Crookshanks meowed something to Luna, who put her fingers to her chin and pondered. "No, I don't think I've heard that name. I'm sorry."
Hermione looked and asked: "What did he say?"
Crookshanks meowed again before Luna said: "He asked me if I had heard of someone before, although he's also asked me not to tell you the name, so I won't. He also said he understood if you didn't pick him, called himself an old fuddy duddy."
"Ah, You're no fuddy duddy Crookshanks… You know what, you're coming with me. Sorry guys, I'd take you too if I could, but I'm only allowed one pet. Maybe you can find someone who can take both of you home so you don't have to split up." Hermione said, petting the two gray cats.
"When we get to Hogwarts we can tell Padma and Parvati about them. Maybe they would like a cat." Harry suggested.
"Oh! That's not a bad idea. Padma loves cats I know, and Parvati has gushed about being jealous of Lavender's rabbit." Susan said, standing up and dusting the bits of cat hair off the plaid skirt she was wearing.
"Lavender has a rabbit?" Harry asked.
"Oh, she's never told you? Yeah, she has a rabbit at home. She was going to bring it to Hogwarts with her, but its not on the list of approved pets. You have to get special permission to bring something that isn't a Cat, Owl, or Toad. Only person I know who has permission like that is the Weasley family, since Percy had a pet rat he brought with him." Susan added.
"Alright, come on Crookshanks, let's go up front and pay for you okay?" Hermione said, and Crookshanks meowed something. Everyone turned to Luna.
"He wants to say goodbye to his dog friend he made here. Said he'll lead the way, we just have to open the door for him." Luna said, as Crookshanks made his way to the door and pawed it.
The door opened and Crookshanks led them back to the front of the shop, where a large black dog was sat in front of the window, watching people move about outside. A series of barks and meows were exchanged back and forth, before Crookshanks walked back up to Hermione, tail crooked high in the air, and rubbed against her leg.
"Oh! You're buying Crookshanks! I'm so happy. Poor little guy deserves a family, but no one wanted to adopt him. Here, I'll ring you up." The woman behind the till said, ringing up the sale. "Here's a collar and a leash. There's one thing you'll need to know about Crookie though, he's half-kneazle, so he's a lot smarter than a normal cat. You'll need to keep him entertained a bit more than a normal cat, but thankfully, Crookie here seems to like cuddling more than anything. Just make sure he gets plenty of exercise. Bye Crookie! We'll miss you!"
"Will do ma'am. Come on Crookshanks, let's go meet Mrs. Tonks and Mrs. Greengrass." Hermione said, walking the orange fuzzball out of the shop.
With that the Sphinx Club was ready to tackle their third year at Hogwarts.
Settling into his seat on the Hogwarts express was going to be an interesting thing moving forward Harry realized, as his girlfriends piled into the car around him, all vying to be the one sitting next to him. Unsurprisingly, Hermione and Padma had claimed his left and right positions as they always had, leaving Susan, Luna, and Daphne to sit opposite of them.
"I'm really sorry Parvati and I couldn't make it to your party this summer Harry! The ministry shut down the floo for leisure travel, something about an escaped prisoner?" Padma said, cuddling herself into Harry.
Her presence did help to ease the sinking feeling in his stomach at the indirect mention of Sirius Black, although it did not fully alleviate it. Harry hoped his face didn't show any hint of his feelings on the matter, no need for Padma, or any of the girls to worry about that. That was his problem, not theirs.
"It's fine Padma, no sense worrying about things you aren't responsible for. I'm just glad we get to see each other now. How was your summer then?" Harry asked, wanting to catch up with his girlfriend. He had felt quite bad at being unable to include her in any activities this summer, since he had managed to take each of the other girls out on some manner of date, even if it was under chaperone.
Daphne had gotten her requested muggle movie date, and true to her word, spent most of the movie snogging Harry, to the point that he could scarcely remember what movie they had even seen. Nymphadora had found that incredibly amusing, and promised to keep it a secret. Susan had elected to take a trip to Fortescue's Ice Cream parlor, where the pair spent the better part of an afternoon simply making good conversation and enjoying each other's company. Susan had kissed him at the end of her date, which was somewhat uncomfortable for Harry, since he was under the watchful eyes of Amelia Bones. Luna had simply had Harry come over to her house and meet her father, as well as spend some time in her garden. Harry found Xenophilius Lovegood to be a strange man, as well as a tad scatterbrained at the best of times, but he was friendly and seemed to have no issues with Harry dating his daughter. Hermione had elected to simply spend her time at the Tonks house, playing games, working on homework together, and then snuggling on the couch to watch a movie together.
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.