Making a Bet

"Merlin's big red underpants, Aya, I'll never say you deliberately mouth off at people again," Ron said, still shaken, only after the four young wizards had walked some distance away. "You even dared to mouth off at Snape. Mouthing off at me was just an afterthought!"

"I didn't, Ron Troll," Aya said indignantly. She was using Scourgify on Xiaohua, cleaning the blood off her paws.

"Pfft-" Harry couldn't hold it in any longer. He had been suppressing his laughter ever since Aya left Snape speechless. If Snape hadn't pulled out his wand, Harry really wouldn't have wanted to stop her. "The look on Snape's face was so funny-"

"Thank you," Hermione said quietly, and Harry's laughter stopped abruptly.

"Er, yes, we should thank you too... Well, maybe we should." Harry had grown up dependent on his aunt's family, which made him more sensitive to such things. He had noticed the look on Hermione's face when she spoke up in front of the professors: she had wanted to take responsibility.

"All right, everyone bow to each other!" Aya raised a hand and spoke loudly.

"...We'd better hurry back." Hermione blushed and ignored Aya.

By the time they returned to the common room, it was bustling with noise and excitement. The Halloween Feast had been forced to end, so the House-elves had brought all the food to the common room. Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurried to their seats without saying a word, and Aya found her own plate.

"I told you they'd made up!" were Aya's first words to Parvati and Lavender when she sat down. "They came back chatting and laughing just now!"

"Really?" Lavender turned to look at the boys, but all she saw was Ron excitedly saying something.

"Of course." Aya defended her way with words to the death. "They just went through a life-or-death ordeal together. Friendship really is unbreakable~"

Given how often Aya said things that weren't true, Parvati was skeptical of her "life-or-death ordeal" and chose to plug her mouth with a piece of pumpkin pie.

After Halloween, Hermione grew closer to Harry and Ron. When November arrived, the temperature dropped sharply, and Aya began sleeping with her arms around the big cat at night.

The mountains around the school were shrouded in mist and capped with white. Every day when Aya opened the window, she could see her breath turn white, and frost would form on the glass. She never tired of wiping it away with her hand—she had never seen such detailed seasonal scenery before, and no matter how many times she saw it, she still found it novel.

November's arrival also meant the start of the Quidditch season. Aya had watched Gryffindor's Quidditch practice a few times-mainly because she wanted to play with a broom. After several weeks of training, the first match, against Slytherin, was set for this Saturday. Harry looked extremely nervous, though Wood was no less so.

Although Wood had carefully kept Harry's participation a secret, hoping to use him as a secret weapon, there were too many people at the pitch, and word got out anyway.

"It's all right, Harry, you'll be brilliant. You were admitted as an exception!" Seamus encouraged him while playing Wizard's Chess with Ron.

"Yeah, though it might be a little dangerous. What if we ran along with you holding mattresses? Then you wouldn't have to worry about falling," Neville said.

"You can't run as fast as a broom," Hermione countered. "If you ask me, you really should suggest to Madam Hooch that she follow Aya's example and tie on a 'seat belt.'"

"Do you want to grow a tail too?" Dean said with a laugh. Everyone sitting in the circle had watched Harry train, and they had also seen Aya's spiraling ascent. It had to be said that her tail deserved half the credit for keeping her from being thrown off her broom.

"You can't grow one. You're not from the Spirit Clan." Aya was crouched by the fireplace, warming herself. She sat on the floor very close to it, a plate of snacks beside her, and spoke in a low voice with her back to the others.

"I can tell." Harry sighed. His first match was fast approaching, and everyone had gathered to encourage him because they could see how nervous he was-except Aya, who simply liked this fireplace because it burned the brightest.

"You really should finish reading Quidditch Through the Ages before the match," Hermione said. Harry had been busy training the past couple of days, so she had helped him a great deal with his schoolwork. "It lists more than seven hundred ways to commit a foul. I'm really afraid you'll be penalized for accidentally mounting your broom with your right leg!"

"Of course not, there's no such rule!" Ron looked up from studying the chessboard to object. "Nobody cares that much about the rules. You'll see when the time comes."

"Why?" Harry asked nervously.

"Because the other team is Slytherin-" Fred and George appeared out of nowhere and sprang into the group of first-years. "They'll ignore the rules and break them without hesitation, determined to knock you off your broom!"

"Merlin-" Neville looked ready to faint. "Are we really not going to take mattresses to the pitch?"

"The professors will be watching, Neville. Don't be nervous; you're not the one playing," Hermione reassured him.

"Relax, Mr. Chosen One, we'll protect you-" Fred smiled and draped an arm around Harry's shoulders, while George leaned against the sofa. "We'll knock away every ball and person that comes flying at you! So-"

"All you have to do is focus on finding the Golden Snitch!"

Harry was even more nervous after hearing that and managed only a strained smile, but the Weasley twins soon let him off the hook.

"Miss Cat~" Fred and George sat down on the floor beside Aya, their eyes seemingly glowing. "Could we borrow your Xiaohua?"

"Why?" Aya asked lazily, sipping her milk.

"We want to hire her as a bodyguard. You know how hard Filch's cat is to deal with-" That was a lie. They had the Marauder's Map and weren't afraid of that cat.

"We want to borrow Xiaohua to help us evade that wretched cat's pursuit, just for one night!" That was a lie. They wanted to go to the Forbidden Forest. Ron had told them that Xiaohua could fight a Troll head-on, so they could take her into the Forbidden Forest for a bit of fun!

"Payment." Aya held out both paws to Fred and George.

"No problem!" Fred pulled out the Honeydukes sweets he had bought last time, the not-so-cheap kind, and placed them in Aya's hands.

"I've got some too!" George felt around in his pockets and produced a few ordinary sweets left over from when they had made prank sweets. "Don't be fooled by the simple wrapping. These aren't prank sweets; we just made them ourselves. They taste all right."

Aya counted the sweets in her hands. There were more than twenty. She nodded in satisfaction and immediately unwrapped one and popped it into her mouth. "All right, you can carry her away. She'll protect you."

The twins escorted Xiaohua away as though she were a revered ancestor, while Xiaohua, the feline ancestor, strutted along arrogantly.

Aya had always done her homework however she pleased. She didn't pay much attention to her grades, and as a rule, she handed in written assignments as soon as she had enough words. As a result, her coursework grades had never been very good.

Once Hermione began guiding all sentient beings to salvation, Aya became one of those she guided. She was always being pulled into doing homework with Harry and Ron in the evenings, while Hermione supervised them.

Whenever that happened, Aya felt she might as well quit school.

But her task was here, so she couldn't leave.

"I don't want to work hard anymore," Aya said, her face impassive. "I think the Wizarding World is too backward. It's not worth me studying this hard."

"How so?" Ron had gone mad catching up on his homework. Normally, he would never have responded to Aya.

"They haven't even created a spell that can do homework on its own!" Aya angrily slammed down her pen.

"Agreed." Harry raised his haggard face. He was working hard for tomorrow's match. "I don't want to do homework anymore. I'll go get the book back. What do you think?"

"I'm in favor!" Aya responded eagerly.

"Do you even know what book he means before you agree?" Hermione shot her a glare. "I wouldn't go if I were him."

The book was Quidditch Through the Ages, which Snape had confiscated that afternoon while looking for trouble. At the time, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been getting some air together in the courtyard. Aya, who liked warmth, had refused to go outside and so had missed it.

"Me neither," Ron said, looking up. "I'd rather do homework."

Harry ignored the three of them and hurried away. Aya leaned back on the sofa, wanting only to sleep.

After Aya had dozed for half an hour, Harry rushed back, panting, and lowered his voice as he spoke to the three of them. "Snape, Snape went to the restricted area on the fourth floor! His leg was bitten by that three-headed dog! When I went over, I saw Filch putting medicine on it for him!"

"Do you know what that means?" He held his breath, looking very nervous. "On Halloween night, we ran into him, and he was heading to the third floor! He must be looking for whatever that big dog is guarding. I'd bet my flying broomstick he was the one who let that Troll out, to distract everyone in the school!"

"I want to bet!" Aya sat bolt upright. "I want to bet, I want to bet!"

"Is that the point?" Ron almost shouted. "Snape is going after the treasure that big dog on the fourth floor is guarding!"

"Then I bet he won't!" Aya said happily. She knew how close Dumbledore and Snape were, so this was definitely false information! Besides, the treasure was already with her, so Snape couldn't get it. Not being able to get it was about the same as not wanting it, so she had a hundred percent chance of winning this bet.

"I don't think he will either," Hermione said after calming down a little. Although somewhat surprised, she still spoke up. "I know he may not be very friendly to us, but he would never steal something Dumbledore is guarding so closely."

"He would!" Ron retorted bluntly. "I think Snape is capable of anything, but what is he looking for? And what is that big dog guarding?"

"Let's bet, let's bet!" Aya chimed in. "If I win, I can play with your broom whenever I want, Harry!"

"...That's not the point!" Harry covered his face. He always felt that whenever Aya was around, everything went off track.

"Great, you agreed!" Aya said.

"I didn't!" Harry looked at Aya, who was staring intently at him. "All right, that's what I think, but I only said that off the cuff." He still wanted to put up a fight.

"You already said it." Aya stood firm.

"...This is so annoying. Fine, it's a bet!" Harry was getting a little worked up, and his worries about tomorrow's Quidditch Match had been pushed aside.

When the four-person study group broke up that night, Aya was the only one who was happy.

Early the next morning, everyone was too excited about the Quidditch Match to sleep, especially the first-years. Almost all of them arrived at the Great Hall early for breakfast, even though the match wouldn't start until eleven.

When Aya opened the curtains in the dormitory, the weather was clear. Then she was surprised to discover that Lavender and Parvati had already left—she was actually the last person in the room to get up.

By the time she reached the Great Hall, a group of people had gathered around Harry, urging him to eat more breakfast.

Aya went over to watch. Seeing Harry's distracted, sickly expression, she grabbed a baguette and tried to stuff it into his mouth. What good was persuasion alone? They needed to take action!

Harry was obviously afraid of being stabbed to death—he still couldn't persuade his teeth to go head-to-head with a baguette—so he obediently ate a few more bites of sausage and toast.

Aya was disappointed. She thought baguettes were quite tasty and chewy, and after a few extra bites, you could taste the aroma of wheat.

She put away the baguette she had just tried to jab him with, then sat down and started eating. There were plenty of grilled sausages that morning, and Aya was gnawing on a whole one when Seamus, beside her, asked if she wanted ketchup.

Breakfast passed with a scare but no harm done-for Harry. He began to get nervous again, but Wood soon called him away.

"Listen, everyone!" As soon as Hermione saw Harry leave, she beckoned his roommates and Aya, who was sitting nearby, over. "We need to cheer Harry on! I want to make a banner. Will you join in?"

"I have an old bedsheet!" Ron was the first to respond. "Scabbers got it dirty a few days ago, and I don't want to sleep on a sheet that's had rat droppings on it anymore."

"I'll join too," Seamus said. Neville nodded beside him, and Dean spoke up as well. "I can draw. I can put a lion on the banner!"

"Good, then Aya-" Hermione nodded in satisfaction and turned to look at Aya. She paused for a suspicious two seconds. "Aya, remember to get to the stands early and save us the seats with the best view, all right?"

"Mission will be accomplished!" Aya saluted.

Hermione called everyone back to the common room to make the banner, while Aya strolled to the pitch alone.

Of course, she wasn't the only one to arrive early. Since this was the first match of the new term, many excited students had come ahead of time to save seats. Aya surveyed the stands and decided the highest row was best. She summoned Xiaohua back, made her grow bigger, and barged toward the top of the stands like a bully. Fortunately, the crowd wasn't dense yet, so she didn't actually knock any students out of the stands.

Only after everyone watched her reach the top, call the enormous cat to lie down, and stretch her out into one long cat to save seats did they relax.

Once they relaxed, some of the bolder students, who had already been very curious about Aya's cat, began itching to approach. When the first Hufflepuff came forward with dried fish, it was as though a mechanism had been triggered. Many people crowded toward Aya, bringing snacks or little trinkets, all for a chance to pet the enormous cat that could jump off buildings.

When Hermione and the others arrived shortly before eleven, they found Aya clutching a pile of snacks and munching away.