Chapter 441: A well-behaved cat (Edited)

After tossing Malfoy into the air, Moody had no intention of letting him go, holding his wand, he limped over to the ferret lying on the floor, where Crabbe and Goyle were too scared to move.

The ferret let out a scream of terror and turned in the direction of the dungeons.

"Don't you dare run away!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again, suddenly lifting Malfoy ten feet in the air.

"Stop nya!"

(`)

Fish jumped up to stop Professor Moody's actions.

The cat hadn't cared what Professor Moody had done to Malfoy years before, because he would have found what Moody had just done acceptable, just as he would be punished by Professor McGonagall if he got in trouble.

After all, it had been Professor McGonagall who had adopted Fish, and Fish had been at Hogwarts so long that she had a basic idea of what a professor's duties were, even if she didn't care for them.

Only, in Fish's opinion, the only professor who could punish him was Minerva, or someone who could beat him, and Malfoy deserved to be turned into a ferret because he couldn't beat Moody.

That was Fish's simple, uncomplicated thought....

But Malfoy was his friend anyway, and since he had been turned into a ferret, he had given in and run away, and it would have been unnecessary for Moody to keep fighting him, and Fish couldn't stand idly by.

"Draco has given up nya, you can't bully him anymore!"

(ˇˇ)

Fish stopped in front of Professor Moody and said earnestly.

Barty Crouch Jr. looked at the cat-eared boy who jumped suddenly, his face twitching.

He hadn't wanted to confront Fish and, after a long day of asking around, he knew how popular Fish was at Hogwarts. If he confronted him and turned Harry against him, his plan probably wouldn't work.

However, Barty Crouch Jr. wasn't about to back down just like that.

He didn't want to let Malfoy off so easily, but he also thought it would be a good opportunity to teach Fish a lesson, besides, the Mad-Eye Moody he pretended to be was not a good conversationalist.

So, in an instant, Barty Crouch Jr. made up his mind.

"Don't try to order me around!"

With a flick of his wand, he knocked Malfoy to the ground.

Fish turned quickly, caught the falling ferret, shoved him into Goyle's arms, and glared angrily at Professor Moody.

(°°)

"You can't stop me!"

Professor Moody shouted again and pointed his wand at the ferret Goyle was holding in his arms.

Goyle let out a scream and found that the ferret in his arms was showing signs of breaking free, so he quickly increased his strength and hugged Malfoy tightly.

Just as he was about to lose control, he felt a flash of red light in front of him and the ferret, which had been about to fall out of his hands, went silent.

As the other students looked on, a red light appeared in Fish's palm and then he made a slashing motion with his hand down into the air between Professor Moody and Goyle, and Professor Moody's wand burst into flames, and he recoiled several steps back as if he had been punched in the jaw.

"If you don't stop, Fish is going to beat you up!"

(`)

Fish warned and shook his still glowing red fist at Professor Moody, who was barely standing.

After all the years of tireless guidance and direction from Professor McGonagall, and the influence of TV and Hermione during the summer vacations, Fish was far more disciplined than he had ever been, and if it had been a year earlier, he would have punched him in the face.

To be honest, at this point, Fish hoped that the opponent was still tough, so he could justifiably fight him.

Fish wagged his cat's tail, looking anxiously at Moody.

Moody's blue, magical eye twitched a couple of times and then fixed on Fish's hand, which glowed a faint red color.

Is this Fish McGonagall's special spell...?

Barty Crouch Jr. stared at the red glow on Fish's hand, a little surprised.

Although he had heard Voldemort and Pettigrew mention Fish's "natural spell," he couldn't be reassured when he actually saw it, especially with Moody's magical eye, he could clearly see that Fish's spell was fundamentally different from the spells used by wizards today.

No wonder his master wanted to take this little wizard under his wing.

Barty Crouch Jr. thought to himself.

"Fish! Professor Moody!" exclaimed Professor McGonagall from the stairs as the two of them stopped, "What are you two doing?!"

She ran down the stairs with a stack of books in her arms and arrived at Fish's side.

"Minerva~"

●●

Fish removed the red light from his hands, gave Professor McGonagall a hug, then turned to the ferret in Goyle's arms and confessed, "Moody's trying to bully Draco and Fish stopped him nya!"

"Draco?" Professor McGonagall looked at the ferret in surprise and exclaimed, "Is that Malfoy?!".

"Yes nya." Fish nodded.

"That's right." replied Moody calmly.

"My goodness!"

Professor McGonagall exclaimed again, dropping the books in her arms to the floor and pulling out her wand.

A moment later, with a loud crack, Draco Malfoy was back on his feet. He jerked his hand away from Goyle's grip, head down and face flushed, and his sinister gaze shot through the slits in his tousled pale blond hair and across Professor Moody's body.

"Moody, we never use transfiguration as a punishment!" Professor McGonagall said weakly, "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore told you that."

"He probably mentioned it," Moody said scratching his chin absently, "But I think someone needs to teach the boy to respect a Professor."

"Wait..." Professor McGonagall's eyes widened, "You mean Malfoy didn't break school rules?"

Professor McGonagall was well aware of how Malfoy tended to treat most teachers, and while she didn't see it as a problem, she didn't think it was that big of a deal.

But she hadn't expected Professor Moody to cause such a fuss over such a trivial matter, just now she thought it was Fish causing trouble....

Barty Crouch Jr. knew his reaction was a bit out of line, but Moody was already grumpy and immediately came up with a good excuse.

"I should be glad this is Hogwarts," he sneered, "I've always regretted not being able to send Lucius Malfoy to Azkaban."

"That's enough, Moody!" Professor McGonagall scolded sternly, "You're retired! He's a Hogwarts professor now! Please remember that."

"... I know."

Barty Crouch Jr. had only pretended to behave more reasonably, he didn't really want to make a scene, so he took the opportunity to nod to Professor McGonagall, then looked at Malfoy and limped off to his office.

Professor McGonagall was relieved to see that Moody wasn't still freaking out, she really feared that he would continue to make a scene, not to mention the fact that it would be a blow to the school's image, and she had a kitten on her side who was already itching for a fight....

Professor McGonagall shot a glance at Fish, who was standing next to her, only to see the cat's tail swiftly wagging from side to side, a regretful expression evident on his tense little face.

"Well done," thought Professor McGonagall, but she patted Fish on the head and explained to him and the rest of the class, "Professor Moody used to be an Auror, dealing with dark wizards all the time, so he's not used to being a teacher yet."

She looked back at a resentful Malfoy and sighed softly, "I'll tell Dumbledore and Professor Snape, he won't do it again."

Malfoy pursed his lips, nodded to Professor McGonagall and then whispered his thanks to Fish before walking out of the hall with Crabbe and Goyle.

Professor McGonagall sighed again, then waved her wand and sent the scattered books flying back into her arms and scattered the students around her.