Chapter 20: Hermione's Greatest Fear

"Seven... one... eight... four," Tom entered the four numbers in order, and as the fourth digit was input, the lock made a crisp sound, and it fell off the treasure chest.

"Come on, don't be shy," Tom gestured for Hermione to put her hand on top. With a gentle push, they opened the second layer of the chest.

To Hermione's shock, a tall wizard with half-moon glasses, a crooked long nose, and silver hair and beard that reached his waist emerged from the box.

"Professor Dumbledore..." Hermione screamed and collapsed to the ground.

Professor Dumbledore fixed his stern gaze on her, his eyes sharp and piercing, as if he could see the deepest secrets of Hermione's heart.

"I'm not him, please let me explain, I didn't... please don't expel me!" Hermione was flustered, almost on the verge of tears, and fear gripped her heart. She didn't know how to explain being expelled on her first day of school to her parents.

Professor Dumbledore stepped out of the box, getting closer to Hermione. He reached out his withered and aged hand towards her...

Suddenly, his movement froze. Tom didn't know when he had circled behind him, holding an unrolled scroll, and stuck it to his back.

Although the scroll was made of parchment, it clung to Professor Dumbledore's back like adhesive tape. What happened next was beyond Hermione's imagination: Professor Dumbledore screamed in agony as if scalded by boiling water. Then, there was a sound like a whip cracking, and Professor Dumbledore in front of them shattered like a balloon. After shattering, he formed into a cloud of smoke, writhing wildly, seemingly trying to break free from Tom's control but failing. The scroll acted like a whirlpool, drawing it in and preventing it from escaping Tom's control.

Hermione stared wide-eyed, her mouth slightly open. What was happening before her eyes was far beyond her comprehension.

"What's going on? What is this thing?" Even though Hermione didn't have knowledge in this area, she knew that the cloud of smoke before her couldn't possibly be Professor Dumbledore—professors didn't shatter like that over a child.

"Boggart, a formless magical creature that transcends life and death, capable of transforming into anything nearby that people fear," Tom explained, glancing at Hermione. "So, your greatest fear is being expelled from school?"

Hermione blushed and shouted indignantly, "Even if I'm expelled, it's your fault!"

But soon, the Boggart captured her attention.

"So, is this a magical creature?" Curiosity won over, and Hermione pushed the recent experience to the back of her mind.

"No, it's a 'formless.' They are a type of magical creature that transcends life and death and has no equivalent in the Muggle world. Muggles can only sense all known formless creatures indirectly. Because formless creatures transcend life and death, they are neither born nor die. They are created by human emotions and feed on these emotions.

Since formless creatures cannot be truly destroyed, wizards have invented various spells to repel them, using positive emotions to prevent them from inducing negative emotions in victims. The key to countering formless creatures lies in emotions. For example, Boggarts feed on fear."

Hermione looked thoughtfully at the Boggart. "So, you wanted to gain one of its abilities?"

At this point, Tom had released the scroll, watching it float in the air as it gradually absorbed the Boggart. "To be honest, I didn't initially plan to absorb a Boggart. I was hoping to find a dragon or a unicorn or something like that. But who would have thought that the predecessor sealed a Boggart in the chest, and I happened to not know the spell to repel it." Tom shrugged, as if it were fate.

Although Tom knew many spells' pronunciations, he only knew the pronunciation, not how to cast the spell itself.

Feeling a bit guilty, Hermione looked into his eyes and said, "I'm sorry for making you use such a precious scroll... If I hadn't lost my temper, you wouldn't have had to use it, right?"

"It's a blessing in disguise," Tom consoled Hermione. "The predecessor who set up this mechanism must have had a reason to place a Boggart on the second level. Maybe he thought this scroll was best suited for copying the Boggart? After all, who would put a punishing creature in a treasure chest?"

Hermione nodded, finding it quite reasonable. At this point, the Boggart had been copied completely, and the scroll revealed an indescribable substance, resembling a mixture of liquid, gas, and even solid. The scroll gradually closed, and the treasure chest itself snapped shut.

The floating scroll drifted towards Tom and he gently caught it. Like melting frost in the sunlight, the scroll gradually dissolved in his hand

, and Tom felt a warm flow spreading from his right hand to his limbs, followed by a tingling sensation in his bones and a surge of boiling blood.

A few minutes later, under Hermione's concerned gaze, Tom opened his mouth and exhaled a large puff of white steam. The scroll disappeared, replaced by a silver ring with six facets, with a black gemstone on the top, containing a faint white mist that seemed to flow inside.

"Phew..." Tom exhaled the last bit of impurity from his body. He also sensed the ability he inherited from the Boggart—Mimicry. Tom had realized the predecessor's thoughtful intent. Boggarts were indeed the most suitable magical creatures for this scroll. Boggarts were fascinating creatures; their strength lay in their ability to transform into any living being and inherit some of that being's abilities!

For example, the Boggart Professor Lupin found could transform into a female ghost, a mummy, and even a Dementor. Harry had proven through his own experience that the Boggart's Dementor was only slightly inferior to the real Dementor!

However, it seemed that Tom's inherited abilities had limitations. Tom stared at the ring in his hand, deep in thought.

"How did it go? What ability did you gain?" Hermione, curious, leaned in closer.

Without much ado, Tom extended his right index finger and tapped Hermione's forehead. She watched as the boy's hair gradually grew longer, turned brown, and his body became more feminine...

Another "Hermione" appeared before her, complete with perfectly imitated clothing.

(End of this chapter)

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