After handing the reply to the owl, the family gathered around the table again to continue celebrating Luna's birthday.
They had done what they could—whatever the outcome, they could only leave it to fate now.
However, after this episode, the protagonist of the birthday party had unknowingly shifted from Luna to Tom.
Xenophilius, Pandora, and even Luna—the three of them kept unconsciously glancing at Tom, making his spine tingle and leaving him on pins and needles.
"Meow!" (Happy birthday, I'm outta here!)
Finally, unable to bear this atmosphere any longer, Tom called out and quickly fled the dining room.
Over the following period, although the Lovegood family still looked at him with some curiosity, and Xenophilius continued scheming about how to get him to voluntarily become the headline of The Quibbler, his daily routine finally returned to its usual rhythm.
Everything seemed to return to before Luna's birthday, before that acceptance letter arrived.
However, what had to come would eventually come. After receiving such a reply, Dumbledore couldn't possibly turn a blind eye to a young wizard's abnormal situation, nor would he let a student lose the opportunity to enroll.
Therefore, although there was still some time before the school term started, the headmaster personally visited the Lovegood family.
"Knock knock knock—"
One sunny afternoon, around three o'clock, just as Tom was lazily lying on the windowsill in Luna's room enjoying the warm sunshine, a polite knocking sound came from downstairs.
"Coming right away!"
Pandora called toward the door, then shouted upstairs: "Philiius, go open the door!"
Faced with his wife's request, Xenophilius said nothing and immediately came down from the attic piled with manuscripts to open the door.
"Hello, may I ask what... Professor Dumbledore?!"
Standing outside the door was the elderly man with half-moon spectacles and a long silver-white beard. The moment he saw him, the slight impatience on Xenophilius's face from having his writing interrupted instantly vanished.
"Merlin's beard! What brings you here? Is there some important matter? Could it be that Hogwarts has decided to subscribe to The Quibbler as teaching material? If so, I'll immediately arrange for extra copies—I guarantee it won't delay the children's studies!"
"Oh, Mr. Lovegood," Dumbledore said with a smile and a shake of his head,
"I have read your magazine. The content and perspectives are very innovative, including that previous report about how I might be senile from dementia. Please forgive me for that—when people get old, they inevitably become confused about certain things.
As for whether The Quibbler can become teaching material, that mainly depends on the thoughts of the teaching professors. But so far, I haven't received any related proposals."
"(;′⌒`) I see..." Xenophilius looked somewhat disappointed but quickly perked up. After all, he had been through this for so many years and was long accustomed to it. "Then, Professor, what brings you here this time?"
"It's about student Tom's matter," Dumbledore explained. "I previously received your reply mentioning that Tom encountered some... accident that might affect his enrollment, so I came specifically to see what exactly happened."
As he spoke, he pondered various possibilities in his mind:
'(∩⌣̀_⌣́) Was he bitten by a werewolf?
That was unlikely—the wizarding world has been quite peaceful recently. And if a werewolf really appeared in Ottery St. Catchpole, the Daily Prophet should have already spread the news like wildfire.
Could it be an Obscurus? That was also unlikely. Obscurials usually only appear in young wizards who suppress their magic. The Lovegood family shouldn't let such a thing happen to their child.'
He followed Xenophilius upstairs to the dining room, but his thoughts continued. For a while, he couldn't think of any other possibilities.
"Professor, please wait here for a moment. I'll go call Tom down right away."
Pandora said, bringing out a plate of homemade cookies and a cup of steaming hot tea from the kitchen and placing them on the table.
"If you don't mind, please try my homemade cooking."
"Of course, Mrs. Lovegood, it would be my honor."
Dumbledore temporarily stopped his pondering and smiled as he picked up a cookie and put it in his mouth.
"Very delicious cookies."
Pandora smiled and nodded in acknowledgment, then turned and went to the room where Tom was.
Tom had long heard the commotion downstairs and knew the visitor was Dumbledore, and he was well aware of the purpose of this visit.
However, having to face this legendary figure of the wizarding world still made him somewhat nervous. Therefore, even as Pandora walked up to him, he still buried his head deeply into his front paws, lying on the windowsill and pretending to sleep, trying to jumble through.
In the end, Pandora could only reach out and grab him by the scruff of his neck that defining grip of fate and carry him downstairs to Dumbledore.
"Mrs. Lovegood, this is..." Seeing Pandora return with a cat after going to bring "Tom" down, Dumbledore's face showed a hint of confusion. "And where is student Tom?"
"I'm sorry, Professor, about the Tom you mentioned..." Pandora sighed helplessly and gently shook the blue British Shorthair in her hand that was trying to curl itself into a ball. "This is him."
Dumbledore: (°Д°)
Dumbledore's expression froze. Even someone as well-traveled and knowledgeable as he was clearly showed a trace of surprise at this moment.
With his discerning eye, he could naturally see that what Pandora held was a pure cat, not an animal transformed through Animagus like Minerva. But how was this possible?!
The Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance couldn't be wrong. Since "Tom Lovegood's" name appeared in the Book of Admittance, he was undoubtedly a student recognized by the school.
But having a cat become a student of Hogwarts...
At this moment, even Dumbledore felt somewhat at a loss. Perhaps since Hogwarts was founded, there had never been such a tricky problem.
'Good thing I learned some cat language from Minerva,' he thought to himself with relief, then attempted to speak: "Meow?" (Are you Tom Lovegood?)
Seeing there was really no escape, and with genuine anticipation for Hogwarts in his heart, Tom could only raise his head and give up struggling.
"Meow~" (That's right. And you can just speak human language—I can understand! I can't quite understand this awkward foreign language.)
'Awkward foreign language?'
A flash of astonishment crossed Dumbledore's face, but being the experienced person he was, he quickly regained his usual composure.
"So," his blue eyes gazed at Tom through his spectacles, sharp yet gentle, "are you really just a cat? Or are you a wizard?"
Faced with this question, Tom hesitated.
According to his memories, he had indeed been human in his previous life, but he had ultimately died once and been reborn as a cat. Perhaps his soul had already been assimilated.
Following this line of thought, his essence now was perhaps just a cat.
With this thought, he nodded affirmatively.
This made Dumbledore's headache even worse.
He had originally speculated that Tom might have been cursed by dark magic and turned into a cat. If that were the case, although troublesome, there would be a solution—just like when he accepted Remus Lupin years ago.
But having a real cat enroll—the difficulty involved...
He pondered for a long time, his fingers lightly tapping the table, and finally took a deep breath, choosing to trust that magical artifact passed down for a thousand years.
"I understand."
Dumbledore's gaze became resolute as he looked at Tom solemnly.
"Then, student Tom Lovegood, are you willing to enter Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to study and become a student of Hogwarts?"
"(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧ Meow!"
Tom nodded without hesitation, his tail tip was swaying slightly with anticipation.
Although his abilities were already quite magical, this was MAGIC!
His childhood dream!
Who didn't fantasize as a child about receiving an acceptance letter delivered by an owl?