Chapter 536: The bonus is in the hand (Edited)

Fish's plan to have a baby was finally rejected by Hermione....

After all, they were still students and it was too soon to have a baby.

It took all of Hermione's willpower to turn down Fish's tempting offer.

"By the way, Fish, what made you suddenly think to ask me these questions?".

Hermione quickly changed the subject after turning Fish down to avoid regret.

"Said the bad guy Voldemort nya."

(〃｀3′〃)

Fish replied angrily.

"Voldemort!" Hermione couldn't help but exclaim, "You found him again?!"

"Yeah, he's the bad guy who got me and Harry taken away last night." He answered Fish with a nod, and then raised his head proudly: "But in the end he was defeated by Fish's patronus nya!"

(?`?′?)

"What exactly happened last night?" asked Hermione curiously.

Fish then told her everything that happened last night.

After hearing it, Hermione was in shock....

"You-Know-Who is back... and Harry is no longer his nemesis..."

She muttered bitterly, her expression a little nervous.

Hermione had read about Voldemort's reign in many books and knew that if Voldemort regained his powers, the first to suffer would be Muggle-born wizards like herself, and her own Muggle parents would be in danger.

"Hermione, don't be afraid nya!" Fish patted his chest and said, "Fish will protect you! Voldemort can't defeat Fish!".

(?`?′?)

Hermione was a little relieved to hear Fish say that, not that she really thought Voldemort wasn't a threat with Fish around, but she remembered that the wizarding world wasn't helpless either.

Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, had been the only person Voldemort had ever feared, and there were many aurors in the Ministry who had fought Death Eaters under Voldemort's rule.

However, there was the safety of her parents to consider. Hermione thought she had to talk to her parents about it, either asking them to hide abroad, or asking them to move to Hogsmeade.... she personally preferred the latter option for the time being....

After all, she could live with Fish.

Hermione was in the middle of a little calculation when she suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, that's right! It's almost time for the Ministry of Magic to present you with an award, so let's go to the Great Hall!".

Hermione said to Fish as she looked at her watch.

"Great, is that an award for Fish?"

?(?≧?≦?)?

Fish waved his arms excitedly, wasn't that the main reason he entered the Triwizard Tournament, for the 1000 gold galleons?

"Well, I guess so, maybe there's a mention or something."

Hermione didn't quite understand how the Ministry had time for all that fancy stuff when Voldemort had been resurrected.

But it wasn't something she could understand as a student, so Hermione grabbed Fish and walked with him out of the Room of Requirement, down the stairs to the Great Hall.

When the two arrived at the Great Hall, it was already full, with students from all three schools sitting at the long tables, as usual, and at the top, at the long professors' table, sat the Hogwarts professors, Madame Maxime, Ludo Bagman and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

Hermione could tell that the faces of those at the professors' table were not very pleasant, especially that of Minister Fudge, whose face was cold, with the exception of Ludo Bagman, who seemed a little more animated.

The Great Hall had also been decorated, but as a "Triwizard Tournament Awards Ceremony," it was much more modest, with a few ribbons hanging from the ceiling and some colored lights.

Hermione glanced around the Gryffindor table and saw that most of the students were relaxed, though they were whispering and looking at Fish and Harry.

Only Harry and Ron looked serious, and it seemed that Harry had only told Ron about Voldemort's resurrection.

"Students and guests." Dumbledore stood up and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Although something bad happened at the last event, the Triwizard Tournament has been successfully concluded and the Ministry of Magic has deemed it necessary to hold an awards ceremony..."

He looked at Fudge, who had lost his grimace.

Fudge sketched a smile, nodded to Dumbledore and stood up as well.

"This is the first year the Triwizard Tournament has resumed after a hundred years, so there have been a number of errors in our preparations..." Fudge attributed the appearance of the fourth champion, as well as the disappearance of Fish and Harry, to the failures of the organizers, "I'm not excusing the Ministry of Magic, but it's fortunate that these mistakes didn't have bad consequences."

The more astute had caught the difference of opinion between Minister Fudge and Dumbledore regarding these "mistakes," and an expression of displeasure had appeared on the faces of several of the professors, as well as that of Madame Maxime.

Dumbledore, on the other hand, did not react at all, but smiled slightly.

On the other hand, Fudge continued with the same rhetoric: "The champions of the three schools have demonstrated their wisdom, courage and strength in this tournament...".

After much nonsense, Fudge finally announced loudly, "The winner of the Triwizard Tournament is the Hogwarts champion, Fish McGonagall!".

The audience, already lulled to sleep by Fudge's talk, clapped loudly and cheered Fish's name.

"Fish, come on up." Fudge waved Fish up.

?(?)?

"Is that a bonus to Fish?"

?(??ω??)?

Fish asked, jumping up at him, eyes shining.

Fudge still had some goodwill towards Fish and, like Voldemort, had the idea of recruiting Fish.

So he smiled kindly, nodded to Fish and pulled a heavy bag from his robe pocket, shaking it gently to hear the pleasant clink of the gold coins it contained.

Fudge handed the bag of gold coins to Fish and said, "This is the prize you have won, one thousand gold galleons.... Let's congratulate Fish!".

There was another round of applause and cheers from the stage.

"Nyajajajaja! I told you Fish would win nya!".

(?≧?≦?)ヅ

Fish grabbed the money bag with one hand and looked at the students with a smile on his face, waving his other hand towards the group.

After a few moments of showing off in front of the group, Fish carefully stowed the money bag in his magic bag...the money was going to be used to buy Professor McGonagall a Fire Saeta, so he couldn't lose it.

"Then we'll say goodbye."

After the ceremony, Fudge gave a stiff salute to Dumbledore and hurriedly left Hogwarts with Ludo Bagman.

Dumbledore let out a long sigh and did not try to persuade him to stay.

In the morning he had reached a new agreement with Fudge, but the latter was determined to secure his rights, convinced that Fish and Harry had been kidnapped by an unhinged Death Eater, and that Dumbledore's analysis was wrong.

And Fudge showed his intention to interfere with Hogwarts' work.

Dumbledore knew what he was thinking and guessed what he would do, but to avoid unnecessary internal strife, Dumbledore was not going to refuse Fudge's "kind offer."....

Anyway, there was still no teacher for next year's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, so it would be best if someone offered to teach it to him.

That's right...

He looked at Fish next to him....

"Nya?"

(??ω??)