A scream so shrill it could shatter glass suddenly erupted from Lia's throat!
As if she were undergoing the most terrible torture in the world.
Then, her snowy-white body twitched extremely flamboyantly and violently in mid-air.
Then, under the astonished gazes of Umbridge and Professor McGonagall, she fell "weakly" and limply onto the ornate Persian carpet.
Her limbs stretched out stiffly. Her body remained motionless.
Her little pink tongue hung limply from the side of her mouth.
She was perfectly playing dead.
"Lia!"
Hermione's reaction was faster than anyone else's.
Letting out a world-shaking cry of grief, she practically scrambled over and scooped the "unconscious" Lia into her arms.
The moment she picked Lia up, her fingers quickly squeezed the soft flesh on the back of Lia's neck twice in a specific rhythm—this was their pre-arranged signal for "good job acting."
The next second, teardrops the size of beans rolled down from her brown eyes like broken pearls.
"What did you do to her?!"
Holding the "stiff" Lia in her arms, Hermione pointed at Umbridge and voiced the strongest accusation in a trembling voice mixed with grief and rage.
"According to the Magical Creatures Mental Protection Act! Any test that causes a severe stress response in a companion creature must be stopped immediately, right now! I... I demand an immediate application for a full examination at the Hospital Wing! I will submit the severest complaint to the Ministry of Magic!"
In Hermione's arms, Lia's entire body was turned away from Umbridge, with only her head resting in the crook of Hermione's arm.
She quietly, very quietly, opened one blue eye.
Then, she gave the tearful Hermione, who was right in front of her, a triumphant and playful wink.
Hermione almost choked and nearly broke character by laughing right then and there.
She could only press Lia's head harder into her chest, using her body to hide the little movement, her shoulders shaking violently from "extreme grief" as she let out rounds of suppressed, heartbreaking sobs.
Just then, Professor McGonagall, who had remained silent the whole time, finally stood up.
Her stern gaze, like two sharp scalpels, pinned Umbridge's face, which had turned purple with rage.
"Dolores," Professor McGonagall's voice was as cold as the winds of the Scotland Highlands.
"I believe it is very necessary for me to write an extremely detailed health report for Miss Granger's Miss Lia. And,"
she paused,
"send a copy of this report directly to the Legal Counsel Office of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."
The Legal Counsel Office!
Umbridge's head buzzed. She knew she was completely finished.
She had been "played" by a fifth-year student and her damn cat!
They had used her own rules and her own assessment to set a trap that she had jumped into and could never climb out of!
She trembled with rage, looking like a pink toad blown up to its limit, nearly exploding on the spot.
Yet, under the dual pressure of Professor McGonagall and those damn legal clauses, she couldn't argue back a single word, forced to watch as Hermione carried the "dying" cat away, accompanied by Professor McGonagall.
Ultimately, this carefully planned assessment could only end abruptly with the humiliating conclusion: "The subject was excessively frightened due to improper handling by the assessor and could not continue."
As soon as they left Umbridge's office and were in the corridor leading to the Hospital Wing, Lia immediately "resurrected."
She lifted her head from Hermione's arms and, as if seeking credit, wrapped her long fluffy tail around Hermione's wrist loop by loop, a triumphant purr coming from her throat.
Hermione pulled a pre-prepared Salmon Candy from her pocket and accurately popped it into her little mouth.
She leaned down to Lia's ear and whispered with a laugh in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Good job acting, my little Oscar winner."
Lia narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, enjoying the sweetness and the praise.
"When we get back tonight..." Hermione's voice dropped even lower, carrying an ambiguous huskiness, "I'll give you... an even bigger reward."
In an instant,
the tips of Lia's snowy-white cat ears instantly turned as red as ripe cherries.
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[Here's a Cat-girl hug for you all!]
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