The one and only Moustache
Autumn break had finally arrived, and with it, the promise of Richard getting his first pet. The only condition for him to have the funds to buy one was to get good grades in the first part of the school year. Accompanied by his mother, Richard stood in front of the magical menagerie.
“So Rich, does one of them have your attention? Look at this spider, it’s marvelous!” exclaimed his mother, her eyes shining. “I had one during my second year... unfortunately, it seems to have escaped to the Forbidden Forest... I haven’t seen it since,” she finished with a touch of melancholy.
Richard watched his mother, amused to imagine her walking around with a spider on her shoulders. It must have made more than one person jump in the corridors. The idea was indeed very tempting... having a spider...
“I’m still hesitating. Can we go inside?” he asked impatiently.
Her mother nodded approvingly. They both went into the shop. Shouts, yelps, coos, meows. It was a joyful cacophony in there! After all, there was so much foot traffic in the shop that the animals must be feeling overstimulated.
Richard's inquisitive eyes first fell upon some owls. Some had their backs to him, resolutely indifferent, while others seemed to be observing him like a professor who had just given him a troll for his Potions homework. Richard couldn't help but smirk. As he approached the reptiles, one of the owls on the end of the wire cowardly tried to bite his ear. Richard leaped to the right, narrowly avoiding the attack. He surmised that having two little sisters had allowed him to develop reflexes he had never anticipated. Saying an embarassed "stop" to his mother, who couldn't help but burst out laughing as she held his shoulders, he turned his attention back to the reptiles. Salazar... observing geranium shoots was more captivating than them.
With a sigh, he turned away from the terrariums, paying no attention to the croups. Popular as they were, they required too much maintenance, and their dependency was a trait that would undoubtedly test his patience in the long run.
“Good morning young man...,” said a lady with a friendly smile. Surprised to have been approached without seeing her coming, Richard greeted her by tilting his head, “Madam”.
“There are plenty of choices, aren’t there? These croups have just been brought in. Real angels that would be a perfect match for you... don’t you think?”
Richard felt his mother's hand gently squeeze his shoulder. He quickly replied with all the politeness he had been taught, "I'm certain of that, Madam... but an independent spirit would be much more suited to me." The old lady with the sparkling eyes gave him a broad smile.
“A cat, then... very popular too. Some have been here for a long time, others have been brought here last week and, well, their character... well, you can imagine,” she laughed, extending her arm towards the cages where the cats were locked up, not far from the shop counter.
Richard glanced at his mother, who winked back. His eagerness rekindled, he followed the old witch like a shadow. “Here are our cats... be careful with that one, he’s very timid. He’s been here for five years, but it’s never gotten any better... this one is young, she comes from Scotland and...”
Richard's attention had shifted from the old witch to a black cat, locked in a cage at knee height. He crouched down, his eyes resolutely fixed on the black fur of a young cat... no, a female, according to the small sign attached to the cage. Very slowly, he reached out and pressed his hand against the bars. The advantage of having grown up with the family cat was that it had taught him cat manners, their boundaries.
The cat, curled into a ball, kept her yellow eyes vigilant for a few moments before unfurling, stretching, and opening her little mouth wide. Blinking slowly, she extended her hind legs and then very slowly approached Richard's hand. Like an Auror from the Ministry of Magic, she sniffed every inch of skin before delivering her verdict: to rub herself vigorously against the bars, demanding caresses that Richard didn't hesitate to give. The cat paced back and forth along the bars. In the young Slytherin's mind, the cat had chosen him well, because yes...
“Like magic wands, young man... it is cats who choose their masters... Any ideas for a name for him?”, the amused voice of the old witch broke the moment of exchange between Richard and his future cat.
“Moustache... yes, Moustache would be perfect,” Richard replied with a growing smile.
“Ah ah, yes, I suppose his whiskers give him a fine moustache...” agreed the witch, who then turned her attention to Richard’s mother. “I suppose that’s a good deal settled?”
Richard paid no attention to the rest of the conversation. He was only occupied with twisting his fingertips to try and pet the cat as best he could, which was now purring enthusiastically.
WC : 841
| ⟆ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑷𝑶𝑳𝒀𝑮𝑳𝑶𝑻 𝑷𝑨𝑻𝑯 ⟅ E𝗇𝗀𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗁, F𝗋𝖾𝗇𝖼𝗁, V𝖾𝖾𝗅𝖺 |
𝔔𝔲𝔦𝔡 𝔓𝔯𝔬 𝔔𝔲𝔬 ●═════ﺤ ⚜ -═════● |
STA (4) | EVA (5) | STR (4) ⟅ WIS (7) | ARC (8) | ACC (7) ⟆ |