Chapter 667: The Growth of the Cat Order (Edited)

Fudge finally found someone to fill Umbridge's position.

To be more precise, he simply assumed the role of Head Investigator at Hogwarts. Nevertheless, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position is something that nobody wants to take.

The new Investigator was none other than Kingsley, who had been in charge of capturing Sirius.

There are many Aurors in the Ministry, but not many of them are truly worthy of the position, and even fewer have Fudge's trust...

The key is that Kingsley, who is trusted by Fudge, is already a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

It's no wonder that Fudge, the Minister of Magic, has always lived in Dumbledore's shadow, and it's no wonder that he holds such a grudge against him.

And when Kingsley arrived at Hogwarts, he simply pretended to investigate for a few days, and then he began to wander and learned the truth from Dumbledore...

What else could he do? He had to smile and admit it, as it wasn't him lying in St. Mungo's right now.

As for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, it was the same as before, with the four Heads of Houses taking turns to cover the class.

After Umbridge's hospitalization, Fish returned to his old life of sleeping in class and fooling around.

The educational decrees from the Ministry of Magic, which Kingsley actively ignored, are now just pieces of paper that no one cares about.

So much so that the activities of the Order of the Cat were no longer hidden from the public, and many teachers had noticed the secretive movements of Harry, as well as a few observant students who realized that the adults seemed to be up to something in secret.

Thus, Hermione simply expanded the membership.

This time, the recruits were mainly from the third and fourth years, and Hermione gave them a fake Galleon along with a fake Sickle.

"The dates on the fake Galleons are for full group participation, so if you don't have anything else to do, you should try to attend, while the dates on the fake Sickles are for individual tutoring for the first members in your free time, so you can choose to go or not," Hermione told the new members of the group.

After looking at the twins, she added, "These individual tutoring sessions will vary. Sometimes it may be Fish taking us on a trip to the Forbidden Forest, sometimes it may be George and Fred needing someone to help them test their products and do something practical... though they teach you something, and they'll give you some and pay a certain amount for it..."

Hermione reluctantly spoke well of the twins before warning, "But there are dangers, which you can consult with the first-year Gryffindors, so you can still choose not to participate when the time comes, or just sit and watch."

However, her warning was in vain, as all the new members were so excited that they wouldn't miss a single assembly if they could help it.

With the possibility of Fish taking them to the Forbidden Forest, not only the new members of the Order of the Cat but also the old ones came to visit when they could.

Unfortunately, most of the time they found the twins working on a new product.

After all, with the fifth years preparing for O.W.L. exams, the seventh years preparing for N.E.W.T. exams, and Quidditch training and all that, the only ones who had more free time were the sixth years and Fish, and the twins, who didn't care at all about their exam results.

Harry had even less free time than the rest of the class, as he had been learning Occlumency, and since he hadn't made much progress in the meantime, Snape had intensified his training, even during Easter.

The only good news was that Harry hadn't dreamt about the corridors and doors of the Department of Mysteries since the last time Voldemort had driven him mad.

As Snape had said, Voldemort didn't like having people in his head, but that made Harry less interested in learning Occlumency. Anyway, Voldemort had blocked himself out, so it didn't matter if Harry could do it or not...

Fish's Easter break wasn't pleasant either, as the professors had given him a ton of homework, and Fish felt miserable every time he wrote them down after Professor McGonagall had banned his quick-quotes quill...

It's easy to go from frugality to luxury but difficult to go from luxury to frugality. After using Rita's practical quill, Fish has become impatient with handwriting, and if it weren't for Professor McGonagall and Hermione keeping an eye on him, he would probably go back to making the same scribbles he did a few years ago.

Towards the end of the boring Easter holidays, there were piles of pamphlets, brochures, and notices about various magical careers on the Gryffindor tower tables, along with a notice on the bulletin board that read:

[Career Guidance]

During the first week of the summer term, all fifth-year students must meet with their House's head to discuss their future careers. The interview schedules for each student are as follows.

Fish's head was hurting from all the text on the forms, so while the others skimmed through the pamphlets, brochures, and notices about different magical careers, he simply transformed into a cat and fell asleep on Hermione's lap.

While Hermione stroked the cat, she discussed her future career intentions with the others.

The idea of improving the situation for house-elves had never died down, so she was considering careers within the Ministry of Magic. However, when she thought about how the Ministry had been behaving lately, Hermione hesitated to continue with her career.

The conclusion is that...

Fish had no love for the Ministry, so there was no chance he would choose it if he wanted to work with Fish after graduating.

The rest of Gryffindor didn't have a clear career plan like Hermione; they were basically looking for careers that suited their abilities.

"Oh, I don't fancy being a Healer," Ron firmly stated after studying the St. Mungo's brochure and comparing it to his own results.

"It says you need to get at least an 'E' in the N.E.W.T. exams in Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. I mean, it's not too difficult, right?" He tossed aside the Bones and Wands logo brochure and rolled his eyes.

"Look at this," Seamus waved a bright pink and orange flyer in his hand with the heading, "Do you think you'd like to work as a Muggle Liaison?"

"You don't need many qualifications to deal with Muggles, just an O.W.L. in Muggle Studies. The most important thing is your enthusiasm, patience, and sense of enjoyment!" He said excitedly.

"But we didn't take Muggle Studies..." Ron sighed first with relief, then with frustration.

"And if we're going to deal with my aunt, enjoyment alone won't help," Harry said with a furrowed brow. "I'm afraid we'll have to know when to dodge."

While the boys were discussing their future careers, the girls didn't stay idle either. Lavender and Patil approached Hermione, delving into her thoughts.

"Hermione, what are you going to do in the future?" The two stared at the cat in Hermione's lap with eager eyes...

Seeing them like that, Hermione could guess what they were really thinking. Were they just asking where Fish would work in the future?

Hermione responded with a smirk, "I'm thinking of entering the Ministry of Magic, but as for Fish..." She gently poked the cat's soft belly and asked with equal curiosity, "Fish, have you thought about what you want to do after graduating?"

"Nya~"

(Φω??)

Fish transformed back into his human form, sat up straight, then tilted his head and thought, before saying...