Pampering a Pampered Pet PV Dee Fin

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The corners of Dee's mouth twitched upwards at the mischief in Alan's voice when he talked about his cat's misdeeds. "Oh no, for sure, outsmarting the rules deserves a reward," she replied, grinning. "You're only in trouble if you get caught after all, right?" That was much of the principle Dee had tended to live by before she'd come to Hogwarts. Well, honestly, kind of still was. She hadn't gotten into much trouble in the past year, but that didn't mean she hadn't toed along a few rules here and there - or jumped straight across them. Maybe she'd just gotten better at not being caught. "I think Theo would be smart enough to sneak in, too, he just couldn't be bothered. Too much effort when he can also get food delivered to him, you know? I think he sleeps like 18 hours a day."

Tiger had let himself be drawn by the treats on her outstretched hand at this point, sniffing at the tips of her fingers before apparently deciding she could at least be trusted to feed him fish treats. Dee smiled down at him, fondness softening her eyes, before she looked up at the shock in Alan's voice. "Hm? Oh, yeah, he is! My mum says it was my first case of uncontrolled magic, I honestly barely remember it. Apparently I was really angry about something. Could have gone worse, I guess." She grinned, all shiny white teeth, bright and unrepentant. "I'm still not sure how they explained it to our neighbours, but they decided to leave him that way. My dad thinks it's funny, he convinced my mum."

Deciding she'd given Tiger enough time to get used to her scent, she moved her now empty hand to stroke his head, then scooped him up and straightened up, grinning at Alan. "So what were you planning to do?"

@Alan Vanes

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"Exactly! That's what I think, I cannot punish him for being smarter than the rules!" he was glad to hear that she would agree and he could already tell just based on this that the two of them would get along just fine. "Tiger takes a lot of catnaps throughout the day, but he knows when I'm out of class and he knows when it's feeding time; sometimes I feel like he is too smart for his own goods!", he exclaimed with a chuckle, all the way grinning like a fool.

He had to giggle at her explanation of her neighbors and their cat and would nod. "Are you neighbor Muggles?, he asked curiously and wondered how it would be to grow up with a Muggle next doors. His parents had with full purpose chosen a living place where there was no one around to make sure that no one could find out their little secret. At this point it would not be awful of course, since Alan had his powers under control but now they had gotten used to the place and it was a wonderful place as well.

When she would ask what they would do now, after she had caught the escaped tiger, he hummed as he took a look around the room, before his eyes settled on a tub that they could use to give his pawed friend a bath. "Let's give him a bath! He enjoys those every now and then, if the water isn't cold," he suggested with a grin, as he stepped towards the table before giving the Ravenclaw girl a smile.

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Dee huffed out a small laugh at the obvious pride in Alan's voice as he elaborated on how smart Tiger was. A doting cat-parent all the way, proud of his companion. Alan was... adorable, although it seemed odd to use that word on someone two years her senior, it was still the best fit. "He seems very smart," she agreed mildly, grinning in return.

"Ah, yes they are! I grew up in a Muggle town, you probably haven't heard of it, it's not very big. Or exciting. Or famous, for any reason. It's called Whitehaven, and I'm not sure there are any other wizards who live there," she explained easily. "Which was kind of the point when my parents chose to move there." She shrugged, considered elaborating, but decided he'd ask if he wanted to know more. A year ago she might have just burst out with it all, but, well, things had changed a little since then. "So all my neighbours and friends were Muggles, I went to a Muggle school before I came to Hogwarts. I kind of miss them, but I got to see them in summer, so that was nice." Honestly, she missed the town more than the people, with the exception of her parents. The view of the sea, the taste of salt in the air. Climbing cliffs.

Looking down at the cat in her arms and remembering how much energy he could have, she snorted, but nodded. "I'm going to leave getting him into the water to you, though. My experiences with cat baths are generally not very good." She had scars from a certain blue cat's claws on her arms to prove it.

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Alan would nod and listen to the small ramble. "I haven't," he had to agree and pondered over the thought for a bit. "I wonder if there even is a way to know if there are any other wizards who live around you, that would be a little cool right? Imagine all it took was a spell and it would point you towards the nearest one, like a compass!" he said with a mischievous chuckle in his voice as he pondered the thought some more. He now had to think if there actually was a way to know, because after all every wizard that ever existed had been somewhat tracked by this magic book that let people know who needed to be sent their Hogwarts letter. "How does your cat like the color of their coat, it surely must think it looks absolutely stunning!" he would grin at the girl happily.

When she mentioned a Muggle school his eyes widened and he visibly jumped a litte. "Really? How was that for you? I was always tutored at home since I was a kid, my parents usually taught me when they were done with work," he explained, excited to hear about Muggle schools and the ways they worked. Muggles seemed pretty interesting and Alan had yet to figure out how Muggles even wanted to be Muggles, then again he assumed they didn't know there was anything but being a Muggle. He did however hear that Muggles wrote books about people like them, some more and some less accurate which was kind of fascinating. What was it like for a muggle to realize that magic was indeed real and nothing evil?

"Oh you can simply set him down beside the bath tub if you want to, he doesn't mind water much, he isn't like most cats," he explained grinning even more, but offered his arms for her to hand over Tiger back to him so that he could be the one to lower him into the warm water. Surely the feline by now had figured out what was about to happen next...

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Dee straightened up, tilting her head to one side thoughtfully. "Well, you can track underage magic, right? To make sure that we don't use magic before we're adults? Or at least, that muggle-born kids don't." The wizard-born folks were supposed to be kept in check by their parents. She frowned slightly. "Although I'm not sure how that works, honestly, just that it does, somehow, and the Ministry knows how?"

Her face grew a little more serious, bright curiosity dimming down. "It's probably good that not anyone can, and that it doesn't work on adults. Some people would rather not be tracked down that easily." Her parents had successfully hidden from her grandparents for years, after all. It hadn't lasted forever, they'd discovered them at some point, but by that time their life in Whitehaven had been stable and interwoven with the Muggle society around them. They weren't easy to uproot now.

Shrugging the thought off, she grinned at Alan's comment about Theophilius. "I don't think he cares much, honestly. He is beyond mortal folly such as vanity, removed from flaws that plague mortals like us," she explained airily, then threw her head back and laughed, a bright, joyful sound. "Or rather, he's just too lazy to care. As long as he can sleep enough, gets enough food, and gets cuddles when he wants them, he couldn't care less about the colour of his fur."

Alan perked up at the mention of Muggle schools, showing an enthusiasm that surprised her a little. Usually, people had either grown up around Muggles themselves so it wasn't anything new to them, or they didn't care enough to inquire further, probably just not thinking much of it. She shrugged, not quite knowing how to respond to that question. "It was... normal? Went to class with my friends, learned about Muggle things. Really not all that different from here, minus the magic, and that we didn't live at school, it's just a building you go to every day, and most people are glad when they can leave after classes have ended." She'd been one of those, most of the time. Muggle school had been easy, hadn't challenged her. She'd spent her days correcting others and then fleeing school as soon as the bell rang.

The mention of being home-schooled had her nodding. It had been the same for her father, although he'd had fancy tutors instead of being taught by his parents. Either way, no school for him before Hogwarts, except for maybe sometimes being taught together with other pure-blooded kids. It sounded dreadfully boring. At least she'd had her friends with her at school, had been able to cause mischief, both in class and during breaks.

When Alan offered to take Tiger, she quickly handed the cat over with a last scratch behind his ears, grinning innocently, and always happy to hand off the actual work to other people. She also took a step back for safety, despite Alan's claims that Tiger didn't mind water. Better safe than sorry, right?

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"Well I was told they tracing spell is put on the witch or wizard, and any magic in their vicinity would be noticed; so if you are in an are where magic is regularly used, you can get away with casting during breaks," he explained excitedly lowering his voice to resemble a whisper so that not everyone would be able to catch it. "That means that in a magic household or Diagon Alley there is no way to actually trace the magic back to yourself as anyone could have cast it, it's only really a threat to Muggle households and if you are alone," he explained with a mischievous grin. "To tell you a secret, I used some magic plenty when I was at home, it makes practicing easier," he would chuckle, placing a finger over his lips to indicate it being a secret.

He grinned at the way she talked about her cat, he wondered if he would get along with Tiger at all but quickly knew that the blue cat would probably be wary of such an energetic cat that liked to hang around people. He would probably think that Tiger was a peasant cat among the kings and queens. Alan shook his head with a chuckle at the vivid image that would play in his head.

"Oh I see," he hummed when Dee told him about muggle schools, he had imagined them to be more exciting and teaching about more fancy muggle things that would be fun to learn about. What had Willow called it again? The intern-net? He would also imagine that they taught about the muggle magic that Willow had told him about but sadly the muggle school sounded far more boring and less exciting than he would have hoped. "Why don't they teach muggle magic there? Willow mentioned that some muggles have ways to practice magic as well, is that not regular?" he wondered out loud as he accepted Tiger back into his arms. "Time for a bath, ain't it Tiger?" he murmured softly and gently lifted the cat over the bath tub before lowering him slowly. At first there were a few splashes when his paws would touch the water but the feline did not actually throw a fit and calmed down fast before standing in the lukewarm waters that would reach his belly and lower chest. He would turn back to Dee with a grin, "See? It's probably because he might be part kneezle, its why he is so intelligent," he explained to her. Alan often liked to imagine that he had picked up a kneezle just because the thought of having a magical creature as a companion was really fun. "Do you wanna pick a shampoo?"

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Dee blinked, looking up at Alan's explanations, and nodded. "Yeah, that's what I heard, too! That's what I meant when I said it's mostly meant to keep an eye on muggle-born kids. For everyone else, parents are supposed to make sure we behave." Which Dee's parents did, mostly. Well, her mum more than her dad, but Dee also knew that when her mum caught wind of her casting, her dad would desert her faster than she could say "Nox", so it mostly didn't seem worth the risk. But the mischief on Alan's face when he talked about practising in secret was both endearing and infectious. She returned the smile, just as impish, her eyes bright with amusement. "Thanks for the tip."

Alan readily took over the task of getting Tiger into the water, but it was what he was talking about that got Dee's attention. Not that it made any sense. Muggle... magic? Did he mean like... sleight of hand? Pulling a rabbit from a hat, making coins vanish? Why would they teach that in school?

"Uh," she made, thrown off, for once not a response ready on her tongue. "I... suppose? But... that is more like a hobby, they don't learn that at school. It doesn't have any practical use and it's just... tricks. For entertainment." Dee paused, tilting her head to one side, confusion still clear on her face. Who had told him Muggles had magic...? "Which can be pretty cool, I'll admit, but it's not... actual magic. As far as I know, at least."

Despite Alan's assurances, Dee had somewhat expected Tiger to freak out when placed into the water, but he kept admirably still. Her eyebrows rose at Alan's claim about Tiger's heritage, not quite sure if he was being serious, and not really able to judge how likely that would be. Kneazles weren't something she'd come in contact with until now, not interested enough in magical wildlife to have done her own research on them, and they hadn't shown up in any of her classes so far. "Is he really?" she asked, curiously. "How do you know? Is there some kind of characteristic feature that tells you? Where did you get him from?" Dee was generally jealous of anyone who owned a pet, after her own wheedling had fallen on deaf ears with her parents, and having a part-Kneazle cat seemed cool.

Alan's question distracted her from her sudden rush of curiosity, and she blinked, nodding. "Sure, uhm..." Turning towards the selection of bottles on the table, she stared at them for a second, then selected one at random to hand to Alan. It had a cat on the label, so it would hopefully be fine.

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"Well I also think it's less risky, even if it were to happen for example if it's only around a magical area then the secret would still be secure but if a muggle neighbor sees it, the secret is no longer secret." The Gryffindor added as an afterthought with a slight shrug. He was not all too sure what exactly the meaning of it all was but it was definitely possible to trick the system. He would nod at her, still smiling like a imp before regaining his composure.

Alan was a bit confused having heard from two different sources things that were complete opposites. Then again it's been a while since he had broached the subject with Willow so perhaps he had some false memories of it. He would glance at Dee and hummed in thought. "So it's more like illusions?" he would investigate further. If he was being honest he was a little disappointed at that. Willow had made it sound a lot more special but perhaps muggle magic was a secret craft even among muggles and regular muggles didn't necessarily know of it? Perhaps that was the key to the question and if he were to meet Willow again he could ask her about it for sure.

Dee would ask him about how he knew that Tiger was a part kneezle and Alan shrugged. "I feel it somewhat. They aren't that different from normal cats but they are far more intelligent and independent and stuff like that.... Tiger just really fits those criteria," he explained to the girl confidently as he grinned at the feline soaking in the bath tub. He would take the shampoo the girl had chosen and gave it a glance, nodding at her choice. It was a good one as it was pretty much scent less for the most part and only had a faint note of herbs. Alan would uncap the bottle and squirt some of the shampoo into the water.

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Dee shrugged and nodded. "True, I suppose. I do love in a Muggle neighbourhood, and honestly, just leaving Theo blue was probably already pushing the line a little. Although I don't think any of our neighbours are really suspicious of anything." She grinned. "We just have to be careful whenever we get visitors, because some of my mum's ingredients and potions would be rather hard to explain." Although personally, Dee would probably have found it funny to see one of her school friends stumble across a glass of fish eyes or a pouch of spider legs. Most of the neighbourhood just thought Alexandra and her vaguely nature-based salves and remedies were a little eccentric, although they were very happy to buy and use them, considering they usually proved more effective than any Muggle medicine. No one asked too many questions, which was just as well.

"Illusions, yeah, I guess," she agreed, still a little confused. "They're usually based on distracting you with something flashy while they do something else that then looks impossible, if that make sense. I don't... it's really not the most impressive things Muggles have come up with." She smiled, her face brightening up. She'd had variations of this conversation before. The ideas wizard-raised people had about Muggles were usually rather entertaining. "Their technology, that is a different matter entirely! I say this all the time, I think wixes tend to underestimate Muggles, but their technology is just as powerful as magic. More, in some ways."

Ah, so he didn't really have any proof that Tiger was part-Kneazle. For a moment, Dee was a little disappointed, but then she shrugged it off. Who knew? Maybe he was right. While Alan began mixing the shampoo into the water, Dee knelt down next to them and reached out to scratch Tiger's head. He really didn't mind the water. What an odd cat.

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