The black cat snickered to herself at the reaction of the man running the seafood stand when about seven pieces of sushi levitated into the air. Smirking as the man ran off into the streets shouting about demon sushi, Blair used her magic to bring the food over to her. "It's always fun to see them freak out when their stuff starts floating!" She giggled to herself before digging into her meal. After she had eaten, she decided to further explore the town. It was an extremely boring neighbourhood. All the houses were too neat and orderly. There was nothing interesting about anything in town. That is, until she stumbled across a house... Number 4 Privet Drive. Blair hopped onto the fence and took a look at the yard, hoping to see something interesting.
'Let's see...Lawn gnomes...Wow, haven't seen, like, twenty five thousand of those already... Flower gardens...boooooring! A little boy doing yard work...' The cat's eyes focused on the working child. He was small, wearing clothes that appeared to be far too big for him. He had messy, jet black hair, emerald green eyes, and big round glasses. 'Awww, he's such a cutie! Blair internally gushed as she watched the little boy work. She looked around the yard. There didn't seem to be anyone else around... 'Hmm...I could probably get away with dropping in and saying hi... better not talk, though...I don't wanna scare the poor boy.' And with that, Blair jumped off the fence and into the yard.
Harry ignored the immense pain racking his body as he pulled the sharp weeds out from the dirt, wincing as the prickly stems dug into his bare hands. He wished Uncle Vernon would let him use working gloves...But he knew that only people got to wear them. Freaks weren't allowed. Sighing, Harry went back to his work, when he heard a soft thump on the ground behind him. Nervously, he looked behind him, expecting Dudley to be sneaking up behind him, intent on getting a surprise attack in before beating him senseless like he deserved. Instead, he saw a small black cat wearing a witch's hat. Harry gasped and backed away as the cat began to approach him.
Blair frowned at the little boy's demeanour. She just wanted to say hello...She was just a little kitty, what did he think she was gonna do, maul him? Not to be discouraged, Blair continued to approach. She just had to be gentle. She had seen enough children around the various towns she had been to to know that they could be sensitive...
Harry backed up against the fence as the cat came closer. Uncle Vernon had told him that animals hated freaks just as much as people do when he had asked if he could pet his aunt Marge's dog...He was proved correct when the dog immediately began growling at him. What would this cat do when she got close enough...? Claw his eyes out? Harry whimpered at the thought and buried his face into his knees...He flinched when he felt something touch him...Then...Nothing happened. Harry slowly brought his face out of his knees and looked down to see the cat was resting its paws against his leg, looking up at him expectantly. Harry blinked. It...wasn't going to attack him? But animals hated freaks! If it didn't want to hurt him, what did it want? The little boy blinked when the cat nuzzled his leg. Did...did it want to be petted? Slowly, cautiously, Harry reached a hand out and placed it on the cat's head. The little black cat smiled and nuzzled into the touch, light purrs escaping it. Harry took that as a sign he was doing something right, and began to gently stroke the cat's head. The cat was purring like a car's engine. The sound was oddly soothing... Then Harry remembered he had yard work to do, and if he stopped, Uncle Vernon would find out. He didn't want his uncle to punish him again... Reluctantly, Harry withdrew his hand, looked at the cat apologetically as it meowed in protest, and returned to his work.
Blair was vastly disappointed. It had been ages since anyone had actually petted her...She forgot just how nice it felt...But she understood. He did have chores to do after all... Wait...those were some pretty sharp looking weeds...Why didn't he have gloves, like all the other people she had seen weeding? She winced when she saw the cuts in his tiny hands caused by the needles on the weeds. 'Ouch...can't his parents afford gloves? Their house looks nice enough...' Blair shook off the thoughts. 'Maybe I can keep the little pumpkin company while he works!' Smiling at the thought, the cat ran up to the little boy's side and smiled up at him. Harry looked down at her, smiled back, and returned to his work, occasionally stopping to scratch behind her ears like he had managed to glimpse on the telly once. In fact, the boy actually started to softly speak to her.
"Um...M-My n-name's Harry... Um...I...I guess it's a little bit odd t-talking to a cat...B-But...it's n-nice to have s-someone to t-talk to..." Blair tilted her head. What about his parents? "S-Sorry I can't pet you anymore...Uncle V-Vernon will kill me if the weeds aren't pulled..." Blair frowned.
'I understand getting mad at kids for not doing their work...but threatening to kill a five year old's a little strong, isn't it?' Shaking her head, Blair laid down beside the boy as he worked. He softly spoke to her some more. She managed to learn that he lived with his aunt, uncle and cousin because his parents died in a car crash when he was a baby, he was to keep his voice down when doing yard work so the neighbours couldn't hear him, and he didn't exactly have a high opinion of himself because he kept calling himself a freak. Blair's content smile quickly turned into a frown once again. 'Huh...why don't these people want their neighbours to know the little Pumpkin exists? And why does he keep calling himself a freak? Looks totally normal to me...' Despite all that though, it was extremely endearing that he spoke to her as if she was a person. She wanted to speak back to him, but by this point she was almost positive that it would scare him if she just suddenly started talking. So she just listened. This went on for about an hour before the door to the house opened. Blair, in a moment of panic of being caught, immediately leapt into the garden's dirt, burying herself in it and hiding her from view.
"BOY! IN HERE NOW!" Harry stopped staring in confusion at the spot where the cat was currently buried under several inches of dirt, but shook it off and immediately went inside for his daily punishment. Vernon grabbed him by the arm, roughly dragged him inside and slammed the door.
After the door slammed shut, the dirt in the garden slowly began to rise and fall. After this happened about three times, Blair's head popped out from the dirt, coughing and spitting up dirt. After she was assured that her mouth was clean, Blair dug herself out. "Geez, if he wants to keep Harry a secret so bad, maybe he shouldn't yell his name out loud...I could hear it from under the dirt!" The cat muttered to herself. She then tried to shake the dirt off of her body. When most of the dirt stubbornly clung to her fur, she let out a pitiful mewl. "Why couldn't they have bushes or something for me to hide in? It's gonna take me hours to get all this dirt out of my fur!" She whined. Then she got to thinking...She did not like the way that man had talked to Harry...He sounded very cruel.. Probably best not to get caught by him...Blair looked back at the house and smiled despite herself. "Harry's such a sweetie..." She said fondly. Almost instantly, she had grown fond of the little boy. He was so cute, she just wanted to turn into her human form and hug him for the rest of her life! She considered visiting again... She weighed her options. "Okay...on the upside...I get to spend time with the little cutie...He looked kinda sad, maybe I can make him happy...And I get to be petted! On the downside, I could get caught, and my only hiding place is a yard of dirt..." Blair tapped a paw against her chin, then smiled back at the house. "I'll see you tomorrow, Pumpkin." And with that, the cat leapt over the fence and left the house behind, looking forward to seeing Harry again. Hopefully he would be doing yard work again...