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In reality, the cat wasn't all that impressed by his magic. She had seen plenty of magicians and sorcerers and the like over the years and it would take quite a bit to crack her impassive expression as she watched him send her bags somewhere - hopefully it went to his 'castle' and didn't botch the spell to send them flying into the ocean, Margot thought cynically, though she didn't voice it. Raising an eyebrow at the broomstick, she almost said something about how he was a magician, not a witch, but decided against it. At least it had little seats for them, so she wouldn't argue, that was much more comfortable than having to sit on a piece of narrow wood for who-knew how long. Hopping into the seat easily, the cat reluctantly wrapped her arms around his waist, not caring for the contact but knowing even her balance wouldn't keep her in the seat for certain. At least her dress was long enough she didn't have to worry about it flying up and the Matagot made sure to keep her legs together as the broom took off into the air.

Where they were headed, she hadn't the faintest idea. The broom went much faster than it looked, so how far they had flown...well, she couldn't hazard a guess on that either. Instead she did her best to enjoy the ride, watching the cities and towns fly by, fields stretching out below them like an endless sea of green - and then there was a sea, or a very large lake, with how fast they went it was hard to tell the difference from so high up. The cat certainly wasn't afraid of heights and was more curious about the whole thing than anything else, looking around with her fingers curled in his shirt to keep her from tipping too far one way or another. At least there wasn't a storm, she thought, although they probably could have simply risen above any dark clouds they would have encountered anyway.

What sort of castle she had expected, Margot wasn't sure. Certainly not a typical one - not one at all, she fully expected he was lying. So when they came into view of a moving...something, her jaw dropped open. She had never seen magic used for something like that before and quite honestly, castle seemed an appropriate term for something of that nature. Craning her neck to try to look at it from every angle as they came in for a landing, the cat landed lightly on her foot as the broom neared the porch they dropped onto. "This is...honestly incredible," she admitted, impatient to go explore the inside of the magical place. It was certainly not going to be boring living in such a castle as this, she was forced to admit that, though not out loud.

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As soon as it was made clear she had free reign of the castle - not in the least bit surprised there would be rooms that were locked to keep her out - Margot promptly ignored the magician completely and began her explorations. The Matagot was completely fascinated, having never seen a magical structure like his 'castle' before, and planned on finding every nook and cranny that she was physically able to before he found a way to ruin her fun. Masters always did, in her experience, no matter how nice or accommodating they were in the beginning. Humming softly to herself, the cat went on the prowl, opening every door that wasn't locked to her explorations, and giving experimental tugs on ones that were - just to be sure they weren't stuck, she told herself, slinking away from those in sulky defeat. They were locked, for now, she was determined that would soon change.

A cat was supposed to go where they liked, after all.

She could easily have spent days poking and prodding things. She was quite certain that there were rooms that were one thing when she opened the door, and then another completely when she opened the door again - was it the same door, or just a different room behind it? Experimenting with the magic and unable to find a satisfactory answer at the moment, Margot huffed and continued her nosy prowling, tugging occasionally at the collar that was still around her neck. She would make him remove it very soon, but was actively interested in her new home, however temporary it would be, than ridding herself of an annoyance that she had grown uncomfortably used to. All the while, the Matagot explored options for escape, but never marked any windows or doors as reliable. In a house like this one, she knew that it would have to be done on the spur of the moment, it felt like trying to plan a way out would result in running into locked doors and solid walls. But at least she could try to get used to it all.

Finally deciding to go find her Master - conveniently when she smelled food in the air and not a moment before - Margot felt as if the house was guiding her back to the kitchen, finding it relatively-easily in mere moments, instead of having to wander around as she had expected to do. Glancing over at the fireplace, getting a sense that something about it was off and unsure as to what that was, she wrinkled her nose and went over to the blonde man. She was certain she'd heard Howell talking to someone moments before, but now the kitchen was silent and there were mysteries for her to figure out. After she attended to her business, of course.

"You're supposed to take this off, you know. I'm not a piece of merchandise any longer," was her blunt demand, running a finger underneath the collar and giving it a tug so it was quite clear what Margot was referring to. She had stopped inches away from him, giving him an impatient sort of stare.

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At first, what he had done escaped the notice of the cat. She was too pleased to have her magic rush back to the surface of her being, to have her senses fully returned to her - and by the time she saw the hair in his hand, it was too late. Her pupils turned to slits and if she were in her cat form, she would have puffed up angrily. As it was, Margot hissed at him, too late to stop him from feeding it to the fire. She could have guessed what the purpose was before he even told her, his words confirming her fears.

She was stuck there.

For an instant, she was furious at him and wanted nothing more than to claw his eyes out. And then she paused and reconsidered. It was a spell, and she was a magical being. There had to be a way for her to break it, she just had to look hard enough. That was the answer, simple as that. So instead of flying at the magician and trying to rip his pretty face into pieces, Margot just glared at him for a long moment. She certainly didn't like being leashed and the spell was just another collar, one that was even more difficult to remove than what he had just cut off of her. Watching him with narrowed eyes, it was difficult to tell what was going through the Matagot's mind, just as she preferred it. No one ever knew what a cat was thinking, after all, so why should they know what was going through her mind simply because she was in her human form?

"I'll find a way to break your magic," she announced, her back stiff. The air shimmered around her and the woman turned into her cat form. The black feline was almost the size of a bobcat, nothing like an ordinary housecat, and nothing in her appearance would have suggested someone make such a stupid mistake. Hissing at the blonde man, Margot darted out of the room to go sulk as only a cat could.

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Even in her cat form, the Matagot didn't look quite...right. Her ears were too long, someone had once pointed out, her body not the right shape. It was like something that was trying to imitate a cat they had never seen before, another master had likened her to. Not that she had ever cared. She wasn't a cat, so why would she want to look like one? Humans were idiots, even if they had magic, she had long ago decided, and Margot was less-than pleased with herself as she stalked the corridors. Really, she should have expected it from the blonde man - the fact that she hadn't was what made her so irritated at herself. Oh, there was still plenty of anger left for Howell, she made no mistake about that. The creature had never been the one to play a victim without finding an appropriate villain to blame.

Growling quietly to herself like one might grumble underneath their breath, Margot jumped up on a window seat and peered outside. From the scenery, they were still moving, and she wondered if that was deception on his part or the house's. It didn't feel as if they were moving and after witnessing how awkward and jerky the entire thing walked around, surely she would feel it if they were inside it? An ear twitched at the thought. Margot definitely decided she disliked it, not even knowing if the very building she was in was moving around out there! At least other places had been...normal, at least to her. They didn't move around like this one was. Under other circumstances, she might have decided to go explore more - now she didn't feel like, tail lashing angrily behind her as she watched the scenery go by with an unblinking stare.

It wasn't until much later that she deigned to return to the kitchen. One step she was the Matagot - the next she was Margot, dressed and all. It was dark, of course that didn't bother her in the least, and she saw a wrapped plate waiting for her. Whether it was hers or Howell's leftovers, she was going to eat it, her stomach reminding her of how little the Hotel had given her to try to keep her slim for customers' eyes. Huffing at the memory, she took the plate and sat down on the floor in front of the fire, eyeballing it while she ate. "I know there's something not right about you," she told him with a decisive nod. "And I'll figure that out too, make no mistake." The blonde man was wrong if he thought he could keep any secrets from her.

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A nocturnal creature at heart, Margot prowled the castle once she'd eaten - as the Matagot, of course. It was a much more convenient form for exploring and she had grown to miss it immensely while she had been trapped in human form by the collar. Now she was trapped yet again, but she would take what freedom he had given her and push against the boundaries of magic to get what she wanted. That was escape from the invisible chain he'd put around her neck, something she could feel almost as keenly as the physical collar he'd removed. Her tail twitched irritably at the thought and she pushed it away to focus on each room in turn. There were too many nooks and crannies to discover in one night - and the Matagot swore there were rooms that moved, or weren't there before, or had been there and she couldn't find again. But it was a sorcerer's castle and magiked so much she could smell it in the air, of course nothing was going to be remotely normal about the place. She was surprised the stones didn't sing while she walked on them.

Hearing strange voices, she realized they had visitors, but her ear merely cocked a bit. Up all night, Margot had fallen asleep draped over a windowsill in a nearby room, hidden from the sunlight that brightened the room slowly but surely. She had very little interest in anyone who might visit Howell, simply because they would presumably be allies and she had no desire to make friends. They would just be in the way when it came time to escape. Her ears easily picked up the words, however, and upon hearing children her curiosity got the better of her. Who in their right minds would bring a child to this sort of place? They weren't selling him for vegetables, as far as she could tell. Huffing in the way cats do, the Matagot deigned to move from the frame and, using her magic, walked the length of the room along the wall, rather than jumping down to the floor. That would be boring and after so long without her magic, she planned to make use of whatever opportunity that presented itself, no matter how small.

The scene was just...utterly bizarre. Shaking her head, Margot settled herself on a shadow in the corner of the room, seeming to shrink in size as she looked down from the ceiling. She had more powers than a typical Matagot, thanks to the spells, and it was even easier to use her magic with so much residual power to siphon off of. Her new master was far too messy when it came to his magic, she had already concluded that the previous night, and it would make escaping even easier in the end. It was a perfect conduit and would serve to trick whatever spell he'd put on her, drawing from his own magic scattered around the castle. She watched the domestic scene with disgust evident on her face and had no desire to come down and get any closer, especially to the active toddler who'd get claws to his face if he tried to pull her tail - so to spare everyone such drama, she stayed up near the ceiling.

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Unsurprised that he knew she was there, the Matagot jumped down to the floor and stretched out before shifting back to her human appearance. Rolling her shoulders as she adjusted to the change in shape, Margot headed over to the fire, peering at Calcifer with narrowed eyes. He was a fire demon, she assumed, so what was he doing in Howell's hearth? Was he trapped there? It didn't seem so far-fetched and she shrugged to herself before returning her attention to the blonde man. "What were they doing here? They didn't purchase anything or ask your advice, that's what people normally do with our kind," Margot pointed out, her curiosity getting the better of her desire to be aloof. It just seemed like a strange situation and she hated mysteries of that sort. Whether she got a reply or not, she wasn't going to drop the subject - she'd just find another time to bother the man about it, that was all. If she was stuck here, she had every right to know what was going on in this weird place.

She was hungry, but not about to beg for food, either. He had fed her last night, so Margot assumed she wouldn't be made to entertain him just to eat. Otherwise she'd just have to deal with a very empty stomach. A glance outside brought a faint grimace to her lips - she loved laying around in the sun, but was it going to be too breezy? Maybe a storm would be on its way. That thought perked her up, enjoying sun and storms alike, and she went over to the window to get a better look outside. The magician looked mopey and she huffed in his direction.