Bab 703: Chapter 703: Let's Run Again (END)
The instant the goblin's claw touched Hermione's wrist, he felt something strange: that tactile sensation wasn't like that of a corpse but rather like that of a living person.
Warm and elastic skin shouldn't be present in someone who had been dead for several days.
The goblin's face changed drastically, and he quickly withdrew his hand from Hermione, as if he had been burned by fire.
"Why... why?" He was confused, then, carefully, he placed a hand near Hermione's nose and the other grabbed her wrist. Soon, he confirmed that the girl was undoubtedly dead, because there was no breath or pulse; a living person couldn't be in that state.
"Could it be...?" The greedy look filled the goblin's eyes again; he recalled a mysterious stone from the East, said to place these stones in a corpse's mouth would preserve it from decomposition, keeping it just like in life. These stones only existed in legends, and no one had seen them in person.
Undoubtedly, that stone was an incomparable treasure.
If he could obtain one of those stones, he could sell it for thousands of Galleons of gold. The goblin's breathing became heavy. He reached out and placed his claw-like hand on Hermione's chin, but before he could open Hermione's jaw, something unexpected happened.
From his fingers emerged blue flames; these flames acted as if they had a life of their own and quickly enveloped the goblin's body, turning him into a ball of blue fire.
The ball of fire writhed a couple of times, and before he could scream, it turned into a pile of ashes, leaving Bagman stunned in his place.
The reason Bagman was so surprised was that Tom Yodel, who had originally lain quietly in the coffin, had sat up and was looking at him expressionlessly.
After the goblin turned into ashes, Tom spoke calmly: "Just in time."
If it had been a little later, who knows what that greedy goblin would have done. The goblin paid the price for his greed.
In fact, if he had just taken a few Galleons from the coffin, Tom might have left him alive if he was in a good mood.
Seeing Bagman, who was so shocked that he couldn't speak, Tom didn't even bother paying him any attention. He simply conjured a rope and tied him up, then blindfolded him and gagged him, leaving him there for the Ministry of Magic officials to pick up.
Was there any law in the wizarding world related to grave desecration? Would Bagman be in Azkaban for a few years? Tom thought he should find a comfortable and safe place for this great genius.
After completing these insignificant tasks, Tom looked at Hermione, who was lying next to him, and noticed that she was looking at him with her large and expressive eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Although she said "nothing," Hermione had a slight blush on her face. In her heart, she thought that they were now buried together at Hogwarts, who would have imagined that here at Hogwarts, they would be buried together in the same coffin? Did that mean that in the eyes of others, they were a married couple?
After realizing this reality, Hermione felt a little shy. However, when she saw Tom's lifeless eye, that shyness disappeared immediately.
"What's wrong with your eye?" Hermione asked Tom, looking at him anxiously.
Although Tom had placed his left eye on Avada's scale, in reality, he hadn't lost that eye. In any case, it was more like losing the soul of that eye.
"I'm actually fine." Tom closed his right eye and found that his left eye wasn't completely blind; it still had some blurry vision, enough to vaguely see colors.
Avada had been fair in their deal; he hadn't taken Tom's left eye completely.
"It's alright then; we'll surely find a way..." Hermione was interrupted by Tom before she could finish her sentence. Tom hugged her and tore his robe to examine the position of her collarbone.
Tom wasn't thinking of anything intimate; he just had one question in mind: had Voldemort's curse on the resurrected Hermione been lifted?
Tom noticed that the darkness that used to be there had completely disappeared, which seemed like a good sign.
"What are you planning to do here? It's not appropriate..." Hermione blushed like a red apple. Could it really be possible? Doing this with him right in front of her own grave?
But it also seemed exciting. Here, it was quiet, with no one coming...
"Your curse has been lifted," Tom didn't catch Hermione's intentions and excitedly communicated his discovery.
"What... What?" Hermione took a moment to understand.
Once she understood what Tom meant, a wave of joy flooded her, and she took the initiative to kiss Tom.
...
"Dumbledore is quite generous." A while later, Hermione freed herself from Tom's embrace and picked up a few Galleons from the coffin, then let them fall again. The Galleons clinked together, producing a pleasant sound.
However, Tom wasn't paying attention to the Galleons in the coffin. His mind was now focused on examining Hermione's attire. He found her outfit to be truly splendid: the white wizarding robe embroidered with black mandrake flowers in full bloom; the gloves on her hands, each with a black raven and hundreds of small black gems assembled. Her white stockings on her legs had a sense of purity, and her white suede boots of the same color, although the golden chains on the instep and the red soles added some color to the ensemble. And most striking of all was the crown she wore on her head and the pendant around her neck. Tom noticed there was a small golden cup next to her. Dumbledore had decided to bury objects inherited from the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin houses there as well.
After searching for a while, Tom made sure that Dumbledore hadn't included Gryffindor's sword.
So, Tom and Hermione joyfully inspected their funerary objects, an opportunity that didn't come often.
"It seems I'll never recover this money," Dumbledore said from a nearby distance, surprising the two of them as they counted coins.
"Professor Dumbledore, what are you doing here?" Hermione asked, getting up in surprise. A thought crossed her mind: was Dumbledore coming to visit them every day in their tomb?
But Dumbledore quickly made it clear that Hermione was imagining too much.
"It was this little companion who found me and woke me up," Dumbledore said, stepping aside to reveal a large yellow cat in both of their fields of vision. "He jumped straight onto my bed and woke me up."
"Crookshanks!" Hermione exclaimed with joy.
Crookshanks purred a couple of times, seeming to greet Hermione after a long separation. After the cat and the person recognized each other with a secret greeting, Crookshanks happily jumped into Hermione's arms.
Seeing the happy Hermione caressing the purring Crookshanks in her arms, Tom and Dumbledore looked at each other and smiled, showing a happy expression on their faces.
Everything seemed to be returning to normal.
...
In fact, things were hard to return to normal after the resurrection; it was such an astonishing fact that even with Dumbledore's help, it caused a great commotion both inside and outside Hogwarts.
Young wizards surrounded Tom and Hermione, one to confirm if they were still human, and two to find out how they had achieved it.
Regarding that, Tom and Hermione surprisingly coincided with Dumbledore's version: don't ask, the answer was love magic.
This answer might seem evasive, but it had astonishing persuasiveness. After all, they had the living example of Harry before their eyes.
Love magic could repel the Avada Kedavra curse, turning the Dark Lord into a form between man and specter. If that love magic could achieve that, why couldn't it revive a couple who truly loved each other?
Dumbledore had said it was the most powerful and mysterious magic, and even he couldn't fully control it, so it wouldn't be surprising if it had some strange abilities.
The reaction inside the school was so intense that it didn't even need to be mentioned what was happening outside of it. The Daily Prophet and other wizarding media were eager to get an interview with them, but unfortunately, Hogwarts was on vacation, leaving the journalists frustrated as if they were hitting a cotton sack.
The Hogwarts Express had already arrived at the Hogsmeade station; the students lined up and entered the compartments, filling them up. As a result, Hogwarts was slowly emptying.
Looking at the empty hallways of the school, Hermione suddenly remembered something from a corner of her memory.
"Hey, Tom, why don't we compete to see who gets out of the castle first? If you get out faster than me, I'll take your ice creams for this summer, but if I get out faster than you, you'll treat me to an ice cream every summer, what do you say?"
Tom looked at her.
"A family bet, are you serious?"
"Of course, last time you lost to me." Hermione had tied up her hair.
With that said, both of them walked together to the center of the hallway.
"Start now, one, two, three," Hermione suddenly took off running, the students' shoe heels lightly echoing on the marble floor, and the outside sun illuminated her face, leaving a trail of shadows on her bright smile.
Hermione's figure gradually became familiar and merged with his memories. Tom felt as if he had returned to the summer four years ago.
Tom shook his head.
"Let me beat you again, Miss Granger."
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