บท 551: Chapter 551: Boarding the Hogwarts Express (Edited)
Draco felt as uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly. If it weren't for his father's orders, why would he have come here and shamelessly asked Tom for a seat, like a shameless beggar? Usually, he didn't even bother to speak with Tom, let alone travel together on the train to school. Besides, in this compartment, there was even a half-blood contaminating the air. Malfoy felt very uncomfortable being here.
But he had no choice. His father had given him orders that he had to get along with Tom Yodel before the end of the semester. It didn't matter if they became friends; at least, they had to return to a neutral position and then invite him to join the Death Eaters. What if he didn't succeed? Then they would cut off his allowance, and if he couldn't resolve this before the end of the school year, he wouldn't be able to return to Malfoy Manor during the summer holidays.
Receiving such an order from his own father was new to Draco Malfoy. After understanding the situation, he also realized the seriousness of the problem. He had no choice, and neither did his father.
What was the relationship between him and Yodel? Malfoy knew it very well. They were not just friends; rather, they were enemies. Fortunately, only physically. Malfoy had already been beaten twice by Tom...
Before opening the compartment door, Malfoy naively believed that if he extended an olive branch, his relationship with Tom could return to normal. But Tom ruthlessly rejected him.
Malfoy was bewildered. The words he had just said were the best he could muster with his personality, but he was still rejected. What should he do now? Try to repair the relationship at school? But the Hogwarts Express was almost the best opportunity for privacy. It would be more painful for Malfoy to publicly surrender to Tom than to be killed.
But Draco Malfoy was worthy of being the heir of the Malfoy family; he had great potential in terms of social skills. He took a deep breath and, as if he hadn't heard Tom's order to dismiss him, he began to speak for himself.
"Yodel, the two spells you cast at the World Cup were impressive. My father and I talked about it, was it the Fiendfyre Curse?"
Tom frowned, not understanding what medicine Malfoy was selling. Was he going to run in front of Dumbledore and say something like, "Tom Yodel is researching dark magic, Professor Dumbledore, please expel him immediately"? That would be too dark and sarcastic.
But just in case, he decided to deny it completely. In today's magical world, having any connection to dark magic was not a good thing and could ruin his reputation.
"You're saying it was the Fiendfyre Curse? Do you have any evidence?"
Tom's question left Malfoy bewildered.
"Uh... because it was blue in color?"
"Blue fire is quite common. Muggles use natural gas that produces blue fire. When natural gas combines with oxygen in the core of the flame and due to the lack of oxygen, it can't burn completely, producing carbon monoxide. Then, carbon monoxide reacts completely with oxygen in the flame tail, ultimately producing blue fire." Tom quickly explained to Malfoy the principles of fire combustion.
To be honest, fire combustion in the non-magical world involved a series of knowledge related to flame color response and energy level transitions, so different substances in combustion would have flames of different colors. But in the magical world, that explanation couldn't be used; blue burning fire was due to magical factors, maybe Dumbledore could provide an answer.
However, this didn't stop Tom from leaving Malfoy completely confused.
"Uh... forget it for now, Yodel. You have such high magical talent that it can't be of simple Muggle origin. I mean, you were wandering before being accepted to Hogwarts, so you probably don't know who your true parents are, which means you are very likely a descendant of a pure-blood family." Malfoy did his best to dig himself out of a pile of strange terms and told Tom sincerely.
For heaven's sake! Malfoy dared to swear to Merlin and all the ancestors of the Malfoy family that this was the most he could do; he was even willing to admit that Tom Yodel was pure-blood.
When Lucius, Draco's father, told him this last night, he was also shocked, but upon careful consideration, it made sense. And in the eyes of pure-blood purists, if Tom Yodel was pure-blood, it would demonstrate the nobility of pure blood.
"Hey, you pure-blood purists are really amusing," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Now you're trying to trace Tom's ancestry? Why didn't you do it before?"
Tom secretly gave Hermione a thumbs-up in his mind. Malfoy's action was truly surprising. It was unknown how a wizard who had lived in the British Isles for generations had learned the skills of stumbling upon Korean Muggles.
"I have never considered that there is a difference between pure-blood and non-pure-blood," Tom looked coldly at Malfoy, "Because you can't explain whether the parents of the first pure-blood wizard were or were not wizards. If they were, then he wouldn't be the first pure-blood wizard, and if they weren't, then it's not pure-blood. And what they call 'pure-blood superiority' is ridiculous. The purer a wizard's ancestry, the stronger their magical power, which means we, the wizards of Muggle descent, are actually the first generation of wizards, and our blood is the purest."
This statement struck Malfoy to the core.
Malfoy couldn't refute Tom because his logic was extraordinarily reasonable.
In Tom's view, wizards probably originated from some kind of interbreeding between magical creatures and humans, and that magical blood was passed down through generations, forming various wizarding families. According to the legend of King Arthur, Merlin was conceived by the encounter of a dream demon and a mortal woman, indirectly supporting Tom's opinion.
"By the way, the Dark Lord you worship is also a half-blood wizard." Upon hearing this last sentence, Malfoy couldn't contain himself; he opened the compartment door and quickly left that unpleasant place.
As for his father's mission... it would be for next time! He was so overwhelmed that he even forgot to say some harsh words to try to salvage the situation.
After Malfoy left, Hermione looked at Tom with a thoughtful expression.
"What were you doing before you received the Hogwarts acceptance letter?"
Hermione's question sent a shiver down Tom's spine. Instinctively, he wanted to evade the question, but Hermione was staring at him with her eyes. He couldn't help it because he simply couldn't do anything to deceive the girl in front of him who had entrusted almost all her kindness to him.
"Uh... you should know, I was just wandering around, rummaging through trash and stuff... well, actually, I was living like a vagabond on the streets of London, stealing things from time to time when people weren't looking..." Tom blinked and responded vaguely.
That experience before the age of eleven was a scar in his life, something he wanted to hide. That experience made him feel inferior when he was in front of Hermione.
Hermione said their encounter was like Paul and Donya, but in reality, the gap between him and Hermione was much greater than that between Paul and Donya. Hermione's economic situation was not inferior to Donya's, but he was far from being like Paul, at least Paul had a family and a job.
Honestly, Tom thought he would never pay attention to a little beggar rummaging through the garbage bins near his house. But Hermione not only paid attention to him but also gave him a bag of pastries.
She was truly a kind girl, Hermione's existence was the white moon in Tom's heart. But the kinder she was, the more Tom felt ashamed and always thought he was taking advantage of her.
Hermione interrupted Tom's stammering and said, "I didn't ask that. Did the orphanage nurses ever tell you about your parents?"
Tom shook his head. The nurses were always silent, like a group of mute women who rarely spoke.
"So, why do you call yourself Tom Yodel?"
"The nurses always called me that; I had never questioned it before," Tom replied, confused by Hermione's question.
"Oh, I see..." Hermione showed a regretful expression, it seemed she wouldn't get any useful information from Tom's mouth.
"Wait, did you just mention something about stealing?" Hermione noticed that Tom seemed to have revealed something important. Suddenly, she became interested, and the fire of curiosity ignited within her.
"A crime! Tom Yodel, I didn't know you had a story like that, tell me right away!"
Upon hearing that, Tom looked uncomfortable. "Well, uh... yes, sometimes there were many swans in the London River, you know?"
"Yes... uh?" Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. "Did you...?"
"Yes, well, sometimes when I was very hungry, I would steal some of the Queen's belongings." Tom felt a little embarrassed. The day he met Professor McGonagall, he had a goose cooking in his "home."
He hoped Professor McGonagall wouldn't misunderstand that he was cooking a Hogwarts owl. Owls were very powerful and had little meat; it was not cost-effective to hunt them. It was easier to catch the fat geese.
"Ah... this... is that thing edible?"
"Yes, after gutting it, wrapping it in newspaper, and then covering it with mud, it's buried in a fire and cooked until it's ready," Tom briefly explained the method of cooking a street goose to Hermione.
Hermione fell into silence. She wasn't blaming Tom because she knew Tom wasn't doing this for pleasure. Just by listening, she could tell that the meat resulting from that cooking method was extremely unappetizing, indicating what kind of situation Tom was in at that time.
In derogatory terms, he was struggling on the brink of starvation. When a person is on the brink of starvation, what does it matter what they do?
"At least you're not starving now," after a while, Hermione was finally able to say these words.
"Yeah..." Tom sank into melancholy. The Hogwarts acceptance letter truly changed his fate.
The train compartment fell silent again as the swaying train continued north in the rain. The intensity of the rain didn't change with the change in geographical location; instead, it became even more intense, blocking out the sunlight. Therefore, in broad daylight, the lights in the compartment were turned on.
"This reminds me of last semester's experience," Hermione looked at the rain outside and suddenly remembered something that happened in the third year. That year, Dementors attacked the Hogwarts Express, causing great chaos and leaving everyone with bad memories.
Tom: ...
"You won't faint this time," Hermione blinked.
When something was mentioned, the other person felt uncomfortable. Tom rolled his eyes and packed a pair of curse-proof gloves into a box.
"What's that?" Hermione had always been very curious about what Tom was busy with but didn't want to interrupt him while he was focused on his work. Until he finished, she brought up the topic.
Tom told Hermione about the curse-proof gloves customized by the Ministry of Magic.
Hermione had a sudden look of understanding.
At that moment, the sound of a trolley outside the door could be heard. Tom knew it was lunchtime. When the trolley reached their compartment, Tom stopped the trolley and bought a bunch of food.
"Eat something to fill your stomach; dinner is still a long way off," Tom handed a pumpkin pasty to Hermione, and he himself opened a pack of Chocolate Frogs.
"Ha! Andros the Invincible, owner of the Giant Patronus." Tom pulled out a card he didn't have, showing the picture. Looking at the description on the card, Tom suddenly remembered something.
"It's also possible that both of us could be included in the Chocolate Frog cards," Tom waved the "Andros the Invincible" card in his hand, making it sound plausible.
"Really?" Hermione put down the pumpkin pasty she held in her hand, excited.
This was a Chocolate Frog card, and Professor Dumbledore was on it too!
"But we..." Hermione was a little uncertain; she always felt that with her special Patronus, maybe they couldn't include both of them on the card.
Tom understood what she was thinking.
"We can appear together on a single card."
This idea greatly appealed to Hermione; it seemed so romantic! This would be a unique card for the two of them, visible all over the world...
And if in the future, both of them achieved much greater accomplishments... then they would simply make another exclusive card for the two of them!
The original card could be "Tom and Hermione," and the new card would simply add an adjective in front of their names, like "Boundary-Breaking" or "World-Plotting." It could even boost Chocolate Frog sales!
Tom and Hermione continued to chat and enjoy their lunch. The rest of the journey passed in this pleasant atmosphere. During the trip, some of their friends came to visit and talked about their experiences at the World Cup.
The bad weather persisted, and the rain showed no signs of letting up even as the Hogwarts Express slowed down and stopped at the Hogsmeade platform.
After the train doors were opened, a loud thunderclap rang out.
Hermione wrapped Crookshanks in her cloak and then remembered something, "You know the weather spell, can you...?"
Tom looked at the pouring rain outside and felt that Hermione had the wrong idea about him.
I'm still just a child!
This kind of weather phenomenon is beyond what even Dumbledore can change, right?
But... Tom still had a little itch in his hands and felt the temptation to try it.
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