It was a sunny first day of school at Tulinger's Academy for Young Witches. At 11:59 pm, the empty schoolyard waited empty for students to pour out, running, tripping, giggling and giddy for the first recess of first year. The class of 1920 contained an even one hundred students, and when the noon bell chimed, ninety-nine of them rushed out onto the grounds.

A playground for young witches is quite a sight; A few girls on brooms played a clumsy Quidditch match, three others held on tight to a portkey-merry-go-round which spun them round and round until they vanished and reappeared across the yard, falling out of the sky onto a trampoline, where they shouted 'Again, again!'

The scene was framed by an enchanted six-meter slide informally and aptly named 'The Falcon.' Students floated up the ladder, shot down the slide which curved up sharply at the end, launching them into the air, temporarily enchanting them with the ability to fly like birds, until they flapped safely down to the ground.

Under the shade of the slide, a tiny tabby kitten pawed at the gravel. From the shadows, she looked out on the silhouettes of the children in the sun and turned to go and find new shelter.

Just as she started to leave, a massive object hurdled from seemingly nowhere, colliding straight into her like a cannon ball, blasting her from her hiding spot out onto the grass, where a gaggle of girls quickly gathered around her, whispering in shock.

"Oh no!," one witch, Eloise, cried out. "I'm going to get help."

She sprinted away, shouting, "Miss, there's a poor kitty that's been hit by a bludger!"

A stocky girl holding a broomstick in one hand, a short bat in the other, and a shocked expression on her face, arrived at the scene, where the poor creature lay, breathing rapidly.

"My god, I didn't mean it!" she cried.

"It was my first time playing quidditch, they just said to hit the metal one as hard as I could!," and burst into tears.

Another girl on a broom hovered over and drifted slowly to the ground. She held up the broom like a staff, and leaned against it casually.

"Oh, lasses, you needn't worry yourself over that creature," she announced.

The sea of school girls parted and she strode into the center. She stood in a prim pink frock with a lacy white collar and her short hair was in tight little curls.

"See, that's not a cat at all -," she started.

"Girls, girls!," called Madame Strombog, the headmistress, who was bustling along the lawn, medical bag in hand, with Eloise scampering behind. "Resume your recreations at once! Give the creature some room!"

With the headmistress still at a distance, the curly-haired girl resumed, "That's no cat - that's my freak of a next door human neighbor, skulking around the shadows in her little disguise. I see her do it whenever anybody comes round her house, particularly boys, she just turns into a cat and scampers away."

The girls gasped, all unsure of what to believe.

"And she's a halfblood to boot," she sneered.

"Dolores Umbridge!," snapped Madame Strombog who was now towering behind her.

"No pupil of mine shall utter that foul slur! Detention for you, and be assured your mother and I shall be in correspondence. Now step aside, girls," she advised, kneeling down beside the cat and opening her leather medical bag.

"And what foolish talk of a first year turning into a cat! Only a full grown and very powerful witch could undertake the complex magic required to become an animagus -," then she paused.

The headmistress recalled that there was one student missing from that morning's roll call - unusual for the first day of school. And that that child was described in her intake interview records as 'strange' and 'unnervingly quiet,' yet 'quite bright…' Could it be possible?

Without revealing her suspicions out loud, Strombog held her wand over the tabby to silently cast the animagus reversal spell, 'igamina' -

But before she could complete the spell, she heard the sudden approach of an animal bounding toward the scene, and turned around to see a bulldog plow through the throng of girls.

Everyone screeched, including Strombog, as the dog skidded to a stop beside her, picked up the cat by the scruff of the neck, and bolted underneath the legs of the girls, out of the circle, and off into the distance, headed for the woods.

"Someone get her!," Dolores shrieked. "I swear! It's not a cat, it's a freak named M-"

"No more of your lies, Miss Umbridge!" snapped Madame Strombog. She grabbed Dolores by the ear and yanked her back toward the school building and gestured for the throng of girls to finally disperse.

As they marched away, Strombog looked out toward the woods and remarked to herself that the morning's scene was very strange indeed, and made a note to investigate that missing student.

The bulldog rounded a large oak tree into a shady clearing and finally came to a stop, gently lowering the cat onto a cluster of fallen leaves. The dog circled the clearing, as if to make sure they were safe, and then stopped, looked at the cat, began to walk forward, and transformed into a young girl with long, wild blonde hair.

"I'm Daisy," she said. "You can come out, it's okay."

The kitten remained frozen in the leaves. Daisy slowly walked closer, pine needles crunching under feet. She wore a school uniform and had blue eyes, kind and fierce.

"It's okay. I know who you are. We're the same, you and me. When I heard that nasty girl talking, I knew you must be like me, so I ran off and transformed, so I could save you, so that you wouldn't be found out."

Daisy knelt beside her and scratched behind her ear.

"I know you're scared. I hate it here, too. But you can come out. We're safe here"

As Daisy pet her back, she felt the fur beneath her hand become fabric and from the form of the cat emerged another little girl with a pointy chin and hair pulled into a tight black bun. She had a purple bruise on her arm where the bludger hit and she trembled slightly.

Daisy sat back onto her heels and pulled the newly transformed girl up to her knees. The two girls sat before each other in the quiet clearing, autumn leaves releasing into the crisp air around them.

"Tell me your name," said Daisy.

The other girl continued to quiver. She picked up a brown leaf and spun it slowly by its stem.

Daisy took her other hand. "You're safe, I promise."

The girl across from her drew in a deep breath and locked eyes with Daisy.

"I'm Minerva."

Daisy smiled and took Minerva's other hand. The ancient oaks held space for them as a gentle autumn wind rustled through the brush.

"Minerva," she repeated. "That's a good name."

"Well, Minerva! A new friendship calls for an occasion," said Daisy. She stood up and twirled her dress.

"Shall we make a fairy circle? We could gather some moss, and pebbles, goodness do I love pebbles, what are your feelings on twigs by the way? I think they're a bit pokey but-"

From the direction of the schoolyard they heard a group of girls voices in a mocking melody, getting closer and closer:

"Minerva, Minerva, Most Unnerving Minerva," they sang.

One called out, "Come out, little cat girl! Dolly told us all about you."

Daisy whipped her eyes over to Minerva but she had already disappeared. She looked up toward the sound of the voices and just caught a glimpse of a striped tail rounding a tree.

For what surely wouldn't be the last time, Daisy transformed and tore off in pursuit of that strange tabby cat.