Chapter 6: Cat boy

"A ravenous beast with a dripping mouth, it is a ferocious creature," The wizard, Orr, who had regained his human form, grimaced as he covered his bleeding neck, "Is this the cat responsible for the mass disappearance of owls in London, Dumbledore?"

"I can't give you an exact answer to that, Orr," An old man, white-haired and dressed in a dark blue robe, emerged from the shadows; his blue eyes peered through crescent-shaped glasses as he scrutinized Fish not far away while shrugging somewhat helplessly.

"Though I know a lot of different languages, but that doesn't include cat language...you know, these little guys are always so fickle in their thinking, it's not easy to learn their language," Dumbledore walked over to Orr's side and tapped his wand twice on the wound, stopping the bleeding for now, "Then, back to Hogwarts, let Madam Pomfrey treat you properly."

Orr had been hired by Dumbledore to solve the owl problem, so he was responsible.

As the greatest wizard in the modern world, Dumbledore had no choice but to go and deal with the situation, and he certainly didn't believe that the truth of the matter was a Death Eater plot, as Rita Skeeter had reported.

But...

There had already been a lack of owls when Hogwarts had sent letters to students, and with Christmas approaching recently, it was time to use them in large numbers.

With the Ministry of Magic asking for help, Dumbledore had to call on his old friend, Orr, the animagus, who could turn into an owl, for help.

With Dumbledore's wisdom, he soon discovered a pattern of disappearing owls, basically, they would all pass close to where the last one had disappeared to deliver its message, and then disappear after it.

The assassins who attacked the owls seem to have initiated the action only because they saw them.

That's why Dumbledore hired Orr to take the form of an owl and fly over the area where the last victim had delivered his message.

Dumbledore hadn't held out much hope, he had only tried without further clues, but he hadn't expected to hit the suspect with such success.

But if the killer was a cat, it seemed to make sense, given the pattern he had been speculating on.

That's what Dumbledore thought, and that's what he told Orr.

"So this little guy is no ordinary cat," Orr touched his neck, which had stopped bleeding, but still hurt, "ordinary cats don't have that strength, he probably has the blood of some magical creature."

"It should be a beaver-cat, I think. I remember something about that in Scamander's book," Dumbledore replied casually.

"We'd better take it back and have Minerva confirm it," With that, Dumbledore raised his wand, pointing it at Fish, who was slowly retreating.

"Ha...!", Hearing the humans in front of him trying to grab him, Fish arched his back, his fur popping as he made a threatening sound towards them.

But none of the mages took Fish's threat seriously.

"Don't worry little one, we won't hurt you," Dumbledore said with a smile, and with a wave of his wand, he turned a stone from the sidelines into a cage and wrapped Fish in it.

The next moment, however, the silver-gray tabby shrank to palm size, slipped through the gap in the cage, and scampered off toward the end of the alley.

"I'm afraid it's not of beaver blood, I don't recall beavers having such powers," At this point, Dumbledore had basically confirmed the culprit in the owls disappearance,

The cat was on the run.

He waved his wand once more, creating an even thinner cage, and covered Fishy again.

But this time, Fishy was prepared to avoid the cage, leaving Dumbledore's spell in vain once again.

The cat was about to turn the corner and get out of sight, but Dumbledore still waved his wand casually, and a dead branch lying at the end of the alley turned into a bowl-sized python, which rose up in front of the cat.

Fish had never eaten a snake before, so he shook out his fur and swelled to half a meter in length, gave the snake's head a swipe, then turned his head and bit the back of the snake's head, shaking it several times.

Normally, a normal snake would have been helpless against Fish's flurry of movements and taken to its belly, but this snake had been transformed by Dumbledore using a transfiguration spell, so it was not long before it became a rope and coiled around Fish, who was biting it.

However, Fish, who was bound, surprised the two mages once again, as the tiger-spotted cat used his claws to free himself from his bonds.

[Bull's Brute Strength: Increase your own strength].

Freed from the ropes, Fish sensed that the two humans were not easy to deal with and scurried around the corner as fast as he could, getting out of sight, and ducking into the nearby bushes to hide.

[Eliminate Scent: Other creatures can't track the recipient with their sense of smell].

[Concealment: Use the surrounding plants to reduce the chance of being spotted].

"Hmm?", Dumbledore rounded the corner and was surprised to see that he had lost sight of the tabby cat.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha! If the others knew that the famous Dumbledore had lost to a cat time and time again, it would shock the magical world," Orr, who had come with Dumbledore, laughed out loud, he had been a little uncomfortable with his own defeat at the hands of the cat, but now that even Dumbledore had been defeated as he had, Orr was balanced.

"If I give away my precious cockroach cone, can I get you to help me keep it a secret?", Dumbledore took no offense at his old friend's teasing and joked cheerfully with Orr.

Orr rolled his eyes in disbelief, Dumbledore's taste was as bad as ever, "Better keep it to yourself."

"If Scamander knew of this little one's existence, he would be very interested in him, and I think he would make a good Christmas present."

Dumbledore raised his wand and tapped his glasses, a faint luminescence clung to them and Dumbledore spotted Fish hiding in the bushes.

Fish noticed Dumbledore's gaze and, without hesitation, turned and ran.

Probably wanting to see what else Fish could do, Dumbledore did not rush to catch him, but watched with a smile as Fish took off and then slowly found the hiding place.

This hiding went on for several times, and Fish did his best to get away from the two strange humans.

To be precise, he couldn't get away from the one in the blue robe.

Fleeing once again from the two humans, Fish opted to hide in a garbage can, a place that, as he recalled, few humans would like to be near.

Unfortunately, however, came the familiar sound of footsteps and, once again, he seemed to be found by the two humans.

"It's about time, Dumbledore, that little one is surely afraid of you," Orr finally said as he saw that this time Fish was hiding in the trash can.

"Sorry, it was a spur of the moment thing for me too," At Orr's reminder, Dumbledore realized he had wasted too much time on that cat, he pursed his lips in confusion, normally Dumbledore only found ways to test and exercise his students by various means when it came to those he valued.

It was an expression of love Dumbledore felt for the younger generation.

Of course, this was also a function of Fish's animal affinity, a spell that affects wizards even if they are resistant to it.

Orr was behaving normally, while Dumbledore's way of expressing intimacy was a bit unusual.

Not wanting to torment Fish any further, Dumbledore waved his wand and the trash can Fish had been hiding in slowly lifted off the ground, after being three feet off the ground, he did a 180 degree turn and poured everything inside it.

"Puff... Puff..."

The first thing to fall to the ground were several black garbage bags tied together and some small pieces of garbage scattered through the holes in the bags.

Then...

A seven or eight year old boy fell out of the dumpster.

The boy had silver-gray hair and large, distinctive green eyes.

His pupils were like a cat's, and the moment he saw Dumbledore and Orr, the vertical pupils changed from needle-like upright pupils to round pupils that almost took up the entire eyeball.

The problem was.

He was naked.

As soon as he touched the ground, the boy rested his hands on the floor, his back arched high like a curved bow, and gave Dumbledore and Orr a fierce expression as he emitted an intimidating sound from his throat....

"Ha-!"

Dumbledore: "..."

"Are you still going to give it to Scamander?" asked Orr, looking at Dumbledore beside him.