A Two-Colored Rabbit
Hagrid was not optimistic; he had found some unicorn blood on some bushes, but the trail was confusing to follow and the centaurs seemed too busy to pay attention.
Over the next few weeks, Barnaby greatly reduced his presence in the castle while helping Sanshi adapt to her abilities, answering some questions, and trying to help her better understand the world around her.
Though Barnaby had to admit he was a bit dismayed, he didn't expect the nyokai to dislike the idea of wearing a shirt for her human part so much, saying it felt restrictive. Besides, she could control her hair to conveniently cover the critical parts, so what was the point?
Sanshi's ability to dive into his shadow as if plunging into water, her power to leap several meters high with ease, her powerful nails capable of sharpening and cutting steel, her tail strikes that crushed rocks, and more, were some of the first things she learned to master.
It's worth noting that Sanshi was very affectionate with Barnaby, and when she discovered her love for food, her maternal instinct kicked in and she insisted she wanted to learn to cook for him.
That was much easier for Barnaby to handle than when Sanshi asked him to let her help while he was showering...
It was clear that he couldn't let her learn in the castle kitchens; setting aside the dramatic scene of how the house-elves would react, there were several students constantly visiting that place, especially those from Hufflepuff, and a natural beauty like Sanshi could deliver a severe blow to the male teenagers' hormones and arouse the female half's jealousy.
Yes, apparently, beauty competition was something where the species barrier was ignored.
So, Barnaby had to "teach her at home" during his father's patrol periods, making sure to block the window views with a simple mirror charm.
Calcifer unexpectedly showed submission in Sanshi's presence, obeying like a well-behaved child, without too many pranks with his flame, and even gave her tips while cooking.
Perhaps it was because most of the excesses, like eggshells, ended up becoming the fire demon's snack as a reward every time he helped her learn something new or gave her a good suggestion.
Barnaby was impressed; Sanshi took so little time to tame Calcifer, and she did it with leftovers.
Before anyone knew it, Halloween peeked its head and Hagrid's son had to fulfill his promise to Flitwick to help decorate the castle with the others.
"Engorgio!
With a few gestures, several pumpkins that were already large grew even larger under his magic while Barnaby's staff made a few cuts here and there to carve them into artistic shapes like Welsh dragons, unicorns, skeletons, and more.
Later, the carved pumpkins would be suspended in the Great Hall, right after being animated to perform a series of movements as if they were alive.
Barnaby also decorated the Ravenclaw Tower Common Room in the morning, easily answering the guardian eagle's question. There wasn't even a problem with his entry for breaking the record of no one outside of Ravenclaw having entered their Common Room, something he achieved when he was six years old.
"Take the leftover pumpkin to the kitchens "Barnaby told the house-elves who came to fetch a large box of pumpkin remnants so as not to waste them, waiting patiently by the side.
"Right away, sir! "one of the three house-elves replied enthusiastically, while the other two touched the box before bursting and disappearing as only they knew how, imitating the wizards' apparition.
Or were wizards imitating the house-elves and created apparition?
Barnaby was quite busy all day and his stomach started growling, indicating that mealtime was near. He took out a pocket watch and, after confirming the time, began heading to the Great Hall.
Halfway there, Sanshi peeked out of his shadow.
"The bunny is lost, I can't find it "she said, wringing her hands worriedly.
Barnaby rubbed his head, somewhat exasperated, but not with Sanshi.
The rabbit his familiar mentioned was a bit stubborn and he knew it would try to explore the surroundings if left unattended, but as he had a busy day, he could only ask Sanshi to keep an eye on it.
"Alright, let's find it before we eat "it shouldn't take long to locate it.
He took the staff floating beside him and its eyes briefly lit up as it seemed to send out an invisible wave around. When Barnaby got the feedback, he covered his face with his hand upon learning its location.
"It's... in the girls' bathroom "his lamenting voice made Sanshi laugh.
Even he rarely went to those places for obvious reasons, except when he had to help Filch with some plumbing problem, usually caused by Moaning Myrtle, trying to discover new ways to travel between bathrooms.
Or when Peeves deliberately tried to clog them.
Sighing, Barnaby quickly moved toward the troublesome rabbit, crossing his fingers that no one would be in the bathroom at this hour, which was actually almost certain since it was mealtime and there were many other bathrooms closer to the Great Hall that could be used.
Well, he seemed to be wrong as he heard the sound of crying from the hallway.
But that was not his concern.
"Why does it smell like troll? "he frowned in disgust, feeling Sanshi tense up from his shadow— Another prank by the twins?
Some kind of variant of the dragon dung bomb made with troll sweat?
He didn't find it very funny.
But the impact of something breaking, the guttural grunt, and the girl's scream coming from the bathroom told him that it wasn't just the smell inside, letting him understand that a troll had, incomprehensibly, not only entered the castle whose doors it shouldn't even be able to pass through but also managed to find an isolated girl to turn into its snack.
But when he remembered the rabbit was also there, he stopped while having a thought.
"I hope the girl isn't too traumatized...
Inside the girls' bathroom.
The troll did as its master asked, walked, and searched for crunchy snacks to eat. It wasn't having much luck, the strange cave where it hunted was narrow and there were too many smells in the air to follow a trail.
But it heard a snack growl oddly, catching its attention and brightening its day. It could have something to munch on while continuing to search for more.
It entered the strange smaller cave within the larger cave, where there were strange square trees blocking its path to its snack.
It crushed those strange trees and could see its prey, screaming loudly with water falling from its eyes.
Just like how its mom prepared them.
As it was about to reach out to grab the snack, it heard a piece of wood fall to the floor and turned, confused.
Maybe there were two snacks?
When the troll's gaze met the fluffy white rabbit's, it could only see a promise from the tiny creature twitching its nose.
DEATH.
A series of sounds of flesh tearing, bones breaking, blood splattering, and trollish screams of fear later...
Barnaby tiredly looked at the rabbit that had turned another color due to the blood covering it from top to bottom, trying to give him innocent eyes, as if it wasn't responsible for the carnage that was the dead troll on the floor.
And on the ceiling.
And a slightly smaller part on the wall.
"By Merlin's beard! "Professor McGonagall almost had a heart attack upon entering and seeing the scene of one of her lion cubs covered in blood and...
Was that a troll eye hanging from Miss Granger's hair as she lay unconscious?
Soon, other professors arrived and paled at the sight of the troll, but even more so at the sight of the rabbit.
"Barnaby "Dumbledore turned his neck a bit stiffly, unwilling to look away from the rabbit for his own safety" Why is the Rabbit of Caerbannog here?
"Did you get lost on the path of life? "The red-haired boy shrugged, throwing any responsibility for mental damage to the rabbit, who clicked his tongue when he realized that the trick didn't work.