Don't Be Silly, Toto

[Winnie Marsh]

Toto had always been a rambunctious cat, and that was what Winnie loved about him. Like her, he possessed a free spirit to do what he wanted and explore the world around him and it was this energy that caused him to stand out from the other kittens when she adopted him. His willingness to explore only became more apparent as Winnie started school, and up until that point it was endearing and a catalyst for many of the adventures she had with him. However, that day Toto's love of exploring caused him to wander off without her for the first time, leaving Winnie search for him when she realized his absence. She didn't know how on earth he escaped the dorm, let alone all of Ravenclaw house but after spending the morning searching there and asking around to no avail, Winnie headed out to look in the rest of the castle.

From memory alone she knew there were many places Toto could be hiding, so she didn't have a definitive place to start. This lead her to stroll through each of the corridors, gradually making her way down. When she reached the student lounge she was increasingly more worried. She tried not to disturb the other students milling about in the room as she knelt down to look for Toto underneath the different sofas and arm chairs, but knew her actions weren't inconspicuous and sooner or later she would draw attention to herself.​

Out of Character:

Spot the pun

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur was trying her best to study, but her focus wasn't really with her. So far she had managed to avoid most studying, but she also didn't want to get all P's on her exams. She knew her parents wouldn't be thrilled with that. She had managed to get a bit of studying in, though the potions theory was dull enough to make her want to fall asleep. Just as she was about to close her book so she could move on to studying a bit of Defence instead, she spotted a girl kneeling nearby to look under a chair. Fleur's eyebrows raised slightly and she decided to ask the girl what was going on. Perhaps she had lost something and Fleur could help? She always felt a strange kinship with fellow redheads, so maybe it was a good idea to help this younger girl out.

Abandoning her books and notes at the table for now, she approached and bent down to look under the same sofa the girl was. "What did you lose?" She asked, glancing at her. "Can I help you? Maybe you should try the summoning charm." It had helped Fleur out the last time she had lost a bracelet, though using it in the dormitory without being specific enough had turned out to be a mistake. She had spent the rest of the afternoon figuring out which of the bracelets she had collected with spell belonged to which girl in her dormitory. "Be specific, though." She added as a precaution in case the girl had a similar situation.

 

[Winnie Marsh]

Despite trying to keep quiet and not draw attention to what she was doing, it was inevitable that someone would eventually talk to her. When a fellow redheaded girl was the one to look underneath the same sofa and catch her eye with a question of what she had lost, and then another question of whether she could help, Winnie smiled. Regardless of her ever increasing worries for Toto's well-being the longer she searched for him, it made her happy know that someone else wanted to help her look. Leaning back so she was sitting up, Winnie answered the girl. "I'm looking for my cat, I don't think the summoning charm would work." She shook her head slightly as she spoke. It wouldn't help either that Charms was not her best subject, none of them were really, so it seemed almost counter productive to use magic to find him. "His name is Toto, and he's a black cat. He's about four years old but he's still pretty small. Have you seen him running around?" She hoped the girl had seen a cat running around, but if she hadn't Winnie would continue her search until she found him.​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur was surprised to hear the girl was looking for a cat, and a little sad her suggestion wouldn't help. But she couldn't help be a little excited too. She loved cats! So the prospect of helping this girl find hers wasn't completely terrible. "Okay, I'll definitely help you." She said, nodding. "I have a cat myself, aren't they the best?" The description the girl gave was pretty detailed, but Fleur was sad to say she hadn't seen any cats around. "Sorry, haven't seen him. But we'll look. How long has he been missing? Have you tried to lure him with food?" Her own cat would usually show his face if Fleur shook his bowl with kibble in it so he could hear it. She knew Jack wouldn't be able to resist, no matter how stubborn he was. "Does he tend to run off or do you think he's lost?" She hoped she wasn't asking the girl too many questions, but she felt like they were all important things to know about this mysterious cat.

 

[Winnie Marsh]

Winnie's smile widened when the other red head said she would definitely help, the reason why becoming all the more obvious when the girl revealed she also had a cat. It seemed almost fate to meet a fellow red head and cat lover when she needed help the most, and Winnie couldn't have asked for a more fortunate circumstance, other than finding her beloved Toto safe and sound. After nodding her head to the question about cats being the best, Winnie's attention diverted to the room around them, then back to the girl as she answered the second question. "I put his food in his bowl, but he's not anywhere near the dorms, or he would have eaten it." She was certain she had done all she could so far, other than search more places around the school, but there was still plenty of time to search if she didn't find Toto sooner. "He hasn't really run off without me before..." Winnie admitted, trailing off as her gaze lowered to her hands. She liked to carry Toto everywhere, rather than let him run around outside the dorm solely out of worry he would wander to some unreachable place in the castle without her. Giving her actions a second thought, not having the freedom to run around might have caused him to run away in the first place. A wave of sadness washed over her. "Do you think he doesn't want to come back, and that's why I can't find him?" Winnie asked, looking up to the other girl. Drawing conclusions and letting emotions get the best of her was the last thing Winnie needed when she should have focused on finding Toto, but with the realization in her head she couldn't help but worry this was all her fault, and not a matter of Toto's curiosity to explore getting the best of him.​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur nodded slowly when the girl mentioned she had put food in his bowl, but the cat not eating it. Maybe the cat wasn't hungry, or perhaps he had found another source of food. Surely plenty of students would feed a cat wandering around whatever they had on hand. Or maybe the cat had found some mice or other smaller animals to eat. Hopefully, not anyone's pet. Fleur felt a little bad for the girl when she noticed how upset she was with this. Jack had always been stubborn and willful, so Fleur was used to her own cat running off. "He probably just chased something and got distracted." She told the girl reassuringly. "Cats tend to get distracted when they see something move and they chase it mindlessly. They're also curious animals, so perhaps he just explored some new places. I don't think he's deliberately running away from you." In Fleur's experience, cats weren't very loyal but they at least remembered who gave them food and head scratches when they wanted it. She had found her own cat in some weird spots, so she decided to think like that. "Does Toto like to crawl into small spaces like boxes? She could have gone into someone's bag or underneath a chair or something."

 

[Winnie Marsh]

Winnie bit her lower lip, feeling tears well in her eyes. Wanting them to go away she blinked rapidly and looked in the opposite direction from the older girl, nodding to her words and trying to feel reassured by them. It was helping that this girl didn't think Toto had ran away from her intentionally, and knowing that he might have chased a mouse or rat around made sense enough for her to think this was the reason he wandered off instead. Eventually Winnie's eyes felt normal again and she turned back to answer the girl's question, pleased she was still managing to compose herself somewhat in the midst of the mess that was allowing Toto to run off and the resulting worry and sadness that followed her search for him. "He does like small things like boxes, but he's not under the chairs here from what I've seen." She answered. "Are there any boxes nearby, or things similar to boxes you think he might have crawled into?" If he was hiding in a box of sorts in the student lounge it would have made Winnie's day to find him. Hoping there was a box nearby, Winnie stood up and looked around the room, noticing she had not looked under many of the coffee tables that were much lower to the floor.

Walking over to one of the coffee tables, Winnie moved it slightly to one side in time to see a flash of a black, furry tail. "This could be him!" She exclaimed, looking over to the girl that offered to help her. "Help me move this." Winnie said as more of a demand than anything as she attempted to push the heavy piece of furniture by herself to no avail, caught up in the adrenaline that was the realization this might be Toto, and after all her time spent searching she could have finally found him.​

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur felt a bit nervous when she saw the younger girl had tears in her eyes. Fleur had younger siblings, but she knew exactly how to cheer them up when they were crying. She wasn't sure what would help this girl feel better aside from getting her cat back, and while Fleur was more than willing to help with that, that didn't mean she would be able to do it quickly. But it seemed like Winnie wasn't going to cry, as he turned away and looked fine when she turned back. "Maybe someone's bag?" Fleur offered with a shrug. "A backpack is kind of like a box, maybe. I think some cats like to sit in that too." Fleur didn't think there were many boxes around, but maybe she was missing something. She looked around carefully for any possibly cat hiding places, while the younger girl made her way over to a coffee table. When Fleur heard her call, she rushed over to the table. "Okay!" She said, pushing against the table with all her strength. To her relief, it moved. "Is he under it?" She asked the girl.