Chapter 244: Cat-woman Hermione

As night fell early, everyone returned to their dormitories after Christmas dinner in twos and threes.

Fish, meanwhile, grabbed Fawkes and ran to Professor McGonagall's office.

During the Christmas vacations, Professor McGonagall was free to tell him stories, but mostly to keep an eye on his vacation homework, since most of the girls' "tutoring" group and Sharpay had left school around this time, so Professor McGonagall had to keep an eye on him herself.

Of course, in Fish's mind, the importance of the two things had to be reversed, the main reason for coming to Minerva's office was to listen to stories, and homework was a secondary issue.

But today is Christmas anyway, so Professor McGonagall gave Fish a day off and, instead of forcing him to do homework, told him two more stories, including the one about how Dumbledore met Fawkes.

After listening to the story with great interest, Fish left Professor McGonagall's office with Fawkes on his shoulder.

He had finished his tour of the grounds for the day, and with the recent cold weather, Fish had no intention of wandering around in the evening, or playing in the Forbidden Forest.

Just as Fish was heading for the next staircase, he suddenly stopped.

"Sniff..."

(●`ω●)

Fish tilted his head slightly and sniffed a couple of times sharply, smelling a familiar yet unfamiliar scent.

"Is this... Tina's scent? But something doesn't seem right nya.... It smells a bit like Hermione too..."

Scanning the scent that lingered in the air, Fish scratched his head in confusion.

In addition to wondering about the somewhat odd smell, he also wondered....

Shouldn't Tina go home with Millicent on vacation? Even in normal times, she rarely leaves the Slytherin dormitory.

Curious, Fish turned his nose into a more sensitive cat nose and glanced up into the air to identify the direction, and then realized that the smell was heading towards the infirmary.

"Nya!"

∑(●ΦΦДΦ●)

Fish was surprised, could it be that Tina had been petrified just like Mrs. Norris?

With that in mind, Fish hurried to the infirmary.

The heir to the Chamber of Secrets, who I don't know who he is, is he heading for the cats?

Furious, Fish burst into the infirmary and leapt into the room, followed by Fawkes, who had been knocked off his back, his wings flapping.

"Tina! Are you okay... nya?"

⊙ω⊙

Fish, who had rushed in, was slightly stunned, for it was not as he had thought, that Tina had not been petrified, but that there was suddenly a black furred cat person in the infirmary that he had never seen before.

"Tina nya?" According to the smell on the other party's body, Fish guessed and asked, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Could it be that he had met a cat that could also become human?

"Fi Fi Fi... Fish?!"

Hermione, who was sitting at the head of the bed with a sad face, was startled by someone's sudden entrance.

When she saw that it was Fish, she rushed to shield her face with her hands and shouted incoherently, "No, that's not true! I am... that... I'm not..."

Panicking, Hermione had no idea what she was saying, shouting nonsense, and then, without realizing it, she looked at the hospital bed blankets, grabbed them and threw them over her body, cowering under them like an ostrich.

"What the hell... it's Hermione..."

Fish, who recognized the other party by her voice, sighed regretfully, though the smell was faint, the other party smelled a bit like Hermione.

Disappointed, Fish reached out curiously and poked Hermione, who was hiding under the covers like an ostrich.

"Hermione, what's wrong nya? did the Animagus Charm malfunction?"

Fish remembered what Professor McGonagall had said, that if the Animagus Charm failed, there was a chance she would become half human and half animal.

"Wuuuu..."

Hermione's muffled reply came from under the sheets, even with Fish's keen hearing, he couldn't make out what she was saying.

"Nya..."

Fish scratched his hair anxiously, he was actually quite interested in Hermione's condition.

Looking around, Fish transformed back into his tabby form and slipped through the gap in the blanket.

"Nya?"

(=ΦωΦ=)

Fish walked over to Hermione's head, who had her face buried in her arms, and touched her head with his paws, then licked her cat ears twice.

They weren't fake ears like the twins' and Professor McGonagall's, but real ears that were controlled and totally tactile, like Fish's cat ears.

"Ahhh!"

The cat's ears were already sensitive, and when they were scraped twice by Fish's prickly tongue, Hermione exclaimed unconsciously and then turned her head to look to the side.

The yellow cat eyes gave Hermione the same night vision as the cats, and with the faint glow of light coming through the hole, she could immediately make out the familiar head of the tiger-spotted cat next to her.

"Ahh!"

Hermione let out another scream and jumped out of bed.

"What happened?"

Madam Pomfrey, who was resting in the office next door, finally noticed the commotion here and rushed over.

Then she saw Hermione the cat standing by the bed, a familiar tabby cat crouched on the bed, and Dumbledore's phoenix perched on the bed.

"Nya~"

(=ΦωΦ=)

Fish lifted a paw and waved politely at Madam Pomfrey.

"So it's Fish," Madam Pomfrey sighed in relief, then reached over and patted her little head, "Come to visit a friend?"

"Nya~"

Madam Pomfrey looked at Hermione, who didn't know what to do, and comforted her with a smile, "Don't worry, Fish would be the least likely to laugh at you, he's a cat too."

"Nya?"

?ω?

Fish cocked his head to the side, confused, not understanding what Madam Pomfrey was saying.

He just didn't understand what Hermione had to laugh about in that state....

She was beautiful!

That's what Fish thought, and that's what he said.

"Why would I laugh at Hermione nya?! Now she's so beautiful nya! And Fish can become like that too! look like that nya."

(=`Д=)

Fish, who had taken on a feline form similar to Hermione's, but much smaller, cried out defiantly, waving both paws.

"Yes, yes, Fish and Hermione are beautiful."

Although surprised by Fish's cat-man form, Madam Pomfrey played along and couldn't resist picking him up and giving him a big kiss on his furry face.

It was only when she saw Fish in his cat-man form that Hermione realized what she was doing.

She had only thought she was too weird to be seen by other people, especially Fish, but she had neglected the fact that Fish himself was special: he had considered himself a cat until a few years ago.

So it was actually a good thing that he looked like that now...?

Hermione was glad, she had never heard Fish compliment a girl on her beauty.

Seeing that nothing was wrong, Madam Pomfrey brought in some snacks and black tea, and left the room.

Fish and Hermione sat side by side on the bed, chatting quietly.

"Hermione, did you fail at being an Animagus?"

(=ω=)

Fish asked once more, leaning over curiously and sniffing Hermione's body, if he wasn't covered by a layer of cat fur, he could see Hermione's flushed face.

"No, I haven't practiced turning into Animagus yet, the book says it's a very dangerous spell and shouldn't be attempted without being fully prepared."

Hermione shook her head in a giddy state, finally feeling less shy to talk about study related topics.

"So how did you become like this nya? Also, why do you smell like Tina?" Fish asked.

"Tina?" Hermione's heart clenched and her cat ears pricked up, "Who's Tina?"

"She's Millicent's cat, but she should have gone back to Millicent nya" Fish said.

"It's as expected..."

A relieved Hermione laughed bitterly and answered Fish's earlier question.

"I was actually trying to use the Multijuice Potion to take on Millicent's appearance, but I got the ingredients wrong..."

Now that Harry and the others had gone to see Malfoy, Hermione didn't have to hide anymore and told Fish her whole plan.

Fish wasn't interested in Harry's plan, and from the looks of it, they hadn't found the person who had petrified Mrs. Norris.

What really interested Fish was....

"The Multijuice Potion is ready nya!"

(=ω=)