Hogwarts: Hermione and I switched identities!

"Tom, you seem quite interested in the Christmas ball?" Snape asked, his hands behind his back.

With no outsiders around, he changed his way of addressing Tom from "Riddle" back to "Tom".

“Professor, of course I’m interested.” Tom didn’t hide anything and admitted it frankly. “I’m interested in everything new that I haven’t experienced before, whether it’s magic, courses, or these exciting balls. Professor, may I attend?”

Tom clearly got the answer from Professor Snape's unmoved gaze.

"I'm curious what you've been doing for the past two hours. Now! Raise your wand, Tom!" Snape spoke before Tom could even speak. "Stop your foolish ideas. You think you can negotiate with me?"

Tom was just about to say: Professor, if I do well, could you make an exception and let me attend this ball?

It felt bad to be seen through, so Tom coughed and raised his wand.

"Now, use the magic you learned from the book on me, and let me see how much you've really learned!"

"Divine Sharpness Without a Trace!" Tom pointed his wand in the distance.

For the first time, he felt a sense of success!

[You successfully used magic. Rating: Troll! Divine Sharpness +0.5.]

"Too slow, too weak, are you playing house with a child?!" Snape swatted Tom's Shadowstep spell aside like he was swatting a fly. "What I told you, always remember what I said!"

Magic is like potions, why don't you understand! Don't use this kind of magic with your clear eyes. You should know what kind of magic the Divine Sharpness Spell is, answer me!

“It’s dark magic, Professor,” Tom said honestly.

"Very well, what is the use of black magic?"

Tom was momentarily speechless, then tentatively asked, "Attack?"

"Wrong! It's killing, it's slaughter! It's a fight to the death! You should have been assigned to the stupid Gryffindor instead of the brilliant Ravenclaw. Use your blockhead to think about why every dark spell is hated and feared by so many people!"

With the intention of killing me, they used Divine Strike Without Shadow on me, now!

At this moment, Snape turned into a chatterbox: "If you can't control your emotions, use Occlumency. Your Occlumency isn't just for show!"

Magic is flexible; defensive magic can be used not only to protect yourself but also to attack!

What are you still dawdling about!

"Divine Sharpness Without Shadow!" Tom cast the spell again.

[You successfully used magic. Rating: Common! Divine Sharpness +3.]

“Continue! Your killing intent is not pure enough. Even if you have never killed anyone, have you never seen others being killed? Think of your parents, where did they die in battle!”

Imagine how you would feel if your parents died in front of you, facing those foreign soldiers. Now, imagine yourself in their shoes!

Brain shut-off surgery...

Tom took a deep breath, his eyes concealing all his emotions.

A faint killing intent emanated from Tom.

"The Divine Sharpness is Without a Shadow." Gone is the previous fervor; Tom seems to be simply locking onto a target.

[You successfully used magic. Rating: Precision! Divine Sharpness +30.]

With a single strike, Snape's pupils dilated slightly; he had to expend far more effort than before to defend against Tom's spell.

"continue."

……

three hours.

Tom kept repeating the same action.

Wave the wand, cast a spell, wave it again, cast a spell again!

Despite his arms becoming somewhat stiff and his lips turning pale, Tom did not stop for a moment, relentlessly attacking Snape.

"That's enough for today." Snape scoffed. "It's unheard of for a first-year student to attend the Christmas ball. According to the rules, students invited by upperclassmen can attend, but such a foolish thing has never happened in the school before."

If you can get the approval of the professors from the other three houses and Albus's consent, you can go to the ball and waste four precious hours of your life. Now, go to the potions lab, drink the magic potion, and then get out of here.

Does this mean... they agree with me?

"Professor, you are truly my second father! I have one more request..."

"Tom, don't you think you've gone a bit too far?"

"Hermione also wants to attend the ball, and I need a dance partner too."

Snape's face hardened with anger: "Get out of my office! Go waste your time with your Gryffindor idiots!"

"boom!"

After sending Tom away, Snape sat by the window, watching the crowds walking back and forth below.

Hermione Granger, very good, very good!

Looking forward to seeing how you do in the next Potions class!

Outside the door, Tom was in a good mood—although he was feeling somewhat listless and physically unwell.

But this did not affect the joyful expression on Tom's face.

He was overjoyed and immediately went to find Hermione.

……

"Why do you look so pale... Good heavens, what have you been through?" Hermione quickly helped Tom sit down and poured him a glass of milk.

It's true that Tom is a jerk in Hermione's eyes, but there are different levels of jerks.

Tom is the kind of jerk you can both like and hate.

“Someone just came to see me. He’s a third-year boy named Chris from Gryffindor.”

Hermione took a sip of her lemon tea, unmoved. "Really... so why are you telling me this? I don't know this person, and you know I don't have many friends."

She shrugged, looking indifferent.

"He invited me to the Christmas dance, and I could tell from his eyes that this third-grader wanted me to wear a long dress."

“That would suit you perfectly, Tom!” Hermione tried her best to suppress the upturned corners of her mouth—unaware that her eyebrows were practically pointing skyward. “Tom, you bought so many clothes before, maybe one of them would suit you, pfft… sorry, I thought of something funny, Tom…”

Hermione couldn't continue. She covered her face with her hands and kept taking deep breaths, but the thought of that appearance made her unable to hold back.

"It really is you." Tom sighed. "I knew you wanted to go to the ball, and maybe you really wanted to dance with me on the dance floor."

“I never said that!” Hermione retorted. “I would feel embarrassed to attend the ball with you. Of course, if you are willing to wear a long dress, I might hire a photographer to take pictures of your comical moment so that you can show them to your future wife when you get married.”

Tom ignored Hermione's mockery and simply sighed, "Oh, I thought you really wanted to go to the ball, so I had to swallow my pride and plead for Professor Snape to let us go together."

I'd love to know all the dance moves you know on the dance floor. How many days until Christmas? Oh, a little over two weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing how you do, Miss Hermione. You have a little over two weeks to learn how to dance.

Hermione's smile froze instantly. She stood up. "No! You can't do this! I don't agree, I won't participate!"

"Then I had no choice but to tell Professor Snape that Hermione Granger looked down on me because I was from an orphanage, and that she seriously rejected me, saying that a child like me would make her lose face in front of everyone."

"Tom!" Hermione raised her little fist, wanting to punch Tom in the face twice.

But seeing that pale face and bluish lips, she still gently patted Tom's shoulder twice.

"hiss……"

"Oops? Did I hurt you? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was just joking... Who told you to be so... so annoying?" Hermione rubbed his shoulder. "What did you go through in Professor Snape's office? You've never been so weak."

A look of heartache welled up on her small face—heartache for her friend's tragic experience.

"No, I was just yelling a couple of times because I was bored. It doesn't hurt."

Hermione: "..."

Seeing the other person speechless, Tom couldn't help but smile: "Before attending the ball, we need to get the approval of the other professors."

Although Professor Flitwick is old, he is a kind old gentleman and will certainly not refuse me.

Professor McGonagall needs your help; she's a tough nut to crack.

Professor Dumbledore… I have something on him, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Hermione asked instinctively, "Where is Professor Sprout?"

However, as soon as she asked, she immediately realized that she had said the wrong thing. Seeing Tom's upturned lips, Hermione knew that Tom had fooled her again.

Professor Sprout practically treated Tom like his own son, so how could he possibly refuse?

"You say you have something on Professor Dumbledore? What happened?"

“Oh, I owe him a lot of money, and I won’t pay him back if he doesn’t agree to let me participate,” Tom said with a sly grin. “When I bought things before I entered Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore paid for them for me with Galleons.”

Hermione: "...You are a complete bastard."

Tom smiled but didn't answer.

He was joking, of course, but how could Professor Dumbledore possibly refuse him?

Chapter 40 "You're So Cute" (3k-word chapter, please read and vote!)

greenhouse.

Professor Sprout seems to refresh his greenhouse at many points in time.

She always liked to fiddle with those little flowers and plants—regardless of whether she would need them in class the next day.

"Tom! Darling, it's been a whole week and three hours since I last saw you!"

I'm so glad to see you've recovered. These days, a cold can be really awful, right?

“Professor Sprout, I’ve missed you too. Hmm, you look even more beautiful today than last week. I’ve made some new progress this week, could you please try this potion for me? It can help you make your skin more delicate and smooth, and also shrink your pores.”

Professor Sprout's eyes lit up instantly: "Child, of course I'd be willing to be your potion experimenter. I'd be happy to do it for the sake of your potion-making progress!"

After handing the potion to the other person, Tom also helped tidy up the weeds in the greenhouse.

When the time was right, Tom finally spoke up: "Professor, there is something I would like to ask you for a favor... to be precise, I need your permission."

“No problem at all, Tom, just say the word.”

Tom gestured towards Hermione's direction with his chin: "Hermione and I want to go to the Christmas ball. You know, students below the third grade aren't allowed to attend the ball, let alone first graders like us."

However… we are just too curious! Professor Sprout, I heard that it's possible if all the professors agree.”