Chapter 451 - 2: When Will Cats Finally Get Their Rights?

Chapter 451: Chapter 2: When Will Cats Finally Get Their Rights?

"What is going on, Argus?"

Professor McGonagall, who taught Transfiguration and also served as Hogwarts’s deputy headmistress, stepped out of her office.

A trace of anger hid in her eyes. Despite liking cats, she showed none of that affection toward this particular one. She simply grabbed Yimi by the scruff and held her up in front of herself. The moment she found the cat’s owner, she intended to deduct ten points from that student’s house without mercy.

Yimi, dangling from McGonagall’s hand, stared with round eyes while her brain rapidly loaded what had just happened.

A moment ago inside the office, the tabby she had smacked on the head had suddenly grown larger and turned into the old woman now holding her.

This world had cat-people just like the kitty!

"Quite obviously, Professor, this is some cheap, vulgar, disgraceful clown’s trick!" Filch gripped his broom in both hands and glared at the red-haired girl who had petted Yimi earlier. "I believe Miss Weasley has something to say. She and that little monster of hers both have something to say!"

"You can’t decide she’s my cat just because I touched her once," Ginny muttered as she backed against the wall.

As a newly arrived first-year, she clearly had no desire to deal with Filch, the school caretaker.

The other Gryffindor first-years were even more afraid to speak, terrified that saying one wrong thing might cost their entire house points. The Slytherin first-years who had just finished Defence Against the Dark Arts with them, on the other hand, looked openly delighted by their misfortune.

"What do you mean, ’both have something to say’?" Professor McGonagall immediately caught the important part.

Filch choked for a moment, then pursed his lips and pointed at the cat in McGonagall’s hand. "That little monster insulted me! It has to be something those Weasley twins made. There’s nobody else it could be!"

Yimi glared at him. Still hanging from McGonagall’s grip, she kicked her hind legs twice and retorted in her crisp child’s voice, "This dumbass, insulted me first!"

A wave of startled exclamations ran through the students. Shorter children who had been squeezed to the back stood on tiptoe to get a look. Plenty of students kept pets at school, and if there were magic that could make pets talk, it would be almost as attractive to them as a Quidditch match.

Filch’s neck flushed bright red as he cursed. "Look! That filthy little beast has a mouth full of garbage! Those twins ought to be expelled, and their sister is an accomplice!"

"Nobody said this had anything to do with George or Fred, Argus. I think..." McGonagall only got halfway through the sentence before Yimi tore free from her hand and kicked Filch in the shin, knocking him flat.

That hateful old thing had actually dared insult a cat again!

The new students watched with satisfaction. Students from every house had suffered plenty under Filch, and a few even silently shuffled aside to leave Yimi an escape route.

"Meow?"

"You should run. If Professor McGonagall catches you, you’re finished," Ginny whispered. Even she seemed to be wondering whether one of her brothers really had created this strange cat.

"Meow?"

Yimi did not really understand, but she was willing to listen when someone showed her kindness. She gave McGonagall, this fellow member of her species, one long look, then dashed away through the opening on all fours. Filch’s curses still echoed behind her.

"Do none of you have another class to attend?" McGonagall swept her gaze over them.

When the first-years looked at one another and began dispersing, she called to Ginny, "No, no, not all of you. I believe Ginny Weasley should wait in my office for a while. I hope you can think of a convincing explanation before I return."

With that, she gripped her wand and quickly headed in the direction Yimi had fled, leaving an innocent-looking Ginny standing there in confusion.

...

Yimi checked this world’s missions again.

Writing a book, becoming a teacher—both missions were extremely difficult for Yimi. Failing the previous world’s mission had already taught her how important studying was.

Human books were simply too backward. Eating them only produced the sensation of something difficult to swallow without granting any knowledge at all. It made Yimi miss the taste of knowledge terribly.

Normally, not long after Yimi encountered people in a new world, the human she was supposed to adopt would appear. Aside from the time Origami carried her home in a plastic bag, Yimi had usually been in human form when it happened.

This world was a little different. There were real big-big cats here who could turn from little cats into big cats just like she could. Maybe all the humans in this world had actually grown from cats. That would explain why the skinny cat had gone to inform the old cat.

Yimi was beginning to like this world. To fit in better, she turned back into human form around a corner. Her default outfit after transforming was still the beginner battle suit, but Yimi did have clothes that matched this world’s style, such as the witch hat Marisa had given her.

"Merlin’s beard." A strange exclamation sounded behind Yimi before she had time to take the hat out.

It was McGonagall. Brilliant Professor McGonagall had apparently interpreted Yimi smacking her on the head as a message meaning, "Come find me later"—not really.

"Meow?" Yimi turned to look at her.

Professor McGonagall crouched down and gently touched Yimi’s cat ear with a slender, wrinkled hand. The ear flicked in response.

The moment Yimi had spoken, McGonagall had formed a rough guess: Animagus. An Animagus was a witch or wizard capable of transforming into a particular animal while still retaining their magical power. Unlike ordinary Transfiguration, an Animagus could only transform into one kind of animal.

McGonagall herself was an Animagus. The tabby cat from earlier had been the result of that magic. Normally, Animagi did not retain the ability to speak after transforming into animals, but magic might perhaps make such a thing possible.

This kind of magic had to be registered with the Ministry of Magic. During the twentieth century, only seven people including McGonagall had registered, because people learning the magic could lose control and end up unable to return properly to human form.

Even with the courage to take that risk, learning the magic normally required years.

McGonagall had originally assumed this was some outside witch or wizard, or perhaps a student who had wasted extraordinary talent on a highly abnormal kind of magic and transformed into a cat to cause trouble. She had even been preparing to raise the deduction in her head to fifty points—

But just look at this tiny child. She was not even old enough to fall under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, yet she had already taken on the risks of becoming an Animagus. Those ears were proof that she hadn’t fully mastered the magic.

Professor McGonagall looked at Yimi with pity. Yimi, meanwhile, noticed the top of McGonagall’s head and could not help pointing at it. "How come you don’t have, ears?"

Professor McGonagall seemed to forget all about having been smacked on the head earlier. She took Yimi’s little hand. "You poor little sweetheart. Did you sneak in here after your older brother or sister? Who taught you to become an Animagus? That person ought to be sent straight to Azka—"

"Hmph—" Yimi let out a displeased huff.

She had treated Yimi so roughly when Yimi was a cat, but the moment Yimi turned human, her attitude suddenly became much nicer.

When would cats finally get their rights?