Capítulo 599: Chapter 599: School Days (Edited)
Finally, Tom acquiesced to George's request and signed his name on the model of the golden knight.
"Can this mask be lifted?" Tom ignored the miniature knight doll's staff thumping on his arm and tried to lift the mask. However, he found that the mask was merely a decoration, and Fred and George hadn't added facial features to the doll.
"It's too difficult to make facial features," George shrugged. "If done carelessly, it would affect the appearance, and if done accurately, it would take a lot of time and effort. So, we decided not to do it."
Tom nodded; he would have made the same decision in their place.
"By the way, did you make that armor you used during the competition yourself?" Speaking of the armor, George's eyes lit up. "Can I try it on?"
It wasn't the first time Tom had received a request like that, but he had always slipped away with the excuse of next time.
The celebration continued for a long time, until Professor McGonagall burst into the common room and expelled all students from other houses who were inside.
"If you don't leave right now, your house points will be reset tomorrow," she threatened.
Under Professor McGonagall's piercing gaze, the young wizards dispersed and left the Gryffindor tower, heading to the common room of their respective houses.
Tom and Hermione also joined the crowd and slowly made their way to the Ravenclaw tower.
Looking at the compact crowd in front of them, Hermione frowned. "Surely, we'll have to wait a long time for the bathroom..."
She raised the collar of her clothing, smelled it, and frowned even more, clearly dissatisfied with her own smell.
"I'll go to the Room of Requirement; there are available bathrooms there," her eyes lit up as she found quite a good solution.
Tom said nothing and simply followed her in silence.
"If we could be prefects, we could enjoy the prefects' bathrooms," Hermione looked longingly. As a fourth-year student, she still didn't have the eligibility, but next year, when she moved on to fifth year, she could become a prefect.
At Hogwarts, conditions were quite good in all aspects except for the limited resources of the common bathrooms every night. Little wizards who had had a full day of classes usually wished to take a hot bath before bedtime, but the showers in the bathroom were limited, and often, they had to wait in line for a shower. In situations like today, where everyone was returning to their dormitories at the same time, it was unknown how long they would have to wait in line.
The only way to solve the problem was to become a prefect and thus have access to the prefects' bathrooms. Compared to hundreds of students, having only six prefects per house seemed insignificant.
Hermione looked at Tom, who was closely following her, and blushed slightly, cursing, "Why are you still here?"
Boys don't have to wait too long in line for showers!
Although, however, in the end, Hermione didn't say much and simply allowed Tom to follow her.
They both arrived at the familiar Room of Requirement. Upon opening the door, they were met with a cozy room: a white double bed, a plush carpet, a fireplace with crackling fire, and wall lamps with warm shades.
With just one glance, one felt comfortable and eager to sleep well in this room.
"This room is amazing!" Hermione exclaimed, taking off her coat and hanging it on the wall. Then she took off her shoes and quickly ran to the bathroom.
Tom looked at the fire burning in the room's fireplace and pondered.
"This room is quite peculiar," he reached a conclusion after observing for a moment.
The Room of Requirement could fulfill wishes, but only to a certain extent. Tom knew very well that if one made demands too exaggerated, the Room of Requirement probably wouldn't fulfill them.
The room's arrangement today seemed out of place.
This was the first time Tom had noticed this issue. In previous instances, he hadn't paid attention to that aspect, so he only realized it today.
Why was there a lit fireplace in the room? And judging by the room's warmth, the fire hadn't just been lit.
He had a bold assumption.
At that moment, the sound of falling water from the bathroom could be heard. However, Tom didn't pay attention to the beautiful music at that moment, as his mind was fully focused on exploring the room's mystery.
Tom softly clapped his hands. "Is there someone here?" he whispered.
The question seemed silly, as besides him and Hermione, there was no one else in the room. But just as he finished speaking, there was a slight pop in the room, and a house-elf appeared in front of Tom.
Tom observed the house-elf in front of him for a moment and realized that it wasn't one he had seen before.
"How can I assist you, sir?" she bowed deeply, almost touching the ground with the tip of her nose.
"I'd like you to tell me who cleans this room," Tom posed a question to the house-elf in front of him.
"It's me, honorable sir. Is there anything in my work that doesn't please you?" Nora, the house-elf, began to tremble, looking very concerned that she had done something wrong.
"Your work is perfect; I have no complaints. I'm just curious. Do you change the firewood in the fireplace every day in this room?"
Upon hearing Tom's words, Nora stopped trembling and calmed down.
"Thank you for your praise, sir!" She first expressed gratitude for Tom's praise and then informed him that, indeed, the maintenance of this room was within her purview.
Hogwarts had hundreds of house-elves, each with detailed tasks. Some were primarily responsible for providing meals, while others handled cleaning. Participating in the maintenance of the castle was one of the assigned tasks.
Why were the castle floors always so clean? Why was the dirty laundry thrown into the laundry basket clean the next day? And who lit the fire in the common room? These questions infiltrated all aspects of daily life, but few students noticed.
All of this was done by the discreet house-elves of the castle.
The house-elf in front of Tom was responsible for adding firewood to the fireplace. The reason this room was so warm and the fireplace was burning was because Nora added firewood at specific times, making the room feel warm as spring when night fell.
Or more precisely, whenever the sun set, Nora came here and lit the fireplace. Then, the next morning, she cleaned the fireplace ashes.
Upon hearing Nora, Tom took a deep breath. If what Nora said was true, how much wood had been burned in this small room over thousands of years? It wasn't just a bit of smoke wafting into the forest; it was as if an entire forest had been burned directly. This fact might leave environmentalists dizzy.
Setting aside environmental concerns, Nora's words confirmed Tom's opinion: this room didn't belong to the Room of Requirement. It should be an unknown room tucked away in a corner of Hogwarts Castle, and the Room of Requirement had simply brought them there.
Tom nodded thoughtfully.
"Is there anything else?" Nora cautiously asked.
Seeing Nora's respectful demeanor, Tom also felt a little compassionate. Although he wasn't an advocate for house-elves' rights, he also didn't like this kind of interaction.
He courteously dismissed Nora.
Tom had sympathy for house-elves, but only to a certain extent. In other words, he was willing to help house-elves in everything except provoking change. He had even kept Hermione from knowing about the existence of house-elves, fearing that she would want to free them.
If Hermione established the "Elf Workers' Rights Defense Platform" as an organization, would Tom join it or not? For Tom, this was a very difficult question to answer.
Did house-elves need to be freed? How can you know the joy of fish if you're not a fish? How can someone who isn't a house-elf understand their happiness? House-elves currently found pleasure in serving wizards and considered this their life's purpose. From a human perspective, their thinking might seem twisted.
Was it necessary to forcibly straighten out the twisted thinking of wizards? In short, why force the thinking of house-elves to align with that of wizards?
It wasn't necessary.
Being more realistic, if they were liberated, who would take care of washing clothes, cooking, and cleaning for the professors and students of Hogwarts? Furthermore, from a human perspective, wizards had been subjecting house-elves for thousands of years. Could wizards really settle the bloody debt accumulated over that time?
Once house-elves "awakened," could wizards handle the consequences? Ultimately, it would be interesting if it became a "life or death" matter for wizards. Therefore, Tom decided to trust the wisdom of those who came before him and avoid unnecessary trouble. Although the ostrich tactic is shameful, it is also very useful.
After Nora left, Tom took off his coat and hung it next to Hermione's robe. When he saw the witch's robe, Tom remembered Hermione's previous actions.
So, he took the robe and brought it up to his nose.
"It smells nice, why does Hermione think it smells bad?" Tom scratched his head, wondering if his sense of smell was failing.
As he listened to the sound of water in the bathroom, Tom decided to ask in person.
Why worry about trivial matters? It's time to do something productive!
He placed his hand on the eagle-shaped handle and turned it gently. The bathroom door opened with a creak, and a mist of rose-scented water wafted out.
Hermione hadn't locked it!
At that moment, Hermione was nestled in a large wooden bathtub, and upon hearing the latch turning, she quickly turned and saw Tom entering.
"What are you doing? Get out!" Hermione's face turned red immediately, and she covered her chest with her hands, urging Tom to leave quickly.
"I want to shower too~"
"Wait until I'm done! Ah!"
Tom quickly removed his clothes and jumped into the bathtub, surprising Hermione.
The bathtub in the bathroom was more than enough for one person, but it was a bit cramped when two people shared it. After Tom got in, the space inside became very limited, and Tom and Hermione had to be very close to each other.
Hermione felt her whole body was burning, especially in her abdomen, where she felt a tingling sensation that seemed to be burning where Tom touched her.
"You, you..." she wanted to say something but couldn't articulate the words.
"You're always bothering me." Finally, she could only utter those words resentfully.
Tom's hand gently caressed Hermione's back, as smooth as porcelain, and occasionally slid to other places.
"You have very well-cared-for skin," he brushed her cheek with his, whispering softly in her ear, "Let me wash your back."
"No... hmm!?... it's okay," Hermione wanted to refuse, but with the slightest pressure from Tom's index and thumb, she relented.
Tom had successfully gotten Hermione under his control.
Then, he began gently massaging Hermione's shoulders and back, occasionally pinching a little to promote blood circulation in her back and make her feel more relaxed. At first, Hermione was very nervous about this unexpected guest, but she soon realized that Tom wasn't crossing any boundaries, and she finally accepted this person.
"Is the pressure okay?" After massaging for a while, Tom asked softly.
"Mmm." Hermione whimpered, making her intentions clear.
Tom carefully caressed the white figure in his hands and turned Hermione around so that they were sitting facing each other.
Face to face, Hermione suddenly became shy. She lowered her head and didn't dare to look directly at Tom. Fortunately, there was a layer of foam floating in the bathtub, which reassured her a bit.
"Relax," Tom lifted Hermione's chin, "Is it our first time seeing each other?"
He observed that lovely face blushing from the steam of the water, those eyes like shy kittens that seemed to contain a springwater pond.
Tom kissed her.
Hermione's eyes flashed with relief, and she naturally placed her hands on the young man's shoulders, responding as best she could.
Tom felt relieved and also a little moved. Hermione's movements were no longer as innocent as they were at the beginning; they even seemed somewhat skilled.
After a long time, they finally separated, both breathing deeply. Most of the bubbles on the surface of the bathtub water had disappeared.
Hermione writhed and emitted a soft moan, her gaze unfocused, allowing Tom to clean her completely.
Once cleaned, Tom lifted the weak young woman out of the bathtub in his arms.
Once out of the warm bathtub, the young woman became a little nervous. As she tightly hugged the young man's neck, she clamped her long, slender legs together.
"Please, please, give me..."
Tom quickly grabbed a towel from the nearby shelf and wrapped Hermione up like a spring roll. At the same time, with great interest, he took Hermione's clothes hanging on the rack and carried them out of the bathroom, despite the protests of the young woman.
"Give it back! Give it back! It's dirty!"
"I don't want clean ones!"
The two of them laughed as they returned to the bedroom.
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