The texture feels amazing...
A satisfied William, after a delightful session of petting the cat, walked out of the Transfiguration classroom.
As a short-haired tabby, Professor Meow's fur texture was much better than Mrs. Loris, gleaming and well-maintained fur clearly showed it was regularly groomed... However, the situation with Animagus is somewhat unique; at least they don't need to go to pet shops.
William had known a century ago that normal Animagus transformation was difficult, and those poachers' mass-produced transformations were obviously abnormal. Today's close encounter further confirmed his suspicions—they had a method for quick Animagus transformations.
And there seemed to be significant side effects, as the black bear brought back in the Niffler's belly had completely lost human consciousness. William tried using magic to turn it back to human form but to no avail—
"...During the first transformation, your heart must be firm; otherwise, you'll be devoured by the beast's consciousness." Professor Meow emphasized this part heavily, clearly believing this would be the toughest part of the Animagus transformation.
Devoured by beast consciousness... That black bear fit this scenario... William stroked his chin, but his current guesses were useless; he still had to find a way to get the poachers' quick transformation secret. But those people were hiding much better than a century ago, searching them out would take some effort.
"Roar?"
A small black fire dragon, about the size of two palms, crawled out from William's collar, flapped its wings, and perched on his shoulder, growling softly.
"Norbert, hungry again?"
"Roar!"
"Where's Kabuda?"
"Roar?"
"Alright, alright, I'll take you to the kitchen..."
"Roar roar!!"
The fire dragon "Norbert" seemed very excited, spraying a few flames at the ceiling before diving back into William's wizard robe.
Feeling the bulge under his clothes, William turned and headed to the entrance hall. Being terrible at naming, it wasn't until he was eating that he remembered to name the fire dragon and randomly picked the name of the food he was eating—he must say, that evening he tried British-style carrot soup...
Indescribable.
Compared to that, William would rather nibble on a few bites of the Chomping Cabbage he carried around…
Judging by the number of pockets under his wizard robe and the many magical creatures and plants he carried, should danger arise, he wouldn't even need to draw his magic wand... How about a Niffler avalanche, fire dragon breath, and an entire orchard of Chomping Cabbages?
Eh, perhaps it's the legacy of the Dark Lord, but now people's acceptance threshold for Dark Arts is much lower than a century ago. The Defense Against the Dark Arts class openly became a performance class, and the headmaster and other professors did nothing about it. Hogwarts' educational quality is really concerning...
William sighed and walked toward the kitchen... Hmm, this time, he wasn't going in the wrong direction.
...
"...Snape is absolutely mad."
Harry gritted his teeth, slamming his schoolbag onto the chair. He reached out and pulled the dinner beef toward him… Is today's portion a bit small?
Hermione's face didn't look good either. A fourteen-inch paper, due in a week, is a challenge even for her, who is skilled at writing papers, let alone other homework, like Magic History and... Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Even Hermione had to admit by now that Lockhart was indeed a joke.
Have you ever seen a good professor assign homework that consists of writing a book review of his own book?
"Suddenly, I feel like swapping with Ron..."
Harry sighed helplessly. Honestly, being petrified for one term, but not having to do homework, perform as a vampire or werewolf, or face Snape's grim face...
Ah, could there be a better deal under the sky?
"...Then you should challenge that legendary," Fred put an arm around Harry's neck, and George chimed in, "monster in the Secret Chamber. Maybe you'd be petrified too with a blink of the eyes, and a term would pass just like that."
"Or, you defeat the monster," Fred continued, "though unlikely. But if so, you'll become a hero, at the very least earning Gryffindor... " "Five hundred points!" George gave an exaggerated number, shaking Harry's shoulders, "If you plan on doing it, be sure to tell us—"
"Yes, we're dying of curiosity. Percy kept saying the Secret Chamber doesn't exist, just a prank..."
"But what kind of prank lets our dear brother and the dreadful Filch share a bed for a whole term?"
"So," the two simultaneously pressed Harry, "if you...if you guys find anything, you've got to tell us!"
After speaking, both of them looked toward Hermione, giving a knowing wink.
"Actually..."
Hermione knew well what they meant; only a few people were aware she had the Marauder's Map.
"What are you guys talking about?"
Percy had, at some point, appeared behind them.
"Oh, dear Percy, we were discussing—" Fred elongated his tone quite mysteriously, "yes, we've discovered something, related to Ravenclaw..."
"Shut up." Percy immediately interrupted them, "Come with me."
The three red-heads quickly left the Great Hall.
"Hermione, so tonight?" Harry swallowed the food in his mouth, looking at Hermione next to him.
"Action, we must speed things up." Hermione nodded, then shook her head, "I've figured out how to get to his dormitory faster; finish eating fast. We need to find the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room before curfew—"
...
"Knock, knock, knock, knock..."
After a series of rhythmic knocks, the lid of the barrel slowly opened with a twist.
"Which way do we go?"
Looking at the group of little wizards in the common room, Harry, wrapped in the Invisibility Cloak, pulled Hermione back two steps to avoid bumping into anyone.
"This way."
After discerning the map for a while, Hermione's brow finally relaxed. They maneuvered through wooden corridors, carefully pushing open three wooden doors in succession. After two turns, they finally found an empty dormitory.
"This is it."
After confirming several times with the inkblot on the Marauder's Map, Hermione finally nodded in affirmation. Upon hearing this, Harry was about to pull off the Invisibility Cloak when Hermione stopped him again. Under the boy's puzzled gaze, they moved to the other side of the wall, exposing the figure behind the bed's frame to their sight.
"This is..."
"It's him!"
"You know him?" Hermione turned her head, a bit puzzled.
"Dobby, it's the House-Elf I've told you about, the one that got me in trouble with the Ministry of Magic during summer."
Harry frowned, fixing his gaze on the small figure busy by the bed. Though he looked quite different now, Harry was sure he wouldn't mistake the culprit responsible for making him and Hedwig go hungry for three days.
"So, it's him... Should we catch him?" Hermione asked eagerly.
"No, elves vanish quickly, I tried..." Harry shook his head and pulled out his magic wand.
"Then what should we do?"
"Wait and see where he goes first."
"Hey, what are you guys doing here?"
The next moment, a hand lifted the Invisibility Cloak from over their heads.