Chapter 596: Sprouted (Edited)

The three of them exited the headmaster's office and descended the spiral staircase before reaching the secret door on the third floor.

"Oh, yes!" Hermione suddenly remembered something as they approached the door. "Umbridge tried the password to the headmaster's office on this door once. I wonder what she was trying to do?" She brought it up to Dumbledore.

"What else could it be?" Dumbledore smiled casually and then used a spell to conceal the three of them. "Nothing more than attempting to gain access to my office, searching for any evidence that could be used against me."

He explained as he led Fish and Hermione out of the castle.

"Umbridge is quite skilled at that. Fudge is truly adept at manipulating people, unfortunately... sigh..."

Dumbledore sighed, acknowledging Fudge's abilities. He had supported Fudge as Minister of Magic initially, but he had not anticipated Fudge's eventual actions.

"Fish still believes a good spanking would have been better, nya," Fish expressed with deep emotion. "Fish used to always receive a spanking from Minerva when he disobeyed, nya!"

(ˇˇ)

"Violence doesn't solve all problems, Fish," Dumbledore calmly explained. "By now, you could have easily defeated Minerva, but as far as I know, you haven't challenged her in a long time, have you? Why is that?"

"Fish... doesn't know, nya..." Fish appeared somewhat perplexed. "Fish just doesn't believe beating Minerva would serve any purpose, and Fish doesn't want to anger her anymore, nya..."

(?ω?)

"You see, you have realized something, even if you haven't fully grasped it yet."

Dumbledore reassuredly smiled as he reached out to pat Fish on the head and continued, "And there must be others, besides Minerva, whom you wouldn't want to resort to violence with after doing something that doesn't make you happy, right? Like Hermione, Harry, and Ron..."

With each name Dumbledore mentioned, Fish nodded and added, "And Severus, Luna, Newt, Shadow, Fang..."

Fish wiggled his fingers and listed a long string of names.

Dumbledore's relief turned into a fading smile as he slowly responded, "...Fish, did you forget someone?"

"Nya?"

(?ω?)

Fish tilted his head and frowned, saying, "Albus wasn't one of those people."

Dumbledore: "..."

How should he put it... in reality, this situation seemed unsurprising...

The headmaster sighed, dumbfounded.

Dumbledore was relieved that their conversation had taken place outside the headmaster's office; otherwise, he would have endured laughter for a considerable time if the portraits, particularly Phineas', overheard him.

"May I ask what this is about?" Dumbledore reluctantly inquired.

"Because, Albus, you're very powerful! Fish has always wanted to have another duel with you, nya! I was just worried about making Minerva angry..."

(ˇˇ)

Fish's response brought a sense of relief to Dumbledore, and he returned to his cheerful smile, saying, "So, after we defeat Voldemort, we shall have another duel at some point."

"If Fish wins, the Sorting Hat will be Fish's!" Fish immediately declared.

"And if I win?" There was a mischievous glimmer in Dumbledore's blue eyes. "I'm not asking for much, just a birthday present."

"It's a deal, nya!"

(?ω?)

Fish accepted without hesitation.

At that moment, the three of them entered the Forbidden Forest, and since Dumbledore was there, they didn't need to go too far. After finding a large clearing on the outskirts, Dumbledore quickly cast a cloaking spell.

However, there were still some magical creatures feeding nearby, and they all approached Fish when they saw him.

"Fish is busy today, so I'll see you next time nya!"

?(ΦωΦ)?

After exchanging a few words with them, Fish took out some food from his magic bag and gave it to them, then dismissed them.

After eating the food, the magical creatures also left, letting out their own cries to drive their kind away from the area.

Fish also pulled out his wand, raised it above his head, and began to draw a circle:

"Expecto Patronum nya!"

?(ΦωΦ)?つ━☆*.

The silver-white tree appeared in the clearing in front of the trio. Its imposing form seemed so oppressive...

Of course, it would have been better if the shape hadn't been so crude.

Fish didn't dislike the appearance of his Patronus. He and Hermione raised their heads and looked carefully at the giant silver-white tree in front of them.

And Dumbledore exclaimed, "No matter how many times I see it, it's always impressive!"

"It doesn't look much different from the last one," said Hermione a little chagrined as she counted the number of branches and roots. She then turned her head to look at Fish, worried that he might be frustrated by it.

However, after examining the tree for a while longer, Fish suddenly pointed to the top and shouted, "There's a change nya! There's a leaf growing there."

(?w?)

"Where?"

Hermione and Dumbledore squinted, straining to see in the direction Fish pointed.

Unfortunately, their eyesight was too different from Fish's, and they couldn't find the leaf Fish was referring to after a long time.

Seeing this, Fish controlled one of the Patronus' branches to come down and cross in front of Hermione and Dumbledore.

It was then that the two noticed that about a quarter of the way down the branch was a fingernail-sized protrusion, barely visible as a heart-shaped bud.

"Hahahahaha... looks like my suspicions were right," Dumbledore stroked his beard and let out a loud laugh, feeling very pleased with himself for having guessed it.

"Excellent, Fish!" Hermione echoed gleefully. "Next time you dream, you can explore the tree more closely!"

"Yay... this nya..."

(?ω?)

Fish rubbed the back of his neck with wandering eyes and said with a dry smile, "Actually, Fish has explored it before nya..."

The smile on Hermione's face froze, and then she quickly growled angrily, "Didn't I tell you not to risk it until you're sure?!"

"But... Fish didn't think that tree would hurt me..." Fish pouted defensively. "It feels like Minerva... And I'm not fine, nya?"

(〃｀3〃)

Hermione glared at Fish but didn't dare say anything else.

After all, as Fish had said, he was in no danger, and the Patronus had indeed grown.

And Dumbledore had already guessed that might happen, had basically made sure Fish was in no danger before suggesting Fish explore the dream world, just in case...

Fish didn't do as he was told.

"By the way, he saved Fish's life once in the dream!"

To reassure Hermione, Fish told her about the time he fell from a height and was caught by the giant tree, and also about the vision he saw high up in the tree.

"Next time you dream, you could try running for that border," Dumbledore suggested. "But it's best not to cross that border so easily, try a few more times first."

Knowing that the tree in his dream would actively protect Fish, Dumbledore was actually less concerned for his safety, and even if crossing the border was dangerous, he figured that the tree would most likely take the initiative to stop Fish.

"But... it looks so far away, nya..."

(?ω?)

Fish said reluctantly. If he was any closer, he would have snuck in without Dumbledore asking him to.

"Well... okay," Dumbledore said, shaking his head dumbfounded. "You can go whenever you want, or not, and I'm sure Minerva doesn't want you to risk it."

"Nya!"

∑(ΦДΦ)

Hearing this, Fish was startled.

"That's it! Don't tell Minerva about Fish climbing the tree in his sleep!"

(?ω?)

Fish pleaded. At the same time, his eyes glazed over, and his cat ears drooped pitifully from his head.

For the first time in a long time, Fish used his old tactic of playing pitiful, and it worked surprisingly well...

Anyway, Hermione was instantly defeated.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything! It's not like Fish is in trouble anyway, is it?" Hermione replied with conviction.

And she kept looking at Dumbledore, hoping he would say yes as soon as possible. She had completely given up on the idea of "teaching Fish a lesson"...

All she wanted was to drag Fish somewhere out of the way to play a game or something!