Chapter 570: Professor Umbridge (Edited)

Professor Trelawney was so upset that she couldn't persuade Fish that she gave them all a pile of homework: write down the dreams they had every day for a month.

Harry and the others complained, but only Fish took it seriously.

If he dreamed anything, he only dreamed about the giant tree, and at most he could write "I dreamed about the tree" thirty times.

After Divination class, Fish went to meet Hermione, who finished her Arithmancy class before heading to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"You'd better behave yourself in this class, Fish." Said Hermione with a serious countenance, "That Umbridge is sent by the Ministry to meddle in the school administration, we'd better not let her catch us making trouble."

"Don't worry Hermione, Fish knows what he's doing nya!".

?(ΦωΦ)?

Fish replied earnestly, reassuring Hermione a little.

What she didn't notice, however, was a glint in Fish's big green eyes.

When they entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the rest of the class was already there, and Umbridge was sitting quietly behind the lectern, waiting for the bell to ring.

She was still wearing the same garish pink robes she had worn the night before, with a black velvet bow atop the head....

She looked like a large fly had landed on top of a larger toad.

"Pffffffffffff..."

(ΦнΦ)

Fish looked at Umbridge on the podium and puffed out his cheeks with laughter.

Umbridge looked over, her eyes riveted on the cat ears on top of Fish's head, and after frowning for a moment, she immediately sketched a sweet smile.

"Look who it is." She said in a voice like a child's, "Mr. McGonagall, Minister Fudge has spoken very highly of you, you're every bit as charming as the rumors say you are!"

Although Umbridge was displaying a very friendly attitude, Fish was fully aware that she didn't seem to like him very much....

Because normally, people, especially women, who meet him for the first time, can't help but approach him, but Umbridge remained seated, unmoving, with no intention of approaching him.

Of course, it wasn't as if Fish had never met anyone who wasn't influenced by his own affinity, and he himself didn't like Umbridge too much, so he didn't take her true attitude to heart.

"Would you mind sharing with me what it is that makes you so happy?"

Umbridge asked, crossing the short, stubby fingers of both hands and placing them directly on his chest in an affectionate manner.

Fish blinked, thought for a moment, and then said sincerely, "Fish thinks you look like Trevor."

?ω?

At Fish's words, the students seated downstairs burst out laughing, not only the Gryffindors, but also the Hufflepuff students together in the class, and their Prefect, Ernie McMillan, even banged his desk with exaggerated amusement.

Neville's escapist pet was well known throughout Hogwarts, after all, when they were first years, Hermione had taken Neville to knocking on their compartment doors one by one, asking where Trevor was.

"Quiet! Quiet!"

Umbridge shouted, slapping the dais several times to silence the laughter of the students, her face no longer wearing that sweet smile, but rather her whole face was sunken in... looking more like a toad.

Although she didn't know who Fish was talking about, Umbridge knew from the reactions of the other students that it wasn't a good metaphor, and she wanted to teach Fish, the little wizard who had teased her, a lesson right away, but she had to stifle her anger at the thought of what Minister Fudge had said to her.

"Which of the students is Trevor? I don't seem to see him on the list."

After a little psychological build-up, Umbridge put on her fake smile and asked, unable to resist her curiosity.

Then she saw the cat-eared boy raise his hand, pointing to a round-faced boy at the back of the classroom, and replied, "Trevor is Neville's pet nya."

(ΦωΦ)

"Ah..." Umbridge's face improved a little as she continued, "Is it a cat? Or an owl?"

Owls had always been the most popular pets among the wizarding community, and in the past year, since Fish had been on display for the Triwizard Tournament, feline pets had become popular as well, and Umbridge felt she could live with the analogy between the two animals.

"Neither nya," Fish replied earnestly, shaking her head, "It's a toad nya"

(?ω?)

The classroom erupted in laughter again, drowning out the bell that was ringing, while Umbridge's smile, which had improved, froze.

Having done her homework on Fish's origins, Umbridge had unconsciously assumed that the pet Fish had mentioned was probably a cat.

Umbridge was a great fan of feline ornaments, as cats had always struck her as adorable-looking creatures that suited her temperament....

Although she found real cats to be dirty and annoying, that didn't stop her from considering herself a cat witch, even if her Patronus was a cat.

But at the same time, she knew she looked "a bit" like a toad, and it was because of this self-awareness that Umbridge hated being judged by her appearance.

The reason she had kept asking Fish, apart from the fact that she thought the answer would be a cat, was that toads had gone out of fashion since the days when Umbridge had been at the school, so she hadn't thought anyone had such ugly and disgusting things now.

So, when she heard Fish call Trevor a toad, Umbridge's sanity strings snapped. She even hated Neville, who had raised Trevor, for it.

"Shut up!"

The irrational Umbridge let out a terrible roar, like an old siren at full volume: her real voice.

The laughter in the classroom silenced, and everyone looked up at the dais, shocked at the twisted visage of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Just as an angry Umbridge was about to chastise Fish and the hapless Neville, Fish spoke again....

"Sorry nya, did Fish say something wrong again?".

(?ω?)

Fish scratched his hair and said with an innocent face, "Fish didn't know you wouldn't like Trevor, he doesn't have fur but there are quite a few female toads in the Black Lake that love him and want to give him babies, so Fish thought you would like him too nya..."

Umbridge, who had managed to regain some composure with Fish's apology, nearly lost her sanity again when she realized what she meant by the next part of her sentence.

The other students also covered their mouths with their hands for fear of accidentally bursting out laughing.

But Umbridge, a fan of promotion, had already lost her temper once and had quickly adapted.

If it weren't for Minister Fudge's instructions....

She gasped and gasped and then, driven by what was left of her senses and her desire to be promoted, she suppressed her anger.

Fish McGonagall doesn't think like a normal person....

Using the information she had found, Umbridge tried her best to convince herself that she was no match for Fish. And, of course, she wisely did not continue to argue with Fish.

"Ahem, ahem." She cleared her throat, resumed her girlish voice, and said to Fish, "It's time for class, so please return to your seat, Mr. McGonagall."

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Hermione asked in a whisper in Fish's ear once they were both seated.

Although Fish's aesthetic still didn't match that of an average person, Hermione had already talked to Fish about how to evaluate human appearance, so she knew that even if Fish thought there was nothing wrong with looking like a toad, she wouldn't mean it as a compliment.

Besides...

Hermione remembered that Fish had laughed out loud the first time he walked into the classroom and saw Umbridge.

When Hermione questioned him, Fish stuck his tongue out at her and made an innocent but obviously straight face....

"Fish doesn't understand what Hermione is talking about at all."

(?w?)