Hogwarts: Hermione and I switched identities!

Tom interrupted Galo: "Alright, that's enough. That's enough."

He couldn't imagine what kind of damage would be done to the area if Gara really unleashed his "attack magic".

Perhaps tomorrow, he and Gara will be on the front page of the newspapers, and then the Ministry of Magic will start hunting him down.

"Then you wait for me here. I'll go back to school to rest for the night, and I'll come out to find you again tomorrow after I've sorted things out."

"You're going back?" Gara looked at Tom, puzzled. "I'm already out here, shouldn't you be spending the night with me?"

Tom: "..."

There's something strange about what Jialuo is saying.

It sounds like I'm an irresponsible jerk who brought a girl out and then abandoned her outside.

Unable to defy the dragon, and not daring to argue with one, Tom could only stay by Gara's side.

It seems even dragons need companionship...

The night passed quickly.

Tom took a nap leaning against Gara.

The next day, early in the morning.

Tom always woke up at a very strange time.

When he woke up, nothing in Hogwarts was awake yet.

With some time to spare in the morning, Tom took a shower and used a cleaning spell to tidy up his clothes, making him look less like a disheveled homeless man.

When Galo saw Tom's refreshed appearance, his eyes lit up.

You look more energetic than yesterday!

"I'm fine now, I'm going back to school."

It seemed like it was about time, so Tom headed towards the school.

But Tom had only taken two steps when Garo grabbed the back of his collar, tossed Tom off in front of him and onto his back.

"Sit tight."

With a flap of its wings, Gara's entire dragon soared into the air before slowly landing on the grounds of Hogwarts.

In an instant, Tom felt the gazes around him—even though there was no one around him.

Among those gazes, there was one that was extremely cold, as if someone were pressing a knife against Tom's back.

Without a doubt, it must be Professor Snape.

In the blink of an eye, all sight disappeared.

Clearly, the Hogwarts professors had been on guard these past few days, but they relaxed their vigilance when they discovered that the person who came was Tom—even though Tom was now accompanied by a dragon.

……

“Albus, isn’t Tom’s behavior a bit too flamboyant…” Snape and Dumbledore stood together, looking at the scene on campus below, and couldn’t help but sigh. “But that kid… doesn’t seem to have listened to you. In just one month, he’s tamed a dragon.”

Dumbledore chuckled and shook his head: "It's nothing, Severus. You know, there are always some little guys who can bring us dazzling surprises."

Perhaps only Merlin in history could have accomplished this, but I can rest assured now.

Snape: "?"

Dumbledore: "Tom used to want a phoenix, but now that he has a dragon, he should no longer be interested in the phoenix. After all, the dragon is more dazzling and powerful than the phoenix in every way."

Snape didn't know how to answer, so he simply remained silent.

“Go and talk to Professor Lockhart. After all, he's the one who caused this trouble. Tom could have bonded with the dragon elsewhere, but now that he's back… ask Lockhart if Tom needs to bring the dragon to class. Also, ask him if Tom still needs to take the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.”

Snape nodded and said goodbye to Dumbledore.

Lockhart's location is easy to find.

When Snape found Lockhart, he was still fast asleep in his dorm room.

Snape's banging on the door startled Lockhart out of bed; it looked as if he was about to break down the door.

"Snape! You should know what time it is! I need to rest. I must rest to restore my energy so that I can protect the students!"

Lockhart shouted loudly, showing no respect for Snape whatsoever.

Snape, however, didn't seem to care. He casually waved his hand and said, "That's not important. What's important is that Tom has come to see you. Now, you should probably go and see Tom. You can't let him come all this way for nothing."

Before leaving, Snape turned back and gave Lockhart a cold look: "You'd better watch yourself."

Take care of yourself.

Lockhart frowned.

He had no idea what Snape was talking about.

Why should a professor like myself be afraid of that brat Tom?

What right does a little brat have to talk to me...?

What is that?!

Through the window, Lockhart saw a giant dragon towering over the campus, and he couldn't help but gape.

A giant, a giant dragon?

How could such a thing possibly exist at Hogwarts?

Isn't Hogwarts the safest place?

Lockhart gripped the window frame with both hands, his eyes fixed on the area below the dragon—at the dragon's feet stood a dark-haired boy who affectionately patted the dragon's arm.

Several students on their way to class saw the boy, ran over with smiles, and asked him if they could touch the giant dragon...

Foolish, foolish!

Lockhart kept complaining.

That's a dragon, an incomparably noble being, how could it possibly allow you to touch its body... and you actually did touch it?

Lockhart's mouth gaped open.

Could that boy be Tom?

The Tom they were talking about? The school's most brilliant genius, the most eye-catching idol, Tom?

Lockhart walked briskly down the corridor, but when he reached the door, he still didn't dare to go in.

"The Tom you asked for is here." Draco's voice sounded behind Lockhart. "Mr. Lockhart, there is an old Chinese saying, 'Forgive and forget.' You should know where your books... those stories came from. But in front of you is someone who can truly create the plot of a story."

Now, you should go and talk to him. Hopefully, you can maintain your arrogance from yesterday when facing Tom.

Also, just so you know, Tom wasn't wasting his time; he's been staying at my house all this time.

Lockhart turned his head, looked at the person, felt he looked familiar but couldn't remember who it was: "You are..."

"Draco, or should I tell you my surname? My name is Draco Malfoy, and my father is Lucius Malfoy."

My father always spoke politely to Tom. Even when I made a mistake, as long as Tom was present, he would give Tom face and not criticize me directly, but would first ask Tom if the matter was true or false.

"And you..." Draco smiled, "I don't know why you dare to do things that even my father wouldn't dare to do. Go, Tom is waiting for you, and that dragon is waiting for you too."

Also, the dragon's name is Gara; hopefully, you'll keep your trousers dry while standing before him.

Draco shoved Lockhart, pushing him out of the shadows.

At the same time, many eyes turned to Lockhart.

“Tom, that’s Lockhart,” the student next to Tom explained. “He’s the school’s new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and he was the one who was going to give you a T grade yesterday.”

"Tom, you didn't come yesterday, so you don't know how awful this professor is. The exams he gave were all about himself. We hate him."

"Tom, why don't you just kill him?"

Tom raised an eyebrow.

Where did this naturally evil Slytherin student come from?

I am a very good person and I never kill any living beings.

Voldemort doesn't count; that guy is an old monster without a nose.

Professor Quirrell doesn't count either; he's a Death Eater, not human.

However, seeing the burning, angry gazes of the students around him, Tom understood just how much trouble Professor Lockhart had stirred up yesterday.

Professor Lockhart is quite remarkable in a way for so many students to hate him.

Even Professor Snape couldn't do that.

In the original work... Lockhart seemed to be like that too, so why did things change?

Tom was completely baffled.

"Tom, can I touch this dragon?"

Tom didn't answer him directly, but looked at Galo and asked for Galo's opinion.

Seeing that Garo was looking up at the sky and ignoring the children on the ground, Tom nodded and said, "Be gentle. If he's angry, you'll need to use a small bread roll to appease him."

"That's fantastic, Tom! You're truly the most brilliant genius at Hogwarts!"

"Tom, may I?"

"Mr. Dragon, I have some small bread rolls here, would you like some?"

Galo yelled at the girl on the ground who was about to feed him a small bread roll, and the girl quickly shrank behind Tom.

“Galo is a girl, not a gentleman.”

The girl then sheepishly walked out from behind Tom: "Is your name Gara? You have a beautiful name."

Galo lowered his head and took the bread from her mouth.

"Tom, your pet is so handsome!"

“This isn’t my pet,” Tom corrected him. “Galo and I are friends; there’s no master-servant relationship between us.”

After saying that, Tom walked up to Lockhart: "Mr. Lockhart, nice to meet you."

“You… hello.” Lockhart swallowed, a hint of doubt in his mind.