When I was a child I was pretty good at answering the "what do you want to be when you grow up question?" - now I'm not so sure what to say. (if you're wondering when I was tiny I fancied being a ballerina, then from age 5 I planned to be a teacher and from around 11 or so prolly a minister with teacher still a close second). My life doesn't look anything like my expectations then: I'm not working, I've got diagnoses I didn't even know existed as a child (and several chronic illness I really wish I hadn't developed), I live on my own and I don't have children of my own. There are some wonderful aspects of my life now that I couldn't have known about to expect - the Bi Community, all the various Polyamory networks, wider acceptance and understanding of NeuroDiversity the Internet.... I'm much more wary now of letting myself expect things in the longer term - change is the only constant and I'm much more aware of a far wider set of possible life-paths. But up until this last month I did think everyday things like being able to go outside, sitting in a café with an overpriced-but-much-enjoyed latte, seeing friends and being able to touch people ware reasonable expectations. We are all in a world we didn't expect right now and any thoughts about the future are extra uncertain...
Before i look at expectation in this chapter a recap:

9 Sentence Recap:
The Witch and Grimalkin discuss what to do about the kittens.
Usually witch's kittens are apprenticed to other witches.
They take the Gobbolino and Sootica flying in a bag slung over the broomstick.
It's a very wild ride, Gobbolino is terrified - Sootica enjoys it.
Sootica is aprenticed to the first witch they go to.
That Witch rejects Gobbolino and laughs at him
More than 50 other witches also reject Gobbolino.
They throw him back with the toads.
One morning he wakes up to find he's been deserted

3 Sentence Recap:
Sootica goes to train with another Witch.
No witches want Gobbolino.
He is abandoned alone in the cave.

There's obviously an expected life path for a witch's cat - being apprenticed to a different witch than the one who's household you are born with. Sootica gets to follow that path but presumably there are going to be some things that aren't going to go exactly as she expects. Life with the "hideous witch" on the Hurricane Mountains isn't going to be exactly the same as being a kitten with the Witch and Grimalkin. It must be a slightly nerve-wracking time for her even though she's overjoyed about being chosen and so eager to begin learning how to turn people into toads and frogs and other disagreeable objects. It's not made explicit but it seems like the Witch and Grimalkin expect the "Hideous Witch" to take both kittens, they definitely ask her to (she quite refused - would she have take both if Gobbolino had been a conventional looking witch's kitten? Or always chosen just one of the two?).
All of the witches that they visit also obviously have expectations of what a witch's cat should look like. They can't see beyond his white paw and tabby markings. It seems like simple prejudice - we can all think far to easily of examples of people judging by skin colour and other visible differences. And it's quite right for us to expect better than that.
It's not actually clear if in the magical world of the book then looking like a witch's cat always (or at least usually) goes with having the potential to be a good witch's cat? We only know that Sootica looks like a witch;s cat and wants to be one, Gobbolino doesn't look the part and doesn't want to follow that path. So maybe it's not unreasonable for witches judge like that? But it would still be closing themselves off from exploring something new and different. If Gobbolino wanted to be a witch's cat could there have been a way to make that happen? And have there been other black-furred-and-green-eyed kittens who didn't want to be apprenticed to a witch but have been forced to go with their family's expectations for them? (I think a lot of us can easily bring to mind examples of us/loved-ones not fitting in with family expectations).
The Witch and Grimalkin do keep trying to find a witch to train Gobbolino. They must at least start by thinking that it is possible. As more and more witches reject him they must have to slowly reconfigure their expectations to their current reality. That can be a hard and painful process (or sometimes a strange but joyful one!). I wonder at what point they finally stop expecting but are still hoping? and do they even continue for a while after they are no longer even hoping just out of habit and maybe their own expectations of how they should behave?
Finally they do stop and throw Gobbolino back into the corner with the toads. It's so sad to think of him staying there day after day. He does know what to expect there - more fear and unchanging darkness. It's not a situation he should have to get used to but he must do to some extent. And presumably he expects that the Witch and Grimalkin with carry on as before even though they are ignoring him. Maybe that's a comfort or maybe it just reminds him of the kittenhood and companionship that he has now lost? He doesn't expect them to just pack everything up and leave him - but they do.

It's a bit difficult to be focusing on this sad chapter that ends with Gobbolino isolated right now. But it is just the beginning of the book and life is going to change for him. Life will change for us to in time but probably not in the neat structure of a story book.
I'm going to put this chapter's Lectio Divina and Blessings in separate posts because I need to break up my time typing and being in front of a screen. I'll get to them shortly
Please do comment and add your insights.
I had been vaguely planning to post these every Friday or Saturday and I'm already behind schedule - sorry about that. I have almost nothing but free time but I'm still finding it really hard to concentrate and be structured - I think many of us are.
Next week I will be Reading Chapter 3:Gobbolino Finds a Home through the theme of Fear