Chapter 8: Raising a cat

"Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow" (Easy, kid, I'm the same kind of person as you, we call ourselves animagi). Professor McGonagall resumed the form of a tiger-spotted cat and explained to Fish.

"Meow, meow, meow?" (My name is McGonagall, Minerva McGonagall, what's yours?). Professor McGonagall asked.

"Meow, meow!" (My name is Fish, and no, I'm not human). Fish was thrilled to see that McGonagall was human like him, but when she called herself a human and classified him as such, Fish wasn't so happy.

He wasn't one of those humans without teeth and sharp claws and very little body hair.

"Meow!" (Poor child...). Of course, Professor McGonagall didn't know that Fish was telling the truth, she thought he had lived with stray cats since he was a child and didn't remember who he was.

After all, it was rare, but not uncommon, to find wolf children and monkey children all over the world.

Sensing that Fish had grown impatient at his initial closeness, Professor McGonagall did not argue with Fish any further on the subject.

"Meow, meow?" (So Fish, are you hungry?). Professor McGonagall asked.

"Meow! Meow~meow~meow~meow!" (I'm starving! I was going to catch an owl, and then it turned into a human, and came with another human with a white beard to catch me.) Fish was furious when I talked about the guy who could turn into a human, why did he have to chase him?

"Meow~" (Wait here, I'll get you something to eat). Professor McGonagall rubbed her head at Fish, then returned to her human form and headed for the door.

"Meow?", Fish cocked his head to the side and watched Professor McGonagall leave before taking a closer look around the room.

Aside from stealing fish from Evans' store, Fish rarely entered human homes, and he circled the medical room twice before returning to the bed and plopping down on the white pillows.

Fish wagged the tip of his tail in small circles, eyes squinting comfortably.

No wonder many of his kind like to stay with humans when they have such good things to offer besides food.

Just as Fish was enjoying the softness of the pillow, Professor McGonagall pushed open the door and entered carrying a silver tray with roast chicken, fried fish, and a bowl of pumpkin juice.

"Meow!", Fish, who had been napping on his pillow, caught the smell and jumped to his feet, hopping up onto the table and running greedily back and forth in front of Professor McGonagall, who had come to the table, his head tilted up and his eyes fixed on the plate in Professor McGonagall's hands.

"Easy, little one."

The ever-serious Professor McGonagall was all smiles at this point, and she reached out cheerfully to pat Fish's little head.

Since he could also transform into a cat, he did not resist her touch as he had done in the past, but placed his two front paws on Professor McGonagall's robe and cried urgently, "Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow."

"Eat, eat, eat, but it's easier to eat these things as a human."

Professor McGonagall didn't want to tease Fish anymore and placed the plate on the table.

Indeed, Fish could understand what Professor McGonagall was saying, even a normal cat could understand some human language, let alone a feline druid who had been optimized by the world tree shard.

But even if he did understand, Fish, who preferred his furry body, pretended not to hear and pounced on the roast chicken with gusto.

Biting down hard on the roast chicken, Fish struggled a bit to tear off a piece of meat,

Then he bobbed his little head, using his inertia and tongue to bring the chicken to the back of his teeth and chewed it a couple of times before swallowing.

"Meow~," Fish's eyes narrowed as he swallowed the chicken, and a purr of satisfaction escaped his throat.

Food cooked and processed by humans was more delicious than raw meat, but it was unfortunate that most humans fed on raw or relatively tasteless tasting food.

If you think about it, it's not so bad to be mistaken for a human or an animagus, is it?

Fish's ears twitched as the idea occurred to him, but he soon turned his attention back to the food in front of him.

Never mind that, let's fill up first!

After sticking out his tongue and licking the crumbs that had just fallen from his mouth onto the table, Fish proceeded to bite into the roast chicken.

Seeing that Fish was still eating like a cat, Professor McGonagall did not rush, but waited until Fish had devoured most of the roast chicken and was licking her paws before she reached out and plucked a small strip of meat from the roast chicken and slowly popped it into her mouth, then took a small sip of the pumpkin juice.

After this demonstration, Professor McGonagall smiled and repeated what she had just said to Fish in cat language.

Fish cocked his head to one side and looked at Professor McGonagall for a moment before continuing to lick his paws and wash his face.

You're very good, but I don't listen to you.

When he was a kitten, Fish was a free spirit.

Professor McGonagall knew there was no hurry, so she just stroked Fish's back and watched with a smile as the boy rubbed his paws all over his face....

Then, when Fish lowered his head to lick one of his more specific areas, Professor McGonagall reached up and blocked his head with her palm.

"Meow?" meowed Fish.

Professor McGonagall flinched at the puzzled look she received from Fish.

It was really important to help the boy return to his normal human habits as soon as possible.

...

"Are you sure you want to adopt this child, Minerva?" asked Dumbledore, wiping his half-moon spectacles, resting them on the bridge of his nose, and looking seriously at Professor McGonagall.

"I can contact other wizarding families, and I'm sure they would be delighted to adopt Fish," Dumbledore said.

"But they can't communicate with Fish as well as I can, can they? Besides, Albus, don't you think the boy and I have a connection?", Professor McGonagall was referring to Fish in his cat form, with the same silver tiger spots as her.

"If you insist, then there's no reason for me to stop...," Dumbledore sighed, unconcerned that Professor McGonagall would neglect her work at Hogwarts because of Fish, and offered, "Well, shall I find another house in Hogsmeade?"

In fact, Professor McGonagall herself owned a small house in Hogsmeade, which her husband had purchased to facilitate her work at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, shortly after her marriage, her husband, Elphinstone Urquart, died unexpectedly from the bite of a poisonous tentacle.

Unable to bear the thought of being alone in her cottage, Professor McGonagall packed up and returned to Hogwarts after Elphinstone's funeral, and the cottage was never used again.

Dumbledore knew Professor McGonagall's past and what she was going through, which is why he had not considered leaving Fish in Professor McGonagall's care.

"You know, Albus, I have property in Hogsmeade," Professor McGonagall smiled, politely declining Dumbledore's kind offer.

"I see... So, Comey," With another sigh, Dumbledore did not try to persuade, but called the house elf from earlier.

"Perhaps you need a house elf, to look after that child, Fish, while you're away."

This time Professor McGonagall did not refuse Dumbledore's offer, since, as Vice Headmistress of Hogwarts and Head of Gryffindor, she still had a heavy workload at Hogwarts and needed someone to watch Fish in her place.

As a feline animagus, and having been around cats since she was a child, Minerva McGonagall knew exactly how much trouble these furry little creatures could cause.