Chapter 259: Why don't you follow the rules?

As soon as Riddle said he had captured the man who had opened the Chamber of Secrets, Fish knew it was Voldemort.

Although it was also possible that Voldemort had tricked the other party and arrested the wrong person, but with Tom's name and the fact that the diary had been given to him by Uroboros, that possibility was extremely low.

And, even if he had gotten it wrong, it didn't matter. As annoying as that evil old Dumbledore sometimes was, Fish believed he wouldn't hurt innocent people, and as long as Riddle wasn't Voldemort, then he'd be fine.

Only...

I'm going to lose the trump card I was going to use against Minerva....

ε=(′ο｀*))))

The kitten sighed again, feeling a bit depressed.

[You said earlier that the snake found this diary in a pipe, right?]

Voldemort didn't know that Fish was already planning to deliver the diary to Dumbledore, and was still following his own plan, acting like a student who had to choose to bury the secret due to pressure from Headmaster Dippet.

[Yes.]

In a bad mood, Fish no longer wanted to write, but he worried that if Voldemort was hiding in the diary, it would be bad if he came out and set it on fire again, if his behavior was unusual.

Although Riddle seemed unable to do anything but write in his journal in the meantime, Fish decided it was best to be cautious just in case.

For he wasn't in a fireproof house with marble everywhere, but in a house of cats and cat delights with nuthatches and cat nests, and he couldn't remember how the light rain Dumbledore remembered had fallen.

So Fish opted to continue the conversation for about ten more words, as he had done before, and handed the diary to Dumbledore.

[I knew there were people who didn't want the diary read. Luckily, I have a more permanent way of recording my past than ink]

[Oh.]

Fish merely replied in his diary, then, thinking he might be too cold, added.

[So, who was it that opened the Chamber of Secrets?]

Of course, it was impossible for Fish to believe that someone else had opened the Chamber of Secrets.

How could he disbelieve Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, whom he knew so well, and instead believe the words of a man hidden in a diary, who was probably a great villain?

But he wouldn't mind hearing Riddle's version, to make sure it was Voldemort or not.

[If you want, I can show you] Riddle said again at this point: [You don't need to read what I wrote. I can take you back to my memory, to the night I caught him]

Was he about to be attacked?

?w?

Fish's ears pricked up, knowing the danger of agreeing to this, but he was curious about the man who, according to Riddle, had opened the Chamber of Secrets and been fired.

As for what Riddle said about bringing him back, Fish would not be unfamiliar, he had visited Dumbledore's Pensive more than once.

[Don't worry, it's just to see my memories, there's no danger!]

Voldemort drew him back as he saw Fish hesitate to respond.

It wasn't that Fish was afraid of the danger, but that if Professor McGonagall found out about this, she would probably worry again, and Fish didn't want to see Professor McGonagall cry again, or get another beating....

So what he should do now, is refuse the offer, and close the diary and go see Dumbledore.

But the cat's curiosity kept Fish from making up his mind for a while, and he was worried that if he refused, Voldemort would come out and start a fire, so Fish hesitated for a while.

[Aren't you worried about someone else being petrified, or even dying?]

Voldemort again revealed a line of writing, this time using his few magical powers to leave a hint of a spell in the writing.

Though the hint spell, like the Imperius curse, though it didn't work very well on Fish, had a slight effect.

So, even knowing that Riddle, who was suspected to be Voldemort, was lying to him, Fish was still tempted.

Well... Fish is trying to keep Voldemort at bay and find out what he can!

(??ˇ?ˇ??)

In the end, under the influence of the suggestion spell and driven by his own curiosity, the kitten decided to look at Voldemort's memories first.

So he picked up his quill and wrote in his diary: [Very good].

As Fish's words were absorbed into the journal, the pages of the diary, lying on the marble table, went round and round, stopping on a page from mid-June.

The small square of June 13 seemed to become a window, or a magic photograph, in which something was faintly visible, and the image became clearer, and the window enlarged.

Unconsciously, Fish reached out and gently poked the blurry figure in the window, and then he felt his body involuntarily fall forward.

It was a familiar sensation, as he had used Dumbledore's Pensive in the same way.

A familiar spinning sensation followed, and by the time Fish fell to his feet and came to his senses, the scene around him had changed to another place.

As it turned out, it was not unlike the Pansyland.

The knowing kitten was unfazed by it.

Then he calmly surveyed his surroundings.

(°w°≡°w°)

"It's Albus' office..."

Fish looked around and immediately recognized where he was.

The only thing missing from his familiar office was Fawkes and a few small ornaments, the Sorting Hat was still on the shelf.

It wasn't Dumbledore sitting behind the desk, but a parched old wizard with very sparse white hair, just a few locks, not much better than Professor Flitwick.

"It's Grandfather Armando nya!"

(●ΦwΦ●)

Fish ran up to Professor Dippet, who was reading a letter at his desk, and tilted his head to look at him.

Armando Dippet, the previous Headmaster of Hogwarts, Fish had seen him in the portrait in the Headmaster's office and had a few chats with him, so he was no stranger.

Of course, it was also the first time he had seen him in person.

Professor Dippet ignored Fish's call and continued reading the letter in his hand with a stony face.

Fish didn't care, having visited Dumbledore's memories many times, he knew that whatever he did at this moment, it wouldn't affect the memories.

So he quickly withdrew his gaze and looked around again.

(°w°≡°w°)

"Riddle, where are you nya?" shouted Fish, although according to Dumbledore he had defeated Voldemort several times, Fish had never actually seen Voldemort, and part of the reason he had agreed to go into the memory was because Fish wanted to see Voldemort's true face.

"Riddle? Riddle? Where are you?"

After shouting a couple of times and finding no answer, Fish thought better of it and ran through the wall like a ghost, shouting Riddle's name as he did so.

Not a soul, let alone Voldemort, was to be seen on the way.

This was understandable, as Voldemort had no idea who was in the school at the time, and his memory could only construct what he knew.

"Come back."

As Fish ran through the emptiness of Hogwarts, a faint, ethereal voice suddenly rang out.

Voldemort was so depressed he wanted to vomit blood; he had very little power left in the diary and was already at the limit of what he could do by dragging Fish into his memories, and it was truly impossible for him to appear in his memory.

Even the act of transmitting his voice to Fish was too much for Voldemort now....

Who knew this little wizard would be so unpredictable!