"The Special Services Award?" Tom had heard of that award before, but his impression was that only Tom Riddle had received it. Tom Riddle had been awarded the Special Services Award for his "solution" to the Chamber of Secrets incident.
Having a predecessor on the list of winners made him somewhat uncomfortable.
It was like telling the story of a king who used to invite his brave warriors to drink from his personal ivory cup. However, after allowing a dwarf to lick his sores and abscesses from that cup, no warrior wanted to drink from it again.
Therefore, Tom's feelings about that award were quite complex. But other wizards didn't know all these subtleties; they only knew that both Tom and Hermione seemed poised to go down in the school's history.
And indeed, they were going to make history at the school.
A flush of excitement overtook Hermione's face. As someone who had meticulously read "Hogwarts: A History," she knew exactly what the "Special Services Award" meant. It wasn't just a trivial prize but recognition given to Hogwarts students who had made outstanding contributions to the school. Their names would be engraved on golden medals and displayed in the school's trophy room for future generations to gaze upon, if anyone bothered to do so.
Compared to that kind of recognition, the extra points were insignificant.
Everyone present gazed at Tom and Hermione with envy in their eyes. Percy was about to have his eyes pop out of their sockets. As a Prefect and the Annual Award winner, he also had the chance to leave his name in history. Wouldn't it be great to have his name mentioned more than once?
But unfortunately, opportunities only presented themselves to those who were prepared...
After her speech, Professor McGonagall left the podium, and Tom took advantage of her "persistent presence" to dash out of the Great Hall ahead of Hermione, leaving her behind to deal with the students' enthusiasm.
He caught up to Professor McGonagall.
"Mr. Yodel, is there anything else I can assist you with?" Professor McGonagall heard the footsteps behind her and stopped, looking seriously at Tom.
McGonagall's gaze made Tom feel a bit uneasy. It was like facing the Headmistress; even if he hadn't done anything wrong, he still felt instinctual fear.
"Professor, I have a supposition about my Patronus, and I was wondering if you could help me confirm it." Tom swallowed and composed himself, presenting his request to Professor McGonagall.
"Of course, I'll be delighted to help." As Tom expected, Professor McGonagall didn't reject his request. She had a great interest in Tom's Patronus as well. Patronuses in the form of magical creatures were extremely rare, and for both of them to have Patronuses with the same form was even stranger. Even with their special relationship, it was hard to explain such a coincidence. After all, in most cases, a couple's Patronuses were not the same.
McGonagall found an empty classroom and led Tom inside.
With a wave of her wand, she cleared a large space in the classroom and then looked at Tom, gesturing for him to proceed.
"Expecto Patronum," Tom waved his wand and conjured a silvery mist.
Was the emotion not strong enough? Professor McGonagall frowned upon seeing the poorly formed mist—it was something unusual for Tom's Patronus on the day of the match. In that state, it was natural for Tom's spell to misfire.
But how to make Tom remember his emotional state at that moment became a challenge for Professor McGonagall.
"Yodel..."
"Professor, could you conjure your Patronus?" After confirming his preliminary supposition, Tom moved on to the second phase of the test. Now he needed someone to conjure their Patronus in front of him.
If his own Patronus could also change shape, then his own Patronus could be conclusively identified as a Bogart.
"Of course!" Although she didn't understand why Tom Yodel wanted to see her Patronus, Professor McGonagall used the Patronus Charm to summon her Patronus, a tiger-striped cat.
Then, something surprising happened: the silvery mist Tom had conjured began to slowly transform into the shape of his own Patronus, even the patterns around the eyes were identical.
"This..." McGonagall was speechless with surprise. At that moment, a creature's name popped into her mind: Bogart.
"Is your Patronus a Bogart?" McGonagall looked amazed at Tom.
"Maybe yes, maybe no, but my Patronus takes on the form of other people's Patronuses," Tom said.
"Oh, Merlin!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, feeling that in these two days, she had been surprised more times than she usually was in a year.
"I didn't think I'd ever see this kind of Patronus," Professor McGonagall felt a sense of having reached enlightenment at the last moment.
However, Tom's experiments were not over. He looked closely at the two Patronus forms, trying to find signs of their merging. But he failed.
The two Patronus forms drew closer to each other and, after examining each other several times, started playing together. But even when they hugged and rolled on the ground, they showed no signs of merging.
So Tom's Patronus could only have that strange connection with Hermione's.
"Professor, do you know why yesterday on the Quidditch field Hermione's and my Patronus changed their form?" Tom decided to ask Professor McGonagall directly.
"I don't know," Professor McGonagall replied concisely. "But Albus has speculated that the magic of love between you and Hermione has caused an unprecedented change in your Patronuses."
"Love magic?" Tom nodded.
Professor McGonagall continued, "It's the most mysterious, profound, and ancient magic in the magical world. In fact, the deeper the magic, the more an intense emotional fluctuation is required. For example, the Imperius Curse, which uses negative emotions. Adult wizards aren't as afraid of the curse as young ones because if negative emotions can't be channeled correctly, the effects of these curses are diminished. Even the Killing Curse, when cast by a common wizard, at most causes a nosebleed. On the other hand, there's the Patronus spell, which uses positive emotions."
Professor McGonagall showed Tom a corner of the deepest magic, revealing key elements of higher-level magic.
"The Department of Mysteries has been researching 'love,' the most powerful force to ever exist. If you're interested in the topic, you could visit them sometime; they'd be very interested in talking to you."
"I'll go," Tom noted the location in his mind. The Department of Mysteries was one of the most mysterious places in the magical world. Its existence predated even the Ministry of Magic and was likely an inheritance left by ancient wizards.
But sadly, the legacy of wizards had been broken. The wisdom of countless ancient wizards had been lost over time, such as the method for creating a Time-Turner or the true use of Runes. And that lack of continuity was widening before their eyes.
Albus Dumbledore personally destroyed the method for creating Horcruxes, and most young wizards hadn't even heard of that term. One can imagine that in the end, wizards will completely forget the sinister invention of Horcruxes.
Modern wizards are like the Ottomans living in Constantinople, enjoying the cities built by the Romans but not knowing how to maintain the drainage systems beneath their feet. They can only watch as they slowly decay over time.
After confirming his supposition, Tom politely bid farewell to Professor McGonagall. Then, outside the Great Hall, he encountered a sulking Hermione.
"You shouldn't have left me alone," she said somewhat irritably. "Those people wouldn't stop asking questions, and I was already fed up."
"The troubles of happiness," Tom replied.
"Tom, you..."
...
Soothing Hermione took some energy from Tom. After accompanying her back to the common room, Tom headed to the headmaster's office. He needed Dumbledore's support, and perhaps Dumbledore needed to be informed of his plans as well.
At the door, Tom guessed the password for the office in about three minutes and entered the headmaster's office, which was empty.
Like pastries without fillings, there was no headmaster in the headmaster's office, only Fawkes resting on a branch of the willow.
Tom took out a piece of dried basilisk meat he had prepared and offered it to Fawkes.
"Fawkes, do you know where Dumbledore is?"
Fawkes: Caw!
Tom: ...
Well, after all, he's the most powerful wizard in the magical world. If I enter his office, he should know. Even Umbridge put precautions in her own office; won't there be defenses in Dumbledore's office? Tom didn't believe it.
Tom found a chair and sat down comfortably, closing his eyes to rest. It didn't take long before he heard a friendly voice behind him.
"I wonder if the password for my office is too simple."
Tom turned and saw Dumbledore standing at the office door, looking at him with a kindly smile.
Although the password was simple, Dumbledore had never changed it to another topic, which was a clue. Tom believed he had caught the hint, or at least he thought so.
As someone who carried out many tasks, it was normal to have certain privileges.
"Professor, I have an idea."
"Oh? I'm all ears." Dumbledore sat across from Tom and looked at him with interest.
"Professor, what do you think of the Dementors? I suppose you've heard about what happened yesterday."
There was a spark of concealed anger behind Dumbledore's half-moon glasses. He spoke slowly, "I am in discussions with the Ministry of Magic regarding ways to punish the Dementors. We cannot accept intrusions like yesterday's at Hogwarts."
"But things aren't going well, are they?"
Tom's words left Dumbledore silent. He wanted the Ministry of Magic to withdraw the Dementors, but they flatly refused. They believed the key to capturing Sirius Black was at Hogwarts, as he was hiding there. They even hoped Dumbledore would allow a thorough search of the Dementors at Hogwarts.
Of course, Dumbledore couldn't accept that, so negotiations were at an impasse. If this continued, it was likely the Dementors would receive no punishment. Unless Dumbledore himself taught them a lesson using his Patronus.
"I can communicate with them," Tom told Dumbledore.
"That is astonishing." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.
"So I want to become the bridge of communication between the school and the Dementors. I believe that after what happened yesterday, I have demonstrated the capability to protect myself."
Dumbledore rhythmically tapped his desk with his long fingers. "Dementors are one of the most repulsive creatures in the world. They lurk in the darkest and dirtiest places, living in squalor and despair... When they are near, all beautiful feelings and happy memories are sucked from you. If they can, they will take you to the same place they are, soulless and filled with wickedness. Only the worst experiences of your life will remain. Tom, you should understand their nature."
"Yes, Professor," Tom knew very well what kind of creatures Dementors were.
"How do you plan to communicate with them? Are you sure you can stop them when they attempt to re-enter Hogwarts to feed?"
"Yes," Tom said firmly.
"Is it the Patronus Charm?" Dumbledore's eyes lit up slightly. "I can do it too."
"No, it's to satisfy their desires," Tom said as he looked into Dumbledore's eyes. Their gazes met. Soon, Dumbledore closed his own eyes.
"Tom, sometimes your ideas are too extreme... This solution, one might even say, is madness. In fact, it would seriously violate the Statute of Secrecy."
"Muggles can't see Dementors! We can modify their memories!" Tom was frustrated with Dumbledore's caution. In his view, there was no problem in capturing hundreds of scum deserving it from all over Europe to feed the Dementors. These scum would be kept in prison as food for the Dementors. The obedience of the Dementors, satisfied with their desires, would also increase significantly.
"It has nothing to do with that, child. Today you are only imprisoning extremely evil people, but what about in the future? I am very concerned for you."
It was evident that Dumbledore was afraid, afraid that the Tom in front of him would become that other Tom and follow in the footsteps of Tom Riddle.
He had known the first Dark Lord, had taught the second Dark Lord, and did not want to witness the birth of another Dark Lord.
With his hand, Tom touched the bracelet on his wrist. "I have always felt that I am different."
"That's how everyone feels," Dumbledore sighed after a brief silence. "If you insist on doing it, I won't stop you... but I won't provide further assistance either. Tom, it's time for you to rest."
He rubbed his forehead, exhausted, and asked Tom to leave his office.
After leaving Dumbledore's office, Tom also sighed in relief. At least it wasn't the worst outcome. Dumbledore didn't offer help, but he also didn't express clear opposition. Perhaps, deep down in his heart, he considered it a viable option.
And now, Tom had to deliver a satisfactory response.
With thoughts filled with concern, Tom returned to his common room to begin preparations.