Chapter 561: Prefect (Edited)

"Huh? Didn't Mundungus stay for dinner, Mom? I thought he wasn't on duty today"

George and Fred asked curiously when they realized that Mundungus was not at the table at dinnertime.

Since the twins had advertised in The Daily Prophet, the joke store had experienced an increase in orders and they desperately needed a mentor, and business-minded Mundungus was best suited for the job.

Besides, he could get a lot of magical materials that were not easy to come by, and the twins had already bought from him several times.

"Mundungus says he has personal business," Mrs. Weasley replied, "Probably his cauldron business again."

"That's a pity," said Fred, "We still have things we want to ask him."

"You two need to stop hanging around with him!". Mrs. Weasley didn't like Mundungus, she warned, "He'll lead them astray!".

"Molly's right nya," Fish nodded, "That guy's no good."

Ψ(?Φ~Φ?)

"So what did he do to you, Fish?" asked George curiously.

Fish's attitude towards a person could be seen by the way he addressed them, except the first year he only called people by nicknames, but usually, as long as there was no conflict, Fish would call people by their first name, and those he had a minor conflict with, he called them by their last name, and only those who were really annoying Fish didn't call them by either their last name or their first name.

"He stole Kreacher..." said Fish as he ate and told everyone what had happened today.

"No wonder I saw what looked like redness on his head..." complained Mrs. Weasley, "He deserved it! If Dumbledore hadn't insisted, the Order wouldn't have taken in such scum!".

"Mundungus is still useful, he can hear things we can't." Sirius raised an eyebrow, then turned to Fish and said, "I'll warn him."

And Professor McGonagall frowned in dissatisfaction, "I'll tell Dumbledore, he has to control Fletcher."

Under Fish's influence, she also didn't familiarize herself with Mundungus's direction, patted Fish on the head and praised, "You did a good job today, Fish.

You know, Fish in the past would snatch candy in front of Mrs. Flome, and things would happen from time to time.... But now Fish knows how to stop others from stealing, which makes Professor McGonagall very pleased.

"Eh heh heh~"

(? `? ′?)

Fish shook his head at his mother's praise, looking smug.

With the problem with Mundungus resolved, Fish resumed his uneventful and boring days at home.

It wasn't until the eve of the start of school when the owls delivered their start notice and their book list for the term.

But even before the list arrived, Fish had already learned from Professor McGonagall what books they would be buying for the term: there were very few books to buy this year, except for a few books that the students would be buying.

There were very few books to buy this year, apart from Standard Spells: Level 5, which they had to update once a year, there was only one book, Theory of Magical Defense.

Of course, the twins and Ginny were buying slightly different Standard Spells, level seven and level four in the series respectively.

"Why do we have to send separate letters if Minerva comes so often?".

(〃｀3′〃)

Fish received the letter and tossed it aside without even opening it, muttering to Hermione who was opening the envelope.

"It's a necessary procedure," George explained playfully to Fish as the twins didn't open the envelope either. "Life has to be a bit ritualistic, like...". After a moment's thought, he gave a less appropriate example, "Charlie likes to hold his socks up to his nose and smell them before he puts them on."

"Oh..."

?w?

Fish blinked in confusion, not quite understanding, but it seemed to make sense.

"Can't you give him a better example?" Hermione shot a look of disgust at George.

"Actually, we were wondering who had ordered the Magic Defense Theory book." Fred changed the subject to George.

"Someone from the Ministry of Magic, at least." said George.

"What does that mean?" asked Harry curiously as he slipped the opened envelope and parchment into his pocket.

"Oh, a few weeks ago, we spied on Mum and Dad with our telescopic ears." Fred replied, "Fudge seemed hell-bent on meddling in Hogwarts affairs, and then Dumbledore was making a deal with Fudge about it."

"Me thinks Dumbledore was laughing behind his back," George gloated. "That fool Fudge, doesn't he know how hard it is to find a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts?"

Harry and the others remembered what happened to the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers in the last few years, and looked at Fish and then let out a nasty chuckle.

"Nya?"

?w?

Fish cocked his head to the side in confusion, "Why are they looking at Fish like that?"

"Oh my gosh!"

At that moment, Hermione exclaimed from the side.

Fish jumped to her side at once, asking worriedly, "What's wrong with you, Hermione?"

"Look, Fish!"

Hermione excitedly showed him the badge in her hand, a gold and red badge with a large letter "p" above the Gryffindor lion.

Naturally, Fish had seen those badges before, as Percy and Sharpay, who had already graduated, had worn them.

"I've become Prefect!" exclaimed Miss Know-it-all as she wrapped her arms around Fish.

"As expected, besides you, are there any other candidates in fifth grade?" said George with pursed lips.

The twins had always had disdain for Prefects, believing them to be as boring as Percy, and though they were on better terms with him now, they hadn't changed their minds.

"So, there should be a male Prefect..." Fred suddenly turned his attention to the envelope Fish had tossed aside.

"Quick, Fish, open it!"

Hermione quickly grabbed the envelope and thrust it into Fish's hands.

Fish ripped the envelope open and a pin of the same shape fell out of it.

"Great, you're a Prefect too!" Hermione wrapped her arms around Fish again and kissed him on the cheek excitedly.

"Shhh..."

At the twins' whistle, Hermione snapped out of it and let go of Fish with a blush.

And Fish grabbed the Prefect badge, somewhat bewildered....

(??w??)?

I don't know what the point of being a Prefect is, but seeing how happy Hermione is, it must be a good thing, right?

The Prefect system at Hogwarts, where the Dean or Dean recommends a candidate to the Headmaster and the Headmaster decides, would not normally have been rejected by Dumbledore.

What Fish didn't know was that Professor McGonagall hadn't recommended him for Prefect, because she knew Fish too well, and when he was given the Prefect position, he would either do nothing or screw up.

But Dumbledore, who wanted to groom Fish as his successor, had a different opinion.

He believed that the Prefect position would accelerate Fish's growth, and that if someone else was chosen as Prefect, whoever it was, he would be isolated from the majority of the school, just as had happened to Harry when he was chosen as Champion.

As for the Prefects' business, wasn't Hermione there to help?

Judging by the fact that Fish had received his Prefect badge, it was clear that Dumbledore had finally convinced Professor McGonagall.

Soon, everyone in the house knew that Fish and Hermione had become Prefects, and Mrs. Weasley planned a celebration for them, even placing a banner on the dining room table that read:

"Congratulations - Fish and Hermione - on your election as Prefects."

Hermione, although excited to be Prefect, was a little embarrassed by Mrs. Weasley's behavior, but Fish, who was still a little confused, was happy....

So much delicious food! It's good to be Prefect.

(??﹃??)

Fish thought as he contemplated the sumptuous food on the dining table.