[Ilpholin's Office - Isabelle]

"Oh, well, have you ever just looked at the animals all around us and thought about them? I mean, they're so poorly designed! So...useless! Silly little squirrels sitting in trees eating nuts, fat birds that have as much grace in the air as a brick, dogs that pee on things and drool on people! And cats-" Cedric lets out an angry shriek at the mention of cats. "Lazy, good for nothing, stupid animals!"

...I don't think Isabelle is very fond of cats.

"Well! Since whatever made all these creatures did such a poor job of it, I decided to devote my time to making them better. Somebody's got to fix them, so why not me?" Isabelle probably leaves a trail of angry deities in her wake. They're probably not very happy to hear someone say they did a poor job of things. "I had a lot of problems initially, you know. It was a nightmare trying to sneak animals in to work on without getting caught, and my professors got rather concerned. Silly old fools, content to settle for a regular parrot when they could have one that breathes fire. They tried to stop me a few times, you know. Eventually I had to have Cedric kill the more persistent ones. But then they figured out that it was my doing, so they kicked me out." Or, rather, she ran for her life while being pursued by a horde of angry wizards, witches, warlocks, and assorted other magical people.

This would also imply that Cedric is rather old for a squirrel. Isabelle looks to be in her late twenties or early thirties...

Seems she made sure her best friend would stick around for a long time.

"I don't have a particular goal, I suppose. It's not like what I'm doing is ever going to be completed. There'll always be more animals to improve, more ways to improve them... Eventually I do hope to start some sort of breeding program, try and help some of my improved animals grow in number, thrive in the wild, and get rid of the boring "normal" versions."