Chapter 326: Candlelight Dinner (Edited)

"Click."

With a soft thump that was very noticeable in the silence of the night, the hole in the wall leading to the Gryffindor common room opened and Fish, with a snake dangling from his body and a bird on his head, made his way through the hole.

"Hermione, happy birthday nya!"

?(●ΦωΦ●)?

The kitten first pulled a ten-inch heavy cream cake out of his magic bag, then congratulated Hermione as he held it in front of her.

"This is what Fish asked Comet to make for you nya." said Fish as he placed the cake on the table, pointing to the cake and then to the two "little animals" that had landed on the table by themselves, "This is Fawkes, you've seen him, and this is Uroboros, a basilisk..."

Then he immediately warned, "Don't look him in the eyes, you won't be petrified if you do, but you might feel stiff nya."

"Hiss~"

"Caw~"

The basilisk and the bird made sounds together and nodded to Hermione.

"They're saying happy birthday to you nya." The kitten translated from the side.

"Thank you, Fish! And Fawkes and Uroboros!"

Even though she had already guessed that Fish would give her a birthday present, Hermione still blushed with excitement when it actually happened, not to mention that he was now celebrating with her....

Hermione even ignored the basilisk that Fish had mentioned.

"Because I want to hide it from Minerva, Fish can only celebrate your birthday in secret, nya."

Fish explained in a whisper as he sat down across from Hermione and put candles on the birthday cake and lit them.

"No, it's okay! This is fine."

Hermione waved her hand, not caring at all.

Rather, it's better!

Isn't this what I've seen in books and on TV... a candlelit dinner?

Just as Hermione was getting excited, all the lights in the common room suddenly came on and about ten witches, led by Sharpay, came out of the girls' dormitory.

"So it's your birthday, Granger, why didn't you tell us? It's so outrageous."

Sharpay approached Hermione with a few graceful steps, leaning forward slightly, looking at the suddenly beautiful Hermione, raising her eyebrows slightly and smiling softly, "Happy Birthday.... Granger."

"Thank you! Thank you!"

Hermione Granger gritted her teeth and thanked him viciously.

"Ah..."

?△?

Fish was a bit dumbfounded when he saw the dozen students suddenly appear...

He was planning to surprise Professor McGonagall next month, but now that so many people knew that he was going to give her a birthday present, if Professor McGonagall found out, even if she didn't guess, she would probably worry about it, and it would be hard for Fish to surprise her!

Sharpay looked down at the stunned kitten and smiled, reaching out to pet his head.

"Don't worry Fish, we'll keep your secret."

The girls had heard what Fish and Hermione had said behind the door, and with Sharpay initiating the conversation, the other girls nodded.

It was a chance to please both Fish and Professor McGonagall, and there was no reason for them to let the secret slip.

"That's great..." Fisch let out a long sigh of relief, then greeted them with a big smile, "Thanks everyone nya, come help Hermione celebrate her birthday!"

?(●ΦωΦ●)?

After Fish waved, he looked at the cake on the table and scratched his head in distress.

"But I don't think there's enough cake for everyone..."

"That's okay, too many sweets at night are fattening, so we'll try some."

Sharpay waved her hand and sat down next to Fish, resting her cheeks on the back of her hand and looking at Hermione, who was grumpily smirking.

"It's just..., Granger doesn't seem very welcoming to us."

"Nya?"

?ω?

Hermione's cheeks twitched at the puzzled look Fish was giving her, and she managed to smile, gritting her teeth, as she replied, "Why no? I'm really... happy that you're celebrating my birthday... no, I'm so happy! I'm so happy!"

"Oh, heh, heh, heh, heh..."

Sharpay covered her mouth with her hand, let out a series of fake giggles that made Hermione very, very angry, and then waved to the group of girls behind her.

"Did you hear that? Everyone find your own seats and sit down."

The group of witches sat around Hermione and Fish at the same time, with Lavender and Parvati sitting at Fish's table because they were Hermione's roommates.

Hermione stared at her two roommates, by now she had realized that they must have sensed something strange about her....

I blame myself for being so excited that I let my guard down!

And Parvati and Lavender looked defiantly at Hermione.

If Hermione wants to have a candlelit dinner with the cat, then she can't blame them for being dishonest roommates.

Ignoring the sulking between the three girls, Sharpay turned to Fish and confirmed, "Fish, you want to celebrate Professor McGonagall's birthday don't you?"

"Yes nya, Fish even bought her birthday present, Hermione, Harry, Harry, Ron and George and Fred helped Fish pick it out together nya!"

?(●ΦωΦ●)?

The kitten didn't even wait for Sharpay to ask, he told Sharpay the whole plan himself.

"Hermione said it would make her happier to surprise Minerva, so Fish is planning to take Minerva to the kitchen that night to celebrate her birthday!"

Sharpay hooked her tongue and suggested, "Why don't you bring Professor McGonagall to the common room and have all the Gryffindors join in to celebrate? That way, Professor McGonagall would be happier, too, wouldn't she?"

"Nya?!"

(●?ω?●)

The kitten's eyes lit up and he jumped to his feet.

"Fish will go get Harry and the others!"

But Sharpay was quick enough to stop the excited cat in its tracks.

"There's no rush, we can talk about it tomorrow," she said with a smile, pointing to the cake on the table, "Didn't you just say there wasn't enough cake to share?"

"Yeah..."

Fish laughed and scratched his head, sitting back down.

"Well, we'll leave you to your candlelight dinner," Sharpay said as she stood up, patted Fish on the head and said to the others, "Come on back."

Parvati and Lavender got up from their seats, glared at Hermione and made their way to the girls' dormitory in a very orderly fashion.

"Aren't they going to eat the cake nya?"

?ω?

Fish, who still didn't understand what was going on, took the initiative to persuade them to stay.

Sharpay smiled and looked at Hermione, who was surprised, and waved her hand, "You've prepared this cake especially for Hermione, right? It's her birthday, so we won't be doing anything else," she pointed to the cake again, "Blow out the candles, they're almost burnt out."

With that, and without waiting for Hermione to say anything else, she went back to the girls' dormitories with the others.

"That's it Hermione, blow out the candles now!"

Fish exclaimed as he turned his head and saw the candles on the cake about to burn down.

"Cake doesn't taste good when it's covered in wax nya!"

At the cat's urging, Hermione closed her eyes and made a wish, then blew out all the candles at once.

At that moment, Fish pulled another book with a gift ribbon out of his pocket and handed it to Hermione.

"It's a birthday present for you nya, Fish remembers how much you love to read."

(●ΦωΦ●)つ

Hermione picked up the book, looked at the cover and discovered it was "Fantastic Animals and Where to Find Them" with a different cover.

"Grandpa Newt says it's the latest edition, and besides some new stuff about the basilisk, there are six more magical creatures from North America, and it has Grandpa Newt's signature, which Fish asked nya."

Hermione untied the ribbon and opened the book to find, written in colored ink on the cover, "Happy Birthday to Miss Hermione Granger, whom I have yet to meet. I look forward to meeting you, Newt Scamander."

The handwriting was identical to the author's printed signature on the cover.

"Good heavens! It's really Mr. Scamander's own signature."

Hermione pressed the book to her chest and said happily to Fish, "I love this present!".

"It's better if you like the gift nya."

Seeing that Hermione liked the gift he gave her, Fish was also very happy, he stared at the cake on the table, swallowed saliva and remembered, "It's time for us to eat cake."

(●?﹃?●)

Hermione carefully picked up her birthday present from Fish and then enjoyed the cake Comey had made with the kitten.