Chapter 591: Hogwarts Lead Investigator (Edited)

It was the start of a new week, and the Great Hall of the school was as bustling as ever, with everyone eating breakfast and chatting about irrelevant topics.

Harry and Ron, however, looked sleepy, as if they were going to fall asleep at any moment.

They hadn't gone to bed immediately after Sirius left last night, but had finished the rest of their homework before going back to their dormitories, so they hadn't slept for more than a few hours.

Unlike Fish and Hermione, they couldn't transform into cats to recover quickly, so it was natural for them to feel sleepy.

"Looks like they could use some help."

George and Fred approached the two, peddling their treats.

Harry ignored them, Ron was a little tempted, but desisted with a long sigh when he thought about the thickness of his wallet.

As he ate, Fish didn't pay much attention to anything else, but when Hermione exclaimed in his ear, Fish put down his knife and fork and looked her way.

"What's wrong, Hermione?"

(???~???)

Fish asked in a slurred voice as he chewed the food he hadn't yet swallowed.

Hermione was holding the latest issue of the Daily Prophet, a shocked and angry expression on her face.

And the voices of other students, either exclaiming or cursing, could be heard one after another from all sides.

"Umbridge has been appointed head researcher." Hermione, knowing Fish didn't like to read, read the paper directly to him. "In an impromptu move last night, the Ministry of Magic passed a new decree that took its control over Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to an unprecedented level..."

"Well..." Fish cocked his head to the side and pondered for a moment, "What does that mean nya?"

?ω?

With Hermione reading that long list, Fish understood that the Ministry of Magic had passed something called "Education Decree No. 23" and had appointed Umbridge Senior Investigator for she didn't know what.

"In short, she'll be censoring teachers on behalf of the Ministry." Hermione explained.

"And after the review?"

"Er... It'll probably affect the tenure of the teachers?" Hermione said, not quite sure. "Like replacing one of the teachers at the school or something."

"Including Minerva?" Fish's eyes turned dangerous.

"Minerva is the deputy headmistress, and the dean of Gryffindor, and her teaching prowess is obvious to everyone, there should be no excuse for the Ministry of Magic to replace her..." said Hermione with some hesitation.

At that moment, however, Fish raised his head.

If Fudge didn't want them to learn to fight, then Professor McGonagall, who was a good teacher, was the one the Ministry wanted to get rid of.

Even if, as Hermione said, Umbridge had no excuse for replacing Professor McGonagall, there would be no shortage of conflict between them.

Although Fish didn't like the classes either, he knew that Professor McGonagall took her students very seriously, and that she had an irreconcilable conflict with Umbridge, or rather, the Ministry.

It looked like she was going to have to put a sneaky Umbridge bashing on the agenda soon.

Fish chewed the mutton bone in his mouth with a crunch, and thought to himself.

"We have to go," Hermione reminded herself, jumping up just as the group was still discussing the contents of the paper, "We can't be late if Umbridge has to check Binns's class.... "

The students who had class in the morning were startled and stopped their discussions, gathering their things and running to their homerooms.

Umbridge wasn't in History of Magic, and Professor Binns' class was as sleepy as ever, so Fish naturally dove into his desk and went to sleep first thing, Harry and Ron took advantage of catching up on their sleep, and most of the other students were asleep or doing their own thing, and few were paying attention anyway.

By Potions class, Umbridge was still a no-show, and Snape handed out corrected homework while spitting venom at the students... mostly Gryffindors.

"If you hand something like this in on your O.W.L. exam, this is the grade I'm giving you that you'll get." Snape sneered, "That should give you a clear idea of what will come out on the exam."

Snape walked to the front of the classroom, turning to face the class.

"The general standard of this homework is abysmal. If this were an exam, most of you would not have passed. I hope that, for this week's paper on the different types of antidotes, you'll try a little harder, or I'll have to punish the idiots who got a 'D'."

He grimaced, and Malfoy snorted softly, saying in a low but distant voice, "Anyone else get a 'D'? Huh?"

"Fish, what grade did you get?" Hermione asked quietly.

"It's an 'O' nya." Fish wiggled his ears and asked nonchalantly, "What about you Hermione?".

?ω?

"...'A'," she said unconvinced, "Isn't that fair? Professor Snape is being too partial to you."

It wasn't as if he hadn't read Fish's paper, it wasn't far off from his, and she had an advantage in her writing skills, so why did Fish get an 'O' and she got an 'A'?

"Because Fish and Severus are good friends." Fish said shaking his head, seeing no problem with Snape favoring him....

Isn't that natural?

"Huh?" Hermione snorted, turning her face away.

She knew it wasn't Fish's fault, but she couldn't help it, could she?

"Chuu~."

=(Φ3Φ)

Fish quickly leaned over and gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek.

"Feeling better now nya?"

"Erm... fine..." Hermione replied in a gnat-like whisper, her head bowed in a momentary lack of anger.

Snape's mouth twitched at the interaction between the two, he thought better of it and began assigning homework for the lesson.

"The potion we are going to brew today is an enhancer." Snape tapped his wand on the board, which immediately displayed the recipe for the potion and the detailed steps to brew it. "Can someone tell me what it is used for... Potter?"

He ignored Hermione, who had her hand up, and called out Harry's name.

"Is it used to...increase the.... strength of the drinker?"

Harry replied stumbling a little as he struggled to remember what he knew about the enhancer.

"Five points off for Gryffindor," Snape growled, "too hesitant an answer? Is this second year knowledge? I think you'd better go back and repeat second year, before you get another 'D' on this week's homework... Sit down, Potter."

There was an immediate, low but unmistakable chorus of jeers from Slytherin.

Harry sat back down red-faced, not expecting Snape to mock him and deduct points despite getting it right, and to reveal himself as the one who had gotten a 'D' on the assignment.

Ron patted him gently on the arm and gave him a reassuring look.

Harry gritted his teeth hard and made up his mind not to let Snape give him another 'D' again by failing this lesson. He read the instructions on the board at least three times before starting.

After careful manipulation, Harry managed to make a pale blue potion... which wasn't as good as Fish and Hermione's turquoise, but it was of relatively good quality compared to the other students'.

Neville even made the potion pink, while Seamus' cauldron exploded again and almost unable to deliver his homework.

Of course, Snape also had a lot to say about Harry's potion. But thank goodness he didn't vanish his potion like last week.

At the end of Potions, Fish deliberately stayed at the back of the class, and when everyone else left, he immediately ran to Snape.

"Severus, is the potion ready?"

(?ω?)