Under Hermione's impeccable legal offensive and the threat of a "three-year tour of Azkaban" precedent...
Umbridge was forced to give up all her malicious props.
The electric probe, the crystal ball that could reflect darkness, and the bottle of suspicious Potion were put back into the drawer one by one.
The sickeningly sweet pink of her office now looked more like a morbid flush of extreme rage.
"Very well, Miss Granger."
Umbridge squeezed the words through her teeth, her fake smile looking worse than a sob,
"It seems you have made quite sufficient preparations for your... 'pet'.
Then, we shall proceed with the most basic oral inquiry and... a simple magic reaction test."
She practically spat out the word "simple" through gritted teeth.
"Of course, Madam Undersecretary."
Hermione nodded modestly, but there wasn't the slightest hint of retreat in her eyes,
"We will fully cooperate with all legal assessment procedures."
She lightly emphasized the word "legal," which, like a small needle, pricked Umbridge's nerves once again.
Umbridge suppressed the urge to strike down the sharp-tongued mudblood before her with a Crucio on the spot; she took a deep breath and turned her attention to her true "prey."
"Now, please have your... creature revert to its animal form."
she commanded, her eyes flashing with undisguised malice.
Hermione gave Lia's back a reassuring pat.
Lia nodded obediently, and in a flash of soft white light, she transformed back into that snowy-white, fluffy Ragdoll Cat, sitting quietly on the carpet and looking at Umbridge with those innocent big blue eyes.
This harmless appearance only fueled Umbridge's rage further.
She stood up with a fake smile and slowly raised her wand.
A short, stubby, and rather ridiculous-looking birch wand.
"Don't be nervous, little thing."
Umbridge said in her sickeningly sweet voice, "I just want to check your magical reaction... this is a very, very gentle inspection charm."
As she spoke, she pointed her wand at Lia.
However, just before she uttered the incantation, Lia's Danger Intuition system alarm was already blaring in her mind!
That was no inspection charm!
Lia could see it clearly: inside that light was a twisting black poisonous needle as thin as a cow's hair!*
Once it hit, though it would leave no external wound, it would cause intense neurological pain, enough to drive any creature insane!
Umbridge's plan was well-calculated.
As long as Lia lost control and retaliated due to the intense pain, she could logically declare her "aggressive" and thus seize custody.
But she wasn't facing an ordinary cat.
She was facing Lia, with her Oscar-worthy acting skills, and a super-student who had already written a perfect script for her.
At the very moment that nearly invisible spell-light was about to touch Lia's body—instead of bristling her fur and letting out a threatening hiss as Umbridge expected, Lia didn't launch any counterattack.
She simply executed the "script" that Hermione had explained to her in detail last night in bed while feeding her treats.
"Meow-ahhh—!!!"
A scream so shrill it could shatter glass suddenly erupted from Lia's throat!
As if she were undergoing the most terrible torture in the world.
Then, her snowy-white body twitched extremely flamboyantly and violently in mid-air.
Then, under the astonished gazes of Umbridge and Professor McGonagall, she fell "weakly" and limply onto the ornate Persian carpet.
Her limbs stretched out stiffly. Her body remained motionless.
Her little pink tongue hung limply from the side of her mouth.
She was perfectly playing dead.
"Lia!"
Hermione's reaction was faster than anyone else's.
Letting out a world-shaking cry of grief, she practically scrambled over and scooped the "unconscious" Lia into her arms.
The moment she picked Lia up, her fingers quickly squeezed the soft flesh on the back of Lia's neck twice in a specific rhythm—this was their pre-arranged signal for "good job acting."
The next second, teardrops the size of beans rolled down from her brown eyes like broken pearls.
"What did you do to her?!"
Holding the "stiff" Lia in her arms, Hermione pointed at Umbridge and voiced the strongest accusation in a trembling voice mixed with grief and rage.
"According to the Magical Creatures Mental Protection Act! Any test that causes a severe stress response in a companion creature must be stopped immediately, right now! I... I demand an immediate application for a full examination at the Hospital Wing! I will submit the severest complaint to the Ministry of Magic!"
In Hermione's arms, Lia's entire body was turned away from Umbridge, with only her head resting in the crook of Hermione's arm.
She quietly, very quietly, opened one blue eye.
Then, she gave the tearful Hermione, who was right in front of her, a triumphant and playful wink.
Hermione almost choked and nearly broke character by laughing right then and there.
She could only press Lia's head harder into her chest, using her body to hide the little movement, her shoulders shaking violently from "extreme grief" as she let out rounds of suppressed, heartbreaking sobs.
Just then, Professor McGonagall, who had remained silent the whole time, finally stood up.
Her stern gaze, like two sharp scalpels, pinned Umbridge's face, which had turned purple with rage.
"Dolores," Professor McGonagall's voice was as cold as the winds of the Scotland Highlands.
"I believe it is very necessary for me to write an extremely detailed health report for Miss Granger's Miss Lia. And,"
she paused,
"send a copy of this report directly to the Legal Counsel Office of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."
The Legal Counsel Office!
Umbridge's head buzzed. She knew she was completely finished.
She had been "played" by a fifth-year student and her damn cat!
They had used her own rules and her own assessment to set a trap that she had jumped into and could never climb out of!
She trembled with rage, looking like a pink toad blown up to its limit, nearly exploding on the spot.
Yet, under the dual pressure of Professor McGonagall and those damn legal clauses, she couldn't argue back a single word, forced to watch as Hermione carried the "dying" cat away, accompanied by Professor McGonagall.
Ultimately, this carefully planned assessment could only end abruptly with the humiliating conclusion: "The subject was excessively frightened due to improper handling by the assessor and could not continue."
As soon as they left Umbridge's office and were in the corridor leading to the Hospital Wing, Lia immediately "resurrected."
She lifted her head from Hermione's arms and, as if seeking credit, wrapped her long fluffy tail around Hermione's wrist loop by loop, a triumphant purr coming from her throat.
Hermione pulled a pre-prepared Salmon Candy from her pocket and accurately popped it into her little mouth.
She leaned down to Lia's ear and whispered with a laugh in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Good job acting, my little Oscar winner."
Lia narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, enjoying the sweetness and the praise.
"When we get back tonight..." Hermione's voice dropped even lower, carrying an ambiguous huskiness, "I'll give you... an even bigger reward."
In an instant,
the tips of Lia's snowy-white cat ears instantly turned as red as ripe cherries.
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[Here's a Cat-girl hug for you all!]
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