Chapter 352: I remembered happy things

Harry was delighted to learn the Patronus Charm, and only then did he have time to think about Professor Lupin again.

He realized that Professor Lupin had been missing for two days over the weekend, and there was no sign of him in the infirmary either.

Was Professor Lupin really as bad a man as Quirrell?

Harry's mood, which had been cheerful for some time, became a little heavier again.

He looked at Fish, who was following him, and once again hesitated to speak.

"Harry, what's the matter nya?"

?ω?

The kitten frowned and looked down at his body for a moment.

"You've been spying on Fish for a moment now, is something wrong with Fish?"

"No, it isn't."

Harry gritted his teeth and asked, "Do you know where Professor Lupin has gone?"

"No nya."

(`ω′′≡`ω′)

To Harry's surprise, Fish shook his head decisively.

But he quickly added, "But Fish knows why he's hiding."

"Why?" asked Harry quickly.

"I can't say, Fish promised Minerva to keep Remus' secret."

(??ˇ?ˇ??)

The little cat waved a cross in front of his chest and demurred demurely.

"Does Professor McGonagall know too?" Harry froze slightly.

"I suppose all the professors know nya?"

Fish cocked his head, not quite sure, then said confidently, "Albus must have known by now anyway."

Why does he sound more and more like Quirrell....

Harry thought strangely, Quirrell was also discovered by Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Snape early on, and then they clearly fixed it.

The only thing that happened was that a kitten got into the middle of the game and disrupted Dumbledore's plan, as a result, Snape replaced Quirrell's identity and severely tormented him, Ron and Hermione.

Thinking about it made Harry very depressed.

Wasn't that mean old Dumbledore trying to do it again?

Unfortunately, no matter how much he asked, Fish wouldn't give him any more information and Harry had no choice but to let it go.

The weekend passed quickly with Harry in a state of complicated emotions.

On Monday morning, Professor Lupin had returned to class, to Harry's relief....

It seemed that Professor Lupin was a little different from Quirrell, who had run away and never returned.

Also, Professor Lupin looked paler, had blue circles under his eyes and looked worse than he had on the train, so it seemed that Snape had been right when he said he wasn't feeling well, but he didn't know why he hadn't stayed with Madam Pomfrey.

The rest of the class wasn't thinking as complicated thoughts as Harry had thought, and as soon as they were seated, a chorus of accusations erupted, complaining about Snape's behavior during Lupin's illness.

"That's not fair - why would he set us homework if he's just a substitute?"

"We don't know anything about werewolves..."

"...two rolls of parchment!"

"Have you told Professor Snape that we haven't gotten to such a point yet?" Lupin asked, frowning slightly.

There was another chatter.

"Yes, but he says we're too far behind..."

"He won't listen..."

"...Two rolls of parchment!"

Professor Lupin smiled at each of the indignant faces.

"Don't worry. I'll talk to Snape. You don't have to write that assignment."

"What?! then Fish's homework won't do any good!".

∑(●ΦДΦ●)

Although there was much to write on the two rolls of parchment, the kitten had done the homework on time, just as Snape had instructed them.

He was accompanied by Hermione, but also Parvati Patir and Lavender Brown, who accompanied him to do the homework.

"That's not fair!" The two girls shouted, "We're all done!"

Hermione was also disappointed, not because she thought it was unfair, but because the homework couldn't be graded, which made Miss Know-it-all very depressed.

"Oh..." said Professor Lupin after a moment's thought, "So, students who have finished writing can turn in their homework and I'll give them extra points depending on how well they did."

This arrangement pleased both Fish and Hermione, and although Parvati and Lavender were still a little upset, they also approved of the solution.

After settling the unfinished business of Snape's substitute class, Professor Lupin brought out a display case containing Hinkypunk and began the day's instruction.

Fish took one look at the small one-legged creature in the box, which looked like a wisp of smoke, and lost interest in the frail creature, adopting his usual feline form and falling asleep on his desk in a dignified manner.

For the rest of the day, Hogwarts seemed quiet again.

Dumbledore kept the Dementors out of the school and they never came back in, not even when Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had another Quidditch match at the end of November.

I don't know which side deserves more credit, Dumbledore's warning or Fish's deterrence.

And Sirius Black hasn't shown up again this month, he seems to have given up on dealing with Harry.

Fish had stopped following Harry half a month ago, and it was quite a feat that he had lasted that long.

The cat had sacrificed his most precious playtime to keep Harry company.

Not to mention the fact that now that he had to spend half a day every Sunday practicing the Patronus Charm, the kitten had even less time to play.

Speaking of Patronus Charming, Harry and Fish had made some progress during this time, but neither had yet been able to summon a physical Patronus.

However, the Patronus that Harry had conjured was slowly taking shape.

According to Professor McGonagall, that was a sign that the Patronus Charm was about to work.

Unlike Harry's increasingly shaping Patronus, Fish's Patronus remained in a cloud-like state, making Professor McGonagall wonder if her Patronus was really a cloud or a marshmallow or something.

Of course, that's not to say that Fish's Patronus had no progress....

The "sea of clouds" he had recently conjured had grown so large that it could fill half the Transfiguration classroom.

Professor McGonagall had even gone to Dumbledore for advice on this unusual situation.

However, the headmaster didn't know everything, and after watching Fish perform the Patronus Charm himself, he could only make a general guess based on his own experience.

Perhaps it was because there were so many things that made Fish happy, and because the cat had a bit of a funny mind, it was not easy for him to find the happiest and most positive emotions.

Plus Fish's apparently abnormally large and half-baked Patronus...

It's normal for it to take a little longer.

But as Harry, who practiced with him, progressed and his Patronus only increased in size, the kitten's mood began to become irritable.

Particularly during the last exercise, the Patronus Harry had conjured had become visible: a large, four-legged animal with hooves and horns.

"I think your Patronus is a stag."

Professor McGonagall looked at the half-finished Patronus that Harry had conjured with a smile on her face and said, "You know, Potter, your father's Patronus was a stag."

Professor McGonagall's words thrilled Harry, and an inexplicable joy filled his chest, even as he felt that, given the circumstances, he could conjure a full Patronus.

But before Harry could try again, Fish growled discontentedly.

"Why is Fish's Patronus still a puff of smoke..."

(〃｀3′〃)

Professor McGonagall walked over to the sulking kitten and rubbed his fur, soothing him gently, "Didn't Albus say that your Patronus is probably a very big guy? Maybe even bigger than the legendary and invincible Andros? So it's only natural that it'll take a bit longer."

Only this statement, which at first had given Fish something to look forward to, was now of little use.

After practicing for so long, Fish's Patronus had made no progress other than getting bigger and bigger, while Harry's Patronus Charm was about to succeed, much to the annoyance of the cat, who had always felt that he was stronger than Harry.

"It's obvious that Fish is trying hard to imagine himself beating Minerva nya..."

(??ˇ?ˇ??)

"..."

The smile on Professor McGonagall's face disappeared in an instant, and she deftly pinched both of the little cat's cheeks and rubbed them vigorously.

"You little rascal! Can't you think of anything else?!"

"But... Fish only summons a bigger 'marshmallow' when he's thinking about this and Minerva the Lioness nya!".

(ノ)`ω′(ヾ)

The little cat who broke free of Professor McGonagall's grip covered his face and said plausibly.