The unusual History of Magic class finally came to an end. But to everyone's surprise, Professor Binns—who normally drifted straight through the blackboard the moment class ended—did not leave.
The students who had been packing up froze mid-movement. They all exchanged confused looks. Why was the ghost professor, who dismissed them with clock-like precision every day, lingering in the classroom?
Once the room quieted down, Professor Binns finally spoke. His tone was as flat as ever—calm, emotionless—but the words that came out of his mouth hit the students like a bolt of lightning.
His gaze drifted through the crowd and landed on Tom:
"Very good demonstration. Hufflepuff earns five points. Also… I will consider requesting permission from the Headmaster to appoint you as my teaching assistant."
And with that—without giving anyone time to react—he drifted straight through the wall and vanished, leaving behind a classroom full of stunned students.
It wasn't that they weren't used to strange things.
It was just that this was something they'd truly never seen before.
Snape giving Tom points made sense—Snape frequently rewarded outstanding Slytherin students.
But Professor Binns? Voluntarily giving points? If they hadn't witnessed it with their own eyes, they would never have believed it.
This was Professor Binns—the ghost who cared about nothing except lecturing and unintentionally putting half the school to sleep.
He gave a student points?
Was the sun rising in the west now?
And what's this about… appointing Tom as his teaching assistant?
Did teaching assistants even exist at Hogwarts?!
Even though Binns had left several minutes earlier, the students still sat frozen in place, staring at each other.
Tom, too, stared in disbelief at the spot where Binns vanished. All he'd wanted was to liven up the dead atmosphere in class. How did that turn into becoming a teaching assistant?
…Does a teaching assistant get paid? (￣ω￣ )
No—no, this isn't the time to think about that! The real problem is…
Suddenly everything clicked. Tom shook his head rapidly, then grabbed Hannah and Ariana. His tail snapped out like a whip, looping around Hermione's waist and scooping her along. With a mighty heave, he dragged all three girls out of the room at full speed.
"Tom? What are you doing?"
The three girls—especially Hermione, who was being hauled along by his tail—stared in confusion. But Tom didn't answer. He just kept running.
And the moment their group stepped out into the hallway—
The classroom behind them exploded in noise.
"Where's Tom? Where'd he go?! He's incredible—I need his autograph!"
"First Snape, now Binns? Dumbledore allowing him into the school is the smartest decision this century!"
"I remember that magazine saying letting Tom enroll was a sign Dumbledore was going senile. Stupid tabloids!"
"Dude, it was The Quibbler. Nobody takes it seriously. Everyone treats it as a joke."
"I thought the editor had finally decided to publish something factual, but nope—business as usual."
"Uh… The Quibbler's editor's last name is Lovegood, and Tom's last name is Lovegood too. Do you think they know each other?"
"...I said nothing. The Quibbler is clearly the finest publication in all of wizarding Britain."
Even from far down the hallway, the chaos inside the classroom was still loud and clear.
The three girls exchanged looks, then turned to Tom with complicated expressions.
"So you ran off to avoid all that. But… why avoid it? Isn't it nice to have everyone like you?" Ariana asked, genuinely puzzled.
Tom groaned and shook his head:
[You're too young to understand how annoying that kind of attention is. Being treated like some rare magical creature on display? No thank you!]
If he had known this would happen, he would've…
Well, honestly, he probably would've still done the same thing.
Compared to being stared at like a zoo exhibit, that soul-crushingly boring classroom atmosphere was far worse.
[Oh right, Ariana.]
He suddenly remembered something. He let go of Hermione and Hannah, then looked at Ariana:
[I need to talk to you about something private. Let's go over there.]
"?" Ariana blinked, confused, but nodded.
The two of them quickly disappeared around the corridor corner.
"Hannah…" Hermione whispered, frowning slightly as she watched them go. "Don't you feel like Ariana is… a little unusual? I can't explain it, but I get this feeling she and Tom are hiding something from us."
Hannah scrunched her face in deep thought, then nodded seriously.
"Yeah, I think so too! At Herbology last week, Professor Sprout kept the two of them after class and whispered something to them. And during the part where we were supposed to touch the dittany leaves to feel the texture—Ariana didn't touch hers."
Hannah paid close attention to the poor girl with "no friends" (in Hannah's opinion), so she had noticed some odd things.
"And this morning, when I asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she said she'd already eaten—but she had just gotten out of bed!"
The more they talked, the more wrong things felt.
But because Ariana was their friend, they didn't push the matter.
If she chose to hide something, she must have a reason. As her friends, the best thing they could do was support her quietly.
Meanwhile, at the far end of the hallway, Tom and Ariana had already slipped behind a corner. The wizard in the portrait was asleep, snoring softly. Moonlight streamed through the tall window, scattering checkered patterns across the floor.
"Tom? What is it?" Ariana asked softly.
[Remember what I told you in Herbology? I said I'd help you solve the thing that's troubling you the most.]
Tom pulled out a rolled measuring tape from… somewhere.
[And to fix the problem properly, I need to take some measurements.]
Ariana's face began turning red, so Tom quickly added:
[Just your hands. Only your hands.]
Ariana relaxed and obediently held out her hand, palm facing up.
Tom carefully measured her palm—length, width, joints—every detail he would need to craft something perfectly suited for her.
"Are you sure this will work?" Ariana whispered nervously.
"Professor McGonagall's class is first thing tomorrow morning. She knows about my situation, but she can't stop the other students from… staring.
What if—just what if—something goes wrong? Should I have a backup plan?"
[Don't worry. Trust me. It'll be fine.]
Tom gave her a confident thumbs-up.
"But what about Hermione and Hannah?" Ariana lowered her head again.
"They're already suspicious. I don't want to lie to them… but my brother told me I have to keep this secret for now."
They were two of the few friends she had. She didn't want to deceive them.
Tom paused, tilting his head as he looked at her, moonlight reflected in his eyes:
[That's something only you can decide. I can help you with your day-to-day problems, but I can't make your choices for you.]
Ariana stared at the floating letters for a long moment.
Then her eyes firmed with determination.
"I want to ask my brother first. I want to know if I'm allowed to tell them the truth."