Hermione thought she had already passed this level, but it turned out Tom didn't think the same.
"There's still a long way to go!" Tom's body began to swell, and black hair quickly grew on his body, with two bulges on both sides of his neck.
"Now that the nuisance is unconscious, I can give it my all..." In the next second, all the ropes holding Tom broke, and a huge three-headed dog appeared in front of Hermione. Its shoulders almost touched the ceiling, and with a slight pat, it left a deep crater in the ground.
The previous duel between Tom and Hermione could only be considered a prelude. After all, he was someone with a "second phase." The wizard form was only his first phase. Once the wizard was defeated, he could still transform into a magical creature to fight again.
Among the different forms of magical creatures, Tom preferred the three-headed dog form. He liked its brute power and strong defense and endurance; he only needed to deliver one blow, and if it wasn't resolved, he would deliver another.
The other forms were more for support and control; only the three-headed dog was a true combination of attack and defense. The dementor form was more for torturing the weak. For Hermione, who mastered the Patronus Charm, the dementor form was like an easy target...
But it had been a long time since he transformed into a three-headed dog to fight. Today was a coincidence. This room was isolated from the outside, Padma, the third person, was also knocked out by him. There was still time before Professor Lupin entered, so he could fight to his heart's content.
Hermione prepared herself as if facing a formidable enemy. She had a hunch that in front of this form of Tom, if she made a single mistake, she would end up in the infirmary. But that didn't matter; Hermione wanted to know how big the gap between her and Tom was. Even if there was a risk of serious injury, Hermione wouldn't back down; she was prepared for it.
She raised her wand-
Drip, drip, drip.
"Wait... a... moment!" Although the black dog's paw had already been lifted, it suddenly made a stopping gesture. Tom's other paw searched through the black fur for a moment and pulled out a small hourglass held by the paw. The top half of the hourglass had already run out of sand.
"It's over..." Tom transformed directly back into his human form.
Hermione: ?!!
"I was ready, and you stop!"
"Turn back into a three-headed dog!" Hermione exclaimed in frustration, "Turn back into a three-headed dog and fight!"
"I want to do that too," Tom said helplessly, "But time is up, Professor Lupin is about to enter..."
Hermione: ...
She also understood that Tom didn't want to reveal his secret to other people, so she had to swallow her frustration.
Outside the exam, Professor Lupin had already entered the test site. At this moment, he was standing outside the swampy cave of the second level, staring at the bell in his hand. One of the bells was emitting a faint sound, while the other lay silently in his hand. Both bells were illuminated with three stars, which meant that both had reached the third room, and Padma was already unconscious.
Meanwhile, in the waiting area outside the exam, the young wizards were discussing animatedly.
"How much time has passed? It seems that Granger's group has lasted longer than the other groups."
"I just timed it. It's been seven minutes; they're really the group that has lasted the longest. Moreover, I noticed that only one of the bells in Professor Lupin's hand is ringing, which means..."
"One of the two has been knocked out."
Seeing how long Hermione had endured, the young wizards showed expressions of admiration. This was a high-level challenge, and lasting for seven minutes was truly impressive.
"Get out of the way!" Hermione pushed Tom aside with a grimace and headed for the treasure chest.
"I want to see what Professor Lupin put in the chest—" as she spoke, she opened the chest in front of her.
Two seconds later, a scream echoed throughout the place. Professor Lupin intercepted Hermione, who was terrified, between the second and third room.
"Hermione, what's wrong? What did Tom do to you?" Professor Lupin was very surprised; he didn't expect Hermione to get frightened like that.
"I, I, I..." Hermione took a while to calm down. "I saw Professor Flitwick coming out of the box and telling me I had failed all the subjects I had taken before!"
It turned out that Professor Lupin had placed a Boggart in the chest, and Hermione got trapped as soon as she opened it.
Lupin: ...
Don't laugh, contain it!
Tom: ...
Why did you change your mind?
It wasn't Hermione who changed her mind, but rather she suddenly realized that Tom's phoenix form seemed to be able to infinitely resurrect, meaning he wouldn't die. Furthermore, with the pressure of recent exams, what she feared most had also changed.
Professor Lupin pulled out Hermione and the unconscious Padma and called the next group.
When Harry and Ron arrived in the third room, panting after crossing the cave's swamp, they were stunned to see the uneven floor.
The ground here seemed to have been bombarded, and there was a large burned area.
Seeing the damage marks on the ground, it wasn't hard to imagine the intensity of the battle that had taken place here.
Harry and Ron swallowed hard and felt that their exam had probably come to an end.
How long could they last under Tom? Harry had no confidence at all. After all, he had witnessed the duel between Tom and Hermione.
But Tom, sitting in the center of the field, only weakly waved his hand, indicating that they could pass.
"Let me rest for a while... you two go out and don't say nonsense..." The confrontation between Tom and Hermione had consumed too much magical energy, and he needed some time to recover.
So Harry and Ron benefited.
He watched as Ron returned the spider he had taken from the box, and he also saw Harry successfully use the Patronus Charm to make the Boggart transformed into a Dementor flee in fear.
After Hermione passed the challenge, the difficulty level of the level decreased significantly. At the end of the exam, three or four groups of young wizards encountered the Boggart in the treasure chest.
The afternoon exams were Muggle Studies and Divination. Tom and Hermione used the Time-Turner and first went to the Muggle Studies exam, where they wrote a short essay on the process of the Muggle First Industrial Revolution, and then headed to the West Tower, where the Divination classroom was located.
At this time, many young wizards were already lining up outside the tower. The vast majority were trying to cram at the last minute, holding the book "Clearing the Mist to See the Future."
"I won't be taking this class next semester," Hermione said with determination.