"S, S, S, S, S... Professor Snape..."
The twins made a Parseltongue-like sound, looking tearfully at the man behind the dark wizard.
"Severus, why are you here too nya?"
?(●ΦωΦ●)?
Fish greeted Snape warmly.
"Hmph!"
Throwing a vicious glare at the twins, Snape softened his expression and replied in a disgruntled tone: "There's a new annoying guy coming to school this year and I had to come and buy some ingredients for a troublesome magic potion I have to brew for him."
"Like the one you gave Lockhart?"
?ω?
Fish didn't know who Snape was talking about, but it had nothing to do with the cat.
Snape twisted the corner of his mouth, revealing a sinister grimace.
"If the opportunity arises, it's not impossible."
As the two spoke, both Scarface and the cunning dark wizard had fled, Snape was well known in the magical world, and among the group of dark wizards in Knockturn Alley, he had even more fame.
Snape didn't bother with the two dark wizards, but instead turned his grim gaze towards George and Fred.
"What are they doing here?"
His subtext was: why did they bring Fish to Knockturn Alley?
Naturally, the twins caught the meaning of Snape's words, and the expression on their faces became even more frustrated.
Originally, the worst-case scenario the two predicted was nothing more than being scolded by their parents when things were revealed....
Who would have thought they would meet Snape in Knockturn Alley?
"We're here to see what we can do to earn money nya!"
?(●ΦωΦ●)?
Fish spoke just in time to relieve the twins.
Of course he could do what he did last time,
Of course, he could have used the tricks he had learned from Voldemort last time and blamed George and Fred for the whole thing, even if the truth had been told, they would have been the unfortunate ones.
But Fish knew that this wasn't the same as before, and if the twins had been blamed, they wouldn't have had much luck, so the kitten had stepped forward very righteously.
"Money?"
Indeed, Snape's attention was drawn to Fish's words.
"What do you want to make money for?"
"Fish wants to give Minerva a Firebolt for her birthday nya... Severus, do you know what day is Minerva's birthday nya?"
A look of envy crossed Snape's face, he shook his head and said: "Sorry, I don't know."
Then he looked at the twins again and snorted coldly: "There's nothing here that can make you any money, and it's not a place for you to come. Go quickly."
As he spoke, he grabbed Fish's arm and walked out of Knockturn Alley.
Not even the twins, naughty as they were, dared to confront Snape at that moment, and since they were already frightened by the strange magical objects in the stores around them, they obediently followed Snape and Fish.
"Tell me, why are you here? where is Professor McGonagall?"
This time Snape actually asked why.
Fish answered truthfully: "We are staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight, and tomorrow we will take the train to Hogwarts nya.... Minerva came back first, and asked Fish to go with Weasley nya."
"And you followed them to Knockturn Alley?"
Snape snorted softly, heedless of the small thoughts hidden in Fish's words, and looked coldly at the twins beside him.
"Hehehe... Fish is curious too... and wanted to come and see if he could earn money nya."
(●≥▽≤●)?
Fish rubbed the back of his neck and replied with an embarrassed smile.
Then he reached out and tugged on Snape's robe.
"Severus, can you help Fish keep it a secret? Fish wants to surprise Minerva nya."
The little cat looked up at Snape pitifully with his little face up, his eyes glowing green under the night.
Snape was silent for a while, then said amidst the twins' trepidation: "This will be the last time."
"That's great nya! Thank you Severus!"
?(●≧? ≦●)?
Fish hugged his arm and rubbed it, then said solemnly: "When is your birthday? I'll give you a birthday present, too."
Snape looked surprised for a moment, his indifferent face seemed to soften a little, then he moved his thin lips slightly.
"On the ninth of January."
"Fish will remember it nya!"
"Mmm."
Then Snape stopped talking, and only after he sent the three of them out of Diagon Alley did he say: "Hurry up and come back, don't wander down Knockturn Alley again."
With that, he turned and walked quickly backwards, his robes billowing into the air as he moved, like a giant bat, and quickly blended into the night.
"Uh... this is a problem..."
"Yes, why was Professor Snape...he was here..."
Fred and George scratched their red hair in perfect synchronicity and looked at Snape's back as he walked away with a scowl on his face.
Though they knew it was thanks to Fish that Snape hadn't ratted them out, they had nonetheless received a mutual favor, much to the disgrace of the two who had planned to use their Animagus form to harass Snape.
"Nya?"
?ω?
Not understanding what the two were talking about, Fish asked in confusion: "Is it bad to meet Severus? Didn't he promise to keep our secret?"
If it had been any other professor, Fish didn't think they would have helped keep the secret, only protective Snape and mean old Dumbledore would have.
"Well... yes, Professor Snape is a very nice guy..."
The twins sighed disingenuously, but with more than a little recognition in their hearts, having seen how differently Filch had treated Fish, Snape's act of covering for them was priceless.
So they looked at each other and decided to let Snape go for now when they got back to school, until they were done with Filch.
The three of them returned to their animal forms and slipped off to their rooms.
The next morning, Harry and Ron woke up Fish in a daze. After licking and washing himself, he changed into a Muggle costume and went downstairs to eat a simple breakfast with everyone.
After breakfast, everyone hurried to carry the piles of luggage from upstairs to the pub lobby.
Fish had it very easy, his things had already been taken to Hogwarts.
After a while, Mr. Weasley, who was waiting outside for the Ministry of Magic car, poked his head in.
"They're here, come on, let's go."
At Mr. Weasley's urging, everyone hurried to carry their luggage to the two dark green cars.
"Can these two cars fly too?"
(●?ω?●)
Fish turned his head and asked with interest.
"Ahem..." A look of embarrassment crossed Mr. Weasley's face, and his ears quickly turned red: "I'm afraid that's not possible, they're normal cars."
Mrs. Weasley on the other hand gave Ron a stern look that made his ears turn red as well.
"That's not funny nya..."
The little cat pouted, then opened the back door of a car and climbed in, turning into a cat and rolling into the back seat.
Hermione and Ginny didn't hesitate to choose this car as well, getting in at the first opportunity, and then, at Mrs. Weasley's urging, Harry and Ron got in as well.
Although Ministry of Magic cars could not fly, they were able to move freely along the crowded roads without hindrance, so soon both cars had dropped them off at King's Cross station.
"Fish, we're here, remember to hide your cat ears and tail."
Hermione patted the little kitten that was napping in her lap and reminded him softly.
"Nya~"
(=ΦωΦ=)
Fish opened his eyes and took his human form.
As he had already been on Hermione's lap, when he turned human, he sat directly on her lap.
"Is that so nya?"
Fish, who saw no problem with it, pointed to the top of his head, and he had already removed the pair of cute cat ears.
By this time, Hermione's face was already flushed and she was too happy to speak.
(*▽*)