Inside the office, the room was currently filled with silver-white cats of all sizes; some were lying on the desk, some were playing on the floor, and some were curiously prodding Lucifer's flames with their paws.
"Oh, go play somewhere else." Lucifer impatiently shooed away the fat cat.
Then he looked sorrowfully at Fawkes nearby.
Fawkes, at this moment, had lost her former splendor; many of her feathers had fallen out, revealing her pale flesh, and her eyes were dim like dying embers.
In this life, her life was nearing its end.
"Don't be afraid, I'm right here! Do you want to discuss it with Dumbledore when the time comes? After you die, the egg you turn into can be placed with me, and I guarantee you'll hatch within three days!"
Howl paused his pen and looked back at Lucifer.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing…" He sighed helplessly and returned his gaze to the drawing board in his hands.
The soft sable brush gently picked up some pink pigment, carefully outlining the posture of the large cat.
Pink… was because his own fresh blood was mixed into the white pigment.
He observed his Patronuses; they each had different postures—lazy, agile, mischievous, curious, their long tails sweeping the floor like broomsticks.
A moment later, as the final stroke was completed, Howl gently set down the brush and then pushed the drawing board away.
The drawing board floated in the air, quickly moving far away from him.
He raised his hand, gesturing and examining it.
"Finally, I have a decent one." Howl breathed a sigh of relief and praised it.
Sindel also took a look; the painting showed a lazy, fat cat lying on the desk, plump and large, with abundant, long fur, its tail dragging on the table.
"It's truly lifelike, Mr. Cat is a master at painting cats," she said.
Howl was a bit embarrassed… even as an amateur, he could tell this painting was utterly… soulless.
He had merely replicated this cat using various complex guide lines… but due to limitations in technique and skill, it wasn't that "realistic."
From an artistic perspective, it was simply a big mess.
"Uh… thank you for the compliment." Howl gave an awkward smile, then pressed his thumb against his sharp canine tooth, simultaneously raising his hand to recall the portrait of the fat cat.
Blood welled up on his thumb, and Howl pressed his finger onto the large cat's eyes.
Immediately, its glowing crimson eyes lit up. Within its pupils, faint blue-purple starlight constantly flowed.
"Meow—"
On the painting, the large cat stretched and began to move.
Howl waved his Little Wizard wand, casting several Confundo spells consecutively on it, but the large cat in the painting merely observed him with a strange gaze.
"Finished, as expected of me!"
Saying this, he stood up and hung the painting next to Sindel.
"Meow—" The large cat tilted its head, looking curiously to the side. A link had now been established between the two magical paintings.
It took a step, jumped down, crossed the frame, and appeared on the grassy field in Sindel's painting.
Sindel was overjoyed; she embraced the large cat with both hands, and the cat hung limply.
Howl smiled as he watched the interaction between the person and the cat.
There was only one painting in the office, and now it had a companion.
Thinking this, he picked up his paintbrush again, and after trimming and framing the canvas, he continued to lay down colors and sketch… This time, he was going to paint all the furry children in the room.
They would become his eyes, watching over all of Hogwarts… The next day, as the class bell rang, Howl raised his hand, and a green mist appeared, enveloping the Little Wizards, healing their wounds.
"Children, I think you should have learned in practice that those amulets and Potions from unknown sources are useless in real combat," Howl said.
Because of the Chamber of Secrets issue, many Little Wizards were now fearing for their lives, secretly exchanging amulets and Potions from unknown sources, praying for safety.
However, their amulets were of no use, at least not in Defense Against the Dark Arts dueling class.
On the contrary, they caused many messes; the foul-smelling, black-smoking Potion was a mixture of pixie urine and moonwort root.
A crucifix amulet would automatically glow when hit by a spell… but it only glowed.
"Sorry, Professor." Many children chuckled awkwardly. Professor Jones had uncharacteristically deducted points for this… They themselves felt ashamed because the Professor rarely deducted points, which indirectly showed how ridiculous their actions were.
Watching the last child leave the classroom, Howl turned and walked up the steps in the classroom, returning to his office, intending to continue painting the Hundred Cats painting.
However, as soon as he pushed open the door, Sindel, holding the large cat with a look of utter resignation, quickly said, "Mr. Cat, Dumbledore is looking for you. The password is—Iced Lemonade."
Howl nodded: "Alright."
Upon arriving at Dumbledore's office, Howl's gaze quickly fell upon a red envelope.
"You received a Howler?" Howl smiled.
Dumbledore adjusted his glasses: "To be precise… it's for Harry, but after some consideration, I decided to give it to you."
?
Howl looked surprised: "Who would send him a Howler? Another Snape?"
"An interesting thought…" Dumbledore smiled, watching Howl pick up the letter.
Feeling itself gripped, the letter agitatedly swelled up. As soon as Howl tore open a slight gap, a thunderous roar erupted.
"Only pets talk about Pure-blood? Very good—we already know your statements, and even if you are the savior, you are no exception. Soon! Soon we will come to talk to you, Dumbledore cannot protect you!!"
Then, flames ignited on the red envelope, and it turned to ash in a moment.
Howl raised his pinky finger to his forehead and dug at his ear.
"Dumbledore cannot protect you! Wow, that's quite a spirited statement." Howl smiled.
"I'm very curious what methods they will use against you." Howl sat down.
"They'll probably use some policies and laws from the Ministry of Magic or the School Board to pressure me. They know that as long as they don't go too far, I generally can't refuse.
This is a very contradictory situation; they constantly test my bottom line, but as soon as I respond slightly, they quickly retract their feelers, and after a while, they start testing again."
"Have you never truly had your red line crossed?" Howl asked with some curiosity.
"Once many years ago… but it was just a slight expression of dissatisfaction with the authorities.
Then the other Wizards of the Wizengamot impeached the previous Minister.
So that's why people always say Fudge came to power because of me, and why he is so afraid of me and wants to distance himself from me."
Howl stroked the long fur on his neck and said something completely irrelevant.
"I thought you'd be a riddler again; I didn't expect you to be so straightforward this time."
Dumbledore paused, then chuckled, adding sugar cubes to his tea one by one, and slowly began: "What I'm more curious about is what kind of statement Harry made, and the anonymous survey questionnaires that appeared in the school for no reason."
"Survey questionnaires?" Howl looked puzzled, then saw Dumbledore take out a piece of parchment.
He took it and opened it, seeing four questions clearly written on it:
"What do you think of the House Cup?"
"What do you think of the Quidditch matches and their champions?"
"What do you think of Slytherin?"
"Do you acknowledge Slytherin's eight consecutive House Cups, and provide reasons?"
…"Severus must be furious…" Howl clicked his tongue, shaking his head.
No sooner had he finished speaking than footsteps echoed down the spiral staircase, and Snape, his face as black as a soot-covered fireplace, walked straight in.
In his left hand were three red Howlers.
In his right hand was a parchment identical to the one in Howl's hand.
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