Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 455 Tom and the Crook Hill

“Seriously, Sirius, can you give me a different explanation? This is giving me nightmares.” Harry looked at the parchment and said with a frown, “Besides, I haven’t said anything yet.”

“You don’t need to say anything; that’s the magic of divination.” Siron gently patted Harry on the shoulder and said, “You don’t actually think this Potions exam was a fluke, do you?”

"Isn't that right?" Harry asked, puzzled.

“Of course not,” Celen said. “Let me put it this way, Snape baked a whole tray of buttered bread just for your plate of cranberry marmalade.”

“What’s cranberry marmalade?” Harry was even more confused. “And what’s buttered bread? We had walnut bread for lunch, and would Snape even bake buttered bread?”

Just assume he does.

Compared to staring blankly at a crystal ball, searching for dreams in a "Dream Interpretation Guide" is quite interesting; at least most students have a lot of fun with it.

Neville spent ten minutes describing in detail how he dreamed of using a large pair of scissors to snip and destroy his grandmother's favorite hat.

Dean Thomas said he dreamed that he was playing Quidditch on a giant, and any opponent who tried to approach him had their brooms snapped in half by the giant. He won the championship for Gryffindor.

"This probably means you're going to be eaten by a giant gummy bear... What nonsense is this?" Ron muttered under his breath as he flipped through "The Dream Interpretation Guide."

"Also, Dean, you're already riding a troll, why don't you go play real Quidditch matches, like helping Great Britain win the Quidditch World Cup?"

“That’s not something I can control,” Dean shrugged and said helplessly. “Besides, with the current level of the England team, even if I rode a troll, it’s unlikely I could help them win the Quidditch World Cup.”

“Yes.” Simon nodded in deep agreement. “They might not even be able to beat the Chadli Artillery Corps, which is always at the bottom of the rankings.”

“Don’t say that.” Ron frowned slightly. “The Chadli Artillery Corps is still very strong.”

The conversation quickly veered to Quidditch, with everyone speculating about who would become Gryffindor's new goalkeeper, completely forgetting the task Professor Trelawney had assigned.

As get out of class was about to end, Professor Trelawney asked them to write down their dreams for the past month as homework, and the whole class immediately started complaining.

There's so much homework! For History of Magic, I have to write a paper a foot and a half long about the War of the Giants. Potions homework is two feet long, reviewing what we've learned before. And now I have to record my dreams every day…

On the first day of school, they were overwhelmed by the heavy workload.

“Fred and George said this OWL year would be tough, and it seems they were absolutely right.” Ron dragged his heavy steps down the ladder.

"Luckily, Sirius's class is next, so he probably won't give us too much homework, right?" He looked at Harry.

“Hmm…maybe,” Harry said.

Actually, he wasn't sure either. Given Sirius's personality, he didn't seem like the type to assign too much homework.

But as a professor, it seems a bit strange not to assign homework.

The group arrived on the third floor and lined up in front of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Suddenly, a gray shadow darted past their feet, startling several students who nearly slipped and fell to the ground.

“It’s Mrs. Lorris,” someone recognized the figure and exclaimed.

"Mrs. Lorris? Why is it running so fast?"

"I don't know, it felt like I was running for my life."

"Don't joke around, this is Hogwarts Castle, who would dare to lay a hand on that cat?" Seamus said.

Although countless students wanted to teach Filch's accomplice a lesson, no one dared to do so. The likely consequence would be expulsion from school. However, after Seamus finished speaking, he found that few people echoed his sentiments; most students lowered their heads, seemingly lost in thought.

Speaking of which, there really was a brave warrior at Hogwarts who dared to disregard school rules and fearlessly attack Mrs. Lorris without fear of Filch...

Everyone looked up.

The next second, two even larger shadows darted out from around the corner.

“Hey, look, it’s Tom.” Harry nudged Celen’s arm.

“And Crookshanks,” Ron said to Hermione, pointing to the ginger cat that was at the very back.

Hermione's face darkened instantly, and she glared fiercely at Sirius.

"No, why are you looking at me like that?" Xilun scratched his head.

“Crooked Hill wasn’t always this rude,” Hermione said irritably. “What exactly did you get Tom to teach it?!”

Xi Lun pursed his lips and said nothing.

Crookshanks isn't rude? Have you asked the rats and toads at the Eeyore Owl Shop?
This little thing hasn't sold in the store for years, and it's not just because it's ugly.

However, faced with an angry Hermione, Celeste wisely refrained from telling the truth and simply clapped his hands.

Tom made a turn and came to a steady stop at Siron's feet, rubbing against his calf.

Crookshanks also jumped, landing in Hermione's arms. Hermione stumbled back several steps before finally stopping, and then began to lecture her cat.

"Krughill, you're not allowed to chase Lady Lorris anymore, and you can't run so fast in the castle either..."

"What's wrong with Hermione?" Harry asked in a low voice. "I've never seen her make so many demands on Crookshanks before."

“What else could it be? Of course it’s this…” Ron pointed to the prefect’s badge that Harry was wearing on his chest.

“She’s a prefect now, and prefects always have to be more demanding of themselves, right? Percy is like that; ever since he became prefect, he’s always been giving me, Fred, and George trouble.”

“I don’t think so,” Harry muttered to himself.

He's already exhausted enough. If he has to be a model student who follows all the school rules, he might as well not be a class monitor at all.

"Hey, what are you all doing standing outside?"

Just then, Sirius's voice came from the other side of the corridor. He waved his wand gently, and the classroom door opened immediately.

“I thought at least one of you knew how to use the unlocking charm.” He looked disappointed.

“Of course we would,” Ron said, “but no normal person would use that spell to open the classroom door, especially when the professor isn’t here.”

“We will, and many, many times,” Sirius said with a laugh. “Alright, let’s go in now.”

But just as he passed by Sirius, Tom, who had been quiet all along, suddenly arched his back, pressed his ears back, stared intently at Sirius, and let out a short, hissing growl.

"hiss!"

……

(End of this chapter)