Chapter 607: Stalker (Edited)

The rest of the day was less eventful for Hermione and the other informed students as they patiently awaited the opportune moment to go to the village of Hogsmeade.

However, Fudge and the Ministry of Magic under his leadership were far from calm, and many things happened during this period.

Although Fudge had ceased his educational decrees, he had made several private attempts to meddle in Hogwarts affairs. He had tried to insert more people into the campus and even wanted to have Dementors stationed outside the school again...

But Dumbledore thwarted all of his attempts.

However, as a price, Dumbledore had to halt his search for Voldemort's Horcruxes and return to Hogwarts to take charge of the school and prevent Fudge from overstepping his authority.

At the same time, Dumbledore was somewhat concerned that a certain kitten would once again blame him, but it was better to keep an eye on the school since Voldemort's Horcruxes could be dealt with gradually, and there was one Horcrux inside the school that had not yet been addressed.

On the other hand, after a bit of hysteria, Umbridge finally accepted the fact that she had been transformed into a toad-like woman, mainly because the healer at St. Mungo's had assured her that there was still a chance for her to recover. So, after calming down, Umbridge decided to seek revenge on the person responsible for her hideous appearance.

She stopped resisting interviews and even allowed Rita Skeeter to take pictures of her current self at will, only to weep and play the sympathy card in the Daily Prophet. At the urging of Minister Fudge, she pointed an accusing finger at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore's reputation, already tarnished by the Ministry's campaign, was now even worse, and many of his former honors had been revoked.

But Dumbledore didn't care, and Hogwarts remained under his control.

In addition to Dumbledore, Umbridge hinted in interviews that Rita Skeeter might have been the one who attacked her...

It's not that Umbridge truly had persistent memories; she simply had prejudices against Fish due to her "not quite human" biophobia, especially after learning from her colleagues at the Ministry that some of the clues pointed to Fish. She was convinced that Fish was the culprit and suggested to Fudge that they arrest and interrogate him.

Fudge rightly ignored Umbridge's suggestion, not only because he didn't want to make things difficult for Fish but also because Snape's cover-up had made Fish much less likely as a suspect.

In fact, Fish had been one of the Ministry's main suspects initially, but when the Aurors interrogated him, they didn't hesitate to dismiss him as a suspect. With Snape's help in clarifying the case, Fish had been cleared of suspicion...

Except for the extra workload for Professor McGonagall.

And since Umbridge had no luck with Fish, she had no choice but to continue insinuating towards Rita Skeeter, who had interviewed Fish, hoping that she would "spout nonsense" in the newspapers, as she always did.

Unfortunately, Skeeter, who was also on Fish's side, disregarded Umbridge's thoughts and wrote to Fish about it.

Fish didn't care whether they suspected him or not, but as always, he roamed the school grounds, caring more about his lunch than whether it was the Ministry or Voldemort.

It was the first weekend of October, and indeed the first day of October when the school opened access to Hogsmeade, and a small number of people had been more excited than usual in the past few days.

On the morning of the trip to Hogsmeade, it was sunny but windy.

After having breakfast, Fish met Hermione and Harry in the entrance hall, where a long line of students had formed in front of Filch, who was shouting out the names of the students from a long list of those whose parents or guardians had given them permission to visit Hogsmeade.

Although Fish could have skipped the line by simply greeting Filch, he chose not to and instead walked to the end of the queue with Hermione and the others.

As soon as Filch saw Fish, he sped up the verification process, and the long line shortened so quickly that it was soon Fish's turn.

"Have a good time, Fish."

An ugly smile appeared on Filch's grim face as he didn't even bother to look at the list. He greeted Fish and handed him a bag of dried fish that he had baked himself.

"Fish will bring you and Norris some treats, nya!"

?(ΦωΦ)?

Fish waved to Filch and quickly made his way through the entrance hall and out into the open.

"As we said before, you go and tell the others on the list to come to Fish's house in groups. Comey is already waiting there. Be careful not to be discovered by others, especially the Slytherins."

Hermione whispered to Harry and the others once they had left the school, casting a cautious glance around.

"I know," Ron waved his hand impatiently, "You've said it a dozen times already. We're not stupid!"

Once in the village of Hogsmeade, Harry and the others dispersed quickly to find the students from the other houses on the list, while Fish and Hermione strolled through the village.

Fish used to be so conspicuous that the Ministry could easily notice if he didn't show up in the village.

But as they wandered, Fish suddenly turned his head to look down a side street, his face filled with seriousness.

(ˇˇ)

"What's wrong, Fish?" Hermione asked curiously.

"That man has been following us, and he has an unrecognizable scent, nya!"

Fish exclaimed loudly, pointing to a male wizard wearing a gray cloak and a bandaged face not far away.

Upon this, all the students around Fish, as well as the villagers of Hogsmeade, focused their eyes on the bandaged male wizard.

"It's a mistake..." the man stammered, waving his hands in confusion, "I just arrived in Hogsmeade, I've only seen Fish in the newspapers before, so I was just curious!"

"Liar, nya!" Fish scolded him aggressively, "Your scent was outside of Hogwarts! What are you doing?! Why are you following Fish?!"

?(`Д')?

Fish questioned, leaping toward the man and pulling off the bandages from his face before he could react.

Soon, someone recognized the wizard...

"You're Willy Widdershins! Wasn't the Ministry of Magic supposed to arrest you for causing various sewage blockages in Muggle areas?"

"You've got the wrong man!"

Willy Widdershins panicked and covered his head with his arms before bolting away through the crowd.

He stumbled and fell to the ground as Fish extended his leg, followed by the gathering crowd, who held him down and confiscated his wand.

After the eager onlookers had taken Willy Widdershins away, Hermione walked around the village for a while, arm in arm with Fish, making sure no one else was following them, before returning to Fish's house.