Once again, Professor McGonagall felt she had acted rashly when she saw Fish's look of disappointment.
But it was only a matter of time before she had to talk to Fish about it, so Professor McGonagall did her best to reassure him.
She knelt down, gently cupped Fish's face and kissed it, and said sincerely, "Yes, they are not cats, but wizards who have learned Animagus."
"And Minerva isn't a cat either?". ?﹏?
Fish's voice had taken on a sobbing tone.
"Yes, I'm not a cat either," Professor McGonagall sighed, stroking Fish's little head, and then she lifted him up and whispered in his ear, "But does it matter?"
"Nya?"
Fish blinked in confusion.
"It doesn't matter if Fish is a cat or a human, Minerva loves you just the same."
Professor McGonagall's voice was as soft as ever.
"So Fish hates Minerva because I'm not a cat?"
Professor McGonagall asked softly, pressing her cheek against Fish's.
"No, I don't! Fish loves Minerva." ?(●ΦДΦ●)?
Fish wrapped his arms around Professor McGonagall's neck and rubbed his cheek vigorously.
"So, does it really matter if we're cats or humans?" asked Professor McGonagall again as she smiled and kissed Fish's cheek.
"Hehehehe~"
A smile finally returned to Fish's face as he rested his head on Professor McGonagall's shoulder and nuzzled her neck, his big green eyes, which were still foggy, looked at Professor McGonagall with a smoldering gaze....
"So Fish can stop doing homework after meow?"(●?w?●).
"No."
The sweetness on Professor McGonagall's face disappeared in an instant.
"Nya! You're a big liar, Minerva!". ?(●ΦДΦ●)?
Angrily, Fish stood up from Professor McGonagall's arms, "You said you'd still love Fish!".
"Doing your homework for you is part of loving you."
"Then Fish doesn't want that part nya!"
Professor McGonagall snorted, realizing she had underestimated Fish's cunning.
So she stopped worrying about Fish's mood, grabbed him by the cheeks, and bellowed, "Say that again!"
"Nya~" (●>Д<●)
The kitten struggled to free herself from Professor McGonagall's grip, and immediately wrapped his arms around her neck and rubbed his head roughly against Professor McGonagall's cheek, changing his tone to "Fish loves Minerva more nya~"
"Clever little scamp."
Professor McGonagall pinched Fish's nose in amusement and set him down.
"Come along, I'll introduce you to the others."
While mother and son were talking and playing, the other members of the Animagus Club had arrived, who had known of Fish's existence for some time, so they hadn't interrupted their conversation.
Besides Mr. Orr the Owl, Mr. Chase the Eagle, Mr. Mudge the Husky and Mrs. Tonks the Shifter, there were only four other people in the room.
The number of animagi is small, and many of them don't like to have their animal forms known, so the club doesn't have many more members than are registered.
Also, not everyone can come to every meeting, but today was one of the best, as they were welcoming the newest member, Fish.
Then, Professor McGonagall introduced Grandpa Sprague, who could become a lizard, Aunt Kusama, who became a rabbit, Sister September, who became a fox, and Uncle Marlot, who was also a dog, but of a different breed.
Just as Professor McGonagall had predicted, they all immediately approved Fish's application to join the club as soon as they saw him, and presented him with a few trinkets from their pockets.
The rest was no different from Hogwarts, as Fish was soon "overpowered" by several women who tried to touch Fish's ears and tail.
Unable to cope with this, Fish simply pulled them all back.
"Huh? How did you..."
Sister September, the youngest besides Fish, sighed in disappointment, but soon wrapped her arms around Fish and forced her face against him.
"Even without the ears and tail, Fish is still super cute!"
"Nya, don't come near me nya!". ?(●`Д′●)?
Fish put his hand on September's head and struggled against her.
"Minerva! Help me nya!"
With Professor McGonagall's help, Fish finally escaped September's clutches and hid behind Professor McGonagall, looking askance at September, who still lusted after him.
(??ˇ?ˇ??)
On the other hand, old Mr. Chase was a man much given to research and had always been interested in improving the animagus spell, so when he heard about Fish, a natural animagus, he contacted Professor McGonagall and arranged for the meeting to take place.
He looked curiously at Fish's head, where the cat's ears had been, and then asked Professor McGonagall, "Is this the special characteristic of a natural animagus? Can I have little Fish do some experiments on him?"
Seeing Professor McGonagall's hesitant expression, Mr. Chase quickly added, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to hurt him."
Thinking of Fish's strange affinity, Professor McGonagall agreed.
"Fish, you will work with Grandpa Chase."
"How?" ?w?
Fish cast a wary glance at September, who wasn't far away, then quickly jumped toward Jonathan Chase.
"First you pull out the cat ears and tail for me to see."
Although he was worried that the other party, such as sister September, would want to pinch his cat ears, Fish did as he was told and produced them.
But in doing so, Fish showed his sharp claws and warned, "Don't pinch Fish's ears or I'll scratch you!"
"Oh!"
Mr. Chase's eyes lit up, he grabbed Fish's palm and looked at it, and continued to admire, "You can even switch your claws! How did you do that?"
Fish wagged his tail and replied, "I don't know, it took Fish a long time to become a cat-person even after he met the centaurs."
The corners of Professor McGonagall's mouth twitched, and in case Jonathan Chase's investigation went wrong, she quickly explained, "I'm not sure exactly how long, but the 'long time' he was talking about was definitely less than half a day."
"That's a long time nya!". ?(●ΦДΦ●)?
It's hard for a kitten to last more than an hour at anything but sleeping, eating and playing.
Then, at the request of Mr. Chase and Professor McGonagall, Fish changed back into his cat form and changed his size and breed a few times, but as for the clouded leopard state, Fish still hid it.
After cooperating and changing a few times, Fish finally became impatient.
"Minerva~ ?w?"
He looked at Professor McGonagall, and seeing this, Mr. Chase felt too embarrassed to continue.
"Sorry, I get carried away when I'm studying," he apologized cheerfully to Fish, then glanced at his wristwatch, "It's getting late, what do you want for lunch? I'll have it ready."
"Lunch, nya!". ?(●ΦwΦ●)?
At the mention of eating, Fish was instantly energized.
Seeing this, September was quick to tell her, "Do you like food, Fish? Do you want to try our Chinese food? Sister September's cooking is very good!"
"Chinese food? I want to eat nya!". ?(●?﹃?●)?
Hearing that there was food he didn't know, Fish's eyes immediately lit up and saliva flowed out of the corner of his mouth.
"Grandpa Chase, please help me prepare the ingredients!"
September rolled up his sleeves and spoke briskly to Jonathan Chase.
After that...
Fish was opened up to a new world.