"Minerva! I'm back!" There was no answer. "Minerva!" Suddenly her father smiled. He had trained her well. "Minerva! Stop playing the piano and come here!"
The playing stopped. Minerva came to her father, her disappointment from earlier completely gone. "Hello! Did it go well?"
Her father picked her up. "Did what go well?"
"I don't know. Whatever you had to do."
He grinned. "Yes, it went well. Thank you for asking. And…thank you for following my instructions." He put her down. "Did you master the piano while I was gone?"
Minerva smiled and took his hand. "Yes, let me play it for you. And then I have a surprise." She turned back to him. "What's that?" She pointed to his robe.
Her father looked down at it. There were a few spots of blood on the chest. "Oh…nothing, beautiful." He tapped his robes with his wand and the spots disappeared. He thought he had gotten them all.
Minerva promptly moved on to another subject. "Sit there," she commanded, pointing at a space next to the piano. No sooner had she pointed, a chair materialized out of nowhere. Her father smiled with pride.
She sat down at the bench and played all the difficult songs in the book, each absolutely flawlessly. Her father did notice, however, that they were played with almost eerie precision. When she was done he stood and applauded. "Wonderful! Absolutely amazing!"
Minerva beamed at him. "Now are you ready for my surprise?" When he inclined his head she told him to close his eyes.
After a moment, her father felt something on his lap. He opened his eyes and saw a kitten on his knee. The kitten had shockingly green eyes. "Minerva! Change back!"
The kitten grew and turned into Minerva again. Her father grabbed her by the shoulders, as if to convince himself that she was real. "Minerva," he said weakly. "When did you learn to do that?"
"This morning when you were gone. One of them came in, and I decided to copy it."
Her father stiffened. "Did anyone come in with the cat?"
Minerva thought for a moment. "No. Just the cat. I turned it purple."
Her father laughed somewhat coldly. "Minerva, I'm glad you listen to me as well as you do. Some people do not. I do not like punishing them."