The moment it hit him, Tom suddenly remembered what Hannah hadn't finished saying earlier. She'd mentioned… the packaging of a chocolate frog?!
His expression changed instantly. He even forgot to use his psychic ability and blurted out:
[Hannah! What exactly did you feed me earlier?!]
Hannah's eyes immediately darted away, and her voice got quieter and quieter:
"Um… just some cauldron cakes, iced pumpkin juice, Every-Flavored Beans, and some chocolate frogs… You kind of tried a little bit of everything. But it's been so long and nothing happened, so I figured you'd be fine ignoring the chocolate… right?"
[…I appreciate your honesty, but couldn't you just lie to me this one time?! (つд⊂)]
Upon learning the truth, Tom felt his whole cat body crash emotionally and physically.
He hadn't noticed anything before, but the moment he realized he'd eaten chocolate, everything hit him at once:
A stabbing pain spread through his stomach; his heartbeat sped up; his muscles twitched; his head spun. Worst of all, he felt like his soul was starting to detach from his body.
[Great, I'm really going to die because of you!! (๑१д१)]
He wrote the sentence with tears in his metaphorical eyes.
Seriously, girl—if you already fed it to me, couldn't you just not bring it up? And me too! Why did I have to ask?! I could've lived happily in ignorance!
Now that the truth was out, the theobromine and caffeine in the chocolate seemed to instantly go berserk inside his system.
"Hope I don't miss tonight's Sorting Ceremony… (;一_一)"
That was his last thought. His vision went dark, and he passed out completely. In the final moment, he faintly heard Hannah's panicked, tearful voice beside him:
"Tom? Tom! Don't die on me! I really forgot that cats can't eat chocolate!"
"…If you forgot, then don't remember!!"
Tom would've yelled that back, but he could no longer respond.
---
"Strange ceiling… Wait—where's my ceiling?!"
Who knew how much time had passed before Tom's consciousness slowly returned. But what he saw was neither the roof of the Hogwarts Express compartment nor the ceiling of the school infirmary.
He wasn't worried, though. Even if this was his first time eating chocolate, it wasn't his first time dying—not even in this world.
He'd already died once when saving Pandora. His soul had literally been blasted out of his body, and he still ended up perfectly fine. So dying wasn't exactly a big deal for him.
And honestly, if Hannah hadn't told him he'd eaten chocolate, he probably wouldn't have died at all. Tom was, at his core, a comedic character. And comedic characters have that universal "Schrödinger survival state" buff—they don't die unless they know they're supposed to.
'Though now that I think about it… maybe it wasn't Hannah's fault? If I hadn't asked, she wouldn't have said anything. So technically… this is my fault?! (:3」∠)'
Nope. Absolutely not. It's that girl's fault! If she hadn't shoved chocolate in my mouth while I wasn't looking, none of this would've happened! She's definitely going to owe me big time after this! o(´^｀)o
'But… where even am I?'
Tom looked around.
He seemed to be standing in a completely white world—white sky, white ground, white air. This was his first time ending up in a place like this, so he had no idea how to leave.
If he had to describe it…
"This looks like heaven."
Tom muttered to himself. It reminded him of the heaven-like place he'd visited before—whether that had been a dream or reality.
But unlike that place, there was no ticket booth, no train of souls, no line of cats and humans waiting to board—nothing at all. Just endless white.
"Huh?"
Something different suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
Far away, in the vast whiteness, a single black dot stood out.
'Well, I don't know when I'll get out of here anyway… might as well go check it out. (๑•₃•๑)'
With nothing else to do, Tom headed toward the black dot.
In this white world, there seemed to be no such thing as distance. He took two steps and suddenly found himself right next to it.
The black dot wasn't a smudge or a stain, nor was it a platform for souls.
It was… a small wooden cabin?
"A cabin? Why would there be a cabin in a place like this?"
Tom stared, confused. He had imagined many possibilities, but a random wooden house was not one of them.
After standing at the doorstep for a moment, he simply pushed the door open and walked in.
'What's there to be scared of? Worst case, I'll just die again. Oh wait—I am dead. So even better! (￣▽￣)'
Might as well figure out what this place is before he wakes up.
The inside of the cabin looked completely normal. No matter how hard Tom looked, nothing seemed suspicious. It looked like any simple, lived-in home.
And the steaming cup of tea on the table proved that someone definitely lived here.
"Hello? Is anyone here?"
Tom raised his voice, confused why the owner would be hiding.
"Ah—A t-talking cat?!"
Before he could finish, a timid voice echoed from upstairs. Her voice shook slightly, but Tom could hear something else underneath it—relief?
"Hi, my name is Tom. I accidentally wandered in here. I'm, uh… a cat. Could we maybe talk?"
Tom looked up, trying to see who was speaking. But the second floor was so dark he couldn't make out any shape.
"…"
Silence. After suggesting that they meet face-to-face, the voice had vanished completely.
"Are you still there? If it's inconvenient for you, I can come upstairs!"
If she could talk, then she might have information. And Tom was very curious about this strange place.
"N-no! I—I'll come down!"
Her voice suddenly turned frantic.
Then—
thump thump thump—
Light footsteps rushed down the stairs, and soon, a blonde girl of about thirteen or fourteen hurried into view.