A Helping Hand for the Younger Generation Private

Your eyes are spectacular. She couldn't pick up on compliments, or confessions of amazement- she couldn't pick up on whether or not they were genuine. Her dark wisps of hair, retracted from around her face. She gave him a odd side glare, trying to figure out the most appropriate way to respond. "...Thanks." It was an automated response. There was no genuine feeling in that moment- except for maybe confusion. She couldn't help but feel like an animal in a zoo, when the Hufflepuff George, called over the attention of his smaller Hufflepuff friend. The smaller boy- she scared him, the way he stared; it was more like how one would look at a display in a freak show.

"Bad dreams you sssay?" The two black daggers remained on the sandy-haired badger, for a few small moments. She was trying to figure out what to think of him. She was sizing him up. The two were a perfect example of cat and mouse. "I read somewhere that dreams, are just jumbled memories of what your mind collected during the day." She folded her gloved hands, neatly upon the surface of the table. Her gazed wavered to the other lioness. "But I think thats only part of what dreams are- and nightmares." She had her fair share of dreams. The ones that she remembered were often unexplainable.

She and Meenauh had their fair share of odd dreams. There was no feasible explanation for the connected dreams that the two had been a part of- and maybe that was because no explanation was really needed. "Anyways." She dismissed the topic, with a wave of her petite hand. Though, she couldn't help but wonder who exactly was having the nightmares- and why. What horrors were they seeing during the day, that came back to haunt them in the realm of sleep? Xailahs gaze followed Meenauh, as she watched the second year turn, to retrieve a small rectangular box from her bag.

The metamorph took note of the matches that were pulled from the box. It appeared that the heads had been removed. It wasn't particularly important, but she wondered why Meenauh- if it was Meenauh; had removed them. She watched Meenauh with great interest. A swish of Meenauhs sleek Chestnut wood wand, would transform the matchstick into a small silver needle. The metamorphs slender, daggers, grew into two large, obsidian saucers, upon seeing the shiny object. The tip of her thumb and forefinger, would extend, reaching for the small object. "You make these things look so easy, Meenauh." She whispered, her voice touched with mild adoration, and wonder. She brought the needle to her face, and peered through the eye; before returning the object to its spot on the table. She then took a moment to applaud the girl.

The smaller badger- Jake, suggested that his friend should maybe go first. Xailah didn't question it, Jake came across as a meek boy anyways- he probably didn't like people watch him cast spells, or something; a lot of the little brats that went to this godforsaken school were like that. Or perhaps he didn't want to critically fail. It was understandable, but she did find it rather silly if that was the case. Besides what could possibly go wrong? The spell in itself appeared to be a relatively harmless one. She would proceed to watch the boy make some odd doodles on his paper. His quill scraped across the parchment, leaving behind trails of ink that went on to form shapes. Geometric patterns of some sort. Usually children drew things that they were familiar with- plants, animals, and the like. But not this boy. Not Jake.

Xailah looked as if she was trying to find a secret message in the doodles- like she was trying to decode the patterns. Eventually, her face would relax, when the sandy-haired boy inquired about her cat. "Yes. He's mine." She put a hand down to the cats level, and snapped her thumb and middle finger. "Schrödinger." The cat wasn't very far away. He never really wandered, he almost always stayed within the vicinity of his mistress. The large feline, waddled over to his owner, and the newcomers; his fatty form jiggling with each step. The prefect stooped, scooping the grey animal up and into her arms. "You can pet him if you want. He's very friendly." She sat him on the table in front of her. Friendly might have been a bit of a stretch. He mostly tolerated things. -Just like any other feline; he enjoyed whatever attention he was given.

"Efficiency postulate... aye, I wrote that somewhere..." George began to shuffle the papers around on the table, hunting for whichever hastily scratched note contained that tidbit. He could never find it. But that didn't matter, after all - Meenauh said as much before her demonstration. The Hufflepuff boy was left in awe at the ease with which she transformed her match. It was so rare for him to see successful transfiguration, he doubted for a moment that it had ever been a match at all. But it certainly was a match. And it certainly is a needle. "Well done."

Well, it was his turn to try it now. He looked down among the papers he had rearranged and spotted the one Meenauh mentioned, the wand movement laid out for him like a breadcrumb trail. The path to witchcraft, indeed. He drew his cherry wand out from within his robe, the pockmarked cherry wood swishing as he waved it. He paused suddenly- she had just said the incantation again, but he had forgotten it entirely. Colloportus? No, that was for doors. Cono... hm... it'd come to him, surely. He looked back to Jake for guidance, the look on his face reminding him that Jake was in no shape for this. George frowned. It was horrible to see the little badger like this. George felt helpless.

But Jake spoke, asking him to do something, and he was happy to oblige. He was too tired to be angry at Jake for keeping him up, and his half-lidded brown eyes gave away that his own energy was rapidly depleting. Jake's yawn was contagious, and spread to George after a few moments of delay. He brought his sleeve up over his mouth to hide it from the girls, trying to be polite. Conmutocus. That's the one.

Alright..." George plucked a matchstick from the pile and held it up before himself, adjusting his grip on his cherry wand. It was a short, stubby thing, with odd swells and grooves down the handle that made it look terribly uncomfortable to hold. Still, he wielded it like he'd spent a lifetime doing it. He glanced down at the notes to get the shape back in his head, tracing it with his wand and letting out a quiet mumble. "Conmutocus."

There was no crack nor a swift transformation. George wasn't sure what had gone wrong. It was no critical failure, but it was a failure. The cause was clear - he'd grumbled the incantation so poorly that it was unrecognizable, and his wand motion was lazy and halfhearted. He'd kept up the facade before now, but just the slightest exertion of mental effort made him want to lay his head down and sleep. Maybe a T grade wouldn't be so bad, anyway. It wasn't like he cared for transfiguration in the first place.

He took a deep breath and cleared his head, his mind coming back into focus to hear Xailah's theory on dreams. George had had some nightmares himself, recently. That could be a cause of it, he thought - his conscious experience in his dorm had grown mightily unpleasant, why not his unconscious? The boy shook his head around, trying to shake out those mean thoughts. "I'm sorry, I messed it up. Give me one second..."

George set down the matchstick on the table and glanced aside to Jake's doodles, furrowing his brow. Were his dreams turning from happy dragons and erumpents into big clouds of squiggles, too? The failure to cast had dragged the small amount of morale George had brought out from under him. But then Jake saw the cat, and George saw Jake, and everything seemed to be looking up once more.

"Go on, pet him!" George encouraged him, reinvigorated. "Jake really loves animals."

Meenauh listened to Xailah's short monologue about dreams. Whatever happens, they both had a great deal of experience with those. For now, it was the highest class of magic she encountered in her life. She giggled once Xailah brought everyone's attention to the word 'nightmares'. It looked like she was telling horror stories to little children. She was, indeed, the oldest of them all.

After the whole routine with the matchsticks, she nodded to Xailah's and George's compliment to her truly flawless performance. That wasn't a difficult spell for her, considering the amount of practice put into all transfiguration spells she was studying.

Jake seemed to be the most insecure of his abilities child ever. He seemed, maybe he actually wasn't, but just too sleepy to process anything. George seemed to be a more active child, though a bit hectic. He listened more carefully and was understanding what Meenauh was talking about, as he was rummaging through his notes in the search of the Efficiency Postulate. Being hectic was a no-go for Transfiguration. He pointed at the matchstick and cast the spell. The wand movement seemed correct, though he may have spent too much time actually focusing on the image and thus not focusing enough on the transformation itself. And she failed to clearly understand the incantation behind the mumbling. He wasn't happy with it as well and he even apologised for it...

"Okay, I see. Maybe the images were not that good of an idea. As you're pretty low on energy now, you may be focusing too much on following the symbol instead of focusing on what should happen," she explained calmly, "Try imagining the metallic needle. Visualise the needle instead of the matchstick. Remove the visuals of wood in your view and imagine metal," word by word she was trying to nail the whole idea of transfiguration into the boy's head. Teaching a spell is one thing, but why not aiming higher?

"The wand movement should be automatic. Follow the symbol several times to automate it on the physical level and then switch to imagining your result. And... pronounce it clearer this time. We wouldn't want to deal with any severe consequences in the presence of a prefect here, right?" she pointed at Xailah with an inclination of her head.

Then the whole focus switched to the furry animal, who instantly became the centre of everyone's attention. Despite she loved the animal as if it was her own animal, she still involuntarily sighed. She didn't like distractions from the points of her egocentric interests.

"I guess a short break would be only beneficial," she put her wand on the table, as George suggested petting the cat, and sat back into her chair. The animal was a tender ball of pure delight. Of course, Jake would love to pet him.

Jake watched his friend try to cast with distant sleepy eyes. He struggled to hold his focus, as the world seemed to move in slow motion. George's spell didn't work, but it was alright. It was a really hard one - had to be, if George couldn't do it. George could do so many spells that he couldn't. Meenauh tried to help them - they had to imagine. It shouldn't have been hard, but maybe it was now. His imagination lately didn't work as good as it once had. Really, he didn't like to use it too much anyway, because when it did work it usually turned into something it hadn't been meant to be, and when some things came into his head he just couldn't get them out. It was easier to try not thinking of anything at all, but that didn't really help with magic.

The kitty was a welcome distraction.

Jake watched the cat as it was lifted by the older girl. It seemed content to be carried, and to be placed down on the table. He forgot all about transfiguration practice. Just watched the animal walk.

George urged him to pet the cat, and since the animal's owner seemed alright with it, and Meenauh seemed alright with a break, Jake reached forward slowly. He didn't want to scare the creature. He was always careful when he spoke to animals, knowing what it could be like when something came at you unexpectedly - a stranger you didn't know. He didn't want the cat to feel small and helpless, to feel frightened at what his intentions might be. "Hi Schroeder," Jake greeted (unfortunately more familiar with A Charlie Brown Christmas than Austrian physicists). "May I pet you? Don't worry, I won't hurt you...I'm nice. Promise." he said softly, reaching out a slow hand to touch the animal's fur.

The cat was soft, and Jake gently stroked it. It didn't pull away. It seemed like he maybe enjoyed it. Jake whispered a little more. "Aww, there ya go, you're a good boy. We're practicing transfiguration if you'd like to watch." Jake felt the warmth of his fur, and found that he was smiling. It made his mouth feel weird. He sniffled a little. He didn't really know why. It was only for a moment.

"How old is he?" Jake asked Xailah, curiosity in his voice, now leaning forward to take a closer look.

Matchstick to needle. Matchstick to needle. Sounded simple enough. So it should have in theory been simple enough to cast. However this did not seem to be the case. A odd look of disappointment began to creep across the metamorphs face. It was the kind of look, that a disappointed parent would give their child. "You don't want to be here." She stated in a nearly inaudible whisper. It was more of a blatant observation if anything. The way the older-looking badger acted- his body language, it said it all. He had no interest in this. He lacked the care, the drive. She wanted to tell Meenauh that she was wasting her time, that these boys did not want to learn. At least, not while they were in their current condition. But she kept her mouth shut. Meenauh seemed to enjoy explaining things to the two badgers, and Xailah had no intention to take that enjoyment away from her. The prefect laughed a little, when Meenauh gestured toward her. She was not a particularly good prefect. She had a complete disregard for the school rules, so the chances of the badger duo getting in trouble, were low.

However when the attention was directed towards her cat, the metamorph dipped her head a little, as if she were an ashamed dog. Hearing Meenauh sigh; she would mutter an apology. "Sssorry." The lioness allowed Schrödinger to pad across the table towards the small badger; his round form, which vaguely resembled fuzzy Jell-O, jiggling with every move. For a second, it would appear that something good would come from the evening. Schrödinger was not an aggressive animal. Never had been. Never would be. But he would never attack anything without reason. Cats are rather funny creatures. Something about them makes them seem so mystical. Cats can sense things that humans can not. They can see the things that humans do not want to see. Schrödinger saw something when he padded over to that boy. Something that he did not like. And it was something that his humans did not see.

He sat down in front of the Hufflepuff lad; the parchment the boy had been doodling on, crumpled beneath the weight of the fat feline. The boy, Jake looked like a regular boy, but he didn't smell right. He had something funny on his face too. Was Boy Jake going to hurt his mistress, and friend of mistress? Schrödinger's tail swayed like the pendulum of a clock, contemplating. He was no coward. Xailah ignored the warning- the swishing of his tail. She saw it, yet she brushed it off. For whatever reason, she thought it was nothing. "Schrödinger." She corrected the boy, a solemn smile resting on her face. Unfamiliar with many pop-culture icons- seeing that she was raised in a pureblood household; she simply thought the boy had trouble saying the cats name. The lad questioned the age of the feline. "Oh, lets see... His birthday was in back in October so he is..."

She drew a blank, her focus resting on the feline. As the boy pet him, his ears began to flatten. His short grey fur began to stand on end. "Four years old." She blinked back at the younger looking boy, finally realizing what Schrödinger was about to do. "Shit." She jumped from her seat, but she was not fast enough to stop what would happen next. Schrödinger, being the very brave boy that he was, would proceed to launch himself from the tables surface. If Jake was not fast enough, the yowling, mass of fur would then latch itself onto the small Hufflepuffs face; as if he were one of those face-hugger things from the movie Alien. "Schrödinger! What the hell?!" The lioness was quite frankly in shock. This behavior from Schrödinger was unnatural. This was the first time he had fully attacked a student.

Meenauh and Xailah seemed to be unhappy with him, but he didn't have the energy to care. What was there to care about, anyway? He had failed. Of course they were mad at him - he had done it all wrong, and he knew it, and he seemed to care more about his friend petting the cat than about him getting his homework done. George would be angry if he was trying to teach someone with George's attitude, too.

The cat was insanely fat. It looked like a lump of... fat. Or a big blob of jello, wobbling over to Jake with all the predatory grace of a hippopotamus. He looked quite silly with how he walked, and George reached out to hover his hands near the cat, waiting his turn to pet it. He'd never owned a pet until he bought Cadmus, and feathers weren't as soft as fur, and owls were more likely to tear your face off than cuddle you at any rate. They were pretty birds, but they seemed to regard their owners with more disdain than affection. The bond between him and his owl was a purely professional relationship.

Jake's drawings were crushed under the weight of Schrodinger's heavy bottom. No great loss. George watched as the cat's tail swayed, scrunching his nose up slightly. They did that before they jumped, didn't they? As Xailah answered the question about the fat cat's birthday, more red flags flew - flattened ears, fur on end. George's hands, poised to pet, were now poised to intervene. It was unusual for him to be acting like this. Jake had never had any trouble with animals since he'd met him - everyone's pets loved him. And everything sprang into action at once - it was a beautifully conducted symphony of chaos, with Xailah and George springing for the fat cat as its fat grey body wobbled out of reach like a frog leaping from a lilypad and onto poor Jake's face. The weight of that big old feline was liable to break poor Jake's neck!

George grabbed on tight to the sides of the cat's belly - it was likely he would earn a few scratches himself with how he was manhandling the poor kitty who was only trying to protect them, but at first glance, he had to take Jake's side in the fight. He used his wand to prod him in the side - thinking better of casting tarantallegra, which could just make the kitty shred up poor Jake's face into ribbons. It was a glancing blow - cherry wood dipping slightly into the cat's blubber, flexing slightly, and then bouncing off. He would need help with the removal, and he looked to Xailah.

"Get that fat cat off his face!"

She was resting in the armchair. Her left elbow served as a stand for her head. The palm of her left hand was covering her eyes, her nose and a part of her forehead. While her other arm was stretched into the armchair's arm, she was clearly massaging her temples with her eyes closed. It was evening and she was already kind of tired. Not as tired as the boys, but still.

She didn't change her stance after hearing Jake trying to tame the animal. He succeeded in taming despite his condition. It was probably easier than Transfiguration anyway. Whatever. She shouldn't be harsh on them. She never believed everyone has to be successful in everything. If transfiguration is of no interest for someone, they should let it go and focus on something they are better at. Like taming animals, for example. Maybe Jake will be one of the best and famous magizoologists in history. Why Transfiguration? This educational system had to die out. The school shouldn't try to force everyone into everything. And definitely not evaluate them equally. If she'd ever become responsible for the education of the wizard children, she'll revolutionise it. Those were her thoughts during the whole process of the innocent play with the pet.

She didn't change her stance after hearing Xailah's quiet apology. She didn't have to, she said herself they didn't want to be there in the first place. She had her senses and Meenauh knew she could see through people and grasp the essence of their existence.

"It's okay, don't worry," she answered in the same quiet way.

And then she heard noises, swearing and hassle. She stopped massaging her temples and slowly lifted her head, letting her palm down to cover her nose and her mouth now. Because, indeed, there were no words. She stayed like that for several seconds, blinking as if not believing she was actually watching it live. Watching a boy, trying to get the cat off the other boy's face. Xailah's exclamation was the most perfect description of the situation. Because, literally, no explanation could be put on the table.

During the next several seconds, instead of helping, Meenauh was still sitting with a palm over her mouth, pondering over... not a way to help the boy, but actually over the reason why the most peaceful being on the planet attacked the most harmless boy on the planet. Did he hurt the animal? Meenauh remembered multiple occasions when Xailah allowed to pet the cat. No one ever failed at this innocent activity. How in the world did the boy manage to get the cat angry enough to attack? It made literally no sense.

She drew her wand and finally stood up to take a better aim. It would be quite far from her original plan if her intended spell would miss the intended target.

"I am sorry, Xai," she apologised and took a breath, concentrating on the furious piece of fur, "Depulso," she said with determination and the whitish bolt left the tip of her wand, rapidly moving towards the cat.

@George Henry @Xailah Alptraum @Meenauh Silmataurea

Jake was surprised to hear the correction on the cat's name - Schrodinger it turned out, not Schroeder. He repeated the name back, looking to the animal for a sign that he had gotten it right this time. He looked up questioningly at Xailah for a moment, since as far as he knew Schrodinger wasn't a name at all - but maybe it was just some kind of word he didn't know.

He was told the age of the cat too, and filed it away in his memory. For the first time since the start of their study session Jake found himself speaking a little more easily with one of the older students. "Four years old," he repeated, looking up at the girl with the golden eyes. "How many is that in human years?" He knew that with dogs you could count by sevens, but with cats...he tried to remember if he had ever been told.

He paused in his thoughts as he suddenly noticed the raising of the fur, the flattening of the ears - telltale signs of anxiety and danger. Jake drew his hand back slowly. "It's okay," he assured the large cat. "You don't have to watch if you don't---"

But he didn't get to finish his sentence - with a yowl and a leap the cat launched itself off of the table, attaching himself right to Jake's face. A large mass of fur and claws swung wildly, and Jake toppled backward in surprise, tumbling out of the chair he sat in and landing with a shocked 'oof' onto the floor. His arms raised reflexively to try and protect his face as he heard George yell for his rescue, and then as suddenly as it had started the assault was over. Shrodinger went flying across the room and skidded away in a mad scramble to safety.

Jake sat up, stunned, his hands touching his face - or the hard exterior that wrapped it. He hadn't felt scrapes - there was no blood, his cheeks as smooth and untouched as ever. It was the fall that had hurt most, and more than anything he was shaken up. He looked at the fleeing kitty and realized he must have been magic'd away.

"I-It's not his fault!" Jake urged, holding up his hands. "Don't be mad at him!" Then the surprise of his fall and attack seemed to catch up with him, and his lower lip began to quiver. He struggled against it, trying hard not to cry in front of the older girls. "I-I'm okay," the small boy tried to assure, touching what should have been his face some more as his heart beat quickly in his chest, propping himself weakly up upon his hands.

The prefect was honestly more concerned for her cats safety, than the Hufflepuff childs face. What if the kid bit him? Sure, it would require the littlest badger to detach his jaw like a snake- which he appeared to be incapable of doing; but Hogwarts children were weird! She didn't want to take the risk. Truthfully, the lad did look rather harmless- not to the large grey cat though. Cats don't attack without reason. What was Schrödinger's reason? Schrödinger, saw something that laid beyond the mask of innocence, that the child wore. Something dangerous. It was something that he felt threatened by, and it was something he figured that he needed to protect his own from. That was Schrödinger's reason. It wasn't a particularly groundbreaking reason, or one that was easily understood by his human counterparts, but it was a reason.

At the end of the day, he could feel good about the effort he made. "Schrödinger no! Bad kitty, don't eat his face!" Xailah would find herself, getting up, and running across the table to intervene. It was a pitiful sight, really. Jake and Schrödinger. The badger boy was just so small, and Schrödinger was just... freakishly huge compared to the child. There was no way Schrödinger wasn't suffocating the kid. The Gryffindor would first watch the other badger- George, attempt to pry the fuzzy, grey, facehugger off of his friend. He would attempt, and he would fail. And then he would proceed to poke- no jab the creature (the cat, just to clarify). George was clearly not a cat person. Schrödinger let out sharp yowl, as the tip of the badgers, Cherry wood wand probed at his squishy underbelly. "Don't poke him! It's only going to make him angrier!" She warned, a little too late. Schrödinger's cries of fear, and anger, echoed throughout the place of study. "Move!"

The Gryffindor bellowed, as she shoved past the boy, George. She didn't want to hear Schrödinger's yowling anymore. In one quick, fluid motion, the lioness would snag the breathing ball of lard, by his thick, neck scruff; in hopes that would make him release the childs face. "Let go of his face, you little chicken ssshit!" The girls brute force, and pointless profanity, were ineffective tactics. Schrödinger continued to yowl, and his grip around Jakes face only tightened. Xailah was about to just let the cat rearrange Jakes face, at that point- she certainly contemplated doing so, but then Meenauh came to the rescue. Meenauh apologized. But for what? What was she going to do to her cat?! Xailah stared in horror as she watched her friend aim her wand at the cat. "Meenauh? Meenauh! No what are you-" Depulso- more like DepulsNO you did not just do that. "No!"

Meenauh's aim was true. Unfortunately. And just like that, Schrödinger was sent flying through the air, like a living football. There was just something so enchanting about how he sliced, and pirouetted through the air; in what felt like slow-motion. His rolls of fat jiggled, like a pair of weird meaty wings, that were preparing to break his fall. But Schrödinger wasn't falling- no, he was flying. He was flying right into the wall. As the feline made contact with the wall, he would briefly morph into it; his rippling rolls of fat, expanded themselves against the brickwork, before shoving him away. Schrödinger, would be fine, however he would suffer from a little bit of shock. Nothing too serious. Good thing he had a squishy outer-layer to protect him, from the wall. The mold-colored animal would scurry away quickly, his mistress following after.

"Oh Meenauh, you didn't have to throw him across the room!" The Gryffindor cried, as she crawled under the desk that Schrödinger had squeezed himself under. "Its okay Schrödinger, Meenauh didn't mean it." She tried to reassure the animal, but Schrödinger was no fool. She turned to the group, her eyes drifting to the small Hufflepuff, who was apologizing profusely. What she was expecting to see, was not what she saw. She was expecting to see blood, and lots of it- but this boys face looked as if it had been untouched. "Your face..." The girls thin eyebrows, crinkled in concern. Her slitted pupils flexed, as she tried to figure out what to make of the lack of bruises on the child's skin. Either Jake had skin like a dragons, or Schrödinger had claws made of jelly. The lioness knew from personal experience, that the latter was false.

Poking him would only make him angrier? George would be surprised if the cat even noticed he was being poked - he seemed to be entirely focused with tearing the face off of George's best friend. Xailah shoved past him, and he clenched his jaw... but didn't act against her. She owned the thing after all - if anyone could play the cat whisperer where Jake couldn't, it would be the owner, surely. But all she seemed capable of doing was swearing at it and grabbing its rolls, ineffectively tugging at the cat's scruff. It made no difference - that thing was made of rubber. Before George could dive in to try and kick the cat off his face like a football, Meenauh acted, banishing the poor feline across the room.

The situation resolved itself as quickly as it had popped off. He wondered if Meenauh and Xailah always performed such an exciting double act for their study buddies, or if this was something special they put together for them. George's concern for the animal was secondary - he had a smile on his face when he looked up and saw the big blubbery bastard waddling away and squishing himself under a desk. He couldn't help but laugh. It was nice to see karma come around - not only for the cat, but for himself. Finally, he wasn't the only one who had to save little Jake.

George took in a sudden breath as he heard Xailah pointing out Jake's face, fearing the worst, but a quick inspection revealed that Jake was completely unharmed. Of course, that didn't mean he wouldn't cry. George couldn't help but roll his eyes as he squat down and took the younger Hufflepuff by the arm, trying to lift him up to his feet. "Walk it off! You're alright," George assured the smaller badger, pointing out his face. "He didn't even get a scratch on you. Maybe he just thought your face looked comfortable. Cadmus would have ripped your head off."