Chapter 014: The Gift (Part II)

"But I've heard from my brothers that Professor Snape hates Harry very, very much!" Ginny asked, puzzled.

"Because Harry is a Gryffindor." Hermione sighed helplessly.

"It's so complicated!" Ginny frowned and sighed, "I really don't want to grow up." ”

"It's a complicated society, but you don't have to worry," Hermione said, touching the little girl's head, "because you have six older brothers protecting you." ”

"I don't need them to protect me!" Ginny shook her head vigorously and shook Hermione's hand away, "I'll learn to protect myself!" ”

Hermione was slightly stunned, and suddenly understood why Catherine would look at the red-haired girl differently.

"I'll teach you well." Hermione solemnly promised.

"Thank you, Hermione!" Ginny said gratefully.

The two girls began to talk about Hogwarts, but Catherine didn't show up until Ginny got her full new robes, and Hermione decided to help her friend settle the bill first.

"300 Galleons!" Hermione shouted in shock, "You guys are robbing money, what kind of robes actually cost a hundred Galleons for a set?" ”

"Because Miss Catherine made a lot of requests, we exhausted our brains and devised many solutions in order to meet the needs of our customers, and it took seven months to ......"

"Seven months!" Hermione exclaimed again, "It wasn't from Christmas—" and she suddenly thought of the news that a dozen Slytherins had dropped out of school en masse after the Christmas break, and although the newspapers said they had been attacked by the remnants of the Death Eaters, Hermione realized that things didn't seem so simple.

"Hermione, you're still making such a fuss!" As soon as the brown-haired girl thought of Catherine, the red-haired girl's voice appeared.

The people in the store were immediately distracted by Catherine, and naturally they didn't notice Hermione's suddenly ugly face.

"Madame Morkin, I am very satisfied with these three sets of robes, please help me prepare an extra set of spare ones." Catherine ignored the other people's gazes and tore off a check and handed it to the shopkeeper, "Is this enough?" ”

"Enough, of course enough!" Mrs. Morkin squeezed Catherine's hand very warmly, "Don't worry, I'll make it before school starts and send it to you myself." ”

"Don't be in such a hurry," Catherine smiled, "as long as you keep the contract between us. ”

"Absolutely, absolutely!" Mrs. Morkin's hand shook slightly, and then she sent the three girls out with enthusiasm.

"Catherine, you're ...... Christmas" As soon as she left the robe store, Hermione grabbed the red-haired girl's arm and tried to clear her doubts, but was dragged into Florin's cold drink shop instead.

"Three sticks of ice cream, what flavor do you want?" Catherine smiled and turned back to ask the two female companions.

The bribe caused Hermione to give up the inquiry for a moment, and the girls licked their ice cream and giggled down the streets until they walked into the bouncing and frolicking magic joke shop, where they bumped into the twins and Lee Jordan.

Hermione and Ginny are always attracted by their descriptions, but Catherine always finds the loopholes and hits them mercilessly.

After Catherine picked out a bunch of faults, the twins suddenly looked at each other, took Catherine out of the store, blocked her in the corner of the alley next door, and said gloomily, "Dear Catherine! ”

"Do you remember the first time we met—""—the invitation we sent? ”

"The one who asked me to join you?" Catherine blinked.

"Yes!" The twins said in unison, "We found out that you have a lot of talent!" ”

"For example—" Catherine smiled at them with a very bright smile, and the twins immediately felt a chill rush from their heels to the top of their heads.

"Every time I see this unbeatable smile—"

"-- We all feel like we're good babies."

"So—" Catherine narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Let's turn Hogwarts upside down together!" The twins shouted in unison.

"This is indeed a great ideal, then—" pondered Catherine, "what are you going to do?" ”

"We have a lot of great ideas—"

"-We've been working on how to turn them into reality this summer-"

"--But we don't have a lot of technical support-"

"-- and you always find the key problem with ease."

"The problem is that I don't have time—" Catherine shrugged helplessly, "I don't even have time to train in Quidditch this year. ”

"Why don't you have time?" The twins were puzzled.

"There's a lot to study, and I don't know if I'll be able to do it all this year," Catherine sighed, "but I can help you a little." ”

"What helps?"

"Funds!" Catherine grabbed a handful of gold coins in each hand and placed them in the hands of the twins, "On the condition that the samples and detailed plans you show me after the start of school must be approved by me, and then we will sign a formal contract." ”

"Deal!" The twins slipped the coins into their pockets while holding out their other hands, but Catherine slapped them together again.

"The same move should never be used a second time in front of the same person." Catherine smiled and said, "Not to mention that I saw through it the first time." ”

"You're—" The twins wanted to say something, but suddenly Hermione shouted from the mouth of the alley, "Catherine! Where are you? ”

"See you at school!" Catherine slick her way through the twins and headed towards Hermione, throwing something into the garbage heap in the corner before leaving the alley.

"I finally understand what 'a thief shouts to catch a thief'!" Fred stared at Catherine's back plaintively.

"Fighting geese all day long is actually pecked by geese!" George looked helplessly at the hands of the two glued together again.

"Lee will die laughing!" The twins sighed and left the alley.

Naturally, Hermione's complaint was indispensable for the reunion, and Catherine could only find a way to change the subject, preventing her friend's attempt to become Professor McGonagall.

"Ginny, Harry wants to give a pet, what do you like?" Catherine's words made the little girl's face flush suddenly.

"Pets?" Hermione was really drawn to it, "Harry really likes girls." It made Ginny's face redder than her hair.

"Let's see what's the best option?" Catherine pushes open the door to the Fantastic Zoo.

The shop was as lively as the street outside, but Mrs. Apace was the first to notice the three girls, for Catherine was the most generous customer she had ever had.

"Hey! Catherine! Mrs. Apace squeezed over with difficulty, "It's been a long time, how can you have time to come here today?" ”

"Bring a friend over to buy a pet." Catherine laughed as she pushed Ginny in front of Mrs. Apet.

"The little girl is so cute, she's a first-year freshman, what kind of animal do you want?" Mrs. Apace bent down and asked cordially.

"That...... Well......" Ginny hesitated for a moment before speaking, "cat! ”

"I love cats too!" Hermione couldn't help but exclaim, "They're super cute with their fluffy looks. ”

"If you want a cat, please come with me." Mrs. Apace immediately took the girls to see the cats in the store.

The various cats caught Hermione and Ginny's attention, so they didn't even notice that Catherine had sneaked away from them again.

In the end, Ginny chose a one-year-old ochre-spotted cat, a magical animal from southern India and Sri Lanka, which Muggles called the rusty spotted leopard.

Hermione, on the other hand, was fascinated by a large ginger cat named Crookshan, whom Mrs. Apace said had civet blood, but no one wanted to buy it as a pet because of its flattened face, and Catherine suspected that her friends had taken a fancy to her because her hair was as thick and fluffy as hers.

When Catherine returns to the Fantastic Zoo, she sees Hermione's painful expression of attachment to Crook Hill, but she has to endure the pain of parting her love because of lack of money, so she has to spend money to buy this cat, which is not optimistic.

"This year's birthday present!" Catherine makes a good excuse.

"This—thank you, Catherine!" Hermione held her pet tightly in her arms, grabbed its paws and bowed to her friend, "Crookshan, thank you too, Catherine!" ”

The girls happily leave the store with their pets in their arms, only to discover that Catherine has an owl on her shoulder, which has a very rare dark red feather.

"Catherine, is this your pet?" Ginny looked at the owl enviously.

The Weasleys had two owls, Errol and Hermez, the latter was a gift from the Weasleys after Percy became the superior, but he kept it delivering letters throughout the summer, so the Weasleys' letters could only be handled by the elderly Errol, and a single letter from Ron and Hermione took nearly a week, but the Weasleys had no money to buy a new one, so they had to let it continue to serve.

"Huh? I remember your pet—" Hermione's question was quickly interrupted by Catherine.

"This is my thank you gift to Harry." Catherine reached out and brought the owl to Ginny's shoulder, "Thank you to the Weasleys for taking care of us this summer. ”

"It's grand!" Ginny exclaimed, "Mom and Dad won't agree." ”

"It's a must-have etiquette!" Catherine smiled.

Ginny was about to say something, but was disturbed by a boiling sound.

As soon as the girls looked up, they saw the Lichen bookstore crowded at the door, and a large banner was pulled out from the upper floor of the bookstore:

Gilderoy Lockhart

Autobiographies are signed for sale

"I Can Magic"

12:30-4:30 p.m. today

"It's Lockhart's autograph session!" Ginny exclaimed.

"We can meet him in person!" Hermione shouted excitedly.

"Hermione, that's why you chose today." The corners of Catherine's mouth twitched slightly, she didn't expect that there were two Lockhart fans by her side.

"No, of course not, I didn't think ...... at all," Hermione defended incoherently.

"Hermione! Catherine! Stop talking! Ginny interrupted their conversation loudly, "We're afraid we won't be able to get in any later." ”

"That's right!" Hermione took Catherine's hand, and the two escorted Ginny into the Blotted bookstore.