She had wanted to sell this cat for a long time, but unfortunately, no one took a fancy to it. The cat had been living here for three years, and the feed costs every year weren't cheap.
She truly loved these little guys, otherwise, someone else would have abandoned them long ago.
"Why is it so cheap?"
Hearing this, Hermione was a little puzzled. Since it had Kneazle blood, how could it only be three Galleons? That's practically giving it away!
"It's because of its appearance. No one wants to take it home. It's been in my shop for three years. If you're willing to take it, I can give you five bags of cat food as a bonus."
The owner started giving away freebies. If she missed this little witch, she really didn't know when the next wizard who would fancy Crookshanks would come along.
"I think it's great!"
Hermione happily paid the money. Seeing Hermione so readily, the owner also gave her a cage.
Chapter 153: Scabbers' Miserable End
September 1st, Hogwarts opening day.
Ethan took Cassandra and Apparated to a corner of King's Cross Station. After tidying up their clothes, they headed to Platform 9 3/4 together.
Nagini was still in the box, going to Hogwarts with Ethan. Although Nibelungen could hold people, it was lifeless inside, not as comfortable as staying in the box.
Penelope went home a few days before school started. She would Apparate over later.
After the Christmas holidays, Penelope enrolled in the Apparition class and had now mastered it, passing the Ministry of Magic's transportation test.
Arriving at the pillar leading to Platform 9 3/4, the Ministry of Magic's patrol was noticeably stronger than in previous years.
"Ethan, how was your summer?"
Fred whistled at Ethan by the red train.
"Not bad, made some pocket money. Was Egypt fun?"
Ethan walked over with Cassandra.
"To be honest, not very fun. It was supposed to be a clear, blue sky, but before we even got to the attractions, a sandstorm blew up. You're covered in sand just going out."
Fred sighed. This trip was really disappointing.
"Okay! I know the situation. I'll be careful if I go next time."
Ethan was still very interested in Egypt. The magical civilization there should be relatively developed. Many magical creatures come from there, and there are books like the Emerald Tablet.
If he had time, Ethan would still go there.
"Honestly, I don't recommend you go. Even when we got into the pyramid, we didn't see anything."
George shrugged. He had been very excited at first.
Recently, a pharaoh's tomb had just been discovered. Led by Bill, George and Fred were preparing to explore and see if there were any ancient magic or道具 left behind.
The result was, of course, that they didn't find a single hair, which made them quite disappointed.
"What can you find in an open pyramid?"
"If you want to find something, go to those pyramids that haven't been opened or discovered. That's where the value is."
If it can be opened to the public, it proves that the things inside have been looted, unless there are some hidden secret chambers or something. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to find a feather.
"That's right, why didn't I think of that?"
Fred slapped his forehead. He should have explored deep into the desert when he was in Egypt.
"Fred, George, did you guys take my rat tonic?"
Just as Ethan was talking with the twins, Ron walked over with Harry, looking angry.
The rat tonic he had bought at a high price in Diagon Alley a few days ago was gone from the table. The only ones in the family who could do such a thing were the twins.
Originally, Percy was also within Ron's range of suspicion, but he didn't dare to jump in front of Percy now.
He became more and more angry on the way here, and he couldn't hold back anymore, so he confronted the twins.
"Why would we want your rat tonic? We don't even have a rat!"
"That's right, you should go look for it yourself!"
Fred and George felt inexplicable. They liked pranks, but they wouldn't deny it if they did something.
"Besides you, who else in our family would do this?"
Ron wasn't willing to listen to their explanation.
"Maybe you should have looked at home before you left, instead of yelling. What reason do we have to take your rat tonic?"
Fred glanced at Ron and sighed. His temper was really getting weirder and weirder.
"Ethan, what are you all doing here?"
Hermione walked over, dragging her suitcase, with Crookshanks' cage on top, but the cage door wasn't closed.
"Ron's rat tonic is missing. He thinks Fred and George took it."
"I see! Then let's go in first!"
Hermione didn't want to bother with Ron's mess at all. It could be said that no one in Gryffindor had a good impression of him.
"Okay!"
Saying that, Ethan was about to take the two girls onto the train together.
"Grumble!"
Suddenly, a strange sound came from behind Hermione, attracting everyone's attention.
Looking in the direction of the sound, Hermione's cat was crouching, staring sharply at Ron, or rather, the rat on Ron.
Suddenly, Crookshanks moved, rushed out of the cage, and pounced directly towards Ron's chest.
"No! Crookshanks, stop!"
Hermione screamed directly. She didn't know what was wrong with Crookshanks, why it would suddenly attack Ron.
Scabbers, who was poking his rat head out of Ron's pocket, also saw this scene. He knew that the cat's target must be himself.
Immediately, he slipped out of Ron's pocket and ran away frantically as soon as he landed, and Crookshanks chased after him.
"Scabbers!"
Ron was also stunned by this sudden scene, and shouted loudly before hurrying to chase after him.
But how could Ron catch up with a cat and a rat? In the blink of an eye, the cat and the rat ran under the tracks, and Ron couldn't get down there.
"Granger, hurry and get your cat back! Scabbers is already old and definitely can't outrun a cat."
Ron ran back, looking flustered.
His only friend left was Harry, but there were some things he couldn't even tell Harry, only confide in Scabbers.
This made Ron particularly protective of the rat at this moment.
Hermione ignored Ron; she was also anxious, wondering what was suddenly wrong with Crookshanks.
Finally, Scabbers was cornered against the wall by Crookshanks. Their leg lengths were on different levels. Without utilizing the terrain advantage, there was no way Scabbers could outrun him.
A paw shot out like lightning, pinning Scabbers to the ground, then it bit the rat's head and shook it from side to side.
"No, Scabbers!"
Ron cried out in anguish, staring in disbelief at the scene before him.
Ever since Scabbers went to Egypt, he hadn't been the same, even his color had changed. It was hard to say if he'd even make it through the year, let alone withstand being treated like this by a cat.
"Get off!"
Ron grabbed his package and threw it at Crookshanks, determined to save Scabbers no matter what.
But with a cat's reaction speed, there was no way Ron could hit him, let alone with Crookshanks having Kneazle blood.
Crookshanks jumped aside to dodge the package, released Scabbers from his mouth, stepped on him with his paw, and crouched low to the ground, growling menacingly at Ron.
Seeing that Scabbers was completely helpless, Ethan had no choice but to intervene to prevent him from truly being exposed.
Both hands reached out into the air, and Scabbers and Crookshanks flew towards Ethan uncontrollably, one in each hand.
One was placed in Hermione's arms, and the other was tossed to Ron.
Hermione took Crookshanks, who was still trying to pounce forward, and immediately put him in the cage and locked the door.
Ron looked at Scabbers, who had lost a lot of fur, and glared angrily at Hermione.
"Keep your monster away from Scabbers! You better pray that Scabbers is okay!"
After shouting, Ron carefully put Scabbers back into his pocket.
"Catching mice is in his nature. Crookshanks doesn't know that this particular mouse shouldn't be caught. I'll train him."
Hermione was also annoyed by Ron's attitude towards her cat, but after all, her cat had started it, so she lacked confidence at the moment.
"Alright, here's a bottle of Magical Creature Revitalizing Potion for you. Didn't your rat tonic go missing?"
"Hagrid uses this kind for his animals. This bottle of potion is worth a hundred of your rats."
Ethan said, throwing a bottle of red potion to Ron.
"I hope your medicine works!"
After taking the potion, Ron walked away with Harry without looking back. He didn't dare argue with Ethan.
He couldn't win in a fight, and he couldn't win in an argument.
"Hey, was that really Magical Creature Revitalizing Potion just now?"
Fred asked Ethan in a low voice. He knew that Ethan didn't have such a good temper, so how could he give Ron the potion when Ron was acting so out of line?
"It does have some revitalizing effects, but it's mainly a stimulant, mainly used to force magical creatures to mate."
"Hagrid wants to breed a new type of magical creature, and he needs to crossbreed Fire Crabs and Manticores, so he asked me to prepare this potion."
Hagrid had mentioned it to Ethan in a letter some time ago. He originally wanted to buy it in Diagon Alley, but he couldn't find it.
That's why he asked Ethan. If that didn't work, he was going to go to the black market.
If everything goes smoothly, Hagrid should be breeding Blast-Ended Skrewts.
"Won't this cause any problems?"
"The rat's eating it. Ron won't eat it himself, so what could go wrong?"
"Scabbers is just a rat. He's very old and probably doesn't have any abilities in that area anymore. Even if he does, he can only go find some wild rats outside."
Ethan waved his hand, not taking it seriously.
"Alright, I also want to see what happens when Scabbers goes into heat."
Hearing Ethan say this, Fred didn't have any objections. It was just a rat anyway.
Afterward, the group boarded the train, and as they passed through a carriage, the twins were called in by Lee Jordan.
Ethan and the others continued to the back, and as they passed a carriage, they saw Ron muttering something non-stop. Next to him was a middle-aged man sleeping against the train wall, his clothes looking quite worn.
About two carriages behind, Ethan led Cassandra and the others in. Cho Chang and Luna were sitting inside.
Chapter 154: Gathering Dementors
"Are we there already today?"
Cho Chang put down the book in her hand and looked at Ethan with some confusion, feeling that the train had already begun to slow down.
The Hogwarts Express is taken several times a year. According to the usual schedule, it should still be more than two hours away from Hogwarts at this moment.
Unless, during this summer vacation, the school's professors upgraded and renovated this train, which has been around for many years.
Otherwise, there is no way to explain why the train is getting slower and slower, and now it even has a tendency to stop.
"Far from it."
Cassandra glanced at the environment outside the window. This was not near the platform at all.
Moreover, the weather was quite clear not long ago, but now it was pouring rain. Outside the car window was a watery, gray expanse with extremely low visibility. The weather changed too quickly, which was a bit unusual.
Not only Ethan's group, but the young wizards in other carriages also noticed the train slowing down.
