Chapter 60: Tom: Yes, That's Right, I'm the Good Guy!

Dumbledore had already left.

In the empty room, only Leavitt and Nagini were left staring at each other.

After a long moment, Leavitt broke the slightly awkward silence, "Did you have breakfast? Would you like some porridge?"

Nagini: "Hiss?"

"Well... indeed, no one feeds a snake porridge. Then, what would you like to eat?" Leavitt asked again.

Nagini: "Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

Leavitt: ?

"Alright, it seems we need to find a translator, and coincidentally, I happen to know one!" Leavitt extended his left hand toward Nagini.

Nagini understood instantly, slithering up and winding tightly around Leavitt's left wrist.

"Bang!"

Tom, who was eating bread while reading a book, was startled out of his wits by the loud, sudden sound of the door opening.

"You scoundrel, what are you up to again? You were the one who told me to read!" Tom said, putting up a bold front despite being cowardly inside.

He was terrified that Leavitt would go back on his word and stop letting him read and study.

For a hardworking and studious good student like Tom, that would simply be too cruel!

"Don't worry, don't worry. I came here just to ask for a favor. I think... you will definitely be very willing, right? I know Tom has always been a kind-hearted, good person."

Me? Kind-hearted? A good person?

Looking at Leavitt's gentle smile, the corners of Tom's mouth twitched slightly before he forced out a smile.

"Yes, I am kind-hearted and a good person! So... I mean... of course... of course I am very willing to help..."

Endure!

"So, Lev, what do you want me to help you with?"

Seeing Tom's expression, where he was smiling without any joy, Leavitt was extremely satisfied.

"Come on, help me translate." Leavitt held out his left wrist.

Tom immediately caught sight of the small snake on Leavitt's arm.

"Hiss... This snake... why does she look so familiar?"

To Leavitt, perhaps all snakes looked pretty much the same, but to Tom, it was a completely different story.

"Because she is Nagini," Leavitt smiled and said.

"Ah?!" Tom was so shocked he almost fell off the bed.

Back then, Nagini had left an indelibly deep impression on Tom.

Because that time, he had almost died!

For Tom, who treasured his life above all else, that was quite simply the most terrifying experience imaginable!

"This... this is actually Nagini... Huh? How did she become so small? And... is she greeting me?"

Leavitt smiled and said, "Because she can maintain her sanity now. Didn't you hear her story before?"

Only then did Tom slowly sit down. "What is going on here? This... even though she's sane now, there's no guarantee when she might lose her mind again... Don't forget, we almost died back then. No, I have to tell Dumbledore about this!"

Looking at Tom's expression, Leavitt knew that Tom thought he had caught a weakness of his and was already plotting how to blackmail him.

However, how could he possibly let Tom succeed?

"Sorry, Nagini was placed by my side by Professor Dumbledore himself. So, he has known about this for a long time."

"What?!" Tom leaped up once again.

"How could that old man do such a thing?! Putting a ferocious beast right beside two frail students? Doesn't he know the danger involved?"

When it came to his personal safety, Tom's reaction was extremely intense.

"Frail students?"

"Yes! Me! Frail!" When Tom said this, he was on the verge of tears.

Ever since Leavitt appeared, he had felt frail every single second of his life...

"Don't worry, Tom. Professor Dumbledore put Nagini by my side naturally because I have mastered a method to keep Nagini sane. Besides... Nagini is sober now, so she can understand everything you say, even if she can't speak human words just yet."

"Ah?!" Tom glanced at the little snake, who seemed a bit depressed, a flash of embarrassment crossing his eyes.

Nagini was originally human, and in a conscious state, she could naturally understand human speech...

Clearly, although Tom's previous words were somewhat excusable, Nagini still felt a bit hurt.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."

"I... I didn't mean it that way, I just..." Young Tom's face turned bright red, and he had no idea what Nagini was saying to him.

"Alright, Tom, we are all good people, aren't we? So, of course, we must actively respond to Professor Dumbledore's call... to be good people and good wizards. Therefore, helping Nagini is our inescapable duty." Leavitt spoke with a sanctimonious veneer.

Tom cast a strange look at Leavitt. He didn't believe a single punctuation mark of what Leavitt was saying!

If there wasn't the slightest bit of benefit to be had, how could this guy possibly be so enthusiastic?!

What was the most miserable thing in the world?

Naturally, it was doing all the hard manual labor yourself while the rewards went to someone else!

Right now, that was precisely how Tom felt.

Leavitt was clearly not going to share any benefits he obtained with him.

Yet, at this moment, he had no choice but to act as Leavitt's translator...

Humiliation! Endurance!

After rebuilding his psychological defenses once more, Tom managed to barely regain control of his facial expressions.

"I wonder... what question do you wish to ask Miss Nagini?"

Leavitt said, "You just need to translate Nagini's words. She can understand whatever we say anyway."

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."

"Oh..." Tom nodded. "She said that now that she is sober, she doesn't want to eat raw food... It reminds her of the days when she lost control and lived like a savage."

Leavitt scratched his head. "If that's the case... how about eating some eggs? I remember snakes quite like eggs. Since she doesn't want to eat them raw, how about boiled eggs?"

Nagini nodded happily, indicating she had no objections.

Fortunately, now that Nagini had shrunk, her physical attributes had also scaled down accordingly, meaning her appetite had become much smaller. Coupled with the nourishment of nutritional potions, a single meal of just two boiled eggs was enough to fill her stomach.

She turned out to be much easier to feed than Leavitt had originally imagined.

After Nagini finished swallowing her two boiled eggs, Leavitt also finished his bowl of porridge.

"Tom, how about you teach me Parseltongue? That way I won't have to trouble you to translate for me anymore," Leavitt said with a smile.

"No way! This is an innate ability, it can't be taught." Tom refused decisively.

How could he possibly agree to let Leavitt learn his abilities?

Knowing Parseltongue and being able to control snakes was currently the only talent he possessed that Leavitt did not.

"You really can't teach it?"

"Really can't!" Tom had made up his mind; no matter how Leavitt threatened him, he would never surrender!

"Fine... then never mind."

Hearing this, Tom almost doubted whether he had heard correctly. This guy was letting him off just like that so easily?

"Nagini can use her tail to write, so I'll just have Nagini teach me snake language," Leavitt said with a smile.

Nagini nodded, indicating there was no problem at all.

Tom stared blankly at Leavitt. Could it be that even his sole area of superiority over Leavitt was about to disappear?

A profound and ineffable sense of powerlessness suddenly washed over Tom...