Gellert Loses His Composure (Third Update)

Bravery comes at a price, and even Draco, a student of Slytherin, is no exception.

Professor Snape mercilessly deducted 100 points from Slytherin's score and even wrote a letter to Lucius himself, which he sent to the Malfoy Manor.

Inviting parents is a trick that teachers are most familiar with.

It must be acknowledged that, since they themselves did not benefit, the Slytherin students did not want the Gryffindor to gain anything either.

Thus, Professor Snape learned of Ron and Draco's chess game through an unintentional leak by a Slytherin student with slicked-back hair who wished to remain anonymous.

That was the angrier Ron had ever seen Snape. Anyway... Gryffindor also lost 150 points, 100 of which were because of Ron, and the other 50 were because Harry was watching.

"He's really out of his mind, Harry," Ron said, looking down.

The Gryffindor students expressed their regret over the point deduction, but because the reason for the deduction was accepted by the vast majority of them, Ron was not collectively despised by the Gryffindor students, but instead received hero treatment once again.

The fact that a Slytherin student could shout "Old Bat, I'm going to wash your greasy hair!" in Potions Class through a reasonable, fair, and compliant means is incredibly satisfying. Gryffindor students would even be willing to forgo winning the House Cup for five years in exchange for such a cathartic moment.

Just think, which Gryffindor student hasn't received special attention from Professor Snape?

Of course, the wizards' teaching didn't emphasize teacher ethics, and they didn't have any Kensius or Mensius as moral exemplars for their teachers.

At least in the Wizarding World, no one ever brought this up with Snape.

To Ron's relief, Professor Snape did not tell his parents about it.

In fact, even if the Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were told, Mr. Weasley might secretly praise Ron a couple of times while criticizing him.

After Miss Pabbie became our king, Weasley also became the King of Gryffindor because he never gave the Old Bat a second thought.

The following Monday, after the Old Bat washing his hair incident, the antidote for the potent petrification was also prepared.

Colin, who had been lying in bed at the Hospital Wing for more than a semester, finally woke up. After hearing that he had missed the Gryffindor and Slytherin Wizard Chess tournament, Colin beat his chest and regretted not catching such good news.

"So how exactly did you get petrified?" Fred asked curiously. "Could it really be like they said, that Harry thought you were too annoying, so he petrified you?"

"No." Colin shook his head vigorously. "I was trying to take pictures of the school's decorations, but all I remember seeing are two huge yellow eyes, and then when I woke up, this is now."

"It's a bit of a shame that Filch's cat woke up too," George said with a sigh. "That cat is really annoying, you know? It always manages to find us. I don't know what Filch is feeding it."

"We should think about what cats are most afraid of," Fred said. "Think about it, and if we can find a way to make cats afraid of us, we can get away from that damned cat Filch."

"I don't think cats are that smart," Ron said. "If they knew what fear was, they wouldn't be bothering us by following Filch around."

Everyone was enthusiastically discussing how to deal with Filch's cat, completely ignoring Filch sitting to the side with a dark expression, staring at them.

In the eyes of the young wizards, Filch was not a good person.

On Wednesday, Hermione received her new pet, which her father bought for her from the Muggle world.

Hermione was initially worried that this new pet wouldn't be allowed in her dorm room, but after consulting with the professor, Professor McGonagall granted her permission to keep it—though she was given a soundproof pet carrier to prevent it from disturbing her roommates.

During lunch, Hermione brought the pet into the Great Hall to show it off to everyone.

"This is a protected animal from Australia!" Hermione happily introduced to everyone.

The Gryffindor students crowded around, offering their opinions on Hermione's new pet.

"What were you thinking, buying a bird as a pet?" Ron asked with a chuckle, reaching out to touch the bird's jet-black beak. "It is quite beautiful, though, but I don't know why, it just looks familiar."

You know what, once Ron said that, everyone had the same feeling, including Harry, who felt that the bird looked like something.

"What's it called?" Ron asked again.

"Call him Jack." Hermione chuckled and stroked the bird's body. Feeling its owner's touch, the bird happily raised its head and cried out twice.

"Wow, that Australia bird is pretty loud," Ron said, covering his ears. "I was asking what kind of bird it was, not what its name is."

"Oh." Hermione then realized and introduced, "It's a cockatoo, look... look at the feathers on its head."

As she spoke, Hermione reached out and scratched the back of Jack's head.

Jack felt its master's touch and opened its white crest.

"This is a white-crested cockatoo, so its crest is also white," Hermione said with a smile, introducing it to everyone. "Actually, I've always liked this kind of parrot. Apart from having a lot of feather dust, it doesn't have any drawbacks."

"Feather powder? What is feather powder?" Seamus asked curiously.

Hermione didn't say anything, but simply leaned down and blew a breath on Jack.

Suddenly, a cloud of white smoke blew in the direction of the breath and covered Seamus's face.

"Cough cough cough..." Seamus fanned himself, "You're right, that should indeed be considered a flaw."

Ever since Hermione received Jack, she has been taking Jack around the castle every day.

Considering that it's not spring yet, Hermione didn't dare take him out, since Jack is a tropical bird and can't stand the cold air.

Newt also discovered Hermione's new pet, and he even sat down at the Gryffindor table with his bowl of food during dinner.

"I've seen this kind of parrot before; some wizards used to keep them."

"Yeah, Australia, isn't that amazing, Professor?" Ron said with a laugh from the side.

"This isn't Australia bird; it's an Indonesia species," Newt, the Magical Creatures expert, corrected Ron's mistake. "But it's not a big deal, after all, it's not Magical Creatures we've studied. I won't deduct points from your score, Mr. Weasley."

"Thank you, Professor Scamander," Ron said quietly. "But that's what Hermione told me. She's Muggle-born wizard, and she doesn't even know where birds in the Muggle world come from..."

"I don't know everything either, Ronald!" Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"Aren't you 'Know-It-All'? Professor Snape gave you that title, and I've always thought it suited you perfectly..."

Before Ron could finish speaking, Hermione elbowed him in the arm.

The former exaggeratedly covered his arm and fell backward.

"Chimera..."

Newt muttered something under his breath.

"What did you say?" Hermione didn't hear what Newt was saying.

Newt glanced awkwardly to the side. The Chimera, also known as the Chimera, is a magical creature native to Greece, known for its bloodthirstiness and violence. It has the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of Fire Dragon.

He clearly associated Hermione with this grumpy creature, and also expressed his condolences for Mr. Weasley's future.

"You should give him some special tonics, Miss Granger."

As he spoke, he took a small bottle out of his pocket and handed it to Hermione.

"This is a supplement for parrots. Look... you probably bought it from a Muggle pet store, right? Look at this poor thing... it's covered in stress lines... See, those are the black edges of its feathers, those are stress lines, usually caused by nutritional imbalances or a life that's too stressful."

"It's so pitiful." Hermione reached out and ruffled Jack's hair, but Jack didn't even try to look up, just focused on pecking at the oilseed crop in front of him.

"Shouldn't you avoid touching it while it's eating?" Ron cautioned. "I know many animals are possessive of their food, and with its big mouth, a bite would hurt, wouldn't it?"

"Parrots generally don't guard their food; they only guard their nests and their owners," Newt explained to Ron. "However, usually, parrots only see their owners as companions..."

"So it's a male bird?" Ron immediately became alert.

He also became possessive of his food.

"No, she looks like a lovely Lady," Newt replied.

Ron was relieved, though he didn't know why he felt at ease.

"But I still feel like it's something." Ron rested his chin on his hand, his brow furrowed as he pondered.

Newt also looked up. "Now that you mention it, I think so too..."

"What are you talking about?"

Veratia's voice suddenly rang out; she had somehow ended up sitting next to Harry.

"When did she arrive?" Ron asked in surprise. "Good heavens, Harry, when did Miss Grindelwald arrive? Why didn't I notice?"

"Because you're looking at the parrot."

Veratia smiled and tapped on the table. Soon, the House Elf brought her a Vienna dinner.

"Oh." Ron nodded, then said, "Miss Grindelwald, don't you think this parrot looks familiar?"

"Does it look familiar?" Veratia looked at the parrot and almost instantly realized, "Oh! I know, it looks a lot like me... a lot like Assistant Gale, doesn't it? Professor Scamander?"

After Veratia's reminder, everyone suddenly realized, as if struck by lightning, who the parrot resembled.

"So it's Assistant Gale..." Hermione looked down at the parrot, then at Assistant Gale chatting with Dumbledore in the Faculty Table. After a long pause, she finally managed to suppress the smile on her lips.

Newt was also momentarily stunned, then he and Harry exchanged a glance.

Of all those present, only the two of them knew Gellert's true identity, and only they knew that Veratia was Assistant Gale sister.

This news spread like wildfire, and almost every day people came to Hermione's side, wanting to catch a glimpse of the "beautiful face" of the Assistant Gale.

Jack acted dazed and often acted out, running around on the long table and making "ah ah ah" noises.

This made the students even happier, and they stared at Gellert while laughing, leaving him completely confused and wondering what the students were laughing about.

Finally, one day, a few classmates couldn't resist and gathered around Gellert, who was wiping Niffler's body.

"Assistant Gale," a student asked, "Do you have any feather powder?"

"Feather powder?" Gellert was stunned. "What feather powder do I have?"

"Oh, it's just..."

After the classmate gestured and described it for a long time, Gellert finally understood.

He glared at the classmate. "Sorry, I don't have dandruff!"

"Oh, do you take supplements?" another student asked. "I remember hearing that if parrots don't take supplements, they're prone to malnutrition, which can cause stress lines..."

Gellert felt a surge of Fiendfyre coursing through his chest.

"I don't eat that stuff, and I don't have stretch marks from stress."

Gellert was furious, but remembering his promise to Al, he had to keep smiling.

Several students left Professor Scamander's tent amidst laughter and chatter, leaving a bewildered Gellert standing there.

"What is going on?"

He turned to look at Newt.

Newt awkwardly turned his face away and whispered, "Yeah, what happened?"

Seeing Newt's reaction, Gellert instinctively felt that something was wrong.

During dinner that evening, he called out to Ron, who was walking toward the Great Hall.

"Mr. Weasley," Gellert tried to make his expression friendly, "I have something I'd like to ask you."

"Oh, okay, Assistant Gale." Ron wasn't averse to this friendly assistant. "Go ahead."

"A few classmates came to my tent today, asking if I had any feather meal and if I took any supplements. You..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ron understood what was going on.

He couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Oh, is that it..." Ron laughed for a while until Gellert's face darkened, then he explained, "It's Hermione's parrot. Miss Grindelwald said that parrot looks a lot like you..."

"Take me to see them." Gellert forced a friendly smile. "You know, I also love Magical Creatures."

Ron, without any suspicion, took Gellert to the Gryffindor's long table, intending to compare them in person.

When Gellert saw the white cockatoo standing in front of Hermione, he was stunned for a moment, and then the tuft of white hair in the middle of his hair stood up.

Just then, Jack also saw Gellert with his hair standing on end.

Seeing the other person spik their hair up, Jack also spread out his feather crest.

It's not that they look alike now that their crests are open; it just makes them look even more alike...

(Requesting monthly votes)

(The last 4,000 words of the 12,000-word series. I expect a bonus chapter for reaching 16,000 monthly votes. It seems like I won't need an extra chapter tomorrow.)