I had no time to think about it and I did not expect at all what followed. Mistoffelees took a step further away than looked at me. It seemed as if he wanted to examine my body as his working-object to find out how to work on it. It was of course not nice that someone looked up and down on you and Iuncomfortably swayed from side to side.
"Watch my eyes." He ordered after he had finished his examination and widened his eyes.
I did as he had told me and watched this big and deep black cave. The deep black widened eyes made me feel as if I could disappear inside them. That were not cats' eyes anymore. I suddenly felt something beating inside my head. Someone seemed to play a base drum inside me and I had to close my eyes to prevent that feeling of being drunk. Some lights flashed, and they jumped up and down in front of my closed eyes, twisting around and made me feel as if I was fainting. I never had such a headache before! I never had thought that magic could hurt me. I felt my body falling on the ground and every bone seemed to hit the floor and burst. Fortunately, the strongest pain flew away a few seconds later and I lay on the ground, shocked and calm. I could still could feel every bone aching. I weakly tried to look up to Mr. Mistoffelees who was still sitting on his old spot, his eyes at normal size now.
I could see two different kind of emotions in his mind. He was gratified that I had acquired it and that he had worked well. Everything had been like it had to be. On the other hand he had suffered on seeing my pain and was sad that he had to hurt me. That's why he did not move and just glanced at me. He would have moved to console me but it was he who had hurt me and he was the teacher who had to his work. He was not "allowed" to help because I had to cope with it myself.
After I had laid around a while, calmly whimpering and he had sat there, gazing at me, he took me and dropped me in front of him. I shook my had and tried to come out of the dust that I saw around me. I could switch on every sense after a while and turned back to normal behavior.
We played our game again "sense me entering the yard" and with magic it worked better. It was very late when I was allowed to turn home and I had liked to sleep in the yard we had practiced. I was so exhausted. I still felt uncomfortable because of what had happened with me. Mistoffelees told me later that he wanted me to be tired and depleted (he was also). This way I would sleep a while and would not be able to try out my magic. It was a nasty trick to a kitten, but necessary.
"We'll meet again tomorrow, I'll collect you, okay." Than he placed me on his back again and carried me to the junkyard. I fell asleep during the journey and purred while I was sleeping. Mistoffelees carried me to the junkyard and placed me on the car's trunk. Than curled up at my side and fell asleep too. Before I slept completely I thought about trying out my magic as soonas I'd awake.
I awoke a few hours later and was just able to take a bit of milk that I found somewhere to stop my hunger. Mistoffelees was still sleeping on the trunk and I curled up on his side again and gave him a massage with my claws while I fell asleep. We both purred gently and I felt very satisfied.
I felt him putting my paw which had laid on his back on the car's trunk and walking away but I still did not feel like waking up and preferred to fall asleep again.
Mistoffelees woke me up the next day, before I had been able to try out my magic (I would not have had the chance to try it out if I had been awake because Mistoffelees had kept an eye on me during the day).
"Didn't you learn yesterday?" he yelped.
"Learn? Me?...I?" I yawned half-sleeping.
"Think about you tail!" he pushed his claws into my tail, not really hard, but it hurt me and reminded me that he wanted me to remember that he hadtaught me sensing him as soon as he arrived.
"I was sleeping! Do you never sleep deeply?" I hissed at him kitten-like and it sounded so funny that he burst out laughing.
"Maybe you're too young? We'll take the sleep-awake lesson later," he put me on his back again and I couldn't help purring immediately. I loved this way of journeying.
"What did you do this far with your "new" magic?" He asked me, well knowing that I had slept the whole day after he had treated me teacher-like the day before.
"Nothing."
"Good" cheered the black cat and dropped me uncomfortably on the ground."You want to use your magic, mh?"
"Sure!" I smiled.
So we spend the day with "funny-magic": I learned how to make flying lights and flashes. I learned how to make my eyes look like fireballs and more tricks of this kind. We had a lot of fun and made a game: We both had a light and tried to steal each others light. He was better but I sometimes discovered his light and ran away with it hiding somewhere. He usually found me and grabbed his light again and the game went on. We laughed and played and had so much fun! It was a very free lesson and not so exhausting at all. I think he liked playing. He could be a child again when he played and I could seethat he had fun.
He suddenly threw a light on me, a flash. You know, those blue flashes he does at the Jellicle Ball. It nearly hit me and I jumped away because he hadbroken our game. He laughed. "You wanna do tha', too?"
I nodded grinning. It looked so easy. And it was so difficult. He just pointed on a spot and ZAP the blue flash hit the chosen spot. He told me how to do it (it's a magical secret, sorry!) and I did it exactly like he had told me. Nothing happened. I tried it a second time and it just sounded like fzzzzzzz but nothing happened. He showed it again and told me how I had to do it, how I had to move my paws and that I needed to be concentrated. I tried it three times...four times...six times...ten... He told me again and again and I was giving up hope. I sniffed when Ireached the fifteenth time.
"I can't do that!" I said with watery eyes and buried my head in my paws. I was so unhappy. If I were not able to throw flashes how would I be able to teleport things and to do other different tricks?
Mistoffelees said slowly and consolingly: "Look again, Mistoline. Don't give up hope. If you feel it one time in your paws than it will happen againand again. You just need to get the right feeling."
I tried several times and was happy when he at last said: "It's enough for the day. And dropped me on his back. I could have walked alone but I liked to be carried and he did not refuse to do it. I thought about trying out my magic as soon as I was at home. I was not as exhausted as the day before and so I would have time to practice and discover.
"Mistoline, you have to promise me that you do no ex-pe-ri-ments!" that stopped my joy. His voice was deep and dangerous and he meant exactly what hesaid.
"Why?" I replied innocently, pretending I just would try out a few little funny tricks.
He dropped me down and put his tail around me so I could not back away and had to stay. He sighed. "See, dear. You have no idea yet what you are able to do! Do you know how many magicians loose their lives while they are youngsters? They want to make some affairs exploding and explode themselves." That sounded funny but it wasn't at all because it was true. I did not know it was true when he told me but today a lot of cats confirmed it to me.
"I have to take care of you in this affair and I would feel guilty if anything happened to you. Just do those things I taught you already. The wonderful parts of magic are connected with the evil and dangerous ones. You want to pick a card from a pack and the result is that your paws burn! I know it,I've tested it myself...Promise?"
"Promise," I answered sadly, my head hanging down. I left the yard and didnot look back.
"Mistoline!" he called me. I did not turn around while he spoke. " Learn throwing your flashes and practice. I will collect you in two days and than you'll show me your flashes." Oh, very nice, Mistoffelees, very nice, I thought for myself, he could have also said: "Do your homework, kitten!" You see, I was not happy about it, just because I had already given up hope and now he wanted to see flashes in two days. I was also angry because he had forbidden me to work with my magic.
He was right concerning the flashes! I tried and than I got this feeling in my paws and claws and I knew it was the right one. The feeling was warm and soft, it was surprising too and I cannot describe all the feelings I received when I felt it. The only fitting word for it was magical! A flimsy yellow flash came out of my paw. It was not a very bright or nice one but I kept on and it became brighter. I threw flashes until I was completely bored and tired.
Handclaps came from the yard: Victoria, Demeter and Bombalurina had watched me practicing and clapped. Bombalurina smiled: "It seems as if Mistoffelees has to take care of you! You may be some concurrence for him." We laughed and I stopped practicing - I preferred playing with Bombalurina and Demeter. We made an excursion to some toms in the neighborhood.
The next day I really thought of doing some "ex-pe-ri-ments" although Misto had forbidden it. I thought about trying out my magic on things. Perhaps I could move some boxes or make a bit of trash fall down on the floor? I looked around for something useful when Mistoffelees showed up. "Grrrmpf!" I howled quietly. Now I can't work. Mistoffelees tried to hide behind the car but I saw him(he did not know) and he watched me. I knew he wanted to know whether I did some nonsense. I walked over to Jemima and pretended to be the loveliest cat on earth, not even thinking about something that could be forbidden. He watched me the whole day. It is not a very nice feeling to know that you are observed. I know, he was right because I would have done nonsense and ex-pe-ri-ments if he had gone away.
He picked me up one day later again. I think he had enough about observing me and wanted to go on until it was not necessary anymore.
"Have time, Mistoline?"
"Yeah, I am bored."
"So let's go to the yard to practice. You have to learn some important stuff." He walked on.
"You won't carry me?" I asked cheerlessly as he signed me to follow him.
"You can walk very well. Your legs are long enough." he replied walking on.
"Mmpf, I know I can walk but I like to lay on your back!" I decided to tell the truth because I really liked it. "Please, Mistoff'leeeees!" I begged kittenishly.
"Okay, okay," he laughed and put me on his back where I immediately started purring. "As long as you are still of kitty-weight I could think of carrying you. And besides I love the massage as long as you keep your claws under control."
So we went along, he walking slowly and I massaging his rear with my claws. We reached our practicing yard and he dropped me down. Uncomfortable asusual.
This lesson was completely boring at the beginning. After we had made some magical fun last lesson we now had to do something serious. This was what Mistoffelees said, I'd have liked to go on like before. Now, what made the lesson so boring, you might ask me. It were some magical rules that bored me completely. He wanted to teach me those typical rules that magician had to follow. Every magician has to or he will lose a lot of magic. Cats who do not accept the rules are punished on one of those Magical Balls. Who likes to learn rules? Me not! It did not help, Mistoffelees did not accept me to refuse.
It was always the same, he told me the rule: "Magical-cats are not allowed to show their magic in front of humans except in emergency situations." Than repeated it in parts and I had to repeat it until I knew every word in the sentence. He was never satisfied if I did only repeat the sense of the phrase, he always wanted me to repeat it exactly. It was sobering! He made it even worse, because when I knew every rule (I think there are about 15 or 20 of them, although I felt it were millions) he mixed them up.
"What's the seventh rule?"
"If a magical-cat uses a trick that needs all might it will be punished,there are exceptions!"
"You should concentrate more. That was incorrect." he grumbled.
"The sense is the same!" I tried to defend myself very often this way.
"Mistoline, it's just for safety. If you mix up the words, rules will change or maybe disappear from your mind and how do you want to teach other cats than?" he sighed because I signed that I did not want to understand this.
"I'll never teach other cats!" I snarled, "because---"
"---because what? Did you forget rule eleven? Tell me the eleventh!"
"If you are magical you have to teach every cat in magic that is needed to be taught. You are not allowed to refuse." I replied gently but my heart was angry, because he did not even listen to my opinion and thAT I thought how silly this rules are.
"Okay, okay." He had a look that said thanks heavyside, she gotit! "What was it about the seventh? Repeat it now correctly!"
"If a magical-cat uses a trick that needs all might it will be punished, there are exceptions!" (If you are interested: We are not allowed to expense all our magic, we must always have a rest to be able to help if it is necessary).
"Concentrate on the rules!" he hit my ear in a friendly way but it told me what sign it was, he slowly came out of control because of my stare that showed frankly that I hated those rules. So I concentrated.
"A magical-cat who uses a trick that needs all might it will be punished,there are exceptions!"
"Yes, and what about rule four?"
It went on for hours until I could tell you the rules forwards and backwards. Fortunately we had some breaks. During the breaks he usually disappeared. I do not know where he disappeared but I think he did something that made him relaxed like rat-hunting perhaps because every time hecame back, he was more easygoing.
To Part Three
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