Familiar

The talking cat Thoth thought of his wizard owner Steven Lucas as his familiar. (PROSE: Morning After)

Behind the scenes

Thoth's usage of “familiar” to refer to his human is ironic, as most modern fantasy fiction uses the term to apply to a magic-user's tightly-bonded, unusually intelligent pet, rather than the reverse. Notably, this is itself a modern reinterpretation insofar as classical folklore held that witches' “familiars” were merely bound demons or other spirits which had adopted the innocuous forms of household animals, as opposed to actual, if supernaturally cunning, pets.