Chapter 699: On the Train (Edited)

The director of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries had welcomed Fish. However, as he had feared before, the headmaster hoped that Fish wouldn't easily help others after arriving at the hospital.

Fish was reluctant, after all, his goal was to see if he could awaken a spell to cure Dumbledore while he attended to the patients at St. Mungo's.

It was Hermione who reminded him that ordinary patients would likely be of little use in awakening spells, and that he could go to the patients whom the healers at St. Mungo's couldn't help.

So, for the rest of the day, apart from playing, Fish went to St. Mungo's to assist with some of the most difficult cases.

Many of the patients were healed, but Fish didn't awaken any spells.

But Fish wasn't discouraged because, even though he didn't awaken any new healing spells, somehow he managed to increase his transformation energy...

Could it be that when it's full, I can transform into some kind of healing creature? Like a phoenix or something.

Fish thought to himself.

Besides the phoenix, Fish knew of some other magical animals that had healing powers, and in their different forms, he had awakened some corresponding spells.

So if he transformed into an animal with healing powers, he could find a cure for Dumbledore!

So Fish went to St. Mungo's more often, and even reduced his visits to the Order of the Phoenix...

Anyway, there wasn't much to do there.

The only small surprise for him was that Fleur had come to live in England because she was in love with Bill. But Gabrielle, who had a better relationship with Fish, hadn't come.

It was logical that, given the state of England, Voldemort could start a war at any moment, and the Delacours didn't want their younger daughter to risk her life.

As for Harry's comment that Voldemort had the Prophecy Orb... Fish didn't believe it.

With his frequent trips to St. Mungo's, Fish's summer had been particularly intense, and it seemed to him that this year summer was ending a bit earlier than usual.

When Professor McGonagall told Fish, who was sleeping in a flowerpot, that classes were starting the next day, Fish didn't quite know how to react!

"Why are classes starting already? Fish hasn't even rested enough!"

(⊙ω⊙)

The next day, Fish followed Hermione to platform nine and three-quarters, still dazed and incredulous.

"Come on," Hermione reminded him, accustomed to Fish refusing to accept reality before the start of each term. "Get on the train, we're Prefects and we're going to help maintain order and guide the new students this year."

"Awwww..."

(≥△≤)

The idea of being a Prefect made Fish even more reluctant.

But after being dragged onto the Hogwarts Express by Hermione, he quickly got to work, and the other students collaborated with him a lot, and the previously disorderly and rowdy compartments suddenly became organized.

Once all the students boarded the train and found their seats, Fish and Hermione returned to the head compartment.

Both the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Prefects were members of the Order of the Cat, so they were the first to welcome them and chatted cordially with them.

Slytherins Draco and Pansy, on the other hand, sat quietly in a corner, observing the exchange between them with indifference.

Fish glanced at Draco and winked at Pansy when she wasn't looking. Draco subtly curved his mouth and then averted his gaze expressionlessly.

After chatting for a while and assigning patrol schedules, Fish and the other Prefects one by one left the Prefects' compartment.

Instead of returning to the Prefects' compartment after completing their tasks, Fish and Hermione headed to Harry's compartment where they were. Besides Harry, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and Luna were also present.

"Luna, have you and Xenophilius found the Crumple-Horned Snorkack?"

(?ω?)

As soon as they entered the carriage, Fish rushed over to Luna with curiosity and asked.

Mr. Lovegood had made a fortune with the success of "The Quibbler," and Luna had shared in the Order of the Cat that her father was taking her to Sweden this summer to search for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.

"No," Luna shook her head slightly disappointed, but soon perked up. "But we found the footprints of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack! And there are still some hairs left!"

She pulled out a small glass bottle from a patchwork bag made of different materials and colors, and inside was a tuft of dark brown hair.

Fish grabbed the bottle, uncorked it, and held it under his nose to sniff a couple of times.

"Well... it smells like nothing... a bit like moose, but not quite nya..." After smelling it, Fish said, "But Fish has memorized the scent, so next time, take Fish with you, I'm sure I'll find it!"

(ΦωΦ)

"Great!" Luna cheered happily as well and carefully stored the bottle.

Hermione observed the interaction between Fish and Luna silently. Anyway, she wouldn't have believed in the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. The tuft of hair was probably from some animal not found in England, or one that was uncommon, and most likely some kind of deer...

But she didn't bother to spoil Fish's fun. Turning to Harry and the others, she greeted, "How was your summer?"

"It was great!" Neville replied excitedly. "My O.W.L. grades exceeded Grandma's expectations, especially in Defense Against the Dark Arts! All thanks to the Order of the Cat... Are we continuing this year?"

Apart from achieving good grades, Neville was happy because his parents were almost fully recovered, and the family had traveled abroad during the summer to celebrate.

Hermione knew, of course, because the Longbottoms had sent gifts to Fish from abroad during the summer holidays.

Ron, on the other hand, held his head in his hands, distressed, and sighed, "I've had such a torturous summer..."

Hermione looked at him puzzled; if she remembered correctly, Ron's grades either went up or down, but Mrs. Weasley must be happy with them.

Ginny gave her brother a disgruntled look and explained, "Fleur is staying at our house right now."

Ron's face immediately turned red to the roots of his ears, and his words stumbled out as he argued, "It's not my fault, she's part Veela... When you saw Fish, couldn't you control yourself?"

"Nya?"

?ω?

Fish, who was talking to Luna about going to search for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack later, turned his head and asked, "What's wrong with Fish?"

"Oh, nothing." Ron waved his hands embarrassedly.

Seeing his best friend's humiliating state, Harry quickly changed the subject and said, "When we went to Diagon Alley, we ran into Draco; he sneaked alone into Knockturn Alley, in a shop called Borgin and Burkes, trying to fix something... That shop is where Draco's father used to deal with dark magic objects."

"Draco must have some kind of conspiracy!" Harry concluded, "Maybe he's working for Voldemort!"

Only Fish seemed completely uninterested, twitching his ears and continuing to listen while Luna talked about some imaginary creature, while Hermione, like Mr. Weasley, thought Harry was overthinking things.

"It's impossible for Voldemort to assign an important task to a student," Hermione shook her head. "Even if there was something to be done at Hogwarts, why wouldn't he approach Professor Snape?"

"Maybe Voldemort didn't want Snape to know?" Harry stubbornly suggested.

Hermione shrugged, not willing to argue further, but turned to discuss with Luna whether magical creatures existed or not.

Harry was slightly annoyed that his suspicions weren't shared, but he soon let it go and became excited as he talked with Neville and Ron about Quidditch.

During lunchtime, a panting third-year student burst open the compartment door and handed three scrolls of parchment tied with purple ribbons to Fish, Harry, and Neville.

Fish opened the scrolls with curiosity and saw that they were written in a beautiful and elegant handwriting.

Fish:

I would love for you to join me for lunch in the Slug Club box.

--Yours sincerely

Professor H.E.F. Slughorn