Chapter 575: These Are Your Wings (Edited)

"I won't miss this great event; it's the Triwizard Tournament!" Tom told Hermione.

However, those words didn't manage to dispel Hermione's concerns. Frowning, she explained to Tom the dangers of the Triwizard Tournament.

"It's one of the most dangerous competitions in the magical world. It's said that half of the participants lose their lives. How did you dare to sign up without knowing anything about the competition?" At that moment, Hermione stopped. Suddenly, she realized that Tom seemed to have been involved in designing the competition events.

"Do you know what the first event entails, don't you?" Hermione suddenly leaped, agile as a cat. "I completely forgot about that detail! So, you understand that the competition isn't dangerous? I worried in vain!"

Her facial expression was now filled with excitement. Upon learning that the competition wasn't dangerous, Hermione was carried away by the desire for adventure. Who could resist participating in the Triwizard Tournament?

"Well, not really, it's still quite dangerous, but volunteers shouldn't have any problems as long as they don't die," Tom had to admit. After his intervention, the danger coefficient of the tournament events had increased considerably...

But it was also much more fun.

Hermione: ?!

"Don't worry; Dumbledore has considered everything. Volunteers will be protected," Tom tried to reassure Hermione by appealing to Dumbledore.

However, this approach had been used so many times that Hermione didn't fully accept it.

"Protection doesn't guarantee absolute safety, Tom Yodel."

"Do you want me to tell you about the first event? After hearing it, you'll feel at ease," Tom winked at Hermione, dangling a very tempting bait.

"We shouldn't reveal secrets... But can you tell me where the first event will take place?"

Hermione took the bait.

"Of course I can."

Just as Tom was about to reveal the details of the Triwizard Tournament to Hermione, a beetle landed on the windowsill next to them. Tom got distracted and stopped his speech.

Looking at the beetle, his expression suddenly changed. It reminded him of an unpleasant woman: Rita Skeeter.

"Hermione, a question just occurred to me."

"Tell me." Although Hermione wanted to keep hearing about the tournament events, she was ready to patiently answer Tom's question.

"When an Animagus dies in animal form, does the body remain in animal form, or does it revert to human form?"

Beetle: ...

Hearing Tom's question, Hermione was perplexed.

It was an uncommon question, and there was no answer in the textbooks. Hermione had to rely on her intuition to deduce the answer.

"I suppose it would revert to human form. After all, spells require maintaining the form with magic, and Animagi are no exception. When a wizard dies, their magic dissipates, and their body returns to its original form."

"That makes sense," Tom nodded. Then, suddenly, he reached out and caught the beetle in his palm. "Let's leave the topic of challenges here..."

Tom couldn't speculate on the true identity of the beetle. It was normal for there to be insects on Hogwarts' campus, thanks to the gardening. He couldn't be sure that this beetle was the infamous Rita Skeeter.

There was only one way to verify it: catch the beetle and make it reveal its identity.

So, Tom squeezed the beetle and let it struggle in his hands.

Tom fell silent, but Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She was completely absorbed in the conversation, and Tom suddenly stopped speaking, leaving her hanging, full of curiosity.

"Tell me..."

"Aren't you afraid anymore?"

With Tom interrupting her that way, Hermione realized that her fear of the Triwizard Tournament had completely vanished. Dumbledore had prepared very solid plans to ensure everyone's safety.

Seeing that Hermione was no longer afraid, Tom felt relieved. He couldn't let Hermione participate in the tournament with that constant state of anxiety; why put her through all of this?

"What did you just catch?"

"It's nothing."

The two continued their conversation as they returned to their common room.

In a corner of the staircase, Tom saw Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, guarding the entrance. Seeing the yellow eyes of the cat, Tom had an idea.

He crouched in front of Mrs. Norris, trying to approach her. But it was clear that Mrs. Norris had no interest in him at all. Instead, she stared at him with hostility, warning him not to dare to do anything inappropriate.

Tom remained unfazed and inched a bit closer.

"Meow (If you look at me again, I'll have the litter box cleaner punish you)," Mrs. Norris began to show her teeth and emitted a low growl.

Tom slowly extended his fist towards her. In front of his fist, Mrs. Norris's muscles tensed, always ready to teach this mischievous young wizard a lesson.

Then, he opened his fist.

A beetle appeared.

Mrs. Norris: Meow meow meow?

Upon being released once more, the beetle immediately unfolded its wings and flew into the sky.

I'm free!

The beetle flew towards a nearby window.

If only it could reach there, if only...

Pam!

The beetle felt something huge falling on it, as if it were the weight of the world, a soft but firm paw crushed it to the ground.

Mrs. Norris: You wanted to impress me with the beetle? Ha, you're too naive. I'm not a kitten anymore; I no longer hunt beetles.

Then, the beetle appeared under her paw.

Mrs. Norris: ?

What's going on with this beetle? How did it appear under my paw? Damn instinct!

Mrs. Norris, while disdainful of the beetle, began to play with her freshly captured prey.

Tom stood by the side, enjoying the spectacle.

At that moment, the beetle finally understood what suffering was.

It felt like a ball, being kicked back and forth, and at the same time like a piece of clay, molded into different shapes.

Finally, it couldn't bear it anymore.

Undo the transformation!

Suddenly, a witch dressed in magenta robes appeared in the hallway, surprising Mrs. Norris.

It was evident that this witch used to be very well put together: she had a flashy robe, well-coiffed hair, jewel-encrusted glasses, well-manicured nails...

But all those details had been destroyed by the cat. The witch's robe was torn to shreds, the elegant hairstyle had turned into a mess, and her glasses were crooked.

This witch was none other than Rita Skeeter, the reporter from the Daily Prophet and an Animagus specializing in turning into a beetle to investigate exclusive news.

Today, while prowling the Hogwarts campus, Rita noticed a pair of young wizards who were conversing, and the boy turned out to be Tom Yodel, who had stood out in the World Cup final, and the other, unusually, was his date, Hermione Granger.

This combination instantly caught Rita Skeeter's attention. She approached them, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation, and it turns out that just as she approached, she heard them discussing the form Animagi take after their death.

This frightened Rita Skeeter a lot, who thought of fleeing, but was caught by Tom.

She was terrified, believing that her identity had been discovered, but during the subsequent conversation, Tom Yodel showed no suspicion about the beetle's identity; he simply kept it in his hand. This baffled Rita Skeeter, but she decided to play along.

Of course, in the end, she not only encountered a "play-along" but also a cat.

After capturing her prey, the cat didn't devour her immediately but toyed with her until it squeezed every last drop of energy out of her.

Under the torment of Mrs. Norris, Rita decided to revert to her human form.

Back in human form, Rita was eager to find the cat to vent her anger, but Mrs. Norris quickly fled and disappeared in the blink of an eye. So Rita could only glare angrily at Tom and Hermione.

In this unexpected situation, Hermione was left dumbfounded. She didn't expect someone to suddenly appear in front of her. It's not that Hermione wasn't used to Animagus transformations; she had witnessed Professor McGonagall's transformations many times, but this time it was completely unexpected.

"Is there anything I can assist you with, Miss Animagus?" Tom said without flinching, an air of nonchalance about him, giving her a "what are you looking at?"

In any other place or with someone else, those words would have incited a verbal fight. But at Hogwarts, Rita Skeeter was momentarily rendered speechless by this. Because, as an Animagus, she was not registered with the Ministry of Magic.

This meant that if she were discovered, she could lose her job or even be sent to Azkaban.

"No, nothing," she realized the delicate situation she was in, Rita Skeeter decided to act quickly. "I just wanted to do a simple interview with the champions of the Triwizard Tournament..."

"Ah, I see. You can go," Tom indicated to Skeeter that she could leave.

However, just as Rita Skeeter was preparing to leave, Tom uttered a phrase that frightened her.

"Miss Skeeter, I suppose you wouldn't want the Ministry of Magic to find out that you're an Animagus, right? So I suggest you keep your quill in check and don't write any peculiar articles."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind!" Rita Skeeter quickly fled.

On her way, she ran into Filch, who was furiously searching for the culprit who had scared Mrs. Norris. To Filch, Mrs. Norris was his closest companion and even his partner, and any action that harmed Mrs. Norris would not be tolerated by Filch.

So, when he saw Mrs. Norris looking scared, Filch erupted in anger. He picked up Mrs. Norris and raced frantically through the castle, and that was when Rita Skeeter appeared in his field of vision.

"Stop! Who are you?" Filch shouted, halting that unfamiliar face, and Mrs. Norris quickly hid behind Filch, wearing an expression of fear.

For Mrs. Norris, Animagus transformation was something very hard to comprehend.

Seeing Mrs. Norris's reaction, Filch felt he had caught the culprit.

"Come here and explain to me how someone from outside the school has entered here..." said Filch and without saying a word, he had Rita "arrested."

Rita Skeeter was desperate, wondering what kind of situation she had stumbled into today.

No one knows how Rita Skeeter managed to free herself from Filch's grasp. However, after that incident, Rita certainly moderated herself a bit.

...

"Floating runes... they can make objects levitate. Power runes... provide some propulsion..." Tom was sitting in the alchemy study of the Room of Requirement, carefully sculpting the magical silver in front of him.

The metal on the workbench no longer had any connection to the heavy chunk of magical silver. At this moment, it looked extremely exquisite, like a work of art.

This artwork was composed of thousands of feathers, affixed by Tom onto a board, forming the appearance of a pair of wings. The wings were nearly finished, with only a small hole in the center, keeping the wing's progress at 99%. What was actually supposed to be installed in that small hole was the most important part.

At this moment, that object was in Tom's hands. It was the control center of these wings.

"Connecting the magic text... done!" Tom carved the last magic rune and occupied the last empty space on the small sphere.

After finishing, Tom carefully placed the sphere into the round hole. The sphere fit perfectly into the hole, forming a complete unit.

The moment it snapped in, a flash ran through the wings; all the feathers trembled slightly, and the wings displayed as if they were ready to take flight.

Tom understood that he had finally succeeded.

These wings were the birthday gift Tom had prepared for Hermione. Perhaps she had traded her ability to fly for the ability to study. Hermione knew nothing about flying; she couldn't even handle a broomstick. Even the flying lessons didn't have final exams; otherwise, she would have surely had a pending grade on her record.

Tom designed this birthday gift especially for Hermione, considering her characteristic of being a "land bird."

The gift was ready; now, all that was left was to wait for Hermione's birthday.

...

On the morning of September 19th, Hermione dressed as usual and headed to Ravenclaw common room in the Ravenclaw Tower. At that moment, many students were already awake and discussing animatedly about the Triwizard Tournament.

Hermione listened to their bold speculations about the first challenge and found it amusing what they thought. At that moment, she encountered Tom, who was approaching her.

"Good morning," Tom greeted Hermione as he waved a small bag he had in his hand. "I've brought you breakfast; would you like to go for a walk?"

"Of course!" Hermione suddenly realized that today was her birthday. She knew that Tom would invite her for a walk on her birthday; he had never forgotten. Hermione lowered her head shyly. While feeling bashful, she was also looking forward to what birthday gift he would give her.

Both of them descended the stairs and crossed the Ravenclaw common room. Soon, they arrived on the lawn by the lake. Not far away, the Durmstrang ship was docked by the lakeshore, casting a blurry reflection.

Both of them stopped under a tree, and Tom asked Hermione to turn around and close her eyes.

"These are your wings," Tom thought silently as he took out the gift.