Chapter 2

The first couple weeks of the school year were always the hardest. The castle was full of excitement. Students were exploring the castle, getting to know each other, and basking in the magic they were now not only permitted, but encouraged to use.

It made for a lot of bloody chaos if you ask Mrs. Norris.

They tried to be lenient of course, but there was really only so much disorder she and Argus could handle. Thankfully, as per usual, the student's excitement died down after a few weeks, allowing the castle and its inhabitants to fall into something of a routine.

One thing that had become part of Mrs. Norris' routine was, unfortunately, the endless pestering of one Crookshanks Granger. For such a reputably intelligent witch, Miss Granger had picked one barmy-ass cat to attach herself to. It had become a regular occurrence for the half-Kneazle to barge into the cattery, screaming frantically that the Weasley boy's pet was "not a fucking rat".

At first, they had thought it was a joke, but as the Kneazle continued his accusations the inhabitants of the cattery realized he was serious. So, naturally, Mrs. Norris went to investigate.

What she found in the Gryffindor boy's dormitory most assuredly was a rat.

That's when they realized that Crookshanks Granger was insane.

And so, it fell upon Mrs. Norris, as senior most cat in attendance, to remind Crookshanks that she had seen "Scabbers"- what a disgusting sounding name- and that the rat was nothing more than a rat. Once the Kneazle had been brought back to reality, they were able to go on with business as usual.

That is, until the night of Halloween. All was calm in the cattery until Leopawl sprinted in, mewling at the top of his lungs.

"IT'S THE GRIM! I SAW THE GRIM!" He wasn't able to stop himself as he barreled into the far wall with a clatter, startling Mrs. Norris to her feet.

"Excuse me?"

"THE GRIM! Sybil said it would come and I saw it! Here inside the castle!"

"Nobody knows what a grim is," Theodosia huffed from her perch. "Start at the beginning if you're going to start at all."

"It's a dog. It's a big black dog. It's an omen of death! Oh Merlin, I'm not ready to die. I know I've wasted a few lives but surely not nine!" Leopawl was wailing in distress at this point. And he wasn't alone.

All around her panic was beginning to rise.

"He saw a dog?"

"I don't care what color it is; I don't like dogs."

"What are we going to do?"

"I thought dogs weren't allowed at Hogwarts."

"EVERYBODY QUIET!" Mrs. Norris yowled. When the room went silent, she continued. "I am going to go fetch Argus, and we will get this sorted."

Mrs. Norris turned and made her way into the corridor, not making it far before a piercing scream echoed through the castle. That scream turned Mrs. Norris' blood cold, and she froze in place. Memories of last year flooded her mind, homing in on a pair of great yellow eyes.

She remained frozen for a few moments until the distant rumble of shoes broke her paralysis.

The students.

She had to get there before the students. The scream she heard had been one of terror, and she could not allow the students to be in danger under her watch. She sprinted up the stairs following the sound of wailing sobs, tracking them to a portrait of the African savanna. There, hidden behind a series of bushes, hid the Fat Lady who guarded Gryffindor Tower.

Within a few moments Argus arrived with the headmaster and most of the student body in tow. She listened as the Fat Lady recounted a horrific attack. Sirius Black had demanded entry to Gryffindor Tower, brandishing a dagger. Upon hearing her refusal, he viscously attacked the woman, hoping that without her the door would open. Thankfully her screams alerted the castle to the danger, but she had no idea where the criminal had run off to.

Mrs. Norris returned to the cattery shaken and was greeted with an equally terrified group of felines. She offered what little explanation she could to them and hoped that it provided some measure of comfort. They all stayed together that night in the cattery, even crazy ol' Crookshanks.

The next morning Mrs. Norris was waiting for Minerva in her office. She couldn't help mulling over how strange the night before had been. Not just that Sirius Black had broken into the castle to assassinate Potter, that was a possibility she knew the faculty had been preparing for since his escape from Azkaban. It was the Grim.

Wacky as his human was, she had never known Leo to dabble in the same fantastical ideologies as her. So, when he said he saw a big, black dog roaming the halls, she believed him. She didn't know anything about Grims or omens of death, but that scream had certainly sounded like murder to her. And she needed to talk about it.

She sat watching as the woman shrunk into her robes, which eventually collapsed onto the floor with nothing to fill the fabric. With a few rustles of the layers a bespectacled grey head popped out body following.

Minerva took everything in with patience as Mrs. Norris recounted her version of the events of the previous night from the moment Leo entered the cattery, to the moment Argus found her with the portrait.

When she finished her tale Minerva sat thoughtfully for several long moments. Without warning she turned and leapt back onto her pile of discarded clothing, reforming as a human on impact, robes swirling into place. Slowly, she approached Mrs. Norris arms outreached.

"You'll have to forgive me for this," she said gently scooping Mrs. Norris into her arms. "But I'm afraid we need to see Albus immediately. We must tell him what you just told me."

Together they swept down the corridor to the headmaster's office.