https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-40-Is-the-Sorting-Hat-Drinking-Fake-Alcohol-/12538132/
Chapter 39: How to Properly Feed Mrs. Norris
Chapter 39: How to Properly Feed Mrs. Norris
Whatever Cedric and Qiu discussed in the Great Hall, Kyle didn't know, but he returned to the Hufflepuff common room with a smile.
Kyle was reading a book when a plump bag fell from above and landed on the open pages in front of him.
"Whoa... What's this?"
Startled, Kyle turned to Cedric, who was grinning broadly, and said disdainfully, "What's with you? Did you find some money? Why are you grinning like that?"
"This is much faster than finding money."
Cedric squeezed onto the sofa next to Kyle and said excitedly, "Guess how much we made from selling the map in Ravenclaw...
52 Sickles each, 52 Sickles total!"
Although Cedric phrased it as a question, he didn't wait for Kyle to answer and continued on his own:
"Just a few pieces of five-Sickle parchment and a few spells, and we made so much money..."
"Wait a minute."
Kyle was getting more and more confused, so he interrupted Cedric, who seemed to be drunk on excitement. "52 Sickles? Shouldn't it be only 40? And what's with the parchment?"
"It's like this..."
Cedric explained, "I went to the Ravenclaw Tower at noon and modified the route according to their needs. Qiu felt that we could increase the price a bit, so that's the final amount.
As for the parchment... it's actually a little trick with the Replication Charm.
For notes, maps, and such, removing the intricate parchment part and only replicating the content makes casting the spell easier, and the duration of the replicas is extended significantly."
After listening to Cedric's explanation, Kyle understood why there were 12 extra Sickles. With the improved quality of the maps, a price increase was reasonable.
However, the mention of parchment seemed unnecessary to Kyle. In his opinion, those maps would likely become useless within a month, so Cedric's effort might have been excessive.
Fortunately, parchment wasn't too expensive, totaling less than two Sickles. It was negligible compared to their final earnings.
Moreover, Cedric had paid for it himself, which was the most important part.
Kyle put away his Sickle and casually asked, "By the way, what do you think of Qiu?"
"Qiu?" Cedric thought for a moment. "I think she's a smart young witch, very honest and pleasant. She should be a good friend."
"That's it???" Kyle frowned.
"Well... generous?" Cedric ventured.
"Never mind, don't say anything more."
Kyle rubbed his forehead. Although it was still early, he never expected Cedric's first impression of Qiu to be that she was very honest...
Who describes a girl as honest!
With that, Kyle closed his book and got up to head towards the common room passage.
"Are you going out?" Cedric asked.
"I'm going to feed the cat," Kyle replied.
"Okay."
Cedric didn't pay much attention after that, focusing instead on counting his Sickles. As he counted, he muttered to himself, "Haha, I can't believe I'm making pocket money now. This feels amazing. I have to write to Dad about this."
Hearing this as he entered the wooden passage, Kyle silently sympathized with the employees of the Ministry of Magic for a moment.
It seemed Mr. Diggory had some new material to boast about. Hopefully, they would get used to it soon.
...
After leaving the Hufflepuff common room, Kyle deliberately made a lot of noise in the corridor.
He was a man of his word. Having promised to bring dried fish for Mrs. Norris, he intended to keep his word.
There was also the failure of the "Feeding Professor Meow" plan.
Although Kyle had tried to convince himself otherwise and knew that it was an impossible task from the start, he still felt a sense of disappointment after having anticipated it for so long.
With Kyle's continuous ruckus in the corridor, it took less than three minutes for Mrs. Norris to appear, accompanied by Filch.
"Aha, I've caught you now, young wizard, making all that noise in the corridor." Filch tilted his head and looked at Kyle with ill intent. "I'm going to put you in detention!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Filch, but I think you may be mistaken," Kyle said calmly. "Article 22 of the school rules clearly states that making loud noises in the corridors outside of curfew hours will result in a verbal warning, and only after three such warnings will a detention be given."
"I know, I don't need you to remind me!" Filch looked furious, his face darkening. "So, you're good at memorizing the school rules? What good will it do you when you knowingly break them anyway!
I'll be watching you, and you'd better never make a mistake, or I'll be sure to catch you red-handed."
"That day will never come." Kyle smiled. "Also, Mr. Filch, the only reason I made that noise was to find Mrs. Norris.
As you know, Hogwarts is so vast, and finding a cat here is no easy task. This was the fastest way to do it."
"What are you up to!" Filch's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "I'm warning you, don't you dare try anything funny with my cat, or I'll make sure you pay a heavy price, even if it costs me my life!"
"You're overthinking things. I just want to express my gratitude to her," Kyle explained. "This morning, my roommate had an accident, and it was Mrs. Norris who led me to the school hospital. This is my way of saying thank you."
As he spoke, Kyle took out the bag of dried fish and tried to feed one to Mrs. Norris.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Norris didn't even spare it a glance.
Filch sneered from the side, "Don't waste your time. She only eats what I feed her."
"Then you feed her." Kyle handed the bag to Filch. "Rest assured, it's just plain dried fish. You can even ask a professor to help inspect it if you want."
"No need for that. We don't want it!" Filch said coldly.
"Don't be so quick to refuse. This is a gift from a young wizard to show his appreciation." Kyle added nonchalantly, "And these are dried pike fish, a premium treat. A bag of these costs ten galleons, and they're extremely rare in the wizarding world. It wasn't easy for me to get my hands on these."
Filch hesitated.
If they were ordinary dried fish, he definitely wouldn't dare to risk feeding them to Mrs. Norris. But dried pike fish...
Kyle was right; this was indeed the highest-quality cat food. Filch had once thought of giving Mrs. Norris a bag of these fish as a Christmas present.
However, he couldn't buy them.
It wasn't because he didn't have the money. As a gatekeeper, Filch's salary wasn't high, but he lived at Hogwarts, so room and board were taken care of, and he didn't have many other expenses. Over the years, he had managed to save a small sum.
The problem was that these fish were always out of stock, whether in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. Even if he had the money, he couldn't buy them.
Filch carefully sniffed the dried fish in his hand and, after confirming there was no strange smell, looked up at Kyle. "You'd better not be tricking me."
"Poisoning the cat of a gatekeeper is no small matter." Kyle remained calm. "I'm only in my first year, and I don't want to get expelled so early."
Filch thought about it. If something happened to Mrs. Norris, Kyle wouldn't be able to escape blame.
"Alright, off you go. I'll pretend I didn't see you this time."
"Thank you."
Kyle walked straight ahead, and as he passed by Mrs. Norris, he tossed the fish he had been holding towards her.
"By the way, you can have this too."
This time, Mrs. Norris didn't refuse. Seeing Filch nod slightly, she got up and caught the fish in her mouth, devouring it in a few bites.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
