Chapter 309: Crazy Girl (Edited)

Hermione shook her head; she hadn't seen her pet cat either. A horrible thought crossed her mind, and she was horrified: that girl hadn't gone to hunt down Scabbers, right? That would be too persistent!

While Hermione contemplated how to apologize to Ron, the common room door swung open, and a girl with dirty, long, wild blond hair entered, carrying Crookshanks in her arms. There was something odd about the girl; she had her wand tucked behind her left ear and wore a necklace made of butterbeer corks. Additionally, she had gray eyes that seemed trance-like and bulging, and a pair of very light eyebrows.

Hermione recalled that she was a second-year student, Luna Lovegood, if she remembered correctly. Hermione wasn't quite sure about her name, but she had heard of her nickname: Loony Luna. It was said that she was somewhat famous at school for her eccentricities.

Hermione took a glance at her attire and saw that the Crazy Girl nickname suited her quite well. Hermione couldn't understand why Luna wore all those strange accessories; she was obviously a pretty girl.

Crookshanks noticed his owner in front of him, so he stopped lounging in Luna's arms, jumped to the ground with Winter Solstice in his mouth, and ran towards Hermione. At first, Hermione didn't see what he had in his mouth, but it wasn't until he jumped into Hermione's arms that she saw he was carrying a large rat in his mouth.

Crookshanks dropped the unconscious Winter Solstice onto the floor and meowed twice in anticipation.

Hermione was startled. At first, she thought it was Scabbers, but then she realized it was another rat. She couldn't help but sigh with relief, but at the same time, she felt repulsed, seeing Crookshanks, with his entire body stained by the wild rat, was no longer clean.

Just as she was about to use the levitation charm to remove the rat through the window and dispose of it, Luna spoke up.

"This rat seems to be a gift from him to you," Luna's voice was slightly ethereal.

"Uh, well..." Hermione hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do with the filthy rat.

"I found it in the hallway outside the common room; it looks like a very human-like cat," Luna crouched down on the floor and stroked Crookshanks' back, causing him to arch in comfort. "I realized he wanted to go to the common room from the moment I saw him, but I couldn't be certain."

Crookshanks turned around, exposing his belly for Luna to stroke.

"He'll be sad if you don't handle his gift well," Luna said seriously, looking at Hermione with her slightly bulging gray eyes, causing Hermione's heart to flutter, forcing her to look at the half-dead rat wriggling occasionally on the floor, its desperate expression almost materializing.

But Tom intervened just in time to help her. He pulled out a white napkin from somewhere, wrapped the rat in it, then scratched Crookshanks' chin and patted his back when he was comfortable enough to close his eyes, telling him to return to his nest.

But Crookshanks had no intention of leaving; he circled around Tom several times, meowing as he did so.

"He probably wants a bath; look at the dirt on his paws!" Luna didn't leave but observed Tom teasing Crookshanks with great interest.

Upon hearing this, Tom also pulled out his wand and used a cleaning spell to clean Crookshanks' cat paws one by one.

After cleaning the last paw, Crookshanks shook his tail in satisfaction, shook his fur, turned around, and left.

"Thank you," Tom said gratefully to Luna. If it weren't for Luna, Crookshanks would have had to wait outside for much longer. But it seemed Luna had drifted off into a dreamy world again, resulting in an awkward silence in the conversation between the two, creating a somewhat embarrassing situation.

There was nothing to talk about among the three of them, and if Luna had known better, she would have left on her own, but she sat there without saying a word, bewildering both Tom and Hermione.

"So," Hermione thought for a moment and found a question to break the awkward silence, "How was your day? Tom and I went to Hogsmeade, there..."

"I went to visit Peggy at the school hospital. She's my housemate. Last year, she got injured and hospitalized, and she's been in a coma ever since." This time Luna reacted and gave an answer that surprised both Tom and Hermione.

"Peggy..." Tom recited the somewhat old-fashioned name, with a touch of nostalgia as well. Hermione, one of the few people who knew the truth, also got caught up in the memory.

She was a complex character. You could say she was unfortunate, but she was also quite wicked. You could say she was guilty, but she was also innocent in a certain sense. She was a complicated person.

"So, she's been in a coma all this time?" Hermione was more concerned about Peggy's current condition.

"That's right. Madam Pomfrey said her soul was injured, and she may never wake up," Luna's voice remained ethereal. "Her parents must be very sad..."

Tom fell silent. He thought it was most likely that the Ministry of Magic would take care of the situation and give Mr. Grossman a Memory Charm, making him believe that his daughter had gone to school.

"But Peggy is not the same as before, I can feel it. She seems so different from when she started."

"After all the time she spent in a coma." Hermione grasped that.

"No, it's not because of that," Luna shook her head, her long golden hair swaying. "It has nothing to do with her body."

Hermione was confused, but Tom had a vague understanding of what Luna was saying, and he was somewhat impressed: this girl's perception was truly sharp!

"Well," Luna stood up abruptly, "I need to go back to my dormitory. There are too many Nargles bothering here."

"Nar... what?" Hermione didn't hear clearly, but Luna had already disappeared into the entrance of the dormitory.

"She's very strange," Hermione found it difficult to understand Luna.

Tom shrugged and placed the rat Crookshanks had brought him on the table.

"Disgusting!" Hermione kicked Tom under the table and, at the same time, instinctively moved back in her chair, distancing herself from the table. Tom was holding a crystal ball in his hand and planned to have a little impromptu chat with the rat once it woke up.

However, before they could exchange more than a few words, Tom was stunned by explosive news that this rat called "Winter Solstice" delivered.

Peter Pettigrew slept with the rat's wife?! Tom struggled to immediately process this news.

Hermione was also taken aback. She never imagined that Scabbers would be involved in something so significant.