Chapter 54: The book also has a... (Edited)

In the end, Fish emerged from the Headmaster's office with the seamless elastic bag full of sweets that Dumbledore had given him.

The only unfortunate thing was that Dumbledore refused to give Fish the Sorting Hat he wanted, saying that when he became headmaster of Hogwarts, the hat would be his.

But...

Isn't Hogwarts already his territory? Why did he have to be headmaster?

Fish was stumped.

But such complicated questions didn't stay in the kitten's head for long, and soon Fish had forgotten about being Headmaster and the Sorting Hat.

As Fish left the Headmaster's office, the eyes of the former Headmasters who had pretended to sleep on the walls widened.

"Dumbledore, is that boy the natural animagus you speak of?", Armando Dippet, the former Headmaster and Dumbledore's former boss, was the first to ask.

"Yes, a charming boy, isn't he?" said Dumbledore.

"I don't see anything special about him, but looking at his unruly appearance, they are very much in keeping with your Gryffindor character, another unruly barbarian," grumbled a dignified-looking former headmaster, Phineas Nigellus Black, the only Slytherin headmaster in the entire history of Hogwarts.

Fish's affinity for animals didn't affect the portrait, so Phineas brought his usual Slytherin bias against Gryffindor.

"You're being too hard on the boy, Phineas," spoke the only headmistress in the portrait, "Albus mentioned it earlier, the boy was a cat three years ago, and the magic he just used on Fawkes was extraordinary."

Dylis Derwent had been a healer at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Sickness and Injury before she became headmistress of Hogwarts, so she was mostly interested in the spells Fish had shown earlier.

"Hmph!", Phineas snorted again, of course he could see that Fish was exceptionally gifted, but then again, Fish was from Gryffindor.

After a few moments of casual conversation about Fish, the principals closed their eyes and began to sleep again.

Although Fish's case was unique, as Hogwarts headmasters, they had seen even stranger cases than this one, and since they were long dead and now nothing more than portraits with original thoughts, Fish's existence was nothing more than a new topic of conversation for them.

Unless Fish was to become headmaster of Hogwarts, as Dumbledore had said.

The rest of the day was remarkably quiet, as Professor McGonagall was persuaded by Dumbledore to stop forbidding Fish to use magic, though she continued to watch him work in his confinement every night.

At the end of his time in confinement, Professor McGonagall would take Fish into her office and read him fairy tales suitable for a four- or five-year-old wizard.

Eventually, Fish didn't even need Professor McGonagall to read to him, but would just read the stories himself, especially since they didn't contain many words, but moving pictures, which allowed Fish to read them.

After hanging out in Professor McGonagall's office until half past eleven at night, the two would go to the kitchen and eat a late dinner together.

After dinner, Professor McGonagall did not force Fish to go back to her dormitory, but merely told her to go home early.

At that moment, Fish was taking the magical bag Dumbledore had given his, containing the food the house elves had given his, and running to the end of the third floor corridor to feed Fluffy and find out what was under the trapdoor.

Unfortunately, Fluffy was a very good guard and Fish was never successful.

In addition, he often visited the owl hut to bring his friends nuts and jerky,

Occasionally, he would also go to Big Eyes and trade him some dried fish for other food.

Occasionally, Fish would visit the bad old man's office to see Phoenix Fawkes and play with the Sorting Hat.

It was the most enjoyable time Fish had ever had at school... although he'd had a pretty good time before.

On the other hand, it wasn't known whether it was Dumbledore's decision, or whether the teachers realized that point deduction was completely useless for Fish, but now most of them didn't bother deducting points even if Fish didn't turn in his homework, or just took a token point or two to show for it...

Except for three people.

They were Professor Snape, who didn't point or favor Fish, Professor Binns, who was a ghost, and Professor McGonagall, who remained impartial when it came to homework.

Still, it was a great relief to the members of Hermione's study group, and the Gryffindor hourglass, which was already at rock bottom, was filling up.

That didn't last long, however...

The second week after Fish and the twins finished their confinement, a long, thin package, carried by six long-eared owls, flew over the Gryffindor table and dropped it in front of Harry Potter.

"Harry! Open it and see. This must be the flying broom that Professor McGonagall prepared for you!" shouted Ron, sitting next to Harry, excitedly.

Fish, who was putting food into his mouth, froze and his eyes sharpened.

(?ΦˇˇΦ?)

Harry gave Ron a sharp tug, and only then did he realize it.

But it was too late for that, as Fish was already running aggressively towards the long teachers' table.

"By merlin's hat, this is bad...," Professor McGonagall slapped her forehead, having unconsciously overlooked the matter due to Fish's recent obedience.

"Minerva!" Fish's voice was full of aggravation, "Why did you buy 'Scarhead' a flying broom?"

Fish wouldn't have been so angry if he hadn't been forbidden to fly, but the fact that Minerva had forbidden him to ride on a flying broom while she bought 'Scarhead' a new one made him feel unbalanced.

"That's because Potter is on the Gryffindor Quidditch team," Professor McGonagall explained quietly to Fish, "And the money to buy that flying broom came out of the team's own budget, not mine."

"I don't care, I don't care! I want the flying broom too," Fish didn't care, he just knew that Minerva was biased and wouldn't buy him a flying broom, so he did what he had read in a storybook long ago, he lay down on the floor and started rolling.

Professor McGonagall knew exactly where Fish had learned that trick, she pressed her lips together tightly and her cheeks contracted slightly.

She should have known better than to show Fish the book 'The Wanderings of Little Hammer'...

The book, as you might guess from the title, is the story of a naughty little wizard named Hammer who quarrels with his family, runs away from home in a fit of rage, and finally returns home after many trials and hardships, and becomes a good boy.

Professor McGonagall's intention was to use this story to educate Fish and make him more obedient.

Who would have thought that this little kitten did not learn the good things, but learned Hammer's bad habits.

Wait...

Professor McGonagall was suddenly startled.

In this book there's more than just spilling and rolling, there's also a...

"I'm running away from home, meow!"