The Kitten Infestation.
It was the last weeks before Lily Luna, Lucy and Hugo started their first year at Hogwarts. The letters had come, lists inside, and all that was left to decide on was pets. They all decided on kittens, Lily choosing a black and white, Hugo choosing a Siamese, and Lucy choosing a Persian.
At the last family gathering before the return to school, they had all brought their kittens to show them off. After dinner, Molly and Arthur exchanged glances.
"Do you want to or shall I, Molly?" Arthur asked. Everyone looked at him with confusion.
"Perhaps you should explain first Arthur." Molly replied, seeing everyone's confused looks.
"The rule was made in 1965 I believe. Just before we left for summer holidays. I was in my fifth year and Molly was in her sixth. It was something that had been building for years. And that year it exploded. For years people had been bringing their cats to school and in the year of '65, I don't know if more students than usual brought cats that year or if some had been left behind in years previously. Whatever the cause, there were hundreds of cats everywhere. Around Christmas break, most students must have left their cats at school over the break. About a month later there were pregnant cats everywhere. Then it happened." Arthur paused for effect.
"What happened?" Lily Luna asked breathlessly. Everyone in the room was hanging on his every word.
"The Kitten Infestation. All the pregnant cats seemed to give birth at the same time. Hogwarts was flooded with kittens. There were hundreds of them. Kids that had always wanted one but for some reason couldn't have one could now pick from hundreds. I believe Argus Filch, who would have been an apprentice to Appollyon Pringle at the time, had lost an old cat at the start of that year and with the infestation he was able to adopt a new friend." Arthur smiled fondly at the thought of Hogwarts overrun with kittens.
"Mrs Norris was one of those kittens?" Harry grinned. "No wonder he was so upset when she was petrified."
"After that, Dumbledore put in place a rule that all cats should be neutered before coming to school."
As the kittens were neutered, everyone sat imagining Hogwarts flooded with cats and kittens. Lily Luna wished she had been there to see it.
Hermione finally realised why, in her third year, Professor McGonagall had checked Crookshanks. The pet shop must have taken care of it when Crookshanks was given to them because Hermione had never thought to neuter him.
Lily Luna wondered if it could be magically undone. Part of her wanted another kitten infestation to happen. Harry caught her eye and knew exactly what she was thinking.
"Don't you dare."
Lily Luna merely smiled innocently...