Death and the Black Dog

Puzzles

I walked the hallways, sniffing the air as I made my way up to the Gryffindor tower. A cool hand touched my back before I turned down the corridor to the entrance portrait, and I looked up. She shook her head, and I sighed, slinking back down to the dungeons. I hated the dank place, but she liked it, and I needed her.

She flickered like candlelight, the blue luminescence casting a shadow on the wall, a shadow of life. I watched him in the monochrome image, until she doused the light, and it all went dark around me. Time to sleep, and hope she lets me actually protect him when he needs me.

~~~ ~~~

Harry slipped down the hallway, curious about the flickering light he'd seen out of the corner of his eye when he'd been headed for the kitchens for a midnight snack. Hidden by his invisibility cloak, he peered into classrooms as he passed them, wondering if they'd ever been used in the past. Or were still in use now.

He nearly jumped when he spotted a pale cat sitting in the doorway of one of the classrooms, watching him with blue eyes, silent as a shadow. He frowned. He'd seen that cat on Nero's shoulders. It even went with him into his classes, from what he'd heard the first-year Gryffindors saying. What was it doing down here alone?

Peering into the classroom, he spotted Nero curled in a corner, pale eyes watching the door warily. He looked paler than he had at lunch, and Harry frowned, stepping gingerly over the cat to move closer to the other boy.

"Are you all right?" He had forgotten he had the invisibility cloak on until Nero's head whipped around, searching for the source of his voice. "Oh, sorry. One moment." He pulled off the cloak, hanging it over his arm. "What are you doing out of your dorm at this time of night?"

Nero stared at him a moment, his eyes darting to the cloak a moment before he blinked, and his expression went back to the shuttered mask he'd had on before. The younger boy shrugged, his eyes flickering over to the cat. "I followed Thanatos out here. I rather not be in my dorm, anyway. Too many people."

Harry sat down nearby, leaving plenty of room between them, to keep Nero from bolting. "That's an interesting name for a cat." He was startled when he felt a head butt at his hand for attention. The cat purred as he rubbed behind its ears, curling up into his lap.

"My family has always had a cat named Thanatos." Nero watched the cat with an odd expression on his face. "She has never liked anyone before. Except me." He shot Harry an accusing look, and Harry raised his hands defensively.

The cat stopped purring and glared at Nero a moment, before stalking back towards the door. Harry watched in confusion as Nero went paler, his eyes fixed on the cat like it was more precious than anything else in his life.

"Thanatos, I am sorry. Please." The boy ignored Harry, crawling towards the cat. When he reached a desk, he used it to haul himself to his feet, and he took several wobbling steps towards the cat before he steadied. Harry stood, following, wondering what was going on.

Nero scooped up the cat, holding it close, whispering too softly for Harry to make out what he was saying. The boy turned a moment, looking at Harry.

"I should return to my dorm." Nero half-turned back towards the doorway, and the cat looked over his arm at Harry, cold blue eyes holding his.

You never saw me here.

Harry shook his head, trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears, and glanced around in confusion. What was he doing in an empty dungeon? A vague memory of sitting on the floor, with a cat purring in his lap flashed through his mind, and he shrugged, swirling the invisibility cloak around him once more. Hermione might know what to make of it.

~~~ ~~~

Draco was sitting in the common room, staring into the fire, when the door opened. The blond boy turned his head slightly and smirked when Letum stepped in, cradling his cat. "Look what the cat dragged in." He chuckled when the boy jumped, shifting his position to lounge over the chair. "It's past curfew, Letum. Where have you been?"

"Elsewhere." The younger boy's voice was chilly, and he stalked towards the door to the boys' dorms. Draco stood, stepping in his way. "You are in my way."

"How very obvious." Draco's voice dripped sarcasm. "What are you going to do about it, Letum?"

The boy looked at him a moment, then turned away, going to curl in Draco's favorite chair. The blond boy's eyes narrowed in rage, and he almost snarled, stalking over. He reached out to grab at Letum, watching the cat. It lunged out of the chair, though not at him - which Draco noticed too late to stop Letum from launching himself from the chair directly at the older boy.

A shoulder was driven into his solar plexus, and his breath left him in a whoosh. Draco could hear the slap of feet against the stone as Letum fled, and struggled to his feet. He cursed viciously as the door to the boys dorms slammed shut behind the first-year, leaning against the chair to stay on his feet.

"That was a mistake, Letum," he muttered under his breath. "One you're going to regret."

~~~ ~~~

Hermione and Ron looked up when Harry stepped through the portrait hole, and Hermione opened her mouth to lecture him about being out after curfew. He shook his head, plopping down on the floor in front of the couch.

"I know, I know, I shouldn't be out alone after curfew." He stared into the fire, a frown on his face, and Hermione looked over at Ron, her brow furrowing slightly in worry for their friend. Something wasn't right.

"What happened, Harry?"

"I don't know." His voice was quiet, and he looked over at them. "I was going to the kitchens for a midnight snack, and the next thing I knew, I was in an empty dungeon. Without my invisibility cloak on."

Ron frowned. "Do you think Malfoy, or somebody, did something?"

"I'm not sure." Harry looked back to the fire, frustration on his face. Hermione slid off the couch to sit on one side of him, as Ron scooted over closer on the couch. "I have a fleeting bit of memory, of sitting on a floor, with a cat in my lap, but that's all! And I feel like I'm forgetting something. Something important."

"Can you remember what the cat looked like?" Hermione had a determined expression on her face. "Or anything else from when you were down there?"

"A ringing in my ears. And no, I don't remember anything about what the cat looked like." Harry paused. "It was a small cat, I think. Smaller than Crookshanks, definitely."

"Most cats are smaller than Crookshanks," Ron quipped, earning a glare from Hermione.

"That being beside the point. A small cat. A ringing in your ears. And the impression of forgetting something important." Hermione's brow furrowed a moment. "When I ran into Letum the other night, I had the oddest sensation of having missed something important."

"Do you think Harry ran into Letum in the dungeons?" Ron looked skeptical.

"It's possible." Hermione stood, and paced, her brow furrowed in thought. "I'm going to have to go to the library tomorrow." She ignored the groan from Ron. "I need to brush up on memory charms."

~~~ ~~~

Dumbledore sat in his office, a frown on his face. There hadn't been a Letum in the wizarding world for almost two hundred years. He looked down at the book open on his desk. Pale blue eyes stared out of the page, beneath a thick mass of black hair. On the shoulder of the slim boy rode a pale, no-color cat, with the same frigid blue eyes. A portrait painted over two centuries ago, and yet it was almost identical to the boy who had arrived at the school a week ago.

The headmaster closed the book, and leaned back in his chair. "What business does the family of Death have at Hogwarts this time?" he muttered, staring at the low fire on his hearth a moment, then with a wave of his wand he banished the book back to the library, to the restricted section where he normally left it. He'd noted the interest Harry and his friends took in the new Slytherin, and decided to let them solve the puzzle. He had a suspicion that no one else would be allowed to do so.