Chapter 77: Problems (Edited)

After realizing that Fish wasn't going very far and was just playing around, Hagrid relaxed and leaned against a tree trunk, quietly regaining his strength.

At the same time, he had time to observe his surroundings.

"This isn't going to be easy to explain to Professor McGonagall..."

After confirming his location, Hagrid sighed bitterly.

He had promised Professor McGonagall that he would only take Fish through the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, but with that chase they had unintentionally wandered into the depths of the Forbidden Forest.

The animals in this place were not as tame as the Bowtruckle, they were all very individualistic, some of them even resembling werewolves at the full moon, attacking mindlessly no matter who it was, and Fish's affinity with those mindless creatures was probably not good enough.

So, either at Professor McGonagall's request or for Fish's safety, Hagrid was going to take Fish away from here.

"Fish, there's nothing funny going on here, so let's get over there."

Hagrid picked himself off the ground after a brief rest to regain some strength and waved to the dense forest above.

The only sound he could hear was the rustle of leaves in the wind, but there was no sign of Fish at all.

"Fish?"

Hagrid called twice more, and when Fish still didn't come out, he shrugged and turned his head to leave, shouting loudly, "Well, I'll go play with the Snitch myself, Fang, come on!"

At Hagrid's shout, Falg hesitated for a moment, but followed him to the outskirts of the forbidden forest, and walked about five or six hundred yards before Hagrid started muttering again.

"Oops, forgot my umbrella..." Hagrid said as he turned his head back as he quickly scanned the nearby trees, looking for Fish.

Unfortunately...

Fish was nowhere to be found.

Hagrid's indifferent expression froze and, not bothering to go back for his umbrella, he turned his massive head in search of Fish.

When he realized that Fish was really gone, he was immediately a bit overwhelmed.

"Fish? Fish! Don't make a fuss, okay? If you don't come out, I'm going to complain to Professor McGonagall!"

After yelling for a while, Hagrid forced himself to calm down and looked to Fang for help.

"Come on, Fang! Smell where Fish is!"

"Whoa!"

Fang obediently lifted his head, sniffed upward sharply in search of fish's scent, confirmed his direction, barked at Hagrid, and then ran forward a few hundred yards before dropping back down and starting to turn in circles.

Hagrid knew at first glance that this was the reaction of a tooth that had missed its target, and he blanched.

This is... a problem...

...

Fish had indeed been playing hide-and-seek with Hagrid at first, but, in any case, he had promised Minerva that he would not stray too far from Hagrid.

At times, Fish was very good and obedient.

But when Hagrid sat down under the tree to regain his strength, Fish got bored and looked around the tree, looking for something else to do.

Then Fish saw a bird in the distance that looked a little like a duck, with a round body.

The bird had gray-blue feathers and the back half of the bill was similar to a duck's, but the tip was hooked and the coloring was completely different from the back half, which made it look a little strange.

The point was that the bird, like the house elves and the mean old man, had appeared very abruptly in the distant grass.

Fish watched as the strange looking bird appeared out of nowhere in the empty grass.

So Fish's attention was immediately drawn to the strange bird (=?ω?=).

As for Minerva's advice, he had already forgotten it.

Fish quickly climbed down from the tree, carefully lowered his body and then slowly approached the strange bird on the ground.

[Scent elimination] [Concealment] [Feather step].

It had been a long time since he had hunted properly, but hunting is a cat's natural instinct, and as he approached, Fish quickly added his own spells to hide his tracks and reduce the noise.

Of course, Fish had little desire to eat the strange bird, after all, it had been a long time since he had eaten raw meat.

It was simply a hunting instinct that came to him, to attack the bird and then let it go, and whether he got mad at it or forgave it and befriended it, he didn't care.

No, it would be better not to spare him, for after all, if he became a friend, he would not be able to play this kind of sneak attack.

Fish crept closer, keeping his eyes fixed on the strange bird, constantly adjusting his course of action to the dead center of the strange bird's vision.

With his previous hunting experience and his druidic spells, Fish was soon in the vicinity of his target.

Just as he was ready to attack, looking for an opportunity to pounce, Hagrid suddenly shouted in the distance, "Fish!".

The target was so close that Hagrid startled him, and as he tried to escape, Fish came out of his hiding place in the grass.

Fish swooped out of his hiding place (=ΦДΦ=)?

The bird, which had been disturbed by Hagrid's cry, raised its legs and was stunned to see a goose suddenly appear.

Fish took the opportunity to pounce on the bird and bite it on the neck, but he did so with little force, lest he kill it.

Still, the pain of the bite managed to bring the dumb bird to its senses and, panicking, it unleashed its talents and disappeared along with Fish.

"Meow?"

After a sensation similar to the appearance of a house elf, Fish found himself in a strange place, still in the middle of the forest, but surrounded by a completely different breed of trees.

He opened his mouth and swiped a claw at the strange bird below him.(#ΦДΦ)シ

"Meow?!" (Where have you taken me?!).

"Gah...!" (Don't eat me!)

"Meow!" (Who's going to eat you! Send me back).

"Goo-gah!" (Help! Don't eat me!)

"...meow!" (I'm not going to eat you!)

"Gah!" (Help!)

No matter how Fish explained it, the strange bird he had pinned to the ground was just screaming "help" and "don't eat me," and it didn't seem very intelligent....

Looking around, Fish couldn't get his bearings, so he gave the bird a rejuvenation spell to heal the bite on his neck and hopped down, intending to have a nice chat with him again.

As soon as Fish's paws left the bird's body, it immediately activated its natural ability and disappeared.

"Meow!" ∑(=ΦДΦ=)

Fish had reached out as fast as he could, but still couldn't catch his opponent, only managing to catch a few feathers.

Looking at the feathers on his paws, Fish was a bit stunned.

He wasn't worried about his safety, but if he didn't find Hagrid soon, he was sure to report him to Minerva, who would take him in for another lecture.

This is... a problem, meow....