Dragged Aboard the Pirate Ship in the End

"What?" Ron's eyes widened as he said in disbelief, "How could this happen?"

"Hagrid didn't suspect that cat for no reason, but even self-discipline should have its limits!" Harry said with a sigh. "Forget that for now. Grab the things and get out of here."

"Get out? Then haven't we waited all this time for nothing?" Ron was unwilling to accept it. They had worked hard for days, and their plan had been so perfect that no one could find a flaw in it, yet the result was unbearable.

"We have to leave. If we wait any longer, Aaron will come out.

"What do you think he'll make of these two chicken legs?"

"I, uh..." Ron was about to say something else when the sound of running water came from the bathroom.

Harry knew they could not wait any longer. He decisively put away the lunch box, then covered Ron's mouth.

After Aaron passed by the doorway, the two took off the Invisibility Cloak and exchanged a look, their eyes full of helplessness.

"That cat has definitely become a spirit," Ron said indignantly.

"Ugh!" Harry sighed. "If Hagrid hadn't refused to tell us anything, I'd have wanted to give up already."

"No, Harry.

"I refuse to suffer such a huge loss to a cat. Aren't you unwilling too?"

"Of course I am."

"Then let's go back and discuss our battle plan again.

"I refuse to believe that the wisdom of the two of us can't handle one cat."

Harry thought for a moment, then nodded heavily.

When they returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, the two of them went back to looking troubled.

"The food temptation probably won't work," Ron said. "Abei is very cautious. It won't eat food from strangers, much less food left in a corner."

"No, that's not right." Harry had a different opinion. "It's not that food won't work. You saw it just now—its drool could have flowed from the door all the way to the sink. But it still restrained its craving for food."

"Then what do you mean?"

"It's people," Harry said firmly. "It only dares to eat without worry when Aaron is around."

"Then we're done for." Ron gave a bitter smile.

If Aaron was there, even if Abei fell asleep, they probably still would not be able to take it away. They could not exactly tie up both the person and the cat, could they?

That would completely change the nature of things. They did not have the nerve for that.

Even if they had the nerve, they did not have the ability.

Aaron's Grades were acknowledged by all the professors, and he apparently had even fought a Troll alongside Snape.

With a record like that, Ron and Harry combined might not even be his match.

"It's not like we have no other options," Harry said hesitantly. "Aaron said there are two other people in the school who can lower Abei's guard. One is Draco, and the other is..."

"Hermione?" Ron was startled, and his expression turned strange. "You can't mean her, can you?"

"That's right."

"Impossible, Harry.

"Have you forgotten? She opposed us making a move on Abei.

"Never mind asking her for help and getting her to join us in this."

"It'll be difficult, but this is the only reliable method we have right now.

"If we want to complete Hagrid's task, we have four possible openings.

"One is Aaron. He won't hand his pet over to Hagrid for inspection. The success rate is zero percent, so we can rule that out immediately.

"Another is Abei itself. We've tried that over the past few days. We offered it plenty of things, but it just won't warm up to us. Let's put the success rate at ten percent.

"The third is Malfoy. He can hold Abei, and he can feed it like Aaron does."

"We should rule that one out decisively," Ron said disdainfully. "There's no need to consider it. His success rate is definitely negative."

"So that only leaves Hermione.

"She's Aaron's good friend, and she can hold Abei without any trouble. More importantly, she knows quite a bit—the Philosopher's Stone, Fluffy, Snape, and so on.

"As long as we appeal to her emotions and reason with her..."

"Don't forget swallowing our pride," Ron added helplessly.

"Right, swallowing our pride." Harry's mouth twitched, and his face took on a hint of bitterness.

They both knew that if they were willing to swallow their pride and ask Hermione for help, she definitely would not stand by and do nothing. But for them, that was the hardest step. It hurt their pride too much!

"We have to go even if we have to swallow our pride. This is our last chance.

"Only by finding out who helped design those mechanisms can we keep track of Snape's progress."

"Fine! If we have to embarrass ourselves, we'll embarrass ourselves!" Ron nodded helplessly and comforted himself. "As long as we stop Snape from succeeding, we'll have rendered a great service to Hogwarts.

"Maybe by the end of the term, we'll even get an extra hundred points and win the House Cup."

The two made their decision and immediately took out the revision materials Hermione had given them, forcing themselves to keep reading.

Since they were asking someone for help, they had to first look like they deserved it.

If Hermione saw them studying so diligently and not wasting her hard work, then no matter what, she would at least listen to them finish.

But ideals were full, while reality was harsh. The two had wanted to put on a good show, but they had not expected Hermione to return to the Common Room only at curfew that evening.

By then, their eyelids were already fighting each other, yet they still put on an appearance of being so absorbed in studying that they had forgotten to eat and sleep. They were really giving it their all, though they looked rather ridiculous.

"You two... that's enough." Hermione's mouth twitched. "You need to balance work and rest when studying. Right now, you should be in bed sleeping."

Hearing Hermione's voice, the two came back to their senses, and the confusion in their eyes was instantly replaced by brightness.

"Hermione, you're finally back," Ron said, so delighted he nearly cried.

"We've only been apart for half a day! Is there really any need to make such a fuss?"

"No!" Harry put on his glasses. "What was that saying again? 'One day apart feels like three autumns.' I truly understand it today."

"You're really making me feel flattered!

"But I hope you hurry back to sleep. In your current state, you're not fit to be sitting at this table."

"Hermione, there's something we want to discuss with you," Harry said hesitantly.

"Is it important?"

"Uh... you could say it is important, or you could say it doesn't matter."

"Then go back and sleep first." Hermione began gathering the revision materials from the table. "Tomorrow is Sunday. You can tell me slowly if there's something to discuss."

Harry and Ron did not say anything else. They stumbled drowsily toward the boys' dormitory, because dealing with the god of sleep was a rather severe test.

The next day.

Harry and Ron did not try any more clever tricks. They directly explained their Cat Luring Plan 3.0 to Hermione.

After hearing them out, Hermione looked utterly incredulous. "So, you failed twice?

"And now you want me to help you steal Abei."

"You could put it that way." Harry looked like a little child caught after doing something wrong and did not dare raise his head.

"Hmph!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's already good enough that I'm not reporting you. Now you want me to help you do... something this bad? I really don't understand what the two of you are thinking."

"Hermione, we know this puts you in a difficult position, but we wouldn't have come to you if we had any other choice.

"We spent a long time coming up with such a reliable method.

"As long as you're willing to help, we'll have at least a seventy percent chance of success."

"Make that higher, Harry.

"At least an eighty percent chance of success."

"Sorry, but I refuse," Hermione said righteously. "I can help with anything else, but I truly can't help with this.

"If I did it, I wouldn't be able to face him afterward."

"It'll be fine as long as we aren't discovered," Ron said. "Our plan is practically flawless. At most, it'll take an hour—just enough to satisfy Hagrid's curiosity."

"No, no." Hermione immediately waved her hands. "His curiosity shouldn't be satisfied this way, and I don't want to become your accomplice."

"Yes, yes, you're right about everything." Ron said disdainfully. "Isn't it just because Abei belongs to Aaron?

"If it belonged to someone else, you probably wouldn't refuse so completely!"

"I..." Hermione opened her mouth, then said somewhat against her heart, "It would be the same if it were someone else."

"Harry, forget it!

"The two of us Gryffindors together can't even compare to one Slytherin."

"Ron!" Harry glared at him fiercely. "What we're doing really isn't a good thing."

"But our ultimate purpose is good.

"We've worked hard for over a month to protect the Philosopher's Stone, only to be stopped by a cat.

"Now we've swallowed our pride and asked her for help, yet she rejected us without even thinking about it.

"Hermione helped find the information on Nicolas Flamel, but is this how a friend should act?"

"Ron!" Harry could no longer hold back. "Hermione's decision has nothing to do with whether she's our friend, but you shouldn't be so aggressive right now."

"Enough, stop talking." Hermione flicked her sleeve and said with great reluctance, "I'll help you this once."

"Really?" Harry was overjoyed, as though happiness had come far too suddenly.

"Really, but you have to make absolutely sure nothing goes wrong.

"If we get caught, we'll be in deep trouble."

"Don't worry about that. We can guarantee it." Ron immediately patted his chest. "Even if something really does go wrong, we'll take responsibility. We won't put you in a difficult position."