"He rescued us," Muroe said. "Well, he rescued me anyway. Got into a fight with a fire elemental, really not a smart idea when your only real magical skill is turning into an eagle. By chance I had a run-in with the thing a matter of feet from where Barkeley had gone to get some groceries. Since I was homeless and he needed someone to keep an eye on the lake when he wasn't around I ended up coming to live here. As for the lion..." he paused, shrugging. "We don't know how she got here, apparentely Barkeley came home one day and found her waiting here for him."<br/><br/>He knelt down and stroked the lion, which purred contendedly in response, evidently glad for the human company.<br/><br/>"We're not sure what she is," Barkeley said, reappearing from isnide the house. "We're fairly sure she's not actually a lion and since she's never returned to a human form its highly unlikely she's an animagus. There are a whole lot of creatures in this world even wizards haven't even begun to understand, and Tea there is one of them."