"Please find it a new home."
That was written on a cardboard box in the courtyard, inside which sat a sleek-furred cat.
Pomona looked anxiously at the cat. Whenever graduation approached, many pets were abandoned. Judging by its fur, it had once been well cared for, but it was no longer needed now.
This was a school requirement: every student had to buy a pet for use in Transfiguration classes.
Some people might not have wanted a pet at first and only got one because of the rule. After years together, they grew attached and kept their pets, but the vast majority were still abandoned.
Pomona felt this rule could be changed. If animals were only needed for class, the school had plenty of abandoned pets. There was no need to insist on buying new ones.
She left the cat alone and crossed the Transfiguration Courtyard, intending to return for it after she had finished her business.
Alohomora was not taught until the second year, so first-year Derek did not know it. The spell was very convenient for thieves. When the Black Death broke out, many noble families were harvested by Death's scythe as well. Thieves ran into their homes and took everything valuable.
At baptisms among wealthy families in the fourteenth century, guests gave newborns spoons decorated with the twelve apostles. Depending on the family's means, they came in gold, silver, or copper; the more expensive the material, the greater the prestige.
There was also clothing. Even nobles in Britain rarely had the means to wear silk transported along the overland Silk Road. Even knights could only wear furs.
As huge numbers of people died, animals such as sheep, cattle, and horses became plentiful. With no one to tend them, they wandered everywhere. A horse that had cost forty