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An unexpected surprise from an adventurous guest
Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures
Level 4
Ministry of Magic
Whitehall
London
England
SW1A 2ET
Dear sir/madam,
To Whom It May Concern, This afternoon I believe I may have found a magical animal, I rescued what I believed to be an ordinary cat, but I have been informed by my four magical daughters and their best friend that it may in fact be a Kneazle. If possible would someone be able to get in contact with us? Our contact details are as followed;
Evans Family
10 River Street
Cokeworth
Derby
England
DE1 3BW
020 7323 8000
Yours sincerely,
The Evans Family
With the letter finished, Mr Evans tied it to E.B.O's leg; 'You need to take this letter to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in the Ministry of Magic' Mr Evans told E.B.O who nipped Mr Evans' finger affectionately, then, with a soft swooshing noise, spread his enormous wings and soared out of the open window.
For the rest of the night, Severus spent time with Edelweiss perched on his shoulder making low gurgling croaking sounds, sulking that she had not been chosen to deliver the letter, they both watched the four girls as they played and got attached to the Kneazle kitten. Severus did something he found himself doing more and more the longer he stayed with the Evans.
He hoped. He hoped with all his heart that there would be a happily ever after just like in all the muggle fairy tales that belonged to the Evans'. For a long time, before he had met the girls, books had been his only friends, a way to escape his troubled life, they had never let him down before, he just hoped he wasn't relying on them too much, to bring the girls a happily ever after. After getting a blanket and making a bed in the sitting room for the kneazle to sleep on, the girls and Severus all made their way to their rooms and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Severus woke at five o'clock and was too nervous with anticipation to go back to sleep, pulling on his dressing-gown he padded down to the kitchen to get a mug of warm milk. Passing the darkened sitting-room he saw four different coloured duvets and pillows around the area that the kneazle had been placed in the night before, tip-toeing into the room to investigate, Severus snorted in amusement when he came across all four girls fast asleep, the kneazle however was staring up at him. With her soulful green eyes and ginger fur, Severus couldn't help but notice how similar to Lily she looked.
'They're already attached to you, I hope they don't get their hearts broken.' Severus whispered feeling utterly ridiculous talking to a cat, even if it was a magical one.
The cat stretched and yawned, letting out a small meow padding over to him, Severus sat on the floor not wanting to tower over her and watched as she rubbed her orange fur all over his clean and pristine pyjamas. By the time she was finished she had such a smug look on her face that Severus couldn't help rolling his eyes
'Thank you so much' Severus said drily, petting her gently, the kitten purred surprisingly loudly, flicked her tail and wound herself around each of the girls before she settled back into her bed. Severus, still smirking at her audacity, made his way into the kitchen and made himself a warm cup of milk, wincing when the microwave dinged loudly in the silence.
Yawning widely, Severus rinsed off his cup and made his way to the sitting room, grabbing a spare blanket from the cupboard under the stairs along the way. Curling up on one of the long couches Severus once again drifted off to sleep.
Before too long, Severus awoke to the smell and the sounds of someone cooking breakfast and heard a distinctive click and flash of a photo being taken. Severus squinted in the bright sunshine to see Mr Evans grinning in the archway of the sitting room holding up a camera.
'Good morning!' Mr Evans called cheerfully to the room loud enough to wake up everyone,
'It's morning?' Severus slurred, still fuzzy with sleep, and the four girls mumbled and complained about how chipper their father was in the mornings.
'There is no need to worry about getting dressed before breakfast if you don't feel like it' Mr Evans said
Severus and the girls were too sleepy to talk, yawning and stretching, they slowly shuffled their way to the kitchen.
Mrs Evans was humming as she carried a large pot over to the table and started to ladle porridge into bowls. 'Good morning!' she called, just as the telephone rang Mr Evans went to answer it, while Severus, Mrs Evans and the girls all dug into their breakfast,
Halfway through breakfast, Mr Evans' voice called from the hallway 'Hyacinth can you come here for a moment?'
Mrs Evans bustled out of the room looking worried and Severus frowned in concern, never before had he seen Mr and Mrs Evans hide something from their daughters.
While the girls were busy finishing off their breakfasts, Severus crept over to the doorway and peeked around it,
'We just had a call from someone at the Ministry of Magic.' Mr Evans said in a low voice looking worried
'What did they say?' Mrs Evans asked 'Did he say anything at all about us being able to keep her?'
'He said he would like to come out sometime today to talk to us about the Kneazle, but he said nothing about us being able to keep her.'
'Oh dear, that doesn't sound good, what are we going to tell the kids?' Mrs Evans now looked just as worried as her husband.
'I'm not sure, I asked if he could come at his earliest convenience, and he said he could come this morning.'
'The girls will be devastated whether they're here when the kitten gets taken away or not, perhaps they should be here to say goodbye.' Mrs Evans said Severus quickly scrambled back to his seat just in time for Mr and Mrs Evans to walk back into the kitchen.
'Who was on the phone, Daddy?' Tansy asked, who had looked startled when Severus suddenly appeared back in his seat next to her.
'That was someone who works for the Ministry, they will be coming over this morning' Mr Evans said,
'Someone from the ministry is coming here?! But that house is a mess! And we are still in our PJ's!' Petunia said standing up in a panic,
'Calm down dear, we shall get the house clean and tidy and dressed in our Sunday best.' Mrs Evans said, trying to soothe her daughter, 'Severus dear, do you have any nice formal clothes to wear or do you need Richard to take you shopping for something?'
'No, I don't think there will be any need to go shopping. I have grey slacks and a white buttoned-down shirt that are part of the Hogwarts uniform'
'That sounds lovely dear. Since it looks like you all have finished your breakfast all that is left now is to go and get ready? Severus if you don't mind using the bathroom down here next to the kitchen and you girls can use the one upstairs next to the bedrooms.' Mr Evans said gathering up the empty plates.
Heading back to the attic Severus gathered one of his crisp clean white shirts and his grey slacks proceeded back down to the ground floor bathroom. After a quick shower, Severus placed his pj's in a laundry basket and went to help tidy the sitting room.
Quickly folding up the blanket he had used, Severus placed it neatly back into the closet, having no idea what he should do with the girl's duvets because he didn't want to go into their rooms unsupervised, Severus walked back into the sitting room folding them up neatly and placing them on one of the couches, grabbing the girls pillows he placed them on top of the folded duvets.
One by one the girls, all dressed in pretty summer dresses collected their blankets from the room thanking Severus for founding them up and taking them to their rooms and coming back down again. It wasn't long until the sitting room was spotless and they heard the doorbell ring, Mr Evans stood and walked over to answer the door.
'Good morning are you from the ministry?' They heard Mr Evans say. Lily and Tansy, who Severus was sitting in between grasped onto one of his hands in their nervousness and Mrs Evans who had the kitten sprawled across her lap placed a hand on her daughters sitting on either side of her. Two armchairs from the reading nook had been pulled over to the couches.
'Yes, that would be me, Mr Evans I presume?' said a soft male voice
'Call me Richard, please come in.'
When Mr Evans walked back into the sitting-room he was followed by a tall man with hazel eyes and brown and silver-flecked messy hair. He was wearing a white shirt with a plant in his chest pocket, a bow tie, dark brown trousers with a wand holster, and brown boots. He was carrying a briefcase and looked like a person who was more comfortable roughing it rather than being in the suburbs.
'Please sit. Would you like a cup of tea?' Mr Evans asked, pointing to one of the chairs, and the man sat down looking uncomfortable placing down his suitcase next to him.
'A cup of tea would be lovely.' the man said and Mrs Evans bustled off to the kitchen.
'That was my lovely wife Hyacinth and these are our daughter's Petunia, Lily, Rose and Tansy and our ward Severus Snape, the girl's best friend, and the one who recognised the Kneazle.'
The man looked up and seemed to brace himself, Severus had no idea what the man was so terrified of until he had finished his statement. 'It's nice to meet you all, my name is Newt Scamander.'
Severus jumped in his seat when the four girls let out loud squeals of happiness. Severus could see Mr Scamander looking just as uncomfortable with the sudden loud noise,
'Girls, behave. Where are your manners?' Mr Evans scolded 'I am so sorry Mr Scamander.'
'Call me Newt, and don't worry I'm used to getting that reaction' Newt Scamander shrugging uncomfortably and patting at the stick in his pocket that let out a series of squeaks.
'What was that?' Mrs Evans asked coming back into the room caring a tray, that had a cup of tea a little jug of milk and a sugar bowl on it.
'Not to worry Mrs Evans, that's just Pickett, he's a bowtruckle. I usually leave my creatures at home but he has some attachment issues.' Newt said. Two green hands each with two long sharp fingers eased their way out of Mr Scamander's top pocket and a flat-faced black-eyed, stick figure made of bark and twigs blew a raspberry at him. The girls giggled softly and Pickett ducked back into his hiding place.
'That's how we ended with this little lady here. My husband has a bad habit of bringing home strays.'Mrs Evans said fondly, petting the Kneazle who was now intently staring at Mr Scamander's top pocket.
'My wife says the same thing about me, Mrs Evans. May I see her?' Mr Scamander asked
'Of course.' Mrs Evans said, gently picking up the kitten transferring her into Mr Scamander's hands
Mr Scamander expertly and carefully looked the kitten over deftly avoiding her playful swats at his fingers and face.
'Well, she is definitely a full-blooded Kneazle, they have more of a cat-like appearance when they are a half-Kneazle. Could you tell me the circumstances about how she was found?' Mr Scamander said handing the kitten to Mr Evans when she tried to paw at the bowtruckle in his pocket.
'I was just finishing off my evening patrol when I heard her very persistent calls. A few others were trying to rescue her but she was very determined about not going with them. I went over to the tree to see if I could help when she just jumped into my arms.'
'Kneazles are known for their very high level of intelligence. It sounds to me that she wanted you to have her.' Mr Scamander said grinning. 'Has the Kneaze shown a preference as to who she would like as her owner?'
'I'm not sure, she tolerated the girls playing with her last night but we haven't seen her give them any affection.' Mrs Evans said now looking worried
Severus panicked, he didn't want the girls to be heartbroken when the cat got taken away. But then he remembered what had happened this morning! 'I have!' he blurted out and then blushed in embarrassment when everyone turned to look at him. 'This morning I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep, I came downstairs to get a mug of warm milk and found the girls asleep in the sitting room. When I checked on the kitten she rubbed her fur all over me and then did the same thing to all of the girls.'
'That sounds very promising. Are you five willing to share the kitten until she chooses who she would like as her owner?' Mr Scamander asked.
'I'll already have a Raven, and Mr Evans found the kitten so it should really belong to them, and the whole family shares an Owl, so I don't think there will be any problem sharing the kitten.' Severus shifted uncomfortably in his seat at all the attention.
'Excellent, it's always good to know that an animal is going to be in a loving home.' Mr Scamander said.
'So does that mean we can apply to get a licence for her?' Mrs Evans asked hopefully
'Well, technically your daughters will need to have the licence under their names since the Ministry doesn't see non-magical people as citizens of their world and doesn't have a very positive view about people who can not wield magic. I brought a licence application with me in the hope that this meeting would lead to the Kneazle having a home' Mr Scamander said looking at the kitten who was wriggling her rear-end and flexing her front paws, eyes trained on Mr Scamander's front pocket, in preparation of pouncing onto her prey. She lept in the air and Mr Scamander caught her deftly.
'Now now, little lady I'll never hear the end of it if Pickett suddenly disappears into your stomach' Mr Scamander said then reaching into his briefcase he pulled out a roll of parchment, a quill and an ink bottle. When he unrolled the parchment and handed it over to Mrs Evans Severus could see what was on the parchment;
Application for Crups, Fwoopers, Fire crabs and Kneazle registration
A magical collar/tag will be provided to you once the application has been approved
The Ministry of Magic aims to process all applications as soon as possible
Please note: the application will not be processed unless all details are completed.
Mrs Evans dipped the quill into the ink and proceeded to fill out most of the form.
Has your pet previously been registered with The Ministry of Magic? (please underline) Yes No
Owner/s Name/s: Petunia Evans, Lily Evans, Rose Evans and Tansy Evans
Address: 10 River Street, Cokeworth, Derby, DE1 3BW
Pet type: (please underline)
Crup
Fwooper
Fire crab
Kneazle
Mrs Evans paused before filling out the next section 'What should her name be?' She asked, looking at her daughters.
'How about Marmalade for the name, because she is orange?' Petunia suggested, the kitten who had been placed on the floor by Mr Scamander looked in distaste of the name.
'I had the same problem with naming my Raven. She let me know when she liked the name.' Severus said
'I know! Her name should be Cinnamon!' Lily said excitedly, but it was not to be the kitten was steadfastly ignoring the name suggestion by cleaning her paw
'How about Honey?' Tansy said, but the kitten didn't seem to like that one either
'What about Butterscotch?' Rose said and when she did the kitten's ears perked up and she wound herself around Rose's legs.
'Looks like she had chosen Butterscotch.' Mrs Evans said smiling filling out the rest of the information until the part where the girls had to sign it themselves;
Pet's name: Butterscotch
Gender: Female
Colour: Ginger, chocolate and white spotted tortoiseshell
Declaration – this section must be completed by all applicants. I declare that the information I have provided is true and correct
Each of the girls took turns printing their names careful not to spill any of the ink.
Print name/s:
PETUNIA
LILY
ROSE
TANSY
Date: 8 July 1972
Mr Scamander took the roll of parchment carefully from Tansy and filled out his section;
Ministry of Magic worker to complete
Application for Crups, Fwoopers, Fire crabs and Kneazle
Approved
Denied
Mr Scamander blew on the ink to dry it and once again reached into his briefcase this time pulling out a sparking silver collar with a bell and identification tag. It could also be adjusted to fit any size. 'This collar is enchanted with the Glamour Charm (dissimulo verum a non-magicis) meaning it will make the kitten look ordinary to non-magical people. I'll just add her name and your details to it using the Geminio charm, and since I have already informed The Improper Use of Magic Office that I would be the one performing magic this morning, you should not receive a warning.'
Mr Scamander waved his wand in an intricate and complicated pattern and the tag glowed blue for a few seconds. When the glow had stopped he handed the collar to Lily who had been entertaining the kitten with strands of her hair. Lily secured the collar to the now named Butterscotch who purred in delight.
'Well, I had best be heading off as I have a few other appointments to go to.' Mr Scamander picked up his briefcase and was walked to the door by Mr and Mrs Evans. Severus quickly picked up the kitten so she wouldn't make a run for it. And they all bid Mr Scamander a good day.