Chapter 636: Don't let Fish touch the wine! (Edited)

In the room where the Order of the Phoenix usually gathered, Fish and Sirius were seated side by side in their chairs, legs together, backs straight, and hands in their laps, in a very obedient position.

Harry, Ron, Ginny, George, and Fred were seated a bit farther away, but their sitting postures were more relaxed.

"I just realized that Fish behaves very well," George whispered to Harry and the others in a low voice, while Fred nodded approvingly by his side.

After witnessing the terrible mess Fish had caused, the twins truly felt that all the pranks they had been so proud of were nothing but that.

As the twins whispered about the scene they had witnessed earlier, Professor McGonagall, who had hurriedly arrived from Hogwarts, stood in front of Fish and Sirius, giving them a furious lecture.

"It's not Fish's fault!"

Fish argued, "Fish was drunk and didn't know anything! And when Fish was comforting Ron and the others, Fish didn't even realize what Sirius was giving Fish to drink! He didn't even remind me!"

In fact, if Sirius had recited the incantation when he used the Summoning Charm, Fish, with his keen ears, would have been able to detect it.

The problem was that when Sirius escaped from Azkaban, he had practiced his silent and wandless spells for so long in the Forbidden Forest that now, unconsciously, he forgot to recite the incantation when using some of his more skillful spells.

And Sirius had his reasons: "I didn't know Fish couldn't drink..."

"How dare you talk back?!"

At this moment, Professor McGonagall didn't care whether they had done it on purpose. She had been terrified for so long and needed to let it out.

Of course, her state didn't last long, as Professor McGonagall was not an unreasonable person. After venting her anger and concern, she quickly calmed down.

She then moved on to the question of what had become of Fish since he had fled from the Black Ancestral Home.

"What have you been doing out there? You weren't in danger, were you?"

Professor McGonagall asked, concerned, even though Fish was standing before her with his tail intact.

Fish, seeing that Professor McGonagall had lost her temper, shook his head with a smile, lifted his head and tail proudly, and replied, "No nya! Fish is powerful! Even when Fish knocked out Kingsley and the others, Fish didn't expose nya!"

"Kingsley? Why did you hit him?" Professor McGonagall asked, her lips twitching with confusion.

She wasn't surprised to see Kingsley appear in front of Fish and the others because as the primary person responsible for the capture of Sirius and the secrecy of the Order of the Phoenix within the Ministry of Magic, Kingsley had already told them that the Ministry was monitoring Grimmauld Place.

"Who told him to attack Fish's friends first!"

Fish pouted and grumbled, "And Sirius was with the group, so of course we had to knock them out!"

As for the fact that Fish actually didn't know that Sirius was there at that moment...

It didn't matter.

And Sirius sat down and added, "At that time, Fish and the group of cats and dogs were causing a big commotion, and I think Kingsley and the others thought Fish was trying to help control things, and he probably guessed that Fish and I were hiding in the pack... he just miscalculated a bit on Fish's strength."

He shrugged, showing a mixture of sympathy and satisfaction.

Although there had been no shortage of adult wizards who had fallen under Fish's claws, even Voldemort had been defeated by Fish, Sirius was glad to see more unfortunate ones following his and Lupin's footsteps.

And since he had taken advantage of today to vent his frustrations because of Fish's drunkenness, Sirius suddenly found himself in a better mood when he was still a little annoyed.

So he reassured a sorrowful-looking Professor McGonagall, "Although tonight was a big scandal, Fish and I were in Animagus form the whole time, so there aren't many chances of us being discovered. As for the Muggles, that's something the Ministry of Magic should be worried about, and on the bright side, it might even contain some of Fudge's energy."

"I hope so..." Professor McGonagall shook her head with a bitter smile, then looked at Fish, who put on a good face, "I have a lot of work to do at the school, so I'm going back, and you won't get into trouble. Do you hear me?"

"Don't worry, Minerva! As long as I don't drink, Fish will be fine!"

Fish confidently replied.

The corners of Professor McGonagall's eyes twitched a couple of times as she looked at the oblivious Fish. But she didn't say anything else, only reminding Sirius again, "Don't you dare give him wine or beers."

And with that, she hurriedly left the room.

Sirius felt relieved to see Professor McGonagall leave. As a Gryffindor, he still had a bit of fear for Professor McGonagall as the head of Gryffindor house.

Furthermore, the chaos of tonight was caused by his own mistakes, so he couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Any news from Molly?"

At that moment, Sirius finally could inquire about Mr. Weasley.

Ron handed him the note from Fawkes and answered gruffly, "Mom says Dad is alive, but she doesn't say what's happening."

Sirius looked at the note and asked, "Is it the only one? Any further news after that?"

Ron shook his head.

"No news is good news," Sirius smiled, gently reassuring him. "If things were really getting worse, Molly would have turned to Fish for help."

It seemed that Ron and the others thought the same, so the group remained generally optimistic, albeit weary.

Sirius then persuaded them to get some sleep, but everyone except Fish refused.

Fish, on the other hand, transformed back into his cat form and curled up by the fireplace.

Sirius thought it over and went to prepare more black tea for the group. He wouldn't dare to have more butterbeer now; one experience like that was enough, a few more would be too much even for an adventurer like him.

Throughout the rest of the day, they all sat around the table in silence, watching as the candle wicks burned lower in the liquid wax, occasionally lifting their tea cups to their lips and speaking only to ask for the time.

But as time passed, sleep overcame them.

The twins and Sirius, who had followed Fish all the way, were the first to give in, and the three of them collapsed onto the table almost simultaneously. Ginny was curled up in her chair like a kitten, but her eyes remained open, albeit unfocused. Ron sat with his head in his hands, not knowing if he was awake or asleep. Harry nodded off, threatening to fall asleep on the table at any moment, just like Sirius.

It wasn't until five past ten in the morning when Fish, lying by the fireplace, twitched his ears and opened his eyes.

Immediately after, Fish leaped from the chair and quickly transformed back into his human form.

"Molly is back, meow!"

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