At that moment, Tom suddenly remembered what Hannah hadn't finished saying earlier. She seemed to have mentioned something about… the wrapper of a Chocolate Frog?!
His expression changed instantly. Forgetting about his abilities entirely, he questioned her directly:
[Hannah! What exactly did you feed me earlier?!]
Hannah's gaze flickered noticeably, and her voice grew smaller and smaller as she spoke.
"I… I just gave you Cauldron Cakes, chilled pumpkin juice, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and some Chocolate Frogs… You tasted a bit of almost every snack. But since so much time has passed and you seem fine, you should be able to ignore the chocolate… right?"
[…While I appreciate your honesty, couldn't you have lied to me just this once! (つд⊂)]
The moment he learned the truth, Tom instantly felt as if his entire cat body was unwell—not just figuratively, but literally.
He hadn't noticed anything before realizing it, but once he became aware that he had eaten chocolate, everything immediately started to feel wrong.
His stomach began to ache. His heart rate accelerated. His muscles twitched uncontrollably, and a dizzy sensation washed over his head. He even felt as though his soul were being forcibly pulled away from his body.
[You're really going to be the death of me this time! (๑๑д๑)]
Tom hastily scribbled the sentence down, wanting to cry but unable to shed a single tear.
Seriously—girl, you already fed me. Wouldn't it have been fine if you had just pretended not to know? Why did you have to tell me? And honestly, I'm partly to blame too. Why did I insist on confirming it when I had nothing better to do? Wouldn't it have been better to remain blissfully ignorant?
Great. Now that I know I ate chocolate, the theobromine and caffeine have immediately started wreaking havoc inside my body.
'I hope I don't miss the Sorting Ceremony tonight… (;one_one)'
As that final thought flashed through his mind, Tom's vision went completely black, and he lost consciousness.
In his final moment of awareness, Hannah's tearful cries echoed faintly in his ears.
"Tom? Tom! Don't die! I really forgot you couldn't eat chocolate!"
If you forgot, then don't remember it!
Although he desperately wanted to complain, Tom was no longer capable of making any response.
"A strange ceiling… Wait, where is my ceiling?!"
After an unknown amount of time, Tom's consciousness gradually returned. However, what greeted his eyes was neither the interior of the Hogwarts Express carriage nor the ceiling of the school infirmary.
Surprisingly, he wasn't worried about being unable to return. Although this was his first time dying from chocolate, it wasn't his first "death" in this world.
He had died once before while saving Pandora. Back then, even his soul had been blown out of his body—yet he ended up perfectly fine in the end. Compared to that, death wasn't even worth mentioning to Tom anymore.
And honestly, if Hannah hadn't told him that he'd eaten chocolate, he might not have died at all! After all, Tom was essentially a gag character, and he was quite proficient in the "Schrödinger's state" ability common among gag characters.
'But… it doesn't seem like this has much to do with Hannah either? If I hadn't reflexively questioned her, she wouldn't have said anything, right? Thinking about it carefully… does that mean this is still my fault?! (:3"∠)'
'No, no—it's still that girl's fault! If she hadn't fed me chocolate while I wasn't paying attention, I wouldn't have ended up like this! Yeah, I'll make her compensate me properly later! o(´^｀)o'
'But… where exactly is this place?'
With that thought, Tom looked around.
He appeared to be standing in a world of pure white. Above him stretched a vast, equally white sky. Death was death, but this was his first time ending up in a place like this, and he had absolutely no idea how to leave.
If he had to describe it…
"This place is just like heaven."
Tom murmured softly to himself.
Unlike the other place he'd been to, however, there was no ticket gate, no train bound for the afterlife, and no long queues of cats or humans waiting their turn. There was nothing here—nothing at all—only an endless expanse of white.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, something unusual caught his attention.
In the distance, against the overwhelmingly white background, a small black dot entered his field of vision, standing out sharply.
'Well, since I don't know when I'll be able to go back anyway, why not go take a look? (๑•₃•๑)'
Staring at the only distinct feature in this strange world, Tom thought for a moment before starting to walk toward it.
Time and space seemed to hold no meaning here. He had taken only two steps when he found himself already standing beside the black dot.
What he saw wasn't a stain, nor a platform for souls to pass on as he had imagined. Instead, it was a small, ordinary wooden cabin.
"(°ー°〃) A wooden cabin? Why would there be a cabin in a place like this?"
Tom stared at the modest cabin, which looked as though it belonged to the previous century, completely dumbfounded. He had imagined many things, but he had never expected something so… ordinary.
After standing at the door and thinking for a moment, he reached out, pushed it open, and walked inside.
'What's there to be afraid of? At worst, I'll just die again~ Oh right, I'm already a dead cat, so there's even less to fear! (￣▽￣*)'
Since he hadn't woken up yet anyway, he decided he might as well see exactly what kind of place this was.
The interior was unremarkable. No matter how carefully he looked around, Tom couldn't find anything special. It was simply furnished, just like the house of an ordinary person.
As for why he was certain someone lived here—
The cup of steaming black tea sitting on the table was the clearest evidence.
"Hello? Is anyone here?"
Not understanding why the owner of the house hadn't shown themselves, Tom raised his voice and called out.
"! A… a talking cat?!"
Before his words had even finished echoing, a timid young girl's voice rang out from upstairs. Her tone carried a slight tremble, yet beneath it, if one listened carefully, there was also a hint of relief.
"Hello. My name is Tom. I'm, well… a cat who accidentally wandered in here. Could I get to know you?"
As he spoke, Tom looked up toward the second floor, trying to catch a glimpse of the person upstairs. Unfortunately, the staircase and upper floor were shrouded in darkness. He couldn't see her appearance—or even a silhouette.
"… "
What answered him was a long silence. The voice seemed to disappear entirely after he suggested meeting her.
"Are you still there? Is it inconvenient? If it is, I can come upstairs instead!"
Since the other party could communicate, Tom hoped he might be able to gather some information from her. His curiosity about this strange place only grew stronger.
"No—no need! I can come down myself!"
The moment she heard Tom's suggestion, the girl's voice became flustered.
Immediately afterward, hurried thud-thud footsteps echoed down the staircase. Moments later, a blonde girl who looked to be around thirteen or fourteen years old ran down from the second floor.
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