Chapter 329: Sirius is Coming (Edited)

The Patronus Charm had a significant impact on Tom's mental state. Suddenly, he found himself confused and bewildered. Why? This shouldn't be happening. These two words persisted in his mind, and he remained in a state of confusion until the beginning of Herbology class.

Hermione's mental state was even more complex. On one hand, she kept repeating to herself that there were specialties, that everyone had their strengths and weaknesses, and that no one could be good at all magical spells. But on the other hand, she couldn't help feeling depressed.

After class, Tom made his way to the Great Hall with a somber step. His performance in the previous class was disastrous. Unintentionally, he spilled a jar of "Wind Vanilla" on the floor of the greenhouse, and the "Wind Vanillas" bloomed before the young wizards' eyes, turning the greenhouse into a vast garden of flowers. Professor Sprout was not pleased and spent the rest of the class behind Tom. When the final bell rang, he sighed in relief—it was finally over.

Walking slowly, Tom followed his classmates while Hermione stayed behind. She took off her wizard robe and tied it around her waist, turning it into a sort of skirt, and then covered it with the bottom part of a white shirt. Combined with knee-high black stockings and school shoes, she looked carefree. The golden time-turner shimmered on her chest.

"It's in plain sight," Tom turned around and saw the golden time-turner on the front of Hermione's white shirt and pointed at it.

"It's no big deal," Hermione shook her head, but still followed his advice and tucked the time-turner inside her shirt, close to her body. "Let's go to the Great Hall to eat."

"Alright."

"You look beautiful in that outfit."

Hermione didn't respond. The two walked in silence.

Even within himself, Tom began to have doubts: Did he really like Hermione? Or did he just desire her body? Did he like the person or just the name Hermione? If Hermione wasn't as beautiful, intelligent, and kind as she was now, would he still like her?

But would Hermione still be Hermione if all those wonderful qualities were lost?

Tom felt his heart in turmoil, even regretting trying to learn the Patronus Charm. But when they arrived at the table, he realized that Hermione didn't have much appetite either.

"Aren't you hungry?" Tom cut a greasy piece of beef and put it on Hermione's plate.

"Hmm," Hermione stared at the meat on her plate.

Tom remained silent for a brief two seconds, then came up with a great idea.

"Come on, I'll treat you to a new dish I just learned." Tom changed his mind and left the Great Hall early. Hermione was somewhat confused but followed him.

"Where did you learn to cook something new?" Hermione was surprised.

"In a book," Tom saw a change in Hermione's expression and secretly felt glad. "Go to the Room of Requirement first, I'll be there in a moment."

After a while, Hermione saw Tom in front of the Room of Requirement holding a small package.

"Come in!" He turned around three times outside the wall and opened the Room of Requirement. This time, the interior was a small open-concept kitchen.

...

While all the students and professors enjoyed their food, the Fat Lady, the portrait at the entrance of Gryffindor House, was warming up her voice. The Fat Lady was an aspiring portrait, not content with just being a "doorkeeper." She had a dream: to become a singer.

To achieve that, she practiced every day, which was a great annoyance to the young wizards. During her vocal training, even if you had the password, you couldn't enter the Common Room. And worst of all, her warm-up voice sounded more like a...

Being a reasonable portrait, the Fat Lady was also aware that her voice had some deficiencies, so she tried to practice when no one was around, like during lunch and dinner.

At that moment, it was dinnertime. The Fat Lady held a tall glass and strained to reach a high note, while the surrounding portraits covered their ears in pain.

But after a few seconds, the Fat Lady gave up, leaning against the frame of the portrait and gasping for breath. The tall glass in her other hand didn't even crack a bit.

"Again!" After catching her breath, she tried again. At that moment, a tired, hateful, and slightly mad male voice sounded beside her.

"Can you please open the door for me?"

"There's someone!" The Fat Lady panicked and, realizing she had no chance of shattering the glass, she smashed it against the frame, causing it to shatter.

The Fat Lady, who had derived great satisfaction from this outburst, looked at the visitor and asked, "The password?"

It wasn't until that moment that the Fat Lady had time to closely observe the appearance of the visitor. Unlike the usual inhabitants of Gryffindor Tower, this was a somewhat familiar adult wizard. His robe was tattered, his hair tangled, and his whole body was thin as a skeleton.

The Fat Lady was suspicious, but she knew that, after all, she was just a portrait. No matter how suspicious the visitor seemed, as long as he uttered the password, the Fat Lady had to open the door for him.

"Ah... the password... Dragon liver?" The visitor was Sirius Black, who had finally infiltrated Hogwarts and, following his memories, had arrived at Gryffindor Tower. He knew the rat belonged to Ron Weasley, and he only needed to enter the Common Room when Ron wasn't present to confront Peter Pettigrew.

Thinking that he would soon have Peter Pettigrew in his hands, Sirius became excited and trembled with anticipation. It had been his goal for so many years. But he never imagined he would get stuck at the password stage. Sirius's expression grew increasingly fierce.

"Incorrect password." The Fat Lady sighed in relief. If the password was incorrect, she wouldn't have to open the door and could keep the unkempt individual outside. Forcing his way in? That was impossible, as the walls behind the portrait were quite solid.

"Please, madam, I have important matters to attend to inside." Sirius made his final attempt, but the Fat Lady was unmoved, continuing to laugh without taking any concrete action.

Finally, a look of ferocity crossed Sirius's eyes.

The Fat Lady thought she had solved the problem and prepared to take another tall glass from the small table next to her. However, a shadow loomed over the surface of her portrait.

She looked toward the source of the shadow and only saw a pair of almost manic eyes. The Fat Lady was completely stunned. She wanted to scream for help, but she didn't have time to do so.