Chapter 618: Fish "Honest" (Edited)

In Potions class, Fish had been stealing potions and occasionally asked Snape for some to try. He had discovered that most potions were much weaker on him. For example, it took Professor McGonagall, Hermione, and Umbridge over a month to recover from a Polyjuice Potion with animal ingredients, but the effects wore off on Fish the next day.

This was one of the reasons Fish knew there was something suspicious about the tea and didn't take it seriously.

Of course, the main reason was Fish's curiosity!

Nobody can stop Fish's curiosity! Nobody!

In fact, as soon as the feeling of emptiness hit him, Fish already knew what Umbridge had put in his tea.

Veritaserum, a magical potion Snape had used during Sirius' interrogation in their third year, which made people tell the truth when they drank it.

Curious, Fish asked Snape for a bit of it.

Unlike the Imperius Curse, although Fish's reaction after drinking Veritaserum wasn't as strong as others', and he could still maintain consciousness, he wasn't completely immune to the effects of Veritaserum. He would respond to any question with honesty.

But still, Fish didn't feel anxious at all. The calming effect of Veritaserum itself was one thing, but there was another reason...

"Are you the one who attacked me?!" Umbridge asked eagerly.

She stared at Fish so intensely that her eyes bulged from the effort... she rather looked like a toad.

Umbridge had obtained the truth serum from the Ministry of Magic before returning to Hogwarts.

She hadn't contacted Snape because, as the Potions teacher at Hogwarts, he was one of the prime suspects. And since Umbridge was now very aware of how popular Fish was in school, if Snape had known she was trying to use the potion on Fish, he would have informed Dumbledore.

Since Umbridge brought Veritaserum to the school, she had been looking for an opportunity to use it on Fish, but there were always so many people around him that she couldn't do it. Today, when Fish was alone, Umbridge seized the chance.

In response to Umbridge's question, Fish, lazily lounging on the table, opened his mouth and honestly replied, "Nya~."

Umbridge: "..."

This was the main reason Fish wasn't in a hurry; he would continue telling the truth after drinking Veritaserum, but only in his "native language," so Fish wasn't worried at all about revealing anything.

"Don't you dare pretend!" Umbridge flinched and growled, "Tell me! Who attacked me that night!"

"Fishnyanya~nya-!"

(`Д´)

Fish continued hunched over the table, but his meowing intensified.

"Are you mocking me?!"

Umbridge, who didn't understand catspeak at all, felt that Fish was taunting her.

And in response, Fish meowed, "Nya-!"

"I warn you for the last time!"

Umbridge tried several more times, only to have her mind explode from Fish's meowing, and in a fit of rage, she pulled out her thick, short wand and disdainfully pointed it at Fish, who lay motionless on the table.

However, Fish only gave her a lazy glance, twitched the tip of his tail a bit, and remained like a ruined cat, slumped over the table.

Fish's resistance to the drug itself was already fading, and the fact that Umbridge had mixed Veritaserum with the tea had further weakened the effect, so Fish had already regained control of his body.

The effect of Veritaserum on Fish was already wearing off, and the fact that Umbridge had mixed Veritaserum with the tea had further weakened the effect, so Fish had regained control of his body.

But Fish preferred to remain lying face down because he felt comfortable that way, and if Umbridge made the first move, he would have a reason to strike her again.

Umbridge's expression quickly changed, obviously engaged in a violent mental struggle. After a few moments, she reluctantly put her wand away.

"Nya~"

(ω"∠)

Seeing that Umbridge was not going to do anything, an expression of boredom appeared on Fish's face. He shook his head and continued lying down.

If Umbridge knew anything about Veritaserum, she would have realized that Fish was obviously not in the right state, and this was not a normal behavior after consuming Veritaserum.

However, Umbridge had spent her life fighting for power and had forgotten what she had learned in school, and now all she had to show for it was a series of spells to torture people.

"Tell me what really happened that night. No more meowing! Speak in English!" Umbridge tried once again.

If the drug's effect hadn't worn off for Fish, he would still be receiving only cat meows since the effects of Veritaserum were not strong enough to change languages at the interrogator's request.

But now, Fish is in control of what he says, and Umbridge doesn't seem to notice...

"That night, Fish and Hermione went to the Forbidden Forest to play nya, and they rode Buckbeak and the others in the sky for a while." Fish continued lying face down and spoke in a monotonous tone, just as Sirius had done once.

In fact, if Umbridge had been more attentive, she would have noticed that Fish's tone of voice was different from his previous cat meow, but she ignored it, excited to finally extract the truth from Fish.

"Did you attack me?!" Umbridge asked eagerly.

"Fish wanted to fight you, but Minerva and Hermione didn't let him nya." Fish continued to feign indifference.

Obviously, that was not the answer Umbridge wanted, so she continued, "Do you know who attacked me? And that damn magical potion! Did you give me that Polyjuice Potion, right?!"

"I don't know nya, you were already like a toad when Fish passed by nya... Fish just wanted to fight you, he didn't want to turn you into a toad..."

(?ω?)

At that moment, Fish showed a hint of confusion, "You already look like a toad, why would Fish want to do that again?"

Umbridge clenched her teeth in anger, and as far as she knew, Fish was telling the truth under the effects of Veritaserum, so all of this was in Fish's mind...

Thinking about this, Umbridge was so furious that her lungs were about to explode.

Casting a harsh look at Fish's charming face, Umbridge resisted the urge to draw her wand and curse him and asked another question, "Who cast the Dark Mark with my wand?"

If the transformation into a toad-woman had been mostly psychologically traumatic for Umbridge, the Dark Mark had been substantially detrimental to her interests.

The presence of the Dark Mark spell on her wand led the Aurors from the Ministry of Magic to investigate Umbridge.

Although the investigation results proved her innocence, they also revealed that Umbridge had done some shady things to climb the ladder, that she was not the pure-blood witch she had always claimed to be, but a half-blood, and that her father was a former janitor at the Ministry.

Not only did this turn Umbridge into the laughingstock of the Ministry, but it also diminished Fudge's trust in her.

If she hadn't been deemed fit to be an investigator at Hogwarts, and if Fudge hadn't wanted to demonstrate the Ministry's toughness, Umbridge would have had to face the Wizengamot for trial after being discharged from the hospital.

However, her current situation is not much better. If she doesn't make enough progress, she will have to go directly to Azkaban after the end of this school year, skipping even the trial process.

So, in reality, the person Umbridge hates the most is the one who cast the Dark Mark with her wand... even though it was Fish all along.

However, Fish's response once again disappointed her expectations.

"I don't know nya, Fish mostly fights with his claws, rarely with his wand. And Voldemort's mark doesn't suit me at all, Fish's cat head is much prettier."

Seeing that she couldn't ask anything of Fish, Umbridge had to settle for the next best thing: "What is Dumbledore planning? Is he planning to raise a secret army to fight against the Ministry?"

"Why would he need an army? You, Fudge, and those Aurors seem so weak that Fish believes I can defeat you all by myself."

Being treated with such disdain by an underage wizard, Umbridge felt her breath caught in her chest, unable to rise or fall.

"What is the password for the entrance to the Headmaster's office?"

"The others don't know about Fish, the password Fish uses is 'Nya~,' which Dumbledore specifically established for Fish."

"Do you have any hidden secrets?" A frantic Umbridge no longer knew exactly what to ask and had to take a chance with broader questions.

But then Fish surprised her by saying, "Fish has a secret that he hasn't told anyone, not even Minerva nya..."

Umbridge, who had no other hope but to try something random, immediately perked up her ears and asked excitedly, "What is it? Tell me."

"Fish likes to step on the edge of the toilet and squat to use the bathroom."

(ˇˇ)

Fish told Umbridge his secret with a serious face.

And he wasn't lying; he had always used the toilet that way when he wasn't human, so when he became human, he didn't change this habit. He even unconsciously made a digging motion after using the toilet.

Umbridge: "..."

Not only did she not receive any response, but she was also subjected to such incoherent stimuli from Fish that she became somewhat perplexed.