Chapter 14: Mrs. Loris Under Attack
After leaving the office, Siron couldn't help but glance back.
He hadn't expected things to be resolved so easily. He had previously thought that the Gryffindor dorms were small, which was why five students had to share a room.
Not bad, Siron thought as he turned and headed toward the tower.
The corridor was completely empty, eerily quiet. The only sound was the echo of his footsteps bouncing across the floors.
At some point, a bony, scraggly cat appeared right in his path.
The cat was extremely thin, its fur gray and dull, and its eyes bulging like two glowing bulbs.
Wait—cat?
Siron froze mid-step.
He had felt earlier that he had forgotten something, and now he finally remembered.
Where was Tom?
Before the Sorting, he had tossed Tom to the ground, and hadn't seen him since.
But after a moment, Siron stopped thinking about it and carried on calmly.
If it was Tom, the only ones who should be worried were the other students' pets. He had a feeling that this thin cat could survive and thrive even in the Forbidden Forest.
Siron wanted to move on, but some things had other plans.
The skinny cat kept following him, occasionally letting out a loud meow. A few minutes later, at the end of the corridor, a similarly frail-looking person appeared.
"Ah-ha, a student out past curfew…"
"I just came from Professor McGonagall's office," Siron said, cutting him off. "If you don't believe me, you can go ask her now. And one more thing—your cat doesn't understand time. Don't you either? Curfew is in ten minutes!"
There were more words he could have said, but they died in his throat. Filch's face had turned green.
Siron didn't care and simply walked past him.
"Don't let me catch you…" came the threatening voice from behind.
Siron kept walking. "Thanks for the warning."
…
The new dormitory was also in the First-Year area, clean and spotless.
Although the train ride had exhausted him, Siron decided to write a letter to his grandfather to report on his current situation.
The letter wasn't long—he mentioned the Sorting, and that he had successfully applied for a single dorm room so he could continue making wands without interruption.
At the end, he asked his grandfather to send his regards to his parents and included the updates.
His parents were abroad, and Siron wasn't sure whether the school owls could fly that far, so he left it to the owl post.
After finishing, Siron had planned to work on a half-finished wand nearby, but exhaustion overtook him. He was dizzy and woozy, so he simply collapsed onto the nearest bed and fell asleep.
---
The next day.
Siron got up early and went to the Owlery to send his letter. He then stopped by the Great Hall for breakfast.
Hermione and Neville were there. Hermione seemed normal, just as she had been yesterday, but Neville was acting oddly. When he greeted Siron, his voice was quiet, and he spent the rest of the meal twisting his head away deliberately, refusing to make eye contact.
Even Hermione noticed something was off.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"N-nothing," Neville shook his head, hesitating for a few minutes before finally summoning the courage to look at Siron. His voice was shaky as he asked, "You… don't look down on us, do you?"
The words felt incredibly heavy. After speaking, Neville's breathing quickened, but his expression remained determined, eyes red, neck stiff as he stared at Siron.
"What do you mean by that?" Siron asked.
"We heard… you applied for a single dorm room last night. That means you don't want to live with us, right?"
"You… wait, so my roommates are you guys? Who else?"
"Harry, Ron, Seamus…" Neville recited three names.
"Oh, it's you lot," Siron raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't know?" Neville was momentarily stunned.
"Nope," Siron said, spreading butter on his bread. "I didn't even enter the dorm. I just glanced at the door and went straight to Professor McGonagall. How would I know who my roommates are?"
"Why did you change dorms?"
"Hmm, it's hard to explain in a few words," Siron pondered. "If you really want to know, come to my room tonight at seven. Then you'll understand."
"Alright, we'll come."
It wasn't Neville who spoke this time, but Harry and Ron behind him. They had overheard Siron and were clearly unhappy with his unexplained dorm change. Ron muttered a long string of complaints to Harry, saying things like, "That's pure-blood arrogance…"
Siron didn't care.
Hermione tried to ease the tension and changed the subject. "Oh… so how did you all manage the staircases?"
"The easiest way is to follow the older students," Siron said. "Or you could get help from the ghosts—Nearly Headless Nick and the Fat Friar will do."
Interestingly, all day in class, Neville, Harry, Ron, and Seamus seemed to have agreed silently—they didn't speak to Siron at all.
Harry had thought about it, but before he could open his mouth, Ron dragged him away.
Oh well. Siron found it amusing.
---
By evening, after finishing their stargazing session with the telescope, the group returned from the Astronomy Tower to the common room.
At the entrance, Fred and George were shouting loudly. Judging by their animated expressions, it had to be something good.
"Hey, did you hear?"
Seeing the first-years, one of the Weasleys came over laughing. "Last night, Mrs. Loris was attacked! Haha!"
"Who?" Harry blinked, confused.
"Mrs. Loris."
"Who's that?"
"The cat Filch keeps," Ron reminded him.
"Oh," Harry realized. He remembered meeting Filch on the fourth floor that morning with Ron, but hadn't seen the cat.
"What happened to the cat?" someone asked excitedly. "Tell us!"
The cat named Mrs. Loris often patrolled the corridors with Filch, looking for students breaking school rules, and she had a remarkable track record.
Her name was second only to Filch in the Forbidden Corridor. Many students wanted to get rid of her but dared not.
Turns out, this year, the school had a real hero. Truly impressive!
"I don't know," one of the Weasleys said, and Siron noticed his wand—Fred's.
"But it probably wasn't done by a human," George added. "We sneaked into the infirmary. Mrs. Loris had a broken leg, claw marks all over her body, and patches of fur missing."
"From these injuries, it seems the hero who punished the culprit… was probably… another cat? Maybe. Definitely not a student."
The public room, once noisy, fell silent for a brief moment.
But the silence was quickly broken.
"Come on, whatever it is, today's still worth celebrating!" Fred raised a hand.
George followed, "To Hogwarts' hero!"
"I wish it would give Filch a beating too!"
Fred and George stepped aside, revealing biscuits, cakes, and bottles of Butterbeer they had blocked from view.
"Oh, where did these come from?" Ron's eyes lit up.
"The school kitchen."
"I mean the Butterbeer."
"That… is a secret." George winked.
Everyone started celebrating. Siron was given a bottle of Butterbeer too, but he had no mood to drink.
Mrs. Loris had been attacked, and the culprit was most likely another cat.
That domineering style… somehow felt familiar.
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(End of Chapter)