Chapter 137: Aerial combat (Edited)

With the addition of the Black Lake as a new place to play, Fish has been spending less time in the Forbidden Forest lately, even jumping in the lake during the day when he has free time.

Professor McGonagall had no problem with this, as the weather was getting warmer and the students would occasionally go swimming in the lake, as they were prevented from doing so by the unfamiliarity of their animal affinity.

With the creatures of the Forbidden Forest as examples and Fish having learned the Bubble Head Charm, Professor McGonagall was quite sure that Fish was safe in the Black Lake.

As a teacher who had been at Hogwarts for decades, she knew that the two main forces in the lake, the giant squid and the mermaids, were on friendly terms with Hogwarts.

As for the legend circulating among the students that someone was dragged into the lake and eaten by a giant squid, it was as much a gimmick for the new students as the opening ceremony, and none of the seniors would believe it.

...

With the mermaids' patient guidance, Fish also managed to catch a small fish.

But the raw fish tasted so bad that, after tasting two of them, Fish merely released them, occasionally taking some to Filch to make dried fish.

The only thing that didn't make Fish happy was that it was a little hard to mark territory on the bottom of the lake, the smell wouldn't stay and the claw marks alone weren't easy to spot in the dark water.

So, after spending some time wandering around the Black Lake, Fish became less interested in getting in the water and returned to the Forbidden Forest as his main activity for the evening.

But as final exams approached and teachers assigned more and more homework, though the group of girls who tutored Fish didn't bother Fish, but spent more and more time working on their homework and less and less time playing.

But!

Nothing can stop a kitten's determination to play!

Even if time is scarce, sneaking out of the castle every night is still a must.

"Buckbeak! I've come to play with you!" ?(●ΦwΦ●)?

A small tabby cat swooped down from a tree, turning into a boy with cat ears and tail in mid-air, and landed on the back of a Hippogriff.

Buckbeak let out a long whinny that was a mixture of eagle and horse cries, then turned his big eagle head and whacked Fish's little head with his hard beak.

"You're the one who's not very alert, meow."

Fish sat on Buckbeak's back, happily thrusting his huge beak.

"And Shadow's not scared."

The hippogriff's whinny suddenly echoed.

As carnivorous flying creatures that also lived in the forbidden forest, the relationship between the hippogriffs and the winged horses had never been very good, and although they had some friendship thanks to Fish, they often tried to compete with each other.

So when the hippogriffs heard Fish praise the Thestrals and belittle them, they were disgusted and protested.

"But they're just not as good as Shadow," Fish replied bluntly, "In terms of reflexes, speed and strength, Shadow is better than you, meow."

Although the Ministry of Magic does not judge magical creatures by their strength, the Thestral, rated XXXX, was in fact slightly stronger than the Hippogriff, which is rated XXX.

However, this was the most heartbreaking truth, especially since the Hippogriff is a particularly proud creature.

Buckbeak flapped his wings and bounced wildly in place, throwing Fish, who was sitting on top of him, to the ground.

Adjusting his body in midair, Fish landed firmly on the ground, and before he could complain, Buckbeak's beak pecked at him.

"Meow!" ∑(●ΦДΦ●)

Instead of getting angry, Fish changed into his clouded leopard form and pounced on Buckbeak, wrestling him.

"Caw~~!" ?(='?'=)?

Although Buckbeak would be no match for Shadow in a real fight, if he was just playing around, he would be more difficult to face than Shadow, because the Hippogriff had a pair of huge eagle claws, which were very intimidating and deadly when fighting.

It was only because of their strength and speed that the Thestrals were able to keep them at bay.

As usual, when Fish fought the Thestrals, other creatures of the Forbidden Forest came to watch whenever they could, and soon the forest was filled with all sorts of magical creatures.

Among them was a group of Thestrals, led by Shadow.

"Caw!"

The Hippogryphs, who were already angry, immediately surrounded Shadow, each of them spreading their wings, with their huge eagle talons dug into the ground anxiously, and squawking at the Thestrals.

Although the Hippogriffs outnumbered them, and they didn't know what was wrong with the bird-headed creatures, the Thestrals spread their huge bat wings and let out a strange, shrill whinny as they faced the Hippogriffs.

And the other animals cried out as they watched.

In a few moments, the Hippogriffs fought with the Thestrals, and since they could all fly, they fought not only on the ground, but in the sky.

"Ouch!"

Sensing the commotion, Fish stopped playing with Buckbeak, transformed into his catlike form, and leapt onto the back of a nearby Aethonan.

"Quick, take me to see what's going on, meow!" ?(●ΦwΦ●)?

Fish urged the Aethonan below him eagerly, as he had never seen any other creature in the Forbidden Forest fight on a large scale, except for the last time he had fought the Acromantulas.

With a snort, the Aethonan carrying Fish flapped his wings and took flight, as Buckbeak rose into the air to join the fight.

The fight didn't last long, firstly because it was only a game, and secondly because the large group of Hippogriffs and Thestral were in the air over the forbidden forest and soon attracted Hagrid, who was patrolling.

Before Hagrid could get to the fight, Fish, who had received a message from the Augurey, had the group scatter.

"See, I told them they couldn't beat Shadow."

In a wooded area, away from Hagrid, Fish was surrounded by a group of Hippogriffs, casting rejuvenation spells at them while rubbing salt into the Hippogriffs' wounds.

In terms of wounds, both sides were actually about equal, and it was only a tie, but the Thestrals had fewer numbers than the Hippogriffs, so even though it was a tie, it meant that the Thestrals were stronger.

"Winny~"

The young horse Twilight Sparkle, who hadn't fought before, let out a cry of triumph and raised a pair of front hooves, giving Buckbeak two false kicks.

"Caw~!"

The proud Hippogriffs couldn't take the aggravation and, after Fish dressed their wounds, turned around and disappeared into the forest.

"Didn't they just lose the fight? why are they so angry?" ?w?

Fish, who had lost many battles against Professor McGonagall, cocked his head to one side, confused, and then pulled food out of his magic bag and gave it to his friends, the Thestral and Aethonan, who had not left.

As usual, they all ate the food Fish had brought, and some of the pups stuck to Fish, listening to the fairy tales he had heard from Professor McGonagall.

Suddenly, Shadow, who was gnawing on a cow bone, raised his head and let out a high-pitched, low growl at Fish.

"Winny~!"

"What? is Lochlin hurt?!"

Fish jumped off the ground and climbed onto Shadow's back without a word.

"Quick, let's go help, Meow?" ?(●ΦДΦ●)?