Chapter 259: Hermione and Her Useless Man (Edited)

Throughout that time, Professor Lupin had been sleeping in a corner. His body twitched slightly as Malfoy continued ranting, but no one noticed his small movement. After Tom instantly knocked out Malfoy, Professor Lupin resumed pretending to sleep, and not even the arrival of the food trolley managed to wake him.

There came a point where there was nothing more to talk about, so Tom took out his new version of magical chess and played against Harry and the others.

When Tom pulled out Tom's homemade magical chess set, he also pulled out a newspaper, the same one he had taken from Harry yesterday. Ron was instantly drawn to the still drawing.

"Is it a Muggle newspaper?" He immediately saw Sarah's motionless face on the paper.

"Yes," Tom handed him the newspaper, "It's about a Muggle archaeologist's discovery." He glanced at Hermione, who was fiddling with the wicker basket strap holding Crookshanks.

Indeed, Ron's attention shifted.

"Don't let that thing out!" Ron threw the newspaper and said hurriedly, but it was too late as Crookshanks agilely jumped out of the basket, stretched, and leaped onto Ron's lap, only to be pushed away by him.

"Ron!" Hermione shouted at him, somewhat annoyed, and grabbed Crookshanks in her arms, lightly scratching his chin. After a few moments of petting, she handed him to Tom so he could also experience the pleasure of stroking him.

Tom held Crookshanks, who felt heavy and warm in his hands. He stroked the cat's head, running his hand down its fur and petting Crookshanks, who puckered his lips in response, indicating that he should be petted all the way to the base of his tail.

After a few repetitions, Crookshanks rolled in Tom's arms and rubbed his head against him flirtatiously. He was very close to Tom and even allowed him to put his hand on his belly, just like Hermione.

Crookshanks had finally calmed down in his hands but still looked at Ron often with his squashed face, fixated on the pocket of his chest.

At three in the afternoon, it was raining outside, and the mountains became blurry through the window. As the train headed north, the rain showed no signs of stopping but grew more intense, cascading down the window.

The sky darkened, and the lights in the corridors and compartments were turned on. The wind howled outside, and the rain pounded on the windows, making them tremble and shake. But these changes didn't hinder Professor Lupin's sleep, as he slumbered deeply with his head resting against the window.

As darkness fell outside the window, the train began to slow down and came to a stop. Tom sighed and approached Hermione.

"Great, we've arrived," Ron exclaimed happily, "I'm starving..."

Hermione silently tugged at Tom's sleeve and extended her wrist in front of him, revealing a delicate ladies' mechanical watch.

The time was wrong.

The speed of the Hogwarts Express was constant, and the arrival time never deviated too much, and there was still nearly half an hour left until the scheduled arrival.

"We haven't arrived yet. The train stopped in the middle of nowhere," Hermione whispered.

By then, the other wizards on the train had also realized the problem and were poking their heads out of their compartments, trying to figure out what was happening. The train had come to a complete halt, and the noise of the storm outside the carriage had intensified.

Suddenly, all the lights went out, and they felt a chill.

"Lumos!" Tom cast his first illumination spell, lighting up the compartment.

With a creak, the compartment door opened, and Ginny rushed in.

"Ron..."

"Sit down first." Tom gestured to Ginny to find a seat, secretly tensing his nerves.

He looked outside, disappointed to see that the entire train was in chaos, everyone swarming like flies in the dark... but not many of them were using the illumination spell.

It was the simplest of spells, yet not a single wizard on the train had the common sense to cast it!

If Grindelwald had seen this, he would have given up on the idea of wizards ruling over Muggles in an instant and developed a spaceship to roam in space.

Tom sighed and sat back down.

As soon as his bottom touched the seat, the compartment door opened, and an extremely tall figure stood in the doorway. Their head was almost touching the compartment ceiling, and they wore a tattered cloak that covered their face completely. From beneath the cloak, a gray hand extended, resembling a corpse decaying in water...

A gurgle emanated from their throat as they exhaled slowly, and in an instant, a chilling cold invaded the place, causing Professor Lupin's eyes to immediately open, and he stood up.

Tom felt the shiver piercing through his clothes, penetrating his chest, traveling from skin to muscle...

He knew the hooded monster was an Azkaban Dementor, but he had no idea it could be this terrifying. His ears were buzzing, and he felt as if he were submerged in icy water, pain and suffocation overwhelming him.

On the other side, Harry's eyes rolled back, and he fainted, falling from his seat. Tom was in a similar state, struggling to hold on.

The Dementor noticed the violent reactions from Tom and Harry, but Tom seemed more appealing to it, and the large, pale hand landed directly on his shoulder, which Tom unconsciously grabbed, but the approaching Dementor intensified his reaction, and he fainted.

The buzzing in Tom's ears grew louder, and for a moment, Tom felt as if he were underwater, sinking slightly, and the next moment, he felt as if he were still in the dreary orphanage, with his memories shattered like broken glass. In this despair, Tom couldn't move, not even lift his arms.

But then, suddenly, a beam of light appeared beneath the dark water.

The fainting of Harry and Tom made the carriage even more chaotic. Lupin stepped forward and drew his wand, but before he could do anything, Hermione pointed her wand at the Dementor and angrily shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"

The three-headed dog roared, knocking the Dementor out of the compartment, and it turned around, pursued and bitten by the three-headed dog, floating away in disarray.

When the Dementor disappeared, the lights in the carriage returned to normal.

Professor Lupin looked at Hermione with a certain surprise; he couldn't imagine that any of the students had mastered the Patronus Charm, and they weren't even in their third year!

Furthermore, the girl's Patronus...

But at that moment, Hermione didn't care what others thought. She embraced the unconscious and trembling Tom in her arms.