Pawsitively Purrfect

[Freya Song]

Even after months of settling in to her new life as a witch, Freya didn't have a clue how to break the news to her brother, and so she had avoided it completely and vaguely mentioned receiving a boarding school scholarship in her last letter. She'd had a hard enough time accepting the magical world herself without explaining it to her muggle sibling. It would have been easy to ignore the complications of existing in two different worlds, but Freya liked to make life difficult for herself and had started an uneasy correspondence with her brother. Entirely, as she told herself, because she wanted a man on the outside who would smuggle in any muggle goods she missed from home.

Although she hadn't brought an animal companion of her own, Freya enjoyed talking to other students' pets more than their people. She was attempting to earn the trust of several cats she had seen wandering around the school, with the help of recently-acquired treats, and had already managed to invite four of them into an abandoned classroom without entirely meaning to. "Look, I don't have a lot of snacks, so you're all going to have to share," Freya hopped up to sit on a desk and waved her wand to levitate a small ball over to a ginger cat, who swiped at it madly. "And be polite about it, we're not animals here." she smiled. She liked spending time with the cats, and no angry owners had come storming after her for hoarding their pets yet.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Whenever Iris had no homework to do, she liked to wander around the castle. Hogwarts had decades of magical history, and even though that was nothing compared to the original school in Scotland, it was still something that fascinated Iris. As she moved through the corridors, she liked to imagine she could feel the magic lingering in the air. She knew it was a very magically charged place, which was proven by how muggle electronics didn't work here. But wouldn't that have an effect on other things as well? Iris hoped so. She was fascinated by forms of magic that weren't explored as much, or weren't believed in as much by others. It was why she had such a fascination with Divination. She knew many people didn't believe in fortune telling, but in a world full of magic, why wouldn't it be real?

As Iris walked past an empty classroom, she heard a strange noise. Iris stopped in her tracks, her mind racing with possibilities. Was it a boggart? Some other magical creature? Something else? But as she edged closer to the room, she heard a girl's voice. Peeking inside, Iris saw a girl from Hufflepuff, with a bunch of cats. The sound she had heard must have been a meow. Iris caught the girl's words to the cats and couldn't help a small giggle. "I think they are." She pointed out, smiling at the blond girl. "Hi, sorry to interrupt. Are you teaching these cats in this classroom?" She joked lightly.

 

[Freya Song]

Startled, Freya spun around at the sound of a voice, accidentally flinging ball she was controlling and sending the cat skittering over to the Ravenclaw girl. She recognised the girl from some of her classes but couldn't quite remember her name. Rose, or Daisy, or something flowery. Freya didn't tend to pay attention to people outside her own house, and even then it was mostly so she knew how to avoid them. She had a distrust of redheads since her last unpleasant run-in with one - but Freya didn't trust anyone, so it was a rather moot point.

Freya shook her head to chase away the pink flooding her cheeks at being caught unaware, and looked at the girl. At least she wasn't a disgruntled cat owner. "Oh, no. That would be silly," Freya said seriously. "We were just about to start our meeting. Lots to discuss today. There's a space open on the council, if you're interested in joining." Her best attempts to look professional were somewhat ruined by one of the cats attempting to eat her dangling shoelace, and Freya bit her lip as she tried not to laugh.

 

[Iris van Houten]

It was clear that she had surprised the girl, and Iris felt a little bad. She gave her an apologetic smile, which turned into a genuine smile as the girl went on about the cats. Iris laughed when she said they were about to start their meeting, a lot to discuss. Happy to go along with it, Iris nodded as she stepped into the classroom. "I would love to." She said, leaning down to pet one of the cats. "If all the cats agree, of course." She added, just as seriously. This was the sort of silly thing she didn't get to do very often, but it was very amusing. Iris' sister Fleur had a cat, and there were a few at home on the farm as well. Iris felt right at home, and immediately took a liking to the girl. This was the sort of game she used to play with Emma more when they were younger. "What is the subject of today's meeting?" She asked, biting her lip to stop from laughing at the sight of one of the cats eating the girl's shoelace. "I should formally introduce myself to the council, I'm Iris."

 

[Freya Song]

"I see no disagreement, so welcome! I'm Freya Song, official feline translator of the board," Freya introduced herself, waving a hand around the room to invite Iris to sit if she wished. "Councilman Flooflefur, you had a proposal?" Freya looked down at the cat by her feet, which stared back at the attention. She nodded a few times, listening intently to the cat's silence as though they were discussing matters of extreme importance. "The cats want to create their own house and have a common room that is always stocked with catnip. Also, they want the power of flight." It felt a little strange to Freya to have Iris joining her game, and Freya tried to brush away the strands of self-consciousness before she lost her concentration. Sharing was caring, after all, and Freya was happy to share her small cat army with nice people.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris couldn't help a small giggle as Freya introduced herself as the official feline translator. The girl clearly had a big imagination, and Iris liked that. It reminded her a bit of Lars, who had always been the best at making up stories. She grabbed a chair and sat down, keeping her expression serious as if she was really in a meeting with cats. As Freya 'translated' the cats, Iris scratched her chin as she thought about it. "Well... I don't know if we can make a new common room at Hogwarts, as it's a pretty old castle. But perhaps the cats can share a common room with Hufflepuff. Hufflepuffs are kind so wouldn't mind sharing, and an added benefit is as much petting and as many cuddles as a cat can ask for." Iris said. "And I'm sure they can levitate the cats too, on request." She added.

 

[Freya Song]

Freya hummed thoughtfully at Iris's suggestion. She thought it was a good idea, and Freya wouldn't mind her common room being overrun by cats. She let out a soft meow towards the cat at her foot and it drew the attention of the other cats, who seemed to recognise she was trying to communicate with them and had come to investigate the two humans. She hoped she hadn't accidentally said anything rude in cat-language. "They like the Hufflepuff common room. It's warm and has soft places to sleep. Levitating them might be a little dangerous," Freya said, doubting that she could achieve that with her own magical skill. Feathers were one thing, but cats were heavy. "Oh! The cats could ally with the owls and be carried!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris smiled as the girl went on, amused as she meowed to the cats. She was glad her idea wasn't shot down entirely, though she had to agree that levitating was maybe a little dangerous. "That's true." She said with a nod. "But I don't know if the cats are willing to ally with the owls? Cats like chasing birds, right?" She looked at the cats apologetically. "Would this be a problem?" She asked, glancing at Freya curiously, wondering what she would do with this. It was a fun game of pretend so far.

 

[Freya Song]

"Ah," Freya muttered. She had forgotten that owls were technically birds, although they weren't small like sparrows and had sharp claws and beaks, so maybe it was the cats who would end up being chased. Freya was suddenly extremely concerned for any pet rats wandering the castle, too, and wondered if any pets had accidentally been eaten before. She meowed to "relay" Iris's information and tried to think of any ideas. "The cats are willing to work together, but we'll have to see how the owls feel on the matter. Iris, I'm naming you the official owl interpreter. If you talk to the owls, we can meet back here and come to an arrangement." Freya grinned, leaping off her desk and crouching to get closer to cat-petting height.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris waited for Freya to finish 'talking' to the cats, hoping she wasn't ruining the game with her logic. She laughed when Freya spoke, delighted with the turn the conversation was taking. Freya really had a great imagination, and Iris enjoyed it a lot. "I see." She said with a nod. "Very well, I will call the owl council together as soon as possible." She said seriously. "Permission to pet the cat council before I go?" She asked with a slight smile.

 

[Freya Song]

Freya was having fun playing with Iris and the cats, possibly even enjoying it more than she would have if Iris hadn't been there. "Excellent," she said cheerfully. She wasn't sure how official meeting were supposed to end, but she supposed that cat council could have different rules from regular, boring human ones. Petting the cats may be a requirement. "Permission granted! We have to observe the, uh, cultural farewell!" Freya grinned at Iris and wiggled her fingers to get the cats attention, before her own was totally consumed by the felines.