Chapter 198: Return to Hogwarts (Edited)

On another channel they were broadcasting the Finance Minister's speech and Hermione was about to change the channel when Tom stopped her: the man who had just been there looked familiar and, on reflection, Tom realized that he had actually appeared in Chris's memory.

He saw that the news headline read Eric, the Minister of Finance, and Tom's gaze turned dangerous.

But that's when Hermione changed the channel.

"It's all boring shit," she said as she changed the channel again and, seeing nothing to her liking, she just turned off the TV.

"What should I do?" She was bored for a while, but when she saw Tom her eyes suddenly lit up, "Let's go fishing!". she suddenly suggested.

"I remember when I first met you, you used to go fishing in that lake."

Hermione said, and Tom remembered when they first met.

He sketched a small smile, "It's not very good for fishing in winter, and it's a bit cold outside."

"Never mind!" Hermione jumped up from the couch, ran quickly to the third floor storage room and brought down a fishing rod. Then Hermione and Tom went out together.

In this part of London, while it is rainy and wet all year round, there are still very few temperatures below freezing, in December the average daily minimum temperature is 3°C and the average daily maximum temperature is 8°C. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't comfortable either.

On the way to the lake, Tom gave Hermione some insights into winter fishing.

Winter in general is not a good time to fish because the water is so cold that the fish become inactive and unappetizing due to the low water temperature. They don't want to eat the bait, so they won't take the bait. However, it's not impossible to fish in winter, you just have to do it the right way, and there are plenty of anglers who go out fishing in winter.

If you open your mouth on a frozen lake, for example, the fish will gather around you for air. Or the weather can be an important factor, on a cooler day the cold air will pull heat out of the water, causing the top layer of water to cool and the cold water to sink, creating convection with the warm water below, when the fish in the water will feed and store their energy.

Tom and Hermione arrive at the lake. It was a time when everything was dying, the shadow of the lake was gone and the grass was yellowing. Tom was in no hurry to stop and fish, but walked around the lake.

When fishing in winter, it is also important to choose a place with stable water temperature.

Finally, he settled on a place where the sun was falling and where there was one more notch in the lake, where the water was almost still.

Here Tom sat down and cast the bait. Hermione sat beside him, the tip of her hair sweeping her nose in the wind, tickling him. She shook her head gently, resisting the urge to sneeze. It was a little uncomfortable, but Hermione's shampoo smelled oddly good.

Blue skies, a quiet vacation, a peaceful lake and a lovely girl, if only time could freeze at that moment....

Life at the Granger home was pleasant, although Tom felt a little uncomfortable the first day when he met the Grangers directly, but gradually relaxed. During his stay at the Granger home, Tom even became an "other people's child," which was an unusual experience for Hermione.

"Hermione, you're in bed again..."

"Hermione, look at Tom, he's studying early in the morning..."

"Hermione Granger-!"

Hermione: ((((;???;))))

Seeing Hermione's expression, Tom thought it was very likely that he would not be invited next year.

As the days passed, the Christmas holidays disappeared in a flash and it was as if they had never existed. After the Christmas vacations, the calendar jumped to 1993.

Four months had passed since the Battle in the Common Room and life at Hogwarts was back to normal. In March, the mandrake that Professor Sprout had been cultivating for almost half a year had a lively, noisy, and dangerous dance for the humans in the third greenhouse.

The mandrakes were approaching maturity and their scream was deadly.

By the time they wanted to move on to other pots of mandrakes, they would be fully mature. At that time, the petrified "Tom" in the infirmary will be revived.

Along with April came Easter.

There are two major vacations in the school year at Hogwarts: the Christmas vacation and the Easter vacation. Easter is a major holiday in the Western world, falling on the first Sunday after the full moon of the vernal equinox, and since the date of the equinox varies from year to year, the exact date of Easter is not certain.

In 1993, Easter fell on April 11, which is a Sunday.

During the Easter vacation, all the teachers would give homework, except Tom, who had exams after the vacation, so all homework was waived and you just had to review. To be honest, most students would rather have a paper foot or so left for them than face an exam.

Second-year students have to think about one more thing than the rest of the year: choosing their classes. The Hogwarts curriculum is somewhat similar to that of other British schools. There are only seven compulsory classes: Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy and, of course, one compulsory class: Flying, which is only open at a certain time. In the third year, students also choose at least two of five electives: Divination, Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Ancient Runes Studies and Care of Magical Creatures.

In the 5th year, after taking the O.W.L. exams, students can take the subjects of their choice from the teachers, as well as special subjects such as alchemy.

Young wizards, including Tom, had to choose their third year courses, something that Hermione felt needed to be done carefully.

"Really, you'd better keep Lockhart's identity and keep teaching." Hermione gave Tom an unreliable suggestion as she studied the new curriculum.

"Forget it, I'll send this year's students to their exams and quit." Tom was determined never to teach again as Lockhart, not to mention the curse and the impending maturity of the mandrake, just the stress of the job left Tom breathless: a veritable 24/7, seven days a week almost without a break! If he became dean, he'd be James Bond: Professor Snape doesn't even have time to wash his hair.

"I've looked into it, and this election will, of course, affect our entire future." Hermione said seriously to Tom, "What do you think? what classes do you want to take?"