Chapter 325: Unexpected Harvest (Edited)

The fact that Fish had helped the twins with their sale had created a bit of a stir, but it hadn't been a particular concern.

The Weasleys and Fish had always had a good relationship, and the twins were known for having lots of ideas, so it wasn't all that surprising that they were trying to get the cat to help sell something.

The twins didn't sell counterfeit goods, they sold new and interesting ones, so there was no problem with them, although they were envious, and the rich witches in the other three Houses were eager to sell more.

When Professor McGonagall heard about this, she made a point of asking Fish about it.

She was mainly worried about the evil Weasley twins and that they were trying to do something dangerous with her cat.

After all, she knew what Fish was like and, under normal circumstances, he didn't have much patience for sales.

"It's because Fish accidentally dropped the beans and got George and Fred scolded by Minerva and Aunt Molly, so I went to help nya."

?ω?

The cat innocently answered Professor McGonagall's question with wide eyes.

After Voldemort's diary training, Fish is now getting better and better at lying.

Professor McGonagall didn't see the lie this time, and with a growl, said, "Serves you right!"

So she warned Fish once again not to do anything dangerous with the twins and stopped paying attention to this matter.

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful, with Fish eating, drinking, sleeping, and attending classes at Hogwarts as usual.

Occasionally, on a whim, he would try to earn a few House points to build up his reserves for possible demerits later on; the kitten had a clear idea of his mischief-making abilities.....

However, there were many times when Fish didn't really think he was being naughty.

For example, he was now obsessed with catching Sirius Black for a reward.

Fish didn't think it was dangerous or a bad thing, but he knew for sure that Professor McGonagall would be angry if she found out.

So...

He had to save up more House points to make up for the possibility of losing them in the future.

However, Sirius Black had let Fish down, and in all that time, the stranger hadn't been seen at Hogwarts at all, and Fish didn't even know where he was, let alone had caught him for the reward.

This upset the kitten.....

Hadn't Black already escaped Azkaban? Why was he still blocked by Dementors on the outside?

The days passed in an orderly fashion, with the kitten waiting for the next half month.

During this time, Hermione was so busy with her electives that she was spending much less time with Fish....

Of course, this was partly due to the efforts of the other girls.

However, after they got in the way several times, they realized that Hermione was always on the go and didn't have much time to devote to the cat, so the fragile alliance was instantly broken, leaving Hermione with a lot of peace of mind.

The problems Hermione had feared during the first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson never occurred, and instead of holding a grudge against Hermione, Professor McGonagall laughed when she heard Fish talk about it....

Then she grabbed the chubby kitten by the cheeks and rubbed it hard.

"Ugh..."

Hermione sighed helplessly as she averted her gaze to the kitten that was surrounded by the other girls.

Of course, she could have gone upstairs to join them, to talk to Fish, but after seeing her heavy backpack and the upcoming elective class, Hermione turned around and walked in another direction.

Entering the Muggle Studies classroom, Hermione absently listened to the professor at the podium talking about something that seemed like common sense to her, she was already thinking about dropping one or two of her electives.

Hermione flipped through the books in her hands, the textbook for the Muggle Studies class was actually quite interesting, class content aside.

As Muggle Studies was not a popular course, the textbook Hermione held in her hands had been written many years ago, and while some of the ideas it contained were informative, most of the time it was a fallacy of perception that the teachers at the school used as a counterpoint.

To a Muggle wizard like Hermione, these fallacies were a complete joke.

As the pages turned, a piece of paper fell out of Hermione's textbook.

The first thing that caught Hermione's eye was a familiar cat paw print, with the words, "See you in the common room tonight at eleven," written in bold letters.

Although there was no signature, the cat paw print was a good indication of who had written the note.

"Swish!"

Hermione quickly hid the note in her hand, looked around carefully to make sure no one had noticed what had just happened and sighed in relief, and at the same time felt very happy.

As much as she wanted to save the surprise for tonight, it was too easy to guess why Fish had invited her... It was September 19, her birthday.

At the very least, Fish would want to celebrate her birthday.

Even Hermione knew that Fish was probably doing it to thank her for what she'd done on the train and nothing more, but....

This was the first time Fish had ever helped someone celebrate their birthday!

Hermione was secretly glad her birthday was half a month before Professor McGonagall's.

The excited Miss Know-it-all's mind was completely out of class at this point, and she was now so anxious for the night to come that she even missed the professor's questions from the podium....

This caused the Muggle Studies professor to look at her in astonishment and, after class, ask her worriedly if she wanted to see Madam Pomfrey.

Hermione, of course, didn't need to see a doctor, and after a few vague words, scurried off to her next class, as if that would make the time pass faster.

The very idea of having to go back a few hours through the Time-Turner made Hermione want to punch someone, which reinforced her desire to drop a class or two after this semester.

As Miss Know-it-all waited impatiently and anxiously, her day that had been repeated several times was finally over. After a quick dinner in the Great Dining Hall, she hurried back to her dorm and began to search through her not-so-different pile of clothes and fix her messy hair, which was comparable to Hagrid's.

But the excited Miss Know-it-all didn't notice that her two roommates had returned to the dormitory at some point, only that they quickly retreated upon seeing Hermione's unusual behavior....

Soon it was ten o'clock at night and Hermione, who had gone to bed early, cautiously got out of bed and sneaked out of the girls' dormitory.

The common room was empty, most of the lights had gone out and the fireplace no longer burned, save for a magic lamp in each corner of the room, which still glowed softly.

Hermione sat under one of the lamps, waiting anxiously, while her thoughts wandered...

What if she had misunderstood? what if Fish hadn't wanted to give her a birthday present? If it was just a present, he could have had an owl bring it to her, there was no need to sneak around like this.

Hermione ran her fingers through her carefully arranged hair, thinking she might have misunderstood.

No, no, during Divination class, her tea leaves had already shown that she would have an "unexpected harvest", so it must be Fish who wanted to give himself a birthday present.

Hermione, who was restless, even put her hope in divination, which she had always scoffed at.

As she thought about it, eleven o'clock finally came.