Chapter 238: The Story of the Lucky Black Cat

“Ron, Harry… would you like to join our club?”

Parvati, who came to ask them, was a pretty little witch with large eyes and long eyelashes—the same girl who had told Wizard Sean and the others about Hermione on Halloween Eve.

“What club?”

Harry was confused; he’d only heard of the Quidditch club, and Ron had only heard of the Wizard’s Chess club.

“The Castle Spirit Cat Club. You don’t know about it?”

Parvati covered her mouth, glancing at Jia Jia Siting and Hermione, clearly astonished.

Lavender beside her also widened her eyes, looking utterly incredulous.

“Sorry, what exactly is the Castle Spirit Cat Club?”

Ron realized he was out of the loop and asked shyly.

“Well, I’m glad I get to say it again. You’ve seen the lucky statue on the third floor, right? That’s one piece of evidence for the Castle Spirit Cat’s existence… though it’s strange—if you’ve been caught out after hours and lost points, you should’ve seen the Castle Spirit Cat yourself.”

Parvati spoke rapidly.

Harry and Ron finally understood.

“The statue’s real?! But why would being out after hours let you see… the Castle Spirit Cat?”

Ron exclaimed.

“Excellent question—I’ll tell you about its deeds… It’s the night messenger of Christmas, the guardian of good fortune.

Haven’t you noticed? Since Christmas, Hogwarts has been blessed with luck after luck.

Mr. Green released notes for multiple subjects, many students caught out after hours were saved by the Castle Spirit Cat, Filch has become less terrifying, even Professor Snape has started sharing small key details… and now, a great alchemist has appeared at Hogwarts!

We believe all of this is thanks to the Castle Spirit Cat, the guardian of good fortune!”

Lavender’s eyes sparkled as she pulled out two club invitation cards, each bearing a photo of a black cat, and handed them to Harry and Ron.

“By the way, our club was the fastest approved by Hogwarts—so please consider joining; we don’t have much time left here…

If no one manages to touch its ears, we’ll be a complete failure.”

Parvati seemed proud of the club but disappointed by its performance.

After handing the cards to Harry and Ron, they left.

The Great Hall buzzed with voices; many young witches and wizards were recruiting for clubs everywhere.

Their time was indeed limited, so the club’s vice-president had devised this plan—after all, more hands make light work.

“Touch its ears, and you’ll be lucky for a whole year…”

Ron held the invitation card, his expression curious. Hogwarts students always took interest in the magical wonders within the castle.

Otherwise, why would so many students study portraits and search for secret passages—in this magical castle, anything was possible.

This was, after all, the magical Hogwarts.

“How interesting—it lists the Castle Spirit Cat’s patrol routes. It actually helps students sneak out after hours… Merlin’s beard, if we’d met it back then, we wouldn’t have lost so many points…”

Ron sighed.

Harry imagined how grateful they’d have been if the black cat had helped them avoid Professor McGonagall.

“Wizard Sean, are you joining?”

Ron instinctively asked Wizard Sean.

Wizard Sean saw Jia Jia Siting doubled over with laughter, and Hermione, head down, shaking with suppressed mirth.

“No, and you’d better not join either.”

Wizard Sean sighed, packed his things, and prepared to leave the Great Hall.

He thought Hogwarts students were far too idle.

Before leaving, he followed a strange instinct and glanced toward the head table—Headmaster Dumbledore was smiling warmly at him, his wine cup pausing mid-lift.

“Uh—well, Harry and I are kind of interested. Jia Jia Siting, are you joining?”

Ron exchanged a glance with Harry, then asked Jia Jia Siting.

He felt they were a team and should act together.

Jia Jia Siting, who had been watching the show, now offered a warm, radiant smile:

“No thanks.”

“Oh… I thought you’d be interested…”

Ron’s cheeks flushed red from the fierce firelight of the hearth.

“He says no because he’s already joined—and he’s the vice-president.”

Hermione still had a smile on her lips.

“Huh?!”

“Really?!”

Harry and Ron were both taken aback.

“Is this why you never got caught out after hours?”

Harry finally caught on.

“Not exactly,” Jia Jia Siting said.

“What about you, Hermione? Did you join too?”

Ron asked again.

“Mm-hmm.”

Hermione lifted her chin.

Wizard Sean, still seated, put down his book and glanced at them.

“We need some entertainment, Wizard Sean,” Jia Jia Siting said with a serious face—but everyone could tell he was barely holding back laughter.

“What about Neville?”

Harry realized and saw Neville nodding.

“Hannah asked me to join, and I… I didn’t say no.”

Neville whispered, not daring to look at Wizard Sean.

“So everyone’s in?!”

Ron brightened, then asked Wizard Sean cautiously, with a strange expression:

“Wizard Sean, you really won’t join?”

Jia Jia Siting was now laughing helplessly, and Hermione turned away, whispering, “Fool.”

“What are you laughing at? You haven’t stopped.”

At this point, Jia Jia Siting was laughing so hard he had no strength left, and Hermione turned away, whispering, “Fool.”

Harry didn’t understand either, but he nodded in agreement.

Rarely had the group in the hut experienced such a moment of amusement since the Forbidden Forest incident—they’d mostly been studying.

Wizard Sean sighed; he’d only just learned they’d all joined this club.

“What they said is all fake…”

Wizard Sean paused, suddenly realizing: though the part about controlling good fortune was nonsense, the changes in Hogwarts Castle were indeed tied to him.

“Fake… what?”

Ron was curious about Wizard Sean’s reason for refusing.

“Maybe it’s true.”

Wizard Sean left the Great Hall.

…

After the Castle Spirit Cat Club members began their quiet operations, another rumor spread through Hogwarts Castle.

A rumor about a black cat that walked the halls.

It was a month of endless rumors—April, full of rain, yet dry and mild when the sun shone.

On these clear, mild nights, Wizard Sean went to the Forbidden Forest to study divination magic with the centaur teacher Firenze.

At the same time, Wizard Sean faced two problems:

Divination magic was far too vague, impossible to master, and improving the cleaning spell for brooms had also become a puzzle.

That night, he happened to meet the Weasley twins outside the caretaker’s office.

The prophecy magic was far too vague to grasp any technique, and besides, improving the cleaning broom had also become a puzzle to him.

That night, he happened to meet the Weasley twins outside the caretaker’s office.