Hogwarts: Hermione and I switched identities!

"A troll? What just happened?"

Hermione stumbled and rubbed her eyes, unable to believe that the talkative man in front of her was Tom.

But it seems, should, indeed... it was him.

"You're not dead, Tom."

Tom: "?"

Tom thought carefully about whether he had offended Hermione recently, and why the girl's first words to him were about wanting him dead.

Meanwhile, the other professors from Hogwarts also arrived.

Professor McGonagall was somewhat surprised: "Miss Granger, perhaps you should explain to us what happened."

……

After hearing Hermione's explanation, Tom couldn't stop laughing.

But given the scale of the event, he could only twitch his lips and remain silent.

Hermione actually thought she was going to be killed by a giant?

These things are now about the same level as toys in my hand.

"Hey, don't cry, so many people are watching." Tom suppressed a laugh and wiped Hermione's face with his slightly dirty sleeve. "Actually, you don't need to worry about me so much. Professor Snape's lab is absolutely safe."

"I'm just worried..."

"What are you worried about? Are you worried that Professor Snape will..." Tom's smile froze instantly. "Professor, what happened to your leg?"

He suddenly noticed that Snape's black robe was stained with blood on his calves and that he was walking unsteadily.

Snape didn't respond to Tom, but kept walking outside.

"Professor, Professor, wait for me!"

Tom left Hermione there and went to find Snape.

"I am fine."

"Nonsense, Professor, you're bleeding."

"I didn't!" Snape pulled at his robe to cover his trousers. "Tom, don't get too cocky!"

"Don't try to be strong, Professor. You can't even walk steadily. Let me take you to the infirmary."

……

As their voices faded into the distance, Hermione, who had been sitting on the ground, gradually stood up.

"Children, you need to rest now. Leave the rest to us."

Professor McGonagall rubbed Hermione's head, sighed heavily, and comforted her, "You've done very well, but if you face this situation again, I hope you can trust the professor."

No student will get hurt at Hogwarts, trust us, Hermione?

“Yes, Professor McGonagall.”

Hermione nodded and left with Harry.

"Harry, what are you thinking about?" On the way back, Ron noticed that Harry had been silent and asked him.

"Hmm... I'm wondering, how did this giant get into the academy?"

"Think about it, Mr. Filch is watching the door. If a troll came in, he would have noticed immediately. The fact that this troll could suddenly appear in Snape's potions lab means it bypassed Mr. Filch entirely."

Ron realized what was happening and, recalling Snape's injured leg, asked, "You suspect it's Snape?"

"Snape is just a guess. There are many suspects. Think about it carefully. Professor Quirrell was the first to discover the troll. Why didn't he deal with it directly? He's the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts! How could he be scared unconscious by a troll?"

"But I don't suspect these people..." Harry stopped there, leaving the two people beside him in suspense.

"Tell me quickly, who do you suspect?"

"Malfoy".

“Draco Malfoy?” Hermione exclaimed. “Are you crazy? How could he possibly attack the school, especially since his strength is only…”

Harry shook his head: "I wasn't talking about Draco Malfoy, I was talking about Lucius Malfoy, his father!"

Did you know that Hogwarts has a board of directors? The board has a lot of power, and even Professor Dumbledore has to follow its orders. Lucius is one of the board members.

He used to be a part of Hogwarts, and even a prefect of Slytherin; he must be very familiar with Hogwarts!

"Then why did he do that?" Hermione asked, frowning.

“I don’t know.” Harry’s voice immediately deflated. “But this is just a guess, Hermione. We need to verify it. It can only be used as a reference.”

Suddenly, he fell silent and pulled the two of them back: "Shh! Someone's coming, hide."

"Where are you hiding?"

"This way!" Harry slipped into the shadows and pulled Hermione and Ron in as well.

……

"You mean Snape punished you with solitary confinement?" Harry and the others had never heard this voice before, and they all perked up their ears.

“Yes, Father.” It was Draco Malfoy’s voice.

"Where is Snape now? I'll go with you to find him," the man spoke again.

Harry mustered his courage and cautiously peeked out a little bit of his head, stealing a glance at the two of them.

It was obvious that he was a nobleman, who looked somewhat like Draco, and was holding a scepter.

It was his father!

Lucius Malfoy!

But why would Lucius be in a place like this?

Chapter 24 The Godfather [Part 2] (3k-word long chapter, please read, vote, and recommend!)

As the two figures disappeared into the distance, Harry and his companions emerged from the shadows.

“Maybe it really was Lucius who did it…” Harry swallowed hard. “What do you think Lucius came to the school for? I don’t think it could just be for his son.”

"Let's talk about it tomorrow. If we don't want to keep losing points, we have to go back now."

"Then tomorrow... Hermione, are you free?"

"There are some after 19:00 PM."

Harry nodded: "Then let's meet this afternoon. By the way, Hermione, I have a question. Why did Professor McGonagall call you by your first name?"

Hermione quickly laughed it off: "It was just a moment of panic."

She dared not say that she had already received private tutoring from Professor McGonagall—the reason she was only free in the afternoon was because Hermione had to go see Professor McGonagall.

……

Snape's office.

Tom buzzed around like a little fly.

"Professor, there's so much blood! And you still say you're fine."

“I don’t need your help!” Snape glared at Tom. “Go back to your dorm, Tom.”

Tom, as if he hadn't heard, said, "Yes, Professor, please don't move, let me see..."

Tom, leaving no room for refusal, pulled down Professor Snape's trousers: "Luckily, it's not too serious. Professor Snape, wait a moment, I have a few potions here that can heal your injuries."

“I! Don’t! Need!” Snape said, enunciating each word clearly.

"It might hurt a little, we need to disinfect it first, please bear with it."

Tom took out a bottle of potion, unscrewed the cap, and carefully applied it to Snape's wound with cotton gauze.

After disinfecting, he carefully bandaged it up: "That's all, I'll be going now, Professor."

Snape paused for a moment, then called to Tom, "I heard you and Hagrid are very close, and you often learn about magical creatures from him, right? Can you tell what kind of wound this is?"

"A bite from a three-headed dog, sir."

The Cerberus is a type of…

“I don’t need your introduction, you can leave!” Snape said coldly. “Remember, don’t tell anyone about this, not even your foolish little friend Hermione!”

"Of course, I won't tell Hermione."

I just have a habit of keeping a diary, so if she sees it herself, it's none of my business...

After Tom left, Snape stretched his newly bandaged leg and sat in his seat in a daze for a long time.

He suddenly remembered a sentence, a sentence that Tom had once said.

"Professor, if only you were my godfather, then people wouldn't call me a Mudblood anymore."

His deep eyes suddenly became clear, and Snape tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

However, this quiet did not last long; soon, Snape was disturbed.

"What are you doing here?" Snape asked bluntly after seeing the other person.

"I heard you put Draco in solitary confinement, and I'd like to ask what happened."

Mentioning that incident ignited a surge of anger within Snape.

However, Snape quickly suppressed his emotions, and the change in his eyes was extremely obvious—they regained their deep look.

"Perhaps you should ask Draco what he said to others."

Draco is still stubborn: "He's a Mudblood, and besides, I wasn't originally going to use the spell on him. My target is Harry."

Lucius narrowed his eyes: "Mudblood, who? Hermione? And what spell did you use?"

"It was Tom, Father, I used the inverted bell."

The name Tom seemed to have some kind of magic; when Lucius heard it, he immediately became serious: "What's the full name of this Tom you're talking about? What's his last name?"

Tom Riddle.

Lucius fell silent, then looked at Draco: "Let's go."