Chapter 24: Dinner

Fish was probably the only student in Hogwarts history who did not receive an immediate welcome after sorting.

Luckily for him, his plight was passed on by word of mouth among the students and, along with his animal affinity working on all creatures, after a few moments of indifference, the Gryffindor students, led by some of the first witches to come to their senses, cheered and welcomed Fish.

But Fish didn't care about that, he strutted over to the long Gryffindor table and sat down, tapping the table as if no one was watching. "Where's dinner? I thought there would be food after the ceremony? You lied to me again, Minerva!"

Professor McGonagall pretended not to hear him and continued announcing the names of the students.

At the Gryffindor table, the Weasley twins approached Fish.

"Professor McGonagall doesn't fool you, our dear McGonagall."

Fred reached out to grab Fish's shoulder, but Fish avoided him and, unamused, continued to approach Fish, explaining with a smile, "Dinner won't start until after the last students are sorted, so, if you don't mind, here are a few sweets to get you started."

George pulled some candy out of his robe and handed it to Fish.

He was about to reach out to take them when a slender hand came out of nowhere and snatched the candy out of George's hand.

"What are you trying to do to Fish?!", Alicia Spinnett folded her arms and glared at the twins, while her best friends, Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell, protected Fish.

"Listen Fish, at Hogwarts, never accept any gifts from the Weasley twins!", Katie Bell warned the confused Fish with a serious look.

"You've hurt us! These are ordinary sweets," The twins shouted, not having the courage to play tricks at the sorting ceremony.

Of course, it was hard to tell if this was a prelude to future pranks.

"Hmph!", Spinnet didn't care if the twins were telling the truth or not, and joined the other girls in shutting them out, "Don't worry about them, we've got food here too".

The girls pulled all kinds of snacks out of their pockets and shoved them into Fish's arms, then tried to put their hands on his head, but Fish dodged them all.

As he dodged the girls' claws, he grabbed the food and stuffed it into his mouth.

His attention was distracted by the food and his head was finally touched by the persistent girls. Fortunately, they also knew how to contain themselves. After petting him twice, she took the initiative to withdraw her hand.

So Fish didn't bother to resist later.

"Oh, how cute."

"He's really like a kitten!"

"I wish Fish was a girl, so I could sleep with him at night."

The Gryffindor witches were so excited after petting Fish that the other witches were envious and jealous.

The Gryffindor boys were also envious, only their envy was directed at Fish, who was surrounded by girls.

"George, do you think it's too late for me to practice the Animagus spell?", Seeing the girl he liked keep leaning towards Fish, Fred felt bitter.

Even though he knew Angelina wasn't really in love with Fish, Fred still felt like he ate a lemon.

George, who also had a crush on Angelina, looked at his brother blankly and was in no mood to answer that stupid question.

The boys' distress didn't last long as Professor McGonagall called out Harry Potter's name and, apart from a few young witches from entirely Muggle families who kept huddling around Fish, most of the young wizards turned their attention to Harry who had the Sorting Hat on.

Under everyone's eyes, the Sorting Hat remained silent for a moment before shouting, "Gryffindor!"

After a brief silence, the auditorium erupted with excitement, especially Gryffindor, the Weasley twins forgot their sorrows for a moment and shouted, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Percy, the head of Gryffindor, stood up excitedly, leaping toward Harry and clasping his hands together as if at a leaders' meeting.

The huge movement caused Fish, who was immersed in food, to raise his head. He looked at Harry, who was surrounded by a group of boys, confused. He didn't understand why the group of humans was excited, and continued to sink into the food in his hand.

miamiamiamiamiamiamia~(￣～￣)

The Gryffindor witches, after their excitement, regrouped around Fish, after all, the Savior was too far away from them and it was better to play with the cat.

After Harry, only three young wizards remained, and they were soon assigned to their respective houses. Professor McGonagall rolled up her parchment, picked up the Sorting Hat, and sat back down at the long teachers' table.

Albus Dumbledore stood, arms outstretched, and said, "Welcome to the start of the new academic year at Hogwarts! Before the party begins, I would like to say a few words. And that is: Nippers! Whiners! Trinkets! Pinchers! Thank you all."

With those bewildering words, he sat back down and then all kinds of food appeared on everyone's table.

"Meow!", Fish really preferred meat to snacks, and with a joyful shout, he picked up a roast chicken in front of him and gobbled it down with gusto.

Halfway through the roast chicken, Fish remembered to use the cutlery and glanced cautiously in Professor McGonagall's direction, only to see her looking at him angrily, but making no other move.

Could it be that... Minerva is in no condition to give me lessons at the moment, (●ΦωΦ●)?

Fish blinked, smiled at Professor McGonagall and continued nibbling, then provocatively licked his hands in front of Professor McGonagall, but after a couple of licks, he returned to his cat form and sat down on the long table to lick his fur.

This, of course, made the little witches squeal.

Professor McGonagall jumped up and tried to teach Fish a lesson, the overly excited little bastard, but Dumbledore stopped her.

"Leave him alone tonight, Minerva," Dumbledore said cheerfully, watching Fish run back and forth across the long table in Gryffindor, being fed by the others, "It's best not to be too serious during banquet time."

Seeing that Dumbledore had spoken, Professor McGonagall could only look at Fish, who was spilling her guts all over the Gryffindor table, and resumed her seat, cutting the lamb chops on her plate with a squeak.

In fact, Fish had been keeping an eye on Professor McGonagall, and when he saw that she had been stopped by Dumbledore, he became even more unrestrained.

"Meow...!"

Fish jumped around the group's plates, taking a bite of whatever food he saw and then pouncing on the next one.

Instead of getting angry at being "stolen" by Fish, the young wizard seemed proud of himself and shouted cheerfully to his friend, "Fish likes my food!"

After pacing the long Gryffindor table back and forth two or three times, Fish had had enough, snatched a top hat off a young wizard's head, and lay down to sleep.

As for the end of the dinner, what with that mean old Dumbledore's speech and the singing of the school song and all...

What's that got to do with a kitten?