Chapter Two – The Kneazle

A/N: So, what's this, the fifth time I've written Chapter Two? Oh well. Oh yeah I changed the Prologue to Chapter One cause with the plot change it makes more sense.

Reviewers:

Kalista Turner – Thanks for not being lazy! Yahoo it actually "kinda" makes sense to someone! Is it the same headmaster at both times? Guess so, it's only 22 years till the 4th book. Sorry, they don't go to Hogwarts till next chapter… I think.

Mini Mischief – Yay you read it too:D

Disclaimer: All HP stuff is J.K. Rowling's. That's why she's the famous one, not me.

There was a month and a half left in summer. Marilyn was impatient to get to Hogwarts and see if it was as good as she'd heard, but she was finding things to keep her busy. Tracy, Amy, and her were planning to get together and hang out for a while before they went to different schools. On Saturday they would meet at Diagon Alley, and from there they had permission to go to whoever's house they wanted.

Marilyn stood in front of the fireplace, holding a bit of Floo powder and her trunk. She stepped into the fireplace (luckily it was tall enough so she wouldn't hit her head). Dropping the powder made green flames spring up. "The Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley," she said loudly and clearly.

With a whooshing and turning, she fell out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron. Amy and Tracy were already waiting beside the fire.

"Hi!" she greeted them cheerfully.

"Hey," Amy said. Marilyn noticed she seemed back in her old happy mood.

"How're you doing?" Tracy asked.

"Fine. I'm a little nervous about going to Hogwarts, but not too bad. You?"

Tracy sighed. "I'm pretty nervous. I like making friends but it's nice to start out knowing someone too."

"You'll do fine," Amy said encouragingly. "I'm really excited about going to Ash Lake." Her new school was named after Ash Lake in France. "What's the name of your school again?"

"Orstha. It's a small school, but it sounds good." Tracy grinned. "So, where should we go first?"

"That Quidditch store?" Marilyn suggested.

"Magical Menagerie?" Amy said. "I have a few questions about my owl."

"That works," Marilyn agreed.

They headed off towards the Magical Menagerie, talking along the way. When they got there they saw that there were only a few people standing outside and none inside. They would have ignored the people, but Marilyn thought she heard a meow from there and looked over. A huge orange tabby cat was sitting by the wall, and the people were standing around it. One boy was holding a firework. Marilyn paused and caught a bit of their conversation.

"People should keep their cats inside. They're annoying, running all over the place and getting in our way," another boy was saying.

"Yeah, and they don't do any good when they're out either," a girl added.

"They don't do any good outside or inside," the boy corrected.

"I think a little shock might keep it out of our way. Anyone want to help with the firework?" the firework-boy said meanly.

Boiling with anger, Marilyn nudged her two friends and nodded toward the people. When they saw what was going on they looked just as angry. The boy was about to light off a firework to scare the cat.

"Reducto," Marilyn said quietly. Her spell hit the firework and dissolved it to dust.

"Locomotor Mortis," Amy said. The boy's legs locked together and he tripped.

"Petrificus Totalus," said Tracy, making the other boy stiff and unable to move at all. He fell over too. She whispered something else and the girl's legs became shaky. She couldn't walk and had to sit down so she wouldn't fall.

They cast Stupefy on all of them. "What now?" Tracy asked.

Marilyn ignored that, still in a rage. "I don't believe those jerks! They deserve much worse curses than what we gave them!" She would have used every curse known on them if Tracy hadn't grabbed her wand in prevention.

"You can't do it when they're already Stunned. Anyway, someone will find them like this and they'll have to explain what happened. We can tell the Magical Menagerie too. I'm sure they'll take care of it. That was really stupid of these people to do that in front of an animal store," Tracy said with satisfaction.

"What do we do with the cat? Do you think he escaped from somewhere?" Amy asked.

"Let's ask in here," Marilyn said, walking toward the door of the shop. The cat followed them. "Excuse me," she said to the lady behind the counter. "We found this cat outside, do you know if he belongs to anyone? And just to let you know, those kids out there were planning to scare the cat."

"That's mean of them. Don't worry, I'll get them in trouble for it. But he's a Kneazle, not a cat. See his tufted tail? His name's Trouble (but don't be scared off by that, he's really sweet), and he belongs to this store. I think he likes you though. Would you like a pet?" the lady asked kindly.

Marilyn hesitated, then said, "Well, I would, but I'm going to Hogwarts soon and I don't know if they allow Kneazles. And I've heard I'd need a license to have a Kneazle."

"Don't worry about that. In the past a few students at Hogwarts have had Kneazles, and they count as cats. For the license, I can talk to the Ministry of Magic and get you one easily. For now you would be able to keep Trouble."

"Awesome!" Marilyn said excitedly. Her parents had already said she could have a pet if she wanted, as long as she took care of it herself. To Amy and Tracy she said, "Do you two want to keep him or want me to?"

Amy sighed. "I would, but I've got an owl."

"I have a dog at home, and my parents say we don't have time for another animal," Tracy agreed.

"Okay then, I'm happy to keep him. Thank you!" Marilyn said. She crouched down to the ground and began petting Trouble. He purred. She tested picking him up, and he was fine with it. He's a cool animal, she thought.

While Marilyn pet the Kneazle, Amy asked her questions about her owl. It turned our the owl was fine. They left, Marilyn carrying Trouble.

"Well congratulations on your new pet!" Amy smiled.

"You already love him, don't you?" Tracy knew how much she liked animals.

"Yep! Come on, I don't think he'll mind coming around with us. Where to?"

They traveled all over Diagon Alley, looking in all the fun shops and ignoring the school-supply ones. At noon they stopped at a café for lunch. Trouble was very happy following them around and getting the chance to explore. They had to stop every few minutes to get him out of something though.

Within a week Marilyn had received a letter saying she had permission to keep the Kneazle. Her agreement was to not let any Muggles see him, which would be easy for her. Now she just had to wait for the start of Hogwarts.

Thank Mini Mischief, she gave me the idea for them rescuing a Kneazle when I was stuck. I'll be stuck for a while, trying to think of time-fillers. Sorry this took me so long to update. I'll try to be faster in the future.