A certain broken Hogwarts

Chapter 43 Melete (Please let me read this one!)

Back in his dorm room, Irving fed the kitten some milk and then went to bed.

While he was drifting in and out of sleep, he felt a tightness in his chest. In his dream, a basketball kept bouncing on his chest, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't catch it. It also kept making strange noises.

Owen struggled to open his eyes, feeling as if he had just fallen asleep. The little tabby cat he had brought back was hopping around in front of him, sometimes scratching his cheek with its paws and sometimes biting his chin with its baby teeth.

"What?" Owen rubbed his eyes, parted the curtains of the four-poster bed, and glanced outside. Under the Black Lake, it was impossible to distinguish between day and night, but the other three beds were empty, so it seemed daylight had already broken.

The feeling of hunger in his stomach reminded him that the sun must be high in the sky by now.

The little tabby cat anxiously nibbled at Owen's finger, frantically gesturing for him to get off the bed. Then, it jumped off the bed first, meowing and circling around incessantly.

"What happened?" Owen loved cats, so he knew this behavior wasn't due to hunger. He quickly got dressed and followed the little cat, the raccoon, as it toddled away from the dormitory.

"Good morning, Owen. You came back late last night." Harry was working on his Potions homework in the common room when he looked up and greeted him.

"What, you actually found that fax machine?" Draco stared at him with his gray eyes.

"No." Owen's face darkened.

"Ha, I told you you couldn't find it." Draco rubbed the back of his head, leaned back lazily in his armchair, and watched Pansy and Daphne play wizard chess, gesturing and pointing in a loud, affected tone.

"Good morning, Owen. Oh, Pansy, stop listening to Draco's nonsense, you've lost four games in a row!" Daphne said helplessly.

"I didn't expect you to be such a good chess player. I underestimated you, Daphne," Draco said seriously, refusing to admit he was a terrible chess player. "I'm going to get serious now, Pansy, listen to me, we'll definitely win next time!"

Panxi nodded with a smile, put away her chess piece, and continued to play the next game with great interest.

"You've said that three times already." Daphne sighed and looked at Owen. "Owen, want to play chess? Oh? You have a cat?" Her eyes lit up as she looked at the little tabby cat tugging at Owen's clothes with its baby teeth.

"That's a raccoon dog, how ignorant," Blaise said with a glance, showing no mercy.

Daphne glared at him, her cheeks puffing out slightly, then she smiled at Owen and said, "I know you've always liked cats, so you've finally decided to get one?"

"It was just a chance encounter." Owen looked at the little creature on the ground, meowing anxiously, and laughed. "It was very anxious, so I followed it out to see what was going on."

"I've heard that raccoon dogs can sense danger and good versus evil. Could there be some suspicious or dangerous creatures here?" Daphne joked.

"Hmm?" Harry looked up alertly. Lately, because of the Sorting issue, he had developed a bit of paranoia and always felt that the danger was directed at him.

"You're overthinking it," Owen said, shrugging at Harry. He knew exactly what the guy was thinking; Harry's thoughts were written all over his face.

He bid farewell to everyone, carried the little raccoon in his arms as he walked out of the lounge, and followed its guidance all the way to the first floor, leaving the castle.

The rain had stopped, and the grassy field was a bit muddy, with glistening water droplets clinging to the dark green blades. In the distance, the forbidden forest was shrouded in a thin mist, the thickets taking on a deep bluish-gray hue, while the sky was a clear, azure blue.

The cat led Irving across the field, heading straight for the Forbidden Forest.

"Are you going to find your mother?" Owen looked at the kitten, who was still nursing, and stroked its head and unusually large ears.

"Meow—" The little raccoon cat tilted its head back and meowed softly, its round, golden eyes filled with a human-like sadness and pleading.

"Hey! What are you doing? Get away from the Forbidden Forest!" Hagrid's booming voice rang out from afar just as Owen was about to step into the jungle. He turned his head and saw a massive figure striding after him.

"Hagrid, good morning." Owen waved to him.

"Oh, it's you, Owen." Hagrid looked at him with a headache. "Didn't I tell you not to go into the Forbidden Forest so casually? Especially since a unicorn was injured last night. Something terrible has probably gotten into the Forbidden Forest..."

"This little guy wanted to take me there," Owen said with a chuckle, lifting the kitten in his arms. "I think it probably got separated from its mother and I just happened to run into her."

"There are about a dozen cat-like creatures in the Forbidden Forest, but they all live alone and are hard to find." Hagrid carefully extended a thick finger and tapped the little creature's head, his eyes involuntarily crinkling with a smile. The little cat-like creature tilted its head and looked him over, not intimidated by his rugged appearance, but instead gave him a friendly, soft meow.

"But this little guy can lead us to its mother; they're really good at finding their way around and locating things." Hagrid glanced at Owen and said in a consultative tone, "Why don't you give it to me?"

"How about we go together?" Owen grinned and pointed into the Forbidden Forest. "I found it myself."

"Alright, stay close to me and don't wander off." Hagrid pulled a huge red umbrella from behind his back and held it in his hand, then whistled loudly. His big, fanged dog charged from his cabin, circled Hagrid once, and nearly knocked Owen over.

With lightning speed, the dog flung a flaming paper at Tooth, and the startled dog darted into the jungle first. Owen and Hagrid followed, heading in the direction the cat had indicated.

As they ventured deeper into the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid earnestly warned Owen to stay away: "Last night, the centaurs informed me of red sparks appearing in the forest. I was afraid someone was in danger, so I searched the forest all night. A unicorn was injured, not seriously, but anything that attacks a unicorn is definitely an evil creature… I saw a shadow in the distance; it looked like it could fly…"

Besides that, Hagrid asked about Harry the most. He was always worried that Harry would be bullied in Slytherin.

Irving responded while keeping an eye on the road beneath his feet. It felt increasingly familiar; it seemed to be in the same direction he had traveled the previous night.

After the heavy rain, the animals in the Forbidden Forest gradually left their burrows. The forest echoed with birdsong, and occasionally a few enormous spiders crawled across the ground. Owen even spotted two hippogriffs leisurely strolling by. With Hagrid and Fangtooth with them, none of the magical creatures displayed any aggression, and the journey was remarkably peaceful.

Finally, Owen realized that they had arrived at the location where he had met the little raccoon, and they were still heading in the direction they had taken the night before, and were almost at the place where he had met Quirrell.

"Hmm? That unicorn was injured up ahead last night." Hagrid frowned, glancing worriedly at the little guy in Owen's arms.

"Looks like it followed me last night hoping I could take it with me?" Owen stroked the cat's head. "But we ran into Quirrell along the way, and we were both taken away. The little guy was really terrified; it drank some milk and then fell into a deep sleep..."

They quickly crossed the highlands where the unicorn was wounded, the torrential rain having washed away all traces of the place. After walking for a while, Tooth suddenly began to whimper at the bushes ahead.

The little tabby struggled to jump off Owen's arms and ran towards the bushes ahead, its soft meows becoming long and sharp, like the cry of a baby.

Soon, a chorus of responses came from the bushes, and several small heads of different colors peeked out one after another from the branches and leaves.

There were also six small tabby cats hiding inside. They seemed to have been rained on all night, and their cries were weak. A mother cat, about the size of a normal house cat, lay lifeless in the bushes, with several small tabby cats huddled around her.

"Oh, poor thing, it's dead." Hagrid's eyes reddened. He picked up the mother cat's body and examined it, finding a deep wound on its neck. "I don't think this was an accident, but rather deliberate, perhaps from that thing last night... These little guys must have braved the rain to find their way from their nest."

"I see." Owen sighed softly, stroking the heads of the kittens and raccoons one by one.

The two buried the mother cat's body, looked at each other for a while, and then one of them carried several kittens back home.

"They're still nursing, they can't survive on their own yet, we'll have to take care of them for a while." Hagrid's loud voice carried far through the forest.

The two returned to Hagrid's cabin and placed the seven kittens in a makeshift shelter Hagrid had made, letting them huddle near the boiler for warmth. The kittens' soft meows melted Owen's heart.

What Dark Lord, what Philosopher's Stone, none of them are as important as a cat!

Hagrid poured a large bowl of milk for the kittens and raccoons, intending to take them out of their nest to drink, but accidentally pinched one of the cubs, making it meow loudly, and almost dropped it on the ground in his haste.

"I'll do it," Irving said.

"Oh, okay." Hagrid wiped his forehead. He wasn't very good at taking care of such fragile little creatures, although as a magical animal, a raccoon cat was definitely not fragile by human standards. Taking care of tough-skinned creatures like the Blasttail was something he was good at.

Seeing how well Owen was taking care of the little ones, Hagrid hesitated and said, "How about you..."

"I can't take care of them all," Owen said, shaking his head with obvious reluctance.

"Alright, I'll find someone who's good at it." Hagrid stormed out, forgetting to even say goodbye to Owen.

He returned quickly, with Professor McGonagall by his side.

Irving clearly saw a glint of light flash in Professor McGonagall's usually serious and calm eyes when she saw the group of adorable little creatures. Yes, it looked like a cat seeing delicious food or a cat toy.

"Ahem, no problem. Hagrid, and Mr. Shafik, just leave them to me." Seeing Owen staring at her with a somewhat strange expression, Professor McGonagall coughed lightly, her expression returning to its meticulous state.

Irving's lips trembled slightly. He really wanted to say, "I can take the cat away, but you have to turn into a cat first so I can pet you..." Okay, he didn't dare to say it, afraid of being beaten to death.

Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and several lemurs, along with their nests, floated to the side of her. At that moment, the little lemur that had followed Owen all night struggled to jump down and walked gracefully toward Owen.

"Huh? She wants to come with you." Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "They don't easily acknowledge others."

"Really?" Owen glanced at the little guy in surprise and muttered to himself, "What, wasn't the fright you had enough last night? You want to find some more excitement?"

The little tabby cat proudly raised its head, turned around, and faced its rear end towards him.

"She can understand you. If you treat her kindly, she'll be a wonderful companion." Professor McGonagall sharply scrutinized Owen, seriously assessing whether he could be a suitable owner. After a long while, she reluctantly nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, it's my pleasure." Owen smiled broadly and picked up the little tabby cat. "Then you'll be called Melete."

(End of this chapter)