Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Huh? What was this about not understanding? *perplexed look* Oh, wait. That last little thought had snuck out her brain and exited her mouth, hadn't it? She decided not to reply to the question, as she doubted he really wanted an answer to it anyway. She wasn't expecting a treat to be tossed at her at that exact moment, but she managed to catch it anyway.

She started to give Maleficent her treat, but looked up with an 'THAT'S SO UNFAIR' expression on her face when he mentioned staying after class. UGH. Now that he'd gone and requested it, she'd have to stay! She'd been planning on merging in with the departing crowds and taking off.

"Yes, sir," she half-heartedly said.

THAT got her attention.

"Sir? I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say shoveling dung with...Bellchant?" she asked. Surely there had to be some mistake. Was there another Bellchant around here somewhere? SHE was staying after class to discuss kneazle homes, after all. It was Lazarus who'd wanted a pet in exchange for poop.

Isla blinked as all the toys, etc. scattered out in front of them. Really, Williamson? Isla stayed in place as she surveyed the mess. In the meantime, she came up with a plan. She had toys, she had a kneazle, and she a treat that could be broken up into pieces. Treats weren't magical, and he'd said no magic, so she was going to use the treats to move her kneazle along!

She grabbed a pretty pink harness and gently pet her kneazle as she secured it around her. Then she grabbed a random toy (some ball) and headed to the beginning of the obstacle course. Hmm...a red hoop. Isla tossed the ball through the hoop then tried to steer Maleficent along. The kneazle wasn't amused, though, which Isla didn't figure she would be. So she broke off a tiny piece of the treat, showed it to her kneazle, and then tossed it through the hoop.

The kneazle took off so fast that the harness slipped out of her hand, and it was only when Isla called for her pet and waved the treat around that the kneazle stopped. "Merlin!" she called out.

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Claudine was quite certain that the kneazle was following her. However, when she looked back, it was sitting a few paces away from her, one leg in the air and it was grooming itself…there. Already she was exasperated and she whistled shrilly again.

This kneazle was particularly careful of grooming itself. It took cleanliness seriously. This was why it was so annoyed when the hooman whistled again. He continued licking himself, taking his own leisurely time then getting on all paws, he stretched before trotting towards the girl.

“I shall call you… President. Because you do whatever you please.’’ She reached down to pat President on the head then moved to the obstacle course. “We need to make it through this course. Even though Williamson is clocking each student time, I’m not putting any pressure on you. We’re just going to have fun but also… let’s not go too slow, okay?”

President was by no means understanding the girl’s words and actions but he did understand her tone. She wasn’t mad at him or being rough or anything of the sort. This was the kind of hooman he could work with. So, when the drated, plastic fish was waved in his face, he followed her.

“Through the hoops,’’ Claudine encouraged, waving the fish and the treat she had snagged earlier in front of the first hoop, the red one. “Through… come on.’’

President silently jumped through the first hoop and without waiting for any sort of coaxing, jumped through the second one as well- that black one.

“Oh, well done!’’ said a delighted Claudine, rushing to the second hoop and scratching President’s ear. Animals mostly seemed to like her and well, she loved them right back because they were a lot better than humans in many ways. “Alright, let’s go over these three hurdles now. Come on, President.”

President loved being scratched behind the ear; he really did. But he wanted to return to grooming himself and so he did. He was the boss of himself. He began licking his front left paw. There was dirt there and it needed to be gone. And what was that smell again? The hooman was waving the treat once more. Oh, all right. President trotted over to the first hurdle.

“Over, over.” The treat was waved on the other side of the hurdle.

President jumped over the first then the second and with the hooman running beside him, went over the second hurdle. Ohh, look. A see-saw thing. President knew that he had to walk over that. He balanced himself perfectly, trotting proudly over the wooden beam. The opposite end went up in the air as he reached either side.

“Wonderful!’’ Claudine chirped, feeling proud of President. The kneazle had completed both sets of beams without any issues and was now lying flat on his back, rolling in the grass. [/i]Great.[/i] The snakette actually got to her knees beside President. “Having fun?” She reached out to rub his belly.

Immediately President playfully tried to grab her hand but the hooman was making some sort of happy noise (laughter) and pulling her hand away. Still, President kept trying until he meowed, scrambled to all paws then butted the hooman’s hand with his forehead. He was ready to continue. Over the other set of hurdles (red and white), through those pole- like things (red at white, centre of the course) and over a final set of hurdles. Whew! That was hard work but fun! Now what?

“You have to weave your way through these.’’ Claudine pointed then demonstrated by using her free hand to mimic weaving her way between. “Got it?’’

President knew what those sticks meant; he was just too lazy to move. He scratched his head with a hind leg until he was distracted by the treat waving in his face. Yummy treat! He followed the treat which the hooman was moving. Between the first two sticks he went, in, an out, weavey weave, annnd repeat!

“We’re all done! You were amazing, President!” Claudine scooped the kneazle into her arms and hugged him tight as she moved away from the course to give way to the next student. Animals indeed made her very happy. And no... she did not care how long she and President took. They had both had a great time and that was all that mattered.

President? He simply meowed contentedly, nibbling on the treat he had been rewarded with.

Originally Posted by Watson

He turned bright red when he heard Islay's comment. So she... she had meant HIM!? Oh my.... Yep, he looked down and glanced at the kneazle in his lap. Please Aslan. Meanwhile he could have sworn that he saw Aslan roll his eyes at all of the dramatics. Same Aslan. Same, thought Noah.

He nodded, grinned, and caught the treat the Professor threw. Glancing at Aslan, he smiled a little more and offered the kneazle a treat.. "Hey buddy. You earned this." He noted how the Professor tapped his own lips and as the kneazle happily chewed on its treat, Noah glanced at it, trying to see if he could see the extra organ.

As he stroked Aslan's head, he continued to listen to the Professor as he gave his next instructions. "Right." he said, noting that they would have to find a way to get through said obstacle course without magic. Scratching behind Aslan's ear, he whispered to the kneazle, "We got this, right?" Then he glanced around, looking for someone to partner up with. "Any one want to work together through this?"

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Originally Posted by Watson

Noah looked up and found his fellow housemate (Kitt) beside him. He grinned at the younger boy. "Ooh. Good question. Yelling or feeding?" he repeated before looking at the kneazle on his lap. "What do YOU think Aslan?" The kneazle opened an eye and stood up, jumping off of his lap. He meowed at him. "Yes, we have to be ready..." he said, hoping that the kneazle would understand him. "Sit." The kneazle immediately followed his order which surprised the fifth year. He wasn't expecting the kneazle to be so obedient. He chuckled.

Noah turned to gaze at Kitt. "Let's give them half a treat and then instruct them to go into the course, yeah?" said he, before looking down at the kneazle curled up at his feet. He patted him. "Aslan, behave." Noah looked at Kitt once more and then eyed the toy box. "If we set these up through the course and had someone pretend to lead the mouse... we should be good. I think they'd follow? Maybe"

He paused. "What do you think, Kitt?"

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Kitt watched him and his kneazle, mildly impressed he'd gotten him to sit. In his experience, cats were not the sort to be trained. He didn't know much about kneazles but maybe they were different? That one girl did say they were really intelligent? Did they speak human? [v]"Can he play dead, too?"[/b] That was always a neat trick.

"You're gonna have to make it super convincing. They're smart. I think they'd know otherwise." And in his experience, limited as it was, cats liked things that moved. Made them want to chase.

"What if we put the treats down? Sparky ate that last one just fine. Maybe he's got room for more. Or, Aslan looks trained enough, would he follow you if you crawled through everything before him?"

At the end of the day, he didn't know so.

"Let's use your idea."

His name was most certainly not "Sparky" and he most certainly had no intention of doing much work today. He wanted to be fed more treats, have a nap, get a few scratches behind his ear, go back for another nap, maybe play with a few toys.

That was it.

At least he was no longer being dangled about. This boy was almost comfortable.

Originally Posted by Watson

Can he play dead too? Hm.. Maybe? Noah glanced down at Aslan with a questioning look as if the question extended to him; however, Aslan turned his head and looked away. "I think that's a no to playing dead. Can Sparky.. here do that?" he glanced at the kneazle now seated in Kitt's lap.

Noah nodded not once but twice at Kitt's statement. That was very, very true. They weren't dealing with a dog here A dog would have been much easier to convince. He remained quiet, listening to Kitt explain that they ought to try putting a trail of food down. He nodded at that idea. "I like the food idea but I think it would only last for so long... We may have to get some sort of toy that they feel like they need to pounce on... I doubt that the Professor has a laser pointer lying around... That works on the family cat at home." Jinx would go absolutely BANANAS for the laser. It was a game that lasted hours for both him and Noah. "But right. The mouse!"

With mice in hand, he returned back to Kitt. "I grabbed two?" he said as he held one out to Kitt. Now how would he get the mouse to move... Hmm... OH WAIT. "We don't need string... We could use the Locomotion charm.. Do you know it?" he asked Kitt. He brought out his wand and pointed it at said toy, "Locomotor." Hmm.. The mouse now hovered an inch or two off of his hand. Noah bit his lip, wondering how long the kneazles would be entertained for.

Aslan was not going to play dead. He liked this kid but that was going too far. Nope. No way, Jose or Mr. Human. MY NAME is Aslan. I'm feeeeline royalty. Pleaase. He couldn't dare tarnish such a royal name. He turned away from the sweet boy to show that he was not pleased by the suggestion. Moments later, he watched as the two humans discuss an idea back and forth. His eyes flicked to the other kneazle.. Sparky wasn't his name... He could have chuckled. "Hey Spark Spark," he teased as he watched the other kneazle settle on the boy's lap. To anyone who heard him, he just sounded as if he was meowing.

Then he saw something float. The kneazle jumped when he saw something moving above the boy's hand.... What. WAS. THAT. He needed to get a closer look. What to climb... What to climb.... Ah there was a tree nearby. Maybe if he CLIMBED that - he could get to whatever was floating.

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

Couldn’t play dead, huh? That was fine. It’d been a shot in the dark to begin with. Cats and, he supposed kneazles if they were like cats, weren’t the sort to be trained into giving a show. It’d been a stretch from the beginning. The most he could hope for was that Sparky here stayed this docile for the rest of the lesson and wouldn’t try to claw his eyes on. In return, he promised not to dangle him anymore.

This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship that would be ripped apart and torn to shreds by Williamson once class was over.

Consider him surprised when Noah said he liked his idea. Did he really?? He’d only been talking off the top of his head but gee if he really liked—

O____O

Kitt’s silence turned palpable and his expression fell into one of horror as he watched the boy pull his wand out. He wouldn’t. No way he would. And if he would, no way he’d try to drag Kitt down with him.

Except....

He did.

Kitt turned the other way, pretending to be way more interested in the blades of grass this way than in the toy mouse that was moving. Shame, too. It looked like a neat spell. Granted, they all did to this newbie but not right this second it didn’t. Nope. Boy with a wand out? Who dat? Animated toy mouse? What dat?

Casually...mostly casual...okay not quite so casual as awkward side ways steps, Kitt began to create some distance. He already had 3 months of shovelling and wasn’t keen to make it 6 because someone else felt like rules didn’t apply. Kitt had heard the Headmaster LOUD and CLEAR thanks. Rules were meant to be followed.

“Put that thing away, mate. He said no magic!” He loud whispered through gritted teeth, still not looking at him JUST IN CASE. Detention by association was not on his list for today.

He hissed at Aslan, not at all amused he sought to perpetuate this business of Sparky. It was crude and unfitting. He would pay it no further attention and would pay Aslan as less if he continued.

His tail flicked but a moment when the mouse began to move but before he could decide how interested in a chase he was, the boy was moving them away.

Good heavens, where were they going now? The mouse was back that way. Ugh. Whatever. He hadn’t planned on much movement anyway.

Originally Posted by Watson

Huh? What was Kitt going on about and why did he take a few steps away?? No magic? OH. OH. OH NO. He forgot. He didn't want to get him in trouble.. that hadn't been his intention. It was just instinct for him.

Noah blanched, he almost turned as white as his shirt (well not really - he was just very, very pale) and hid his wand immediately. "Oops... I forgot. My bad. Sorry..." Guess they couldn't use this. He put the mice down and felt utterly ashamed. Please no one else look over here. "Ermm... Let's grab the food then....." He headed over and grabbed the treats, handing some to Kitt. "Sorry... if its brought up.. I'll take the blame. You had nothing to do with it... Besides we shouldn't use the mice now.."

Then he proceeded to put treats down, ignoring the amused look that Aslan was giving him.

Originally Posted by PatInTheHat

Cats. So many cats. Cats she knew. Cats she didn't. Coral sat up alert in her human girls's lap. Who were these other cats? They didn't all smell exactly like cats.

Man. In front of her. Oh, a treat! Coral caught the treat.... she placed it down in her human girl's lap. Sniff. Smelled like chicken. But it wasn't chicken.

Hm. Coral munched down on the treat gingerly. Definitely not chicken. But it tasted like chicken.

She ate it.

Coral got the treat. Tavie supposed that was alright. It was treat enough to have her little girl here in class with her. She stroked Coral's back and turned her attention back to the lesson.

Oh, and obstacle course! Tavie had NEVER considered an obstacle course for Coral. Her cat just enjoyed huntingbeing loved on, and following her around. Would she follow her around on this? Was she allowed to go through the course herself and just let Coral follow behind? Surveying the course, she doubt she would fit through most of it without something breaking under her weight. At leas, not without a few charms.

Looking at the items on the ground in front of them, and then at he obstacle course, Octavia formed a plan in her head quickly. Picking up her cat under her front legs, she held Coral up and put their faces close together. "Listen Coral, we've gotta be the fastest team on this course. You have to go through the entire thing without skipping any of it, and we have to be faster than the other cats and kneazles. Think you can do it girl?"

Coral reached up and put her paw on her girl person's face. She pressed on her human nose.

Too close.

HEHE.

Her cat was so cute! Tavie tilted her head and kissed her little paw. "That's the spirit! Come on, lets get you a toy and then give it a go." She cuddled the cat close to her, getting up and retrieving one of the toys that was suspended from a stick, she rushed them over to the small tire on a pole. "Alright, Coral! This is our start. You ready girl?" She gave her cat a little headbutt, then set her down on one side and wiggled the cat toy on the other side of the tire. "Come jump through the hoop!"

They were moving. Coral liked being carried around, she lazed in her human's arms. Looking at the other cats, she sniffed the air. Not all cats. But smelled nice!

Where were they going? It didn't matter. She was being carried.

And now she wasn't.

Who was tha- oh toy! Coral rushed around the obstacle and jumped on her hindlimbs, batting at the toy.

Originally Posted by Mell

See that! He did know something after all. Drew caught the treat the Professor had tossed his way and looked down at the Kneazle that was still lounging by his feet. "Berlioz huh?" Bit of a weird name in his opinion but it wasn't his Kneazle so there wasn't much he could do about it.

After the Professor explained what they would be doing, Drew had to suppress a groan, that sounded like a lot of work which he was not really into and going by the lazy look on the Kneazle's face he wasn't either.

"Okay then, let's go and see what fun toys they have." Picking up what looked like a little fishing rod only with a pom-pom on the end of the string, Drew brought it back to Berlioz and bounced it in front of his face. "You want to play?"

Berlioz looked up at the human that was trying to tempt him with the stupid fluffy toy and HISSED loudly. If he persisted with this, Berlioz was going to bite him.

Originally Posted by GD2204

Grinning as his Kneazle munched on the treat, content on all of the extra attention and food, the prefect continued to focus on the lesson now.

So, they had to run an obstacle course with their cat or Kneazle? Well, this should be interesting seeing as his Kneazle was laying in sun grooming himself. It did not seem interested in the slightest in all of the different toys, treats and brushes which gave him the feeling that getting it to run the obstacle course would be difficult to the point of impossible but he had to at least try.

Bending down now so that he was closer to the black feline, he reached forward and started to give it scrunches behind its ear, eager to please it and maybe coax it to move its tail around the obstacle course. ”Come on little one. You wanna come help me run around the course” gesturing to the course behind him now. Snorting, he just smiled and shook his head as the cat decided to show how much it really wanted to help him by rolling over, batting at his hand with its surprisingly large claws.

Standing up now, he decided a better approach was needed to tackle this, looking around whilst he walked over to the spread of toys on the floor ”Anyone want to help me with this one?” to spoke to no one in general as he bent down, grabbing one of the toys with the feathers on the end of it. Walked back over to the cat, he began to shake it a little way away from the feline, curious to see if it would budge.

The Kneazle loved the sun. Indeed, it did not feel like moving one bit today, content was it with the way it warmed the black fur covering it. In fact, it may even take a little nap right there on the spot as nothing else seemed to be going on. Sure, there were many humans around it of various shapes and sizes but none of them particularly interested this one, except maybe for the tall one. He gave it head strokes and that was pleasant. Maybe the human would do it while he slept?

Oh look. Now he was trying to get its attention with…bright pink feathers…teasing. Escaping? Sneaky little fluffy thing those are. Always moving away from its claw. Yes. Maybe it would need to grab them so that they couldn’t get away anymore.

Originally Posted by Mell

Right.

Apparently Berlioz didn't like the fluffy toy. Drew threw the toy back into the pile and heaved a deep sigh, this was not his idea of fun. Sweep a girl off her feet, he could do that with his eyes closed but entice a Kneazle to run an obstacle course...

Yeah he was going to need help with that and by the looks of it the Ravenclaw beside him was having the same sort of trouble. "Hey mate. Do you want to try and work together because it looks as though our Kneazles need some sort of...something." He had no idea, he'd never had a pet in his life.

Berlioz licked his paw in an almost lazy way. He was far too comfortable to be running around. Unless the human gave him a better incentive of course.

Originally Posted by love-for-HP

An obstacle course??? Now that sounded like fun, but Blake highly doubted even a magical cat would be able to complete this thing. Cats did what they want when they wanted, they didn't function on any kind of command system like dogs did. Cats/kneazles had minds of their own. Ugh ... but none the less Blake wanted full points for the lesson so he thought he'd give it a try with the kneazle that had been rubbing up on him.

"Here Boy..." Blake said sticking his hand out for a sniff and to earn it's trust. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he though. Blake took a few treats to be on the ready as well.

Oh so now the boy wanted to play??? After I graced it with a rub and he scooted away?? This kneazle wouldn't give in so easy, and to prove it's point, he turned around and flashed his butt... but wait ... was that boy now holding a treat?????? I love treats ....... okay okay ...... taking one treat of his hand, the kneazle followed him to the entrance of what ... was this???? Sniffing around to ensure that here was nothing funny going on, the kneazle entered the beginning of the obsticle course.

Originally Posted by kayquilz

Aboli was actually very appreciative of the professor not knocking her answer. Well, good. She thought it was something INTERESTING and not boring. It was also probably why she just didn't like cats as much. This girl right here would not become cat-nip, thank you very much. She did, however, notice the look on one Nina????'s face and kept the scowl she WANTED to show inside. Death is only natural... she thought to herself. And if cats wanted to nibble on humans, then...it just meant humans were inferior once dead, right?

But before her mind could whiiiiirl off in that direction, they were directed to complete the obstacle course with their little kitties! She set him down and picked ONE of each kind of toy. Mouse, ball, string thingy, fish...grabbed a harness and did her best to pull it onto Sparticus who honestly just flopped on the ground as soon as she had set him there. "Come on, you - work with me, here!" she huffed a bit. "I can tell you're being to be lousy at the obstacle course. That's all right though. We're not all meant to be athletes. Maybe you're more of a leisure kneazle," she said gently as she patted behind his ears. Her dog would be more than eager about all this FUN...but this kneazle here seemed L A Z Y.

And she would much rather work alone for this. This seemed hard enough let alone having to deal with a partner. Even if she DID like some of these people...still. She watched as her classmates went. The boy who had grabbed Noah asked if he should YELL at the cat, and that made her chuckle quite a bit. Children, honestly. Always though yellin' would solve their problems - look at her little brother. Liam was like...one? And he yelled a whole lot. She did not miss his tantrums at all, but she DID miss his cute little face when he was being sweet. One Gryffindor boy was having very little luck with his cat...it had just HISSED at him. Merlin. Poor Ewan's cat looked stubborn.

Aboli stood up and thought she'd try to give it a go. "All right, Sparticus, listen up, buddy." She stood over him, hands on her hips. "You might not be athletic, and that's okay, but we got to do our best. Always got to do our best." She had a FIRM tone. "So....let's decide which toy we like best, eh?" she picked up the mouse and gave it a little flip of her hand. Sparticus' tail lashed playfully, but he rolled onto his back.

Mouse...........but so..........laaaaaaaaaaazy....why doesn;t the HOOMAN just bring it to hiiiimmmmm? She was nice and all, but the mouse toy was just not CUTTING IT.

Originally Posted by kayquilz

Right. Okay. RIGHTO. OKAYO.

Aboli set the mouse toy down. That one was not enticing the kneazle at all. Her fingers flitted about, picking up a few of the toys, and finally the treats. She wanted to try these LAST because she felt using food was such a cop-out, but well...Sparticus' ears perked up.

Ooh. Treats. WE LIKEY THE TREAAAAATS HOOMAN. Sparticus' ears did indeed flicker, and he rolled back onto his tummy to give the treats in her palm a sniffify-sniff. He then took one in his mouth and CHOMPED DOWN. Deliiiiiicious. He licked his lips afterwards, too.

He then pawed at her hand for another. YES. ANOTHER ONE, HOOMAN.

Oh---what was that -- a string??? He batted at her loose hair hanging over him.

Originally Posted by Optimist.Prime

Originally Posted by Uncle Moose

Originally Posted by Optimist.Prime

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Just kittens, got it. Cecelia would remember that in the future, she would. As for their task, Cece was EXCITED. She loved races and competition AND going fast, so this was like MADE for her. Unfortunately, she didn't know her partner well and Mate looked pretty content just sitting on her lap, pawing at her hand. He hadn't even really gone for the treat Williamson had thrown him, which surprised her. "Aren't you hungry, Mate? You earned that. Well actually I did, but I earned it for you. Bet it's tasty. Who doesn't love a good snack? I know I do." Cecelia picked up the treat and put it in her palm, offering it up to him. "Go on."

The human girl was too bouncy and bony for Mate's taste and he swatted and meowed and demanded she get his treat for him, as he certainly wasn't going to go fetching it. He wasn't a crup, for merlin's sake. Luckily this human girl wasn't as unintelligent as some humans could be and he sniffed at the treat some before nibbling on it, satisfied with the taste. If she could get him some more food, maybe he'd play nice.

"That's a good boy, mate. Bet you liked that." He was so cute and they REALLY seemed to be bonding over this mutual love of snacks thing, she could FEEL it. Now it was just a matter of getting him through the obstacle course.

Scooping him up in her arms, Cecelia moved over to the pile of cat toys and other incentives and had a closer look. "Well the lead and harness are out. You don't look like you'd like a lead, Mate." He already seemed pretty grumpy about her holding him like she was, so she was PRETTY sure he wouldn't be pleased if she stuck him in a harness and tried to take him for a walk. "Maybe just some more treats? You'd help me out for some of those, wouldn't you?" She could even make a little trail of them for him. Hey, yeah!

She moved closer to the course, setting him down and slowly backing away from him. "See these, Mate?" She held up the handful of treats she had in her hand and slowly began placing them down, spaced apart so he'd have to cover the distance of the course to get them. "Now just come get them, okay?! I know you can do it!"

OI! If having to sit on her bony lap wasn't bad enough, the girl was now cradling him in her bony arms and he wiggled a bit in protest, wondering where on earth he was being taken.

Oh no. no no no. Hiss no, he was not fetching treats. Still not a crup, even if they did taste good. No human girl, just no.

"Mate! Come on, Mate!" Cecelia bent down, patting her knees and urging the kneazle on, but he simply wasn't coming. Was it just her, or did he actually look unimpressed?

Well, this wasn't working. She'd just have to think of another way...

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

Naya took notes and everyone gave their information about cats and kneazles. When the discussion ended, the professor described the activity for the day. Naya looked at the obstacle course and then turned her attention to the kneazle at her feet. The course was no joke. It was not going to be easy to coax her partner into literally jumping through hoops and such.

Naya looked at her kneazle and figured she had to get on his good side. ”I’m Naya and I need to know what to call you before we get started.” The Gryffindor reached down toward the kneazle and let him check her out before she began to pet his head. ”What do you think? Max? Jake? Benjie?” Naya decided to throw random names out until she got to one that worked.

The kneazle stared at the girl trying to figure out what she wanted. When she put her hand out, he sniffed it and decided that she was acceptable. The head rubs, well he was good with that. The girl stared at him and kept saying things he didn’t quite understand. Was she waiting for a response? The kneazle just stared back at her. Finally, he decided to give her hand a lick.

“Benjie? Is that what I should call you?” Since the kneazle had licked her hand when she said Benjie, Naya thought that it was his name of choice. “Benjie it is. So Benjie, do you want to have some fun today. We’re going to learn some tricks.”. Naya grabbed some toys, a harness and a leash from the professor’s stash. She put some treats in her pocket. Now she just had to convince Benjie to play along.

The kneazle now known as Benjie, watched the girl with some interest. She had toys and toys were cool, but what he really wanted was more treats. He could be bribed.

Naya had a feeling that her partner would not take kindly to the harness and leash. She decided to save that as a last resort. For now, she would start with a toy. The Gryffindor picked up a little toy mouse and showed it to Benjie. “Come on Benjie. You want to take a little walk with me and the Mr. Mouse?” Naya started walking and hoped that the kneazle would follow her.

It seemed that the girl wanted him to follow her. The mouse was cute, but food would be a little more motivating. On the off chance that the mouse might lead to food, Benjie got up and started walking behind the girl. He could smell the treats. Now if he could just get one......or several.

Originally Posted by Kolyander

What? Wait?! He was allowed to name the kneazle on his lap?! A slow grin spread across his lips, his eyes sparkling in excitement as a ton of names already began to take form in his mind. The kneazle in question which was a deep dark shade of black with flecks of white at the edges of it's 'maned' face, ears and tip of his tail was content for the moment munching on the treat that had been tossed to him. It looked so regal, so majestic in the way it presented itself. So only a strong name would do. Thierry. It was perfect.

Before Lukas could present the kneazle with this name choice, Professor Williamson went on explaining about the obstacle course they were meant to complete. As if that wouldn't be difficult enough on it's own the man dumped an entire box of treats and toys and stuff all over! Come on!

immediately the kneazle turned it's icy blue eyes towards the scattered items on the ground. "Well, here goes nothing..." The eleven year old gently patted the kneazle hopping it would hop down from his lap but it didn't move. "Uhhh, I need to at least get up..."

The kneazle turned his eyes onto the toys and treats scattered about but didn't move. Comfy right here. This human boys lap was nice and he wasn't all noisy. Not moving.

Sigh. This was not going well. "Come on, down you go." He gently lifted the kneazle off his lap and set him down in the grass. "I bet you're super smart and that you could rock this course like it's nothing..." Wishful thinking? Maybe. Walking over to the stuff that was all over he scooped up a few treats placing them into his pocket and grabbed a small ball with a bell inside it. He knew Hagan, his sisters cat loved these things so maybe the kneazle would like it too.

"How about a toy? Want to play?" He gave the ball a little shake causing the bell inside to jingle which did nothing to get the kneazles attention.

He was on the grass. Why? Not where he wanted to be. Come here kid, lap was nice. Noooooo, did not want that toy. Lap. There was a very clear displeased look in his cat eyes.

"Please? At least pretend like you're interested?" Lukas wrinkled his nose. "You're going to really make me work to get you to move, huh, Thierry?" If he knew anything at all right now it was this kneazle's name. Thierry was beyond perfect. Just as the meaning of the name meant 'Ruler of People' this kneazle was showing him that he wasn't at all in charge.

The kneazle sat down first, slowly stretching his front paws out in front of him, back arching upwards before he lowered himself all the way down in a laying position. His front paws crossed in front of him, eyes focused on that silly human child trying to make him move. Completely disinterested. Though if the human watched closely one ear flicked slightly at the sound of the name the human called him.

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

His sleeve was soggy, so soggy, and as Professor Williamson began explaining the activity he found his head slowly rolling backwards up towards the sky and a groan unwillingly escaping his lips. He was not looking forward to this, not in the least, and he looked down at the purring black kneazle in his arm...the one that had BETTER drop a whisker or two for all the Slytherin's troubles.

He then glanced over at Nina and Missa who were likely to start a cat fight (pun not intended) over who got to partner up with him...and not because of his charming personality. But he was going to have NO part in that, surely they could figure it out between the two of them or otherwise ask the professor if they could be a trio, and instead set the kneazle down on the ground while moving to grab a toy intended to lure the furry thing over to and through the obstacle course.

Only what the seventh year got was...absolutely no response what so ever.

The kneazle, who liked to be called Lucky for any hoooman who cared to know, was displeased with being placed back on the ground but it also lacked the energy to really do much about. So, once its stubby legs found soil, it flopped over on to its side and lay there like a pancake. Still purring. Still drooling. Derpy look on it's face and lacking even the inclination to swish it's tail back and forth.

Sooooooooooft kneazle waaaaaaaaaaaaaaarm kneazle biiiiiiig black ball of fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur.

pur pur puuuuuuuuuuuur

Having selected a cat toy with a bunch of feathers attached to the string, Eiji dangled it in front of the cat...even bopping it on the nose with the feathers a few times to try and entice it but...nothing.

"......you have GOT to be kidding me......" He glanced over at Nina and Missa with an irriated look. "...whichever one of you can get it to move can be my partner." And he continued to try and...provoke SOME sort of reaction from it with the feathers...but dragging it across the ground, bopping it on the nose, nothing seemed to work. It just...wanted to LAY there.

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Originally Posted by Samia

Missa had actually been about to offer Eiji the treat the professor had given her, thinking he could help her, THEM, with this cat situation - but then he opened his mouth.

And the brunette just stared.

Because w o w.

He really was a different person around people sometimes.

It definitely rubbed her in a very wrong way, and her unamused expression was evident of it. Also why she was very much glad Nina asked her to partner up. “I’d love to” she said easily, before deciding to just suck it up and bend down to pick up the grey cat which had shown a little interest in her.

“We can use this one” she added, completely ignoring her boyfriend for now.

Meanwhile the lovely grey cat just purrrrrrreeeed in Missa’s hands - wiggling to be held closer than he currently was. It was unfair, he was cute, and he had ALLLLL the love to give. Did the human not understand???? Eager to show this love, he wigggggggled out Missa’s hands and jumped on the ground before moving closer to rub the human on her legs - and then the one next to her. RUB RUB RUUUUUUUUUB.

“I think he might make this easy for us” she said, before lowering down to offer the treat in her hand to the cat. “Wanna fetch something else from the box to lead him?” she asked the Slytherin - as she glanced over to the obstacle course.

Originally Posted by Fireheart

Professor Williamson's tossed treat was all it took for Shadow to perk up. His eyes immediately flew open, and he jumped right off his owner's lap, sniffing around on the grass until he found the treat. He nibbled it happily, tail in the air.

Merlin, did that cat love his treats! Avalon knew she'd need a good combination of treats and toys to get Shadow through the obstacle course. The cat was usually pretty cooperative, but he would occasionally display some stubborn qualities. The young Ravenclaw made her way to the box of goodies and grabbed a few treats, a stick with a toy fish hanging off a string, and a few jingly mouse toys. She had no idea what it would take to get him through the course - she'd never done anything like this with him before. "Alright, Shadow. You ready?" He didn't have to be the fastest cat in the class, but she at least hoped that Shadow wasn't a total lump like some of the other felines. "Let's go!" Avalon took off, walking briskly to the first hoop. She dangled the string toy right behind it. "Come on! Come get the little fishy!" Better to rely on the toys first, and the treat as a last resort. Munching on treats would only slow him down.

Shadow sat majestically at the starting line, peering around at his company. His eyes lingered on a few of the kneazles. He licked his paw thoughtfully. Oh! What was that thing moving around near that hoop? He needed to see what that was. He hunched down, wiggling his back in the air, pupils growing wide, before he took off, pouncing through the hoop and grabbing the predator between his paws.

"Good boy, Shadow!" Avalon exclaimed as Shadow jumped through the hoop. She quickly yanked the string away from him, moving toward the poles. No time to play! She knelt down and tapped her hand on the grass in between the first two poles. "Come on, now!" They were off to a pretty good start.

Well, that was rude. He had JUST captured the fish, and then his human took it away already! He stared at her in disbelief. No, no, he would not be following her now. Not unless she had any good snacks. He sat down and continued to stare at her, tail tapping somewhat impatiently on the grass.

Originally Posted by Fireheart

Avalon groaned as Shadow continued to stare her down, unwilling to move on to the next jump. "Shadow! Come!" She jingled the toy, trying to coax the stubborn cat along. Rolling her eyes, she caved and reached into her pocket for a treat. She wanted to save the snacks for the end, but she couldn't afford to lose too much time.

Didn't she know that all she had to do in the first place was hold out a treat? He'd do nearly anything for one of those tasty snacks! At the sight of it, Shadow's ears perked up, and he trotted over happily to his human. He jumped over the bar gracefully before accepting the treat.

Now that was more like it! "Shadow, let's go!" Holding out some more treats, she guided the cat through the rest of the course. They were moving at a pretty steady pace now, save for Shadow's occasional pauses to munch on his treats. Avalon coaxed him through some more hoops and jumps before finally making it to the see-saw. She held a treat in front of the cat's nose, attempting to guide him onto the bar.

This was getting far too tiring. Sure, he liked the snacks, but what was the point of all this? He would rather be hunting down some mice or taking a nice snooze in the --BIRD!!!! Shadow's eyes darted to the sky at the sight of a bird swooping around overhead. The bird dove down toward the obstacle course and continued on gracefully across the grounds. This was much better than those silly toys his human was holding up....this was the real thing! His pupils widened, and Shadow took off with a sprint, leaving everything else behind. He would catch that bird today.

Originally Posted by Destiny

Well, no.

Obviously Flora knew NOTHING about caring for Catastrophe, otherwise, she was SURE, her cat wouldn't look the way it looked. Or acted the way it acted. Or was the way it just WAS.

Why was she allowed to get a pet? She had no idea. What she did know, though, was that, the only way she could get herself cat a treat was to answer a question. All the obvious answers were already given. Food? Duh. Water. Double duh. Did someone say kittens? That was weird. "I make sure he doesn't eat plastic."

Which was a lot easier than what she had to do NOW.

An obstacle course. And obstacle course with her broken, derpy, bugged eye tongue sticker outer of a cat! This was going to be great! Flora was laughing. And crying because she was laughing so much. And if she hadn't already been sitting down, she would've needed to to catch her breath. Deep breath. Deeeeeep breath.

She'd have to at least try. You know. More human cat treats.

Flora wiped a few of her laughter!tears away before standing up and moving over to where the harnesses were. She didn't KNOW a cat could wear one of them, and she didn't KNOW how to even put it on, but she figured she did alright since all the cat's legs were all still attached when she was finished. Good enough. She placed the cat down onto the ground, and amazingly enough.. the cat was not even phased.

Blep. Catastrophe's tongue escaped from his mouth once again. Bleeeeeep.

Would she be allowed to just pull the cat all the way to the end? She gave the leash a small little tiny tug.

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Phoebe set Beans carefully on the ground before dropping down next to her on her hands and knees. This was a better way to deal with creatures, right on their level. She could see the world from Beans' eyes and understand what it would take to create a champion cat. "Okay, Beans. You're gonna just... go that way, okay? Like..." Phoebe pointed emphatically toward the course.

Beans did not care about the course. Beans did not care about the human kneeling next to her, except that she smelled a little like food and food was worth caring about.

Beans cared a LITTLE bit about the feathery thing that might be a toy and might be a bird, and she immediately dropped on her back and rolled it up into the air, holding her new prize above her head.

"No... no, Beans, that's... now you're just laying there." Phoebe rolled over and laid there too, and it didn't have much to recommend it. She tried, unsuccessfully to retrieve the feather wand from Beans' grasp, only to get a poked finger and hurt feelings for her troubles.

Fine. Fine? Fine. "Just. Be. That. Way." With lots of grumbles, Phoebe pulled off one shoe and sock, and she dangled the sock over Beans' head. The cat rolled onto her belly and gamely pawed at the sock. There. "Okay, follow the lovely sock and you can have it to eat at the end of the course, ok?"

Originally Posted by Weasley174

Tom was just listening to the professor and wasn't speaking, did the animals want to run the obstacle courses, did the Professor ask them? Seriously animals had feeling as well, he looked at the kneazle he had picked earlier and sighed, maybe he should ask the animal himself.

"Do you want to do the course?" Tom whispered to the animal, though of course the animal couldn't speak so he had no idea what to do, would he get in trouble if he didn't get the kneazle to do the course.