"Thank you, Tom. I'll come to you again if I need help in this area next time!"
Harry nodded gratefully to Tom, packed up the parchment, and prepared to leave. Before heading to the greenhouses, he had to deliver the homework to Neville and Seamus. He worried that his two roommates, who had been waiting for him so long in the dormitory, were already near tears from anxiety—Neville especially.
Seeing Harry leave, Ron, who currently harbored no particular fondness for Hermione, let out a cold snort, nodded to Tom, and quickly exited the Great Hall.
"Wait… ghostwriting homework is a violation of… where did they go?"
Only then did Hermione snap out of her shock at Tom's audacious feat: writing four sets of homework simultaneously. She had just opened her mouth to scold the pair, only to see their backs disappearing into the distance.
"Tom…"
Her gaze then fell on the giant blue cat beside her. Her tone was a mix of mild disapproval and helplessness. Hermione could easily reprimand ordinary young wizards for breaking school rules, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh to this unusually fluffy classmate. After a brief pause, she shook her head:
"Don't do this kind of thing again; it will only delay your own study. If you need money… you can come to me, or go to Headmaster Dumbledore."
Her eyes flicked over Tom's four essays. While the core content was largely the same—an introductory overview of Dittany, a first-year herb—there were subtle differences in perspective, structure, and reasoning. From this, she could tell just how thorough Tom's understanding of the herbs was.
To Hermione, achieving this level would require reading One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi at least three times. She didn't know that Tom had actually used the book as a pillow while studying Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with Luna. According to Tom's logic: "If I sleep with my head on the book, won't all the knowledge just flow into my head?"
Returning to the present, Tom, who had prepared himself for a lecture, was surprised. In his experience, Hermione would harshly scold anyone who violated school rules. But now… her attitude seemed softer than he expected. He abandoned his prepared mocking words and smiled instead:
"But the school rules never said ghostwriting homework is forbidden~ And technically, didn't you lend them the homework first?"
"Uh… I… this…"
Hermione was instantly speechless. With that little interlude over, the group of four—well, two humans, one cat, and one ghost—made their way to the greenhouses behind the castle.
Professor Pomona Sprout was already there, tending to the plants. She wore a patched, worn hat, her robes were streaked with soil, and her round face radiated warmth and friendliness.
"Oh, you're Tom, right? Headmaster Dumbledore mentioned you to me! I'm sorry I'm only meeting you now as Hufflepuff's Dean. Please forgive me."
She rubbed her soil-stained hands on her robes and extended a warm handshake to Tom.
"Hello, Dean Sprout," Tom replied, shaking her hand without concern. Dirt meant little to him—sometimes he even felt nostalgic walking on all fours.
Sprout's gaze shifted to another unfamiliar face.
"You must be Ariana. The Principal told me about your situation in advance. Don't worry, my class isn't difficult."
Then she frowned slightly, as if recalling something:
"However, Herbology requires a lot of hands-on work…"
Though she didn't finish her sentence, the meaning was clear. Dumbledore had informed her that Ariana was a ghost, and she was fine with teaching her. But he had requested that Ariana's identity remain a secret for now, and Herbology involved physical interaction—something a ghost could not do. Sprout worried that Ariana's identity might be inadvertently revealed.
"Leave it to me!" Tom said confidently. Since he had brought Ariana out, he intended to ensure her life mirrored that of a normal student as much as possible.
"However, there might not be enough time for today's class…"
As someone of many talents, Tom had multiple strategies to help Ariana, but each required time. He could resolve her inability to interact with physical objects by the next morning—but what about the immediate Herbology class?
"No need to worry about that."
Sprout smiled gently, turning to the students who had mostly gathered in the greenhouse.
"Since we have new students joining us, we won't be covering new content today. Instead, we'll review material from the last lesson. Also, the Herbology homework due today is postponed until next week."
"Giving everyone an extra week to prepare… surely no one will say their homework isn't finished now?"
"Thank you, Professor!"
"Ah? How can this be…"
Among the cheers, Harry and his friends' faces fell. Those who had completed their homework now had an extra week—normally a blessing. But for Harry and the others, who had paid Tom to ghostwrite their assignments, it meant they had spent four silver Sickles for nothing. Ron clutched his chest as if in pain, and even Harry, usually unconcerned with money, felt the sting.
Except for Tom and a few in the know, nobody could understand their complicated emotions. Hermione even allowed a small, amused smile—'Look at you, taking shortcuts that cost you for nothing!'
Tom, however, felt a tinge of regret himself. He had planned to contract all of Harry and the others' homework for the semester. Once submitted, they would need to outsource the remainder to him to maintain consistency in handwriting. That plan had now evaporated.
The class passed smoothly, each student immersed in their own thoughts. Tom's performance, relying on memory and intuition, was brilliant. Professor Sprout noticed and gave him special permission: as long as he maintained this level, he would be exempt from all future Herbology homework.
Sprout hadn't intended to set such a precedent—but Snape had already given Tom privileges in Potions class. If she didn't show appreciation, her house risked losing a talented student to another house.
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