The Cat Who Knew A Shoopiltee

Professor Blaise Zabini, a short, slender man with olive-colored skin, black eyes and black curly hair, in crimson robes, stepped out of the huge old fireplace in the hall of the Howff Inn, near Eynhallow village, Orkneys, a large trunk on one hand, a crate in another. He looked over the wood-paneled hall with several fine old chairs, an Axminster carpet on the floor and a counter, behind which was a plump red-haired young witch in canary robes.

'Whit can Ah du for ye?' She smiled.

'I want a room,' Blaise said.

'We hae ane free room, with a sea view,' the girl said.

'I'll have it,' Blaise said. 'Do you allow to keep cats here?'

'We du.' The girl smiled. 'Ye hae ane?'

'Yow!' the crate said loudly.

'Yes. He's a Kneazle.' Blaise smiled. 'I never go anywhere without him.'

'Ah see.' The girl smiled. 'Yer name?'

'Blaise Zabini,' Blaise said.

'The Hogwarts teacher?' the girl asked.

'Yes.' Blaise smiled.

'Then Ah can tell ye, there are Shoopiltees on the shore here, Professor Zabini,' the girl said.

'Thank you.' Blaise smiled.

'Here is th' key,' the girl said.

Blaise took the key and paid for the room. Then he asked:

'And what's your name?'

'Fenella.' The girl smiled.

'A beautiful Gaelic name,' Blaise said. 'Means 'fair shoulders'. Names are my hobby, you see, Fenella.'

'YOW!' the crate said.

'Yes, yes, dear, I know,' Blaise said. 'Good morning, Fenella.'

'Guid morning, Professor,' Fenella said.

Blaise went out of the hall, through a door that opened into a corridor with more doors in both walls. Blaise looked at the number on the old key - five - and, on finding a door with the number, put the crate in the floor and opened the door. The room was nice, with wood panels, an Axminster carpet, fine old chairs, comfortable armchairs, a great fireplace, an oak chest of drawers and a large four-poster. Blaise carried the trunk and the crate in, put them on the carpet and opened the crate. A lean, red tom with spots, a tasseled tail, outsize ears, long whiskers and enormous green eyes leapt out of the crate and began to sniff the room. Blaise smiled and began to unpack his trunk. In a jiffy the cat carried away a book. Blaise said with mild reproach:

'Macavity! What is this?'

He picked the book up and looked at the title. It was The White Company. Blaise said:

'Want me to read it to you? It's a good choice, Macavity. A good book.'

Blaise put the book on the chest of drawers with the other books and continued unpacking. When he put all his things in their places, he said to his cat:

'Let's go for a stroll, to look at those Shoopiltees, eh, Macavity?'

'Yow!' Macavity agreed.

Blaise went out of the room, and Macavity followed him. They entered the hall. Fenella smiled:

'What a cute cat!'

'Yes.' Blaise smiled. 'He's called Macavity.'

The wizard and the cat came out of the hall, Macavity holding his tail up and running before Blaise. They went along a little path among the green hills, to the sandy sea shore. As they came to the sands, they saw a tiny silvery-gray horse walking along the shore. Blaise at once recognized that horse as a Shoopiltee, a kind of sea magical creature, native to the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands.

'Hey, Macavity, it's a Shoopiltee!' he said. 'Let's go near it and try to make friends with it. It's beautiful!'

Blaise approached the Shoopiltee cautiously, Macavity went with him. Blaise caressed the Shoopiltee's mane, the little mare touched his hands with her soft warm muzzle.

'What's your name?' Blaise asked. 'I am Blaise Zabini. And you?'

'Uu-laa,' the Shoopiltee said.

'Ula?' Blaise said. 'A good name. It means 'sea jewel'. It suits you.'

Macavity came to Ula and sniffed her feet. Blaise said to Ula:

'It's my cat, Macavity. He's a good fellow. He wants to be friendly.'

Ula stood calmly, allowing the cat to sniff her. Then Macavity concluded his sniffing and rubbed himself against Ula's feet.

'May I ride you?' Blaise asked.

Ula nodded. Blaise put his right leg over the little mare's back and sat down firmly. Ula trotted along, her feet in the water, raising a spray of droplets. Blaise was enjoying the ride, and Macavity followed them, keeping a safe distance from the spray. After some tome Blaise said:

'I'm sorry, Ula, but I have to return to the inn. Howff Inn near here, by the way. Do you know it?'

Ula nodded. Blaise said:

'I'll come to you later, alright?'

Ula nodded and stopped. Blaise regretfully dismounted.

'See you, Ula,' he said, patting her.

'See you-u,' Ula said.

Blaise headed back to the inn, Macavity running before him. They went to their room, where Blaise seated himself down cozily into an armchair by the fireplace with The White Company in his hands. Macavity sat down on the back of the armchair and listened how Blaise was reading to him about the tournament held by the Black Prince in Bordeaux, and how Sir Nigel Loring showed his prowess at that tourney.

'Little men and little cats are often daredevil, eh, Macavity?' Blaise said with a smile.

'Yow!' Macavity agreed.

Later they came down for lunch. The dining room had an Axminster carpet, old chairs, old table and a great fireplace. Several people at the table. A blonde, long, well-built wizard with dark blue eyes, in blue robes, said:

'Good morning. I'm Lawrence White.'

'Blaise Zabini,' Blaise said. 'Good morning.'

'I'm Evan Jones,' said a black-haired wizard of middle height, with black eyes and in green robes.

'Glad to meet you,' Blaise said.

'Glad to meet you,' Evan Jones said.

'Glad to meet you,' Lawrence White said.

'Yow!' Macavity said. Jones and White looked at him. Jones said:

'What a handsome cat!'

White did not say anything, he only stared at the cat.

'He's a Kneazle?' he asked.

'Yes.' Blaise smiled. 'He is.'

Jones stroked Macavity. Macavity purred. White wanted to stroke the cat too, but Macavity edged away.

'Are you the Care of the Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts?' Jones asked. 'I mean, Blaise Zabini is an uncommon name in Britain.'

'Yes, I am.' Blaise smiled. 'My name is certainly uncommon in Britain, as uncommon as your own name is common in Wales, Mr. Jones.'

'That it is.' Jones smiled broadly.

'How much time do you think to stay here?' White asked.

'Several weeks, maybe longer,' Blaise said. 'I like this place. The inn is nice, and the scenery. There are Shoopiltees on the shore here, do you know it?'

'No, I didn't know it,' Jones said.

'Wait, and you'll see one,' Blaise said.

'I shall try,' Jones said.

'And do you know there is a Biasd Na Srogaig in one of the lochs nearby?' White asked.

'No.' Blaise pricked his ears eagerly. Biasd Na Srogaig was a kind of unicorn, large and clumsy. The name meant in Gaelic 'beast of the lowering horn', and Blaise thought they lived only in the lochs of the Isle of Skye. 'Really? What loch is that?'

'Loch Dubh,' White said.

'I'll go there after the lunch,' Blaise said. 'Thank you.'

'Don't mention it,' White smiled.

Suddenly Macavity Disapparated.

'What...?' Evan Jones said.

'Apparition.' Blaise smiled. 'Mine must be the only cat who can Apparate. I had to put the Anti-Apparition Wards on his crate.'

'Most extraordinary!' White said.

'It is,' Blaise said. 'You know how the song goes, surely you heard it:

'You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air,

But I tell you once and once again MACAVITY'S NOT THERE!'

'That's why I named him Macavity in the first place. He's red, lean and clever, like the one in the song, and can Apparate.'

'I remember the musical very well,' Evan Jones said. 'I like Cats.'

'I like Cats too, and cats.' Blaise smiled. 'Glad to know you do too. By the way, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer always remind me of two schoolmates of mine. The Weasley brothers of Weasley Wizard Wheezes, of course.'

'I guessed.' Evan Jones laughed. 'Yes, the similarity is amazing.'

After the lunch, Blaise asked Fenella how to get to Loch Dubh, and went to look at the Biasd Na Srogaig. He left Macavity at the inn, for fear the Biasd Na Srogaig might hurt the cat. He walked in the hills per the route Fenella explained to him. He stood patiently by the clear water. At last, he saw the animal - a very large unicorn with long legs. It was crossing the lake. Blaise stood and watched it, till it was out if his sight. He took a deep breath. A Biasd Na Srogaig in Orkneys! It was a discovery. He shall write to the Society about it. He went back, full of joy. He opened the door of his room. Macavity wasn't greeting Blaise at the door, as he always did. Blaise looked all the room over. Macavity was nowhere in sight. Blaise searched all the environs - and did not find Macavity. He asked Fenella if she saw the cat. She didn't. Blaise was distressed. And then he remembered something. He asked Fenella the number of White's room. She obliged, and Blaise promptly went there, his wand at the ready. He pointed his wand at the door and exclaimed, 'Alohomora!' The door opened at once, and Blaise saw Macavity's crate on the floor.

'Yow!' Macavity said.

'White!' Blaise hissed. 'I thought you were an honest animal lover, you cat thief! Petrificus Totalus!'

White froze, and Blaise opened the crate. Macavity leapt out and said, 'Yo-ow!'

'Yes, dear, I know,' Blaise said. 'He held you in captivity. It's very onerous, I know. But you know that the Chief Auror is my friend, and this bastard shall pay for it.'

Blaise saw horror in White's eyes.

'Yes, you will, White,' Blaise said.

Blaise threw a pinch of Floo powder in the fireplace and said, 'Chief Auror's office!' Then he poked his head into the fireplace, and after dizziness saw the neat office, and the skinny man with raven unruly hair, bright green eyes under a pair of glasses and with a lightning-shaped scat on his forehead.

'Harry?' Blaise asked.

'Blaise?' Harry said. 'What's the matter?'

'A man stole my cat,' Blaise said. 'With the crate, too, so he couldn't Disapparate! Don't worry, I put the villain in Full Body-Bind. Tell your men to come. Howff Inn, Eynhallow, Orkneys. Number seven.'

'What a git!' Harry said.

'Yes,' Blaise said. 'See to it that he is properly punished, will you Harry?'

'I will, Blaise,' Harry promised.

Blaise broke the link and said:

'Let's go out of here, Macavity.'