"Scabbers, is there something wrong with me?"

Percy is currently nine years old in his study, a range of books in front of him, yet he doesn't look like he'll read any at all. Percy looked over, seeing Scabbers the rat running closer to him, snuggling up to him. Percy shook his head.

"Scabbers, what is wrong with me?" Percy asked. "Why don't I feel like a..."

Percy felt his hand was pulled away and realises Scabbers was pulling him via his jumper that he's wearing. "What?"

Scabbers didn't stop, only letting go of Percy's hand once it touches the spine of the novel Myra Breckinridge. Percy picks up the satirical novel, he had finished reading it back-to-back. Percy looked up at Scabbers, questioning look in his eyes. "You think I'm trans?"

Scabbers ran around the table, and Percy sighed as he rubbed his face. He can't believe he's asking questions from a rat. Worse, he can't believe that he's believing the rat. How desperate must he be?

"But I like the name 'Percy'!" Percy fought, drumming the cover of Myra Breckinridge. "I just don't want to be a boy! That's the problem, isn't it? What am I? If I don't want to be a boy and I don't like he/him pronouns, what am I? I mean, I'm fine with she/her pronouns, I guess, but I don't feel like I'm an all-girl, you know what I mean? I'm not like Ginny who likes wearing dresses and being all-girl, but I'm not like Charlie who likes dragons and being all-boy, so what am I?"

Scabbers pulled Percy's sleeves again, directing to a range of books, Scabbers lifting Percy's forefinger over one spine and Percy's middle finger over another spine. Percy furrowed his brows, trying to understand what two books meant.

"Two spines?" Percy asked. "Two bones?"

Scabbers bit Percy's right sleeve, pulling it in the direction of Percy's left hand, letting the hands touch. "Me? What do you mean, me? What's wrong with me?"

Scabbers sat and wagged his tail, waiting for Percy to get the clue. "I'm a human, holding two books, we were discussing pronouns. Pronouns are words to refer to people, and I was wondering about my pronouns. I'm holding two books. Two books." Percy sighed exasperatingly, screwing up his hair whilst staring at Scabbers with an 'I'm lost' look. "What does it mean?"

Scabbers ran to Percy's left sleeve and bit it, pulling it to his own spine. Percy lets out yelps of protest but lets  Scabbers do his thing. He's the smart rat here, not him. Scabbers ran back to the table, staring at Percy as if waiting for Percy to understand what he meant. Percy furrowed his brows. "My left hand is touching my spine, my right hand is touching two book spines. We both have spines. We were talking about pronouns, pronouns are words to refer to people. I have a spine, these books have spines. I'm human and I have a spine. So, the two books are an allegory of two humans because they have spines. If I need to refer to two people, I'd use 'they'. Is that what you meant?"

Scabbers wagged his tail again, and Percy puts down his left hand. "What does that have to do with me or what we're talking about?"

Scabbers bit Percy's left sleeve, directing it close to Myra Breckinridge. Percy cocked his head. "Myra Breckinridge is a book about a trans woman who changed the pronouns from he/him to she/her. We are talking about pronouns, and my right hand is touching the spine of two other books, and we've figured out that's an allegory of a group of people, and to refer to a group of people, I use 'they' as a pronoun. Myra Breckinridge changed her pronouns from he/him to she/her. And?" Percy had a questioning look in his eyes. "Are you saying I should change my pronouns to they?"

Scabbers ran around the table, a gesture meaning 'yes', and Percy cocked his head. "But 'they' is for a group of people, not a person! Can it work that way?"

Scabbers ran around the table again, letting Percy know that the answer is 'yes'. "But how? No one uses 'they' as singular, it's plural. It doesn't work that way."

Scabbers seem to be looking around, which is weird to begin with, but that's ok. His rat is not a normal rat. Scabbers ran to under Percy's bed, biting the tip of the copy of the magazine Transformation Magazine, a Muggle magazine that talks about transgenders, crossdressing, intersex, genderfluidity, and gender non-conformity, Percy often secretly buys it from his Muggle friend Jenna (actually, he bought every transgender book he owns from Jenna). Scabbers bit open to a page titled 'The Struggles of Rejecting the Gender Binary'.

"You think I'm nonbinary?" Percy asked. Scabbers ran around the table. "But I like the name Percy, does it mean I have to change it? But I don't like the boy pronouns and I don't like the girl pronouns, but I like the name 'Percy', but 'Percy' is a boy's name."

The rat stayed still, and Percy furrowed his brows. "You don't think 'Percy' is a boy's name?"

The rat stayed still, and Percy nodded this time. "If you believe that. Are you sure Percy is not a boy's name? I'm afraid it is."

This time, Scabbers ran around on Percy's table, and Percy laughed gleefully. "Ok, I believe you! Maybe I'll try if I like they/them pronouns. Percy is my friend, they love reading. Hey, it works so smoothly!"

Scabbers jumped up and down on Percy's table, Percy standing from their seat and jumping with the rat. "Percy loves jumping and talking with their super nice friend, Scabbers! Percy loves wearing jumpers their mother knits them!"

Percy hugs Scabbers, kissing the rat with fondness in their heart. "Percy loves their super loyal friend, Scabbers!"