Hogwarts: Hermione and I switched identities!

Mrs. Granger had never seen such a handsome boy before.

Perhaps it's not quite right to describe her as beautiful, but those jade-like eyes did indeed attract Mrs. Granger for a moment.

“Hermione—” the lady stroked her chin, “Hermione hasn’t been feeling well lately. She’s had a fever for three days now, and she’s been staying in her room the whole time…”

A fever? Hermione?

"Madam, is Hermione in poor health?"

"Perhaps so. I can always hear her coughing. Listen, young master..."

Tom pricked up his ears, but heard nothing; the house was quiet.

He suddenly noticed that there seemed to be some traces of magical activity in Granger's house—Tom had lived at Hogwarts for quite some time and had been dealing with magic all those days, so he could tell.

"Madam, may I go upstairs and take a look?"

"Ah?" Mrs. Granger's expression changed noticeably; she felt this was inappropriate.

“I’m Hermione’s friend, we go to the same school.” Tom laughed, taking his wand out of his pocket and waving it in front of Mrs. Granger. “Don’t worry, Hermione and I are very good friends, these are the letters we write to each other.”

Mrs. Granger's relaxed expression immediately tightened when she saw the letter in Tom's hand.

Good-looking, male, Hogwarts...

She instinctively covered her mouth with her hand: "Excuse me, what is your name...?"

"Tom, Tom Riddle, nice to meet you."

"Ah, hello, please come in, I'll get you a cup of tea."

Tom smiled and said, "No need to be so polite. I mainly came here to find Hermione to go to school together."

Tom is about to board the train tomorrow, but both letters he sent have gone unanswered, which is making him quite distressed.

He realized something might have happened and rushed over.

Tom went upstairs and stood in front of the door.

This place is both familiar and somewhat unfamiliar.

He's been living here for quite some time now, and he knows everything about Hermione's room, not just where Granger's secret stash is.

The unfamiliarity... This was the first time he had stood here as "Tom".

Tom raised his hand and knocked on the door. He heard a low cough coming from inside.

Tom frowned and waved his wand.

"Unlocking Charm!"

Tom pushed the door open and went inside. The room was empty—Hermione had taken everything she could, including the Snoopy doll on the bedside table.

Instead, a little elf stood in the open space.

Upon seeing Tom, the little elf immediately used an invisibility spell.

Dobi?

Why would Dobby, that little elf, target Hermione? Hermione isn't Harry.

Was Hermione attacked by the Malfoy father and son?

Chapter 15 First Meeting, My Name is Tom

where is this?

Hermione shivered in the cold wind and couldn't help but shrink back, trying to warm herself with her thin wizarding clothes.

I need to keep myself warm. School starts tomorrow, and Mr. Dumbledore will definitely find out about the problem. Until then, I must make sure I stay alive!

Hermione was glad she had brought her wand with her. She waved it and used the Firestarting Charm to warm the flames against the cold air.

The weather in London is terrible!

Hermione muttered to herself as she looked up at her surroundings—this was not the Saint Redia Welfare Home at all!

She clearly saw the scene of the orphanage before she got out of the car, but everything changed after she opened the car door and the driver left.

Hermione realized this wasn't a place humans would come to; after all, the towering trees around her didn't resemble the London landscape at all, but rather the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts!

She only dared to look at the Forbidden Forest from afar, and never stepped into it, not even once!

Hermione was a little nervous. After warming herself up, she began to take steps, trying to leave the area.

"Huhuhu..."

Hermione suddenly stopped in her tracks; she heard a strange snoring sound.

The snoring was deafening, causing the leaves of the surrounding trees to fall.

Hermione quickly crouched down and used her hands to push aside the surrounding bushes, trying to see what it was...

Suddenly, Hermione covered her mouth with both hands and went back behind the bushes.

She saw a huge figure lying on the ground.

It's a troll!

Not just one, but several!

There were probably five or six giants lying on the ground—Hermione didn’t dare count them carefully.

Trolls have extremely low intelligence, even lower than that of young children, but this does not prevent them from possessing astonishing strength.

If a minor wizard like Hermione is discovered by a troll, there's only one outcome!

She'll be crushed into pieces by the trolls and will never be able to go to Hogwarts!

Hermione covered her mouth, her hands barely opening to allow her to catch her breath as she frantically tried to think of a way to deal with the giants.

Think about it, all those books weren't read for nothing; there must be a method to them!

Hermione thought about it carefully.

Even when those trolls were asleep, they had huge wooden clubs beside them. The Levitation Charm... the book said it had been used before. You could use the Levitation Charm to make the trolls' clubs float up and then knock them unconscious.

But they are gripping the wooden stick tightly. If I use the Levitation Charm, they will definitely wake up!

No, why should I even think about knocking these giants unconscious? They're sound asleep. I can just avoid them and go back the way I came. I'm sure I can get back to the streets, back to London!

Hermione took a deep breath and carefully treaded the air, afraid of disturbing the sleeping fools.

The further Hermione went, the more trolls she saw.

Is this a troll's lair? Hermione shuddered.

Hermione gripped her wand tightly, ready to use the spell without hesitation should the trolls awaken.

However, she knew that her magical abilities were far inferior to her usual self—she was terrified!

Casting spells requires a stable emotional state, which she cannot achieve right now.

She'd rather face Professor Snape than these trolls!

"Lulu lulu—"

Hermione stopped in her tracks. She saw a giant stand up, rubbing its sleepy eyes, looking around, and then waking up the other giants sleeping on the ground.

Hermione dared not move and could only lie on the ground, using the bushes to cover her body.

She couldn't help but think of one person—Tom Riddle.

If Tom were here, he might have a solution. After all, Tom is so strong and his magic is so powerful; he could easily defeat these giants.

After lying on the ground for more than two hours, Hermione finally dared to stand up after the trolls had finished eating the berries and left in a hurry.

She could barely feel her lower limbs anymore.

Hermione's legs were numb and her limbs were cold. London nights were always cold, and she longed for warm blankets and the dry, herbal smell of Professor Snape's dormitory.

"Snort, snort!" A giant pointed silently at Hermione, making a sickeningly loud sound.

How did he find me?!

Hermione took off running towards the cave. She was truly grateful to Tom for using her body to train; otherwise, she would have been torn to shreds by those trolls before she even got inside!

Hermione pointed her wand at the ground at the cave entrance: "Spongify!"

The soil sank, and as soon as the giants' feet touched the ground, their bodies quickly sank in.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" (Levitation Charm!)

Hermione manipulated the rocks nearby to block the entrance to the cave.

"Spongify!" (Softening spell!)

"Spongify!!" (Softening spell!!)

"Spongify!!!" (Softening spell!!!)

The softening spell was cast again and again, and the soil at the entrance of the cave became soft, so much so that even if Hermione stepped into it, she would sink deep into it.

We're saved!

Hermione covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes; she didn't want to experience this feeling again.

Several giants were stuck in the mud and could only snort loudly at Hermione, their cries deafening.

Hermione covered her ears and huddled in the cave.

Countless white spiders crawled up the wall and headed inside.

spider?

But why are there so many spiders!

"Incendio!" (Fire-starting spell!)

Hermione waved her wand, and a faint flame illuminated the entire cave.

She wasn't as skilled as Tom; she couldn't conjure flames eight feet high, only a small ball, but that was enough for Hermione to see the entire cave.

Fortunately, there were no spiders, and the things she was worried about didn't happen.

Outside, the sun had already set. Hermione could only huddle up and hide, hoping that she could leave when the troll was gone. That was all she could do...