Albert had never imagined that Hermione would be attacked at a time like this.
In his view, Tom Riddle's primary target should have been Gilderoy Lockhart, not any other Muggle-born wizard. At the very least, Albert, whose panel was constantly cluttered with quests, had a much higher probability of being attacked than anyone else.
Hermione being attacked must have been a coincidence. In the book, Nearly Headless Nick had also happened to save a Hufflepuff student, and now this ghost had happened to save Hermione again—it felt a bit like a course correction by history.
Chapter 568