In the days that followed, teachers and students at Hogwarts were surprised to discover that Fish had begun to pay attention to his classes.
Not only did he pay attention in class, but he didn't miss homework afterwards either.
Although the writing was cat-like, and the content was all over the place, the fact that Fish was able to sit down and write his homework was rare!
What surprised everyone even more was that, instead of hanging around after school, Fish went to the library and looked at transfiguration-related books....
But often, after reading a few pages, Fish would fall asleep on his desk.
The change in Fish's behavior, in addition to surprising everyone, caused the library to become crowded, which increased Mrs. Pince's workload and further hardened her already grumpy temper.
Of course, as always, Fish, the culprit, continued to receive preferential treatment, and when he slept in the library, Mrs. Pince's voice softened to almost a whisper when she called out.
"It must be something Professor McGonagall has done! Her Fish education is starting to pay off!"
Hermione swore to her study group mates, she had been a great admirer of Professor McGonagall from the beginning and wanted to be a witch like her.
However, some of the young witches believed that she was actually trying to be a mother.
Regardless of Hermione's true intentions, the group agreed with her that Fish spent most of her free time flipping through books on transfiguration or pestering Professor McGonagall with questions.
Percy had come over to listen, and came back to say that the two animagi were talking about transfiguration, at least at the T.I.M.O. level.
This information, which was only a surprise to the others, made Hermione, the little witch, nervous for no reason, and silently added another hour to the time spent in the library....
Unfortunately, she couldn't keep to the scheduled time because the library was so crowded these days, and while she could borrow books to read in her dormitory, it was still a bit uncomfortable compared to the library.
Besides, there was no Fish in the dorm...
It was the best thing that could happen to Hermione to have Fish around while she studied.
No matter how much Hermione and the other students tried to squeeze into the library, no matter how much work they added to Mrs. Pince, it didn't matter to Fish.
What mattered was that he had reached a bottleneck in his transfiguration.
Transfiguration, the spell that turns a living being into a dead one, and a dead one into a living one, were two entirely different concepts.
Now Fish could easily turn an owl into a stake, but he could not turn a stake into a living owl, which would look like a corpse or a wooden sculpture.
The same goes for the Snitch and the flying broom, which are not living things, but are something even more extraordinary. Fish could turn anything into a Snitch, but the Snitch's wings would not move, let alone fly.
Turning living things into dead things, and living things into living things, didn't take Fish, who had spent most of his learning time on the bottleneck of how to turn dead things into living things, very long.
However, whether he asked Minerva or searched the library himself, the answers he got were that he didn't understand transfiguration well enough, that he wasn't skilled enough to cast the spell, that he wasn't strong enough to cast it, etc.
And he was furious.
"I don't know why I have to wave my wand when he cast a spell! And tell me how to be strong, meow," Fish ruffled his hair furiously, his patience for learning transfiguration was wearing thin.
Throwing the copy of 'Transfiguration, the little details you don't know' from the library onto his bed, Fish transformed back into his cat form and went outside.
Although Professor McGonagall had gotten him to start studying and doing his homework, nightly patrols around the grounds and snacks prepared by the elves were a must for Fish.
As for the school curfew, it was practically impossible for Fish, and not even Harry and the others in his dorm had bothered to stop him.
Not only did they not bother to stop him, they even used it to their advantage as they got to know him better.
"Fish, if you're back before twelve, please bring me something to eat."
Seamus Finnegan's voice rang out behind him, followed by Ron's, "And me!"
Fish meowed in agreement without looking back.
Leaving the Gryffindor dormitory, Fish wandered aimlessly around the castle, but as he did so, he suddenly stopped and stood still, even though his paws were still raised in the air.
At the same time, the triangular ears on Fish's little head swiveled back and forth a couple of times, and one of them pointed toward the corner.
"What's with your Transfiguration? suddenly much better?"
A voice Fish didn't remember sounded from around the corner.
"I'll whisper it to you, don't tell anyone, "another voice, also unknown to Fish, replied, "I've found a magic room where my Transfiguration has improved."
"What room? where is it?" asked the first voice.
"I suspect it's the mysterious room at Hogwarts, some call it the Room of Requirement...," The second voice explained in detail to the first how to enter the Room of Requirement, and then there was the sound of footsteps walking away.
"Meow?"
Fish cocked his head, interested in what the two men were saying about the Room of Requirement, but what puzzled him was....
Why couldn't he smell the two men and why could he only hear the footsteps of one of them?
Curious, Fish slipped around the corner and poked his head out to take a look.
(|ΦωΦ=)
However, the corridor on the other side was empty, not a single person could be seen.
Strange...
Puzzled, Fish raised his hind legs and scratched his chin, then quickly stopped thinking about it and went for a walk.
Tail up, Fish made a decision and walked in a random direction with small steps.
It was only natural, learning transfiguration was not as important as eating and drinking.
Professor Quirrell, who was hidden with the invisibility spell, looked in the direction Fish was heading and was slightly surprised.
That was not the way to the Room of Requirement!
Of course, he had created the conversation, but after searching in vain for a way through the trapdoor, Quirrell had turned his attention to Fish.
His plan was to lure Fish into the Room of Requirement and then use the Imperius Curse to manipulate him into going through the trapdoor, which was guarded by the three-headed dog.
The main reason he did not use the Imperius Curse on Fish was because there were so many portraits and ghosts at Hogwarts, and because when one was under the control of the Imperius Curse, his behavior becomes rigid, and Fish is usually a bit animated, so if he is not careful, he could be discovered, so he has to find a place to out of the gaze of the portraits and ghosts in the castle to manipulate Fish so that he will not be discovered.
This is one of the reasons Quirrell did not use the Imperius Curse to find the Philosopher's Stone.
The main reason is. Quirrell is not very good with the Imperius Curse, after all, he was a white wizard before Voldemort brainwashed him, so it is natural that he has little experience with the Imperius Curse.
Voldemort, who was good at it, was dying, and it was difficult to control the other teachers with the Imperius Curse, so they had to go after students like Fish.
In his weakened state, Voldemort had to be careful, and he couldn't do anything until he had the exact information about the Philosopher's Stone, and to make sure he would get the stone, he told Quirrell how to get into the Room of Requirement.
And then there was Quirrell's plan to pretend to talk to someone else and lure Fish into the Room of Requirement....
Unfortunately, the plan seems to have backfired so far.
Seeing that Fish did not head straight for the Room of Requirement, Quirrell hesitated and did not try to lure him back, but followed him silently.
Since it was the weekend, Fish had already done much of his work for the day, such as visiting Fluffy, so after wandering around for a while and feeling a bit bored, Fish turned around and headed for the seventh floor.
Quirrell, who had followed him silently, was relieved and ran to Room of Requirement and to ambush him.
Following the information in his head, Fish came to a tapestry showing a person trying to teach trolls to dance ballet, but he was in no hurry to enter.
Of course, Fish didn't know that Quirrell was ambushing him, but he was primarily interested in the tapestry in front of him.
Crouching in front of the tapestry, he watched as Barnabas the Nutcase attempted to teach the trolls ballet dancing, before Fish slowly got up and paced back and forth three times in front of the tapestry, just as he had been told to do.
After walking three times, a smooth door appeared in the wall, and Fish, in his human form, pushed it open and entered with a wide grin.
Upon entering the room, Fish saw several flying brooms and Snitch boxes stacked in the corner.
"Meow, hahaha! I'm sure that helped me." (●>▽<●)
Fish folded his arms and laughed.
Ignoring the flying brooms, Fish reached over, pulled a Snitch out of a box and pocketed it, and after a moment's hesitation, picked up another.
Although Fish had been told that the room he had entered was supposed to be "a room for practicing transfiguration," the kitten thought: why bother learning transfiguration when you can get the toy?
So he changed the request to "the room where you can get the golden Snitch".
Fish is smart! <(  ̄ ︶  ̄ )>
Satisfied, Fish strutted out of the Room of Requirement with the two golden Snitches in his pocket.
On the other side, Professor Quirrell, who had prepared the ambush in the "Transfiguration Room" in advance, was waiting for Fish's arrival.
Quirrell: "Why isn't he here yet..."