Written for Assignment #9 on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry forum: Sex Ed, Task #3 – Write about someone dealing with self-image issues. Word count: 328.
In addition, the story is submitted in the following forum events:
Marauder Map Madness [prompts: 151. "I hate the way I look" (dialogue) and 152. Crookshanks (character)]
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them [prompts: 9. pretty (word) and 5. no characters over the age of 24 (restriction)].
Silly Humans
Humans were silly. Crookshanks had known that, of course, ever since his stay at the Magical Menagerie. However, soon after coming to live at Hogwarts he had to realise that teenage girls were an entirely different level of silliness than humans in general.
Like now, for example. His owner sat in front of this ridiculous talking mirror (so good it stayed silent now!), without much effect trying to tame her hair and put it in some sort of an up-do. Why she would torture herself with this brush, Crookshanks could not fathom.
"I hate the way I look!" he heard her mutter under her breath. But she did not stop; she kept pulling her hair with the brush, turning decent-looking curls into a nest-like mess.
"Meow!"
He intended it to sound disapprovingly, but the owner ignored him completely. And Crookshanks, like any other self-respecting cat, didn't like to be ignored. He meowed one more time and jumped onto the table, right between the girl and the mirror, causing her to drop the brush.
"Crookshanks! Bad cat!" she scolded, like there was any point scolding a cat. Silly human.
"Meow!"
"Shoo, I need to do something with my hair," she announced. Crookshanks, of course, didn't care. He sat on the table, looking at her intently, until she seemed to give up. She didn't reach for the brush, and instead just tied her hair with an elastic. "It's not like it'll make me look pretty," she sighed.
"Meow!"
This last comment sounded dangerously like intro to a longer list of supposed aesthetical flaws. He had heard that already: the hair (too bushy), the teeth (too big), the hips (becoming too wide).
"You know, Crookshanks… Sometimes I think it would be nice to look like Parvati," she said quietly, leaning in his direction and pressing her cheek against his fur. Silly human. But at least for now she was focusing her attention on him instead of occupying herself with some nonsense.