[open] June 5th evening - bonfire night

Agatha smiled when she saw Matilda. Grinned when the small child had the nerve to greet her.

"Good evening, lass. Come here, let me see you." She beckons Matilda over, then addresses the kitten "You, too, little one."

She sets her knitting down and regards the two youngsters. This was the young orphan lass she'd been told of.

"Hello, Matilda. I'm Mrs Larkshead. I'm the coordinator here sat Camp Crystal Lake. You can call me Aunt Agatha, though," she winks. "And who's your special friend?"

Matilda stood and went to the woman. "It is nice to meet you." She smiled and Morticia came over as well, hesitant at first it seemed to Matilda. The kitten stood near Matilda and looked up at the woman as if to know that she was called to be looked upon.

The kitten seemed to be a show cat for a moment as she stood there and Matilda stiffed a giggle. "This is Morticia. I got her in Diagon Alley last week. We can talk to each other and understand things." she smiles proud of her kitten.

"Hi Kiami. Hi Gomez. It was good. Yours?" She looked to the two that had joined them and Morticia went and greeted Gomez. "They enjoy each other. Such good friends." She smiled.

Kiami stood. Smoothing her jeans before scooping Gomez up, and walking to the old lady. She wasn't scared, but she did feel a bit intimidated as she stood in front of the woman. Gomez, fidgeted in her hands, she scratched his ears to comfort him, but suddenly he jumped out of her arms and landed quietly in the lap of the older lady. Who introduced herself as Mrs. Larkshead.

Kiami couldn't help but giggle as Gomez pitter pattered around the older lady, and than climbed up on her shoulder and nuzzled into the skin of her neck. the girl blushed brightly as she tried to correct her kitten from jumping on the stranger, but he seemed to like her, and that calmed her a bit, her kitten seemed to have a knack for knowing good people, after all he was almost as attached to Matilda and Morticia as he was to herself. 

"Gomez, come back here you naughty kitty. I'm sorry Mrs.. I mean, Aunt Agatha, Gomez seems to really like you.." Kiami didn't know what to say or do as Gomez mewed back at her, content in his new spot. Kiami fidgeted with her hands, she hoped aunt Agatha didn't mind her kittens antics. "Umm, aunt Agatha? Umm.. do you mind if Gomez stays with you, while we go look for drift wood? He'll behave, I promise! I don't know his full breed yet, but he listens very well."

Kiami smiled at the ladies reaction, she was glad aunt Agatha didn't mind Gomez being on her. Kiami nodded in answer to Agatha's question.

"I have read of animagus in my fathers books back home, but I have never seen or met one.

Are you an animagus aunt Agatha?" Kiami asked in excitement as she looked up at the older lady. If indeed she were, Kiami couldn't wait to be able to actually sit and talk to her about things.

She loved to learn, and learning from the living was much better than learning from books. After all books couldn't tell you all the stories that other humans could.

The excitement made Kiami's dark eyes glisten in the dusk of the evening, she was almost bouncing in her place.

She could see herself sitting with aunt Agatha for hours listening to her stories, and Kiami could tell by the woman's age, that she had plenty of stories to share.

Matilda looked at Gomez as he jumped from Kiami to Mrs Agatha. Morticia seemed to follow suit and joined him and she laughed with Kiami. So driftwood? She could get that, she didn't mind collecting the wood.

"Um, what is an anim...what was that word?" Matilda fumbled with the word not quite understanding what she was saying to begin with. Matilda looked at Kiami and realized that she knew way more than Matilda and she felt a bit jealous over it to be honest. She was always the brightest in her grade school and was a bit upset that she didn't know the same things Kiami did or more.

Why was she the one given up? Why couldn't her parents raise her and teach her magic?!? It wasn't fair. She huffed inwardly and shook the feeling off though her eyes showed that she was a bit distressed.

"I will just go get the wood." She said with a shrug waiting to be dismissed to collect what was needed for the fire.

Kiami waited in the defining silence of the ever growing darkness of the evening. Was Ms Agatha okay? Had she felt the same shift in Matilda's body language as she had? She wasn't sure.

She wanted to tell Matilda that it was okay, that she didn't need to be upset because Kiami knew about the animagus and she hadn't, but she didn't know how to form the words. She also wasn't sure if that was why Matilda's body language and voice had changed.

Kiami was good at reading people, adults and children alike, so even though she didn't voice it, she was pretty safe in assuming Matilda's shift just now. Suddenly the girl jumped at the sound of a snapping twig, and spun around quickly, looking through the trees that surrounded them.

"Who is that? Who's out there? Scaring people isn't nice! My momma would be disappointed in you!" Kiami called to whomever or whatever made the noise behind them, she cuddled Gomez close, she knew she wasn't alone, with Matilda and Agatha near her, but yet she still didn't like being scared, or surprised by something she wasn't prepared for.

"You should come out in the open now! We know you're out there!" Kiami yelled once more, not taking into consideration that whomever made that noise could be doing so because Ms Agatha had told them to, maybe it was part of the activities that the older lady had planned for tonight.

The large black cat watched at how differently the two children reacted to the sound. Children really were amazing creatures. She only wished her son were here to partake in such festivities. But that was neither hete nor there, it seemed that each were either unaware or very informed about what could be out in the darkness.

The panther shot across an opening again, this time the shadow clearly seen in the wider expanse, followed by the gutteral inhale of a large beast. It was then that she darted up the back of the snarled tree, finding a strong limb well above the line of sight of the girls, watching. Waiting.

Matilda looked up at a shadow crossing the clearing in front of her. Maybe the moon made it seem much bigger? She wasn't sure but it looked like a rather large cat. She wondered if this area had large cats.

Matilda heard the woman and came scurrying back with her arms filled with twigs. "Muggles? That is um..no magical people right?" She dropped the wood in a pile and looked up at Ms. Agatha. She felt weird calling her aunt.

"Aunt Agatha..." She whispered. "It is just probably an animal of some sort. They don't really scare people as much as people let their imagination run wild. Also, I think...there is a large cat out there some where. Are they common to this area?" She felt hesitant and picked up Morticia. She was only a baby and a cat that size, would probably eat her as prey and she didn't want that to happen to her companion.

Calista watched the old Witch speaking to the girls, her visage almost appearing to smile at the interaction. She stood low on the branch, her tail twitching above them, waiting to see what Agatha was going to next. Whiskers standing on end, the cat became statue still. She waited and watched, not making a sound. It felt good to stretch her muscles, and even better to do it where there wouldn't be backlash from it. The cat grumbled lightly in  her throat, the darkness obscuring her from above.

Matilda had the look of shock on her face at the thought of someone transforming themselves into an animal. "What!? Really?! That would be so awesome!!" She nearly bounced in her spot and she looked around the camp fire. "Are there witches and wizards that live out here that are like that? That would be so cool to see!"

Matilda turned and watched Kiami. "Kiami! Did you know that?!" She was like a kid at Christmas with all her excitement as she turned to face Aunt Agatha again.

"Yes! I would love to see that! I want to do that! Can it be any animal I choose?! What goes into learning how to change? Oh!" She was bouncing still and clasped her hands at the thought of all the different animals she could choose or turn into. "Oh! One day I could be a horse or a cat, or a dog or I could be a bird and fly in the skies! There are so many options!"

Agatha watched. The young witch put on a good show. Standing, the elder witch put herself between the children and the panther.

"Now,now, kitty, no ones going to hurt you." She held her hand out to it, and winked broadly at Calista, knowing the kids couldn't see.

Time for some fun, she thought

The cat growled as the old witch approached her, her gutteral noises deep and constant. Green eyes locked on the woman, she lashed her tail and swatted at her, without claws of course. The children wouldn't see this from where they were. Shouldering away, the cat tried to skirt Agatha to get around to her side or back. Suddenly she heard the spell belted out from a newcomer and snarled, another scream given as she circled Agatha, head lowered and stride calculated as if she were sizing up her prey. The children were under the bubble with this newcomer. Good, another part of the lesson and show for them.

Ears still flattened against her skull, Calista lowered her front end to the ground, her powerful hind end launching her into the air towards Agatha...

Kiami's dark eyes became huge with both fright and excitement. The deep, loud snarl of the black cat made the small hairs on her neck stand on end. Gomez hissed and clawed at her arms as he to, felt fear from the panther.

Her small kitten wouldn't be able to out run such an animal, Kiami tried to cox him into relaxing again, as she herself tried to calm the loud beating of her heart. Her eyes stayed glued to the panther, as it landed smoothly on the ground, stalking towards them.

Kiami watched the movement of the panther, the way it gave the blood curdling scream of preparing to attack; it's ears flat against the small of its head.

If this where indeed magic put on for a show, than whomever this witch or wizard might be, wouldn't be so aggressive would they?
Kiami began to think this animal was of the muggle world, that thought only scared her more.

She began to wish for her wand, that was tucked away at Illvermourny.
Kiami desperately wanted to learn how to use and control magic without the use of a wand at that very moment; in the ways that she had seen her mother do so many times when she had been younger.

She felt defenseless. Glancing over at Matilda for a moment, she was sure the girl was going crazy. After all, how often had a child in the system come face to face with a large wild panther? 

It was than that Kiami, out of instinct reached over after adjusting Gomez to one arm, and grabbed Matilda's hand, giving it a light squeeze. Reminding the girl, that she was not alone. 

Kiami wanted badly to protect her, and both of their kittens, but she stood there frozen in the fear that continued to grow in her soul.
Unable to do anything. Not even scream. Her eyes darted back to the panther.

Jumping, she finally screamed as Mrs Agatha calmly placed herself between them and the panther. She knew of course that this witch was strong, but she was also old; Kiami couldn't stand to watch the woman be the only line of defense between the children and the cat.

"Mrs. Agatha, please.. be careful.." She whispered as tears unwillingly stung her dark eyes. Oh how she really wished now for the ability to use magic the way her mother did, if even to only help Agatha in this moment.

Goosebumps speckled her dark skin as worry, fear, even a tint of excitement unfolded in front of her.
Kiami stiffed a scream when an owl came soaring down from the sky, and suddenly hit the ground in human form.

Her sigh of relief at the sight was audible. She suddenly felt more confident as the woman put a bubble of protection around her and Matilda; shielding them from danger.  

Even her untrained eye could see that the bubble did not reach Agatha, and her heart jumped into her throat.

It happened so quickly that Kiami almost missed it, dropping Gomez in the process. The kitten took off hiding and hissing under the chair that Agatha had occupied minutes before. Kiami wanted to go after him, but she was glued to her spot.

In front of her where Agatha had been, was now another cat, albeit smaller than the panther, but just as fierce.

She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Of course! The old lady would fight in her animagus form.
Kiami was thrilled to be able to see this transformation.

The two cats scuffled for a few minutes. Though from where she stood, she couldn't tell who was being hurt, and who was winning. She silently prayed that Agatha could over power an animal that doubled her in size.

Kiami sighed another audible sound of relief filling her heart with joy, and calming her nerves as the wild cat suddenly crawled from beneath the panther, and shook its coat. In the next instant the wild cat leaped into the chair behind the girls.

Spinning around, Kiami forgot for a moment about the other cat she stared as the wild cat transformed again into Agatha. Kiami's mouth hung open, words swirled around her head, but her voice could form no sentence.

Her body and mind trying to make sense of what Agatha had just said. She spun around staring first at the panther, than the lady in front of them, and back at Agatha. Unable to put her thoughts into words.

Finally she just sat, right there on the ground and stared. Not at Agatha, but off into nothing. Her parents had taught her much, but they hadn't prepared her for the wheel of emotions she felt that she was spinning on.

Matilda heard the first scream and it went straight to her bones, she was petrified. She suddenly felt like she did...when? She couldn't recall though she knew she had felt this way once before she didn't know why or how but she was terrified.

A second scream and Matilda screamed in return. Her's was of complete terror and she wasn't sure what to do. Morticia had clawed her way into her shirt and then the pant showed up and Morticia jumped down to protect Matilda.

When Aunt Agatha moved between the students and the panther, her heart leap in her throat. She was crying and scared and suddenly she was thinking about Sarah. Why was she thinking about her friend? She couldn't understand what was happening.

Kiami grabbed her hand and squeezed and Matilda turned to look at the girl, tears in her own eyes as she turned back. She wanted to run and she made a step to do as much when suddenly a bird, an owl appeared out of no where. Moritica took to the woods then and Matilda turned to scream for her. "TO THE CABIN!!!" She yelled after her precious kitten.

She wanted to run as well but suddenly the owl turned into a human. A witch, some sort of shiny stuff went around them and Matilda didn't know what to do, she ran to the woman and held onto her, somewhere deep inside she knew this one was safe. She clutched on to her for dear life as she watched on.

Agatha was suddenly a cat of some sort and she and the panther were fighting. "NO!! Stop!!! You're going to kill her!!" More times the not Matilda had always been able to talk with the animals and they always listened and responded to her. So why wasn't this panther?! Why wasn't it!?

Agatha came out from under the beast and changed back as she went and sat in her chair. Matilda looked at her and then at the panther as it too changed into a woman. All three of the adults could change into different animals and Matilda was dumbfounded.

She burst out in laughter for some unknown reason though still clutching the adult that had come to protect them. Her body was shaking and several raccoons came out of the woods, all of them seemingly attaching themselves to Matilda.

She didn't know what was going on but they were okay she thought. Right?