Beheading

Would Draco willingly let this real one-on-one duel end after having his wand knocked away so easily?

No.

After the spell hit him, he stumbled back a few steps. Once he recovered, he lunged straight at Aya and began fighting her hand-to-hand.

What should have been a glaring scuffle blended seamlessly into the wider scene. Whenever a Gryffindor was paired with a Slytherin, neither side paid the slightest attention to the rule about "using only the Disarming Charm." If one person's wand was knocked away, he simply charged forward and gave the other a decisive uppercut. If neither wand was knocked away, even better: jinxes flew everywhere.

Even Hermione was grappling with the Slytherin girl Millicent, both their wands forgotten on the floor. Aya believed Millicent had started it.

"Let go of me!" Aya bared her teeth. "Or I'll steal all your sweets!"

"Who cares about a few sweets? Let go with your teeth first! Who bites in a fight? You're getting your drool all over my clothes!" Draco shrieked.

"You pulled my tail first!" Aya bit down harder, but December clothing was too thick for her to bite through.

"Your tail whipped me in the face! Why shouldn't I grab it?" Draco clutched the black tail in both hands and refused to let go.

"Then your hand was right in front of me! Why shouldn't I bite it?" Aya mumbled.

"Get your hand out of my pocket!!" Draco was nearly mad with anger. What decent person stuck a hand in someone else's pocket during a fight? And she called herself a good Gryffindor! Was that any way to behave?

"My hand has a mind of its own!" Aya huffed.

Snape called a halt to the first round. Draco lost a pocketful of sweets, and Aya lost some tail fur.

Preparations for the second round soon began. Since neither had won the last match, Aya and Draco chose each other without a word between them. Aya still wanted to steal the sweets from his other pocket!

Their decision was useless, however, because Snape called Harry and Draco onto the stage together.

"I haven't finished my match yet!" Aya muttered, displeased, her tail thumping against the shins of Ron, whose clothes were in disarray, and Hermione, whose hair was standing on end.

"You're the only one fighting for the sweets in Malfoy's pocket." Hermione spat twice, unable to shake the feeling that she had swallowed some of the cat hair clinging to Millicent's clothes. Thanks to spending so much time with Aya, Hermione could now recognize cat hair on sight.

"We're all fighting for justice!" Ron wore a look of absolute righteousness.

"Oh, sorry. Then I might have left Gryffindor for a few minutes just now," Aya said.

Onstage, Harry and Draco's match began at Lockhart's announcement. Although Lockhart once again stressed the use of safe spells, this was Draco. How could he possibly follow the rules? And so-

"Serpensortia!"

With a crack, the tip of Draco's wand burst open, and a long black snake shot out and landed heavily on the floor. It immediately raised its head high and assumed an attacking posture.

The crowd around the stage screamed and scrambled back. Hermione pulled Aya back two steps as well, and the space around the stage cleared in an instant.

"Don't move, Potter," Snape said lazily, sounding rather pleased. "I'll get rid of him..."

"Snape looks like he can't wait for that snake to bite Harry to death." Ron nervously clutched his old wand, which was missing some fur, seemingly trying to think of a way to get the snake far away.

"Let me!" Lockhart suddenly darted forward with his wand raised and shouted. He waved it at the snake, and though no one knew what spell he used, a loud bang rang out, sending the snake flying. Then—and then Aya caught it.

"Ah!!" The scream assaulted Aya's ears. She raised one hand, trying in vain to cover both cat ears, while the other gripped the snake's head tightly so it couldn't bite her. Its body, however, had already coiled around her arm.

A circle quickly cleared around her. Ron and Hermione grabbed the snake's body, trying to make it let go.

Aya looked at Snape and Lockhart hurrying toward her and puffed out her chest. "Watch me!"

She pulled the assassin's dagger, which hadn't seen the light of day in ages, from her backpack. Her hand rose and the blade fell, and the ruthless student Aya chopped off the snake's head.

"Ah!!!" The scream grew even louder. Aya turned and found that it had come from Neville, whose face was deathly pale. She was a little puzzled, but the snake was dead now, so she put its body in her bag, intending to let Duoduo try making snake soup.

"...Scourgify." Hermione waved her wand and cleaned the blood off Aya's hand.

Although they had seen a Troll covered in blood before, seeing a beheaded snake at such close range was still a little frightening for second-years.

"That scared me to death. How did that snake end up in your hand?" Ron patted his chest and let out a long breath.

"Yes, how did that snake end up in your hand?" Snape's familiar, cutting voice rang out, and the three turned to look at him. "Sorry for the trouble, Miss Hawthorne, but please tell me you're not going to take it to the kitchen, are you?"

"No, I am." Aya raised her chin.

Snape gave her a warning look. "Don't put everything you find into your mouth. It makes me suspect the Sorting Hat really did put you in the wrong house." His sarcastic remark made quite a few Hufflepuffs present pout, but Snape didn't care, and Aya didn't see.

He waved his wand to clean up the snake's head and the blood on the floor, then turned back to watch Harry and Draco's match.

Draco saw Aya turn her eyes back to him along with the rest of the crowd, and they seemed to be glowing. Don't ask him how he could tell those pitch-black eyes were glowing; it was exactly the same look she gave him when she stole the sweets his mother had made him. He couldn't help shivering.

"I think I'll be able to have snake soup whenever I want before long," Aya told Ron and Hermione, rather pleased with herself.

She had originally wanted to try the meat of a Basilisk, but she didn't know whether it was because the old thing was too old: she had struggled even to cut its flesh. That, combined with the look Snape gave her as though she were squandering a precious resource, had finally made Aya give up the idea.

"You're the only one who wants to eat that kind of thing..." Ron kept a straight face and cheered Harry on. The crowd that had scattered moments ago gathered again, and several bold Gryffindors asked Aya what catching a snake had felt like.

"Ice-cold, and then my hand went numb," Aya answered.

"Numb!?" Hermione exclaimed. "Merlin, weren't you holding its head the whole time? Did it bite you?! Damn it, that's venom! We're going to the Hospital Wing!"

"No, Hermione, my arm went numb from it coiling around me." Aya held out her right hand. "The whole arm, and my palm feels swollen too."

"...That's because your blood wasn't circulating! You-" Hermione nearly lost her breath. "Never mind, I'll massage it for you. Honestly, you really should read some Muggle science books."

Hermione kneaded Aya's hand back and forth with both of hers. It tickled a little, making Aya draw in her neck.

Since Lockhart was the organizer, the Duelling Club unsurprisingly started with a bang and ended with a whimper. Aya benefited the most: with the enthusiasm of someone committing a home invasion, and with Xiaohua's help, she obtained the snake soup spell, then promptly lost interest in Draco.

She had already tasted the soup. It was strange, but delicious, and it would be her new favorite for some time to come.

On the day students left school for the Christmas holidays, Aya watched the platinum-haired young master hurry home like a mouse pursued by a cat.

She shook her head regretfully, holding a bowl of yogurt and cereal as she watched the snow fall more and more heavily outside. For the first time, she felt her cat's tongue was a nuisance. In such cold weather, she couldn't even find warmth in her food.

Oh well, it's delicious cold too. It's better than having nothing to eat like before, right?

Aya spooned up her cereal. Once again, a group of Weasleys and Harry sat beside her. Hermione was staying at school for the Christmas holidays too; she was quite curious about the Christmas at Hogwarts that Harry and the others had described the previous year.

"You really should eat something hot." Hermione took a sip of hot milk, then shivered when she saw what was in Aya's bowl.

"Do you want me to get an early taste of the tongue-ripping hell?" Aya snatched the boiled egg Hermione had just peeled and huffed.

"At least we know you can't become a chef now," Harry said, slowly chewing a sausage.

"Could I be a food critic?" Aya said, a little wistfully.

"But by the time you eat some dishes, their flavor is already gone." Ron shook his head as he took a large bite of a chicken leg. He still preferred his meals piping hot.

"What does that matter? As long as it goes in my mouth, I've come out ahead~" Aya tipped up her cup and finished the yogurt at the bottom. "I have to go earn my fortune. Time waits for no one. I'll be the richest person tomorrow!"

The Philosopher's Stone's buff increased her money at the end of each month according to the number of gold coins in her backpack. There were still several days left this month, so she had to take advantage of the holiday to farm the castle a few more times. Heavy snow had closed off the Forbidden Forest, so she couldn't go there for the time being. She also wanted to buy a broom of her own during the summer holiday!

It was a flying item!

"We're coming too!" Fred and George, who were still eating beside her, suddenly stood up and said in unison. They had long been curious about where Aya got her money and materials, and they had been green with envy for quite some time. They had to get an answer this holiday!

"Why do you want to go with her? You're already in your fourth year. Aren't you familiar with the Hogwarts castle yet?" Ron asked, puzzled.

"Eat your food. Don't pry into your big brothers' business!" Fred pressed down on Ron's head and stood up, eagerly following Aya. George quickly stuffed the last piece of bread into his mouth, stepped over, and asked, "Where do we start?"

"What? It costs money to have me as your guide!" Aya put her hands on her hips. "Where's your tour fee, you two-"

Fred patted himself down. He was wearing ordinary clothes today, and the pockets were small. Since it was breakfast time, he didn't have any snacks in them. He turned to look at the long table and pulled a baguette from the bread basket. "This-your favorite baguette. Is it enough?"

"Then I'll use a lamb pie!" George snatched the last pie from the plate in front of Ron.

"You're freeloading! Aya, turn them down!" The lower half of Ron's face was covered in sauce as he shouted angrily.

Aya stared expressionlessly at the two of them for quite a while, until they began to feel uncomfortable all over. Only then did she accept the two payments they had acquired for free. As she turned, her tail struck George's shin. He clutched it dramatically and hopped twice on one foot, then watched the cat tail in front of him swing in a cheerful arc before he and Fred skipped after her.

"So where do all your materials come from? Ron says you often go to Snape to sell them!" Fred asked curiously. They cared a great deal about making money.

"I find them in the castle." Aya was telling the plain truth.

"Impossible!" George didn't believe her at all. "Fred and I can't say we know every secret passage, but we've explored most of the castle. How come we've never picked up those materials?"

"Because-" Aya stopped in front of a suit of armor and reached into the air in front of it. She made a grabbing motion, and a silver coin appeared in her hand. "It's magic from where we come from?"

"Merlin's beard!" Fred's eyes lit up. "Let me see-good heavens, how is this any different from alchemy?!"

"No!" George said excitedly. "This is even better than alchemy. It appeared out of thin air! Is it a real Silver Sickle?"

Fred turned it over and over for a long while, then passed it to George to examine. Finally, the two said in unison, "God of wealth! Aya-do you teach your magic to outsiders?!"

"No, we don't-" Aya drew out the words smugly. "I don't even know how it works myself~ It's something I was born with!"

"I'm so jealous of you-" George drew out his words, looking again and again at the spot Aya had just touched. "So you'll never be short of money wherever you go."

"Hmph, I earn my money with my own two hands-" Aya was especially proud. She casually touched another glowing spot on a picture frame, picked up a piece of junk, and tossed it into her bag.

"Are the things completely random?" Fred asked curiously. "What about the locations?"

"Completely random-" Aya drew out the words. "This is what it feels like to open a blind box. I've already stockpiled loads of junk."

Fred and George were so envious they were practically drooling. They had thought it was rare enough that Aya had Xiaohua, a security guard who let her run rampant, but they hadn't expected her to have a rare magic that could produce money too!

"Is it too late for me to put some cat ears on my head now?" George asked earnestly, gesturing over his head as he spoke.

"Then you'd still be missing a seat belt behind your butt," Fred said, dejectedly rubbing his own tailbone.

Seeing the two dejected Weasleys behind her, and considering that they had opened up quite a few secret passages for Xiaohua, Aya generously gave them the green piece of junk she had just picked up. "You're welcome!"

"Thank you, generous Aya-" George said loudly. With Aya's stingy, penny-pinching nature, the fact that she would give them something without demanding food was already the result of her kindness-even if it was a dried-up twig they couldn't identify.

"Oh, come on~" Aya waved a hand. "We're all friends. It's only right!"

Fred nudged George with his elbow, pointed at Aya's uncontrollably swaying tail, and covered his mouth to stifle a laugh.