Cabbage Patch Kids

[Pandora Winterdowne]

It was one thing to misplace one’s homework, but another entirely when that homework was a living creature.

Cabbage’s name quite suited his coloring, but the puffskein’s personality was decidedly more adventurous than one of the more tedious leafy vegetables—much like his owner. Said owner was, at present, combing the grounds for the little hellion, who had scurried off in the split second (well, several moments) she had been embroiled in a discussion about the upcoming quodpot tournament and whether or not the sport should be a permanent fixture at Hogwarts (explosions? Pandora voted yes!). It had taken her several moments to realize the creature was no longer nibbling on the grass at her feet, after which the fifth year was immediately off in search of him.

So far, it had not gone well.

The Hufflepuff neared the lake’s edge, hoping he had not come down this way or towards the forest. She did not think that puffskeins could swim, and she would hate for Cabbage to get eaten.

(Also, she’d probably fail the project if he was.)

“Cabbage!” Dora called out, entirely oblivious to how ridiculous she sounded. “CABBAGE!”

  

[Saundra Darrow]

Sunny was busy with some homework she probably should have done maybe a week ago or two and the only way she could get herself to concentrate was to flee the stuffy library and work on it down by the lake, where the cool breeze served the purpose of keeping her awake for long enough to finish reading the book pages she’d been assigned. She’d managed to make it through the lessons so far without reading them on some very good guesswork and an active imagination, but she doubted she’d be able to pull off that trick for that much longer without arousing suspicion.

Thankfully (or maybe not) she was saved from the tedium that was assigned reading by the sound of someone shouting cabbage, something peculiar enough to pique the girl’s interest (not that that was particularly hard), and so she shut her book and headed along the bank to where the voice was coming from.

“Why are you looking for a cabbage? I’m sure there’s some in the kitchens or greenhouses.” Sunny chirped at the blonde.

[Pandora Winterdowne]

It took the Hufflepuff several moments—long moments, too—to realize why the youngster was offering her vegetable-cabbage when no one in their right mind liked cabbage. The barest hint of cheeks crept to her cheeks, but was quickly shoved aside as concern regained control of her expression once again.

“It’s not a proper cabbage,” Pandora explained to the younger student, wondering if anyone had had such a bizarre conversation before, “but Cabbage—that is, Cabbage is the name of my puffksein—homework puffskein,” she added for emphasis. While some students might simply chuckle at a pet being let on the loose (Dora was not one of them!), that it was for school gave it a bit more weight.

“And he’s run off!”

  

[Saundra Darrow]

“Ohhh!” Sunny gasped slowly. The girl wasn’t looking for a cabbage, but for Cabbage, which made more sense.

Marginally.

The Slytherin gazed around, trying to see if she could see a pom pom making a break for it anywhere. “Can puffskeins run?” She asked, slightly perplexed as she tried to imagine one doing so. “Do they even have legs?” They just seemed to be a bit… round. Maybe a gust of wind had caught him and made him roll away!

[Pandora Winterdowne]

Pandora legitimately pondered this. For all that Cabbage was a large part of her grade, she paid painfully little attention to his basic anatomy. He moved somehow, but the precise mechanics were something the Hufflepuff had not paid attention to. Either way, though, the puffskein had gone somehow, and Pandora needed to find him with haste, lest something ill befall him.

“They can…do something,” she settled on. “But regardless of the how, the what is that he is gone. What if he’s drowned? Or been eaten by an owl?”

  

[Saundra Darrow]

“It would have to be a very big owl.” She chirped, realising it was probably best not to suggest a cat might have got it just before the thought came out of her mouth. Sunny tottered down the lake bank to peer into the shallows, in case it had fallen in, but she couldn’t see much through all the reeds.

Appearing back at the top of the bank, a little red faced, Sunny thought of something. “Have you tried summoning him?”

[Pandora Winterdowne]

Dora felt very silly indeed for not having thought of that herself! While she wasn’t sure that a summoning charm would work on a living creature, it was surely a better notion than running about like a chicken with her head cut off!

“That is a splendid indeed!” she offered gratefully to the youngster, drawing her wand. “Accio Cabbage!”

Now all they had to do was wait.

  

[Saundra Darrow]

Sunny glanced around as she waited for the puffskein to come flying at them. She’d just been about to suggest Miss Winterdowne tried it again- maybe the puffskein hadn’t heard and realised it was being summoned, or however summoning worked- when she heard the faint tinkling of glass, and had to duck rather suddenly as an actual cabbage hurtled at her.

She gave a slightly surprised giggle, and nudged the vegetable with her toe. “Maybe not then!” She shrugged brightly.

[Pandora Winterdowne]

So much for that notion. Pandora let out a long sigh. At least it had been Miss Darrow and not she herself that had almost been hit by the green vegetable—perhaps, the Hufflepuff thought, it had not been the best idea to name him after something commonplace.

“What if he’s in the vegetable garden?” the fifth year asked after checking the younger girl had not been at all harmed. “It would, after all, be the ideal place for him to hide without attracting notice, and he could easily be gorging himself on carrot leaf right now!”

  

[Saundra Darrow]

That was a clever thought!

“If I were a runaway puffskein, that’d be where I’d go!” Sunny agreed brightly. In all honesty, she probably wouldn’t have thought about it until she’d gotten hungry, but it’s wasn’t even improbable that a puffskein could have a better sense of foresight than she did.

[Pandora Winterdowne]

“I’ll confess,” Pandora said, “that thinking like a puffskein was not something I had considered. Will you join me, Miss Darrow?”

  

[Saundra Darrow]

Sunny nodded and bounded in the direction of the gardens. “Is there any vegetable he particularly likes?” She questioned. “He might be hiding there!” She was doing her very best to think like a puffskein- maybe she had been one in a previous life! She didn’t know if a patronus could be a puffskein, but if they could be that was what she wanted hers to be.

[Pandora Winterdowne]

“I often feed him pumpkinseeds,” Dora mused thoughtfully. “I’m not sure that puffskeins are clever enough to know where the seeds come from, though.”

It was a shame she hadn’t spent more time paying attention in class instead of cuddling her adorable new friend.

  

[Saundra Darrow]

“He might know the smell though- it’s worth a try!” Did puffskeins have noses? Yet more questions that Sunny was now determined to find out when she had a chance.

She let herself into the vegetable garden and began rooting around the planters. “There’s a cricket ball or two, to be sure!” She laughed, nudging one out of the way with her toe.

[Pandora Winterdowne]

Her own hand set to rummaging about before contacting with something promisingly fluffy. Triumphantly, Pandora held it aloft with a whoop of delight…only to realize this puffskein was a rather vomit-y beige, not the cabbage green of her wayward pet. She let out a groan of dismay (though, secretly, was at least relieved not to have been the only person whose puffskein had run off).

  

[Saundra Darrow]

Sunny had looked up hopefully when Miss Winterdowne held up a puffskein, but she could tell from her expression it wasn’t the elusive Cabbage. “Maybe someone should start selling leads for puffskeins!” She laughed, lifting up the edge of an overturned wheelbarrow and boldly sticking her arm in. “I think I can feel something fluffy!”