Harry had a satisfying Christmas break this year, not only studying the Patronus Charm with Professor McGonagall, but also playing with the magical creatures of the Forbidden Forest from time to time.
Occasionally, of course, he would take a break to play chess and cards with Ron and the others, or hop on his new Nimbus 2000 and practice Quidditch with his mates.
With such a full life, Harry's Christmas vacations passed him by without him noticing, and it was only when the students who had gone home for the vacations returned to school that he realized that the vacations ended tomorrow.
He just reacted the same way, and of course there was a certain little fluffy cat who ate and slept, slept and played, and kept eating, drinking and sleeping after playing long enough.
Unfortunately, as much as Fish complained, Hogwarts resumed classes on time.
"Nya~"
(?ω?)
On the morning of the first day of school, Fish, prey to vacation syndrome, lay on the long table in the Great Hall, shaking his head from side to side and mashing his face against the table.
Luckily, the first Gryffindor class of the morning was Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures, but being outside in this cold, wet weather was not a great experience.
Fish finished breakfast at a different pace than usual and then joined Harry and the others outside the castle, only to reach the foyer when the Slytherin students pushed their way in and separated the Gryffindor group.
"How was your vacation, Fish?"
"Did you get the Christmas present I sent you?"
"Fish, did you really buy the present you gave me with your own money? I've been saving it and I'm not willing to eat it!"
The Slytherin girls gathered around Fish, chatting.
Fish was in no mood for them, however, and merely hummed in response, but even that was no match for the enthusiasm of the young witches.
The Gryffindor witches, not to be outdone, made their way over to Fish and started talking to him.
The strangest thing was that the two witches were fighting on the outside of the circle, but as soon as they got close to Fish, they switched to miss mode, and the boys were amazed at how quickly their faces changed.
The cat was in such a bad mood that he didn't even notice the fight between the two groups....
But even if the cat had found out, he wouldn't have cared.
In the midst of all this commotion, Gryffindor and Slytherin students were flanking Fish outside Hagrid's hut.
Hagrid had gained some experience after his classes, so today he had set up a huge bonfire where a group of fire lizards were happily crawling through the flames.
The cold air instantly dissipated from everyone's bodies as they approached the fire.
"Nya!"
?(??ω??)?
Fish, who had been in a bad mood, finally came to his senses and quickly ran to the fire, squatted down and began to warm himself.
The other students, as Hagrid had instructed them, gathered wood and leaves from the outskirts of the forbidden forest and threw them on the fire, causing the salamanders to become even more active, hopping among the crackling wood.
At the end of the not-so-new, but comfortably entertaining lesson on the protection of magical animals, instead of following the Gryffindors to the Divination classroom, Fish turned and ran towards Slytherin.
"Draco, wait, Fish needs to talk to you!"
?(?ΦωΦ?)?
The kitten leapt to Malfoy's side in a few steps, and then Malfoy was dragged aside by Fish as Daphne and the others looked on in envy and jealousy.
The two muttered together for a while before Fish patted Malfoy on the shoulder and ran off to his Divination class.
Malfoy, for his part, was immediately surrounded by the Slytherin girls....
"Fish, what were you looking for Malfoy for?"
Fish caught up with the Gryffindor troop halfway to the Divination classroom, and Ron, who had a deep grudge against Malfoy, couldn't resist the curiosity and came over to ask in a whisper.
Fish twitched his ears, thinking there was nothing to hide, and answered truthfully, "Severus' birthday is coming up, and Fish just spoke to Draco to discuss how to celebrate his birthday nya."
As soon as the words came out, the Gryffindors who were eavesdropping showed tooth aching expressions.
Ron said indignantly, "Why are you celebrating that old bat's birthday?!".
"Nya?"
?ω?
Fish cocked his head, confused, and rightly replied, "Because Fish and Severus have a very good relationship, and I promised him a birthday present a long time ago.... George and Fred know that too."
"What?!"
If Ron could hardly understand that Fish had given Snape a birthday present, he couldn't believe that George and Fred were involved.
The other students were also surprised. You should know that in Gryffindor, besides the "Big Three" of Harry, Ron, and Neville, only George and Fred were the ones who had the most points deducted by Snape.
And after they knew that Fish was going to celebrate Snape's birthday, it was okay if they didn't obstruct him, and they kept their mouths shut and didn't tell anyone....
That's not okay!
"You're not being fed something by Snape, are you?!" said Ron, a little hesitantly.
It was Fish who didn't take it personally, but replied with a bit of pride, "No, if there's anything else in the food, Fish can eat it!"
(●`?′●)
The young Gryffindor wizards were not at all amused that the cat would be celebrating Snape's birthday, but there was nothing they could do about it.
Fish and Snape had always had a good relationship, and Snape treated Fish even better than the Slytherin students, so they had no reason to pick a fight between them.
In the end, everyone could only accept it with a sigh.
But everyone was still curious as to why Fish had wanted to celebrate Snape's birthday, so after Divination class, Ron and the others stopped by the twins during lunch to ask them what had happened.
But George and Fred still wouldn't elaborate.
"Don't even think about it, we're not talking!"
Fred replied decisively, while George nodded frantically from the side.
Nonsense, if Professor McGonagall found out that they had encouraged Fish to go to Knockturn Alley, and instead of getting out as quickly as they had said, and that they had almost been sold, and only managed to get out thanks to Professor Snape's help....
Then they were both dead!
No! No need for Professor McGonagall to know that either.
George and Fred were convinced that if they told the truth about that night, the girls around them would overtake Professor McGonagall and tear them apart alive.
So...
They'll never tell!
The twins anxious to survive remain silent, as steadfast as the guardians of the Unbreakable Oath.