Sam looks confused for a moment, then his face clears as he sees Hermione looking up at Bill.

"Oh, no," he assures her, shaking his head. "This was another pony, back home. Bill's a lot more patient than that!" He smiles affectionately up at the pony, who looks placidly back. "Anyway it'd hardly work, now would it, travelling with a pony determined to eat up all your food!"

He looks back down at the kitten as it rolls over, smiling in delight at the way its tail flicks back and forth as it follows his finger with his eyes. "So he does," he agrees, twitching his finger. The kitten stiffens, then leaps forward, falling onto its back again as it catches his finger between its paws, and he laughs, stroking its fur. "I only wish I had something to give him; a successful hunt should mean food at the end, even for a little kitten."