As I said earlier, Crookshanks looked like he would have appeared in the Feline Olympics, if running into walls was an Olympic sport. However, he wouldn’t do so well in the 25m backstroke. Or any other water related sport, for that matter. Crookshanks hated water, although he didn’t know why. He just hated it. He didn’t even like puddles very much, and he used to think that he might melt if he went out in the rain.
So you can imagine what he felt like when he and Trevor plummeted down towards the water. If you can’t imagine, let me just tell you that the poor thing was terrified, and as he fell, his whole life flashed before his eyes, although it wasn’t very exciting. It was mostly just: living in the Magical Menagerie at Diagon Alley, going off with Hermione, eating, sleeping, eating, sleeping, wandering around, sleeping, meeting Sirius Black, sleeping, trying to capture Scabbers (or Wormtail, as he preferred to be called) and take him to Sirius, sleeping, eating, sleeping, etc.
He hit the water with a splash, went underwater, and managed to find his way back to the surface again, his lungs bursting and his fur soaking wet. The current was pulling him along to…Crookshanks gulped, another waterfall. A few feet in front of him, the water just stopped and plummeted down to…well, he didn’t know. But presumably, it was somewhere wet.
Crookshanks tried to moggy-paddle back the way he’d just come, but the current was too strong. He was swept off over the edge and down the waterfall. “Tre!” he had time to scream before he hit the water again and his mouth filled with water.
Where was that stupid toad?
******
Trevor, meanwhile, was sitting on a small ledge above the water. As soon as he’d the water and got separated from his companion, he’d hopped out onto the ledge, to look for Crookshanks. By that time, however, the cat was just about to fall off the waterfall, and Trevor couldn’t see him.
Trevor was just about to leap into the water and make sure that Crookshanks wasn’t playing about underwater, hiding from him, when he heard someone shout, “Tre!” and then a loud splash. Trevor looked in the direction it had come from and then dived in, performing a small somersault because he felt like it. He hadn’t been in water like this for quite a while “ Neville normally just left Trevor in a small bucket, or a sink.
Trevor was the complete opposite to Crookshanks. He wasn’t the best walker, but he was the best swimmer in Hogwarts, apart from the Squid. Opening his eyes underwater, he could see nothing remotely cat-like. All he could see was rocks and water. Further on, there was a waterfall, he noted, swimming against the current.
Wait a minute. A waterfall?
He immediately turned round and swam as fast as he could towards the waterfall, which was fast, because he was helped a little by the strong current. He shot out into open air, did some more somersaults, and dived into the water at the foot of the waterfall.
Underwater again, he looked round, fearing the worst already. Everyone knew that cats hated water. It was one of those well-known facts in the animal kingdom, like ‘owls are the wisest animals’, and ‘toads have an irrational fear of flying’.
Ahead of him was a dark shape, and Trevor grinned, his warty face looking even more ugly. There was his good friend, the Squid. He should have known that he was in the lake.
****
When Crookshanks woke, he found that he was on an island, in the middle of a lake, surrounded by water. It was still night, and the moonlight glinted off the surface of the lake. He shivered involuntarily and made his way to the very centre of the unusual island, as far away as possible from all the water.
The island was very peculiar. The ground was soft and rubbery, and shaped like an oval. It took Crookshanks a while to notice that it was moving ever so slightly. Up and down, it was moving, as if the island was breathing.
At that moment, Trevor burst out of the water and landed spread-eagled next to Crookshanks, interrupting that train of thought.
“I found you!” Trevor breathed. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”
“Lovely,” Crookshanks replied, moving back slightly. Trevor was too wet. “I have been so terribly worried about you, my dear friend,” he continued in a monotone voice.
Trevor smirked. “You do know where you are, don’t you?”
Crookshanks sniffed. “Indeed I do. I’m on a small island in the middle of the lake.”
“No you’re not. You’re actually lying on the back of the Giant Squid that lives in this lake.”
Crookshank’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”
“Of course I am. Do you think I’d lie to you? I was just talking to her a moment ago. She and I are good friends, you know.”
“Alright. Take us to the shore, Mrs. Squid!” Crookshanks yelled at the top of his voice.
Trevor hopped to the edge of the Squid’s back. “She won’t understand you. You have to be underwater to talk to her, and I don’t really think that you’d be brave enough to stick your head underwater and talk to her yourself.” Crookshanks snarled at him, and he dived into the water.
A few moments later, Trevor poked his head out of the
water. Crookshanks had to crawl closer to the edge to hear what Trevor had to say, but was careful to not get too close. “She says that she’ll gladly take us back, because you keep scratching her with your claws, and your fur tickles her. She’ll be glad to get rid of you.”
Crookshanks scowled. “Well, you can tell her that she’s too wet.”
“If you say so. But that’s not much of an insult, seeing as she does live in the water. It’s like me telling you that you’re too furry, and hoping you’ll be insulted. By the way, I’m going to be swimming underwater, while she takes you back, and keep her company.” He grinned, and then dived back underwater.
Crookshanks sighed and lay back, staring at the stars.
*****
The Squid stopped a short distance from the shore, because, according to Trevor, if she went too close she might get stuck and drown in the air.
But Crookshanks thought that it was all just a clever plan of hers to get him wet again. He slid slowly off the Squid and then paddled to the shore, keeping his head high above the water.
Trevor thanked the Squid, and then made his way over to Crookshanks, who was standing on the shore, soaking wet and shivering.
“Do you know where to go now?” Trevor asked, hopping onto Crookshanks’ back.
The cat was about to come back with a witty remark he’d just come up with, but he was stopped by a loud voice booming out, “Who goes there?”