered my question."
Although he knew this was not the place for that sort of thing, the dissatisfied Draco still took a deep breath against Hermione's hair as if in revenge, making Hermione roll her eyes in both embarrassment and irritation...
"It's just as you said. I also don't think two people as intelligent as them would keep a spy at their side unless that spy had a special mission and identity."
"So you also think Snape is a double agent moving between the two of them? But what does Snape gain from that?"
"...Maybe Snape never wanted to gain anything from it in the first place?"
"How is that possible?"
Draco did not answer Hermione's question. He simply played with the girl's small hand while looking at the snowy scenery before them.
For someone as proud as Snape, who could possibly make him willingly go undercover?
Hm... apart from his first love and her child...
Seeing Draco fall silent, Hermione seemed to sense something.
"You seem to know something."
"Who knows. But what I can be sure of is that this is definitely not the result the Dark Lord wanted to see."
Looking into Draco's gray eyes, which seemed to hold the entire starry sky, Hermione's expression could not help turning a little dazed.
Although she did not know where Draco's confidence came from, Hermione had no intention of digging into his secrets.
After all, to Draco, Snape was not only his professor, but also his godfather...
...
With the end of the Christmas break, Hogwarts returned to its usual bustle.
It was worth mentioning that on the day before the holiday ended, Harry Potter did not reappear in Gryffindor House.
And no one seemed to notice that Harry Potter had suddenly vanished from Hogwarts...
But Draco and the others were not among those people.
"What's going on? Potter didn't come back to school."
The day after the holiday ended, Hermione had only just sat down when she told Draco and the others what she had discovered that morning.
Their plan to keep Harry Potter from coming into contact with Ginny was immediately put aside for the time being.
"He didn't come back?"
"Don't panic. Maybe he couldn't make it in time? Or maybe something happened?"
"Speaking of something happening... Dumbledore doesn't seem to be at school either."
The more they discussed it, the stranger the whole situation felt.
On top of that, Draco and the others had also noticed that the rest of the professors all seemed preoccupied, as if something major was happening.
The strange atmosphere made some of the more perceptive wizards sense that something was wrong...
"Draco, should we ask Dobby..."
Just as Hermione was quietly speaking to Draco, an unbelievable scream suddenly rang in everyone's ears.
"How could this be?!"
"The report has to be fake, right? How is this possible?!"
What began as a small commotion gradually spread outward.
In a very short time, the entire Great Hall fell into chaos.
Even stranger, the professors at the staff table seemed to have no intention of stepping forward to stop it...
Just as Draco began to realize something was wrong, he saw Goyle in the distance, clutching a piece of parchment as he stumbled all the way toward them.
Looking closely, the parchment in his hand seemed to be The Daily Prophet.
Goyle's expression looked unusually grave...
"Draco! Draco!"
"Calm down. Have some water first..."
After gulping down the water, Goyle stammered and handed over The Daily Prophet.
"Um... you all need to look at this article."
Draco was so puzzled by Goyle's strange reaction that he did not ask any further questions and simply took it. Pansy and the others beside him also leaned in curiously.
The next second, Draco, Pansy, and the others all widened their eyes in shock at the contents.
It was as if they had seen something terrifying.
Because written on it were the words...
Let us remember Albus Dumbledore!!