Chapter 307: Crookshanks' Little Gift (Edited)

"Good! Tonks, don't provoke them." Dawlish was already tense, his body rigid, the knuckles of the hand holding his wand slightly white. He knew it wasn't a wise decision to anger the dementors in that situation.

There were too many of them! Even though Tonks and he knew the Patronus Charm, the dementors could drain them dry in a single swarm. As for the strike team, Dawlish despised them deep down in his heart and thought it best not to have any illusions about them.

Tonks froze, a fire rising to the surface, her hair turning a fiery red at the top of her head.

"You mean to tell me that this is over? They stormed into Hogsmeade, all those residents, all those customers, all those Hogwarts students, and they attacked indiscriminately, and it's over?"

Dawlish felt a bit embarrassed, "Well, that's not... but... let's think about the long term-"

He could feel the dementors around him closing in a little.

Tom could also sense that there seemed to be a wave of unrest among the group of dementors surrounding him.

The Ministry's reputation had become less binding for the dementors who had just had a wild time in Hogsmeade. So in the eyes of the dementors, the label of "Ministry envoy" faded away, and the label of "food" took center stage.

"Fresh food..." one of the larger dementors seemed too full to consider confronting the Ministry employees.

"Sated..." but the recently fed dementors didn't have much appetite, they just instinctively surrounded Tonks and the others, still undecided about attacking.

"Later, more, starving, why not, now, eat more!" The large dementor was in a hurry, and his speech sped up, no longer in the characteristic disjointed manner of dementors, but in a slightly more fluent way than before.

For the simple dementors, the dementor was right. In the world of dementors, everything is simple: you eat when you're hungry, make a pact with another creature, and fulfill it... these evil dark creatures are a bit simple when it comes to their monstrous customs.

They stirred a bit. Tonks and the others suddenly paled. They didn't understand what the dementors were saying, but they could hear the "buzzing" of their mouths, and now the strange sounds of snorting and grunting were noticeably more urgent.

Seeing this, Tom decided he couldn't let the dementor continue leading the way any longer, so he also spoke, imitating the dementor's tone: "They're from... the Ministry of Magic...".

The dementors around him stopped. They were reminded of their special status and the terrible wizards. Dementors don't die, so the dementors nearby, for the most part, had memories of being hit by wizards in the past. It was these memories that made them choose to follow the rules, obey the Ministry's orders, and not step a foot outside Azkaban.

"Don't interfere when the elders... are talking..." the dementor who had just spoken was quite annoyed... scolding Tom.

The dementor who had seen Tom outside the Three Broomsticks spoke on Tom's behalf: "He... is still a child... what sense is there in worrying about...?"

Tall Dementor: ...

Just then, there were a dozen explosions on the street in rapid succession, and Fudge arrived on the scene with a large contingent from the Ministry of Magic, his face already grim.

Dawlish, as if about to faint, shouted at Fudge, "Minister!"

Fudge ignored Dawlish, looking at the dementors and shouting, "Rebellion?!"

It was tough, not because he was a bold man, of course. On the contrary, Fudge was a coward deep down, but the more cowardly he was, the stronger he acted, the more he was known. In fact, Fudge was brave enough to do it because he had enough people with him to create at least four or five solid Patronuses to fight the dementors.

So Fudge, who had been so servile to the former Death Eaters, could strike hard against the dementors.

Dawlish ran to Fudge's side, "Minister, these dementors have tried to attack Tonks and me, they're no ordinary dementors anymore, we must strike hard!"

Fudge took a deep breath and shouted at the Dementors, "Return to your posts! If this happens again, you will be severely punished!"

The Ministry crowd: ???

Fudge didn't specify any specific punishment, which was a bit surprising to them. But many of them could understand, after all, the Dementors were still necessary to guard Hogwarts.

"Minister!" Tonks couldn't help but shout, but she met a stern look from Kingsley and dared not speak.

Under the supervision of the Ministry of Magic, the Dementors gradually dispersed, returning to their own passageways and continuing to guard Hogwarts. When the last of the Dementors departed, the dark clouds and fog cleared, the sun shone on the ground, and the village of Hogsmeade came back to life after being gloomy for a while.

"Back to work, everyone!" Fudge waved his hand, puffing up his expanding belly, and dismissed his men, but he left behind his inner circle consisting of Dawlish, Kingsley, and the new auror Tonks.

He glanced at Tonks, who was dressed rebelliously, and gave her a tap on the shoulder. "Nymphadora Tonks?"

"Yes," Tonks replied, showing enough respect for the Minister to answer with a serious face.

"Ha! No need to be so formal!" Fudge laughed cheerfully. "Your mother is Andromeda Black, isn't she? I've known her for a long time..." he said, leading his three subordinates towards the Three Broomsticks.

"Today, I'll treat you to a couple of drinks to refresh yourselves. There's nothing more relaxing than the Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks." Fudge seemed unconcerned about what had happened with the Dementors; now he just wanted to make time in his busy schedule to relax at the pub. It was lunchtime, and he could enjoy it before returning to the Ministry.

He was already here. It was time to relax once things were settled.

Tonks looked at Fudge and had a lot to say in her stomach. She felt that as the Minister of the Ministry, he should hold the Dementors accountable for the trouble they had caused, right? But why did he seem to want to absolve them of blame?

But Kingsley's stern look made her hold her tongue and wait for the drinks.

Fudge swung open the door of the Three Broomsticks, and inside there were fewer customers than usual. This was mainly due to the Dementor attack, which had left many people disoriented and hurrying away.

The flamboyant Madam Rosmerta greeted them quickly, frowning at Fudge and complaining about the impact of the Dementors on her tavern business, with a central idea in mind: gouging out the Dementors' eyes!

But it was clear that Fudge didn't want to hear anything about it. He snorted, saying that since the Dementors were affecting her business, the Minister should come and deal with it! Madam Rosmerta didn't miss the shallowness of Fudge's comment, so she greeted the Ministry dignitaries with a bitter smile.

Hermione greeted them, having finished her meal and about to leave.

"Minister, this is Hermione Granger, she just conjured a solid Patronus and managed to drive away some approaching Dementors." Madam Rosmerta offered to introduce Hermione to Fudge.

Fudge didn't remember much about the brown-haired girl; she wasn't from a pure-blood lineage and hadn't done much to catch Fudge's attention. It was his political instinct to greet her kindly. It was thanks to a request from Professor McGonagall that Fudge knew Hogwarts had welcomed a very studious young witch in the past two years. It wasn't until Miss Rosmerta introduced her that he became interested in Hermione.

He looked at Hermione seriously for a moment, and his eyes lit up. "You're the little witch who rode the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron with Yodel, right?"

Hermione, feeling a bit nervous upon seeing the Minister, simply nodded, but the excitement in her eyes was unmistakable.

Hermione's reverent gaze was very flattering to Fudge, who looked around and saw no sign of Tom Yodel. "Where is Yodel? How come I don't see him? Isn't he with you?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Huh?" Fudge was confused. Were the two lovers having a fight? Why would they let a girl go to a bar to drink alone? So he clicked his tongue and told Hermione to scram.

"Kids don't drink! A bit of Butterbeer is the limit." But then he congratulated Hermione on her good learning and told her she would be a good girl when she graduated. With her Patronus skills, she could take up 80% of the positions in the Ministry of Magic.

Hermione was so impressed by this praise that she lowered her head in embarrassment.

By then, Tom was already back at Hogwarts. He had a lot to talk about with the Dementors along the way.

"Why... do we have to... live in... Azkaban?"

Fellow Dementor A: ...

Dementor B: "There... is... food."

"If... other places... have food... would you like to go?"

Dementor A, B, C: ...

They fell silent. It was a good question, and they were shattered. They didn't know what to answer for a while. When they came up with the "brilliant" idea of eating somewhere with food and then returning to Azkaban, they realized that their chatty dwarf companion had disappeared.

"Your Patronus nearly bit me!" Tom grumbled at Hermione.

"Don't be mad. I'll treat you to some chocolate."

Tom took a couple of bites of the chocolate Hermione offered him and felt a mustard flavor reach his nostrils, giving him a moment of "enlightenment."

He struggled to wipe away the tears welling up in his eyes and caught Hermione trying to wriggle free.

"Damn you, Hermione Granger! How dare you mock me like this."

Hermione looked at him wide-eyed and with an innocent expression on her face. "What have I done? Is it wrong to offer you the newest product from Zonko's Joke Shop, mustard-flavored chocolate?"

The two of them started arguing.

When the jokes were over, Hermione unwrapped a piece resembling chewing gum and chewed it with relish.

Tom looked at her curiously. "What is this? Is it gum?"

He didn't believe it was ordinary gum. And his intuition was correct.

"I think it's a gift. It's called a hundred-flavor chewing gum, each chew has a different flavor." Hermione looked at the wrapper and recalled where the gum came from.

"Can I try it?" Tom was intrigued by what Hermione had said and wanted to try one of the so-called "hundred flavors."

"Sorry... I think there's only one," Hermione said as she rummaged through her bag and discovered that the shopkeeper had only given her one piece of gum. But with a sparkle in her eyes, she had a new idea. "This one still has a lot of flavor, you can share it with me..."

Tom rubbed his fingers, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Have you seen 'How the Steel Was Tempered'? I think Becky also asked Tom to chew gum with her." Tom remembered the day he had met Hermione, and suddenly the situation in front of him felt familiar.

At that moment, the two of them passed by the Forbidden Forest, and there was no one around, so they stopped here. Hermione extended her right hand, sliding her slender and warm fingers through his hair, tenderly caressing her lover.

"I guess you mean 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'? I don't recall Becky inviting Tom to chew gum." But as if remembering something, Hermione blushed. "And I forbid you to make that connection!"

Tom was a little confused by her sudden dominance, but he agreed in a confused manner.

Hermione didn't say what she was thinking. She hated how Tom compared himself to Tom and Becky, in her opinion, it was so unfortunate!

"Did he see the back part?" Hermione was still indignant. "Doesn't he know that in the end, Tom and Becky didn't end up together? Becky is someone else's woman, a little railroad boss..."

She pouted angrily, displaying a piece of gum in her mouth. She was ready, and it was up to Tom to decide how to behave.

Tom leaned forward, took the gum from Hermione's mouth, and started chewing. A complex flavor blossomed in his mouth, first sweet like nectar, then a bit of lemon freshness and a touch of okra-like softness...

While Tom and Hermione were shopping in the village of Hogsmeade, Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, was not idle.

After patrolling the common room, he managed to push the door and sneak into the hallway.

He knew Hermione and her boyfriend were out all day, so he made the big decision to give them a gift while they were away, as a token of his gratitude for raising him.