3:00
As he looked around, he could not help but gape at the destruction his wand, he had wrought. What had once been a hard, sombre room full of acute angles, and muted tones. . .
Had been transformed into something soft and almost riotous in its use of colour. His books looked out of place. . . Almost everything in his flat had been altered in his maniac spree. He wanted to blame this all on George and Fred somehow, but they hadn't been near him in months. And even they couldn't ruin his house from miles away.
The only thing that hadn't been changed and yet still looked somewhat at home, was a Christmas present from Ginny. A bookend. In the shape of a pale cream kitten, with vivid orange stripes and luminous blue eyes.
Percy hadn't known exactly what to say when Ginny had presented him with it. It certainly hadn't gone with his décor, and it wasn't a terribly practical present. There was only one, not a set. But somehow, it had felt heavy, strong and cool beneath his fingers. . . Ginny had left before he could come up with any words. She thought he hated it, no doubt.
The kitten had watched him do his work on many occasions, a mischievous air in the curve of its ears and the curl of its tail. It always looked as though it would fly from its given position on the shelf and viciously attack his quills.
What if it could? What if it could?
A simple transfiguration would make it possible. This wasn't a tortoise to a tea kettle.
Percy's wand was drawing nearer to it. Creating such a creature was irresponsible to say the least. It would be a black mark on his spotless record.
Hundreds of wizards had them.
He would have to feed it. Such a creature existed on the subsistence of magical energy and without it quickly faded back into an inanimate object. Many wizarding families used that. It was a convenient way of testing children for the responsibility required for the ownership of a pet.
He was responsible. He was a very responsible person. Hadn't people told him so for years and years?
Blue eyes blinked.
It would need a name.
The tail gave a half-hearted twitch,
It looked like a Nigel.
3:26
The kitten looked at him with wide open eyes. This picture of innocence lasted less than it took Percy to blink. Then, Nigel, and it was already a Nigel, it was evident in the way the kitten flexed his claws. Then, Nigel ran like something possessed for Percy's Index of Magical Probabilities.
It looked like Percy had been mistaken in the object of Nigel's attentions. The quills remained intact, while he sunk his little teeth into the hard leather of the book and hissed.
4:00
Nigel was sleeping, completely worn out the way that only kittens could be. A soft warm mass in his bed, curled around his pillow. Getting cat hair everywhere, all over his bedding.
Percy smiled and put a dish of warm milk, enchanted with a lumos charm on his bedside table. The milk would do the kitten very little good, but the magic upon it, would be sustaining. But he should go out and buy it something more suitable.
Even though such magical creations were outlawed, where there was a will, there was a way. There was a brand of owl food, Quibbits, which was composed of as much magic as physical nutrients. Wizarding families all over used it to feed their magical creations. Percy had been assigned a report on the recommended action to prevent the continued use of Quibbits for the furtherance of illegal and irresponsible magical workings. He had worried the problem, gnawed around the edges, for days.
People are attached to their pets. Even the illegal ones.
Biting down hard, Percy had finally suggested that every wizard was required to present his owl's licence before purchasing said product. Of course, nearly every family had an owl, and those who didn't, knew someone who did.
Problem solved. He rummaged in the drawer, finding the license for Errol ~ his mother had asked him to take care of it this year. Percy looked in the mirror, straightened his hair, and murmured a charm to put the creases back into his clothes.
They were decidedly old-fashioned.
He could perhaps stop at a shop and look for something new. . .