Chapter 751: Respective Preparations (Edited)

"Dumbledore will take you and Harry to Voldemort's Horcrux?!"

When Fish broke the news, Hermione immediately became restless.

"There's no danger, right?" she asked anxiously.

"What danger could there be...?"

(`н´)

Fish murmured, "Albus... is forcing Fish to agree with him, and Fish must obey the order before going there..."

Hermione, concerned for Fish, didn't notice his sour mood and quickly agreed, "That's right, after all, you don't exactly know what kind of trap Voldemort has set up. It's right to listen to Professor Dumbledore!"

And then Fish became even more depressed.

Ron said in an envious tone, "Wow, you really want to go with Dumbledore... to destroy the mysterious man's Horcrux... Wow!"

Fish gave him a stern look and remained sullen.

It was then that Hermione finally noticed something different about Fish and immediately asked in concern, "What's wrong, Fish? You don't seem very happy."

Excited, Harry and Ron also looked over.

Fish looked up at the three of them and said gruffly, "Nothing, nya... It's just that Albus wants Fish to behave and follow him, that's no fun, nya..."

?ω?

Naturally, Hermione couldn't be fooled by Fish's statement, but wisely she didn't insist on the matter. Instead, she quickly ended the conversation and tried to cheer up Fish by telling a story.

However, this tactic, which had worked so well before, failed this time.

Although Fish listened attentively, his mood showed no signs of improvement.

"Fish, what's the matter?" Hermione asked in concern, feeling that she couldn't continue ignoring him, as she pulled Fish away from the others.

But Fish remained clumsy and indecisive, which worried and distressed Hermione.

"Is it because of Professor Dumbledore?" She couldn't help but continue, "You've been in a bad mood since you came back from his office, did he tell you something?"

Seeing Hermione on the verge of tears, Fish finally spoke.

"Albus is dying, nya..." Fish reluctantly told Hermione about Dumbledore's current state and what he had to do tomorrow, "Although Albus said he was prepared, the more Fish thought about it, the more he felt like he was lying... I don't want Albus to die, nya..."

(. _.)

Hermione didn't expect to hear such shocking news from Fish. Her brain couldn't process the situation, and she remained frozen in place.

Only after a long while did Hermione stumble, "Or perhaps Professor Dumbledore does have a solution? After all, it's not the same as when he destroyed the ring; he's prepared now..."

But she couldn't continue because, knowing about Dumbledore's injuries beforehand, Hermione had consulted them and understood that there were some wounds that could never be healed and some magical potions that had no antidote.

"Right!" Hermione bit her lip and thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "Didn't you say that Felix Felicis potion could enhance your body transformation power? Why don't you ask Harry for more?"

"But... Fish wants to save it for tomorrow, nya."

Indeed, Fish had considered using the Felix Felicis potion, but he remembered that both Professor Slughorn and Snape had said that the Felix Felicis potion should not be consumed frequently or in large quantities.

So instead of taking the chance of a transformation now, Fish thought it would be better for Dumbledore and Harry to drink the potion together when they set out tomorrow.

When Fish told Hermione about his idea, she immediately agreed.

"Indeed, it would be better to save the Felix Felicis potion for tomorrow..." She added after thinking for a moment. "But, is there enough potion in Harry's possession for all three of them to share?"

Fish recalled the amount of potion remaining in the vial.

"If it were divided among three people... it would probably last for about two hours..."

Fish scratched his head and added, "If Harry hadn't used the potion again after Horace's Christmas party."

"Two hours... that's not certain..." Hermione frowned, biting her nails and murmuring, "In case they need more time... Are the Felix Felicis potions that Professor Snape made for you still not ready?"

"No, they will take about ten more days to be ready." Fish sighed helplessly.

"So... have you seen Professor Slughorn yet?" Hermione asked. "I remember in the first Potions class he had a cauldron full of Felix Felicis potion, why didn't you ask him for some?"

"Fish... how could Fish have forgotten about Horace?"

The main reason was that Fish had an issue with Slughorn, so unconsciously he didn't want to ask him for help.

And now, it was not the time for that!

"Fish will go to Horace now!"

Fish, revitalized, disappeared in an instant, and Hermione, after a moment of freezing, rushed to the library...

Although it was probably a futile effort, she still wanted to see if she could find something useful in the book for Fish and the others.

"Horace, are you there?"

(|ΦωΦ)

Fish ran to Professor Slughorn's office as fast as he could, pushed the door open, and peeked inside.

Professor Slughorn was sitting in his armchair, calmly reading a newspaper, with his favorite oak-aged mead on the side table next to him.

"Ah! It's Fish!" He set aside the newspaper and hurriedly put away the mead, then beckoned Fish with a smile. "Come in, come in! What would you like to have? How about a glass of warm milk?"

"Fish wants the Felix Felicis Potion, nya!"

(ΦωΦ)

Fish got straight to the point, "Hermione said you might have the potion already brewed, Fish wants..." He tilted his head thoughtfully, "A dose that will last the whole day, nya!"

In Fish's mind, eight hours each should be enough time for them to retrieve Voldemort's Horcrux and have a chance to fix the problem with Dumbledore.

Of course, knowing the value of the potion, Fish wasn't going to take advantage of Professor Slughorn in any way, even though he had asked Snape for help with the ingredients, and certainly not Slughorn, who was much less intimate.

The only thing was that Snape had been given all the ingredients for the potion, and Fish could only "pay" with other ingredients for now.

"Fish can trade you for the potion's ingredients." Fish reached into his magical bag while continuing, "If you want the ingredients for the potion, Fish can also get them for you... as long as they're available in the Forbidden Forest...!"

(つΦωΦ)つ

Fish pulled out a bunch of various items and pushed them all towards Professor Slughorn.

"You don't actually have to... Are these...?!" Professor Slughorn, who was about to give in, swallowed his words when he saw the objects in Fish's hands.

"Unicorn hair, Augurey eggshell, Chimaera claws... and these, the three-headed dog's teeth, right?" He counted the various materials Fish had slid to him, his whole body trembling with excitement.

In terms of value alone, these materials were no less valuable than the Felix Felicis Potion, not to mention that some of them were so hard to come by that they were sometimes impossible to purchase even with money.

"That's enough! These materials are no problem even if you take my entire existing inventory!"

Professor Slughorn, who had no intention of refusing Fish, handed over all his Felix Felicis Potion with a wave of his hand.