Chapter 668: Career Guidance (Edited)

"Fish doesn't want to work, meow!"

(ΦДΦ)

In Professor McGonagall's office, Fish shouted loudly while Hermione sighed.

Due to Fish's unique situation, Professor McGonagall had arranged for career guidance to take place in the afternoons... and yet, Fish often came to her office.

And naturally, Hermione came along with him.

"How can you not work?!" Professor McGonagall looked at Fish and scolded him, though not too harshly.

She understood that it wasn't easy to get the lazy cat to work, but Professor McGonagall was confident she could convince him of the importance of work.

"Fish has finished school! Why does he have to work?" Fish defiantly stared at Professor McGonagall.

In Fish's mind, once he finished school, he could live his life as he always had, without any worries.

Whether it was Dumbledore, the Dancing Skeletons, or St. Mungo's Hospital, Fish felt that he was free to go or not go, without having to choose among them.

Now that Professor McGonagall was telling him he had to choose a career after graduation, and that he had to work as much as she did at Hogwarts, Fish refused to do so.

"Everyone has to work," Professor McGonagall patiently said, "Even Hermione plans to work at the Ministry of Magic in the future. No one will be an exception... even Muggles, look at Jacqueline and Chris, don't they also have dental jobs?"

"Minerva is lying again!"

(`н´)

Fish retorted with a pout, "Mollie and Sirius don't have jobs, meow! And Sylvanus doesn't have a job either, meow!"

Professor McGonagall: "..."

"Mrs. Weasley's job is to stay at home and do housework. Sirius can't go out to work because he's wanted. Professor Sylvanus is retired, he worked for many years before," explained Hermione.

"Fish's job is to eat, drink, and have fun at home, meow!"

(ˇˇ)

Fish replied seriously and firmly.

"How will you make money if you don't work?" Professor McGonagall asked angrily, "Do you want someone else to support you?"

"Yes," Fish reasoned in turn, "What's wrong with that? Haven't you always taken care of Fish, Minerva?"

"But I can't support you for the rest of your life..." Professor McGonagall said, astonished. "When you're an adult, you'll have to start your own family."

"Minerva doesn't love Fish, meow?!"

∑(ΦДΦ)

Fish panicked and jumped to Professor McGonagall's side, clinging to her arm in a fierce embrace. "Why? What did Fish do to upset Minerva? Is it because Fish doesn't want to go to work?"

He reluctantly spoke while rubbing his head forcefully against Professor McGonagall's cheek.

It's not that Fish didn't understand the importance of work, but he thought he could manage just fine without it, so why work so much when there were "precedents" like Molly and Sirius...

"I still love you!" Professor McGonagall lightly slapped Fish's head but had no intention of pressuring him like that. She explained, "But you're grown up now, and you'll have your own family in the future... You'll always be welcome at home, of course, but after starting a family, you'll also need your own home, and you'll need a job to support that family."

In the bewildered gaze of Fish, she continued, "Even if you plan to stay with me, when you have your own children, you'll have to raise them as I have raised you, and you can't leave your children with me too, right? I've had enough with a kitten like you."

"Fish's baby nya?"

(?ω?)

Fish scratched his head and unconsciously glanced at Hermione.

Hermione blushed to the tips of her ears and looked down to avoid Fish's gaze.

Then she heard Fish's "future vision": "Fish can go to the Forbidden Forest to hunt, nya! If I can't catch prey, I can go door-to-door collecting offerings, nya!"

"And how will you earn money?" Professor McGonagall asked again. "In the future, you'll need money for your children's school expenses, as well as for clothes and other daily necessities, and for your and Hermione's daily expenses... You can't ask for everything, can you?"

"Well..." Fish pondered.

If it had been before, Fish wouldn't have seen any problem with it, but now that he had an understanding of money, naturally, he didn't think the same way. And it wasn't as if Fish had no experience in how to earn money...

The first thing that came to mind was helping the twins sell their things, but considering everything he had sold for them, he didn't earn as much as the prize money from the Triwizard Tournament...

"Minerva, how many games like the Triwizard Tournament give you money while you play?" Fish asked curiously. "Fish can go to a tournament as soon as he runs out of money, nya!"

(?ω?)

"Don't even think about such nice things!" McGonagall slapped him on the head. "Whether there will be another Triwizard Tournament next year is another matter, and even if there is, you have already graduated and won't be able to participate... or you could consider playing Quidditch..." She suddenly suggested, looking at Fish expectantly.

But Fish maintained the same attitude, firmly refusing, "No way! It's not fun to play a game with so many rules to follow, nya!"

"Then what are you going to do? Even if you don't want to work, you have to think of a way to earn money, don't you?" Once again, Professor McGonagall felt a little annoyed because her beloved Quidditch had been belittled by Fish.

Fish, on the other hand, lowered his gaze again and pondered.

First, he ruled out the Ministry of Magic.

On one hand, Fish didn't like it, and on the other... Mr. Weasley worked at the Ministry, but Ron and the others were always short of money, and it was better to help George and Fred sell their things than to go to the Ministry.

St. Mungo's was not on Fish's mind either.

It had been hard work to heal the patients at St. Mungo's, and the healers seemed busy, so he wasn't foolish enough to choose a job that was tough and exhausting.

As for being the headmaster of Hogwarts...

Dumbledore seemed to have a lot of free time all day, and working at Hogwarts, with Professor McGonagall and a group of acquaintances around, was a good choice in any case.

But...

Professor McGonagall had complained more than once that Dumbledore had left her with the school and had gone off to do other things, and if Fish had been the headmaster himself, he would never have left his job to Professor McGonagall, as Dumbledore had done.

Considering how busy Professor McGonagall was, it was clear that the position of Hogwarts headmaster was not as easy as it seemed.

So, what else could be easy and profitable?

Fish suddenly remembered the time he had tried to capture Sirius for a reward, and the wanted posters that were now hanging all over the village of Hogsmeade.

"Well!"

∑(ΦωΦ)

Fish exclaimed, "Fish can catch Death Eaters for money!"

He counted on his fingers, "A Death Eater is worth 1000 Galleons, and now that ten of them have escaped, if Fish captures them all, he'll have 10,000 Galleons! And 1000 Galleons is the reward for information, so if we capture them, it will be even more nya..."

The more Fish said, the more it seemed like a good idea to him. "As the leader of the Death Eaters, Voldemort should be worth more nya... Even if Fish can't defeat him, he should be more powerful than the other Death Eaters, right?"

"If the Death Eaters can escape, then surely Voldemort can escape from Azkaban when they capture him, and then Fish can capture him again... Fish just has to keep capturing him, and he'll have an endless supply of money!"

(?ω?)

Fish said with a gleam in his eyes, suddenly finding the perfect job for himself.