This was another idea of Aberdeen's that could potentially fall flat on its behind. At least this time she could share the blame with Luke. They'd agreed upon it together, possibly in one of those instances where if you talk about a bad idea enough you can get it to sound like a good idea.

The problem? Robin didn't have a proper playmate, neither Luke nor Aberdeen really knew any families with kids Robin's age, and nursery school wasn't an option, for security reasons. The solution? A pet. (Well, solution was probably the wrong word. Harebrained scheme, maybe.) It couldn't be just any pet, of course; it would need to a creature that Robin couldn't hurt, and that couldn't hurt Robin. Maybe a puffskein, or a household animal that had already lived with a family before. Aberdeen wasn't completely clueless-- she'd done fairly well in Care of Magical Creatures-- but she still felt she could use a professional opinion.

No staff were visible at the moment (probably just fetching something from the back of the shop), so Aberdeen contented herself to browse a little while she waited. She meandered over to a group of kneazle kittens tussling with each other; Aberdeen found it difficult to deny her inner cat person.

Mairead cast a furtive, frustrated look at the wand shop as she passed it, certain that if she even tried to step into it, she'd get tossed back out on her rump.  Granted, she was used to being evicted from stores - happened all the time at home.  Especially those that had the No Unattended Children and No Gypsy Children Allowed signs in their front window.  Those were, really, only penetrable if she had some of her friends to act as decoys.  The shop owners could really only run out a limited number of Pavee kids at a time. 

But, she'd never experienced being denied access to a store that actually, for once, contained something she really really needed.  It was a strange feeling - she vaguely remembered old man Oisin explaining how regret felt and it almost sounded the same.  But, those thoughts were only fleeting. 

The pet store (well - the pet store that didn't sell barrels of spiders that made weird-haired strangers panic) was always a tempting curiosity.  In the absence of a wand, of course.  Mairead had been grateful to discover that the owner of this shop was unconnected with the woman who owned those many crates of puffskeins Mairead had made crash and fall during her first trip to Diagon Alley.  The cascading herd of liberated puffskeins were hilarious and Mairead had managed to pilfer a new pet in the process (she patted her pocket gently - Ailill hummed quietly) but the woman who came looking for her waylaid delivery was furious.

"They still look like cats," she announced, entirely apathetic to whether or not the woman also looking at the kneazles had any idea what she was talking about.  "I know they are called somethin' else - neezees or something - but they just look like cats.  I mean, they eat mice, don't they?"  That, of course, would be the determining factor.  If they ate mice, they were, unquestioningly, cats.

Aberdeen jumped just a little at the voice; she hoped she hadn't been making embarrassing, 'Oh how cute!' faces at the kneazle kittens. She was a formiddable Auror, she had a reputation to uphold. Well, maybe not uphold. Re-establish. And maybe not formiddable. Competent. It wouldn't do to act unprofessional in front of a child, even if she was off-duty.

'Hm, not if it were my kneazle,' she replied to the child. 'I'd want to feed it something a bit more substantial. You're right though, they are part of the cat family, but there are a couple of subtle differences between them and other house cats... See how their ears are a bit bigger than usual, and the tufts at the ends of their tails?' Aberdeen pointed at the kittens, glancing at the girl to see if she saw. The kittens weren't terribly useful examples, they moved about so much. 'They're also excellent judges of character, they make really loyal pets if they take a liking to you. You thinking of getting a pet?'

Noticing the girl was on her own, Aberdeen automatically glanced around the shop to look for a parent or guardian, but no one seemed to be with her. Then she reminded herself that the child was probably almost Hogwarts age now, and not all parents were as over-protective of their progeny than Aberdeen was of hers.

Mairead leaned over, resting her chin on her arms folded on the edge of the display containing the feline creatures.  She'd, admittedly, never seen the attraction of cats.  They were aloof, friendly when they wanted to be and, more importantly, rather useless.  They ate, they slept, they demanded attention when they wanted it and did little else. 

Not entirely unlike the puffskein in her pocket.  But, that was different.  Ailill didn't eat much. 

"What would you feed it?" Mairead asked, a tad bit suspiciously.  What could be more substantial than a mouse?  "Rats?"  A small sneer wrinkled her nose as she looked back at the kneazles.  Granted, that was more substantial but it was also ... well, more substantial.  She could just picture a cat sitting, gnawing on a massive...

Mairead's sneer grew and she stuck her tongue out in a pantomimed gag.  "I'll stick with dogs," she concluded in a decision based, largely, on her mental image of kittens chowing on rats easily their size.  "They're more useful."  And, ate more discretely. 

She shook her head.  "I already got pets.  Eithne is me dog, Dian Cécht is me horse.  Ailill here," she said, reaching in her pocket for the puffskein as she rattled off her animals, "is a ... puffer - pufferskinned something - I don't remember," she admitted, gazing down at the creature.  "I'm just looking." 

'Oh, a puffskein!' Damn, she hadn't been able to keep the cooing tone out of her voice. She coughed and tried to adopt a more practical tone. 'They're great, so low maintainance, not fussy about what they eat at all. Unlike kneazles-- I wouldn't fancy feeding them any kind of rodent, too much mess for my liking, I'd probably just stick with tinned cat food like we used to feed our cat when I was a kid.' She didn't bother continuing much further on the topic of cats; she could recognise a dog person when she saw one.

Aberdeen ambled over to the display of puffskeins in the shop; the thought of getting one for Robin had crossed her mind. 'You must be great with animals, with all the pets you've got,' she remarked to the girl. She quite liked talking with her; the way she couldn't quite remember certain magical terms indicated she was muggleborn, and she reminded Aberdeen of when she herself was an eleven-year-old first discovering the wonders of the wizarding world.

"Uh, yeah!  That's it!" Mairead declared as the woman offered a name for the creature in her hand.  The corners of her mouth flickered in a slight grin as the woman cooed at the ball of fur.  Cute wasn't, exactly, something Mairead went for but even she could see there was something endearing about the animal.  "I call him Ailill but I don't really know if he's a boy or a girl," Mairead admitted.  "Nobody seems to know how to tell."  Low maintenance was right - "I call him a boy - don't know, though.  He seems happy enough to just lounge in me pocket."

Mairead followed the woman to the display of other puffskeins.  She slipped Ailill back in her pocket before reaching in to stroke one of the shop's creatures.  "Well, we kind of have to be, don't we?" Mairead responded, largely oblivious to the fact that this woman didn't, in fact, know.  "We kind of depend on them." 

One of the puffskeins nuzzled against Mairead's finger and the tip of her finger disappeared in the fluff of fur.  "So, yer a - ye know - witch?  What do ye do?"  The realm of what witches did was still quite new to her.  Other than professors, which she'd met a few of so far.   

Aberdeen smiled as the girl petted one of the puffskeins; she seemed to have a way with animals. She chuckled a little as she realised that she didn't know how to tell male from female in these creatures either; it had never come up in COMC. Idly smoothing the fur of the puffskein nearest to her, Aberdeen wondered how Robin would get along with one. He was gentle enough that he probably wouldn't hurt it...

'Yes, I'm a witch,' she replied. 'A muggleborn witch, actually-- so when I was your age, all this stuff--' she gestured around the shop as if to indicate the wizarding world at large-- 'was new to me. What I do is-- well, I'm an Auror. We enforce the law in magical society, put dangerous witches and wizards away, kind of like the wizard version of the police.'

Mairead's eyes widened and she looked up at this woman with bright curiosity.  She had expected the witch part - they were in Diagon Alley.  Mairead had figured out that most down here were witches or wizards.  But, she hadn't expected the woman to be from muggle parents, like herself. 

She'd only been in the wizarding world about a month but Mairead had managed to experience the discrimination in the wizarding world first hand.  That girl, Effie whatever-her-name-was had been the first to call her a "mudblood."  But, name slinging and hateful comments were no new thing to her.  She'd grown up with it - though for different reasons.  But, she'd learned to accept it and deal with it - but she remembered what her father had taught her.  Such names were words - nothing more, nothing less.  And, often, by claiming them - by gaining ownership of them - you could lessen their sting.  Why more muggleborn witches and wizards didn't understand this, Mairead didn't know. 

Mairead lifted her chin and stated, easily and casually, with clear pride in her voice.  "I'm a proud mudblood."  a puffskein nuzzled up against her finger as she continued to speak to Aberdeen.  "I just got here a month ago or so.  I still don't have me wand, yet, but hopefully I'll get one soon.  I'm starting at school soon." 

An ... auror," Mairead said, a trace of suspicion flickering across her face.  Her sort didn't, exactly, have a good track record with law enforcement.  Not to mention, the stolen puffskein in her pocket.  "Yer a ... bobby?"

Aberdeen flinched a little at the girl's use of the word 'mudblood'; she hated letting anything get to her, but on when it came to this word she mostly liked to pretend that it didn't exist. Too many bad memories associated with it. Perhaps this girl didn't realise it was a bad word? 'I'm glad you're proud of it, but watch where you say "mudblood", okay? It's been used in hate and cruelty so much-- a lot of people just don't like hearing it.'

She realised she had inadvertantly been lowering her voice, and was glad to raise her voice back up and speak about something else. 'A bobby? I... suppose you could say that...' she mused, but a frown played over her face as she caught a trace of mistrust in the child's expression. She grinned in the hopes of putting her at ease. 'I'm nothing to worry about though. I'm not even on duty at the moment! So!' She cast around for another topic that wasn't her job. 'You're starting Hogwarts soon?' Aberdeen smiled with fond nostalgia. 'You'll have the time of your life there... You know much about the place yet?' Aberdeen remembered she had gone into Hogwarts with little to no idea of what to expect.

"I don't get it," Mairead admitted, truthfully, shrugging her shoulders.  Of course, she understood it was an insult - it was clear that little dark-haired brat hadn't been complimentary when she'd slung the term at Mairead in the wand shop.  But, were they, really, that bad?  To the point of making adults, like this woman - a cop at that - flinch? 

"I mean, yeah, I know it's a bad word.  But, that's why ... I mean ... I get called names all the time at home.  Like Tinker and all that.  So we just call ourselves that.  I don't know - it makes it not as bad.  I mean, this girl called me it in the store the other day.  I just socked her.  It wasn't that bad." 

It was clear, Mairead wasn't convinced there wasn't anything to worry about.  Back home, the law was rarely on their side - usually it was on the land owners side.  Getting chased off of private property seemed to be a regular occurrence for them.  Whether the cops here did any of the same stuff, Mairead didn't know but she wasn't exactly eager to find out. 

"I been there," Mairead declared, nodding to confirm she was, indeed, going soon.  "I went for that whole Remembrance Day thing - they let me stay there, too.  I'm staying with one of the teachers now so I can get more ready for school  But, it was brilliant.  The castle was so big - I kept getting lost.  It's going to be crazy."

Aberdeen let the conversation about the word 'mudblood' pass by. This girl was still a stranger, after all, she wasn't sure if she was comfortable going into this with her. Maybe she should though... Maybe no one had told her yet, just how deep the prejudice went with some people... The thought remained with her, making her look distractable even when the subject turned to safer topic like Hogwarts.

The girl was staying with a teacher? Perhaps her family was in Ireland, as her accent indicated. It sounded a good idea though, for getting her acquainted with the wizarding world.

'The castle is absolutely huge,' Aberdeen agreed. 'I got the hang of getting where I needed to be by the end of the first year, I think. Still haven't been all over it, though; I doubt anybody has... Maybe with the exception of Albus Dumbledore, or Harry Potter. You'll maybe have heard about them at Remembering Day? The part they played in the Second War?' There was an odd expression etched on Aberdeen's face, as though she wanted to say more but at the same time didn't want to. She picked up the puffskein she had been stroking and ruffled its fur to give her hands something to do.

"It's nothing like the castles at home," Mairead commented as she pulled Ailill back out of her pocket and cradled it in her hand near the container.  Whether her puffskein missed the company of others of its ilk, she didn't know.  But, it seemed worth offering the opportunity.  "They are all mostly piles of rocks.  Ruins.  And none seem anywhere close to the size of that place.  I still don't know what they do with it all.  How many classes do they teach?" 

Maybe, each class met in a different room.  Or, it just seemed bigger on the outside than it was.  She was used to pretty small and humble abodes - large houses always seemed to impress her.  The castle was leaps and bounds above what she had even considered.

"I got lost most of the time.  It usually wasn't that bad except the last time.  This crazy knight in a painting thought I needed to be saved.  He wouldn't leave me alone.  I don't know what he thought he'd do - he was in a bloody painting?"  The Knight - whatever he called himself - had been so very annoying.  Mairead nodded her head.  "Yeah, I kind of.  I heard the names at that Remembrance day thing.  I kind of remember - but not really.  I mean - they were talking about a lot of stuff those days.  It all got kind of jumbled and confusing." 

Aberdeen smiled at the girl's mention of a painting of a knight; she wondered if she meant Sir Cadogan. He was a few brushstrokes short of a masterpiece, but he generally meant well, Aberdeen found. When she was a student he had helped her out once or twice when she had been lost.

'Yeah, I guess it's a lot to take in-- especially this year being the tenth anniversary, I hear there was a lot going on.' Not least of which were the Rembering Day murders. Aberdeen couldn't decide whether she was grateful to have been spared the trauma, or frustrated that she hadn't been there to help. This wasn't something to chat about with a stranger however, much less a child.

'I can tell you about the war if you'd like-- though actually, it'll probably be covered in History of Magic. That's one of your core classes. There are.... Hm, let's see... Charms, Transfiguration...' Aberdeen continued to list them in her head, ticking them off on her fingers. 'Half a dozen of them. Ish. I think. (It's been a while since I was at school.) Plus some more you can choose from come third year. Well, the teacher you're staying with will be able to tell you all about the classes at Hogwarts, anyway.' When in doubt, Aberdeen reasoned, refer to a higher authority on the matter.

Aberdeen put back the puffskein she had been holding, then almost immediately picked it back up again, and it purred gratifyingly. Bothersome maternal instincts. They were making her get irrationally attached to small cute things.

With a shrug, Mairead nodded her head.  The whole Remembrance Day had been a roller coaster of emotions and events.  The first few days had been exciting and remarkable - she'd learned so many new things and had been left so excited about this new world that awaited her.  But, then, things got real and scary.  She didn't fully understand it, "yeah.  A lot went on.  I don't really get what happened."

"History?" Mairead said, wrinkling her nose slightly.  Now that the woman mentioned it, she remembered Miles mentioning that class in the long list of classes she'd have to take.  "Yeah - I know," she admitted as the woman listed off the classes.  "This boy at the school told me about the classes.  I still don't know how they fit all the classes in.  I mean, I never taken a single class and I didn't exactly have free time."  Actually, she had lots of free time.  Just not free time she wanted to fill with things like studying.

She slipped Ailill back in her pocket and started moving down an aisle, peering in the glass cases and containers as she passed them.  "Yer parents are muggles, too?" she asked.  "What do they do?  How did they react when they found out ye were like this?"

Given the Remembering Day tragedy, it was really no surprise the girl hadn't been able to pick up the history surrounding the day. Aberdeen found herself hoping the girl hadn't been too close to the incident; she hated to think of one so young in harm's way. Hogwarts was a lot to deal with, but at least it was-- in Aberdeen's eyes, anyway-- the safest place in the world. She nodded consolingly at the incoming student's mention of fitting in classes, and might have offered empty assurances of 'You'll get used to it' had not the girl's next question caught her offguard.

'My parents?' Still holding the puffskein she had picked up, Aberdeen followed the girl's suit and ambled towards the other displays. No one tended to ask about her parents, not unless they knew her really well. 'Well... My dad works in a post office, and my mum's an insurance consultant. And when they found out I was a witch... I mean, I'd been showing signs of magic since I was pretty young, right? But they always came up with excuses.

'Couldn't explain away the Ministry representative who came to tell them about Hogwarts and the wizarding world though. They were...' Aberdeen furrowed her brow, trying to put her finger on the right word. 'Bemused, more than anything. Could never quite get their heads around it. My little sister and brother thought it was dead cool, made me tell them everything about magic, but my parents... Never really quite understood it all.'

Realising she'd gone a bit more sombre than she intended, Aberdeen chuckled awkwardly and shrugged, gazing intently at 'her' puffskein before glancing over to the young witch to ask the obvious question in return. 'What about your parents?'