Harry and Ron were trying to dig one of Mrs. Norris' kittens out of where it had fallen into the springs of an armchair in the common room. They could hear it mewling and were trying to reach into the frame to get it without damaging themselves or the chair.

"This had better not be another one of my brothers' voice throwers," Ron grumbled.

"If it isn't, then there's something else in this chair that licked my finger," Harry said. He was up to his elbow in the chair frame, feeling around for the warm kitten's body. "How did it get in there anyway?"

"Hermione will say it's gifted." Ron rolled his eyes. "She swears their eyes are ready to open already which is much earlier than an average kitten."

"Well, familiars are a little more special than normal animals. Maybe the magic rubs off on them." Harry heard something scratching inside the chair and started patting toward that area. He prayed it really was a kitten. "But Crookshanks is smarter than an average cat, and Mrs. Norris must be too. Why shouldn't the kittens be a little extra special?"

"How smart can they be if they're getting trapped inside chairs?" Ron watched Harry contort to reach around a set of springs. "Want me to have another turn?"

"Yeah. Try it from that side." Harry began to pull free and Ron knelt with a sigh to reach under the back cushion again. His arms were longer and lankier than Harry's. He began to feel around carefully and felt a wet snuffle against his thumb.

"Please let that be a kitten," he sighed and grabbed whatever it was. He felt a warm, fuzzy head, a damp nose, and heard a tiny squeak of outrage. It squirmed and he wrapped his fingers around its neck and body. "I've got it! I think..."

"Don't let go!" Harry hurried over to help hold the cushions apart. "Just ease it out."

"It's not easing!" Ron bit his lip. "She'll kill me if I hurt it."

"Get your wrist clear of the springs and pull," Harry suggested. His own wrists were red and scratched from trying to navigate the springs. Ron rotated his shoulder a little, leaned forward, and yanked his arm free of the chair. Safe in his grip, a dust-colored kitten began to yowl.

"Bwaha!" said Ron, holding it up victoriously, just as Hermione burst into the room, wide-eyed, wild-haired, and with an armful of clothing.

"Ron, Harry, I have to tell you-" she gasped out in one breath, then stopped. There were cushions everywhere. Harry was poised over an armchair that had been tilted onto its back, and over it all, Ron was brandishing the screaming kitten like a war-club. "...What are you two DOING??" Ron recovered well. He brought the kitten to his chest and stroked it between its ears.

"This one," he said with emphasis. "Is my FAVORITE." Harry tried to not to laugh. Hermione's nose wrinkled, but then she shook her head.

"It doesn't matter," she said, hurrying over to them. She looked around for anyone listening, but Harry and Ron's armchair wrestling had worn out its novelty half an hour ago and the other Griffydors had left them alone. "I've just come from Dumbledore's office. I went to Professor McGonagall first, and she took me to his. We have to tell Padfoot to leave before the Ministry shows up."

"They're already here," Ron said. The kitten had stopped its noise and now just looked sulky.

"More are coming," Hermione took a deep breath and tried to smooth some of her hair back. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "To deal with the Morthahg. It's here."

"And by here, you mean in Hogwarts?" Harry inhaled sharply too. "H-how is that even possible?"

"I don't know! Tanner saw it! He says it's down in the foundations and trying to climb up. I don't know how he found it. The Headmaster sent him back to the infirmary so that no one knows he was out. He has enough suspicions hanging over him without being associated with the Morthahg."

"What are they going to do?" Harry could tell Ron was as unsettled as he was. No one who had seen the Morthahg liked the thought of it.

"Bring in the Ministry to investigate," Hermione sighed. "Professor McGonagall thinks the school should be evacuated."

"Where would we go?" asked Harry, his stomach sinking even further.

"My house," Ron said at once. "You too, Hermione. Home for the holidays. Kittens and all. My mother will be ecstatic."

"We'd better find Padfoot," Harry said. "Tell him all this." Hermione nodded. She had gathered up coats, hats, and scarves for them on her way in. Ron lifted the kitten up to eye level. Its eyes were just tiny slits in an orange-striped face.

"I'm going to put you back in the basket," he told it sternly. "I want you to stay there until your mother gets home." It graced him with an adorable yawn and he set it back in with its siblings.

"What are you going to call it?" Hermione asked, tossing him a scarf. Her eyes were narrowed and she might've been holding back a smirk.

"Tallucifineus the Terrible," Ron said, with great dignity.

"You wouldn't dare." Hermione set her fists on her hips.

"I wonder if the Morthahg will damage familiars." Harry said, just to remind them that this was serious.

They checked the Map and Sirius wasn't on it, so they headed on out to the grounds. There was still snow on the ground. Lorelei had taken North and Padfoot out. It had been her excuse to get away from the Ministers for awhile. They were driving her crazy, which was making North nervous. He dug aimlessly in the snow, making little burrows and abandoning them. Padfoot was too stressed for even that. He paced in a slow circle around Lorelei. In a white coat over a gray robe, she was almost invisible in the snow.

Ron, Hermione and Harry managed to spot her from a distance and were heading down the walk toward her when a commotion came from overhead. They looked up to see a swarm of owls, all carrying messages, pour into the sky over Hogwarts.

"The word's going out," Hermione said.

"We have to tell Sirius," Harry said. He started jogging toward Lorelei and the dogs, but before he could get there, a side door blew open and the most imposing old man Harry had ever seen stepped out onto the walk. When this man had been young, he had been tall and broad-shouldered and time hadn’t taken all of that from him. He walked with a cane, but it looked more like he used it to bludgeon subordinates with than as a crutch. His eyes were amber-brown, and as hot and bright as a dragon’s. The lines on his face were etched as deep as scars. His gaze flicked over Harry and the boy felt a predator’s scrutiny.

He was examined, evaluated, and dismissed as no threat in the blink of an eye. He felt like a rabbit that had suddenly looked up to see itself reflected in an eagle’s eye, only to be spared as the bird drifted by for worthier prey. The wizard turned and started walking towards Lorelei. Behind the old man trotted a wolf. In the winter sunshine, the creature’s brown pelt lit up chestnut and copper.

Harry realized he had stopped to stare. Ron and Hermione had slid to a halt a step behind him. They all wore the same look of startled concern on their faces and it must've looked silly, because the wolf made a sound suspiciously like a chuckle and shifted into a human-looking girl. She was dressed in a hodgepodge of red and green and had a scar around one eye that looked like it had come from a horseshoe.

“You’re right to be unnerved,” she said. She tossed her head towards the man, who hadn't stopped to wait for her. “That’s Victor Zephyr, the Wolf Lord of the Mountains.” She grinned at their expressions. “If you think the back of your necks are prickly now, just wait til you see him angry!” She half-turned when Victor called to Lorelei, who looked startled and then ran to hug him. The new werewolf sighed, but didn't move to join them. The old wizard held Lorelei tightly, then tilted her head up to look at her eyes. They could hear his voice raise in surprise, but couldn't make out what he said. Some interest flickered over the werewolf's face.

“Zephyr?” Hermione ventured, interrupting whatever train of thought was going on. “He’s here about the Morthahg, then?”

“It would take more than a hateful phantom to bring Old Man Zephyr off his mountain,” the werewolf said, crossing her arms. “He’s here to check on his wayward granddaughters.”

“And why are you here?”

“I’m Sian,” the werewolf said. “I have kin to worry about here too.” She gave them a wink and then dropped to wolf form again and trotted back to the Zephyrs.