Chapter 397: Exploring the Pensieve (Edited)

However, this kind of memory experiment would definitely not use valuable memories; it would only extract irrelevant things. The memory Tom extracted was from when he had just finished eating the sandwich.

Before using the Pensieve, Tom always thought that after extracting a memory, he would completely forget its content. However, only after extracting it once did he realize that it wasn't the case.

If he had to describe it specifically, it was as if the memory was covered with a thin veil, making it a bit blurry but not completely forgotten.

Tom looked at the trembling memory at the tip of his wand, and instead of putting it in the Pensieve, he simply let it dissipate into the air.

"It seems that if memories leave the body and cannot enter the Pensieve, they fade away," Tom thought as he extracted another thread of memory. This time, he chose a memory of himself eating, but after extracting it, he tried to reinsert it.

"After doing this, it seems that there hasn't been any change." As for whether there was any limit to the Pensieve, he couldn't figure it out at the moment. Given its capacity, it would require too many memories, and he couldn't fill it up by himself.

So he had to leave it for now and ask Dumbledore when he had the time.

"What is that? Peter Pettigrew's memories?" Sirius asked curiously when Tom finished his experiments.

The Pensieve responded to Tom's query: Peter Pettigrew's rat-like face emerged with a fawning smile. That smile, combined with his face, looked despicable. Tom looked at Sirius and said, "Eventually, all of you will use your memories."

"That's disgusting," Sirius said with disdain. He really didn't want to see that person's memories.

"It doesn't matter; you don't have to see his," Tom said with profound meaning. At that moment, he glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that the second class was about to begin, so he quickly left Dumbledore's office and headed to the classroom he needed to go to.

"Come here!" On the way, Hermione suddenly grabbed him. "Transfiguration class is about to start!"

Hermione grabbed him and rushed him to the Transfiguration classroom.

Hermione had been waiting for Tom at the classroom door the whole time, but until the second class was about to start, she still hadn't seen that boy. Hermione, who didn't want to be late for class, had to go to the Transfiguration classroom by herself, but she ran into Tom on the way.

They both ran together and finally entered the classroom just as the bell rang, finding a corner to sit.

"In fact, we could turn back an hour using the Time-Turner, so we would have plenty of time," Tom whispered quietly to Hermione.

Hermione was out of breath from running and had sweat drops on her face. Upon hearing Tom's proposal to abuse the Time-Turner, she didn't have the energy to argue, so she just gave him a look to let him understand.

Hermione slowly adjusted her breathing rhythm to calm down and took the opportunity to compose herself. At that moment, a silk handkerchief was offered to her.

At least he did something nice. Hermione thought as she took the handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead. The handkerchief had a minty aroma, fresh and pleasant.

Professor McGonagall began the class, and Hermione took out her own notebook to take diligent notes.

It wasn't until they started practicing that Hermione had the opportunity to interrogate Tom about where he had been in the first class of the morning.

"Did you go to raid Azkaban?" Hermione was surprised by Tom's response. "How dared you do something like that?"

"It was Dumbledore who asked me to do it. He believes it's the best way to undermine Fudge's reputation," Tom said, once again using Dumbledore's name as a shield. The strategy of invoking Dumbledore proved effective. Hermione was left speechless to argue and only muttered that Tom had surely violated hundreds of school rules and Ministry of Magic laws.

However, Tom showed no concern. With an enigmatic smile, he whispered to Hermione, "Well, now Miss Granger has something in her possession that she can use against me... I'll do anything you ask." Tom loved getting involved in these power games.

"Also..." Hermione blushed. Tom's words reminded her of something she had seen in some magazines in the girls' dormitory. Just as she was about to say something, a piece of chalk struck the table they were sitting at.

"Mr. Yodel, Miss Granger, I hope you'll focus your attention on the class! Before this class ends, it would be better if you turned the materials provided into mice."

The young wizards around them lowered their heads to avoid trouble with Professor McGonagall. Several young witches' faces turned as red as tomatoes.

Hermione quickly took out her wand, pointed it at her snuffbox, and it leaped into the air, falling to the ground with several cracks. Hermione had to rush to repair the snuffbox, which was on the verge of falling apart.

Hermione felt like she had been pricked with a needle and immediately took out her wand and aimed it at the snuffbox, which jumped and fell to the ground, making it crack several times. Hermione struggled to fix the snuffbox, which was on the verge of falling to pieces.

Fortunately, once she calmed down, her Transfiguration skills improved rapidly, and she managed to turn her snuffbox into a large mouse before the class ended.

However, that mouse looked a lot like Scabbers.

"I swear that's not Scabbers!" Hermione walked ahead of everyone with her backpack, as stubborn as a day-old loaf of bread.

"Really? Then why is it missing a paw?"

"That's because I lost a piece of my snuffbox!"

When they arrived at the Great Hall, Tom noticed that the atmosphere seemed a bit strange. The young wizards were grouped in twos or threes, discussing something.

Just then, he saw Cho Chang, the substitute for the Quidditch team, speaking quietly with some of her friends. So he approached her.

Cho Chang was the Seeker for the Ravenclaw team, but she had been out for a long time due to a serious injury. Recently, she had fully recovered and was doing adaptation training with the team. Tom believed she might be back on the field at the beginning of the next semester.

When Cho Chang saw him approaching, she greeted him friendly.

"What are they talking about so mysteriously?"

Cho Chang looked around and said in a low voice, "Peter Pettigrew has escaped, the Ministry of Magic is searching for him."

Tom was surprised, what was going on? How did they get that information so quickly? He then learned that Cho Chang's mother, who worked in the Ministry of Magic, was the one who passed them the news.

And judging by the behavior of the young wizards at Hogwarts, it was probably not just Cho Chang's parents leaking information, but the entire Ministry of Magic was as leaky as a sieve.

The next day, the news was confirmed. Fudge tried to cover it up, but ultimately failed. The Prophet reported the incident on the front page, calling it "an unprecedented disgrace."