Pandora misses the great tomb of Nazarick, especially the Treasury Room, which has all the items that the Supreme beings deem important. Although his current post is not as bad, he is taken care of by everyone and admired by anyone, young and old, human or not. It was evident to him that it would happen, not because he had a big ego, but because he was created by the leader of the Supreme Beings, Momonga-sama.
His charisma as a human cat has excellent perks, and one of them is that he doesn't have to walk to move and doesn't need to do anything special to hear the latest information. He is currently being held by a young lady student who is part of the Gryffindor house. She at first screamed with a high-pitched voice and tried to hang him.
Obviously, Pandora escaped the attack, but when he saw her face, he recognized that she was not trying to harm him, so when she approached him gentler, he left himself to be carried by the girl.
Currently, he is in the Gryffindor's girl room, specifically the one for the 2nd year. Kellah and Fay were doing their homework but stopped when they saw the cat. They walked close to the girl holding it, "what a strange cat", said Fay. "Adorable, though. Who's the cat's owner, Brown?" asked Kellah.
"Call me Lavander! I have told you hundreds of times. Brown made me think like a professor is calling me", said the girl while holding the cat.
Kellah shook her head and kept petting the cat. Fay only sighed, "Lavender, could you tell us who's the owner?"
"Sorry, I can't. I don't know myself", answered Lavender.
Pandora had the urge to let the know, "Nya nyaanya-nyaa. Nyaa ny nya nyaanya, nyanya nya nyaanya nya nyanyaaanya-nyanya" (Hello ladies. If you must know, my owner is Momonga-sama.)
"Ow, he is telling us who he is, right?" said Kellah while caressing Pandora's chin. The girls were smiling when Parvati entered the room.
The Indian girl was about to take something from her bed when she saw the cat. "Who's that cat, Lav?" The pink lover only shrugged.
Parvati looked at the cat and noticed the weird face, the neck, and the hat. "Who put a necktie and hat in a cat?" asked the Indian girl and proceeded to search for a name. "Maybe inside the ha-"SLAP
Everyone looked at the cat and Parvati's hand. They just saw how the cat slapped her hand. "Maybe the cat thought you wanted to play", said Fay.
Parvati tried again, and they only heard 'SLAP' when the cat used her pow to move the Indian hand from his hat.
When the girl tried to do it again, Pandora thought for a fraction of a second about his instructions from Momonga-sama, 'Listen carefully, Pandora. I love you as the son you are, but you must help your adoptive little brother. You should protect him and his comrades in the Magic school. But overall, you need to act like a human cat, but not be afraid. I have a videotape with recordings of human cats so you can copy their behaviour'.
Although in the memory of Pandora's actor, the behaviour of the supreme being was exaggerated, the information was correct, so he decided to act like a typical cat.
"Ouch!" screamed Parvati when the cat scratched her hand with its claws. Her doormat got closer and saw the hand that started to bleed.
The Indian girl became angry and tried to grab the cat, but Lavander moved it away to protect the cat.
"Give me that cat!" yelled Parvati. But the pink lover protected the cat.
Meanwhile, the other students looked at the scene worriedly, screaming, "Let it go!" "We should check your hand", and "Not my bed!"
Lavender started to run around the room. Walking over the beds of her doormats. And Parvati is always behind her.
The Indian girl was able to grab the shirt of Lavender, but she escaped from her grasp. She tried again, but this time Parvati grabbed her by the shoulders.
Hermione entered the room. The noise was heard even in the common room, so she decided to check what was happening. When she entered and saw the scene before her, her eyes were wide open, and she gasped while covering her mouth. The Parvati's hand was bleeding profusely, but what made her worry was that Lavender was covered in blood all over her shirt.
Lavender eyes were full of tears, "help me, Hermione," said the pink lover. When Hermione got closer and checked if she was hurt, she told her she had no injuries. Parvati stood up, frowning, "I am the one injured because of that beast!"
Hermione looked around and saw the marks of blood on the bed's sheets, and she could see what looked to be a hand on one of the sheets. Then the bushy-haired girl looked at the Indian girl and saw her hand dripping blood. "You should go to see Madam Pomfrey and let her check that", said Hermione.
"That's what we have tried to tell her, but she did not want to hear", said Kellah. Lavender used that moment to stand and walk behind the girls with the cat in her arms.
"Ugh, Fine, " said Parvati, looking with frowned eyes to Lavender, who only shivered.
The other students were silent when the girls left the room and passed the common room. They did not know how to react. In the front was Parvati marching angry with her hand dripping blood, behind her the rest of the Gryffindor second year, and in the middle was Lavender with blood all over her shirt and some tears still in her eyes.
When the girls arrived at the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey welcomed them and froze when she saw Lavender, "Dear girl, who did that to you? Where are you hurt? Please take a bed".
Lavender was overwhelmed, "Thanks, but I-I am not the-the one with the problem".
Madam Pomfrey looked at her and then turned to see the other girl. Parvati showed her hand that she had been covering with her other hand. The blood was still flowing.
"Oh, dear. Come over here", said the Matron and sat her next to a bed, and then she moved to grab a gauze pad to clean the wound and some vials. She then cleaned the injury, but the blood kept coming out. She gave a potion to the girl and used one of the vials to wet the gauze pad and clean the wound again, but the blood kept going out.
"Dear, with what did you hurt yourself?" asked the Matron.
Parvati pointed at Lavender with her other hand. "That cat did it", answered the girl.
The Matron looked at the cat, "to whom this cat belong? Is that your cat?" Madam Pomfrey asked Lavender, who only shook her head.
Hermione looked at the cat and answered, "That's Pandora. Harry's cat". Hermione frowned and asked Lavender, "Why do you have it?"
Lavender was with her eyes wide open, "I just found him roaming alone in the hallways. I thought that was a straight cat."
Lavender let him go, and Pandora landed on his feet. Then he proceeds to jump from the floor to the bed.
"Do you know what kind of breed it is?" asked Madam Pomfrey.
Hermione thought momentarily, "I don't remember. He said something about 'neko' but can't remember if that was the breed".
Eyes Parvati's eyes got wide, "Don't tell me that is a Bakeneko!"
Hermione frowned and made a mental note to search for that, "No, he did not use that word".
"Why? Is that a bad thing?" asked Lavender.
"The Bakenekos are Japanese monster cats. They are dark creatures that can change forms, but their worst thing is that they are necromancers and possess humans", answered Parvati. Lavender stepped far from the cat, who was looking at everyone.
Fay looked at Pandora, "I don't know. I know about the Nekomotas, also a Japanese magical cat breed. They should be grateful to those who are good to them". Then she looked at the rest and smirked, "but also vengeful to those who wrong them".
Hermione got close to the cat, "I don't think it's a dark creature. Harry wouldn't have it, and obviously, he wouldn't bring it to the school if that was the case".
"May-maybe it was the cat the who has been pe-petrifying people", said Lavender.
Hermione shook her head, "No, the cat is very docile unless you want to touch his hat. Harry let me know about it, that the cat is very possessive of it."
Kellah crossed her arms and smirked again, "Now it makes sense".
"Shouldn't we do something about that cat? Like Lav said, it may be the reason for the petrifications", said Parvati.
Madam Pomfrey shook her head, "you are not petrified, correct? And if you have not noticed, the bleeding stopped already. Keep the bandages for two days. And don't worry, it won't leave any mark or scar."
The Indian girl looked at her hand and realized that she already had bandages over her wound. She did not know when the Matron put them. She wanted to say more but decided against that and left. The rest of the Gryffindor girls follow her.
At some point, Hermione remembered that none of them had the cat. She was going to go back for it, but Lavender called for her, and she did not want to make a significant rip with her roommates, so she just continued following them.
At the Hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey was again in her office. While Pandora was hidden under the beds. Pandora started to walk under the beds, saw the kid called Collin Creevy, and stood there, waiting.
A few hours passed, and the door was opened. From the other side appeared Professor Snape with a bag in his hands. At the sound of the door opening, the Matron left her office and checked on the new visitor.
"Here are the new potions you requested", said Professor Snape.
The Matron looked at the bag and nodded. She was about to go back, but she saw the petrified kid. Her eyes got softer, and she looked at the Professor again, "is really no other way to cure them?"
Professor arched one eyebrow and saw the kid, too, "unfortunately. Not even Albus was able to remove the petrification. Our best bet is the Mandrake Restorative Draught. But perhaps we could…." The Slytherin head of the house railed off; he felt they were spied on. 'Is someone here using an invisibility cloak, or is Dumbledore again hiding?' thought the Professor.
"What? What else could we do?" asked the Matron.
Snape woke up from his thoughts, "We could find another way if we knew what was used to petrify them. Maybe the correct count curse or correct ingredients that could be easier to obtain".
Madam Pomfrey sighed, "I guess. But who would do this?"
Snape shrugged, "Hard to answer. Maybe it was a very heavy prank. Gryffindor is known for such kind of behaviour. I doubt they used any kind of spell, though. This level of magic could not be achieved by any student."
Madam Pomfrey frowned, "you really think it was one of his housemates?"
Snape looked at the Matron and answered, "I would not be surprised if that is correct. Their history of near killing other students is known."
"But most of them are accidents, and the those who caused it to come over almost right away", said Pomfrey.
"Well, it seems that this one was brave enough to damage his housemate but not brave enough to face the consequences", finished the Professor.
There was a small silence until the Matron spoke again, "Do you think it was the Slytherin monster?"
Snape looked in her direction, and the Matron continued, "I know that it happened 50 years ago; it happened when I was a first year. I did not know the girl who died, and I never believed it was Hagrid. He was always so open to everyone, showing his pets to us."
Snape nodded, "I have never thought of Hagrid as the culprit myself".
Madam Pomfrey nodded, "The monster is still there… I really hope you are right and this is some prank that went wrong".
Pandora used this moment to escape and go directly to the Slytherin common room. He waited for a few hours until Harry and Pansy entered. He jumped and walked in front of them.
"Nyanyaanya, nyanyanya" (Welcome back, outoto), said Pandora. Pansy smiled and was about to open her arms, but Pandora jumped at Harry. Pansy pouted when Pandora went with Harry but still caressed Pandora's chin.
"I am going to take a shower. If you want me to accompany you to this 'club', wait for me. I may take an hour", said Pansy and went upstairs.
Harry nodded and stayed behind, then went to one sofa and sat. Harry threw a small object when nobody was watching, and an invisible barrier appeared around him and Pandora. "We shouldn't be heard now. Do you have any information?"
"Das ist richtig, outoto!", said Pandora. Harry nodded, and the cat continued and recounted the information he got from the infirmary.
Harry caressed his chin, "a previous attack 50 years ago. It may not be related, but it is worth investigating. Maybe I will need to visit the half-giant. About the attack… it seems that Professor Snape was almost sure that the culprit is a Gryffindor. He may be biased, but that could also be a good place to start. Thank you, Pandora-san."
Harry stood up and went to the stairs to take a quick shower. He was able to come back before Pansy did.
Pansy came back, and she was wearing a clean uniform, but she left her neckless and earrings behind, but wearing the gloves Albedo gave her.
Pansy and Harry arrived at the duel that would be taking place at the Great Hall. Behind them were Zabini and Bulstrode, who, although they are not again side by side with Harry, still follow them as it is better than not having a side that can protect them to a certain extent.
Harry did not care about them. He was not close and has removed them from his plans. They were not material to become followers of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Harry once heard that Momonga-sama had planned everything for her for one thousand years, and he does not doubt it was true.
For that reason, Harry has been checking who he may pick to become part of the group that would use to protect the possible floor he will be given to protect. And in case the prospects he had selected do not work, he can always create Inferior Demons, or as this world calls them, inferior.
Harry, at one point, wonders if the people like them because he does not know why they would give them that nickname, as if they were pets.
Once inside the room, Harry got closer to the other Slytherins already in the Hall. Draco stood close to him.
"Evening, Suzuki"
"Evening, Malfoy. Greengrass is not accompanying you?"
"No. She said she wanted to use her time for more productive things."
Pansy rolled her eyes, "She was doing a manicure to herself". Draco laughed lightly and nodded. Pansy only smirked.
Suddenly the door of the Great Hall was opened, and two men appeared. On one side was Gilderoy Lockhart wearing a robe of deep plum. The other man was Severus Snape, with his usual black robe.
"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent", yelled Lockhart.
Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherin groan when they hear him. On the other hand, Harry was attentive through the short speech of the Professor.
"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," said Lockhart with a smile.
"He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry — you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!" finished Lockhart.
Pansy whispered to Harry, "I bet Professor Snape will win and wipe the smile out of him".
"That's a bet no one with a brain will go against," whispered Draco back. "I bet it will take him 4 seconds".
"2 seconds", said Pansy.
Harry smiled, although they were using it as a breach, and he was in the middle of their whispers; he liked that she was again talking to Draco. "6 seconds", said Harry with a smirk.
Pansy and Draco turned to Harry. Draco is the first to confidently spoke, "How much are we betting? 10 galleons?"
Pansy shrugged and nodded, and Harry just nodded. The bet quickly expanded, and Zabini, Nott, and Bultrode entered. Bluestone said it would take a second; Nott went with Malfoy, saying it would take 4 seconds; Zabini went with Pansy and went for 2 seconds.
Snape was on one side of the Hall, twenty steps away from Lockhart. The Defense Against the Dark Arts then spoke, "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."
Harry took a clock from his ride as if it was there the whole time. In reality, he used the inventory spell. He realized he had made a mistake when he showed it to the Weasley kid last year.
"One… Two… Three", said Lockhart. Harry pressed the button at the top of the clock.
Lockhart made a flashy move with his arm. In contrast, Professor Snape only subtly moved with his hand and yelled, "Expelliarmus!".
A bright scarlet light appeared and went from Professor's Snape wand to the chest of Professor Lockhart. He flew backwards off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.
Harry pressed the button on the top of the clock and showed it to everyone, "6 seconds", said Harry.
"What?" said Malfoy. Harry stretched his hand, and Draco gave him the money. The rest of the Slytherins also did it. All except Pansy, who was with her arms crossed.
"What? I knew he would take his time, even when it would be one spell only. He needed to properly demonstrate to us how to cast it. He is a teacher till the core."
Lockhart was again on his feet and dusting off. "Thank you, Miss Brown", said the Professor moving away from the young girl. He has been cautious of his distance from the girls of the school after the talk with Harry in Dumbledore's office.
"Well, there you have it! That was a disarming charm. I applaud Professor Snape for doing an almost good demonstration, which I let myself get hit so you can learn it", said Lockhart to the students. "But as the name implied, the Disarming charm should do just do that, disarming. In case you cannot aim for the object you want to take off from your opponent. Well, what happened to me would happen, and if they are in the wrong place, the consequences could be… hurtful at best, deadly at worst".
Lockhart turned to Snape, "If may I give you some pointers, Professor Snape. I would advise you to relax your shoulders a little so your aim gets better".
The face of Professor Snape looked murderous. Lockhart took that as his queue for the new activity, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. If you'd like to help me, Professor Snape".
The Professors started to pair the students. Lockhart had heard too many things and was trying to make the best pairing to avoid bad blood. He paired his favourite students, Harry and Hermione, with Longbottom and Bulstrode. Those were the easier, and then he took Finnigan and Thomas, with Crabbe and Goyle, respectively.
Unfortunately for Lockhart, Snape paired Parkinson with Brown, but the worst was Malfoy with the younger Weasley boy.
Lockhart thought that maybe he did something to Snape to hate him, or perhaps he was just jealous of him. He couldn't believe he was pairing those two, knowing they would want to hurt each other. 'Is he trying to sabotage my club?'
He wanted to gain a reputation with this club. Thinking that the Boy-who-live may, in the future, reference this club and specifically him as his mentor. But if the first class goes wrong, he thinks this may be the first and the last.
Lockhart saw that all the students already had their partners, "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents, only to disarm them!. We don't want any accidents. One... two... three…."
A cacophony of shouts happened. Millicent was forcefully attacking Hermione. It was as if she thought that if she waved the wand with strength, that strength would also show up in the jinx. Hermione, thankfully, was intelligent enough to watch her and move when the jinx was finally cast.
In a similar situation was Draco, but unfortunately for him, Ron Weasley had a better aim and moved fast. Another problem was that Draco did not check his opponent to can move away. Instead, he decided to try to attack first.
Although Harry only took a few seconds to realize all this, he has not received any attack. His opponent, Neville, reacted to the minor movement of Harry's wand.
"Como on, Longbottom. This is a duel, show me a little more aggressiveness," said Suzuki, but he was answered by a low voice. "could you repeat it again? With everyone shouting, I could not hear you", asked Harry.
"I-I don't know any", repeated Neville shyly. The Shy Gryffindor was expecting some kind of joke against him. He even felt himself as a joke.
"Well, I guess it makes sense. We came here to learn" Harry only scratched his head while he spoke. "Why don't we try to do the same as Professor Snape. The Expelliarmus spell, did you see his wand movement?"
Neville nodded, and Harry then raised his hand with his wand," Very well. Please aim at my hand and not at me. I don't want to end up flying like Professor Lockhart."
Neville pointed at Harry's hand and shouted, "Expelliarmus". The wand produced a light, but Neville was the one that was sent back, and he fell with his ass. Harry laughed lightly and then walked to help Longbottom up.
"You forgot the wand movement. Remember, you must make the spiral move clockwise".
Neville only nodded when Harry was helping him stand up again. "Let's try again," said Harry and Neville nodded.
"Expelliarmus!" roared Hermione when she disarmed Bulstrode cleanly.
"Excellent, excellent!" said Lockhart. "10 points to Gryffindor".
"See that. Gryffindor will always defeat Slytherins", said Ron to Draco.
"Really? I recall a Quidditch game in which Slytherin destroyed the Gryffindors... and the nose of a certain seeker", replied the blonde Slytherin.
Ron was never a good person to contain his emotions. For that reason, he pointed at Draco with determination and roared loudly, "Slugulus eructo!"
The blonde Slytherin could see the attack and moved away. The jet of green light passed close to Draco and other students and finally hit a student. A chubby brown-haired Gryffindor.
"Are you alright, Neville?" asked Suzuki, getting close.
Neville shook his head and stopped Harry from going closer, and suddenly he vomited a slug. The Longbottom kid's face went pale, and his body shook.
"Agh! I said only disarming spells," yelled Lockhart. Snape got closer and looked at Harry with a stern face.
"It was Weasley! I don't know what he has against Longbottom", said Malfoy.
Professor Snape got closer to Neville and grabbed him by the arm to make him stand up, "is that true?"
"It-it wasn't Ha-harry", replied Neville, but his face went pale again, and then he vomited another slug. It went directly to the Potions teacher's shoes.
"Please accompany your housemate to the hospital tower," said the DADA professor while pointing at Seamus. "Professor Snape is it ok if you handle the punishment for the infractor?" said Lockhart with more confidence. Indeed, the scene where Professor Snape got a slug in his shoes has made a more disastrous image.
"With pleasure", was Snape's reply, and he took Ron Weasley by his arm.
"Very well. Let's take a little break. What we will do now is better choose two of you to duel in front of everyone. Mr Suzuki, please, if you would!" said Lockhart with a brilliant smile. Harry only nodded and walked to the centre of the room.
"Now, your opponent will be..." Lockhart trailed off as he saw around. A bunch of hands were raised, some boys, but most of them were girls. The Professor was going to choose Hermione, but he thought about it again. He wanted to avoid favouritism with a female student to avoid scandal.
"You. Your name?" asked the Professor. The chosen young Hufflepuff walked to the front with a big smile, "Justin-Justin Finch-Fletchley. I am a big fan, sir".
The Professor only smiled, "Of course you are". Then the Professor turned to the whole students. "Now watch closely. It seems your Potions professor wanted to accelerate the process, and he forgot an essential key".
Draco whispered to Hermione, "Wasn't him the one that put us into pairs right away?" but Hermione hugged him as she wanted to hear what Lockhart wanted to say.
"Look closely; I will show you how to produce the blocking charm", said the Professor. He raised his wand and waved it in a complicated pattern in front of him, and it ended, pointing to the front and saying, "Protegeo".
All the students looked at the display. The students with magic backgrounds looked dumbfounded, while the other part of the students looked confused.
Lockhart looked confident and then spoke to the two students in the centre, "I hope that you looked closely. Let's start", said Lockhart.
Justin was confused and with no confidence to replicate the waving. When close to Harry, Suzuki told him, "You can attack; I will do the protecting charm". Justin only smiled and nodded.
The two students put some distance, and then the Professor yelled, "Three, two, one!"
"Expelliarmus!" yelled Justin, and a red light went from his wand to Harry. The Suzuki heir replicated the weird pattern of Lockhart, and at the end, when pointing the wand to the front, he said, "Protego!"
The red light disappeared in front of Harry, causing no harm.
"Well done! Well done! 5 points to Slytherin and other 5 points to Hufflepuff!" said Lockhart.
"Professor, if I may?" said Harry. The Professor turned to see him.
"The pattern you use may be a little... advanced. I only knew how to do it because a... an uncle used it once while travelling. Wouldn't the normal protego be a better introduction, you know, with only a movement of a line in front of the caster"
Lockhart took only a second to recover from the words. He was unsure whether his movements for the Protego charm were correct or his pronunciation. Lockhart only smiled and said, "You are correct. Still, I am impressed that you could pick it so fast. It is a very advance protection charm. Another 5 points to Slytherin".
The rest of the club day went with no problem. At the end of the activities, Harry got closer to the Professor. Pansy did not know what that was about but did not want to get closer to the Professor, so she waited for him at the door. Harry gave the Professor a piece of paper that looked like a letter. And then leave with Pansy.
A day passed since the duelling club. Harry was walking Pansy to the greenhouse because the Herbology professor needed to do something to the Mandrakes. They had history class, but the Professor didn't care if they left it.
"Can you imagine? She wants me to put socks on the mandrake's feet. Agh, I just hate this," said Pansy while looking murderous at Harry, not forgetting that he was the reason she was helping the Professor.
"Oh, by the way. Mom sends her thanks for the seeds. She already planted them, but she said she would try to grow them differently. ", said Harry with no care about the looks of Pansy.
"But. If you are going to do this now. Does that mean the class was cancelled for some?" asked the Suzuki heir.
Pansy only sighed, "Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs from the second year".
Harry nodded, "Maybe I can find Justin, the Hufflepuff kid; I need to invite him to the Christmas party for Ainz Ooal Gown".
Pansy only rolled her eyes and continued walking. Then after one turn, a blonde girl appeared.
"Oh, Susan," said Harry while getting closer. Pansy only nodded and took that as her key to leave.
"Did I do something to anger her?" asked Susan.
Harry only smiled and replied dismissively, "That's how she is. She started the same way with me and with Hermione. Give it time."
Susan only nodded. "Wait, wouldn't you be at class?"
"Pansy was asked to help with the Mandrakes, and I was given permission to walk her there."
"You two are that close, huh?" The Hufflepuff draw a smirk.
Harry only shrugged, then asked, "Say, have you seen Justin? I forgot to give him something yesterday".
"I was going for him. He returned to the common room for something he forgot".
"Mind if I walk with you to find him?"
"Sure"
Both students walked together, and suddenly the light of the corridor went darker. The blonde girl walked closer to Harry.
Out of nowhere, a scream was heard, "ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!"
Susan grabbed the arm of Harry and hid behind him. She wanted to run, but Harry did not move.
"Don't worry, it's just Peeves. This may be another of his pranks", said Harry.
The blonde girl calmed herself a little while nodding. They kept walking until they turned in one corridor.
The first thing that Harry "saw" was the transparent body of the Gryffindor ghost. The trembling body of Susan was moving Harry as she grabbed his arms stronger. Then she screams at the top of her lungs, pointing at the floor. Harry followed the finger and saw the body of Justin on the floor.
