Yup. Aoife definitely didn’t like kneazles. She even said so herself. It was surprising for Aerin to see such fear in her friend’s eyes. “But they’re so cute!” The second-year admonished, and then looked into Sir Balan’s eyes and said, “Aren’t you, cutie?” The kneazle merely squirmed and attempted to escape Aerin’s grasp. She held on tighter.

Aoife’s next question left her confused. “I mean, I just went and picked him up. He’s really nice! He’s all soft and fluffy and warm. I could hold him forever!” Simon, her pet owl, was great but kneazles took pets to a whole other level. Perhaps her parents would gift her one for her birthday, although it was still far away. Aerin could imagine it so clearly. Her kneazle would be named Violet and she would brush its hair every day and it would follow her around everywhere. She’d even take it with her to Quidditch games. She could buy her a blue shirt with a whale on it so she could support the Cetus team!

Aerin grinned happily at the kneazle, easily ignoring its discontent hissing. She had noticed Aoife attempting to pet it but her daydream had swept her away before that went any further. Now, the second-year decided it was time to show Aoife how wonderful kneazles were. “Come on, Aoife, just pet it! See – it’s so easy!” Aerin loosened her grip on the animal in order to bring it closer to the first-year, and in that moment Sir Balan squirmed out of her hands. Aerin fell to the floor at the kneazle’s unexpected motion and quickly stood up again. She hardly dared look at the table to see what had become of Aoife and the cat.