The Cats [Scorpius]

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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May 19th, 2027

A new hobby had formed out of Fae's frequent trips made to the mainland: visiting all of the different shops within Diagon and Horizont Alley. She had been advised early on by druids working within the Ministry that she should stay out of Knockturn, a place home to shadier shops and equally odd shopkeepers, some known to historically dabble in the Dark Arts. That suited her just fine, as she still hadn't made her way through the majority of the stores in the other two alleyways. It also helped keeping her out of the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts, because she didn't have nearly enough mainland money to buy a book there every time she visited. Apparently she could sell them used and old books though, and then it would function almost like a trade for newer ones. Letting go of her few worldly possessions was harder than she thought and a 'trade-in', as they called it, had yet to happen. Waiting until she had enough money would make the next purchase that much better.

Or she could spend it at the cat cafe she had discovered while wandering through Horizont one afternoon. Situated across from a tiny florist shop sat Honey's Cat Café. According to her guard, mainlander muggles had these all over, and they were basically coffee shops that let you sit and pet cats the whole time. What a novel idea that was! And keeping a suddenly ecstatic High Druid out of the cafe was impossible. Fae was inside and babbling about wanting to see the cats as fast as she could, her hair turning immediately into a shock of bright orange, a color that hadn't made an appearance in months. Her guardian stood behind her, arms crossed, and she could tell that he wasn't impressed that he had been willingly dragged into yet another store without checking it out first. She knew there were rules about these things while she was on the mainland, but she also knew she could defend herself if it came down to it. Being treated like a piece of porcelain was exactly what she didn't want being done to her.

"I would like to pet the cats," she said excitedly to the worker at the front counter. "Him too!" A thumb was thrown over her shoulder at her guard. "How does this even work? Do I get to pick a cat, or does it come to me?" Fae threw in before the employee could even catch up to the first part. It was sort of important to know, because animals were going to be drawn to her no matter what. Better to get an idea of it now before it was too late and she was swarmed with cats.

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[scorpius hyperion malfoy]

May 19, 2027

The cat café in Horizont Alley was nice, though Scorpius didn't often come there. He wasn't enough of a cat person to keep it at the top of his to-do list, but he didn't mind it, really. Spending half an hour or so petting cats was a good way to let go of some stress and take a little break from his work at the Ministry. He was just finishing up his time with the felines when in walked a young woman whom Scorpius recognized as being Fae Cloudbreaker, the High Druid of Hy-Brasil.

It was strange for a multitude of reasons, including because Scorpius hadn't expected to see her there. From his understanding, the High Druid had been making more trips to what the Druids called the "mainland". At least relative to Hy-Brasil, Scorpius supposed that Great Britain was the "mainland", though he would have expected those visits to be to the Ministry or to meet with officials at some undisclosed location. Not that there was anything wrong with her being at Honey's Cat Café; it was just out of the ordinary.

The High Druid, as most people there, was asking one of the employees if she could see the cats. The employee, from what Scorpius could hear, was taking it well enough, clarifying that the rules for visiting with the cats were posted on the glass door that separated the cats from the café's patrons. Scorpius chuckled to himself, though, as the employee mentioned the additional fee for spending time with the cats, only to backtrack and hesitate. (He probably would have done the same, he thought. Insisting on charging the High Druid and the person accompanying her just to pet some cats must have felt sort of strange.)

Scorpius hung to the side of the closed glass door, the cats clearly visible behind him. He didn't want to get in the way, especially because it seemed as though the wizard acting as Fae Cloudbreaker's security guard wanted no part in any of the cat café detour.

fae iona cloudbreaker

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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Rules were on the glass door! Indeed they were! She had glanced past the employee towards where she could see the cats, another patron standing idly by said door. Was there a line as well? Fae forked over the money for the fee to see the cats, caring very little about the actual cafe portion of it. She had yet to figure out the intrigue that mainlanders had for coffee shops. The only stand-outs were ones where bookstores were attached. She could get behind those being popular and a cool location to casually read. Still, nothing was better than hooking her hammock up and lounging with a book back on the island, lost to the outside world amongst the thousand year old trees. The silence of the natural world (which she now found to be much, much louder nowadays than the city) was wonderful.

Even better was a room full of cats, and with her money practically tossed at the employee, Fae was on her way towards the glass door. Her guardian seemingly found it safe enough and decided to take up a seat inside the cafe to keep an eye on her from there. That worked perfectly for her considering he was in quite the mood today. It had absolutely nothing to do with her constant need to barge into every other store or question strangers on whether or not they had 'tellyphones'. She'd asked exactly three people today about cellphones, two were the employees at the ice cream place she liked going to, the third a nicely tailored gentleman with a gaudy cane. At this point, she only did it to get under the Council's skin.

"Are you in line?" she inquired with the young man as she approached the glass door that separated her from the cats. "I cannot believe they keep them right here for anyone to come by and say hello!" These we're probably the happiest cats ever! Constant attention and pats, and they never had to worry about a thing because they looked well taken care of. The only felines that existed on Hy-Brasil were kneazles, none of which were particularly fond of being held. She knew that from experience as a child. One left a nice scratch on the back of her hand.

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[scorpius hyperion malfoy]

May 19, 2027

The High Druid wasted no time in paying to see the cats, even though she probably didn't have to do so because of her role. She approached him to ask if he were wanting in line, adding, "I cannot believe they keep them right here for anyone to come by and say hello!" It sounded as though she'd never seen a cat or a part-Kneazle before in her life.

Scorpius shook his head. "There's no queue, Miss Cloudbreaker," he informed her politely, getting out his mobile phone to check the time but only glancing at it before darkening its screen again. "The cats are all very good," Scorpius continued pleasantly, looking at the cats through the glass. Some were busy playing; others were lounging around on the various pieces of furniture that had been installed inside for their use. All of them, too, were available for adoption, though he wasn't quite that attached.

fae iona cloudbreaker

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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Fae wasn't expecting to be answered by name, and her guardian clearly wasn't either. The loud scrape of his chair legs against the ground as he stood up abruptly had her flicking a look in his direction. This boy didn't pose any danger. She had a good enough eye for the wrong sort, as did her guardian, that they would have picked him out immediately upon entering the cafe if he was going to be a problem. Lowering Merlin's staff to a more relaxed position, Fae hoped that would show her companion that she was fine with the situation. The disgruntled position he put himself in as he returned to his seat told her that he was unhappy, but allowing it to continue. Too bad for him, she was going to whether he 'allowed it' or not. Technically she had final say on everything.

Her attention should have been on the cats, as that was what she was here for, but there was a distraction in the boy's hands. "Is that a tellyphone?" she asked, eyes widening. A groan came from her guardian, telling her that she had hit the mark correct again, much to his chagrin. "For Merlin's sake..." he started to swear and Fae tapped the staff on the ground gently. z they weren't going to be taking the warlock's name in vain today, especially over a tellyphone. She'd make sure to ask another couple of people before the end of the day, just to make a point.

"I am glad to hear that! Do you have any tips?" Though she doubted she'd need any. The cats closest to the door had already started to wander towards her, probably curious about why they were drawn to her. It meant her work was cut out for her. "I have a feeling I will not be having any trouble with them," she added as her eyes glanced over the rules. They were simple enough, and understandable too. Not everyone knew how to handle an animal, let alone a cat. Finicky felines fought fiercely when frightened.

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[scorpius hyperion malfoy]

May 19, 2027

Scorpius stepped back, banging into the glass partition—but fortunately realizing what he'd done before damaging it or doing anything more than startling the cats nearest to it—as he caught the attention of Fae Cloudbreaker's security. The High Druid herself didn't appear to be too concerned, though, asking him if what he had was a "tellyphone". That was admittedly closer to the correct word than some of the variations on "telephone" Scorpius had heard, and he nodded his head while hoping that he wouldn't be jinxed just for answering a simple question.

"Er, yes," he replied. "It's a telephone. They're called mobiles." He didn't think that Fae Cloudbreaker was there for a lesson in the latest Muggle-to-magical technology, though, especially when she brought up the cats again.

She asked him if he had any tips for dealing with the cats, and Scorpius shook his head awkwardly. He wasn't a cat whisperer.

Fae, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten the cats' attention, and she even mentioned as much. "I have a feeling I will not be having any trouble with them," she said. Scorpius wasn't sure if it was something about her presence or just the fact that he'd startled them already, but the cats did look intrigued.

"Do you like cats?" asked Scorpius lamely, watching as a Persian cat—with its already smushed-looking face—looked through the glass wall at Fae.

fae iona cloudbreaker

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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Did she like cats? What a silly question that was. If anything, they liked her more than she did them, but that was at such a high level of enjoyment that it practically became negligible. Fae would have scoffed if she was the kind of person to do that. With the boy using her last name, it meant he knew she was High Druid of Hy-Brasil. Reeling her excitement back was going to be difficult now that she had paid for her time with the cats. Maybe that wasn't exactly professional of her in the eyes of the mainlanders, but she didn't really care. What they deemed was important in the working world was not the same for her. They preferred talking nonstop about what-if scenarios and impossible to move legislature, assuming they'd lose her along the way or talk enough that she'd grow bored of it. As long as she had breaks, like right now with the cat cafe, she could do endless meetings and discussions on Hy-Brasil's status in the greater magical community.

Before she could answer about the cats though, her eyes darted to the phone, which the boy was actually calling a 'mobile'. She wanted to ask more questions about that, but remembered that she was here for a reason. The muffled meowing from the other side of the glass grabbed her attention once again. Now there were at least half a dozen cats piled there, staring up at her expectantly. One of the stouter cats had gone and smooshed it's face against the barrier, seemingly wanting to get as close of a look as possible at her. "Animals are drawn to druids," she explained as she carefully started to open the door? making sure to not allow any of the cats through. "Back up please," Fae asked the growing number of cats as she stepped inside, her voice raising in pitch. Merlin this was exciting! Even the one that had mashed it's face against the glass was adorable (it's face was apparently like that to begin with)! Her ankles were instantly surrounded, multiple cats circling her feet and aggressively clinging to her. She hadn't even made it more than two steps in!

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[scorpius hyperion malfoy]

May 19, 2027

"Merlin…" Scorpius blinked in amazement as the High Druid clarified for him that animals were drawn to Druids. That was clearly the case. Dogs might have been more likely to get so excited about a person's being in their presence, but he had never seen cats acting like that. Most cats seemed to prefer to do their own thing most of the time. The ones at the cat café were more sociable than aloof, but it was as though Fae had spiked their catnip with Amortentia. He knew that he didn't need to be staring, but it was difficult not to stop and stare. Even as someone for whom the magical world was perfectly normal, this wasn't an everyday occurrence.

Fae spoke to the cats, instructing them politely to back up so that she could get inside their little enclosure to visit with them. Remarkably, the cats obliged—at least enough to let her inside. They were, as she had said, drawn to her, immediately circling her and rubbing up against her as though she were a long-lost friend.

Trying not to be intrusive, Scorpius lingered to watch, and he wasn't the only one. The employee who had been assisting the High Druid when she came inside the café looked on in disbelief, probably wondering how acceptable it would be to ask the High Druid if she wanted to approach the café's owner about getting a second job there. As strange as it was for them to watch, though, Fae seemed much more comfortable with the attention that she was getting from the cats than Scorpius knew that he would have been.

fae iona cloudbreaker

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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“Hello…hello,” Fae hummed over and over to all of the cats that now surrounded her legs. She had never experienced something like this before! There had been plenty of ‘street cats’ (the mainlanders’ words, not hers) that had approached her whilst walking around the shopping areas of Diagon and Horizont, but there had never been this many. Coming here had been a great decision after all! Crouching down a little more, some of the bigger cats had managed to climb up her legs and had begun to crawl into her outstretched arms. The balancing act of keeping herself from tipping over and assisting those that wanted to be held was difficult, but she managed to get one in each hand before realizing it would be smarter to sit down on the ground. Checking that the area was clear, she did just that, and the second her butt hit the floor it was all over. Cats were everywhere. Each one was trying to get a good look at her, obviously curious about the attraction they suddenly had to her presence. The one with the flat, smooshed face was staring at her from the door, clearly interested but not yet drawn to her like the rest.

That was when she noticed all of the other patrons staring at her through the glass. They seemed…shocked? In awe? It was hard to tell, though her guard was laughing in the background, amused by everything that had transpired. His job was to keep her from being surrounded, and here she was, being used as a cat tree by every feline in that café. “These cats are very friendly! It is amazing how relaxed they are with people.” Obviously they enjoyed her company because she was a druid, though they definitely looked to be well taken care of and with a healthy dose of socialization. She didn’t necessarily agree with ‘keeping’ pets, but these cats were happy to be here, and she was too!

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[scorpius hyperion malfoy]

May 19, 2027

Watching the High Druid greet the cats at Honey's Cat Café as though they were all old friends of hers was certainly a sight to behold. It was impossible not to watch, though, because the felines were so thrilled to have her in their presence. Scorpius wasn't sure if that meant that they would try to turn on him if he were to interrupt them, but he was enjoying seeing the cats' reaction to Fae Cloudbreaker. Who wouldn't be thrilled to see her, minus some of the higher-ups at the Ministry of Magic (for obvious reasons)?

"These cats are very friendly!" Fae assured all of her human onlookers at that point. Luckily, she didn't appear to be allergic to cat dander. "It is amazing how relaxed they are with people."

Scorpius was admittedly pretty amazed, too. He had been around cats a bit at Hogwarts because people were allowed to bring them to the school as pets, but he wasn't a cat owner himself. Never before had he seen cats acting so affectionate towards anyone, much less a stranger. "They really seem to like you," he observed. "They'll want to hire you here." It was fascinating. She didn't even seem to be communicating with them other than in English. It wasn't like she knew some sort of cat equivalent to Parseltongue that she was using to get the cats to respond to her that way.

fae iona cloudbreaker

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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The vibrations from all of the cats seemed to resonate with her greatly, her hair immediately shifting to a pastel pink color as she continued to be swarmed. They were much gentler than having the griffins all rubbing up against her at once, or even the handful of kneazles that lived on the island. Despite the natural animal affinity, the full-blown kneazles still enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy and tended to be independent of whatever the druid magic cast off onto other creatures. Amongst the clowder of cats, a few definitely had the pointed ears of a kneazle and she could tell that those were the ones that weren't actively seeking out affection. Not that they didn't entirely avoid her, just that they apparently didn't feel compelled to rub up against her.

"Hire me?" she said up to the boy that she'd been speaking to the entire time. There were a lot more onlookers around now too, all seemingly amazed by what was going on. "I do not think my people would be okay with that...but there are plenty of druids that would do a better job here than I would." Her work experience was being an island tour guide and High Druid. She doubted that taking care of griffins would translate well to raising these wonderful cats. Someone with greater cat skills would be better suited to it than she.

One particularly large tabby that also looked to be half-kneazle (at least) had sauntered up to her, carving a path through the arched backs of the other felines. It let out a large meow before rubbing its head on the outside of her hand. This had been one of the ones that had watched from the outskirts from the start, now captivated by her charm as well. "Yes, you can have scratches too," Fae hummed at the cat, immediately going for under its chin. That looked to be the spot.

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[scorpius hyperion malfoy]

May 19, 2027

The High Druid sounded absolutely stunned by his remark that the people working at the cat café would want to hire her to work there, too, because of how drawn to her the cats were. Though Scorpius doubted that working at a cat café would pay very well and though he didn't want the job for himself, he could see the appeal of it. Working with cats was probably a low stress option as jobs went, and he supposed that it would be good for someone who adored cats more than anything. There weren't very many other jobs that allowed people to pet cats all day, he supposed.

Fae, however, said that she didn't think that the Druids on Hy-Brasil would be too happy with her if she were to take a job there, and Scorpius supposed that she had a point there. At the same time, he realized that she likely didn't get to interact with regular cats much. The creatures that lived on Hy-Brasil were all of the magical variety, from his knowledge of it. The only housecats would be other people in Animagus form, which meant that having any kind of pet was out of the question without getting into some very strange dynamics that he didn't think the Druids or the Ministry were prepared to address.

She did acknowledge that there were Druids better suited to caring for cats than she. Even though Scorpius found that somewhat hard to believe, considering how readily the cats wanted to be the High Druid's best friend, he nodded his head. He didn't know many Druids at all, admittedly, so he knew that he'd have to take her word for it. Parseltongue existed for snakes; maybe the Druids had figured out how to speak feline?

Despite Fae's comments to the contrary, it was apparent to Scorpius (and nearly everyone else in the café, from what he could tell) that she truly had a way with animals. She didn't seem to mind that the cats wanted love and attention from her, and even one of the cats who had seemed to be a skeptic had come over to her to greet her and receive its share of pets.

"Have you got pets on Hy-Brasil?" Scorpius asked, since the thought had occurred to him. Perhaps Fae didn't have pets of her own, but it was possible that others did. "Or your people? The Druids?" Maybe they didn't have the standard domesticated cats and dogs that could be found in both the magical and non-magical worlds, but they must have had some sort of creature… companionship?

fae iona cloudbreaker

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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The only cat that seemed disinterested in her was an orange tabby. It apparently found hot out of staring blankly into a corner, occasionally turning its head to look her way as the rest of the cats formed a wall of fur around her. Fae knew she could win it over eventually, it would just take some time to wade through the pile of purring. Maybe it was intimidated by the half-kneazle she was currently scratching? This one did seem to be the leader of the pack, most likely utilizing its kneazle-ness and size to quite literally swing its weight around. She had seen similar traits in other magical creatures when in large groups. Even the biggest griffins ruled the herd.

The young man then asked a curious question: about whether or not she - and by extension the druids - kept pets. Fae looked up at him while continuing to scratch under several different cat chins. "We do not believe in 'owning' animals in the same way mainlanders do. Are there some creatures that live alongside druids and are treated as if they were part of the family? Yes. But they are free to come and go as they please, and it would be against our beliefs to consider them as our property." There were a few whispers from the onlookers, though Fae couldn't catch any tangible words from it. She knew mainlanders tended to take offense to the pet subject, especially because so many treated their own as if they were humans. "That is not to say that I disagree with how pets are treated on the mainland. For example, I know that these cats are all well-treated and loved. We merely have our customs and abide by them." Druids also tended to have much stranger connections with creatures too. No one on the mainland thought it was cute that she basically lived with a herd of griffin. Terrified seemed to be the common reaction.

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[scorpius hyperion malfoy]

May 19, 2027

Scorpius, who was generally more interested in the Muggle world than he was in the Druids' world within the magical world, didn't realize until Fae told him that the Druids didn't keep pets. They had some creatures on Hy-Brasil that they viewed as companions, apparently, but those weren't seen as the Druids' property. He knew that there were some Muggle organizations that took similar approaches to animal rights, and there were occasionally organizations that popped up in the magical world in a similar vein.

On the "mainland" in the magical world, things were a little different. Some people kept animals such as cats and dogs as pets; others kept Kneazles and Crups. The Ministry classified anything it considered a beast in terms of how dangerous it was—and whether or not additional regulations were required of those who wanted to own one. That was why, for instance, the average witch or wizard couldn't just own a pet dragon in the same way that they could a toad.

The Druid approach to pets made sense, though, for the context in which they lived. Hy-Brasil was full of magical creatures, including some that were rare to find on the "mainland". Treating them as property would affect their lifestyles and habitats. Not every creature needed to be domesticated, either. It was all more complicated than Scorpius felt he had the knowledge to articulate, but the point was that he didn't think that the Druids were necessarily wrong.

Fae, too, seemed to understand the "mainlanders'" point of view, even though she was the High Druid. "That is not to say that I disagree with how pets are treated on the mainland," she said herself. "For example, I know that these cats are all well-treated and loved. We merely have our customs and abide by them."

Scorpius, genuinely curious about the Druids' approach to pets, nodded his head. "So you won't be opening a cat café on Hy-Brasil, then?" he asked good-naturedly, hoping that Fae would understand that he was only joking. At the same time, Scorpius knew that Hy-Brasil probably didn't need any more interference from the "mainland" unless the Druids were the ones coming to the Ministry for assistance.

fae iona cloudbreaker

[fae iona cloudbreaker]

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”No.”

A singular word to finish off the conversation on what she was sure plenty of the onlookers wanted to continue to inquire about. Fae was fine being a cultural liaison as that had been her career prior to becoming High Druid. She found that mainlanders tended to keep asking questions though, sometimes the same thing just reworded. As if that would change her answer at all. That didn’t mean to say that she disliked their curiosity towards her culture. If anything, those currently standing around the cat café watching her were far more enjoyable to converse with than anyone in the Ministry was. They really liked asking dumb questions there. Fae knew that was because they were always hoping to catch her off guard and get her to agree to something ridiculous. She had no patience for sliminess.

”But should anything ever happen to this café, they would all be welcome on Hy-Brasil,” she added as one of the half-kneazles rubbed its nose on her cheek. They would have to be fixed if they hadn’t already been, of course, because the island could not have a repeat of the Great Kneazel Outbreak of 1368 again. Having stumbled upon those scrolls in the island’s library while researching Merlin’s visits, she had been quite surprised to learn of this.

Before she could be completely overrun again by the dozens of curious cats, Fae slowly stood up. Her legs were covered in hair, and she very carefully and delicately moved her mouth to get a tangle of it off of her lips. It wouldn’t be very ladylike to full on spit at it, especially in front of the cats and the mainlanders. ”Well, that was very therapeutic. Thank you,” Fae said down to her feline friends, an operatic of purrs and meows sent in response back to her. Even if she couldn’t communicate with animals like some of her kind, they still understood one another. ”Are there more cafes like this around? I would very much like to go to one with dogs too.”

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