The Hamster, The Wizard and the Cat-flap

Although it’s true that Hamsters usually live in some sort of cage. You won’t be surprised to hear that Trevor chose to let his Hamster have the run of the house. After all, it’s coming to something if a Wizard can’t be a bit different! The plain fact is that Trevor has always had trouble being recognised as someone special and, secretly, he will sometimes do unusual things just so that he might seem.. unusual. The trouble is, a lot of the Wizards that you get in Films and stories give people the wrong idea. The big publicity characters like Gandalf or Yoda are not really anything like ordinary Wizards. Just take a look back at Merlin from King Arthurs time and you will see what a true Wizard is like. Or, if you can’t see back that far, another easy way to spot a real Wizard is to look at their legs. They always have trouble walking. Which is obvious when you think about it because all proper magic comes from the knees. So naturally it’s their knees that wear out first! When something really powerful is needed you will always see the Wizard hold their knees together really hard and, sometimes, close their eyes to concentrate at the same time. This is not an easy thing to do even for a young Wizard, but when you get to Trevor’s age it’s really difficult. You can’t last more than a few moments without falling over! That is real reason why the Wizard’s stick was first invented.

Anyway, I am getting off the subject. Trevor had called his Hamster ‘Silas’ (you see what I mean about trying to be unusual) and Silas had got used to going anywhere he wanted. If Trevor went out he would often take Silas with him on his shoulder. So this was a well travelled Hamster. Even at home he liked to be free to go out in the garden when he chose, and it was that very thing that nearly caused his downfall.

Trevor had got fed up with keep having to go and let Silas out into the garden so he decided to create a little door for Silas to use. He was looking through a magazine when he noticed an advert for Cat-flaps. Now you and I would worry that a Cat-flap is much too big for a Hamster. But for a Wizard this is not a problem. He ordered the flap and, when it arrived, was pleased to see that it was quite solid in the middle. Trevor fitted the flap in the garden door and then focussed very hard (with his knees) on the centre panel. He couldn’t close his eyes because he needed them to burn out the tiny Hamster door that he was going to make in the middle of the flap. When he had finished burning it out, he got two hinges and screwed it back over the hole that it had left. Brilliant! A perfect Hamster sized door.

Now, it is probably time to tell you that all Wizards are a bit lazy. Of course they would never admit to that, they would say that they just have so many things to think about. Well, maybe if Trevor had thought a bit more about his new Hamster door, he would have realised that he needed to seal up the main cat-flap door so that bigger animals couldn’t get in. But his mind was on other things – like having a lay down to rest his knees. So that is how the whole plan fell apart!

It was in the middle of the night when the noise started. Trevor got up and went into the kitchen where he found Silas hanging on to one of the frying pans that hang on a hook. While down on the floor there was a large black Cat! Obviously the Cat must have chased Silas up the garden and then followed him into the house through.. the cat-flap!

This was an emergency, Trevor gripped his knees together to try and make the cat freeze on the spot. Sometimes, if you are tired, a spell won’t happen straight away and this was one of those times, so Trevor had to stand with his knees gripped for far longer than was good for him. Then, just as the spell took effect and the cat froze, his knees gave way and Trevor fell over. Instinctively he reached out to try and save himself from falling and grabbed the only thing nearby which, of course, was the frying pan that Silas was clinging to. The pan came off the hook and fell straight onto the cat. Luckily Silas was able to jump off the frying pan and land on the cooker in time. The frying pan hit the frozen cat and knocked him over onto his side just as Trevor landed on the floor also on his side.

You probably already know about ‘Magic Zones’. A Wizard has to make sure that the zone only covers the subject of the spell. For example, you can’t cast a spell over a whole town without clearly marking the borders and then being certain that you stay outside the border yourself. Well I am sure you have guessed the next part. Trevor was now lying next to the cat and therefore in the ‘frozen’ zone. So picture the scene, you have a Wizard and a Cat both frozen on the floor and a Hamster who now has the freedom of the house to do anything he wants. He was having the time of his life, swinging from the light shade – sliding down the banister – filling his cheek pouches with peas and then blowing them all over the Cat. But of course he didn’t know what we know.. and eventually he was caught in the same trap as the others. He made the mistake of getting too close to the frozen bodies and so entering the zone. Now he was frozen too!

For a while nothing happened. The Cat was thinking ‘If only I could move. I’d teach that Hamster a thing or two.’ Silas the Hamster was thinking ‘I wish I wasn’t frozen because it’s stopping me from laughing at that stupid looking Cat covered in frozen peas.’ And Trevor was thinking ‘If I could break this spell, I could be in bed asleep now!’ Of course Trevor had forgotten that, laying on his side, his knees were already next to each other giving him all the power he needed. So suddenly his wish came true. They were all unfrozen. So now you had a Pea covered Cat chasing a Hamster who couldn’t run as fast as usual because he was slowed down by extra weight. (The extra weight were the frozen peas still left in his pouch.) And a Wizard who was trying to remember the Magic words for ‘Banish The Cat’

Suddenly it came to him. “Begone all Toads and Rats. Begone unwanted Cats.” It didn’t work at first but then he had an idea, he laid down on his side so his knees were together again and then it worked. Instantly the Cat was gone and Silas the Hamster was safe once again.

Now Trevor was a very happy Wizard because he knew that, whenever he needed any Magic, he just had to go to his favourite place and lay on his side so his knees were together. And we all know what his favoutite place is– his bed..

“Ah, he thought, If only it could always be this peaceful.”

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