The Cat Who Knew All The Angles

Professor Blaise Zabini was sitting in a cozy armchair in the parlor of his house, Ballafletcher on the Isle of Man, a book in his right hand and his cat, Macavity, a gold-red, lean tom Kneazle with tasseled tail, spotty coat, outsize ears, long whiskers and enormous green eyes, lying on Blaise's lap and purring peacefully. Suddenly the flames in the great fireplace parted, and Blaise saw a face of a handsome, blue-eyed blonde young man. It was a very familiar face, too - that of Dalibor Janota, an adventurous fancier of ancient things, whom Blaise met in Prague when Blaise was there on a conference in Magical Zoology, and instantly made friends with.

'Dalibor!' Blaise said. "To what am I...?'

'Blaise!' Dalibor said. 'I've found a very interesting parchment!'

'Well?' Blaise prompted him.

Dalibor's eyes were shining.

'It's about the treasure of the Ostry Kamen Castle, with a chart, too, as I gather!'

'Tiens!' Blaise exclaimed. Ostry Kamen was a castle in Maly Karpaty, in Slovakia. There was a legend that somewhere under it were hidden seven chests full of golden ducats, but the cellar was caved in, and there was a curse on that treasure, which made everyone who tried to search the treasure to fall ill and then die. But it was worth a venture

'You see, the paper is in Latin, and your Latin is far better than mine. You help me to read this paper, and we will seek out the treasure together,' Dalibor said. 'Are you on it?'

'Certainly!' Blaise said.

'Very well, then I Floo here with the paper,' Dalibor said.

'I look forward to your visit, Dalibor,' Blaise said.

'Okay,' Dalibor said, and his face disappeared. Then the flames glowed, and Dalibor stepped out of the fireplace, tall and slender, in lavender robes, a yellow parchment in his hands.

'Sit down, Dalibor,' Blaise said. He put the book aside.

'Thanks,' Dalibor said cheerily. He sat down into another armchair. "Well, here it is, lookee, Blaise.'

Blaise took the parchment. It had Latin lines written in the Gothic script and a rough map of Ostry Kamen.

'Weelll,' Blaise said. 'The subterfuge is under the Front Tower...hmm...stairs...turns...Yes, I think we can find it, Dalibor.'

'Really?' Dalibor said eagerly.

'Yes,' Blaise said. 'Only we have to take the paper with us, of course, and Macavity.'

'Macavity?' Dalibor smiled.

'I'm not going anywhere without him,' Blaise said firmly. 'He's such a smart cat!'

'If we get lost, he will guide us, and I don't know what else, but he will be a great help to us. He's an extraordinary cat.'

'Alright,' Dalibor smiled. 'I wasn't going to object, really, I like cats, you know, Blaise.'

'Yes,' Blaise smiled. 'So...'

'Let's go at once,' Dalibor said.

Blaise found a crate and put the sleepy Macavity in it. Dalibor took the chart.

'We'll Floo to my house in Bratislava, and then Apparate from there to Ostry Kamen,' Dalibor said. 'They're near.'

'I know,' Blaise said.

Blaise with the crate and Dalibor with the chart came to the fireplace. Dalibor took a pinch of a sparkling powder from a box on the mantelpiece, said, 'U obraza, Mihalska Street, Bratislava, Slovakia!' and stepped into the fireplace. Blaise repeated Dalibor's acts and found himself in a cozy sitting room with red armchairs, bookshelves, a red sofa and a large fireplace.

'A nice place you have, friend Dalibor,' Blaise said with approval.

'Yeah, it's not bad,' Dalibor said. Well, Blaise, let's go? Take my hand, and I'll Apparate there.'

''Okay,' Blaise said. He took Dalibor's hand and got ready. Then there was a 'pop' and Blaise saw they were standing on a high conical hill, other hills in distance and a castle ruin before them, oblong building with round towers and several circles of walls, with a palace standing on the highest point, on the left from the main wall.

'Well, now, through the gate near the palace,' Dalibor said cheerfully. Blaise put the crate on the ground and opened it. Macavity leapt out of the crate, sniffed the air and shook his tail in excitement.

'Mrroyaow!?' he said.

'Yes, Macavity, THIS is the Ostry Kamen Castle,' Blaise said. 'And we go to seek an ancient treasure inside it, in the cellar, - da-ark mysterious cellar, how'd you like this, cat?'

'Yo-ow!' Macavity answered.

'Very well,' Blaise said. ' Now, let's go, Dalibor!?'

'Absolutely,' Dalibor said, and they went to the castle, Macavity running in front of them and waving his tail enthusiastically. They went by a narrow, rocky path till they came to the castle gate, the L-shaped palace on their left, and the walls on their right, continuing to the southeast. Dalibor entered the massive ancient Romanesque gate, Macavity and Blaise with him. They were now in the first courtyard, a wall with ruins of some buildings to their right, a wall to their left, the palace, or the higher castle, to their left and behind them, a gate before them. Dalibor looked at the chart and said:

'The tower is in the lower castle, behind that gate.'

'Right,' Blaise said, and they crossed the courtyard to the second gate. When they passed it, they saw a much larger courtyard, spreading from the north to the south, the wall of the fist courtyard behind them, a wall with a small tower to the left, a wall forming an angle to the right and a wall with a very large tower before them.

'That's it!' Dalibor said. 'The Front Tower! Let's go ahead!'

'Mrrow!' Macavity said. They crossed the courtyard to the massive tower, entered a small narrow door in its thick wall, and found themselves in a deserted round room with slits. Dalibor consulted the chart:

'Well, now you, Blaise.'

Blaise took the parchment and read it again, then said:

'Well, there is a trapdoor in the floor of this room. Hmm...'

Blaise put the chart into his pocket, knelt and began to examine the floor. Macavity looked at him, ran about the room, then sat down and proudly said:

'Yeoow!'

Blaise went to the place where Macavity was sitting, felt the floor, and, truly enough, he sensed a crack.

'Here, Dalibor!' Blaise said.

'Alright,' Dalibor smiled. 'Now get off, I don't want either of you to be hurt.'

Blaise stepped aside, and Macavity followed him. Dalibor took his wand out of his pocket, pointed it to the crack and said with authority, 'Alohomora!' A piece of floor lifted, and they saw a dark well leading somewhere deep.

'Well, now let's light our wands,' Blaise said. 'Macavity doesn't need one, his sight is far better than yours or mine, and he has his sensitive whiskers.'

'Dalibor said, 'Lumos!' and the tip of his wand became lit. Blaise did the same. They came to the well, Macavity following them. They saw stairs leading downwards.

'Well, good luck,' Blaise said.

They began to descend the stairs, the tips of the wizards' wands and Macavity's eyes shining in the dark, the handsome blonde, the fine tom Kneazle and the short, slender young man in crimson robes, with dark skin, black curly hair and black eyes. The descent was very long, but, at last, they saw a narrow vaulted stone passage. Blaise consulted the paper:

'To the right,' he said confidently, and they continued walking. Then they came to a fork. Blaise consulted the chart.

'To the left, Dalibor,' he said. They resumed their journey. After some time they found themselves in a hall.

'Hmm...' Blaise said. 'Let's see...'

He looked at the chart again. Then he came confidently to one of the walls of the hall, and touched a point on it with his wand simultaneously saying, 'Clavis aureus!' A piece of the wall disappeared, revealing a doorway. Blaise stepped bravely in; Macavity said loudly, 'Yow!' and followed. Dalibor brought up the rear. They went along this new passage till they came to debris of stones. Blaise said:

'It's your turn again, Dalibor!'

'No problem!' Dalibor smiled, pointed his wand at the debris and said, 'Diffindo!' The debris parted, and the passage was free again. Dalibor, Blaise and Macavity went on walking, Macavity running in front of Dalibor and Blaise, from time to time turning his head and looking at the wizards with his huge luminous green eyes. Then they suddenly came to a blank wall. Blaise looked at the chart:

'Well, there is a door indicated in this wall; there is no mention at all that it is hidden somehow.'

'What!?' Dalibor exclaimed.

'Don't get in a flap, Dalibor, it must be a test, like, the one who is smart enough to find the door, is worthy of the treasure,' Blaise said. 'I'm sure this is so.'

Dalibor brightened.

'Let me see,' Blaise said. He began to examine the wall, without a slightest result.

'Tiens!' Blaise said in exasperation. Dalibor's face fell. But then Macavity looked at them both with his enormous green eyes, walked along the wall and then sat down against the wall and didn't move from the place but said confidently, 'Yow!'

Blaise looked at him, went to the spot and pointed his wand to the wall. Macavity leapt aside immediately. Blaise said, 'Alohomora!' and a piece of the wall moved aside, forming a doorway. Blaise said:

'Just like the entrance to the Slytherin common room. If you don't know where it is, you won't know to which spot of the wall you have to say the password. But if you know - voila! And thank you very much, Macavity.'

'Mrrow,' the cat said demurely

'Well, let's go in' Dalibor said impatiently.

'You're right, Dalibor, let's go in,' Blaise said. Macavity immediately darted into the doorway. Dalibor and Blaise followed him and saw...

'Here they are!' Dalibor said. And, indeed, in a large vaulted room that they entered stood seven large oak chests of ancient appearance, with ornate metal binding.

'Well,' Blaise said. 'Now I'll test these chests for any magic.'

He pointed his wand at the chests and said, 'Detego magiam!'

All seven chests were immediately enveloped in a sinister red light.

'Well, we knew, didn't we?' Blaise smiled. 'Now let's remove it. If I'm really good at any magic, it's healing and defensive magic.'

Blaise pointed his wand at the chests and said, 'Annullo!' Then he pointed at the chests again and said, 'Detego magiam!' another time. No kind of light appeared around the chests now.

'Eh bien,' Blaise said. 'Now no one of us will die an untimely death.'

'Now, let's look inside,' Dalibor suggested eagerly. Blaise nodded:

'Why not? Imagine if after all these efforts the things turn out to be empty!'

'I'd prefer not to think of such possibility at all,' Dalibor said.

'Well, we shall see now,' Blaise said. They approached the chests - Dalibor, Blaise and Macavity. Blaise touched the lock of one chest with his wand and uttered, 'Alohomora!' There was a clicking sound, and Blaise lifted the lid. The chest was full of golden coins. Blaise took one and said:

'It's a ducat, all right, Dalibor.'

'Whoopee!' Dalibor shouted. Macavity looked at him with disapproval. Blaise smiled:

'There, there, mon cher, Dalibor is just very glad. I'm glad too.'

'Mrrow,' Macavity answered.

'Very well,' Blaise said. 'Now, let's take several coins as a proof and go back, Dalibor?'

'Yes,' Dalibor said, shining.

Blaise put a handful of ducats in his pocket, closed the lid, and they started the long journey back. Macavity showed the way. At least, they were in the ruined Front Tower. Blaise closed the trapdoor carefully. Dalibor said:

'Now let's Apparate back?'

'Yes.' Blaise smiled. 'What else?'

He put Macavity into the crate, watched Dalibor Disapparate, and then Disapparated himself. U obraza, he saw Dalibor again.

'Now, good evening, Dalibor?' he said.

'Good evening, mate,' Dalibor said. ' I'll Floo you later.'

Blaise smiled and Flooed back to his old house in the Isle of Man. There he put the crate on the carpet, let Macavity out and said:

'Some adventure, eh, Macavity?'

'Mrrow!' Macavity agreed.