Chapter 717: Some Trifles (Edited)

During the rest of the day, Dumbledore returned to his unpredictable habits.

It was fortunate that Fish finally remembered he still had a two-way mirror to contact Dumbledore in advance to arrange a meeting for healing or rejuvenating... his life.

The activities of the Order of the Cat were going smoothly, and Harry shared the contents of Snape's book, Advanced Potion-Making, with the seventh-year students, including the spells he had created.

Of course, Harry didn't hide the origin of the spells and knowledge, so Snape's reputation had actually changed for the better.

Whether it was the curse that made people's toes grow uncontrollably, the tongue-twisting spell, or the upside-down spell Snape had used on Harry in his first year, or the ear-muffling spell that prevented people around from hearing their conversations, everything was too practical.

But the most powerful and dangerous of these spells was the Sectumsempra spell.

The members of the Order of the Cat were astonished when the invisible blade shot out from Harry's wand and cut the target dummy in half.

"How should I put it... As expected from Professor Snape..." Neville swallowed and stammered, "This... is indeed a magical spell he can invent."

The others were also amazed.

"We shouldn't use this spell on just anyone so easily!" Hermione warned, her face pale.

"Of course, we're not stupid," Ernie McMillan rolled his eyes. "Cutting someone is deadly, alright? Look at that unfortunate dummy."

Fish, who had been sleeping, got up from the cushion, straightened his limbs, stretched with a bow, and then scratched his chin with his hind paws for a moment before returning to his human form.

"I've seen this spell before."

(Φω???)

Fish rubbed his eyes and interjected, "When Quirrell fought Fish here, he used this spell, nya... Well... Could it have been Voldemort possessing Quirrell when he fought Fish, nya?" He thought for a moment and added.

"It's not surprising that Voldemort and the Death Eaters know that trick." Hermione rationalized, "Remember what I mentioned earlier? At the Quidditch World Cup, the Death Eaters causing trouble used the spell to hang people."

She didn't mention anything about Snape being a Death Eater. Hermione had a rather good opinion of Professor Snape due to Fish and her misunderstanding with him in their first year.

Everyone chatted for a while and then began practicing the Sectumsempra charm.

It was a dangerous spell, but the Order of the Cat was formed to fight Voldemort, and there was no way they could give up such a useful combat spell.

Moreover, the spells invented by Professor Snape were so easy to master that even the dimmest could learn them in no time.

This was one of the reasons why everyone was so impressed with Professor Snape.

Well, except for Harry, Neville, and Ron, who were always unfortunate targets of Professor Snape.

In addition to the Order of the Cat, the two little Chimeras are also doing well... or rather, they can no longer be called "little" Chimeras.

It only took them a week to catch up to Fang's size, and within a month, they were on par with Fish's white tiger form.

Interestingly, as the female grew, she also developed a long mane around her head, which made Fish tempted to pluck a few hairs and brew a Polyjuice Potion for Professor McGonagall...

But Hermione stopped this intriguing idea just in time, and Professor Snape was too busy assisting her with the Felix Felicis potion to bother him again.

It's Halloween season, and now Fish finally has some shame and is no longer willing to run around asking for candies with a pumpkin head. However, the first and second-year members of the Order of the Cat have taken over, wearing the pumpkin hoods gifted to them by the Order of the Cat as they move among the long tables of the four houses during breakfast.

The older students and Hogwarts professors, naturally, were not stingy and gave them some sweets with a smile... except Snape.

Not that he didn't give them, but no student dared to ask.

After a fun but not very special Halloween, Hogwarts witnessed its first Quidditch match of the term.

As usual, the first round was Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and as usual, Fish, who had no interest in the game, did not go to watch it, but judging by the feast in the common room afterward, Gryffindor emerged as the winner.

And Ron seemed to have a good time during the match because the next day, Lavender Brown became his girlfriend, and the two would nibble on each other as if nothing whenever they could, to Fish's confusion...

"Hermione, didn't you say it's better to avoid other people when kissing?"

(?ω?)

Fish was no longer the ignorant little kitten he had been and was starting to grasp the exact meaning of the "kissing game," a similar but more intimate way cats had of expressing affection by rubbing and licking each other's fur.

"Well... some people don't mind that..." Hermione explained helplessly, holding her forehead.

"Oh..." Fish nodded, confused, and then let the small matter go.

As November progressed, the weather grew colder, with snowflakes falling from the sky, which meant Hagrid had to spend a lot of time clearing snow in addition to his Care of Magical Creatures classes.

But as the two Chimeras grew, they were of great help in this matter... since Chimeras, like fire-breathing dragons, could breathe fire. In places where there was no combustible material, they could simply spit fireballs.

Under Fish's influence, the two Chimeras were much friendlier than their counterparts, so they would do this little favor. Of course, Hagrid would have to reward them in a way that satisfied them.

As for Fish himself... he went into hibernation, as in previous years, and no longer cared about the Order of the Cat or the Chimeras. All he wanted was to curl up by the warmth of the fireplace.

Of course, he still had to attend Professor Slughorn's parties from time to time and take care of Dumbledore... Fish wasn't happy about this because his "transformation energy" was slowly growing due to Dumbledore's absence from the school.

"Albus, why don't you stay at the school?"

(??ˇ?ˇ??)

Fish told Dumbledore about his treatment plan, but the old man couldn't care less about his life.

"I have more important things to do, Fish." Dumbledore smiled. "It seems there's a lead on Voldemort's Horcrux."

"Ah! Speaking of that." Fish patted his thigh. "It's been ages since Fish has been shown a memory story, nya!"

"Saturday night, then." Dumbledore raised his charred finger. "Thanks to your reminder, I almost forgot. The next memory is very important."