How to Lure a Cat

"What?" Hermione shot to her feet at once, glaring furiously at the bushy-browed, wide-eyed Hagrid. "Absolutely not. I refuse.

"And Hagrid, how could you even think of that?

"You want us to steal a cat? How did you even come up with that?"

"Shh!" Hagrid made a silencing gesture and looked awkwardly at the three of them. "I didn't say steal. Borrow. Borrow the cat."

"Not a chance." Hermione said speechlessly, "Hagrid, I don't think you know this, but Aaron treasures Abei like a precious jewel. He takes it with him to class, meals, and bed. They're practically inseparable."

Hagrid nodded. "I secretly asked around too. That's why I'm asking you lot."

"But..." Harry was deeply confused. "What do you want a cat for?

"There are so many cats in the school. Can't you pick another one?"

"Hahaha!" Hagrid laughed smugly. "You wouldn't understand. I have a special instinct for animals.

"I noticed that cat was unusual the moment you first arrived at Hogwarts."

"No matter how unusual it is, it's still just a cat!" Ron said.

"No, you're thinking too small. I even suspect it isn't a cat." Hagrid said with absolute certainty. "You've had more contact with Abei than I have. You should be able to tell more directly that the little fellow is exceptionally intelligent."

"And exceptionally greedy." Ron muttered.

"Greedy?" Hagrid was instantly intrigued. "What does it usually eat?"

"Everything.

"Candy, biscuits, cake, pudding, chocolate, potatoes. But most of all, chicken legs.

"Five times out of ten, it's hugging a chicken leg and gnawing on it." Ron suddenly froze, then wailed in disbelief, "Oh, no! My life is actually worse than a cat's?"

Harry patted Ron's shoulder sympathetically. One of them lived under someone else's roof, while the other came from a poor family. Compared to Abei, this cat, life truly was hard.

"See? You can tell Abei is special just from its diet. Does an ordinary cat have an appetite like that?" Hagrid said.

"That only proves how much Aaron values Abei." Hermione shook her head. "Hagrid, I advise you not to get any ideas about it."

"I wasn't planning to do anything to it.

"Anyone who knows me knows I never mistreat animals. I sincerely treat them as friends.

"I'm just curious and want to observe it closely, that's all. If you don't trust me, you can supervise me from the side."

Harry gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Hagrid, it isn't that we don't trust you.

"It's just that this is too..."

"Too embarrassing." Ron said.

"Yes, too embarrassing."

"Embarrassment is the least of it." Hermione's face darkened. "More importantly, Aaron's opinion of the three of us will plummet."

"Exactly!" Harry was somewhat puzzled. "Hagrid, why don't you borrow it yourself?"

"If I could borrow it, I wouldn't be asking you." Hagrid said helplessly. "Ever since I showed interest in Abei at the library last time, he's been wary of me."

"That's even worse. If Abei goes missing, Aaron will think of you first." Hermione said.

"That's why I want you to borrow it.

"I asked around. At Hogwarts, aside from a few substitute professors, Draco is the only one who's close to him.

"But there's no way a Slytherin like him would help me. He might even tell Aaron.

"So I thought of you. Among Gryffindor, you three can still speak to him." Hagrid said with a smile.

A few seconds later, he noticed that the three of them had fallen silent. He sighed softly. "It's fine if you don't want to help me. There'll be other chances. But the people who helped design those mechanisms..."

"Wait, Hagrid." Harry pondered for a moment before making his decision. "We can help you with this..."

"Harry?" Hermione interrupted him, shaking her head at him with an ugly expression.

"Hermione, I know what I'm saying.

"But between the Philosopher's Stone and a pet cat, which is more important is obvious."

"I agree with Harry's decision too." Ron said. "We're borrowing it, not stealing it.

"Besides, we'll supervise Hagrid the entire time and make sure Abei doesn't suffer the slightest grievance or injury. We'll return it after a few hours at most.

"It should be fine... right?"

Hearing that, Hermione grew angry, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

Was that borrowing? No excuse could cover up the fact that it was deception.

"You'll regret this.

"I'm not taking part in this. You can mess around by yourselves!"

After saying that, Hermione stormed out of Hagrid's hut, leaving the three of them staring at one another inside.

After coming out, she hesitated over whether to tell Aaron about it. But after thinking it over carefully, she gave up on the idea, because Harry and Ron could never succeed.

Besides, if she told Aaron, Harry and Ron would know without a doubt that she had leaked the secret.

Inside the hut, Harry was somewhat embarrassed as well. "Hagrid, we'll do our best to help you borrow Abei, but please tell us who helped design the Philosopher's Stone's mechanisms afterward. This is very important to us."

"Of course!" Hagrid nodded. "But that's confidential too. I can tell you, but you can't tell anyone else, understand?

"If you can't do that, then even if you carry Abei right up to me, I won't say a thing."

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and smiled at the same time. Hagrid was still Hagrid, and his principles were as firm as ever.

That was good. It definitely wouldn't be easy for Snape to get the method for getting past Fluffy from him.

The next day, in the Great Hall.

Aaron was having lunch there with Abei. Harry and Ron exchanged a look and began their operation.

Before long, the two of them sat across from Aaron as though they were old friends. Besides their favorite foods, each of their plates held a chicken leg.

They had thought it through carefully. Directly asking to borrow Abei was definitely impossible; they were nowhere near close enough with Aaron for that.

They could only take an indirect approach. What was the best way to lure away a cat?

Simple. Four words: give it what it likes.

Didn't it like chicken legs? Then they would tempt it with chicken legs!

In any case, all the food at Hogwarts was free, so it would not cost them anything.

As long as they made Abei happy, then casually suggested taking care of it for half a day, Aaron probably would not refuse. Their chances of succeeding were still quite high.

Sure enough, they had merely sat down without saying a word, and the white cat across from them was already drooling, staring longingly at their plates.

"You have no self-control at all. You can't even move when you see something tasty." Aaron rubbed his forehead helplessly, then tapped Abei on the dragon head, snapping it out of its daze.

"It's fine!" Harry smiled, then very amicably pushed the chicken leg from his plate in front of Abei.

Abei stared straight at the chicken leg within reach for several seconds, but forcibly held back its urge to feast. It even used a paw to wipe away its drool.

Then it looked at Aaron with watery eyes and stretched out a white paw to point at the chicken leg, expressing its meaning: This dragon wants to eat it.

Those actions truly left Harry and Ron dumbfounded, and they understood why Hagrid was interested in this cat. This simply was not something a cat could do.

"Are pets this disciplined nowadays?" Ron said in astonishment. He suddenly thought of his pet rat, Scabbers, and could not help feeling dejected.

Look at someone else's cat, then look at his own rat. One was properly dressed, unbelievably adorable, and especially disciplined. The other was scruffy, ugly as sin, and lazy and gluttonous all day long. They were not even comparable.

"What discipline? Its diet has already been arranged. It just wants an extra meal, that's all." Aaron shook his head, then patted its head and said helplessly, "Just this once. Don't make a habit of it."

Abei nodded hurriedly, then hugged the chicken leg and began gnawing on it frantically.

"Aaron, your cat is so smart!" Harry said with feeling. "And it seems especially obedient to you."

"Of course. Abei has been with me since it was born. I raised it into this plump little snowball myself." Aaron said proudly. Raising a dragon for several months had been quite an accomplishment.

It was just a little short of evolving now. He would have to use Magic Points to speed things along later, so it could awaken its second innate skill as soon as possible.

"Oh! I see!" Ron also handed over the chicken leg from his plate. He secretly exchanged a glance with Harry, then tentatively extended his right hand.

But when his fingers were still a palm's length away from Abei, Abei suddenly stopped eating. It turned around and bared its teeth at Ron, frightening him into immediately pulling his hand back.

"Aaron, does it have such a bad temper?" Ron could not quite save face. "I just gave it a chicken leg. Can't I even pet it?"

"Uh...

"Sorry. Without my permission, it generally won't let boys touch it.

"Other than my family, only Draco and Hermione have held it at school." Aaron explained.

Harry and Ron exchanged another glance. Both of them felt that luring this cat away had suddenly become several times more difficult.