Chapter 564: Luna Lovegood (Edited)

Although they didn't really approve of what Fish was saying, Hannah and the others had the good sense not to contradict him, but to talk to Fish about other things, such as their interesting experiences over the summer.

However, Fish and Hermione had to keep their time in the Order of the Phoenix a secret, so they only talked about Fish's flower planting, which excited the two Hufflepuff Heads, who were excited to talk to Fish about growing flowers and plants.

"Fish, it's time for us to go out on patrol."

After a brief chat about gardening, Hermione got up and told Fish...if they didn't leave soon, they would run out of things to talk about.

"Okay..."

Fish, who didn't want to work, sighed, but obediently followed her out of the Prefects' box.

After about twenty minutes or so....

"Fish suddenly thinks that being Prefect is actually pretty good nya."

(?Φ~Φ?)

Fish said as he ate a bunch of snacks that had been shoved into his arms.

Hermione looked at Fish in amusement, but said nothing, because Fish had helped her a lot, and it could be said that most of the credit had to be given to Fish.

Because Fish doesn't need to do anything at all, as long as there are other people present, everyone's temperament will be surprisingly good. Even if there is any conflict, after seeing Fish, everyone will take a step back and calm down quickly, without Hermione having to mediate.

The new students, who were apprehensive, were so well behaved that they didn't need Hermione to reassure them, she just explained what they should and should not do....

This made their patrol very easy and calm.

Because the patrol was so easy, the two kept moving so fast that they could have gone through the whole train in about half an hour, if it hadn't been for the time Fish lost picking up the "offerings".

But it still took Fish and Hermione just over forty minutes to make their rounds and find Harry, Ron and Ginny in the last carriage, in the same compartment as Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood.

"Why does it smell bad in here nya?".

(?w?)

As soon as they entered the compartment,

Fish sniffed and said.

Then Neville eagerly presented Fish with his Mimbulus plant, and the stench Fish felt was actually the smell of his irritated, stinky juice.

Although Ginny had cleaned it with a cleansing spell, Fish's keen sense of smell could still pick up some of the residue.

Fish, who had been growing plants all summer and had just been dragged away by the two Hufflepuffs to talk about gardening, was not interested in the subject of Neville, not to mention the stench of the cactus-like plant....

So Fish just absentmindedly busied himself with the conversation and went back to eating the "offerings" he had just received, and of course he wasn't stingy enough and shared some of the food he had with Harry and the others.

Once he had eaten and drunk enough, Fish yawned profusely, then returned to his cat form, jumped into Hermione's arms and went to sleep....

Having ridden the Hogwarts Express once before, Fish knew that the train didn't arrive in Hogsmeade until evening, and there was nothing to do on the train, so he had to sleep to pass the time.

And this time was different than last time, Fish and Hermione had a different relationship and as long as he was near her, he wouldn't get bored as easily as the last time he rode the train.

As Fish rested quietly and enjoyed a massage from Hermione, Ginny and Luna, there was a rustling sound outside: the sound of rain hitting the windows.

"Nya!"

?(=?w?=)?

Fish came to and jumped to the window, paws on the edge and eyes shining.

But he soon withdrew his gaze and jumped back into Hermione's arms, disappointed.

It was raining steadily outside, but unfortunately it wasn't a storm....

Fish was tired of having to recite the spell every dawn and dusk, and since the so-called second heartbeat had never appeared, he was waiting for a storm to complete the last step of the Animagus Charm.

Whether the spell worked or not was unimportant to Fish, who had lost interest and had even grown bored.

Hermione smiled, knowing what Fish was thinking, and gently scratched his head with her nails, reassuring the despondent Fish.

In a few moments, Fish, who had been in a bad mood, purred comfortably, then rolled over and lay on Hermione's lap, exposing his belly.

?(=?w?=)?

"Shua!"

Luna, off to the side, reached out her hand first and rubbed Fish's soft, fluffy belly before Hermione.

Fish wasn't fussy and stretched his limbs and tail to enjoy Luna's touch.

Hermione looked at Luna and didn't fight her, and instead scratched the cat's neck, while Ginny grabbed one of Fish's paws and squeezed her pink pads with gusto.

"Indeed, I like cats better than lions!". said Ron suddenly, without a word.

A confused Neville looked at him, while Harry, who knew what Ron was talking about, rolled his eyes in disbelief.

Wait... I remember George and Fred saying they wanted to be cats in the first place...

Harry felt as if he had discovered something....

The rain was still falling, it didn't tend to get heavier, but it didn't stop, the train was still moving forward, the sky outside was getting darker, and the lights inside the carriage were coming on one by one.

"Hermione, do you think there will be a Dementor later?".

(??w??)

Fish, having had enough sleep, returned to his human form and asked Hermione expectantly.

Although Fish wasn't too bored with Hermione's company, it would be nice if something happened to give him a fighting chance.

"Dementors!?" shrieked Neville, almost slipping from his seat, "Fish, don't say such horrible things! And the Ministry doesn't believe that You-Know-Who is back, so how could they possibly have sent Dementors?"

"But..." said Fish, cocking his head, "Harry was attacked by a Dementor over the summer, and Minerva said that the Dementors have probably gone over to Voldemort nya."

Luna and Neville looked at Harry in surprise.

"Well, there's that." Said Harry, a little sheepishly and a little proudly. "There were two Dementors, but I managed to fight them off with the help of Fish's friends."

Luna and Neville sighed in amazement, and then went on to ask Harry the details of the incident.

After hearing Harry's story, Luna suddenly said in her etereal voice, "Is it possible that the Dementors were sent by the Ministry of Magic to attack Harry? If they had been You-Know-Who, he wouldn't have sent only two Dementors, would he?".

Everyone was surprised when they heard the words, and then Hermione asked puzzled, "But what's the reason? Why did the Ministry of Magic send Dementors to attack Harry? What good does it do them?"

"It's not hard to understand," Luna said with her big eyes, "Fudge is ambitious, he wants to get rid of all of Dumbledore's supporters."

There was an awkward silence.

Although Harry and the others knew that Fudge had broken with Dumbledore, they didn't think he was going to do anything to end Harry's life.

"Then why did he only send two Dementors?"

?w?

Fish asked, cocking his head to the side, using Luna's earlier question as a counterpoint.

Luna froze and muttered with her head down, "And yes, if Fudge did it, he could have sent his secret army...."

"Excuse me... You mean a secret army?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Yes, he has an army of heliopaths." Luna replied with a straight face.

"What's a heliopath?". Fish asked curiously.

"They are spirits of fire." explained Luna, "Huge creatures of fire that swoop through the earth and burn everything in front of them..."

"They don't exist, Fish." said Hermione.

"Oh, yes they do!" replied Luna angrily.

"I'm sorry, what's the proof, please?" asked Hermione sternly.

"There are plenty of eyewitness reports. Just because you're so uninformed, you need to have it all shoved under your nose to accept that fact." Luna retorted sharply.

The two girls clashed in such a way that those next to them feared they might fight at any moment.

"Fish, aren't you going to talk them out of it?" Harry prodded Fish in a low voice.

"It's okay, they do it all the time nya."

(?Φ~Φ?)

Hermione and Luna didn't get along, Fish had known that for a long time, and it wasn't the first time he'd seen it.

So instead of trying to dissuade them, Fish happily pulled out his snacks and, as usual, got on with watching the show.

He even had the presence of mind to share the food with the others....

"Want some nya?"

(??~??)つ