Why Won't You Eat Dried Fish?

Not far from Lynn's home was a narrow alley. On the first day after he moved here, he discovered a group of stray cats gathered there while taking out the trash.

Mostly because he wanted something to do, and partly because he pitied them, Lynn brought them snacks every few days. Even if Hermione had not said anything, he would have kept coming.

Taking dried fish from the package, Lynn tore it into strips and scattered them before the stray cats to keep them from fighting over it.

The big and small cats all ate happily. Lynn watched for a while, then grew hungry himself and took out a strip of dried fish, ready to taste it.

But just then, he suddenly felt that something seemed to be watching him from a shadowy corner.

The sun had already sunk completely below the horizon. There were no stars in the night sky tonight, and even the moonlight was dim.

The towering walls of the alley blocked the glow from the streetlights outside, making Lynn's skin crawl.

Then he gathered his courage and walked into the shadows, carrying the dried fish he had not yet taken a bite of.

The creature spying on him in the dark was also a cat.

It was a beautiful tabby cat.

It did not look like a stray at all. Its fur was clean and neat, with markings around its eyes that resembled glasses. It stood perfectly straight on all four legs, and though it was clearly a cat, it somehow seemed imposing.

The tabby looked up at Lynn and nodded slightly in a humanlike manner, as though it were about to make some grand move.

But the next moment, its body froze.

"Why aren't you eating the dried fish? Are you scared of those stray cats? That won't do. If you're a cat, you need to act like a cat."

Lynn petted the tabby's head, then mischievously pinched its ears.

The tabby clearly had never anticipated something like this. She froze completely.

Lynn thought the cat seemed a little silly, so he dangled the dried fish before its eyes.

"Want some dried fish?"

"Dried fish! Delicious dried fish!"

Tabby cat: ...

"Meow, meow, meow. Why won't you eat dried fish, kitty? Meow, meow, meow..."

The tabby finally seemed to recover from her shock, and her body underwent a magical transformation!

Her fur receded, her body expanded, and in the blink of an eye, an elderly woman wearing a pointed hat, conspicuous square glasses, and strange clothing appeared before him.

"...Meow, meow, meow. Holy shit!"

Lynn jumped at the sudden change and even blurted out his native language on instinct.

He fell onto the ground on his backside, bracing himself with both hands as he scrambled backward in terror.

The elderly witch standing upright wore a dark expression, though it was not very obvious in the night.

"Lynn Belloc, there's no need to be quite so alarmed." Professor McGonagall, who had transformed from a cat into a human, cleared her throat.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You may call me Professor McGonagall."

Lynn seemed stunned. Backed against the wall with nowhere left to retreat, he stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at Professor McGonagall, who had transformed from a cat into a human. He could not speak for a long while.

The stray cats in the alley had all fled during the earlier commotion. The night was silent. Looking at the dumbfounded Lynn, Professor McGonagall's irritation faded. She did her best to put a kind smile on her usually stern face and spoke.

"Don't you intend to invite me inside your home for a seat?"

Lynn's home.

Professor McGonagall sat on the sofa while Lynn eagerly brought her water and tea.

The reason he had frozen earlier was not because he had been scared stiff, but because he had been stunned.

Who would have thought that he had not traveled back to the past at all, but had arrived in the magical world of Harry Potter?

Well, Lynn admitted that after the shock wore off, he had indeed been frightened too.

Because it seemed that he had just petted the head of Hogwarts' deputy headmistress, Gryffindor's lioness, the famously strict Professor McGonagall... while she was a cat?

And he had kept asking her why she would not eat dried fish.

Lynn wanted to die. It was fucking awkward—so awkward that he could have carved out an entire Hogwarts Castle with his toes.

So now, Lynn could only ease his embarrassment through excessive enthusiasm.

"Professor, have some water. Hot water is very beneficial for the body."

"These are some snacks I've been saving. Please, you absolutely must try them."

"Wait! I almost forgot. Don't drink the water yet. There's mung bean soup simmering in the pot—it'll quench your thirst!"

Professor McGonagall had just lifted her teacup when she had no choice but to put it down again, black lines practically appearing across her forehead.

"Mr. Belloc, could you please sit down quietly and listen to me first?"

Lynn smiled sheepishly, rubbed his hands together, and obediently sat on the sofa.

Seeing that he had finally stopped, Professor McGonagall explained why she had come.

"As you can see, Mr. Belloc, I am a witch from Hogwarts, Britain's only and finest school of magic. Before I came, an owl should have delivered a letter to you."

Lynn took out the letter he had picked up at his doorstep when he returned home earlier. "This one?"

Professor McGonagall nodded. "Yes, that was meant to be delivered into your hands. I don't know what went wrong with that owl.

But that is not important. What matters is the acceptance letter inside."

Lynn opened the envelope then and saw the acceptance letter bearing Hogwarts' crest and Professor McGonagall's signature.

At the same time, an emotionless voice suddenly rang out in his mind:

Detected that the host has been accepted by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Conditions for system activation fulfilled.

The expression on Lynn's face became very strange.

There had been far too many surprises today. He had been in this world for over ten years, yet he had never imagined that there was a system inside his body.

But after something as bizarre as traveling to a magical world had happened, the appearance of a system did not seem like such a big deal.

After encountering so many strange things, Lynn had begun to grow numb. At this rate, he feared he would turn into some strange shape himself.

Professor McGonagall did not notice anything wrong with Lynn. On the contrary, she felt that this reaction was normal. After all, for a Muggle, being accepted into a school of magic truly was an incredible thing.

"Mr. Belloc, I believe you now understand the situation. So, are you willing to go to Hogwarts and study magic for seven years?"

Although there was no real option to refuse, Professor McGonagall still asked Lynn seriously.

The system in his mind had said only that one sentence and then fell silent again. Lynn did not bother with it. He would deal with Professor McGonagall first.

There was no surprise. Lynn naturally would not refuse something countless people dreamed of: learning magic.

"I would be delighted, Professor McGonagall."

A faint smile appeared on Professor McGonagall's face, but then she looked around as if she had noticed something and asked with a frown.

"Where is your family? They need to know about this as well."

Lynn shrugged. "I'm an orphan. My parents died when I was very young, and my guardian now is my adoptive father."

Professor McGonagall's expression grew somewhat heavy.

"I'm sorry to have brought up something painful, child, but this must have your guardian's consent."

Lynn was not troubled by this at all. He said readily.

"It's fine, Professor. He probably isn't in London right now, but we can give him a call."

Lynn picked up the telephone receiver from the coffee table and looked at Professor McGonagall, asking with his eyes whether that would be acceptable.

Although Professor McGonagall did not know much about Muggle things, she clearly understood the purpose of a telephone. After all, the entrance for outsiders into the Ministry of Magic was a telephone booth.

She nodded to indicate that it was fine, and Lynn dialed the number.

A steady male voice answered from the other end.

"What is it?"

"In two months, I'll be attending a school of magic for about seven years. The professor from the school is sitting beside me right now, and you need to be informed about my enrollment." Lynn did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

There was several seconds of silence on the other end.

"Alright. I understand."

"I still need your consent."

"I consent."

"Alright, that's all. Goodbye."

"Mm."

The call ended shortly afterward. The conversation had not lasted more than thirty seconds.

This time, it was Professor McGonagall's turn to be dumbfounded.

She had been a professor for quite some time and had visited at least a hundred Muggle-born students' homes, yet she had never seen a parent accept the magical world so easily and so readily entrust their child to them.

Lynn was not surprised by this.

After all, he had carefully chosen his adoptive father himself. Naturally, they had a little tacit understanding when it came to cooperating.

New author seeking votes and support!