The Cat's Pyjamas

by Healer Pomfrey

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
The translation of the Pangur Ban poem is from an unknown author (chapter titles).

This chapter is un-betaed, and I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

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This story is dedicated to my wonderful friend and beta Mushcorn

6 - At our tasks how glad are we,

"Oh, I'm sorry, darlings," a tall witch jumped down from a hippovol, leaning down to Hermione and Pangur.

"It's all right," Pangur replied in a small voice, looking at the large horse with a mixture of anxiousness and amazement.

"Is that a hippovol?" Hermione asked with apparent interest. "Is it difficult to fly on it?"

"No sweetie," the witch replied, smiling at the children. "It's easier than to ride on a broom if you know what I mean."

While Hermione and Pangur exchanged a glance, Patrick turned to the witch. "Good morning, Madame. These children here are first years at our new school. I suppose you heard about it."

"Of course, Dr. O'Leary," the woman replied eagerly. "You really should come and get one or two for the school. Bring the children along and come over tomorrow. I just have some Mini Candy Cane foals, which are ready to be given away. They'll like it." She glanced at her wrist watch. "Ooops, already so late. Take care Doc, I must go." She waved at Hermione and Pangur and hurried away through the crowd, followed by the hippovol.

The group of first years and teachers looked at each other, smiling at the witch's antics, before Minerva blurted out, "She reminds me of Professor Hooch. May I ask who she is?"

Patrick smirked. "Ms. Seal is a very interesting woman, and yes, I can imagine that they could get along well. She is one of my best customers. She owns a huge farm with a renowned horse stable and has also many dogs, cats as well as some smaller types of magical animals. I'll go and have a look at the horses tomorrow."

"Aww, please Professor, may we come with you?" Hermione asked eagerly, bringing a broad smile to Pangur's face.

"I'd love to go as well," he said quietly, glancing up at Patrick with a hopeful expression.

猫のパジャマ

In the morning, Patrick and most of the first year students took a Portkey to Ms. Seal's farm. While his classmates were very excited as the humorous witch showed them the stables, Pangur was over the moon with joy when Patrick allowed him to accompany Mr. Seal and him and assist, while he checked on the foals. The Mini Candy Cane foals were white with red stripes and looked very cute.

"Aww, they're adorable," Pangur said in amazement as he carefully petted the last of the foals, which somehow seemed different from the others. It had golden eyes instead of the brown eyes that the other foals had, and it seemed to smile at him.

"Goldie is still a problem," Mr. Seal explained, pointing to the foal that Pangur was petting. "She is very temperamental and has a mind of her own. She just doesn't want to do what she is supposed to do. She is able to fly; however, she only complies at times. We won't be able to sell her to anyone." He interrupted himself, staring at Pangur and the horse in surprise.

Pangur had laid his right hand onto the foal's back, and the foal was contentedly pushing her nose against the boy's face.

"I have never seen this before," Mr. Seal said, sounding very astonished. "Every other foal wants to cuddle from time to time, but Goldie never does. She doesn't like being touched at all. She must really like the boy."

"She is wonderful," Pangur said in a soft voice, happily leaning against the small horse. 'Her skin feels so good,' he thought, finding it very soothing to carefully stroke the cute animal's skin. Suddenly, a soft voice penetrated his mind.

'Hello young one. I like you. Please take me with you.'

Pangur looked up, startled. The foal once again pushed her nose against his cheek. 'It's me who is talking to you. I have bonded with you,' she explained in a soft voice.

"Pangur, is everything all right?" Patrick suddenly asked, causing the boy to turn his eyes to his grandfather-in-law.

Pangur hesitantly repeated what the horse had told him, anxiously looking from Patrick to the farmer.

"How wonderful Pangu," Patrick said warmly, before he turned to the other wizard. "We'll take Goldie and the three next to her then." He leaned down to closely examine Goldie's legs.

"No no Doc," Mr. Seal replied quickly. "You won't be able to use Goldie for Hippolo for the students. She will not obey to anyone. Maybe to Pangur, because she bonded with him, but not to anyone else."

'Oh no,' Pangur thought, already feeling very disappointed, when the farmer continued, "I suggest that you take these four here, and I will give you Goldie for free."

Pangur couldn't believe his ears and sadly averted his eyes to the floor, when Patrick protested that he could not accept such a gift. However, the kind farmer countered, "You have saved so many of our horses, dogs and cats during all these years that I am more than happy to gift her to you, especially considering that the school buys four of our horses. Moreover, you'll certainly want to buy a dozen more in the new future in order to have enough for two full teams including some spare ones. I wouldn't be able to sell her to anyone anyway. The boy seems to be good for her, and I'm glad to know her in good hands."

After an ongoing discussion, Patrick decided to buy all of the Candy Cane foals as well as a few older Candy Cane horses in order to have enough for two Hippolo teams.

Pangur carefully laid his arms around the foal's neck. "I'm going to take you with me," he whispered, feeling extremely happy.

The farmer promised to successively fly all horses to the school during the following evenings. "We wouldn't want the Muggles to see horses fly over the town," he explained to Pangur and instructed him to take good care of Goldie, which Pangur promised firmly.

'I'd love to see Aunt Petunia's face if she saw a Candy Cane horse fly over Privet Drive,' Pangur thought, inwardly chuckling happily at the thought of never having to return to the Dursleys and having his own horse familiar. 'Dudley would be so jealous if he knew,' he mused.

猫のパジャマ

Pangur's classmates were not less excited, and the whole school was gathered on the grounds when the first horses arrived.

"From next week onwards, we will have horse riding classes as well as Hoopitch and Hippolo practice for those, who want to learn," Professor Hooch, the Sports and History of Magic teacher, announced, explaining that Hippolo was similar to Quidditch but being played on horses.

"The Candy Cane horses need sugar for their well-being, and while flying, for example during a Hippolo or match, they must have a break and be fed some sugar at least once every two hours," Patrick explained.

"Oh, I read about that," Hermione spoke up eagerly. "Once at a Hippolo match in 1309, they forgot to feed the Candy Canes their sugar, and the horses became very tired. Two of them crashed and exploded, scattering candy canes all over the place."

Everyone laughed, and Patrick added, "Yes, that seems to be a true story. Fact is that the horses either refuse to fly or begin to spit out candy canes all over the spectators if they don't receive enough sugar."

'Wow, Hermione really knows everything,' Pangur thought, eyeing his friend in amazement. To his disappointment, Goldie was not among the horses that arrived first. Like in a trance, he followed his classmates back into the house. 'I wished I could think to her like she did,' he thought. 'How does that work anyway? She said she could because she bonded to me, but is there a way I can bond to her as well?' He remained very thoughtful for the rest of the evening and finally resolved to ask Patrick.

猫のパジャマ

On Monday, Pangur was very absentminded. While he half-heartedly listened to the teachers' explanations, his thoughts wandered off to Goldie.

"Pangur, are you all right?" Hermione asked when they entered the Atrium together at lunchtime. "You're very unconcentrated today."

"I'm fine," Pangur replied, smiling, and resolved to pay more attention during his afternoon classes. However, when they had to make balloons pop in their Charms class, he unintentionally used too much magic, causing all balloons to burst at the same time.

Medusa cast him a sharp look, before she conjured new balloons for the students to practise and said, "Mr. McGonagall, try to be more careful and keep your magic at bay."

Pangur apologized and promised to be more careful the next time. However, while he spent the remaining time of the class observing his classmates, he couldn't help feeling unwell, which did not go unnoticed by the professor.

"Mr. McGonagall, please stay behind," Medusa called out to him when she dismissed the others.

Inwardly groaning, Pangur slowly made his way to the front of the classroom, feeling very much reassured that Hermione, Eddie and Adrian accompanied him.

Medusa looked at his friends with clear displeasure and asked, "Pangur, are you feeling sick?"

Pangur almost flinched back, when an ice-cold hand found its way to his forehead, where it lingered for a moment. "A bit," he admitted in a small voice.

"You have a fever," Medusa said, frowning. "Do you want to return to your dormitory or rest in your own room in your Granny's quarters for a while?"

"My dormitory," Pangur replied immediately, wanting to be together with friends.

Medusa nodded and turned to Eddie and Adrian. "Please accompany Mr. McGonagall back to your dormitory. I'll send Professor Pomfrey or my husband to check on him."

Pangur cast her a pleading look. "Oh please could you send your husband? I urgently need to talk to him anyway."

"We'll see," Medusa replied, looking at him in irritation, before she waved her wand in a complicated movement, causing two small white horses to emerge from the tip of her wand.

The students watched in amazement how the horses made their way across the room and headed out right through the wall.

"Professor," Hermione spoke up with clear excitement. "What are these, and how can I learn how to do this?"

'Leave it to Hermione to ask such a question,' Pangur thought, for once feeling very annoyed at Hermione's manner of questioning everything. His head pounded badly, and he wanted nothing more than to return to his dormitory and lie down.

"Ms. Granger, these are called Patronus, and you may ask me again in five years' time," Medusa replied in a voice that allowed no space for further questions. "Take care Pangur. I'll come to see you later on." With that promise, the Deputy Headmistress ushered the four students out of the classroom.

猫のパジャマ

'I hope Patrick will come to see me. He won't make a fuss like Poppy or Granny,' Pangur thought as he quietly followed his classmates through the corridor to the West wing. 'I wanted to speak with Patrick anyway.' Back in his dormitory, Pangur lay down on his bed and sighed in relief when his achy head touched the pillow. Noticing that his friends stood around his bed, looking at him in concern, he forced a weak smile onto his face and said, "Thanks for coming here with me, but it's all right now. I'm fine. I'm only tired. You can go and do your homework."

"We can work on our Potions summary here together," Hermione suggested. "Then you can simply write it down when you feel better later on."

Eddie and Adrian agreed, causing Pangur to inwardly groan. 'I only want to rest,' he thought, 'but how can I tell them that without hurting their feelings? I'm so glad that I finally have friends; I really don't want to anger them.' He barely listened to the conversation, glad when not even Hermione seemed to expect any contribution from him.

A few minutes later, his godfather strode into the room. "Leave," he said to the others, pointing towards the door. "Mr. McGonagall needs his rest."

"But..."

"No buts, Ms. Granger. Do not try my patience. Out now."

Pangur couldn't help feeling relieved that the Potions Master's glare was not directed at him.

"What happened?" Severus finally asked in a much friendlier voice, taking a seat on the edge of Pangur's bed.

"I used too much magic. I'm sorry," Pangur replied tiredly, closing his eyes as he saw the professor point his wand at him.

"Severus," he suddenly heard his grandmother's voice. "How is he?"

"Pangur has depleted his magic to a great extent and is running a fever. He won't be able to attend classes for the rest of the week."

"For the rest of the week?" Pangur blurted out, terrified. "Today is only Monday. Please let me go to class tomorrow. I'll be fine."

Severus quirked an eyebrow and finally said, "You can ask Madam Pomfrey later. This is only my recommendation."

"I'm sure Poppy will agree with you," Minerva said thoughtfully. "Where is she, by the way?"

Severus sighed. "The eighth years seemed to have a fight between the former Hogwarts students and the American students during their Defence class, and Poppy and Patrick are busy healing them."

猫のパジャマ

To Pangur's chagrin, Poppy and Patrick both agreed with the Potions Master, and he was not allowed to attend any more classes for the rest of the week. However, as soon as he felt better, he could help Patrick in the clinic during the mornings and spend some time with Severus in the Potions lab in the afternoon, and Pangur had to admit that as sad as he was not to be able to attend classes, he enjoyed himself a lot being taught by Severus and Patrick. When he asked Patrick about mind thinking to Goldie, the wizard shot him a stern look and explained, "You must not even try to do such a thing. Telepathy affords a lot of magic, and you could make yourself very ill just by the attempt." He remained thoughtful for an instant, before he added, "Maybe it is easier to use telepathy with a familiar. You can ask Professor Snape about it. He is said to be an expert of Legilimency and telepathy. However, you should get well before even speaking about it. Otherwise, he won't tell you anything."

Pangur agreed and resisted the urge to pester his godfather while they were brewing together in the afternoon. However, he could not keep his thoughts from Goldie, and when by Friday morning the cute little foal still had not arrived, he hesitantly asked Patrick, "Do you know when Goldie is going to arrive, sir?"

"We'll see," Patrick said diplomatically; however, just by the change in Patrick's expression he knew that something was not as it was supposed to be.

tbc...

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