Chapter 689: Chapter 689: Harry Jumping Straight to the Prophecy (Edited)
In the end, Hermione rejected Tom's suggestion. She didn't want to punish someone without apparent reason. Tom, with no other option, accepted Hermione's idea.
"Alright, I'll listen to you, but in the next few days, you'll have to stay close to me so I can protect you properly," Tom said seriously.
Hermione: ...
"Even sleep together at night?" Hermione asked with a mischievous smile at Tom.
Tom coughed twice, trying to explain that it was all for her safety and that Hermione shouldn't read too much into it.
Both of them didn't worry too much about the matter and returned hand in hand to Hogwarts Castle.
With the arrival of night, the young wizards who had worked all day or all night were plunged into their dreams, and Harry Potter was no exception.
But this time, he had another dream.
The setting of his dream was somewhat different from the previous two times. The difference was that he recognized the place in his dream.
It was none other than the village of Hogsmeade! He had been there several times! Although darkness covered the place, he could clearly recognize the familiar buildings.
Wait, Hogsmeade? Harry had a vague sense of what was wrong with his dream, but because it was a magical dream, he couldn't wake up immediately and could only silently observe everything.
With the experience of the two previous dreams, Harry knew he was seeing things from Voldemort's perspective. Today's Voldemort seemed to be in a very good mood...
"Harry" he entered a ramshackle bar and went upstairs, opening the door to the private lounge. He saw two people sitting in chairs waiting for him.
"My lord." Seeing Voldemort enter, the two people immediately stood up and greeted him with respect.
"You've done well, Bella."
Bella is... Harry first felt confused, but then he realized. Bella must be Bellatrix Lestrange, mentioned in the newspapers, a fugitive Death Eater and Voldemort's confidante.
What was she doing here? Harry was somewhat confused.
Soon, his question received an answer.
"My lord, I've brought the person you wanted. Draco, come here!" Bella gestured to the person in the corner of the room, indicating him to approach.
The second person was originally in the room's shadow, and his face couldn't be seen, but when he took a few steps forward, he emerged from the darkness, and Harry could clearly see his face.
Seeing that face, Harry felt like he was about to wake up. That person turned out to be Draco Malfoy!
However, he couldn't wake up.
He watched helplessly as Voldemort marked Draco Malfoy with the Dark Mark and then handed him a wooden box.
"Go, my loyal servant, take the weapon I've given you and rid me of the obstacle in your path."
"Yes, my lord." Draco bowed solemnly.
Voldemort shook his cloak and left the bar's private room. As he left, he muttered, "Hermione Granger... Tom Yodel, and... Albus Dumbledore."
Harry suddenly woke up, the morning light illuminating his face, tickling his nose.
His nose... it was so irritated!
Tom opened his eyes and found the culprit of his discomfort: a curly brown hair.
The owner of the hair was sitting, concentrated on reading something on a parchment.
Seeing Tom wake up, Hermione frowned and called him, "Yodel, look at what you've written in this Magical History dissertation... You've completely mixed up the dates of several goblin rebellions, a mistake that could have been avoided if you had consulted a book!"
It was clear that Hermione was very dissatisfied with Tom's academic work.
Tom could only show an awkward smile. He hadn't really been focused on his studies lately. After all, he was a young man who enjoyed excitement and fun, so he couldn't blame himself.
He approached Hermione, gently wrapped his arms around her neck, and gave her a good morning kiss.
Hermione, who had already gotten up much earlier, had finished getting ready, and her mouth emitted a pleasant scent of mint.
After a brief kiss, Hermione impatiently pushed him away and, with her other hand, tossed the work in front of his eyes.
"Look at what you've written, you shouldn't have even done this. This will affect our grades... Here, here, and here, it all needs to be rewritten!" Confronting the schoolwork, Hermione became very strict, and Tom's kisses didn't change her attitude.
Tom felt a bit embarrassed, standing to the side and smiling awkwardly. He had made a mistake, and it had held Hermione back. In a group assignment, if one performed poorly, it affected both.
"Smile, you only know how to smile. I've already corrected part of the work for you; the rest you have to fix before sleeping tonight." Hermione put the work on the table, lifted it onto her lap, and held him by the waist.
"Of course, I'll make sure to complete the task," Tom responded while patting her chest and rubbing it at the same time.
"Behave!"
But Tom didn't listen to her and instead increased his strength. Soon, Hermione couldn't hold the quill in her hand.
"Wait, wait! Oh, look what you've done... the paper is stained..."
"Mmm... it doesn't matter; I'll rewrite it tonight."
Hermione was lifted onto the table, which soon began to shake.
...
After a while, they separated. Hermione cleaned the stains from her leg with a handkerchief, looking at Tom angrily. "So early in the morning, and you've already made me change my socks...?"
"But you have a cleaning spell, right?" Tom was leaning on Hermione's legs, wearing a charming smile.
"Not only is there a cleaning spell, there's also a repair spell." Hermione replied irritably, quickly changing to a new pair of socks while picking up the damp and crumpled paper from the table.
"Remember to rewrite it, hand it to me tonight, and if you don't, there will be consequences," Hermione said. After everything was in order, they both left the Room of Requirement and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Tom piled several sausages, a large heap of bacon and roasted ham onto his plate, along with a bowl of oatmeal with honey and milk. And that wasn't all; he also grabbed two slices of toast and spread a thick layer of butter on them.
"Do you eat this much?" Hermione was surprised by Tom's appetite.
"That's because there's someone who needs to be well-fed," Tom responded as he devoured the food and spoke with his mouth full.
At that moment, Harry approached and sat next to Tom.
"Tom, I have something important to tell you," he whispered quietly, hoping to speak privately with Tom and Hermione as well.
"Alright, after I finish eating, we'll-" Tom was busy eating the bacon he had taken; he didn't want to leave the table at the moment.
"Silence," Hermione took out her wand and cast a spell around them, making nearby students unable to hear their conversation.
"A very useful spell!" Harry praised.
"Tell me, what's going on?" Tom looked at Harry curiously, wondering why he was seeking him out today.
"They're in danger, both you and Hermione!" Harry shared the dream he had last night with Tom.
This time, Harry chose to skip the prophecy altogether. Killing Draco Malfoy, indicating that the person was already a Death Eater.
"He's trying to do something bad to both of you, first Hermione, then you, and finally Professor Dumbledore," Harry was visibly anxious, hoping Tom and Hermione would realize they were in danger.
"I'll follow Malfoy and find evidence that he's plotting against you..." Harry began sharing his plan with Tom.
However, Tom didn't care much; he was more interested in the fact that, according to Harry's dream, Voldemort had appeared in the village of Hogsmeade, which was quite noteworthy.
But this dream seemed strange in every way.
Tom clearly remembered seeing Draco yesterday afternoon, not at night!
"Are you sure everything that happened in the dream was in the afternoon?" Tom interrupted Harry.
"Uh, yes," Harry recalled for a moment and nodded confidently.
"Hogwarts has a curfew; how do you think Malfoy secretly met someone at night? I distinctly remember it was yesterday afternoon when he went to the village of Hogsmeade," Hermione also noticed something odd in Harry's dream.
"This..." Harry hesitated for a moment but was convinced his dream had no issues, so he came up with a good excuse: "Maybe he knows about some passages to enter and exit Hogwarts. Fred and George know several, right? As a pure-blood wizard, isn't it normal for Malfoy to know some passages?"
Tom nodded, Harry's reasoning had some logic to it. Malfoy might have taken advantage of the Hogsmeade Opening Day to leave Hogwarts and meet with Voldemort at night before returning through some passageway.
However, he still felt something was off because it wasn't necessary.
Was Voldemort a vampire and couldn't act during the day? Did he have to wait until nightfall to meet with Malfoy?
Thinking about this, a concern arose in Tom's heart.
"Tom, believe me! I'll find a way to prove it to you! He intends to harm Hermione!" Harry grabbed Tom's arm excitedly. "You're right," Tom agreed with Harry's thoughts. In any case, he couldn't tolerate anyone hurting Hermione.
"I have a straightforward way to check," Tom smiled, wanting to demonstrate that he didn't need to follow Malfoy to prove he had ill intentions. The Dark Mark on his arm was solid evidence.
"Find Malfoy and look at his left arm, the truth will be revealed," Tom said, providing an extremely direct and somewhat abrupt solution.
It's well known that Death Eaters bear the Dark Mark on their left arm, so those with the mark are essentially Death Eaters.
Harry: ...
"Ah, right!" Harry slapped his forehead; he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. He had become a bit rigid in his thinking.
However, he looked around the Great Hall and didn't see Malfoy anywhere.
"No matter, sooner or later we'll run into him... Doesn't he have to attend classes after all?" Tom calmly finished his oatmeal with milk, looking toward the staff table. "But more than Malfoy, I hope Professor Dumbledore acts soon..."
Dumbledore's action was already swift. After his conversation with Tom yesterday, he activated Hogwarts' defenses. Although he didn't mention the highest level of defense, it was enough to deter wizards coming from the outside. These defenses weren't invulnerable, but as long as Dumbledore was at Hogwarts, he could give those invaders an unforgettable lesson before the defenses were breached.
Seeing Tom's gaze, Dumbledore raised his glass and gave him a small smile.
Tom understood what Dumbledore meant and felt relieved.
In his understanding, Hogwarts now had a protective layer that could ward off some dangers. However, he also knew that this protection wasn't invincible; as simple as that, if the protective layer were invincible, then how would the Battle of Hogwarts have happened in the original timeline?
"Let's go." Seeing that Harry and Hermione had finished their breakfast, Tom didn't want to waste any more time there. He wanted to find Malfoy and resolve that issue as soon as possible.
However, just as they approached the Great Hall door, they heard someone calling for Hermione.
Turning around, they saw Parvati Patil, Hermione's roommate and a fourth-year Ravenclaw student.
"Granger, I received a necklace from my family, can you take a look at it?" Parvati shouted from afar, waving a wooden box in her hand.
"Hermione, today I have things to do..." Hermione was about to decline, but Harry grabbed her sleeve weakly, slowing her down.
"Tom, Hermione, that box Parvati has in her hand is suspicious!" Although they were still far away, Harry could see something in Parvati's hand and suddenly realized that the box was the same one Voldemort had given to Malfoy in his dream.
"What are you talking about?" Padma approached Hermione, her eyes not appearing different.
"Speaking of things, last night Harry had a nightmare, and we were discussing how to interpret it," Tom explained.
It was a reasonable explanation; Tom was known as a Divination genius, certified by Professor Trelawney, so seeking his help to interpret dreams was completely normal.
Parvati, who had great trust in Professor Trelawney, believed what Tom said and also complained about her poor quality of sleep following their chat.
"Before sleeping, you can try drinking a bit of strong liquor to improve sleep quality," Tom suggested as he chatted with Parvati and, naturally, received the box from her. "You said this box contains a necklace your family sent you, right?"
Seeing Tom take the box in his hands, both Harry and Hermione were tense because they knew all too well that the box contained a dark artifact that could spell doom for anyone who opened it.
"Yes," Parvati replied calmly, showing no signs of abnormality.
Chapter 690: Chapter 690: Imperius and Forgiven (Edited)
"Oh, that's what they sent you from home..." Tom replied vaguely to Parvati, "May I open it and take a look?"
"Of course." Padma nodded.
Harry nervously clenched his fists, not understanding why Parvati had that box in her hands. At that moment, he just wanted to snatch the box from Tom and grab Parvati by the collar to ask her why she wanted to harm Tom and Hermione. But seeing Tom's calm demeanor, he didn't dare to act impulsively and stood there, watching the box.
In Tom's mind, there was also a doubt: Parvati's behavior in trying to make Hermione touch the cursed necklace definitely had ill intentions, but why hadn't Hermione's bell given any warning?
Could it be that Parvati and Voldemort used the same packaging box?
A conjecture crossed his mind.
The fact that the bracelet didn't detect malice meant that Parvati didn't have ill intentions.
Although this seemed obvious, it implied that Parvati didn't even know that the necklace in the box was cursed.
"You said this was sent to you from home, can you tell me when it was sent?" Tom showed great interest in the box.
"Uh..." Parvati hesitated for a moment, not expecting Tom to ask that question, and tried to remember, "Was it this morning?"
Harry and Hermione were stunned: they couldn't remember?
Even the slowest of them could see that something was wrong with Padma's state: how was it possible for someone not to remember when a gift from home had arrived? It hadn't been that long ago; it had just happened this morning.
"And who sent it to you, your dad or your mom?" Tom continued to ask gently.
Parvati hesitated.
Now she also realized that something was amiss.
In her perception, the necklace was a gift sent to her from home, but as soon as she was asked for specific details, she drew a blank.
"It's my dad... no, my mom... wait, that's not true either. My mind is a bit confused." Parvati held her head in her hands, with a pained expression on her face.
"This isn't even something sent to you from home," Harry put a hand on Parvati's shoulder, shaking her hard in an attempt to snap her back to awareness, "Someone has bewitched you with magic!"
Although there was still no solid evidence, and they couldn't accuse Malfoy, Harry decided to change course halfway.
Upon hearing Harry's words, Parvati was surprised for a moment, and then her expression started to come alive. Parvati's cognitive barrier dissipated like a thin film that disappeared once pierced.
She looked at the box in Tom's hands and shouted loudly, "I found this box in the corridor this morning! At the time, I was simply curious about what was inside, so I decided to open it and show it to Professor McGonagall... but as soon as I touched the box, my mind clouded. It seemed like a voice was telling me it was a gift from my family and that I should show it to Granger... and that's what I did."
Speaking up to this point, Parvati was drenched in cold sweat. If Hermione had actually opened the box, something terrible could have happened, and she would have been the prime suspect.
"Was it the Imperius Curse?" Upon hearing Parvati's description, Harry thought it might have been the Imperius Curse, which was controlling her. But Tom shook his head.
"The Imperius Curse doesn't break so easily; I think it's the Confundus Charm, which is easier to break under the influence of external suggestions, but one doesn't realize the logical problems when alone, plus, it's much easier to cast than the Imperius Curse."
Those present accepted that possibility.
"Who cast the Confundus Charm on me?" Parvati arched her eyebrows angrily, her eyes flashing with indignation. She swore to find that person and give them an unforgettable lesson.
"I suspect it was Draco Malfoy," Harry finally revealed what he had been thinking.
"Malfoy? What have I done to him?" Parvati was surprised to hear that name. Normally, she and Malfoy had nothing to do with each other. Why would he want to harm her?
"Sometimes you're just unlucky," Tom said as he pocketed the box and led the group in the direction of the headmaster's office.
Searching for someone in a castle as large as Hogwarts would be a challenge, but with Dumbledore's order, efficiency would be much higher.
Once again, Dumbledore was surprised to see Tom. It could be said that Tom was the student who frequented his office the most. Other students, even with Dumbledore's kind and affectionate image, avoided him. They didn't need to get so close to his office, let alone enter it again and again.
However, seeing Parvati as an unusual visitor, Dumbledore began to suspect that something was amiss.
Upon entering the headmaster's office for the first time, Parvati was extremely nervous and didn't know where to put her hands. It was Dumbledore who calmed her emotions.
"Miss Patil, who would have thought I'd see you here today? Would you like some maple finger cakes? I didn't see you in the Great Hall," Dumbledore said with a smile.
In just two sentences, Parvati's tension dissipated, as if she were visiting her next-door neighbor's house.
"Thank you, if it's possible..." She gladly accepted, taking a plate of maple cakes to a corner.
"Professor, please look... don't touch anything inside with your hands," Tom handed the box to Dumbledore and reminded him that the contents were cursed. It wouldn't be fun if Dumbledore accidentally touched the cursed necklace. Tom would have accomplished what Voldemort couldn't...
Dumbledore cautiously opened the box using the tip of his wand and saw the golden chain inside. His expression turned serious because he could sense the magic contained in the chain. This chain could easily take the life of a student.
"Where did you get this?" He stared at Tom.
After hearing the whole story, Dumbledore turned his head and looked at the portraits on the wall. The former headmasters of Hogwarts had already regained consciousness and were furious at what Tom had told them.
Someone has brought this dangerous object onto the campus and used a Confundus Charm to incite other students to wear the necklace and cause harm; it's truly chilling.
"It's a shame for Slytherin!" exclaimed Phineas, the director, as he noticed something different in the looks of the other directors.
"It's an isolated case, we shouldn't judge all Slytherin students and professors for this behavior," said another director to calm the disputes among the former directors.
"Hmm, we must be vigilant against the many isolated behaviors that can have a negative impact on Slytherin," added another director, bluntly mocking, causing Phineas's face to turn as red as a pig's liver.
"Well, we still don't have concrete evidence," Dumbledore quelled the discussions of the former directors and asked them to search for Malfoy in the various portraits around the castle, and to also bring Snape.
The directors nodded vigorously and quickly disappeared into their respective portraits.
It didn't take long before the door of the office opened, and Snape entered with a furrowed brow, bringing the suspected Draco Malfoy with him.
There were no monitors like those used by Muggles in Hogwarts, but each of the portraits could play the role of a watchman. Asking them for information about someone's whereabouts was a piece of cake.
Snape, with effortless ease, found Malfoy and brought him to the headmaster's office.
"Roll up your sleeves," Dumbledore said, looking at Snape, who silently took Malfoy aside and raised the sleeve of his robe.
Throughout the process, Malfoy seemed resigned and didn't utter a word, silently enduring what was happening.
When the reddened Dark Mark was exposed to everyone's view, Harry showed a slight expression of joy, while Dumbledore sighed. Their reactions to the realization of what they had suspected were completely opposite: Harry was glad that his arch-nemesis was in trouble, while Dumbledore was saddened by the fall of a soul.
"Draco, in the end, you've joined the Death Eaters," Snape said with regret as he saw the Dark Mark on Malfoy's arm. Being a Death Eater was not a good choice, and if it had been possible, Snape would have been against Draco joining them.
But often things don't unfold according to people's will.
"Aren't you one too?" Malfoy smirked sarcastically, looking at Snape.
Snape remained silent.
"Malfoy, so you brought this box to Hogwarts?" Harry couldn't contain the excitement inside him and approached Malfoy, interrogating him firmly.
Malfoy simply stared at him with expressionless eyes, refusing to answer.
"We can use Veritaserum," Snape suggested. In his office, he had always kept a bit of Veritaserum for moments like this, where it was crucial to get the truth.
"Perhaps there's another method," Dumbledore looked at Malfoy's expression with deep reflection. He approached him and attempted to use a counter-curse to release him from the Imperius Curse.
Malfoy's eyes regained their luster, and when he saw the people in the room, he instantly turned pale.
Good news: the Imperius Curse had been lifted.
Bad news: Dumbledore was the one who had lifted it.
"Professor..." Malfoy murmured, but his tone was filled with bitterness, and he didn't know how to explain the situation, as he was now trapped with evidence against him.
In times past, he would have called his father to defend him, but now he no longer had his father's protection. At that moment, Malfoy suddenly felt helpless.
Without my father, I am nothing.
But thinking about Lucius being imprisoned, Malfoy felt his determination resurface: he couldn't be sent to Azkaban or expelled from Hogwarts, who would then save his father?
So he gathered his courage and told Dumbledore, "I was controlled by the Imperius Curse, I didn't want to do it!"
Malfoy's response sounded more like a forced defense. Although the Imperius Curse could be lifted, in the current magical world, there were no reliable means to distinguish whether a person was under the control of the Imperius Curse or acting genuinely. This was also the reason why many Death Eaters escaped punishment after the war.
After saying this, Malfoy felt extremely anxious inside. He knew he was telling the truth, but he wasn't sure if Dumbledore would believe him. His family's reputation was not exactly good in Dumbledore's eyes.
Could Dumbledore seize the opportunity to blame him and expel him from Hogwarts? During that brief moment of silence, Malfoy began to make wild guesses.
"I believe you," Dumbledore said gently. His voice was soft but resonated in Malfoy's ears like thunder.
"Professor!" he raised his head, somewhat moved.
In the past, he always mocked Dumbledore's outdated nature and how he always gave people a second chance. Now he realized the value of such character.
Perhaps after returning to Slytherin and calming things down for a few days, he could forget about these thoughts. But at that moment, he was sincerely grateful to Dumbledore.
Seeing that Dumbledore seemed to be considering forgiving Malfoy, Harry became a little impatient and wanted to say something, but Hermione, who was behind him, tugged on his sleeve in time to calm him down.
Dumbledore had his reasons for acting this way.
Harry remained silent.
Malfoy began to recount his experiences slowly.
After hearing Malfoy's statement, Dumbledore examined him with his dark blue eyes until Malfoy began to feel uncomfortable before speaking.
"I understand how you feel about wanting to save your father. I can assure you that Lucius will receive a fair trial."
Malfoy's facial muscles twitched. How was that any different from sending his father to Azkaban? Didn't Dumbledore know what his father had done?
"Surely you're all tired, so go back to rest," Dumbledore waved his hand, dismissing the people in the room.
"Draco, I hope that next time you won't make any more mistakes. I admire your bravery in resisting Bellatrix, and I hope you can maintain that courage in the future."
It's hard to say if Malfoy really absorbed Dumbledore's lesson, but he certainly no longer had the courage to accept a mission from Bellatrix.
"How could he forgive him? To me, that's clearly an evasion!" Harry stormed out of the office in indignation, unable to understand why Dumbledore had let Malfoy off so easily. At that moment, Padma, Draco, and Snape had already separated from them, leaving only Harry, Tom, and Hermione walking down the hallway.
"Because we can't actually prove that Malfoy was planning to harm us, and his testimony is very valuable." As a victim of the assassination attempt, Hermione defended Malfoy.
Tom didn't want to discuss the fact that the Death Eaters had intended to attack Hermione and was more interested in what Malfoy had revealed in his testimony.
"Malfoy didn't mention Voldemort, did he?" he whispered softly.
Harry and Hermione furrowed their brows at the same time.
"Is he lying?" Harry's initial reaction was to think that Malfoy was hiding something.
Tom shook his head, leaning more toward another possibility.
"It's not possible, absolutely impossible." Harry understood Tom's look and became furious.
"You really need to work more on Occlumency, Harry." Tom sighed.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment