Round One Submission Entry
written by Lissy Longbottom


Queenie Goldstein was having a bad day. A bad week, actually. She’d failed her potions exam (because she hadn’t studied for it) and she’d broken a nail during flying class. None of that, however, was nearly as bad as what she had just witnessed.

Chuck Anders had been kissing Dottie Rockwood in the library. In the Divination section, no less! That was where Chuck had held her hand and asked her on a date, and now, less than a day later, he was kissing another girl! In their section! The nerve of that spineless, heartless, no good two timer!

Queenie was devastated. This was the absolute end of the world. Everything was falling apart around her, and all she wanted to do was get back to her bed and crawl under her covers. She didn’t even feel like talking to Tina about it just yet - THAT was how upset she was. She'd spent the better part of the last hour in the bathroom crying, and now she had absolutely no tears left to cry. She was just ... numb.

Little did she know, her evening was about to get rather interesting.

As she walked back to the Pukwudgie common room, she heard something that grabbed her attention. At first, she’d thought she had been imagining it. It had been soft at first, just a small little meow that she was certain had been a figment of her own imagination. When she heard it a second time, though, she knew that it had to be real. Cats roaming around the school weren’t an unusual sight - but they didn’t usually meow like that. They usually kept to themselves.

She paused, and since no one else was around to tend to it - she decided to seek it out. Something about the small little cries spoke to her. Almost as if the poor little creature needed help. Maybe he - or she - was having just as bad a day as she was. Maybe it was hurt. Or maybe it was stuck somewhere. She had to find out!

She turned to her right, and heard the meow again. It was a bit louder now - she was getting closer. It sounded like it was echoing off of something. She came to a fork in the hallway and paused, waiting until she heard it again before turning to the left.

The meow was much louder now - she was sure she was practically on top of the source. Meow! The echo was loud and clear, and she realized it was coming from a nearby suit of armour. That explained what it sounded so odd. After looking over the suit of armour, it became clear that the cat was obviously somewhere in the suit. How it had gotten in there was beyond her.

After a bit of jiggering, she was able to pull the whole top torso of the suit off - and it was much heavier than it looked. She let out a little yelp as she stumbled backwards, dropping the whole thing loudly with a CLANG as she lost her balance.

Letting out an a grunt as she landed firmly on her behind, she stood up quickly, blushing and looking around. Wait, no one had heard that? It appeared the hallway was still deserted - and no one had seemed to be alarmed by the loud crash. How late was it? She hadn't even glanced at her watch since she'd left the library ... she looked down at her wrist. Yikes. She had only three minutes until curfew! No wonder it was deserted.

The cat! She’d almost forgotten! She peered in in to the bottom half of the suit of armour, which was still standing on its platform, and was greeted by a large, fluffy brown and white cat. It peered up at her with large yellow eyes, standing up on its hind legs to inspect her closer as she looked down at it.

As it stood up, Queenie let out a little gasp, covering her mouth in slight horror. This wasn’t a cat - it was a kitten. A very LARGE kitten. Those yellow eyes, and the coloring of the fur - it was obvious to her what it was.

It was a Wampus kitten!

There were so many questions going through Queenie’s brain. First, she thanked her lucky stars that she was smart enough to even recognize the creature in front of her. The only reason she knew about Wampus cats at all was the fact that they, like her, were capable of performing legilimency. As soon as she had learned the craft, she’d researched anything and everything about it, so naturally they’d come across her studies multiple times. She hated to think about what trouble she could be in if she didn't recognize it ...

Second, where was the full grown, murderous, carnivorous mother of this kitten?? Wampus kittens didn’t just show up in the middle of Ilvermorny. It had to have come from somewhere … and it had to have parents. Perhaps other kittens from its liter … which raised a whole new series of questions. What were Wampus cats doing here? Had someone let them in? Had anyone been hurt by them?

She probably should have run to notify someone. Just as she was thinking of doing so, the kitten stood up and used the edge of the now disconnected armor torso to jump at her. She let out another shriek as the kitten leapt in to her arms, and as a reflex, she wrapped her arms around it as it landed. Just as she thought the kitten was going to attack her … it reached up and licked her cheek before nuzzling against her cheek, purring as it did so.

Eyes wide, she slowly began to scratch the little thing behind the ears, which caused it to purr even more. She smiled a bit to herself, before remembering that she was currently in the middle of the corridor. Cuddling with a creature that was classified as one of the most dangerous wizard killers in existence; a creature that was definitely not supposed to be here.

She wasn’t sure where to start, but the most pressing issue - whether or not this kitten was going to try and eat her - seemed to have solved itself. For the moment, at least.

“Come on, let’s go back to my dorm and figure out what to do with you,” she whispered to the little thing before turning on her heel and hurrying back to her common room.