Chapter 59: Punishment in the Forbidden Forest (Edited)

Hagrid had learned something remarkable.

Over the next few days, although Hagrid seemed to be much busier than usual, he took time when he could to train Norbert as well as he had trained his hound, Fang. This left Norbert, who had been born carefree, with the feeling that he had no life left his life was ruined. He attempted suicide, such as throwing himself into the fireplace and trying to roast himself alive, but he fell asleep in the warmth of the fireplace ...

Tom noticed something unusual about Hagrid, who stayed in the Forbidden Forest longer and longer, sometimes even until curfew approached, and when Tom returned to the castle, Hagrid stayed outside. His face was getting more and more serious and he only smiled when he teased Norbert.

Lately, Hermione has also been a bit irritable, not for any particular reason, but because final exams are coming up: ten weeks away, to be exact. Now Hermione had more to worry about than Norberto, and was already working on her review plan and writing in her notes.

"Hermione, exams are in ten weeks! If you start reviewing now, according to the forgetting curve, you'll have forgotten everything by the time the exams come." Tom said.

Hermione replied, "And when do you start revising?". He lowered his voice a little, "And I see you've been babysitting that stupid dragon all this time... why don't you take a break and go read a book?".

Tom: "..."

Hermione: "I'm talking to you, did you hear me?"

Tom rubbed his hands together nervously, "Hermione, there's something I don't know if I should say..."

Hermione: "???"

"Actually, I've already had my final exams with the professors..." Tom said.

Hermione: "???"

"So, did you get your grades?" said Hermione after a few moments of silence,

Tom hesitated a bit and nodded, "Yes."

"What were your grades? how can you doubt!" Hermione said.

"All O's." Said Tom

Hermione: "..."

She lapsed into silence, now she didn't want to talk to Tom at all. "Tom, you bastard!" She thought angrily.

A very strange emotion arose in Hermione's mind: it was obvious that Tom went to take the exam and didn't take her. To put it mildly, who the hell was she and why did she care if Tom took the exam? But she was angry, she felt betrayed.

"Why didn't you call me...?" said Hermione, a little aggrieved.

"I... I was worried that the teachers wouldn't give me a test, and that they would yell at you, I wasn't sure!" Tom struggled to explain to Hermione why he had gone behind her back to take the test.

Hermione was very depressed, and now a kind of pressure hit her: her study partner had finished his exams and gone ashore, and she was still struggling and struggling in the sea of difficulties, which made her feel very depressed.

Hermione immersed herself in her studies and ignored Tom. Tom could only sit awkwardly and pretend to read, but his completely unchanging bar of experience exposed it: he didn't read at all. Of course, he wasn't the only one who wasn't reading, Hermione was also in a state of confusion, having read half a day and not even finished half a page of notes.

One afternoon passed quickly, and when Tom wanted to go out to dinner with Hermione, Hermione's mind exploded, she looked at the notes she hadn't written on all afternoon and burst into tears.

"Why are you crying all of a sudden?" Tom couldn't help but feel a little nervous when he saw that Hermione was actually crying. He hurried to squat down in front of Hermione and looked into her face.

"I... wasted another afternoon..." Hermione's tears dripped onto her notes, the ink was smudging them, "I'm actually really stupid... I can't understand a lot of things and I can only memorize them, and my progress is much worse than yours, that you've taken the final exams, while I'm studying here. In the end, I didn't even take some notes all afternoon."

Tom took out a handkerchief, gently wiped the tears from the corners of Hermione's eyes and gently patted her back, to calm her down a bit.

"You're too nervous and final exams put too much pressure on you. You're super smart, you just lack a little confidence. You're not that far from me, I'm just taking advantage of the fact that I'm done reviewing... and there's no point comparing yourself to others, you have to compare yourself to yourself, and if you're still stupid, what are the other little witches?". Tom took a long time to reassure Hermione and make her feel better.

When they left the library together, Hermione's eyes were still red, her hair was slightly messy and her cheeks were even flushed. Some of the older students passing by looked at her in surprise: the youngest student was no more a third year, was she? Should we inform Professor Flitwick...?

But before the two could reach the Great Dining Hall, they received a note: Your punishment is at ten o'clock tonight. Meet Mr. Filch in front of the Great Dining Hall."

Hermione's complicated emotions were overwhelmed by the impending punishment.

"There goes tonight's review," Hermione grumbled with a frown, "This punishment really knows how to pick the perfect time. Which teacher do you think we'll see?"

"I think it's Hagrid, he seems to be preoccupied with something lately, and if it's another teacher, what's the point of having Filch?". analyzed Tom.

"So we're going into the Forbidden Forest?" Hermione picked up on the most crucial information.

Tom nodded. Hermione took a deep breath: for her, entering the Forbidden Forest late at night was still a very exciting thing to do. But there was an indefinable thrill inside her.

"This is a blessing in disguise. The Forbidden Forest, which is normally impossible to enter, can be entered today," Tom interrupted her thoughts.

At ten o'clock in the evening they left the nearly empty Common Room and went down to the Great Dining Hall, where Filch was waiting with a lamp.

The three of them walked across the dark grass towards Hagrid's hut. Along the way, Filch was telling them how the castle guards used to punish the students, "Hanging them by their wrists, dangling from the ceiling, for days on end, I still keep greasing those chains!".

From the look on Filch's face, he must have regretted not being born decades earlier.

Hagrid wasn't waiting for them in the house, his hut still held secrets, he was standing outside his courtyard, lantern in hand, with his hound, Fang, following him, and he carried a huge crossbow, with a bag full of arrows over his shoulder.

He spotted Filch's lantern from a distance and approached.

"Well, your work is done," Hagrid said, sending Filch back to the castle, "I'll deal with them next."

After Filch muttered and disappeared into the darkness, Hagrid led the two into the Forbidden Forest.