Chapter 250: Chapter 250: Dumbledore, you bastard! (Edited)
Tom placed the newspaper back on the table, which had the following headline in bold: "8 Dead! Professor Hal Hunter from the University of Sheffield is to blame."
There were other newspapers on the table, most of the front-page headlines also related to Dr. Hunter: "Ancient Egyptian Ruins Unveiled, Fractured History Could Be Mended," "17 Gold Artifacts, Professor's Thrilling Adventure with Pregnant Girl," "Blood-Stained Gold"...
"Lately, Dr. Hunter has been going through a rough time," lamented Tom. Dr. Hunter had returned to England a few days before them, and his thrilling adventure and the valuable artifacts he had brought had created a sensation that shook the entire archaeological community, while the deaths of six security company employees and two students had put Dr. Hunter in the center of public opinion.
Tom was glad that the press hadn't picked up on him and Hermione, which had saved him a lot of trouble.
"Tom, breakfast is ready~," Hermione said, coming out of the kitchen wearing an apron and holding a plate.
Tom's face twitched unnaturally twice, "Actually, you can do all this work..."
"No, let me do it!" Hermione cut off Tom sharply, "This is my house, and it's my duty to prepare breakfast, so don't say another word!"
Tom grabbed the fork, placed the burnt omelet on the charred toast, and crowned it with two equally burnt bacon strips. He felt like he was going to the grave.
When Tom and Hermione returned to London, the Grangers were still on vacation in France... so it was natural for Tom to stay at Hermione's house. The security situation in London had deteriorated lately, and it wasn't safe for Hermione, a girl, to live alone in such a big house. Hermione also offered to take care of Tom's breakfast. Having tasted Hermione's cooking, Tom was more than determined to take on the responsibility of cooking lunch and dinner.
While Tom struggled to finish his sandwich, Hermione sat across from him with a bowl of cereal.
"I want to go to Regent Street today," she said, toying with her cereal bowl with the spoon, "I need to buy new clothes for the school year."
"Sure." Tom knew Hermione wanted him to accompany her.
"Who do you think is better, Aristoc, Levante, or REX?" Hermione suddenly threw out a question.
Tom: !!!
The three are famous hosiery brands in Europe and America.
Levante is a renowned hosiery brand founded in 1969 in the Mantua region in northern Italy and is an icon of Italian design, always leading Italian hosiery design. It symbolizes the luxury and quality of French products and is recognized as one of the most important luxury brands in the hosiery sector worldwide. Aristoc, on the other hand, is the oldest hosiery brand in the UK. It was founded in 1920 and is known as the "aristocrat of hosiery."
"Ah, well, I don't know much about it. What do the three stores sell?" Tom's eyes shifted for a moment, hesitating to give a positive response to the question.
This nonsense couldn't fool Hermione, who chuckled softly, "Really? I can see you quite like-"
Before Hermione's teasing could continue, the news anchor on the television came to Tom's rescue: "This is a brief message from the news station. Yesterday afternoon at three o'clock, Folsom Prison convict Sirius Black took advantage of his outdoor hour to climb up the canopy to the prison wall and escape."
Sirius Black, male, born on November 3, 1959, 174 cm tall, black hair, gray eyes, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1980 for causing an explosion that killed 12 people.
The public should be aware that Sirius Black is armed and extremely dangerous. A hotline has been set up for the public to report any suspicions."
At the same time, a thin face appeared on the TV screen.
Hermione covered her mouth and exclaimed, "Oh my God, he caused an explosion that killed twelve people! How horrifying."
At that moment, the news anchor's face returned to the screen, broadcasting other news: "Home Secretary Jim Hacker..."
Tom turned off the TV.
"Are you still going to Regent Street? You know Sirius hasn't been arrested yet, he could be anywhere-"
"But you can protect me, right?" Hermione lightly kicked Tom twice, "Crack! Pop - two, and you have this maniac killer subdued and arrested."
"It's not that simple." Just then, an owl flew in through the window, dropped a rolled-up newspaper into Tom's hand, and then perched on the table with a small leather bag in its claws.
Tom's eyes lit up, and he immediately handed the uneaten toast to the owl.
Owl: ⊙▽⊙
Owl: Thank you for your kindness, but duck doesn't have...
Tom: Take it!
He suddenly pushed the toast into the owl's beak and quickly put some copper Knuts into the leather bag before sending the owl out of the house.
Tom unfolded the Daily Prophet brought by the owl, pointed to a photo on the front page, and asked Hermione to look at it.
[The Most Dangerous Man: Sirius Black]
"Looks like the newspaper editor didn't consider You-Know-Who as a man," Tom quipped. "'The Most Dangerous Man,' how would Grindelwald and Voldemort feel about that?"
"The fugitive, a wizard."
Hermione: ...
But not even a lurking mad killer could deter Hermione from going shopping on Regent Street.
As Tom sat on the small sofa eating frozen yogurt and watched Hermione sift through piles of clothes, he felt like he had made the right decision to go out today.
At that moment, Hermione sat down next to him with a pair of black nylon stockings.
"What do you think of these stockings? I think they would create an elegant vintage look with a tulle skirt, and those black heeled boots I was looking at, and this little hat, but the nylon stockings are too stretchy..."
Tom swallowed and was about to say something when a soft, familiar voice exploded in his ears.
"Very keen eye, Miss Granger, but there might be a better choice at Madame Malkin's."
Oh! Tom nearly jumped; he knew the owner of the voice all too well—it was his charming Headmaster: Dumbledore!
He looked toward the source of the voice, and there he was, Dumbledore with his traveling cloak and pointed hat, looking at him with a kind face.
There was only one thought in Tom's mind at that moment: Dumbledore, damn it!
Chapter 251: Chapter 251: Dumbledore's Mission (Edited)
The phrase came to Tom, without thinking of using Occlumency at all, and staring into Dumbledore's eyes. He was trying to express his displeasure.
"Why? A frightened Hermione huddled like a scared rabbit was the perfect reason.
"Professor, you always appear in unexpected places," Tom said, feeling worse than when Snape had seen a closed-eyed Harry in Potions class. "Don't Muggles suspect your attire?"
"Muggles have become much more tolerant of costumes in recent years, making it easier for wizards to move around," Dumbledore replied. His gaze swept over the thin bracelets on Tom and Hermione's wrists, with a subtle gleam of delight in his eyes. "It seems you and Miss Granger have spent an entire summer together."
Tom suddenly became alert: that dreadful old Dumbledore wasn't trying to do the same as the professor in class, was he? He began to recall the rules of Hogwarts in his head, to see if there was any rule about falling in love.
"I am pleased that you have come to understand the magic of love." Dumbledore had no intention of meddling with Tom; he simply felt relieved and glad that this time he hadn't made a serious mistake again.
Dumbledore had two knots in his heart. One was his youthful indiscretion of getting too close to Grindelwald, which ended up killing his sister, and the other was watching Tom Riddle rise to become the next generation of the Dark Lord.
When Tom Yodel started school, he caught Dumbledore's attention, who turned a blind eye to some of the younger Tom's "transgressions" and merely guided him from the shadows. Today, when he saw the thin bracelets on Tom and Hermione's hands, he finally felt relieved.
Those two bracelets held a very profound magic, a magic called "love." Magic is based on emotions, like the Patronus Charm, which is born from joy and happiness, or the Killing Curse, which uses the darkness of the human heart to be powerful. But magic born from love is the most mysterious and powerful of all, even rebounding Voldemort's Killing Curse and remaining strong for the next seventeen years. Not even Dumbledore could claim to fully understand the magic of love. However, he knew that a wizard who understood the magic of love would not follow the path of the Dark Lord.
Now that Tom and Hermione had taken such a happy turn, Dumbledore decided...
to burden them both.
So he appeared, bursting into Tom and Hermione's world.
"Kids, can you do me a small favor?" he asked with a smile.
"No." Tom rejected Dumbledore with a clear and crisp voice. He knew all too well that Dumbledore's missions were like cockroaches in the kitchen—once he sent you on one mission, he had hundreds of missions ready to follow.
Once you took them, you became a tool, just like Old Newt. Tom didn't want to be a tool; he just wanted to go to Hogwarts with Hermione and have a good time. The task of saving the magical world would then be in the hands of the boy who survived the disaster.
In a word, being lazy makes me happy!
Hermione was willing to help Professor Dumbledore with some things, but since Tom had refused, she felt too embarrassed to say anything more.
"Of course, then let's talk about the adventures of Dr. Hal Hunter in Egypt," Dumbledore said, pulling out a copy of the Muggle newspaper and pointing to the headline on it.
Tom and Hermione: ...
Tom sighed grumpily; it seemed Dumbledore had mastered the essence of communication with him.
"Everything is an equivalent exchange." Tom consoled himself.
Dumbledore saw that Tom was as "good" as a husky in a corner after breaking something at home, and he knew he was ready to take the next step.
"It's actually a trivial matter; I wonder if you would be willing to lend an old man a hand," Dumbledore sat on the small couch, like a grandfather talking to his grandchildren.
"It's Harry," this time Dumbledore didn't wait for a response from the two before revealing the details of the task, "I need both of you to help me protect him."
Dumbledore then briefly explained to Tom and Hermione the relationship between Sirius and Harry. Hermione was surprised to learn that Sirius, the madman, actually had his sights on Harry. At the same time, she realized a small problem: was this mission being exaggerated?
This was the dark wizard who had escaped from Azkaban, Voldemort's loyal servant, a madman who had killed twelve people. Could they really protect Harry from his attacks?
Hermione had faith in Tom's strength but didn't want to put him in danger. So she replied to Dumbledore in an extremely rare move, a move she couldn't believe she had made.
"Isn't it too dangerous?"
Dumbledore gave her an interested look. "Not for you to go immediately, but to follow him as he heads to King's Cross."
The task seemed so easy that Tom and Hermione had no reason to resist.
So Tom took on Dumbledore's task.
Once they agreed, Dumbledore stood up satisfied and winked at Hermione before leaving. "I recommend velvet socks for the colder weather in Scotland once classes start. Although, I would actually prefer to recommend wool socks, but Mr. Yodel might not like them."
Tom: I'm not, I'm not, don't talk nonsense!
Hermione also lowered her head, not daring to look Professor Dumbledore in the eye at all. It felt as though the old man had seen through her innermost thoughts.
After teasing the young couple, Dumbledore was in a good mood, and looking at the spirited pair made Dumbledore feel a little younger, and his steps seemed to lighten as he walked away. Soon, Dumbledore's tall figure was lost in the crowd.
Tom and the others left the store long after Dumbledore had gone.
Dumbledore's sudden appearance had fluctuated their mood a bit, but Hermione's mood gradually improved after a few shops. She went back and forth between fitting rooms and racks, picking out different styles of clothes, each stuffed into a shopping bag with a double-digit "Eraser" on the back.
Soon, Tom was loaded with large and small shopping bags, and he even silently put some magically expanded clothes into the bag.
When they returned home, Hermione had completely restored her normal self. She kicked off her little leather shoes at the door and ran upstairs to change clothes.
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