"It seems that Scabbers is quite the mouse," Hermione said, coming out of her surprise and thinking for a moment, realizing that it didn't seem so strange: an adult mouse like Scabbers seducing some female mice, was it that unusual? The strange thing was that he didn't go into heat during all those years at the Weasley's house.
"Uh, so your wife is pregnant?" Unlike Hermione, Tom knew that Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew, so he was more interested in another question: if a wizard in animagus form were to mate with an animal while in their animal form, what would the result be? Human, animal, or a hybrid creature?
When Tom asked this, the rat named Winter Solstice squealed and rolled as if stabbed.
"No! No! Not that kind of stuff! I'll wait for my wife to find another rat until after I'm dead, at least a year!" Winter Solstice let out a desperate cry before being slapped by Tom.
"Lower your voice!" Tom gave the rat a stern look, unsure of what to do with it. Perhaps throwing it away would be the best option. But then Tom had a bold idea.
He needed Menes' blood to use the Jade Tablet, but the blood vial only had four or five drops, which would run out after a few uses. And when it ran out, could he ask Menes for blood again? Yes, but Tom felt ashamed. Menes had been very kind to him, but he had to know his place. The pharaoh had lived for so long, and Tom had to be careful with what he asked for, not being too greedy.
In short, Merlin's blood was used drop by drop.
Tom had to find a way to increase his supply and reduce his consumption. He couldn't reduce the consumption at the moment since each use required blood; that was the rule of the Jade Tablet. But there was a possibility to increase the supply: blood activity.
Tom and Hermione led Winter Solstice to the Room of Requirement.
"I need a clean alchemy laboratory," Tom muttered three times and opened the door that appeared on the wall, revealing a small, tidy laboratory with a workbench, shelves, and all sorts of tools and containers.
"What do you want?" Winter Solstice struggled in Tom's hands, but a petrification spell ended its resistance, and it could only watch as it was placed on the alchemy table, and Tom secured it with ropes.
It watched as Tom took out a small vial from his pocket, filled with a bright red liquid. It felt dizzy just looking at the blood bottle, as if it had seen something terrifying.
"Wait!" At the right moment, a brilliant idea suddenly occurred to its small brain.
"Are you looking for a rat to inject blood into?" It asked nervously, squeaking, "I don't think one will be enough, right? I can get you a few more."
"Alright." To Winter Solstice's delight, Tom agreed after thinking for a moment.
Winter Solstice had a well-planned scheme in mind: first, it would appease Tom, and when released again in the Forbidden Forest, it would have a sea of opportunities and freedom to move around at will!
Unfortunately, Tom realized its plan. He toyed with the workbench a couple of times and then inserted a small piece of metal into Winter Solstice's lower back.
Winter Solstice felt a chill down its spine, as if something foreign had been inserted, followed by a twinge of pain. Tom whispered in its ear, "Before the sunset, take your little friends back to the castle, and I'll remove this for you. If not, when the time comes, it will explode and split you in two." Tom made a hand gesture, scaring Winter Solstice.
Tom lowered Winter Solstice from the alchemy table and watched it quickly disappear down the hallway.
"So, will that little piece of copper really explode at sunset?" Hermione was curious but couldn't help feeling a bit of compassion. Before, she couldn't understand the rat, but now that she could comprehend what it was saying, she couldn't help but feel sorry for it.
"It won't explode," Tom denied, "It will simply stretch and break the spine when the time comes."
Hermione: ...
"I just feel that..."
"That's because you can understand what it's saying, but really, what's the difference from mouse experiments in a Muggle laboratory?" Tom interrupted Hermione. "Besides, I'm sure this rat will become addicted to this kind of transaction. Even if there are no restrictions, it will continue to bring mice here ceaselessly."
Upon hearing Tom say this, Hermione remained silent.
Shortly after, Winter Solstice returned to the castle gate with two mice, and Tom approached them. He easily caught them and placed them on the alchemy table, taking out Winter Solstice's stopwatch.
Tom carelessly threw the small piece of copper onto the table. After a while, the ends of the metal suddenly opened, revealing two blade-like wings, startling Winter Solstice.
"If you hadn't returned, the blades would have sprung out and taught you a lesson." Tom looked at the fragile Winter Solstice, but his hands didn't stop moving. He skillfully tied up the mice and then took some blood from Menes into a vial, injecting it into one of the mice.
The effect was surprisingly fast. As soon as the blood entered the mouse, it started trembling violently. The drop of blood seemed to come to life inside it, moving through its body until it stopped in its chest, where it ceased moving. A small lump formed on the mouse's chest, as if it had a tumor.
But the tumor grew with each heartbeat of the mouse, and its fur visibly dulled. Within a minute, a young and healthy mouse aged, its round body turned into skin and bones, and its shiny fur became dry and brittle.
Then, its heart stopped beating, leaving only that lump that had grown several times larger. Tom took out a silver needle and pierced the protrusion, watching as a drop of blood slightly larger than before rolled across the table.
Winter Solstice: !
Thank goodness I was clever, or this would have been me!
Next, Tom ignored the squeals of the second mouse and injected it with the drop of blood.
Seeing the drop of blood, which was now nearly twice as large, Tom breathed a sigh of relief. If he could maintain this continuous growth, the blood would transition from being a non-renewable resource to a renewable one.
He looked at Winter Solstice, causing it to tremble, but before it could say anything, Tom slipped a piece of dried meat into its paw.
"Good job, we can keep working together from now on." Tom gently placed Winter Solstice on the ground and accompanied it out of the Room of Requirement.
Watching Tom walk away, smelling the aroma of jerky on his hands, Winter Solstice suddenly thought that it wasn't such a bad deal...
Tom didn't care what Winter Solstice thought. The only thing he cared about was the quality of the blood in his hands. He desperately needed to test it.