The Witch's Familiar

Chapter 3

A week later and no one had fessed up to carrying you to bed that night. You still had no idea how you'd woken up in your own bed when you had fallen asleep on the couch. No one was enlightening you either. In the end you blamed Jarvis, though he was the least likely person to have carried you to bed, since he was a computer system with no body.

"Lokitty, want to go with me today?" you asked that morning when you sat down for breakfast.

"Mrow?" he asked, looking up at you with interest.

"You're taking him out of the tower?" Tony demanded. Cap looked equally concerned.

"I'm teaching at the magic school today. Plus, I can make sure he stays with me. He'll get bored cooped up here all the time," you reminded them. "Unless you don't want to go?" you asked Loki. He perked up at that. "Ok, you can come with me, but," you drew your wand and touched it to Loki's collar. He grumbled at you while you worked. "I'm helping, now hush," you told him firmly. "If you get bored or overwhelmed playing with the students at the magic school you can teleport home," you explained. "Tony was an ass when he set that up and made the teleportation limits too limited," you continued after you'd finished and began actually eating your breakfast. Loki listened interestedly then turned and stuck his tongue out at Tony.

"How is he so annoying?" Tony grumbled. You laughed and scratched Loki behind the ears.

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Cap told you. "What's to say he won't run off?"

"He's not dumb enough to run off and risk getting stuck on house arrest forever. Besides, I'll be there. I can handle one magical cat," you reminded him. "And he won't make me handle him because I won't take him out again if he does," you added that part for Loki's benefit. He gave you his most innocent look. You finished your breakfast. "Ready?" you asked him. After a nod, you reached for him and scooped him up, cradling him to your chest.

"Guys, he'll be fine," you reminded them. "I have to get to class. Thor, I'll let you know when I have Loki home safe, ok?" Thor nodded

"Brother, behave," Thor told the cat who mrowed indignantly in reply.

"You'll like today's class," you told Loki seconds before you teleported to the entrance to the school. You couldn't teleport directly into the classroom, you had to appear just outside thanks to the shields around the school.

"Hi, Miss Y/N," said some of the kids as they ran past you into the school. You held Loki more securely. You straightened your spine and walked into the school faking a confidence you didn't really feel.

"Lokitty, I know you're a cat, but you do have to try to behave at least a little. Don't hurt anyone," you reminded him. He mrowed, sounding bored. You reached your classroom and set him on your desk.

"Is that a new familiar, Miss Y/N?" one of the students asked when he entered the room and saw Loki exploring your desk.

"He's still shy, though, so be careful," you warned, not answering whether Loki was a familiar or not, because he wasn't, but the kids wouldn't understand that. Loki explored every inch of the classroom and sneeze adorably when he found a dust bunny. You laughed at how adorable his sneeze was. The class cooed over Loki when they saw him, but they were all smart enough not to touch the shy cat. He preened over the praise anyway. "Lokitty!" you called when the bell rang. He looked over at you and then completely ignored you. Typical cat. "Fine," you huffed while the class laughed. "What can you tell me about familiars?" you asked them while Loki went around the classroom leaving footprints on everyone's notes.

"They're animals who are companions to witches and wizards," one of the students finally answered.

"And why would a witch want an annoying animal to be her companion?" you replied with a smirk at Loki who made an indignant noise.

"Well, they're good company," one of the kids suggested.

"They also get magic of their own, so they can be helpful-"

"If they feel like it!" the kids all laughed at that.

"A bond with a familiar also increases the potency of your magic," you added. "Now, Lokitty isn't a proper familiar, he's just hanging out with me, but don't let that fool you. He has more magic than any familiar,"

"What is he if he's not a familiar?" one of the kids asked.

"A Master Magician. That is your proper title, right, Lokitty?" you asked. Loki turned to you and nodded before going back to leaving pawprints on all of the students' notes. "Which brings us to today's lesson. Turn to page 394,"

"Werewolves?" one of the kids asked with a smirk. You nodded with a knowing smile.

"Types of animal transformations," you replied. "Which, yes, includes werewolves." You went into a lecture about how werewolf transformations different from spelled animal transformation or skin walkers. "Ok, Lokitty, time to actually listen and come up here away from the students attempting magic, unless you want to accidentally get turned into something," you told him more firmly. He huffed, but jumped off of the desk of the student he was currently annoying and trotted over to you. "Thought you'd see reason at that," you told him and scooped him up and set him on your desk where he could watch in safety. He made a sad mewing noise until you sighed heavily and summoned a comfy pillow for him and a cup of tea. "There, annoying fluffy god," you grumbled at him while the students giggled. "Master Magicians are more annoying than familiars," you reassured them. "It's possible to have some level of control over a familiar. Now, the spell we're going to practice goes like this:" You demonstrated turning into a cat and turning back a couple of times. Loki looked on, impressed, as did the students. "Now your turn," you told them. They jumped to their feet to try. "Remember, focus on the animal you want to become. If you aren't thinking clearly enough of the animal and what it looks like you're not going to be able to do it,"

The students had varying success and you gave them the assignment of practicing as homework.

"You doing ok?" you asked Loki when the students were gone. "You can go home whenever you want," you reminded him. He mrowed and came over to nuzzle you. "Yes, I get it, you're having fun," Your phone dinged. You grinned and placed your head next to Loki's. "Smile!" you told him, holding your phone out to get a picture. "Thor wants to know how you're doing," you explained after you'd sent the selfie over to Thor. Thor was getting much better at technology since he'd been here.

*

"What is that?" Doctor Strange greeted you later that afternoon when you teleported to the sanctum. He was glaring at Loki on your shoulders. He'd asked you to stop by and review a spell with him, so you brought Loki along.

"This is a cat, oh holder of a PhD," you grumbled at him with as much sarcasm in your voice as you could muster. Loki hissed softly at Strange. "Stop that," you scolded him, bopping him on the nose. "If you can't behave you have to go home," you reminded him. He stuck his tongue out at you, but settled quietly on your shoulder again.

"That is not a cat," Strange stared at Loki harder.

"If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck..."

"That is not a cat," Strange protested again. You rolled your eyes.

"It's a cat. What else could it be?" you asked innocently. "You know damn well that witches like having familiars." He thought that over, not seeming to catch that you hadn't actually said that Loki was your familiar. Loki stuck his tongue out at Strange.

"That's not a cat," Strange grumbled, but let the subject drop finally. "Keep an eye on your not-a-cat. I don't want it causing trouble,"

"He won't cause trouble," you told them both and followed Strange to where he was working on the spell. You looked it over with him and Loki peered at it from your shoulder. Between the three of you, you got the spell working and rewritten for Strange's records. Strange didn't comment that Loki was helping with the spell too. That was probably a good thing, though Strange was still suspicious of the cat.