Her deepest desire…
Hermione took a long, steadying breath.
Calm. Stay calm. Relax.
Maybe what she wanted most was something completely ordinary—like a mug of hot cocoa on a winter night, or an iced coffee in the middle of summer.
Her fingers tightened around the black veil until the veins stood out on the back of her hand.
Then she heard it.
A rooster's crow.
It was still early evening—roosters didn't crow at night…
And the sound felt strangely familiar.
Suddenly it clicked. At the same moment, her hands trembled. The black veil slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor, revealing exactly what the Mirror of Erised showed her.
Two children.
Hermione and Tom, standing side by side, smiling gently at her. They didn't speak. They didn't need to.
Before Sonia's cry, her deepest wish might have been something else.
But the moment she heard that familiar crow, all she wanted was for both of them to be safe.
Tom, please don't let anything happen to you!
Hermione bolted out of the room.
"Tom, you've already seen the result?" Dumbledore was waiting outside. The moment he saw the frantic look on her face, his eyebrows rose.
"Professor Dumbledore, that doesn't matter right now!
Tom—Hermione! Hermione might be in danger! Sonia—Sonia is the rainbow-scaled giant chicken we're raising together. I just heard her cry. She only does that when one of us is in real danger!
Rainbow-scaled giant chickens are fiercely loyal. She'll stay with whichever one of us she's bonded to, and she'll protect her owner with her own body!"
Hagrid had said the Forbidden Forest wasn't dangerous.
Weren't they only supposed to be investigating why unicorns were dying?
Snape's voice was ice. "That's not your concern. What did you see in the mirror?"
"Nothing! Just me and Hermione! The two of us standing together—that's it!"
"Foolish!"
Hermione's temper flared. "Professor Snape, maybe you should understand how important friends are to me—and Hermione can't get hurt!"
At least not tonight!
If Tom got hurt in the Forbidden Forest tonight, wouldn't that make her the one who got him killed?
"Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, I hope you both sleep well tonight." Hermione gave a quick bow and hurried off.
Clearly she wasn't going back to the dormitory tonight.
"Severus, aren't you going to follow her?" Dumbledore looked perfectly relaxed.
"Albus, this is your school. One of your students is in danger. Even if her parents are Muggles, even if she's a foolish Gryffindor, you are still responsible!"
"Hermione? She'll be fine. But Tom, who's rushing over there… who knows. Well, this old man can't stay up all night. You decide, Severus."
Dumbledore was forcing his hand!
Snape gritted his teeth, cloak flaring like bat wings, and strode after her.
…
Tom finally got a clear look at the dark figure.
A centaur.
"You carry a scent of friendliness," the centaur said. "Little one, what is your name?"
Tom knew this was the payoff from all the hours he'd spent helping Hagrid with the magical creatures.
[Title: Magical Creature Little Helper]
[Magical Creature Little Helper: You naturally emanate friendliness toward magical beasts; they will not develop random hostility toward you.]
All those hours grooming griffins and trimming manes hadn't been for nothing.
"Hermione Granger."
The centaur raised an eyebrow. "Ah… if there is something you cannot say, I will forgive you, little one. I am Firenze."
"Thank you for your understanding." Tom glanced back at the trembling Malfoy.
"Friend, I heard a unicorn was killed in the Forest. Do you know who did it?"
Firenze was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "I cannot say. But it is dangerous here. You should turn back, return to your school. Inside Hogwarts you will be safe. In this Forest… not necessarily.
The one responsible is terrible. Merciless. He will not spare you simply because you are a child."
"Thank you for the warning." Tom nodded.
Firenze looked puzzled. He had spoken plainly—why was this small witch still walking forward?
Seeing he couldn't persuade her, the centaur silently withdrew.
Only after Firenze left did Malfoy dare to catch up.
"Granger, we should go back! You heard that stupid creature. Going any farther is dangerous!
We should tell that oaf Hagrid and have him report to Professor Dumbledore."
Tom turned and ruffled Malfoy's perfectly slicked hair into a complete mess. "Hey, little lord, this is the first time, and I hope the last. Don't bad-mouth my friends in front of me again. If you do it one more time, I'll hang you from the golden chandelier in the Great Hall and then go cry to Professor Snape that you insulted him."
"I didn't—" Malfoy's face paled as unpleasant memories flooded back.
"Do you think Professor Snape will care whether you did or not?" Tom's lips curved into a sweet smile. "If you're scared, go find Hagrid. I need to move faster."
Idiot!
Malfoy cursed silently.
You won't go? Fine. I will!
Malfoy ran, taking their only lantern with him.
…Hey, at least leave the light.
Whatever.
Tom flicked his wand. "Lumos."
Blue magical light bloomed, illuminating the path. He picked up his pace.
He knew exactly what was in the Forest tonight. He knew exactly what the other person was doing.
He just wanted to try a little harder, move a little faster—he hoped he could still save that poor creature.
Less than five minutes later, Tom saw exactly what he expected.
A unicorn!
And behind the unicorn, a figure shrouded in black robes.
Even without seeing the face, Tom knew who it was.
Voldemort.
Or, as the school knew him—Professor Quirrell.
Hiding behind that turban like a coward.
"Incendio! Flaming Flames!" Tom raised his hand and fired a blazing arrow straight at the figure.
The moment the unicorn sensed Tom's presence, it didn't hesitate. It galloped toward the child, drawn by the warm, natural kindness radiating from him—like a hearth fire on a cold night.
"Hey, old man, it's past curfew. You should be in bed." Tom was speaking to Voldemort.
Voldemort said nothing. Even now he still wanted to hide his identity.
Floating inches above the ground like a wraith, he drifted straight toward Tom.
The instant he raised his hand, Tom raised his own. "Expelliarmus!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
What the—straight to the Killing Curse?!
Tom rolled smoothly across the ground. The green bolt followed like it had locked onto him.
He ducked behind a massive tree. The curse gouged a deep, smoking scar into the trunk. Tom let out a long breath.
Good thing I kept grinding Hermione's body every single day!
Otherwise he'd be dead already.
"Expelliarmus!" Not giving Voldemort time to breathe, Tom flicked his wand again and downed a magic-power potion in one gulp.
This time the red streak was even faster. With the title bonus and the potion, his casting speed had nearly doubled.
The red light struck. Voldemort's wand flew from his hand.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Tom pointed straight at Voldemort's legs.
He knew he couldn't fully petrify the Dark Lord, but locking those legs for a few seconds? That he could do!
"Aguamenti! Fulminis!"
Blue light exploded. Voldemort hadn't expected this at all—first the sudden cold and wetness, then a paralyzing jolt racing up from his feet straight to the top of his skull.
Water plus lightning. Tom had been theory-crafting this combo for weeks.
Elemental reaction, baby.
"You filthy… mudblood!" Voldemort roared in fury.
He had never felt such humiliation. To be injured by a mere child!
"Hermione!" Hagrid and Harry arrived late.
By the time they burst into the clearing, Voldemort had already broken the petrification, snatched his wand, and vanished into the trees.
"Hermione, are you alright?" Harry's voice cracked with worry. "That thing just now—was that—"
"Probably the Dark Lord. Never mind that—why are there only the three of you? Where's Malfoy?"
"Malfoy? Wasn't he with you?"
Hagrid narrowed his eyes and looked toward a clump of bushes.
Hiding there, lantern extinguished, was Malfoy—the coward who hadn't dared run to Hagrid, hadn't dared come out to help, and had simply cowered in the dark.
"Malfoy, you coward!" Harry snapped. "If I were you, I never would've done that."
"What do you know? That was Avada Kedavra!" Malfoy hugged his head, voice shaking. "If that curse hits you, you die for real!"
"Avada Kedavra?" Hagrid's eyes widened. "Hermione, was that really the Killing Curse? What exactly did you see?"
Tom told them everything.
He only said he suspected it was Voldemort, and that the Dark Lord had been chasing a unicorn.
After that, by sheer luck he'd saved the unicorn and even traded spells with the monster—though unfortunately he hadn't won.
This wasn't full-power Voldemort, but if Tom could have beaten him… well, he could've declared himself Dark Lord on the spot.
As if it were that easy!
"Little ones, I'm taking you back to the castle. This has to be reported to Albus immediately. Everyone behind me—we're leaving."
On the way back they ran into Hermione, who was sprinting toward them, out of breath.
Hermione grabbed Tom's hand and checked him over frantically. "Are you okay? I heard Sonia crying!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Tom coughed. "There are other people here, you… cough, cough."
Only then did Hermione realize. She quickly let go and stepped to his side.
From everyone else's perspective, she was "Tom," and the person who had just been thoroughly inspected was "Hermione."
Her earlier actions had been… a little too intimate.
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