Chapter 177: The Sorting Hat (Edited)

"Minerva~"●ω●

Returning to Hogwarts, Fish soon found Professor McGonagall in her busy office on the First Floor, and quickly pounced on her and hugged her.

"Huh? How dare you come back?"

Professor McGonagall pinched Fish's cheek and asked with a smile.

She wasn't really mad at Fish, of course, but she wondered why she came back after such a short time... Normally, it would have taken the kitten until dinnertime to come back.

"Nya!" ∑(●ΦДΦ●)

It was only then that Fish remembered that he had just wronged Minerva and had forgotten about it because he was so preoccupied with the comb.

There was nothing else to do but act flirtatious.

So Fish smiled flatteringly and rubbed his head against Professor McGonagall's, like a good boy.

"You're a clever rascal."

Without really getting angry, Professor McGonagall smiled and tapped Fish on the head twice, and the matter ended.

"So, what do you want from me?"

Professor McGonagall, who knew the cat's nature, knew the little man wanted something from her as soon as she saw the way he was acting.

So Fish answered honestly, "I want a comb, Hagrid's comb is too big for Fish nya."

Professor McGonagall froze, it had been an oversight on her part, but she had been treating Fish like a normal child and had neglected the cat's needs.

Of course she had a comb, and she had one in her little bag, so she opened it, took out a fancy little silver comb and handed it to Fish, giving him two more strokes on the little head.

"You little fool, what did you learn transfiguration for?"

"Nya!" ∑(●ΦДΦ●)

It was then that Fish realized that he could have used his transfiguration skills to transform a comb, instead of having to send himself to be taught by Minerva.

But there was no point in dwelling on what was already done.

The kitten was glad to put the matter behind him and took the small silver comb and began to smooth his tail.

The tines of the comb ran through fur and skin, providing Fish with a completely different experience than licking his own fur, the tip of his tail even wagged gently in comfort, and a purr escaped unconsciously from his throat.

It was obvious that just combing a tail was not enough to satisfy Fish, as his body was shrinking, and black and white fur was covering his exposed skin, and before long he was in the shape of a three-foot tall cat-man.

It was the first time Professor McGonagall had seen Fish in this form, and she quickly stopped what she was doing, ran over to him and lifted him by the armpits, looking him up and down.

In this state, Fish looked like a large tiger-spotted cat standing upright, but some of his human form was still apparent, and the claws on his hands were much longer and more flexible than normal, with Professor McGonagall's silver comb firmly in his grip.

"What is it, Minerva?" ?ω?

Puzzled, Fish looked at Professor McGonagall, who was lifting him up, and dangled his limbs, without struggling, though he wasn't very comfortable being held like this.

"When did you get to be like this?"

After Professor McGonagall was surprised, she went down to Fish and asked curiously.

As he brushed himself with the small comb, Fish replied nonchalantly, "From the beginning nya, I became like this first, I thought it was too short, then I went back to being a cat person.... What's wrong nya?"

"Well, it's nothing, I was just surprised to see you like this for the first time."

Professor McGonagall thought about it, it didn't seem like a big deal, and Fish's surprising performance wasn't far behind.

So she smiled and complimented, "That's a nice look for Fish too."

"Hehehe~"

Fish shook his head smugly and continued brushing his fur.

But he soon ran into a problem: it was difficult to brush his back.

After a few strokes on his back with his head askew and his arms twisted, Fish gave up and approached Professor McGonagall with the small comb in his hand, "Minerva~ comb my back nya~" he said.

But Professor McGonagall, who was busy with her work, didn't have much time to spare, and as she looked at the list of new students, she casually said, "I'm not available right now, you can have Hagrid or someone else do it for you, or I can do it tonight."

"So Minerva wants Fish to help?"

Fish thought about it, preferring to be combed by Professor McGonagall, so she set the small comb down on her desk and leaned over Professor McGonagall's back, looking over her shoulder at the list of students, as she asked.

"You're helping me by giving me some peace and quiet at the school's opening banquet," Professor McGonagall said.

"Hmph!"(〃｀3〃)

Fish pouted, not happy with Professor McGonagall's antipathy.

"Fish is being good now!"

"Yeah, yeah, then Fish will go play on her own, okay? Mom still has work to do."

"All right, nya! Then I'll go play with Albus and Fawkes."

At the mention of the housewarming party, Fish thought of the Sorting Hat. He definitely couldn't grab the Sorting Hat and run away like last year, so he had to go and approach it in anticipation.

In his cat-man form, Fish jumped off Professor McGonagall's back and ran to the third floor.

After a meow and the gargoyle moved out of the way, Fish grew impatient as the moving staircase reached the top, and he pushed open the gleaming oak door.

"Hello nya!"(=ΦωΦ=)

Dumbledore wasn't in his office, but Fish didn't mind and waved familiarly at the headmaster's portraits on the wall.

The portraits were asleep, as usual.

Fish didn't mind either, he was used to grandparents not saying anything, and after greeting them he ran to Fawkes' side.

Fawkes looked even worse than before, his feathers were sparse, and when he saw Fish he merely lifted his wings a little and let out a muffled chirp.

Casting the [Stabilize] spell on Fawkes, Fish stood on his tiptoes and stroked his wings twice, accidentally snagging a feather in his paw.

Removing his paw, Fish left Fawkes alone and climbed onto the shelf with the Sorting Hat.

"By Merlin's stinky socks! Get your paws back! I can't afford to have you scratch me twice!"

The Sorting Hat shouted loudly, he didn't expect Fish to stop scratching him now, but at least not with his claws! Those sharp little claws, they scared the hat!

"Nya?"

Fish looked at his cat paws, and then, as an afterthought, put them away, since they were different in cat form, and had accidentally escaped.

"Sorting Hat, I'm here to play with you!" (=ΦωΦ=)

"Then I really appreciate it..."

The Sorting Hat replied weakly, before Fish pulled it off the shelf without resistance and placed it face down on the desk.

Fish returned to his cat form and rolled around in the hat.