Harry followed Tom's gaze and saw a peculiar classmate. Calling her peculiar wasn't just because of her messy, dirty blonde hair that reached her waist, but mainly due to her unique appearance. For some reason, she had her magic wand tucked behind her ear and wore some very strange jewelry: a necklace made of butterbeer corks and a strange earring that looked like two small, orange-colored carrots.
Even in the magical world, her attire was quite eccentric. However, if he remembered the "artists" he had met in London, Luna's style of dress seemed understandable. How could they be considered true artists without wearing costumes?
Harry had never read "The Quibbler," so he searched for a logical explanation for Luna's style.
Whether it was art or not didn't matter; what was important was whether she knew how to make a newspaper. At that moment, Harry was filled with enthusiasm and eager to print Hogwarts' newspaper the next day.
Luna sensed the gazes she was receiving, so she turned to Tom and Harry and smiled at them. Harry waved back.
"It seems like the two of you could get along very well," Tom patted Harry's shoulder, giving him an encouraging look.
"Yes," Harry nodded contentedly. His anticipation for the newspaper he was about to found was growing stronger.
After lunch, as the students moved away from their seats, Harry quickly approached Luna. But then he realized that approaching her like this might be awkward.
But it was already too late; Luna heard his footsteps and stopped, curiously looking at Harry's face.
"Is there something you need?" Luna's voice sounded somewhat dreamy, as if she were murmuring in a dream.
"Uh..." At this point, Harry couldn't worry about that, so nervously, he asked, "I've heard your family publishes a magazine; do you know how to make a newspaper?"
"Of course," Luna only engaged in conversations about topics that interested her, and "The Quibbler" was precisely one of those topics.
"I used to help my father at home with the newspaper and sometimes with the printing of..." Luna's tone of voice hardened as if she had awakened from a dream while discussing practical aspects of the operation.
Upon hearing what Luna said, Harry got very excited and said, "Listen, I want to make a newspaper, Hogwarts' school newspaper. Isn't it true that we don't have our own newspaper here?"
From Luna's expression, she seemed to be more interested in the topic.
At that moment, an intruder joined their conversation.
"What are you talking about?"
Harry turned to see a boy with a large hook in his nose and two thick, dark eyebrows. Harry was surprised: why would Krum come up to them and talk to them? They didn't even know each other well!
And what was even more surprising was that Luna spoke up and started talking to Krum.
"It's a great idea," Krum praised Harry's idea. "Durmstrang doesn't have a newspaper either... if this goes well here, we could make one too."
Luna smiled happily, "The key is to find a good editor and a place to print-"
At that moment, Harry suddenly felt confident. He was sure he could convince Dumbledore to give him a small room to turn into a printing press for the newspaper. However, the editor was still a problem; Harry felt he wasn't good at writing.
Harry, Luna, and Krum, this odd group, continued chatting as they left the Great Hall, paying no mind to the strange looks from others.
...
"Yodel, wait a moment!"
As Tom was walking up the stairs, he heard someone calling his name. He turned around and was surprised to see who was stopping him.
It was Draco Malfoy. Today, he had left his two followers behind and found a quiet place to intercept Tom.
Seeing Draco's haggard appearance, Tom quickly understood the reason for their meeting.
"Can we talk in private?" Draco asked.
"Sure." Tom agreed to Draco's request and led him to a nearby History of Magic classroom. It was lunchtime now, so no one would come to interrupt their conversation.
Looking at Hermione, who was following them, Draco pursed his lips.
"Can she...?"
"No," Tom interrupted with a smile. He didn't even need Draco to finish his sentence to know what he meant: he wanted Hermione to leave.
"Either you let her sit here and listen, or we don't have to talk." Malfoy and his son were no better than one of Hermione's high heels to Tom, so his attitude spoke for itself.
After a brief silence, Draco showed some moral flexibility and accepted Tom's conditions.
The three of them sat together and listened to the reason why Draco had sought them out.
After hearing Draco's explanation, Tom had a strange expression. "From what you're saying, it seems that your father has really become involved with the Death Eaters."
"We did it out of necessity. That person sought us out, and we couldn't refuse," Draco said with an expression of injustice.
He didn't hold a favorable opinion of Voldemort. In his view, Voldemort was one of the causes of his unhappy life. Before Voldemort's resurgence, Draco Malfoy was undeniably a winner in life. He only needed to bring his two thugs to school and be a dominant bully. He had unlimited money to spend and the unwavering support of his father and mother. Thanks to his father, Professor Severus Snape, the Head of Slytherin, also took great care of him.
Those days were much happier than being the Minister of Magic.
But after Voldemort's resurgence, the quality of his life plummeted. His mansion was taken over and turned into the Death Eaters' headquarters. His own father inexplicably became another person's servant, and every day, he had to speak in a low voice, acting like a house-elf, even in his own home.
He loathed these days.
"People often judge by actions rather than the heart..." Tom's words made Draco's heart sink.
In fact, he should never have expected much from Tom. Draco thought. Originally, he hoped Tom could help him establish contact with Dumbledore, to convey his situation and his desire to surrender, thus saving his father from the clutches of the Ministry of Magic.
But now it seemed that Tom just wanted to taunt him.
So, there's only one answer!
"... But exceptions are also possible."
Tom's next sentence reignited the flickering flame of hope in Draco.