"Sigh, that outfit was really beautiful, it's just a pity it doesn't have a tail." After leaving the Room of Requirement, Tom remembered the stunning "wildcat" attire Hermione was wearing.
"What are you thinking...?" Hermione gently tapped Tom, her outfit didn't have a cat's tail, so she would need an additional accessory to get a cat's tail. She casually discovered that these tail accessories should be classified as "accessories," and Hermione was sure she would never wear one.
Tom had no idea about accessories. But mentioning the tail reminded him of Harry's cousin.
"Hermione, did you know that Hagrid made a pig's tail out of Dudley's rear end, Harry's cousin, when he picked him up?". He shared this little gossip with Hermione.
"I would never let you give me a tail!" Hermione exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Tom: Eh?
"And where's Crookshanks?". Tom, confused, quickly changed the subject. He remembered Hermione took him to the Great Hall before the match and gave him a "lucky cat's paw," but then he didn't see Hermione bringing Crookshanks to watch the game.
Seeing that Tom didn't mention the tail, Hermione felt relieved. Even if it was Tom, he couldn't do something so exaggerated; it would be too embarrassing!
Once the topic changed, she could seriously answer Tom's question.
"Take Crookshanks to the match? No, I can't do that! It's raining so much outside! And even if it weren't raining, we shouldn't bring a cat to such a crowded and noisy place. Cats are prone to stress. Although magical world cats might be a bit hardier."
Tom's question made Hermione realize that she apparently didn't have much knowledge about raising cats. So she gave Tom a brief explanation about stress in cats. But remembering Crookshanks' usual behavior, Hermione also had some doubts about whether magical world cats would be the same as Muggle pets.
Seeing Crookshanks running wildly and hunting everywhere, even in the common room, and escaping when she wasn't paying attention, wouldn't he be a stress-prone animal in an unfamiliar environment?
"The non-magical world has raised cats somewhat distortedly. These animals are excellent predators, or rather, killers, but it turns out they've made them as fragile as glass bottles." Tom couldn't help but comment.
"Yes, that's true, but..." Hermione wanted to delve deeper into this topic, but suddenly stopped for some reason.
"Oh my God..." Hermione covered her mouth and exclaimed in surprise.
Unlike wizards, the non-magical culture had a significant influence on Hermione. Until now, when faced with something shocking, she was still accustomed to calling on God instead of shouting "Merlin" like wizards.
Tom followed Hermione's gaze and saw Crookshanks crouched at the end of the hallway, with a white pigeon under his paws.
Hermione rushed over in a panic – she remembered that Tom had a white messenger pigeon!
She didn't dare to imagine how she would face Tom if her cat ate Tom's pigeon. And if Tom wanted to punish Crookshanks, what should she do?
As she approached, Hermione could clearly see that under Crookshanks' claws was a dead pigeon, with its chest bloody and feathers scattered on the floor.
Hermione extended her trembling hand and lifted Crookshanks.
"Tom, I'm sorry, I..." She wanted to give an explanation for Crookshanks but couldn't utter a single word.
"Wait," Tom knelt down, carefully examined the dead pigeon, and found out that it wasn't his pigeon at all.
"It's just a misunderstanding." Tom gently stroked Hermione's hair to reassure her.
"Really? You're not trying to console me?" Hermione asked cautiously while holding Crookshanks, like a child who made a mistake.
"Of course not." Tom reassured Hermione and Crookshanks, who was completely bewildered. "Our Crookshanks is very clever; he wouldn't attack birds that have owners, right?"
Crookshanks meowed twice, as if agreeing with Tom.
"Alright, let's go back to the common room and put this little creature back where it belongs." Tom said, controlling the poor pigeon's corpse with a levitating spell and throwing it out of the window, leaving the "crime scene" clean and tidy.
"The common room, yes, let's lock up this little beast first." Hermione said fearfully.
At that moment, just as they were passing in front of Gryffindor's common room entrance, the door slammed open.
With a grunt from Sir Cadogan, a figure darted out of the door.
It was Ron, holding a sheet and coming into view of Tom and Hermione.
"Perfect!" Seeing the two, Ron stopped for a moment, also surprised. He didn't expect to encounter Tom and Hermione so early at the common room entrance.
How had they gotten here? Then, Ron's gaze fell on Crookshanks in Hermione's arms, with bloodstains on its paws and around its mouth.
Ron understood immediately. His face turned red all of a sudden.
"Look!" He roared, holding a corner of the sheet in front of Hermione. "Look!"
He pressed the sheet's corner under Hermione's nose.
"Ron, what...?" Hermione didn't understand what was happening and instinctively took two steps back, showing her confusion.
"Scabbers! My Scabbers!" Ron tried to step forward again, but Tom stopped him. Taking advantage of Hermione's retreat, he positioned himself between the two, keeping them apart.
He saw something red on Ron's sheets, something that looked like blood.
"It's blood! Scabbers is dead!" Ron shouted. "He's dead! Do you know who did it?"
"No, I don't know." Hermione's voice trembled, the intelligent woman had a vague idea of the answer.
"It was your damn pet!" Ron tried to advance, but Tom pushed him back. Then, Neville, who came out of the common room, also embraced Ron, preventing him from rushing and causing a bigger conflict.
"He still has blood on his paws and mouth! Why were Yodel and Granger, Ravenclaw students, in front of the Gryffindor common room so early? Because they were looking for that beast you keep, the one that entered the dormitory and ate my Scabbers! When they found him, I guess he hadn't finished eating Scabbers yet, right?" Ron struggled and shouted at Tom and Hermione.
Faced with Ron's accusations, Hermione's eyes turned red, and a few tears rolled down her cheeks. She was extremely frightened.