Hogwarts: Hermione and I switched identities!

"Zai... he means kill me?"

But, but, I didn't do anything.

At most, he was just conning Galon with Ranier.

For such a trivial matter, it's not enough to make him disappear from the world, is it?

The male wizard tucked his trouser legs into his pants and huddled up, too afraid to speak.

Seeing the other person's timid and hesitant appearance, Tom's lips curled up: "I'm not here to see you this time, it has nothing to do with you, I'm here to see... you."

Tom looked at Lanier on the other side.

"Tell me, where did you get that earring from?"

"Waaah..." Lanier opened his mouth, trying to speak, but found that he couldn't make a sound. He quickly pointed to his mouth, signaling Tom to undo the magic.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot."

Tom snapped his fingers, and Lanier found himself able to breathe again: "I, this...this earring was a birthday present from my grandma. You...you're Tom, right? You can't do this!"

"You stole my things! The Hogwarts professors will find out!"

"Your things?" Tom was too lazy to explain to her and snatched the earring from her hand. "What do you mean 'your things'? Go back and ask your grandmother where this thing came from."

"Tom!"

Tom was just about to leave when Lanier called him back.

“Oh right, I would have forgotten if you hadn’t called me.” Tom actually turned around. “You took 1342 Galleons from Li Su, right… How come there are only 800 here? Remember to make up the rest.”

"No... I only took four hundred Galleons from him."

“He told me it was over 1,300. I only believe what I hear. You… haha, I don’t think you have any credibility at all.”

With that, Tom grabbed the Gallon from the table, left the room, and slammed the door shut.

Back next door, Tom tossed the bag of Galleons in his arms to Terry: "Take this guy out for something good to eat. In short, use up all these Galleons, don't leave a single one. Consider it a lesson for Li Su."

“Yes, Godfather!” Terry saluted respectfully. “But Tom, wasn’t what you just did a bit too much? And they might really go back and tell the professor tomorrow.”

"It doesn't matter." Tom waved his hand. "When you go back, please ask the professors for leave for me. I probably won't be going back to school for a while... at least not for three days. I have other things to do."

"As ordered!"

Watching Tom use "Phantom" to leave again, Terry and Lee Sue exchanged a glance.

"Tom...why is he so arrogant?"

“He has the right to be proud, so let’s not think about him. Tom said it’s okay, so it’s okay. But I feel that Tom originally wanted to see a good show, until… he used the teleportation technique for the first time.”

Since returning from there, Tom's mind hasn't been on the show anymore. You saw it too; Tom's focus shifted from your Galleons to that earring.

"What about today..."

Before Li Su could finish speaking, Terry put a finger to his lips: "Don't say anything. No matter what happens, we'll pretend we don't know. We don't know where Tom went today, or what Tom did. It was the two of us who broke the rules and came out today. It has nothing to do with Tom!"

"But Tom has already informed the school."

"Tom had something come up and left with someone else! Tom originally wanted us to go back to school, but we were so eager to live in Hogsmeade that we secretly followed him, understand?"

"Understand!"

……

Wizard Tower.

Tom gave the earring to the witch.

"Hmm..." The witch picked up the pendant and looked at it for a moment, then subconsciously asked the Mirror of Eris beside her, "Did the previous earrings look like this?"

"..." The witch received no answer, and then she remembered that the Mirror of Erised was no longer with her.

"Teacher, where's the magic mirror?"

"Oh right, I'd forgotten about it if you hadn't mentioned it." The witch reached into her pocket.

Her wizard's robe was very large, with several pockets. It took her a total of four pockets to retrieve a small piece of blue jade.

Tom saw the witch apply the jade to the blue earring, and in the blink of an eye, the jade disappeared.

"I read in a book that when a student becomes an apprentice, the teacher will give the student a gift. This earring is for you."

Tom: "? Teacher, don't you think this thing looks a bit like something a girl would wear?"

"No difference, male or female is fine, come here."

Without a word, the witch grabbed Tom by the ear and pulled him in front of her: "Don't worry, anyone who knows their stuff will realize just how amazing it is."

Perfect timing! There are still three days until your next "errand." This earring has been away from me for too long and has lost its magic. I'll replenish it. You can lie here for the next three days.

"Magic?" Tom endured the stinging in his ears and asked the witch, "What exactly does this magical item do?"

"Hmm... Before that, I should first explain to you what real magical items are."

"Most of your magical items... well, most of them are probably made by elves, right? For example, the sword in the stone that Arthur gave you, have you ever used it?"

Tom shook his head: "It's too bright, I haven't had time to use it yet."

"Yes, those are the real magical items. Magical items should be alive."

"Live?"

"Yes, they are alive, just like you wizards. They have their own lives, and once their lives are exhausted, that is, their magic is exhausted, they will die."

Generally speaking, magical items cannot be used for very long, at most thirty years, before their magic is exhausted. But... the Sword in the Stone is different. Arthur poured his own life into the Sword in the Stone, and later, after meeting me, he took a branch of the World Tree from me and put it into the Sword in the Stone, which is why it has lasted so long. Only now can you use the Sword in the Stone.

But... these earrings are a little different.

"It's unclaimed. When my brother took the earring from me, he made me erase the 'heart' inside, leaving him only an empty shell. I just placed the Mirror of Eris inside; the Mirror of Eris will become the earring's 'heart,' allowing you to use it until you die."

Tom nodded: "So... what's the effect of this earring?"

"Items made from World Tree crystals possess the magical properties of life and death. So... what do you think its effects might be?"

Seeing Tom remain silent, the witch smiled and said, "You can ask the Mirror of Erised when it awakens."

"Will the Mirror of Eris be inside from now on?"

"Yes, it's a complete encyclopedia. You can ask it anything, and it will answer you. When you have nothing to do, you can also take the Mirror of Eris with you to read all kinds of books. It only takes it five minutes to fully understand a book, which can greatly reduce your reading load. It's a very useful thing."

Tom raised his hand: "No, teacher, that's not what I meant."

I mean, from now on, the Mirror of Erised won't need you to be present to speak on its own?

That's right.

"Wouldn't that be annoying?"

The witch suddenly laughed: "Otherwise, why would I give it to you? I've only had it back for a few days, and it's already bothering me enough. I can't stand having someone nagging in my ear every day; it's so annoying."

Tom: "..."

"Alright, lie down. I'm going to infuse your earring with magic to awaken the Mirror of Eris and bring this earring to life as well."

Following the witch's instructions, Tom lay down on the witch's bed.

Her bed was soft and had a fragrance that was quite unique, unlike the foul smell that emanated from the old witch.

It's more like the fragrance of a young girl.

But before Tom could even remember the scent of the witch's blanket, he felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and soon he fell asleep.

……

the next day.

Hogwarts.

Lanier led a wizard to Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore, please believe me, Tom really did take the earring from me! It was an earring that our family had treasured for generations, a very valuable treasure!"

"Professor Dumbledore, you must get the earring back from Tom!"

Dumbledore remained silent, glancing at Terry and Li Su standing to the side.

The two men stood tall and looked fearless, which made Dumbledore even more conflicted.

Tom... how come he always brings back a bunch of trouble every time he goes out?

What kind of earrings is she talking about...? When did Tom become interested in such things?

Dumbledore coughed: "About Tom... I think he took you to Hogsmeade yesterday, Li Su, Terry, tell me everything you know."

Please say it all.

Chapter 136 Tom's Teacher

Terry and Lee Sue were quite determined. Even though Professor Dumbledore was standing in front of them and asking them about Tom in a gentle yet slightly oppressive tone, the two still stood up straight.

"I'm sorry, Professor Dumbledore, I don't know." Li Su knew that he wasn't very bright, at least not as smart as Terry.

So Li Su remained silent, something they had agreed upon before returning. Whenever the professor asked them about Tom, Li Su would remain silent and let Terry answer all the questions.

Professor Dumbledore seemed to realize this as well, so he turned his gaze to Terry: "Little one, do you know where Tom went? Do you know whether Tom actually did this or not?"

Terry shook his head, a look of shame on his face. "I'm sorry, Professor. Tom was originally going to take us to Hogsmeade, but he ran into a friend on the way, so he left first and told us to return to Hogwarts."

But... Professor, you know, we've never been to Hogsmeade before, and we were still a little curious, so we ignored Tom's words and went to Hogsmeade on our own.

We know we made a mistake, please put us in solitary confinement.

Despite Terry's words, Lanier immediately rebuked the two: "Who are you kidding? I don't believe you have the guts. If Tom hadn't taken you, you would never have dared to go to Hogsmeade alone."

"You must have been there last night, the night Tom broke into our inn, Professor Dumbledore. Perhaps we should ask the tavern owner about it."

Dumbledore looked at Ranier with suspicion and asked, "Didn't you tell the boss about this before you came back?"

“I told him, but the hotel owner said he had never seen Tom before. Even when I showed him a picture of Tom, he firmly insisted that he had never seen him and that he knew Tom.”

Professor Dumbledore nodded, pondering the matter of the hotel owner and Lanier.

He probably knew the whole story, but he didn't tell Lanier.

So, does that mean the wizard chose to protect Tom?