บท 7: Yokai cat

As expected, the next morning, students were buzzing about the mysterious song they had heard. Everyone wanted to know what it was and, more importantly, how to hear it again. The theories were as wild as ever, with some suggesting that the giant squid had gone out for drinks and sang while drunk.

No one had managed to connect the song to Barnaby.

This, of course, was also due to the efforts of the teachers, who took some precautions not to be too obvious. Hagrid and Barnaby acted as if they knew nothing and didn't reveal any flaws, but everyone could see the new staff resting next to Barnaby.

The only one with a very slight suspicion was Harry, who remembered Hagrid mentioning that his son was going to do something involving using a song but didn't voice his suspicions for fear of being labeled a blabbermouth on his first day and causing unnecessary trouble.

So far, he was thrilled with his arrival at the castle and didn't want to jeopardize that.

But he didn't expect to be late for his first Transfiguration class!

The castle is too large, and it seems his friend Ron has as poor orientation as he does, so they both ended up arriving late and being scolded by Professor McGonagall after an astounding cat-to-human transformation.

But come on, how do they expect newcomers not to get lost during the first few days?

After taking a seat and paying attention to the class, his first real magical practice came, and the results were not too good. At the very least, he knew he wasn't the only one struggling as he saw most others present achieve the same result as him.

Only the girl named Hermione managed enough to earn some house points.

"...and that will be your homework for the next lesson, have a good day," McGonagall dismissed them.

Just as most had left, Barnaby appeared and greeted the teacher. Some students couldn't help but feel curious and stayed while pretending to pick up things to eavesdrop.

"Aunt Minerva, how was your first day of this year?" Barnaby asked as he took a thermos of tea from his robes and tapped an apple on the teacher's desk with his wand to transform it into a Gryffindor-engraved porcelain cup, pouring some hot tea that Minerva took with a grateful look.

"Chamomile and mint tea?" The words were more of an affirmation than a question. "I detect a hint of ginger too."

"Yes, you guessed right again," Barnaby nodded as he tapped the desk's globe and also transformed it into a cup, but this one was oak wood with silver Viking-style lines. He poured some and took a sip, grimacing a bit. "I think maybe I overdid it with the mint."

"On the contrary, I think it's just right," the Transfiguration teacher smiled faintly as she glanced momentarily at the floating staff beside Barnaby. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your unexpected visit?"

Barnaby visited the teachers from time to time, but he usually was considerate enough to avoid making such visits during teaching hours. The only exception was if he needed something or was carrying out a task.

"Oh, it turns out that this morning I had a visit from someone who was eager to see you, so I had no choice but to bring her to reassure her," Barnaby stretched out his hand, and students saw with puzzlement as he "submerged" it in the air as if in a liquid, causing ripples around the arm up to his elbow.

"Who could it be?" Minerva was intrigued and not at all surprised by the scene, knowing it was one of the ways Barnaby brought out smaller creatures.

She befriended several creatures that followed Barnaby, especially those inclined to feline ancestry, but she knew that most would only see them once, and those that occasionally returned were rare.

Barnaby "withdrew" his hand from the air and pulled out... a two-tailed kitten.

"Kirara?" Minerva stood up excitedly at the sight of the creature.

A yokai Nekomata over five hundred years old. Very light blonde fur, with black spots on her legs, ears, forehead, and tail. Her eyes are red with black pupils, and her hair forms a kind of scarf around her neck.

"Ki!" The yokai cat heard Minerva and called out happily as she jumped into her arms.

"No, wait!" Minerva's expression of joy changed when she realized what was coming next.

The little kitty transformed into a larger version with fangs protruding from her mouth, and some flames emerged from her paws and tail. Using the weight of her new form, Kirara knocked down the teacher and proceeded to rub her head against hers, blissfully unaware of the embarrassing pose she put Minerva in.

"Kirara, turn small again, or you'll suffocate Aunt Minerva," Barnaby commented amused, not moving to interrupt this "touching" reunion.

Did he know the yokai cat was going to do that? Naturally!

Kirara seemed to realize her mistake after hearing Barnaby and shrank back to her small, adorable version, putting on a sad face to apologize.

"Thank you, Kirara," Minerva thanked her as she got up and straightened her robe. "I think I still have some of those snacks you liked. Come with me; I still have some time before the next lesson." Kirara leaped agilely onto Minerva's shoulder, and both left the Transfiguration classroom. "See you at dinner, Barnaby."

While Barnaby nodded in response to the farewell and finished his tea calmly, someone approached him like a whirlwind.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked with a demanding tone of response.

"Transformation, how else?" Barnaby replied as he pointed to the cups. "This is a bit more advanced; just be patient, and you'll learn it too later on."

"What? No!" Hermione realized how vague her question was and corrected to be more specific. "How did you make your hand disappear to get that cat out?"

"Magic."

"That's not what I'm asking!" Hermione responded irritably, knowing exactly what she was doing.

"Why do you expect me to answer that?" Barnaby looked amused at Hermione's expression of incomprehension as he slurped the remaining tea and returned everything to its original form, preparing to leave. "I'm not a teacher."

And so, Barnaby left a bewildered Hermione in the Transfiguration classroom.

He didn't mind giving a straightforward explanation, but he didn't like the tone she used with him or the fact that she wasn't polite enough to introduce herself. This should be enough to make her touch the ground or help her reflect; if she continues with that attitude, in the end, it will cost her making friends.

He knows it; he has seen many cases like hers while growing up at Hogwarts.

"I think I'm starting to understand what my brothers were talking about," Ron whispered to Harry, who could only nod. Maybe asking him for that tour he offered wouldn't be a bad idea.

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I realized that the version translated into English mistakenly uses "wand", when what Barbany has is a "staff". I tried to fix it, but the translation program just seems to turn a deaf no matter how much I insist...

This is not the first time these things have happened, like when he uses "elves" to refer to Gringgots workers, which is also not correct.

Limitations of using these things, thank goodness we fanfic readers develop immunity to eye pain from things like that.