Chapter 96: Investigating again (Edited)

As he was about to reach the trap door, a huge, familiar black dog paw came down from the sky and pressed down on the trap door with a deadly thud.

"Meow!!!!" ⊙w⊙

Fish, who had already activated all acceleration abilities, couldn't stop at all and hit his head against the dog leg.

"How is that possible, meow?!"

Fish bounced off Fluffy's paws and fell on his butt, covering his head with one hand and his butt with the other, looking at Fluffy and the ground where he had supposedly applied a soft stone spell.

Then he was surprised to see that his soft stone spell had failed, and that Fluffy had not sunk to the ground at all.

"How did this happen, meow?!" ∑(●ΦДΦ●)

What Fish didn't know was that the wily Dumbledore had put a protective spell on the ground since he had demonstrated that he could sink Fluffy into the ground.

Knowing that some of Fish's spells were special, Dumbledore had cast a number of spells on the ground in addition to the protection spell, including a shaping spell, a reinforcement spell, a self-recovery spell, etc., and finally, today, he had managed to disable Fish's soft stone spell.

"Damn!"

Not knowing what was going on, but apparently having failed to enter the trap door today, Fish reluctantly rushed forward and punched and kicked Fluffy's paws.

"Get out of my way, Fluffy, I want to go down!". (#`Д′)ツ

"Ow!"

Fluffy, who had already stopped Fish more than once or twice, didn't move, just dropped down on top of the trapdoor and started playing dead.

Letting Fish beat him, Fluffy silently moved his three heads toward the pile of food he hadn't eaten before, occasionally sticking out his tongue and popping something into his mouth.

He wasn't afraid of a beating anyway, so he would wait until Fish got tired or out of breath.

"I'm pissed, I'm leaving, meow!". (╬◣д◢)

Indeed, after a while, Fish stopped attacking Fluffy and angrily closed the door.

Fluffy didn't say a word and continued to gobble down the food in front of him, not worrying that Fish would get angry at him.

Although Fish had a tendency to lose his temper at every turn, his anger came and went quickly and he would still bring him food tomorrow.

In a rage, Fish left Fluffy's house and didn't feel like hanging around, so he called Comey and had the elf take him to the Common Room.

Just like the night before, the three of them waited for Fish in the Common Room, and when they saw him appear in the Common Room with a sad face, their anxious mood calmed down.

But just in case, Harry approached him and asked. "Fish, did you go back to.... That trapdoor thing?"

"I got stopped by Fluffy's bad dog, meow!"

Fish wasn't ashamed of it either, he puffed out his cheeks in exasperation, "Must be the bad old man, my spells failed, meow!".

Now that he had calmed down and thought about it, Fish thought that maybe it wasn't the storybook, but that someone had done something to Fluffy and the ground, after all he had managed to catch Fluffy with the soft stone spell earlier.

And the most suspicious of all, of course, was Dumbledore, the old bad guy.

"Well, if it didn't work, then forget it."

Although they didn't know exactly what had happened, Harry and the others were relieved to confirm that Fish hadn't been able to get into the trapdoor, and so they tried to dissuade Fish from going through it.

But they were just some human puppies, so how could they affect the kitten's thoughts?

Cats are the kind of creatures that the more you don't let them do something, the more they want to do it.

Fish was no exception.

So, as Harry and the others looked on in despair, Fish threw his hands up in the air and roared, "No! Fish must get through that trap door and see what he's hiding! I'm not losing to the mean old man and Fluffy!" ?(●ΦДΦ●)?

As soon as Fish re-entered the dormitory, the three of them gathered to discuss the situation.

"So what now? We have Fish's interest fully piqued..."

Ron, as the one most directly responsible for the relationship, cried out feeling that his future was dark.

Whether Fish succeeded or failed, if the story got out and Professor McGonagall found her way to him, the Gryffindors alone could turn him into a pancake without his help.

And that was the optimistic scenario, if Snape took Fish to the trapdoor, as Harry feared, it would be a terrible thing.

"How about reporting directly to Professor McGonagall?"

Ron gritted his teeth, thinking that Fish's life was more important, at least let Professor McGonagall take care of Fish.

"I don't think we should worry so much about Fish."

Hermione, who had been the most worried at first, had spent the rest of the day reassuring herself, but had come to some understanding.

"Snape was bitten a month ago, if he really wanted to use Fish, he would have done it by now, so there's no need to worry too much about Fish's life." Hermione, who had removed the distractions, carefully analyzed the situation, "I guess Snape saw what happened to Fish when he was stopped by Fluffy, and he knew he wouldn't be able to get through the trapdoor either."

"As for Fish getting through the trapdoor, don't worry too much, he's said so himself, he's been stopped several times by Fluffy, and Professor Dumbledore knows he's done it, as does Professor McGonagall, so even if they find out, the most the professors will think is that he's trying to get through the trapdoor again..."

Hermione was speaking faster and faster, looking slightly agitated as she analyzed and became optimistic about how things were developing, "Besides, Fish's constant presence at Fluffy's side might also make Snape more careful not to reveal himself too easily, and in a way reduce the chances of him stealing something."

"So it's good that Fish is bothering Fluffy?" Ron's eyes lit up, would that lend credence to his actions?

But all he got was a glare from Hermione.

"What are you talking about?" growled Hermione at Ron with her hands on her hips, like an old hen guarding her chicks, "Snape hasn't done anything to Fish yet because he knows he can't get past the trapdoor guard either, Fluffy, but what if Fish gets through one day?"

"So we have to find out what's under the trapdoor before Fish gets past Fluffy, and sabotage Snape's plan by exposing him for what he is!" Harry took over, relieving his friend of the situation.

"Yeah, that's right."

Hermione nodded reassuringly, it was a good thing that Harry, the "boy who survived", had his head on straight, otherwise he would have wondered if he should still be helping those two boys.

After all, the way things were going, it was certain that they would be breaking school rules in the future.

Although the Gryffindor students had adopted the mentality of the older students and cared less about points and House rules due to Fish's influence, Hermione, who had been a good student since she was a child, still wanted to fight a little....

None of them were Fish.

Shaking her head and dismissing the thought, Hermione returned to the subject.

"So..." she interrupted herself, looking at Harry and Ron.

"So?" The two boys were confused.

"So we need to keep finding out who Nicolas Flamel is, AND we need to do it fast!" Hermione blurted the words out loud, then lifted her chin proudly and went back to her room.

Harry and Ron watched as Hermione walked through the door of the girls' dormitory and then slowly came to their senses.

The thought of the thick stack of books and the dense pile of words in them made them both clutch their heads and groan in pain almost simultaneously.

"Oh no..."