"So Dementors can only be expelled by the Patronus Charm!". Hermione said with a regretful look, "So that's where you deduct the four points!".
Tom shook his head and opened a packet of chocolate frogs. "The Patronus Charm is the only one known to banish Dementors. I've been talking about it in class."
Hermione looked at him blankly, "You didn't even teach that spell in class!".
Tom averted his eyes sheepishly: he hadn't because he hadn't been exposed to the spell, of course, and he had to read from it. He looked out the train window: Hogwarts had closed after final exams, and the young wizards had grabbed their report cards and boarded the Hogwarts train to return to their homes and their mothers.
Hermione had once again gotten straight A's on all of her exams, and Tom had passed with no problems, freeing himself from the world of calling Hermione "senior."
Hermione continued to take stock of the exam questions. "The errors on the first question were A's and C's. The Antipodean Opaleye is from New Zealand, its name is very confusing, and the Antipodean Opaleye doesn't have a pupil, which is where the name comes from," she said, looking at Tom. "That's a brilliant first question! That's brilliant."
"Second question...it's an A. Tom, are you sure you can use garlic to expel vampires?" At this question, Hermione was confused by all the Muggle myths and legends and, a little reluctantly, grabbed a chocolate frog from Tom and nibbled on it.
As Tom and Hermione chatted, there was a sudden banging on the door next door, as if someone was banging something against the wall of the carriage.
Tom and Hermione looked at each other, confused.
Meanwhile, in the adjoining compartment, Harry and the three were startled by the behavior of the creature in front of them.
A few minutes earlier, Harry, Ron and Neville had been enjoying a variety of snacks in the carriage; in Harry's case, he was enjoying the last good moment before the start of the next term.
Just then, there was a soft popping sound in the carriage and a strange creature appeared in front of them. He had two large bat ears, a pair of bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls, and was wearing an old pillowcase with holes in his armpits and legs.
Harry recognized him: it was the house elf he had seen on Privet Drive this summer!
"Dobby!" Harry called out the house elf's name.
Ron and Neville looked surprised too, they would never have imagined that a house elf would appear on a Hogwarts train. House elves were a rarity even in the magical world, and only ancient wizarding families had house elves.
"Harry Potter!" Dobby exclaimed, "It's wonderful that you're safe!"
Harry nodded, wary that the mad elf in front of him had gotten him into quite a mess. He had dropped a pie on the head of his Uncle Vernon's guest of honor.
Now that he had reappeared, Harry was naturally nervous.
But the next thing Dobby did was startle the three in the carriage: he ran into the wall, screaming in pain, banging his head against it again and again with a thud.
Ron and Neville immediately pounced on him and pushed him away.
"Have you gone mad?" Ron shouted.
"Dobby's really mad! Dobby has attacked the great - Harry - Potter!"
All three: !!!!
Then Dobby told the story of his series of stunts: angering his Uncle Vernon, blocking the passage to the train station, and making the bludger go crazy....
"Harry Potter can't go to Hogwarts!"
Hearing this, Harry was completely enraged, "If I'm not going to Hogwarts, where else am I going to go? You saw what happened the other night, didn't yo? The way my Uncle Vernon treated me! If I don't go to Hogwarts, should I stay in a place like that? Huh? And then go to a reform school for young offenders?"
"And you almost got Ron and me expelled! And that bludger nearly killed me." complained Harry,
"If you really wanted what was best for me, why did you go to such lengths?".
"To save someone's life by killing me first? What kind of logic is that?"
Ron and the Nevilles gasped: it was the first time they had seen Harry so angry.
Dobby blew his nose into the corner of the pillowcase he was wearing, looking pitiful, "Dobby knows.... so Dobby pinched his ears in the oven and fried his fingers in the pan... but whatever happens, the great Harry Potter is in danger, Dobby knows something very dangerous is going to happen at Hogwarts this year, but don't worry sir, the danger has dissipated!"
"Danger? What is it?" Perhaps it was because Dobby was so miserable that Harry's anger disappeared, and he felt a twinge of curiosity at Dobby's words, he felt that the danger Dobby was talking about had something to do with this year's attacks.
"Dobby can't talk about that! Dobby can't talk!" Dobby again banged his head hard on the ground.
"Wait a minute!" Harry tried to lift Dobby, but Dobby was gone in an instant, leaving the three of them staring at each other.
...
The train pulled into King's Cross, and Tom and Hermione made their way through the crowds outside the station, laden with their suitcases. Mr. Granger was waiting for them outside.
He smiled kindly as he saw his daughter and Tom appear.
Opening the trunk, Mr. Granger and Tom shoved the suitcases in together, especially Hermione's, who had brought a lot of clothes, and Tom's own, who had only one suitcase.
All his belongings were in this suitcase.
The suitcase, small as it is, has a lot to offer: it has an undetectable expansion spell and inside it fits a large closet. What's more, it has a wheel lock that transforms into a regular Muggle suitcase with the flick of a switch.
The previous owner of this plain-looking suitcase was Lockhart and, after being imprisoned in Azkaban, the suitcase naturally passed into Tom's hands.
Tom stuffed his luggage inside, along with some special items, such as a few bottles of souvenirs in glass jars.
"By the way, I hear you're thinking of going to Egypt this summer." Mr. Granger chatted with the two in the back as he drove. "What a coincidence, Mione, that your Uncle Hal is planning an archaeological expedition to Egypt this summer! May I ask him if I can take you."
Tom and Hermione: !!!
This was truly unexpected news for them.
However, Hermione figured that if they really could go to Egypt with the team, why not? At least it would be a lot less trouble.
"So why does Uncle Hal want to go to Egypt all of a sudden?" She asked.