Chapter 1-Cat and Wolf
After losing another home Sake and I headed once more for Hogsmeade. It was a place that we had many times gone to visit and it was one of the only places where we had friends.
It was dark when we arrived in the deserted street of Hogsmeade and yet still growing darker. We had flown halfway across Europe in one night and where extremely tired.
I transformed quickly, as I much preferred being that way and quickly looked at Sake waiting for her to do the same. It took less than a minute for her to grasp that she should transform. We where much less Conspicuous that way.
"We'll coup at the "Winter Heaven" I presume" She said pulling the hood of her cloak over her head. "Got any money with you"
"Hmmmmmmmmmmm...I think I have some loose galleons" I began to search my pockets. You see I have many hidden pockets in my pants and often times I use all of them.
"How long are we going to stand here" She said with a look that said she was thoroughly annoyed. Although, she oftentimes looks annoyed when she is tired and she was exhausted. We had flown halfway across England and we where both exhausted.
"Till I find my money. We can't go anywhere till then." I said finally pulling some golden coins from one of my pockets. "We could go now but perhaps I should just make us stand here a little longer", I gave her one of my famous mischievous smiles.
Sake and I are as different as day and night. True you could see that we where twins almost definitely with are shinny, sleek, short hair. Also, we where both the same height and weight. You also couldn't forget the fact that we both had cat ears, a tail, and wings. However, apart from those similarities in appearance, we even looked different. I had black hair and fur and hers was white. My eyes are a deep shade of emerald and hers are crystal clear blue. However, it is our personalities that clashed the most. If she where to say a statement like my last one I would have smile and laughed with her but she just scowled at me.
We walked in silence down the dark road both of us cloaked in order to hide our ears. I looked up at the moon, "almost full, tomorrow I should think" I muttered to myself.
I had hit a topic that Sake loved, the night sky. I have no idea why she loved it, she just did. She looked up at the moon upon those words, "tomorrow at midnight, to be exact"
I never asked why she knew these thing; I just always knew that she did. It was one of those mysteries of life. One that was best that way, a mystery. Therefore, why ask?
The rest of the trip was in silence, not that it was that long. Within a few minutes we reached a large building. The letters on the sign out front old and peeling but the word the "Winter Heaven" could still be read.
I opened the door slowly and held it opened for Sake. A small bell rang somewhere deep within the shop. I crept in silently over to the desk where Kiara, the shop owner, kept her ledger. I ran a finger down the list. "Ah room 18 is open" I whispered, "We'll stay there, I'm sure Kiara won't mind"
I took a piece of parchment form one of my Pockets and began to write:
Dear Kiara,
We did not wish to wake you but only wanted
to let you know...
I was too late, because a voice from the back of the shop said, "Mischief, Sake, is that you"
"Oh, Kiara, we did not wish to wake you up" She said in a very apologetic tone,
"Oh, that?s alright, dear, I would rather have been awake anyhow", she said emerging from the back of the store.
Kiara is a short aging witch with long purple hair and crystal blue eyes. She whore a night cap and a night gown which definitely told us that we had dragged her out of bed. I felt real sorry but it was no use arguing with her.
"I checked the ledger and found that room 18 is open for a few days. I was going to leave a note that said we where here along with some galleon"
"Oh that?s fine dear, you can stay there as long as you'd like"
"Oh we don't need it for too long, just two, three days tops" I handed her some galleons.
"Oh, that's fine, I don't mind any" She said with a soft smile. She handed me a few sickles from the cash register as my change.
"Thank you very much, Kiara. Your a real doll"
"No problem, dear"
Sake yawned next to me, "We'd better go, Mischief, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow"
"Thanks again, Kiara, and good night. It was great to see you again"
"Likewise dear, Likewise"
At those words Sake dragged me from the room. I pulled free from her grasp with an, "ok, ok, I'm coming" and then followed by her side.
It was an old building with red walls, though the red pant was peeling in many places and a black carpet that looked very old and was very dusty. The floorboards creaked loudly under our steps.
We reached the room with the large wooden door that had a large brass number 18 on it. The door creaked as we opened it.
The room contained very little, just a small bathroom with toilet, sink, mirror, and shower, a bed and side table, and a chair that didn't look safe to sit on. To most people it would have looked absolutely horrible but to two absolutely exhausted cats like us it looked like Heaven, absolute Heaven.
We transformed quickly into our cat forms, jumped on the bed and fell immediately asleep.
It was Sake who was the
first awake the next morning.
"Mischief, Mischief, wake up"
I heard from the black abyss inside my head. I pulled myself under a
pillow and continued to sleep.
"Mischief, I said wake up!"
She said stealing all the pillows off the bed.
I opened my
eyes slowly and looked up at her. She had already woken up, taken a
shower, got dressed, and brushed her hair.
I transformed and sat
there waking up. I looked down at my watch and noticed that it was 6
o'clock in the morning.
"Why are you awake? You never
wake up this early. It's unnatural for you. I'm always up first."
"Knew we had a busy day and set my alarm. I've been up for
about an hour"
"WOW! That's still weird"
"Go get in the shower"
"Yeah, Yeah, I'm going"
I got up and went into the small bathroom. Now, I know what you?re thinking. I'm a cat; I'm supposed to hate water, right? Well we have been living so long having been able to transform into human form that after a while you get used to their habits and things that once bothered you just don't anymore.
Anyway, I went in the small
bathroom, showered, and got dressed. I opened the door to let some
fresh air in.
"So, where do we wanna go first?"
"The Three Broomsticks" I said pulling a brush through my hair, "We could get breakfast there" 1
"Yeah, good idea, I'm starving"
"Thanks," I said pulling the brush through my hair one last time.
"Then we could go to Athene's Place"
"Yeah, she'll want to know we're here but I don't want to look for a home today. Why don't we do that tomorrow?"
"I was thinking the same thing. A day of relaxing will do us both some good. Plus it's been a long time since we where last in the shops."
"Ok, thank you sis" I said emerging from the bathroom, "well, you ready?"
"Been ready for a long time now"
"Sorry, Sorry" I said laughing, "It's not my fault you woke up so early"
The two of us left chatting and we where both in a good mood. We had gotten a good night's sleep and where in for a day of fun.
We headed into the brightly shinning sun and headed straight for the "Three Broomsticks". We knew our way there quite well. We had been there so many times that we could find it blindfolded.
It was not long before we reached our new destination. We found ourselves a table and I went to order us up some food. I had ordered us both a butter beer and I ordered myself two over easy eggs with toast. Sake however preferred her eggs scrambled.
When it was done I brought it all back to the table and we talked while we ate. We talked about this and that but eventually the conversation turned to Athene.
"Won't Athene be surprised to see us?" Sake said giggling slightly.
"Not really" I said offhandedly.
"You don't think?"
"Well we do end up there quite often and we always come back even if we do get a home"
"That is definitely true, but then again whose fault is that"
"It's in my nature to be mischievous. Besides if I wasn't my "boss" would punish me and probably kick me out and where would that leave our situation."
"Yeah, but how many homes have you lost us?"
"I lost count after 50"
"I lost count after 100, but that?s just the point"
"Ok, ok, so at the next home I'll mellow out the tricks, as long as..."
"As long as what?"
"As long as I get to help choose the new owner"
"Fair enough" she said taking a last swig from her goblet, "You done"
"Almost," I said finishing up as well, "shall we go"
"Yep"
We walked
back into the warm sunlight and headed for Athene's Place which
wasn't far as it was only across the street.
Athene's shop was
one of my favorite shops in all of Hogsmeade, and possibly the world.
She had all of the normal creatures like owls, toads, cats, and such
but her shop was also the host to many unusual creatures as well.
Rats that had grown feathers instead of fur. Cats with eleven toes on
one foot. Also birds with cat tails and occasionally cats with wings.
Athene is the only pet shop owner in the entire world that I know
of, that would take such creatures. She felt sympathy for them. She
wanted to give them the chance that no other pet shop in the world
would give them. The chance to possibly one day find a home and be
loved like every other normal pet.
It was through this sympathy that she met us. We had been thrown from one pet shop to the next because nobody would help us. We where abnormal in there eyes. We stayed in her shop for a long time and eventually, gradually of course we began to trust her. She became one of our only friends on earth and definitely the best of them. She is one of the only humans on earth, to this day, to know our secret.
"Mischief, Sake, what are you doing here?" she emerged from the back of the shop carrying some rat food.
"Getting another home" Sake said sweetly, "You will help us won't you"
"Of course I'll help" said the small girl, "Mischief, you lost another home"
"I...well I...ummmm..." I said lost for words, but finally I just nodded, "Yeah, that?s it"
"Doesn?t surprise me"
Athene was a small person all the way around. She was short and she was skinny. She had short pink hair pulled up in pigtails but as usual some of her hair had pulled loose from its hair tie. She wore her usual magenta robes and had huge hoop earring hanging from her ears. She wore a bunch of necklaces on. Bracelets rained up and down her wrists and she had on ankle bracelets that jingled as she walked. Also she was barefoot. She almost always was barefoot even in the winter. She hated to cover her feet.
"So I suppose you'll want a new home and plan to stay and look for one today"
"Actually, quite on the contrary, we just came to say hello today. We want a day to relax, but we shall search tomorrow. "
"Ok, that?s fine. Suppose you wanna go to all the shops. I know what it's like. You never have time to have fun."
"All too true, however, this time we made sure we made the time. It?s been awhile since we came here to shop."
"Well have fun ok; I gotta get back to my customers"
"Ok Athene. It was nice talking to you"
"Yep, you too Miss. See ya tomorrow!"
"Of course"
Sake and I looked around the shop before leaving. How I longed to buy myself an owl. But, with the state of things that would be quite impossible.
We left the shop sometime later and where once again in the bright sunshine.
"So, where to now, we have a ton of places to visit and a day to do it"
"Anywhere's fine with me, let's have fun today and not worry about anything"
"Sure thing. Hmmm...Mischief"
"Yes"
"Can we go to Honeydukes first. I'm running low on my never ending candy supply." she said looking longingly at the renowned candy shop. "It appears it dose have an end"
I giggled slightly at the fact that Sake, my perfect Sake, had a candy obsession. "Sure thing sis"
We walked down the road to Honeydukes, the candy shop. Honeydukes was an awesome store if you wanted candy.
They had every possible kind of candy you could think of and then some.
Sake raced towards the store when she spotted a sign that read, "New Candy, Heavenly drops". She dragged me in by the scruff of me shirt, as if I wouldn't have come on my own.
"Heavenly drops. One suck on these will leave you with a heavenly glow. Perfect angel affect."
"Sounds interesting. Of course those would draw you attention, miss "I'm the perfect angel"
She however completely ignored me and continued to read the sign. It took her a good ten minutes but finally she said "Well, you'll just have to try it out now won't you"
"Why me?" I said quizzically.
"That's obvious isn't it" she said, paying the
cashier for a small bag.
"No, not really"
"Because I already glow, you dunderhead. How, then, am I supposed to compare"
"Oh, alright" I said finally, taking one from the bag. It was a little white drop. I stuck it in my mouth. It actually tasted quite good, like cherries, in my opinion.
That?s when I noticed that the sign wasn't lying. I really was glowing. It actually had a neat affect. I now had the heavenly glow that Sake always insisted made her better. She didn't think of that when she told me to try it now did she. "Ha" I said to myself.
"Oh, Sake dear. Look at me! I have a heavenly glow too."
"Mine's better" she said insistently, "I definitely think so"
"Why's that?"
"Mine's
a real glow, not some dumb artificial glow" she said
off-handedly.
"You just don't want to admit that a candy
could show good results"
"No"
"Well, why don't you finish you shopping" I said not wanting to get into an argument. I pocketed the drops. I also bought some "Bertie Botts Ever Flavor Beans" and some "Chocolate Frogs".
Sake remembered that she was standing in the middle of a candy shop and began to go this way and that trying to decide what to buy. She looked just like a child and I swear if I would have let her she would have bought the entire shop out.
I bought a sucker from a bin labeled "Acid Pops" but I missed the sign entirely. Sake saw this however came to my rescue.
"Don't eat that!" she said very loudly, coming over.
"Why
not?"
"I ate one last time I was here and it burned a
hole right through my tongue"
"Oh, ok"
"If you want a lollypop, they're over there"
"Thanks sis, your a real life savor. Where would I be without you"
"Somewhere you shouldn't be I'm sure"
I'm sure I blushed at that statement but went over and grabbed a real lolly pop. One that would burn a hole through my tongue.
Sake
went back to her indecisiveness in deciding what to purchase. She
raced from one side of the room to the other.
I, on the other
hand, having grown bored watching Sake, began to watch the people who
where coming and going from the shop.
There where many interesting people who came into the shop. Witches and Wizards of all ages where of course quite common, but it was not uncommon to see a hag or a goblin or even a Vampire walk into the shop.
There was a great murmur of the people walking in and out of the shop. I caught bits and pieces of the conversations that they had. One in particular, however, took a special interest in my mind.
"Yeah, the old Venton House"
"I heard that a nasty bunch of ghosts moved in there"
"Wow, spooky, I always knew that house was curse"
"That's the way a ghost prefers it"
"How do you know it's haunted?"
"Sometimes, late at night, there's a shrieking that goes on there"
"It's been nicknamed the "Shrieking Shack" as of late because of it"
"Sounds Creepy"
At that point I heard no more because the three students had left the shop. It was a topic that would haunt my mind for the rest of that day.
Ghosts where my friends. I liked talking to them, and I knew quite a bit about them. Shrieking? That was something they only did when they wanted to scare the muggles or if something was seriously wrong. There wasn't any muggles for miles and miles, that only left one option.
"Mischief!" a voice brought me back to reality. "Mischief I've been calling you for the past twenty minutes. What is up with you?"
"20 min?I said with a start.?I'm sorry. What was it that you wanted?"
"I'm done; I've finally made some choices. We can leave."
"Oh, alright, I'm sorry, I must have zoned out"
"Are you alright?"
"I was just thinking that's all"
"About what?"
"Nothing in particular"
Sake looked skeptical but decided not to be persistent. "Alright, Mischief, Whatever you say"
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah, I'm done"
We walked out of Honeydukes into the busy street of Hogsmeade.
"Where to next?" I said offhandedly.
"Why don't you choose seeing as you where kind enough to let me go to the sweet shop and kind enough to wait for me"
"Hmmm..." We said not really listening. More or less still thinking about the ghost issue. "What?"
"I said, 'you choose'"
"Oh, thank you sis"
"No problem"
"hmmmm..." I said thinking, "Why don't we go to Zonko's joke shop."
Sake looked like she regretted letting me choose where to go. But, having said it, she would not go back on her word and said slowly, as if cautiously?ok, let's go"
We walked down the crowded streets toward the ultimate Joke shop. It was just what I needed to take my mind off things. It would be great.
Zonko's was the place to be if you where a mischief maker like me. Next to Athene's Place it was my favorite store in the whole world.
We walked into the store, which was packed full of jokes and joke equipment. Books on how to do jokes lined an entire wall. I wanted them all, every single one. I couldn't decide which book to buy, so I went to Sake for help.
"Which one, Sake?" I said in an absolutely delighted tone, "which one should I buy?"
"None"
"That was not an option sis"
"It is in my book" She said firmly.
"But...but...why?"
"You promised you would behave in our next home remember?"
"I never said I'd use the book, only that I wanted to read it"
"It'll only encourage you"
I gave her the, "your no fair look" then said something even she could not deny, "I let you get all that candy from your favorite store and you are not going to let me get one book and a couple of jokes"
"Mischief...I...only" she knew at that point
that she had lost and that there was nothing she could do about it.
She sighed
deeply, "Alright, just promise me you won't use
it"
"Who me?" I said grinning with my mischievous grin.
"Mischief, I'm serious. Don?t!"
"Oh, alright" but I'll admit even at that point I was thinking, "just go along with her to make her happy"
I looked through the shelf of books, "1 million and 1 ways to trick people, A Joker's Bible, A Guide to the Tricksters World, The Ultimate Trick Book" I listed them off to myself, they even had the "Dummy?s Guide to Tricking People"
I had so many to choose from. I just couldn't make up my mind. I took them down one by one to flip through the pages and discover there contents. I did this a few times, ok so maybe it was more then a few. In the end I ended up choosing. "A million and 1 ways to trick people."
Now that, that was done I still had to make the decision on which jokes to buy. I walked about the shop picking up this and that, unsure of what to buy.
They had everything, Zonko's, everything from dungbombs and fireworks to trick broomsticks and disappearing chairs. They even had an invisibility cloak though it was not for sale. Merely a display. I was very disappointed when the lady told me that. I wanted it so bad. Oh the tricks I could pull off if I had an invisibility cloak.
In the end, after arguing with the lady for what seemed an hour about the cloak, she refused to give in. It irked me so much. I wanted one so bad.
I walked away to finish my purchases. I knew I wanted Dungbombs but what else I wanted I did not know.
"And what do you plan to do with those," said Sake, who had been following me around, annoyingly shooting down all my plans.
Finally I decided on Dungbombs and a disappearing chair. It would disappear whenever anyone tried to sit on it. I paid for the items along with the book at the counter, much to the grudge of the saleslady, who simply wanted me to leave.
I put my purchases in my pockets, which where made with magic and expandable. I was on my way out when I spotted something else that I wanted. It was not really that much of a trick but it was unusual. It was a deep purple glass bottle that contained a silvery liquid.
"One minute please, Sake"
"What now Mischief" she said eyeing my suspiciously.
"I have one more thing to buy"
"But I thought you where done with the tricks"
"Its not really a trick, at least I don't think so"
"Then what is it"
"I'm not really sure, but I want some"
"Alright, go ahead"
"Thanks, Sake"
"No problem, I think" she said scratching her head in bewilderment.
I ran back inside the store, picking up the bottle on my way in. I walked up to the saleslady and placed the bottle on the counter. "I want this, how much is it"
"Oh, nobody has ever wanted that?she said with an evil grin that I could only see myself topping.
"How much?"
"Hmmmmmm...that is so old that nobody wants it, I myself do no want it. You can have it"
"Really, are you sure?"
"As sure as rain, my dear"
Maybe it was the sudden change in her attitude or perhaps it was the evil grin, but I did not trust this new substance, not one bit. Though it sure gave me something new to think about. I thought about it almost as hard as I did the ghost problem. Two mysteries in one day. Hmmmmmm...what an unusual day this was.
I pocketed the bottle and walked out of the shop to join Sake. I walked beside her in silence. She, however, chatted away. To this day, however, I know not a word of what she said.
"Mischief, are you listening" she said suddenly.
"Huh?"
"I said, 'are you listening'"
I shook my head, "Sorry, my mind is elsewhere today"
"Mischief, are you ok today, you are not acting yourself today"
"I'm ok, really I am" I must have shifted my eyes or something because Sake noticed.
"Mischief, listen to me, I know your not ok. I'm your twin sister; we have a knack for knowing these things".
"I'M OK, GOD DAMN, I TOLD YOU I'M OK, AND I MEANT THAT I WAS OK!"
"Alright, Mischief," she looked about to cry, "Just know that if you ever need anything, anything at all, even if it's just to talk, I'm right here for you" she placed her small hand on my arm.
"Thank you Sake" I looked at her apologetically, "I'm sorry, it's just the stress of loosing another home"
"Ok, Mischief"
I sighed, "So where are we going next?"
"Well, I was thinking that it might be nice if we sent a letter to Kira"
"Oh, great idea, Sake. You are so smart"
She blushed at these words, "Thank You"
The two of us headed straight for the post office.
Kira was an old owner of ours. An owner that we love and who knew we could talk. She had not kicked us out of that home. No, we had stayed with her for seventeen year until she went away to a college and her good for nothing parents kicked us out.
We sat on a bench outside the post office and wrote Kira a long letter. We talked about life and such. When we where completely happy with it we signed our names. We signed it with our true names of Dundil and Sakura. Because you see it would look silly to anyone who might read it if a cat signed it. However, it would look perfectly normal being sent by a person.
We chose the fastest owl by which to send the letter. Then we made the decision to go to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer. It was getting dark when we went inside the pub.
I ordered the butterbeer and went over to where Sake sat. The place was nearly empty as it would be closing in a few hours time. I looked up at Sake, the mysteries of the day still clearly in my mind. The words she said to me after I had yelled at her still rang in my ears. I made up my mind; I was going to tell her my troubles. After all, two people tackling a problem are better than one.
"Sake?"
"Yes, Mischief?"
"I need to talk to you"
"I was wondering when you would spit it out"
"Well I have two problems that our troubling my mind, really"
"Go on"
"Well the first problem is something I heard while I was waiting for you in Honeydukes. It's about the "Shrieking Shack". Have you heard the rumors about it?"
"I have,"
"Well my problem is that I know ghosts. Ghosts are my friends. I know that they don't shriek unless there trying to scare the muggles or something is terribly wrong. There isn't any muggles for mile...that only leaves one option..."
"Hmmmmmmm...Well you could always pay them a visit and try to help out"
"Good idea, Sake. I always knew that you where a genius"
Sake blushed a deep shade of magenta. "Ok, Mischief, so what?s the second problem?"
"Hang on, one minute" I said pulling the purple bottle from my pocket, "this is the problem"
"Hmmmm...what is the matter with it?"
"Well I though it was neat and went to buy it but the saleswomen, who had just minutes before had been a real pain in my rear end, said no one else wanted it so I could have it and she called me dear. However, that's not the weirdest part. She had this look on her face. It was an evil grin, like she was plotting something."
"Hmmmmmm...very weird, I am sorry, but I do not have an explanation to that one."
"Oh, that's ok, I didn't think you would. I just need to tell someone. It was driving me nuts."
"Well I'm glad you told me"
I smiled, "shall we go?"
"Yeah, are we going to the shrieking shack?"
"Yeah, I want to"
"Ok, then lets go"
We walked down the darkened streets toward the shrieking shack. I looked down at my watch, it was nearly midnight.
"I'm going to stay here, I don't have much of a liking for ghosts"
"Ok, Sake, I won't be long" I raced ahead toward the house. It was heavily boarded up, which came as no surprise as it had been that way for quite some time.
I pulled at the boards on the door and, with much effort, managed to open the door. I walked in the house. I looked around the place. Most of the furniture was broken. This was not normal for ghosts, but then again they had just moved in."
I walked further. It was then that I noticed long scratches in the walls. Now that definitely was not a ghost's work.
Instinct told me I should have turn and left right then and there but my curiosity had gotten the better of me. I crept forward stubbornly. My stubborn ways not allowing me to turn back. The scratches where numerous among the walls of the house.
It was not until a heard a loud howl that I decided to leave. I panicked and turn to run but was met by a horrible sight. Behind me was a wolf but not just any wolf as far as I could tell. This was a werewolf.
I ran as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I reached a place in the hall which turned left or right. I turned left, and then later I made a right. It was then that I realized I had reached a dead end. I was in a dead panic. I was absolutely certain that these where my last moments.
I saw the werewolf creeping up on me and realized I had an advantage on it.
I transformed into my cat form and took flight. It was a slim chance but it was my only chance. I raced over its head, hoping beyond hope that I would make it. I almost thought I did make it but that was when I felt a set of claws dig deeply into my side.
I was thrown up against the wall. I felt so weak but I would not let myself be caught. Despite the wound in my side I ran. I ran quicker then ever before and to my fortune I made it. Once outside I transformed in order to make my voice louder.
A human voice box is much more developed than a cat's. I stumbled and grabbed for the porch rail.
Sake saw me stumble and ran as fast as she could to help me, God bless her.
I saw her but could only manage to mutter three words, "Not...ghost...wolf" after that I passed out from exhaustion and everything went black
