A lie's inception necessitates countless lies to conceal it.

However, in Hermione Granger's understanding, she had never encountered such an absurd situation.

When a city's presented image clashed with logic, her reality morphed into a meticulously woven drama, causing her to feel a sense of dread – what was truly real, and what was merely a fabricated tale?

"That city? What are you talking about... it's Salzburg, Austria, of course."

Eileen gently poked Hermione's forehead with her finger, smiling with a hint of amusement.

"Everything there, the people living in it, every street you walked, and the snacks we shared, all of that is absolutely real. As for Professor Apocalis's true identity, perhaps you can find clues from Professor Nicolas Flamel. I mean, why don't you start by looking into who Nicolas Flamel really is..."

Eileen wasn't particularly surprised by Hermione's reaction.

After all, in her and Dumbledore's plans, they never expected this identity to remain undiscovered.

Or rather, from the start, the surname Apocalis was bait, intended to be seen through. The real disguise was Paracelsus, the reclusive old man who was now God knows where. People tend to believe in disguises they've cleverly deciphered themselves, while avoiding options that seem somewhat dangerous.

Besides, before this, simply going from Nicolas Flamel to the Philosopher's Stone was enough to deter most people.

If Eileen remembered correctly, even a "calculating machine" like Hermione Granger in the original storyline spent a considerable amount of time researching Nicolas Flamel, and there was even a fair amount of luck involved.

However, Eileen's attempt to divert attention didn't have the effect she anticipated.

Under the flapping of the white-haired puffball's wings, Hermione was no longer the little witch solely focused on her textbooks.

"Nicolas Flamel, the first known creator of the Philosopher's Stone."

"And also the only known owner of a Philosopher's Stone currently in the magical world. Of course, nowadays, it's more accurate to say one of the owners, right? As for what you're going to say next..."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said calmly.

"Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, one of the most famous doctors in medieval Europe, one of the founders of modern medical chemistry, practiced medicine in Salzburg and is buried there – don't forget, my father is also a doctor, these stories have almost accompanied me since I was a child..."

That guidance about Paracelsus had a fatal flaw from the very beginning.

No matter which record you looked at, Paracelsus had a strange title besides "Alchemist," "Owner of the Philosopher's Stone," and "Pioneer of Healing": "The solitary Plague Doctor."

As a loner so isolated that it was recorded in documents, he clearly wouldn't have many friends in society.

Not to mention, he was once a "Plague Doctor" walking on the front lines of the Black Death.

Perhaps Paracelsus still existed, but he definitely wasn't the castle caretaker now known as "Otto Apocalis," because the true founder of healing was also a doctor – in other words, if you were to research from non-magical world historical documents, many of Professor Apocalis's previous details wouldn't completely match up.

And in the history of the magical world, there just so happened to be a not-so-secret legend.

About the sudden collapse of a certain Dark Lord, and the "holy city" existing in illusion, surrounding the Dark Lord's castle, never seen by anyone, and the direction that legend ultimately pointed to just happened to be...

Compared to the vague Paracelsus, there was too much documentation about Gellert Grindelwald.

Perhaps in Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley, there would be many books about "Voldemort" when searching for dark wizards, but once you left the British magical world, in any European bookstore you asked for a reading list, it would all be "Grindelwald."

"Therefore, that Professor Apocalis, he is actually, I mean, you—"

Hermione's lips trembled slightly, her expression somewhat flustered and helpless.

If all of this was under Professor Dumbledore's control, then she was undoubtedly facing a vast shadow that far exceeded her imagination and ability to bear, and she didn't even know what the purpose of saying all this was at this moment.

Perhaps, she just wanted to hear Eileen's answer with her own ears... as for anything further...

"Oh," Eileen said, gently pressing her index finger to Hermione's lips, "Oh... don't say it."

"But... Eileen, I'm worried about you..."

Hermione Granger bit her lip, stubbornly looking at the white-haired puffball.

"Listen to me," Eileen pinched Hermione's nose, and said meaningfully in a soft voice, "You're right in your assumptions, I don't intend to deny or quibble about anything, but you're not strong enough yet to come into contact with the truth."

She had to admit, Hermione Granger's growth rate far exceeded her expectations.

Although in Gellert Grindelwald's view, getting Eileen's "close friends" to join the future Dark Lord's camp as soon as possible was more beneficial than harmful, Eileen hoped to prolong their carefree time.

"But Luna knows all this, doesn't she, Eileen."

Hermione said, glancing at Luna Lovegood, who was sitting on the edge of the bed looking dazed and spacing out.

According to past experience, Luna Lovegood was far more perceptive than her in these matters, but neither after today's journey nor during that conversation just now did Luna's expression change at all.

Then, the conclusion was self-evident—not everyone in their small group was kept in the dark.

"Luna knows something too?! Wait! Wait!"

Hannah shouted, standing up and blocking between Eileen and Hermione, puffing out her cheeks with some annoyance.

"You two have been saying strange, incomprehensible things since just now. Now it's Luna's turn to get dragged into this. Does that mean I'm the only one in this room who doesn't know anything?!"

"Um—I don't understand..." Danilova timidly raised her hand.

"Uh—okay, so now it's two people." Hannah paused, subconsciously correcting herself.

That's right!

In addition to the usual four, Eileen had also brought back a little tagalong from Ravenclaw.

However, during the journey just now, this first-year student was even quieter than Luna. If this little girl hadn't suddenly spoken up now, Hannah Abbott would have almost forgotten that there was a strange little kid in the room.

"It's not a big deal..."

Eileen pondered slightly, reached out and touched the little呆毛 on Danilova's head, explaining casually.

"In short, Hermione has discovered Professor Apocalis's secret—of course, I don't know when Luna found out, but I can't say too much about the specific information either. Forget what we just talked about, forget the Philosopher's Stone, this is between Professor Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, and Mr. Paracelsus..."

Halfway through her sentence, Eileen suddenly belatedly bit her tongue and quickly covered her mouth.

"Ah—I can't keep talking, I promised Dumbledore to keep it a secret. In short, this is one of the professors' tests, if you're interested, you can go to the library and look it up yourself."

Eileen said this while subtly winking at Hermione, saying meaningfully in a soft voice.

"Hermione has given you enough hints, and everyone is very tired tonight, why don't we get some rest?"

Was this white-haired puffball going to start lying again?

Hermione Granger raised her eyebrows, choosing not to expose Eileen's clumsy acting at this time. After Eileen's reminder, she realized that she was a little too impatient, and now was obviously not the best time to interrogate.

After all, there weren't just the four of them in the room right now...

Hermione raised her eyebrows, thoughtfully scanning the timid little girl.

"Speaking of which, what's with this kid? Eileen."

Perhaps many Hogwarts teachers and students would think that Eileen was warm and energetic, but Hermione Granger never had such an illusion. After more than a year of getting along, she knew very well about the pride in Eileen's heart.

In fact, Eileen had always maintained a very subtle sense of distance with most people.

If you were to use the evaluation her father made while reading the newspaper, it would be like a cunning politician wearing a smiling mask:

She seemed approachable, generous, and enthusiastic, but in reality, she was like a machine, efficiently, accurately, and coldly handling her own interpersonal relationships, neither seeming very distant nor making people feel like they were on the same level.

At least in Hermione's impression, Eileen had never invited any other girl back to the dorm except for the three of them.

"You mean Danilova? Because I promised her father that I would take good care of her."

Eileen said, shrugging her shoulders and explaining with a matter-of-fact expression, "The Ravenclaw girls' dormitories definitely won't be accessible tonight, I can't just watch her spend the night in the hallway, right? Doesn't that make sense?"

As one of the few foreigners in the school, Professor Alexei's relationship with Danilova wasn't exactly a secret.

On the first day of school, almost half of Hogwarts knew about it.

However, for the Ravenclaw and other three houses, the little witches cared more about whether the new math professor would show extra favoritism towards Ravenclaw because of his daughter.

"Professor Alexei... asked you?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"That's right, I remember I said last semester that Hogwarts would be adding a new batch of professors."

Eileen nodded happily, admitting generously, "I was one of the reviewers during the recruitment process."

Anyway, aside from Hannah, Hermione Granger's intelligence was enough to guess most of the truth, and instead of continuing to waste energy maintaining some ambiguous lie, it was more efficient to just reveal her identity.

Just then, Luna Lovegood asked softly in a drifting tone.

"So, Danilova and I are actually the same?"

"Eh?" Eileen blinked, looking at the expressionless little moon.

Although Luna Lovegood didn't show much emotion, Eileen could vaguely sense the melancholy in the voice of this usually carefree die-roller. After all, the white-haired puffball had a criminal record when it came to abducting underage girls.

Whether it was the "Owl Kidnapping Case" or the "Dark Lord Trap," the Lovegood family's impression was too deep.

Undoubtedly, even though they were very close now, Luna Lovegood was still somewhat concerned about Eileen's despicable act of kidnapping and illegally imprisoning "Simplified Chinese", thereby forcing the Lovegood father and daughter to fall into the clutches of the Dark Lord.

"From the results, maybe, perhaps there's a little bit of similarity..."

Under Luna's silvery-white gaze, Eileen scratched her nose with some guilt, looking away.

"But, the most important thing about Danilova is that she's the 'key' to Ravenclaw. On a night like tonight, when the door is destined to be locked, sleeping on the floor is actually a very unfair injury for Danilova."

"Key?"

"Unfair injury?"

Along with Eileen's explanation, Danilova and Hermione asked at the same time with some confusion.

"Of course, didn't you know that the riddles of the Bronze Eagle Door Knocker have always been updated and iterated by me?"

Eileen spread out her hands, proudly puffing out her chest, and said with a smile.

"Tonight's riddle is a 'impossible to complete' challenge specially prepared for Mr. Nicolas Flamel. This not only involves the collision between Ms. Rowena Ravenclaw and Mr. Nicolas Flamel, but also represents the clash between the new era of the magical world and the old era..."

"Therefore, as one of the rising stars of the new generation, Danilova is clearly not suitable to be there..."

"Huh? Rising star? Me?"

"Of course, it's not just you, Hermione, and everyone else too—"

Eileen mysteriously raised a finger, looking around at the little witches in the room, lowering her voice and saying softly.

"This involves the school's upcoming curriculum reform, of course, first we have to talk about the story of Mr. Flamel... did you know? More than six hundred years ago, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry once..."

In any case, Hermione and Luna were still a group of eleven or twelve-year-old underage girls.

Since being a child king and a nun in the orphanage for six years, Eileen was very skilled in how to divert attention and change the subject. With the series of new gossip she threw out, the topic quickly became interesting.

Compared to the distant adult world, the Hogwarts gossip close at hand was obviously more interesting.

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Guya~ It's another day of pushing the deadline~ e=(′o｀*))) sigh