Chapter 204: Crookshanks and the Antagonistic Scabbers
Dylan looked at Luna with some surprise. Luna turned her head. "I said, are you going to take this oven?"
Dylan's lips twitched. This girl is more of a robber than he is... He gave a dry laugh and shook his head.
"After all, it's Hufflepuff's oven. Let's ask the other Hufflepuff students about it later, and then decide." It wasn't the time to take it now. This would be stealing, wouldn't it? Openly and brazenly stealing... Dylan's perception of this girl was refreshed again.
"True." Luna nodded. Dylan thought the girl had finally realized that such blatant theft was wrong. However, he then heard her say, "If we clarify the origin of this oven, we'll know if Hufflepuff has any other secret kitchen utensils. Then we can just pack them all up and take them away."
Dylan: (⊙o⊙) "…Uh, we'll see about that later. It's getting late. I'll head back—to read some more."
"No problem, I also need to go through some old books to see if there's anything I'm looking for." Luna nodded slightly.
After tidying up the kitchen, Dylan left the Hufflepuff kitchen with Luna, said goodbye again, and dashed back to his dormitory. "This girl is too scary!" Dylan muttered as he walked towards the Gryffindor tower. "If I stay with her too long, I feel like I'll be led astray!"
...
Returning to the Gryffindor common room, instead of the expected empty scene, Dylan found a group of people gathered around the common room's notice board.
He raised an eyebrow. "What's going on now?"
Dylan stepped closer. He glanced at the board. "Permission Notice for Hogsmeade Village?" A notice was posted on the board, stating the dates they would be able to visit Hogsmeade.
Naturally, it wouldn't be during normal class days, but on a weekend, specifically at the end of October—the eve of Halloween.
Dylan already knew about the Hogsmeade trip during the summer. To go, permission was definitely required. Dylan's permission form had been sent along with the new term's book list. This required guardian consent.
Dylan's parents naturally had no objections. For the first few days, they wanted to spend time with their son, whom they hadn't seen for a long time. But after that, the Hawkwood couple's hearts were no longer on Dylan.
They couldn't wait to send Dylan back to school so they could freely enjoy themselves. So, the Hawkwoods signed the permission form without hesitation.
"Hogsmeade Village, huh?" Dylan propped his chin with one hand. Hogsmeade Village, for him, naturally posed no danger. And not to mention, he even owned a property in Hogsmeade Village.
He hadn't bought it, though. He had acquired it when he performed Legilimency on Lockhart earlier. Amidst Lockhart's shattered memories, he found a property Lockhart had once purchased in Hogsmeade Village. And then... that property naturally became Dylan's.
This trip to Hogsmeade Village would be a good opportunity to turn this house into another safe house for him. —And it would be his closest safe house to Hogwarts.
"When the time comes, even if Hogwarts has anti-Apparition wards, this safe house of mine will allow me to quickly travel back and forth to Hogwarts." Whether it was returning or making a quick escape.
....
Dylan walked to his dormitory door. He looked up and saw Crookshanks squatting in a corner not far away. Hermione's ginger-colored cat was batting a glass bead with its front paw. Its flat face had two large eyes narrowed into slits, and its bushy tail flared out like a bottle brush, curling slightly at the tip.
This oddly cute, ginger-colored cat, resembling one flattened by a griddle at birth, made Dylan smile. "Little one, what are you doing by my dormitory door? Is something wrong?"
"Meow, meow, meow, meow~" Crookshanks looked up, its tail wagging twice.
Dylan raised an eyebrow. "You want to play with Coal Ball?"
Crookshanks nodded, then paused in surprise. "Meow?"
Dylan chuckled softly. "Your owner leaves you in the dorm every day. I'm not very familiar with you, but don't be surprised. I can just understand what you're trying to say; it's quite easy to do."
—It must be noted that Dylan didn't intentionally kill a cat. —He didn't kill anyone's pet cat either. It was just that during the summer, he coincidentally ran into a cat abuser in an alley.
Dylan Soul-Sucked this pervert and discovered that the guy was also a serial killer, and currently an escaped fugitive. Dylan casually turned him into an Inferius. As for the cat he had abused and killed, Dylan naturally didn't waste it.
It was already on its last breath. Rather than saving it and letting the poor little creature continue to experience this cruel world, it was better to send it to the afterlife. —Into his Remnant Soul Possession realm. Dylan generously gave this poor little creature a quick and painless end, allowing it to no longer suffer, but instead become a part of him.
"Meow?!" The ginger-colored, pancake-faced cat froze, its eyes wide.
"Alright, alright, didn't you want to play with Coal Ball?" Coal Ball had interacted with Hermione's Crookshanks before. However, after Norbert's arrival, Coal Ball had rarely stayed outside. Every day, it was either guarding his home or wandering around the space with Norbert. This meant Coal Ball didn't even spend much time with Dylan.
Strangely though, recently this little black egg suddenly became clingy again. It would constantly pester him and want to come out of the space with him. Dylan simply gave Coal Ball unrestricted access.
It could come out of the space when it wanted and go back directly. To enable this feature, Dylan even spent 5000 Galleons... Yes, it was also a paid feature. Otherwise, pets wanting to leave the pet space either had to be with him or be controlled by his will. Of course, Dylan only gave this permission to Coal Ball, not to Norbert, and certainly not to others who weren't even his pets.
In any case, Norbert, being such a large dragon, had grown quite considerably in a few years. If he gave it permission to freely enter and exit the pet space, what would happen? He didn't know how much impact and destruction it would cause just by coming out once.
Dylan opened his dormitory door. Since he had given Coal Ball free access to the pet space, he didn't know if the little black egg would be in the dormitory. To his slight surprise, Coal Ball was indeed on Ron's bed. It was even pinning down Ron's pet rat underneath it.
"Dylan, you're finally here!" Seeing Dylan open the door, Ron turned his head, his eyes lighting up. "Quick, control this little black devil. It seems very interested in my rat. I think it wants to eat Scabbers!" At this moment, Ron was in the dorm; the others weren't present.
Dylan blinked, stepping inside. Crookshanks also slipped in. "Meow meow meow meow?" Although Crookshanks had never been to Dylan's dorm before, it deftly jumped onto the nearest bed. Seeing Coal Ball, it became excited and ran over.
"Hey! How is it here?" Ron's eyes widened. "My rat isn't enough for two cats to eat!"
Dylan corrected him. "Coal Ball isn't a cat."
"But it also wants to eat my Scabbers!" Ron sat on the edge of his bed, nervously staring at Scabbers, who was pinned under Coal Ball's paw, trying to escape but not daring to move. He felt both distressed and amused.
"Don't worry, Coal Ball won't eat it." An old, stringy rat. How could it taste as good as the high-quality meat he specifically fed it every day? "They're just playing."
No sooner had Dylan finished speaking than Crookshanks' plump body leaped into the air, its fluffy tail standing straight up. The entire cat landed precisely on Ron's bed.
"Purrrr." Crookshanks' bristling tail swept past Scabbers' nose. Then it lowered its head, opened its mouth, and with a soft "mew," bit down.
Ron immediately paled. "Wait!"
"Moo!" Before Scabbers' head could be swallowed by Crookshanks, Coal Ball's other paw extended, pressing against Crookshanks' head.
"Meow?" Crookshanks looked up with its small eyes. This ginger-colored, pancake-faced cat had some Kneazle blood. Kneazles are very intelligent magical creatures, and also very proud.
Crookshanks naturally had this personality. However, it was very affectionate towards creatures it liked—and this naturally wasn't limited to humans. Crookshanks quite liked Coal Ball. So even when Coal Ball pressed against its head, it wasn't angry, just a little confused as to why Coal Ball wouldn't let it bite off the head of this smelly rat.
This rat wasn't like an ordinary rat; it had a very strange scent that Crookshanks didn't like!
"Moo~" Coal Ball pressed the paw pad under its paw against Crookshanks' forehead, its movements exuding a lazy elegance. Facing the ginger-colored, flat-faced cat's confusion, Coal Ball's eyelids fluttered.
"Old orange, this rat belongs to my master. Why are you biting it? It's still useful to my master." Coal Ball had naturally witnessed Dylan feeding Scabbers to the Dementors, so it knew this rat wasn't an ordinary one. —It was a rat that could make the Dementors full. —Or perhaps not quite full.
Facing Coal Ball's languid explanation, Crookshanks also turned to look at Dylan. Coal Ball unhurriedly licked its paw. Dylan smiled, not denying it. "Yes, this little rat is indeed very useful."
Crookshanks then retracted its neck. "But next time you're not around, I'm definitely going to eat this rat. Merlin's saggy trousers won't stop me!"
Dylan paused, then let out an amused laugh. "Who taught you that?"
"Of course..." Crookshanks meowed a few times, then tilted its head, glancing at Ron, who was sitting on the bed, looking utterly bewildered. Ron's gaze darted back and forth between Coal Ball, Crookshanks, and Dylan.
"No, wait, Dylan..." Ron looked up. "Don't tell me, you were just talking to them..."
"That's right, we were communicating."
Ron's eyes widened. "How can you talk to cats? Are you a transformed cat too?"
Dylan blinked, then a mischievous grin suddenly played on his lips, and he lowered his voice. "Do you want to know?"
Seeing Dylan's lowered head, with half his face seemingly hidden in the blurred shadows, Ron sprang up from the bed.
"Hahaha, I think it's a good thing for them to play together more. Harry's still waiting for me on the pitch, I'm off!" Ron immediately dashed towards the dormitory door, bursting out.
But before he closed the door, he paused and then said to Dylan, "Remember to watch over my Scabbers, don't let it... get too bullied—especially by Hermione's cat! Merlin's saggy trousers, I don't know why this cat is in our dorm!" As his words faded, Ron shot out, disappearing from sight. The door was gently pulled shut by his movement, then clicked.
Dylan looked at the closed door and shook his head. "Do you two want to play together? Then I'll go read."
"Moo!" Coal Ball lifted its chin, indicating Dylan should do as he pleased. Crookshanks squatted nearby, curiously staring at Coal Ball.
"What are you looking at me for?"
"You look a lot like me."
"???" Coal Ball looked at Crookshanks with an incredulous expression. It lifted its foot, releasing Scabbers. However, the poor rat, even no longer restrained, didn't dare to escape, only huddling on the bed, trying to minimize its presence.
Dylan ignored the two little ones chatting. Coal Ball was naturally used to Dylan's busyness. Crookshanks had come specifically to play with Coal Ball and didn't care whether Dylan was busy.
Today, its owner didn't want to pay attention to it, which made it very sad. So it thought of Coal Ball. It realized that it hadn't seen its owner take it out to play for a long time recently. Had she also just left it in the dorm, bored every day?
That's why Crookshanks had come over. But no one had come to open the door for it, so it couldn't get in until Dylan returned to the dorm. Then it finally had a chance to enter.
Dylan quietly sat at his desk, flipping through a book. He was reading a book about the history of Hogwarts, trying to find some details within it for example, anything about Hufflepuff, or other historical records of Hogwarts. Unfortunately, he found no clues about such magical kitchen utensils as the secret oven in the book.
"That's strange." Dylan was a little puzzled. Logically speaking, since the secret oven was in Hufflepuff's kitchen, others must have discovered it. If someone had discovered it, why would there be no record of it in books?
"You can't say that. The Room of Requirement isn't recorded in conventional books either, is it?" Yet, that magical room also exists.
....
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