"Scabbers, where are you?"
"My Scabbers!"
"Hermione, I'd bet it was your cat that took Scabbers away. Just like when we bought pets in Diagon Alley, he was desperate to eat Scabbers."
Ron bent over as he searched relentlessly for his pet rat. His face was full of despair, and his voice carried an angry roar.
Hermione and Harry stood behind Ron.
At that moment, Hermione wore an impatient expression.
Ron always thought her Crookshanks was targeting Scabbers, and it had infuriated her.
Crookshanks was a very cute, slightly chubby orange cat. He would never do such a thing.
"Ron, if you keep suspecting my Crookshanks, I won't be polite with you."
Ron had annoyed Hermione to death, so she threatened him. "My Crookshanks is very smart. If you understood him, you'd realize he must have discovered something extraordinary. That's why he's been so persistent."
"So you admit that your stupid cat took my Scabbers?" Ron stopped and turned to Hermione, speaking in exasperation.
Hermione was equally exasperated. "Then there must have been something wrong with your Scabbers first. Otherwise, my Crookshanks wouldn't have chased him at all."
Watching the two argue, Harry stepped forward helplessly. "Can you stop fighting? Instead of wasting time arguing here, we should go look for Crookshanks."
Today, the professors had unusually allowed the students to bring their pets out and let them roam freely around the campus. Yet as soon as the three met up, something happened that left Ron in despair.
The moment Ron took Scabbers out of his pocket, Crookshanks, whom Hermione was holding, leaped up and pounced at Scabbers.
Scabbers was so frightened that he fled from Ron's hand. Crookshanks chased after him, while Ron, Hermione, and Harry followed closely behind, calling out continuously.
For a time, the three of them