Of Cats and Golems

Professor Blaise Zabini was strolling along a quiet street in Mala Strana, that lovely area on the left bank of Vltava, at the foot of Prazsky Hrad, the Prague Castle, and the Petrin Hill. He was attending a conference on Magical Zoology, which the city of Prague was hosting. He was staying in an inn called U Zlateho Tygra, The Golden Tiger, in the main wizarding street of Prague, Pod Petrinem, the Diagon Alley of Prague. Blaise was strolling dreamily, his cat Macavity, red lean spotted tom Kneazle with outsize ears, tasseled tail, long whiskers and enormous green eyes, sitting calmly on Blaise's shoulder. Blaise loved Mala Strana, its labyrinth of narrow, quiet winding streets, climbing chaotically to the green, garden-crowned top of Petrin in a tidal wave of red tiled roofs. Blaise was thinking with satisfaction of the paper on Yeti that he had read earlier that day. He had done his best and was much applauded. It was a sunny June day, and he now had plenty of free time to enjoy Mala Strana. In short, he was very happy and peaceful.

'Now for a quiet dinner in The White Unicorn, eh, Macavity? Turkish coffee and palacinky,' he said.

Macavity purred with delight. Blaise smiled.

In such a mood Blaise returned to the Pod Petrinem street, a narrow cobbled alley, full of various shops, pubs and cafes, bearing names like The White Unicorn, The Golden Tiger, U Kalicha (The Cup), U Zelene Zaby (The Green Frog), U Zlate Vahy (The Golden Scales), U Zlateho Jelena (The Golden Deer), U Svateho Tomasa (Saint Thomas) or U Zlateho Stromu (The Golden Tree). Such quantity of gold in the names was there because Prague is called 'Zlata Praha', Prague the Golden. The names were all old Prague house names, coexisting with numbers happily. The houses were all old, with red tiled roof, the only exception being the massive classical building of the Gringotts Bank. But now something was very amiss on the Pod Petrinem street. People were running away in panic, and the reason was clear, for a giant was striding heavily along the street, crushing all that was in his way. A wizard cried, 'Run away! The Golem of Prague has come to life again! Some Dark wizard brought him here.'

Blaise was apprehensive. The infamous Golem of Prague was a giant made of clay by that renowned scholar, Rabbi Low, in the Middle Ages in the Jewish Quarter of Prague, on another bank of Vltava and well north of Mala Strana. The Golem was doing various useful work, but once it had gone amok. Rabbi Low de-enchanted it and laid its remains under the roof of the Staronova Synagogue, in Parizska Street. It all was some five hundred years ago, in the time of Emperor Rudolph the Second. And now someone has brought it to life again, and it was rampaging in the Pod Petrinem street. This was very frightening, certainly. But Blaise was not Sorted into Slytherin because he lacked courage. The Golem had to be stopped. Blaise stood firmly in the middle of the street and took his wand out of his robes pocket. The people looked in awe at this short, slender dark man who ventured to stand up to the Golem. Blaise pointed his wand to the Golem and cast, 'Petrificus Totalus!' The Golem froze. Blaise said:

'Now, Macavity, you surely know what to do. Go on!'

Then the little cat Apparated with a pop from Blaise's shoulder to the Golem's head and wiped with the tassel of his tail the Hebrew word written on the monster's forehead, the one that made it alive. The monster became again a heap of clay that it was before. Macavity managed to Apparate back to Blaise's shoulder before the Golem was undone. Then Blaise patted the cat affectionately:

'Good fellow! You knew what to do. It's amazing.'

Blaise pointed his wand at the heap of clay.

'Evanesco!' he said. The heap disappeared.

'Now it won't come to life again,' Blaise said.

He put his wand back in his pocket and headed to The White Unicorn (U Bileho Jednorozce), a little cozy pub with large fireplace, wood beams on the ceiling and wooden tables and chairs. The innkeeper asked:

'What will you have, Professor Zabini?'

'A coffee and palacinky, Jirik,' Blaise smiled.

'All right,' tubby Jirik said. Blaise sat down at a table near the fireplace. Macavity jumped from his shoulder to the table and settled there. Jirik brought them a cup of Turkish coffee and a plate of palacinky, pancakes with ice cream and fruits.

'Mrrow?' Macavity said plaintively.

'Of course, dear,' Blaise said and gave to Macavity a pancake. The cat ate it up with appetite.

'Here at last, are we?' Blaise smiled. He took a pancake himself and began to devour it, lacing it with the good Turkish coffee.

'Something achieved, something done, has earned the night's repose', eh, Macavity?' he said.

Later, an unfamiliar face showed up in the fireplace of Blaise's bedroom at The Golden Tiger.

'Professor Blaise Zabini?' the man asked.

'Yes, it is me,' Blaise said. 'How can I help you?'

'I am Michal Netolicky from the Ministry,' the man said. 'You have been awarded the Order of Merlin for eliminating the Golem, Professor Zabini.'

'How do I get it?' Blaise answered.