An Afternoon with the Cat

Anthony and his cat stared at each other.

"I know, I don't like this either." Anthony said, holding the collar, "Just try it today. As long as there is no problem, you can go out as you please."

The offices at Hogwarts were huge, but Anthony didn't want to trap his cat in the room. Ever since he accidentally met Mrs. Norris in the corridor (and two students who escaped at night), he hoped that his cat could also roam around the castle. The cat is now much better-tempered and no longer tries to kill any living thing in its territory - Anthony is relieved about this and believes that the owls who came to deliver the message are also relieved.

In order to let it go out, he made a collar to keep track of it. This one was inspired by Tracey and Professor Flitwick's magical cookie box. Professor Flitwick maintained a very delicate floating spell in the box so that the biscuits would float to the mouth of the box when the lid was opened, making it easy to take them out.

But his cat didn't appreciate his efforts at all, and just slowly arched its back angrily.

"No! Don't break up the room, you don't have to wear it anymore." Anthony quickly threw down the collar. He didn't want to deal with a sad house elf. He knelt down and opened his arms to the cat: "Come on, I'll hold you. That's okay."

The cat stared at him with alert yellow eyes for a while, then jumped into Anthony's arms.

"Good kitty." He whispered and touched the cat. "Remember not to let anyone hug you. Your body temperature is too low."

The cat yawned impatiently.

…

The weather has been good lately. The sun shines on the lawn, students lie in the shade reading books, and lovers hold hands and whisper in the bushes.

"Professor Anthony!" His student waved happily to him, and Anthony remembered that this was a third-year Hufflepuff. Professor Sprout had secretly told him that he had a good reputation in Hufflepuff. Half of it was because he didn't get any points deducted, and the other half was because his class didn't have any homework.

"Hello." He smiled and nodded.

"Professor, is this your cat?" The student came up curiously. He got a little closer, and the cat turned to stare at him. His face was in a perfect position to be attacked... Anthony hugged the cat tightly in a warning. He felt that the student would need to go to the school hospital to have his nose repaired in the next second.

The tragedy did not happen. His cat sniffed the student cautiously, then sneezed in disgust and turned its head away.

Anthony touched the cat's head: "It doesn't like people very much."

"I can see it." A nearby classmate who was watching interjected, "There are very few animals that don't like Cedric."

Cedric smiled: "Very few, but not none. Professor Kettleburn's Chimera doesn't like me very much."

"That guy doesn't like anyone except Professor Kettleburn." His classmate said nonchalantly, "Oh, maybe except Hagrid. Hagrid is also very good at handling magical animals. Professor Anthony, can I try to touch him? Just for a moment."

Anthony glanced at the cat. From the cat's look, he interpreted it as "no."

"You'd better not," he told the student.

"Okay." The student said disappointedly.

As Anthony walked away, he heard his Hufflepuff classmates chattering behind him. He really liked that about Hufflepuffs, they were like a group of social animals and would seize every opportunity to exchange information.

"Professor Anthony has such a good temper, why does he have a strange cat?"

"Maybe he has a good temper because he has a cat."

Anthony smiled and rubbed the cat: "You are actually quite good-tempered now."

…

The student reminded him, and he decided to take the cat to see Hagrid. He was not familiar with Professor Kettleburn, Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, so Hagrid was the best at dealing with animals among the people he knew.

Professor Kettleburn, who had only one and a half limbs, did not often go to the staff room, and Anthony had no reason to go to him. On the contrary, Hagrid had a good relationship with him. Once Anthony went to have a drink with Hagrid, and Professor Kettleburn was actually there. The two men took Anthony and talked for more than three hours about the Ash Snake and the Hippogriff.

But Anthony drank them both down.

He knocked on the door of the cabin, and Hagrid shouted from the backyard: "Here!" Anthony walked around and found Hagrid studying pumpkins in his backyard.

"I want to add a bit of milky flavor to them." Hagrid took off his dragon leather gloves and wiped his sweat. "Oh, which little guy is this? Henry, is this your cat?"

"Yes." Anthony held the cat up to show him.

Hagrid bent down and took a closer look: "Ah, it's a ginger cat." He also wanted to check whether it was a male or female but was scratched severely by the cat, and blood oozed from the wound. Anthony quickly lifted the cat away, grabbed Hagrid's hand, and looked at it.

"It's okay, Henry." Hagrid looked even happier. "What a cute little guy, so sensitive. Hiss, I'm sure it has some powerful magical animal blood. Ordinary cats can't do this." 

"Of course, of course," Anthony said guiltily, glaring at the cat. The ginger cat disguised as a skeleton cat is certainly no ordinary cat.

The guy who could easily tear up a sofa is now sitting obediently on Hagrid's pumpkin patch, carefully licking his front paws.

Hagrid reached out and touched its head. This time the cat didn't resist.

"Look, how smart it is." Hagrid said happily, "Come on, Henry, let's have a drink?"

…

Anthony was walking on the way back to the castle holding a pile of dried fish with colored balls. He didn't expect that his cat would actually like to eat this.

Hagrid took out all his dried meat reserves. After the cat looked around proudly, he lay down on these strange-shaped dried fish.

"A cat that likes to eat fish!" Hagrid grabbed a large handful of dried fish balls and threw them into Anthony's arms. "Take it, Henry, Tooth doesn't like eating it anyway."

The big dog named Fang huddled at Hagrid's feet in grievance. When he opened the door, he originally wanted to pounce on Anthony and lick him, but suddenly discovered that there was a cat in his arms. He just barked twice and was scolded by Hagrid. In the end, he had to lie on the ground glumly.

The cat who got the dried fish seemed to be in a good mood, and its tail wrapped around Anthony's arm bit by bit with great interest.

"Professor! Professor Anthony!" Anthony heard an exclamation as soon as he stepped into the castle. His cat lay peacefully in his arms.

"Good afternoon, friar." He greeted the ghost who rushed over.

"Ah, good afternoon, Professor," said the fat friar. We are all looking for you."

Anthony walked quickly to his office: "What's wrong?"

"It's Peeves, Professor," said the fat friar uneasily. "We didn't know what he said to Myrtle. Myrtle kept crying. Water overflowed from the bathroom and your office was flooded. "

Anthony asked doubtfully: "Myrtle?"

"She...she lives on the second floor as you, professor. She lives in the girls' bathroom." The fat friar explained anxiously, "She has no bad intentions, and she didn't mean to flood your office."

Anthony understood. There is a sad ghost in the girls' bathroom where cries are often heard. He originally wondered which student was always so sad.

"It's okay, friar." He comforted, "Let's go back and take a look first."