Chapter 625: Dumbledore's New Object (Edited)

"I want to go too!" When Tom and Dumbledore were about to come to an agreement, Hermione suddenly spoke up.

She had been listening for a while, but she hadn't heard any mention of her involvement in the plan, which made her anxious.

'Did I come here just as a spectator?' That was Hermione's simple thought.

"No!" Tom exclaimed without thinking, but Dumbledore seemed to be pondering something.

Tom: ???!!!

At that moment, Tom felt a kind of betrayed indignation. He didn't expect Dumbledore not to immediately refute Hermione's idea.

Suddenly, he realized that the old Dumbledore wanted to continue his nurturing game, only this time he had switched the role of "Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived" to "Hermione Granger, the pride of Ravenclaw."

Dumbledore had been involved in Tom's development since his first year at Hogwarts. To train the future "chosen one," he had even joined Quirrell's game for a year and used all of Hogwarts' resources to create "Harry's advancement." Now, due to Tom's interference, Harry hadn't had many training opportunities, so Dumbledore was now setting his sights on Hermione.

The reason he chose Hermione over himself was clear: it seemed that Tom could easily lose control, so Dumbledore was looking for a "leash" for him.

In an instant, Tom understood Dumbledore's purpose, but this was a clever plan, almost like killing two birds with one stone, and Tom had no room to maneuver.

Dumbledore's silence filled Hermione with courage as she looked at him with fiery, expectant eyes. "Professor Dumbledore, can I join you?"

She then looked at Tom and added, "You promised you wouldn't leave me alone."

"The Malfoy Manor is extremely dangerous-"

"And you won't be going too, will you?"

"That's because I'm very strong-"

"It's not like I've never beaten you in a duel!"

Tom choked. He really couldn't refute that statement. In a pure spell duel, Hermione was undoubtedly better than him, but the real battle wasn't just about that.

Seeing that Tom couldn't argue with her, Hermione felt victorious and wore a triumphant smile that left Tom feeling powerless.

In her mind, she suddenly remembered a phrase: "Intelligence is enough to reject persuasion; words are enough to conceal the truth."

That phrase seemed tailor-made for the young woman in front of her.

Tom took a deep breath, and seeing that Dumbledore was still maintaining a neutral stance, he knew that it would be almost impossible to stop Hermione at this point.

However, in an instant, another idea came to him.

"Cough, cough," Tom cleared his throat. "Hermione, if you really want to go, it's no problem..."

Seeing Tom giving in, Hermione's eyes lit up. However, after spending so much time with him, she knew exactly how Tom was going to present his conditions.

"You need to stay close to Professor Dumbledore." In Tom's mind, being near Dumbledore was the safest option, even safer than acting alongside him. Plus, it was a reasonable way to keep Hermione at Hogwarts.

As for what Dumbledore said about Voldemort coming to his residence and changing tactics, Tom considered it unlikely. Under the pressure of Dumbledore's cunning moves, Voldemort should gather his followers and flee.

Even in the worst case, if Voldemort were to come to Hogwarts, it wouldn't be a big problem. Dumbledore could protect Harry during the confrontation with Voldemort, and protecting Hermione would be natural too.

Being with Dumbledore was basically like asking him to stay at Hogwarts. However, at least he could act alongside Dumbledore, which wasn't so bad.

Looking into Tom's bright and resolute eyes, Hermione sighed. She knew that this was probably Tom's baseline.

"Alright," she conceded, but then she lifted her chin and waved her adorable little fist at Tom. "You'll surely regret not taking me with you on this mission—I'm very strong!"

Tom restrained himself from rolling his eyes and then looked at Dumbledore. "Professor, I'm going to prepare."

"Go," Dumbledore said with a kind smile, nodding his head and lifting Fawkes, who had been pretending to sleep on a willow branch.

As Fawkes protested, Dumbledore placed him into Tom's arms.

"He will take you to Azkaban. I've already sent the notification for the attack on Malfoy Manor... the mission has begun!"

Tom nodded to Dumbledore and, with envy in Hermione's eyes, he grasped Fawkes' tail and disappeared into the sky with a flicker.

Hermione opened her mouth, but the words "take care" got stuck in her throat. She pouted, kept this complaint in her heart, and thought to herself, "How dare he leave without saying goodbye? Tom Yodel, you'll have to deal with me when you come back!"

Seeing Hermione frowning, Dumbledore couldn't help but laugh. He felt that the Gryffindor temperament was more suitable for her age.

"You have many days ahead, don't worry about this or that farewell. Tom will be back soon," Dumbledore consoled, patting the shoulder of the small and stubborn girl.

Hearing this, Hermione blushed. Hearing the words "you have many days ahead," she felt a warm feeling in her heart. Although she said it out loud, "Who cares about seeing him off!"

At that moment, a silvery wolf leaped through the open window and dropped a note on Dumbledore's desk before vanishing.

"Remus's Patronus. He has sent the address of Malfoy Manor. Now the members of the Order of the Phoenix can head to Malfoy Manor."

Being the ancestral home of the Malfoy family, it was naturally protected by the Dark Mark. However, this owner of the generation, Lucius, was not competent enough and had revealed the address to Voldemort, turning the mansion into the headquarters of the Death Eaters. Now, the information was leaked to Dumbledore by an informant within the Death Eaters. From now on, probably few would be unaware of the location of Malfoy Manor.