Sorry for lack of updates, folks. I've been binge-watching 'Lucifer' on Netflix and trying not to get sick with the coronavirus. So far, so good.

This chapter is a little on the short side. Think of it as a prelude to the first attack.

Before you start reading, let me tell you guys to NOT give into fear of the coronavirus. Fear is like a disease; it spreads rapidly and only gets worse the more you think about it. As long as you wash your hands and cover your mouth when you cough/sneeze, you'll be fine.

Okay, now that that's been addressed, let's continue on.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Whispers

Kuro happily licked his chops as he left the kitchens late that night. Grilled salmon with a lot of silvervine sake (Shiro had Dumbledore keep a stash of the stuff in the kitchens. No student was allowed access to it; the house elves made sure of it). He felt torn about which tower to spend the night. He preferred Gryffindor Tower, but Ravenclaw Tower was close by…

"Come…"

Kuro jolted, causing him to sober up quickly. What was that?

"...come to me…"

The hissing voice sent shivers down the cat sidhe's spine, causing his fur to stand on end.

"...Let me rip you… Let me tear you…"

Kuro arched his back and let out a hiss. He felt threatened. No demon should feel threatened unless there was a really powerful exorcist present. Since there were none around (not even a coal tar, which was weird since one would occasionally float by) then who or what was causing the fur on his two tails to poof up?

"Kuro?"

The demonic cat turned his head and saw the scarred boy Rin and Yukio called Harry walking through the corridor. He looked paler than usual and appeared rather scared of something, as if he was hearing the same voice Kuro was hearing.

"What's the matter, Kuro?" Harry asked as he approached the cat.

"...Let me kill you…"

Both of them looked around to find the source of the voice, causing Kuro to hiss again. Harry looked at Kuro with wide eyes.

"Can you hear it too?" he asked. Kuro looked at Harry and nodded. Harry's widened even more. "Can you understand me?"

Kuro rolled his eyes. Of course, he could understand Harry! He could understand everything everyone said!

"Kill… Kill…"

Kuro arched his back again and hissed. Whatever or whoever was saying that wanted to hurt someone. Since Harry was the twins' friend, Kuro's protection extended to him as well (that also included the bushy-haired girl and the redheaded boy with the weird rat). He jumped into Harry's arms (being mindful of how much strength was put into the jump since he often knocked over the twins whenever he did that). It was a sloppy catch but Harry managed.

"Right, let's get back to Gryffindor Tower, shall we?" Harry said nervously. Kuro nodded earnestly.

Harry hurriedly made his way to Gryffindor Tower. Kuro kept a sharp eye on every shadow in the castle. If anything happened to Harry, Kuro would be letting Shiro down.

They finally made it back to the common room. Harry dashed upstairs to the boys' dorm. Ron was still not back yet from his detention with Filch. Rin, however, was sound asleep, mouth wide open, a trail of drool leaking down his chin.

"Rin! Rin!" Harry hissed. "Wake up!"

Rin rolled over in response. Kuro retaliated by jumping out of Harry's arms and headbutting Rin, waking him up.

"Gah! Yukio did it!" Rin cried.

"Ssshhhhh!" Harry shushed.

"Wha… Harry…?" Rin said sleepily.

Ron then entered the dorm, rubbing his right arm and smelled strongly of polish.

"My muscles have all seized up," he groaned, sinking into his bed. "Fourteen times he made me buff up that Quidditch cup before he was satisfied. And then I had another slug attack all over a Special Award for Services to the School. Took ages to get the slime off…"

Rin yawned. "How'd it go with Lockhart?"

Keeping his voice low, as to not wake Neville, Seamus, and Dean, Harry told Rin and Ron exactly what happened.

"And Lockhart said he couldn't hear it?" asked Ron.

"But Kuro could?" Rin added. Harry could see the frowns on their faces in the moonlight.

"D'you think he was lying?" asked Ron. "But I don't get it - even someone invisible would've had to open the door."

"How was Kuro able to hear it?" asked Rin. Harry could only shrug.

"Maybe you heard a demon," Ron suggested.

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't have a temptaint. It couldn't have been a demon," he said.

"A ghost? Or maybe Peeves was messing around," Rin suggested.

"No, it didn't sound like Peeves or any of the ghosts in the school," said Harry.

Rin yawned. "Can we discuss this in the morning? I'm tired."

Ron yawned too. "I agree. I'm exhausted."

~0~0~0~

The following morning, the Gryffindor boys (plus Kuro) managed to drag Hermione and Yukio to the library. Harry then told them what he'd heard the previous night.

"That is rather far-fetched," Yukio stated after Harry was finished explaining what happened last night.

"How could Kuro be able to hear whatever you heard?" asked Hermione.

"I have no idea," Harry answered. "We only have guesses at this point."

While they were all talking, Kuro was looking in every direction to make sure no one would harm the children.

"You sure it wasn't a demon?" Ron suggested again.

Harry nodded. "Absolutely. But how could Kuro and I hear it though? I don't even have a temptaint."

Yukio gripped his chin. "This doesn't make sense. How can a demon and someone without a temptaint hear the same thing? Better yet another person, who may or may not have a temptaint, can't hear it? What does that say about all of this?"

That was the biggest question of all. How could Harry, who didn't have a temptaint, be able to hear something that Kuro, a demon, was able to hear? Lockhart wasn't able to hear it, so what made Harry and Kuro so special?

"Perhaps we should speak with Professor Shura," Hermione suggested. "After all, she's the Demonology professor and is a high ranking exorcist at the Knights of the True Cross. Maybe she could shed some light over what Harry and Kuro heard."

~0~0~0~

Ron knocked on the door to Professor Shura's office. They heard shuffling, furniture crashing, and cursing. When the door opened, Professor Shura looked like she had literally crawled out of bed. Her fiery red hair was out of its usual ponytail and disheveled. Her sleeping kimono was dangerously close to falling off. It was quite clear that she was sleeping off a hangover.

"Don't knock so loudly," she mumbled as she rubbed her bloodshot eyes. She then saw who was standing in front of her. "Oh, it's you. What do you guys want?"

"Sorry for bothering you on a Sunday, Professor, but we need your help with something," Hermione started.

"The homework assignment isn't due until Wednesday, Granger," Shura drawled.

"No, it's not about the assignment, ma'am, it's something that happened last night," Hermione explained.

Shura sighed and opened the door wider. The quintet, plus cat, entered the office. She sat down at her desk.

"Okay, start from the beginning," she said as she put her elbows on her desk and held her head. Harry then told Shura everything that had happened last night. Shura then blinked. "So, you and Kuro could hear this voice but Cueball couldn't?"

Harry nodded.

Ron looked confused. "'Cueball?'"

"My nickname for Lockhart. I would have called him Baldy but someone else already has that name," Shura explained. "Don't go calling him that, though."

"What's a cueball?" Ron asked.

"I'll explain later," Yukio answered.

Harry got back to the issue at hand. "So, what do you think? How could I hear it if I don't have a temptaint?" he asked.

Shura closed her eyes deep in thought for awhile before finally speaking. "This is a new one for me," she admitted. "Take this with a grain of salt, it's only a theory: I don't think what Potter heard was a demon. The fact that he has no temptaint is proof enough."

"But what about Kuro?" asked Rin. "How come he can hear what Harry heard?"

Shura gripped her chin in thought. "Another theory: Kuro is a cat sidhe, which is a demon that possesses cats. That said, the animal side of Kuro probably sensed our mystery creature and felt threatened."

"Well, that doesn't make sense," said Ron. "How can Kuro sense whatever Harry heard and thought it was a threat?"

"You forget, Kuro used to be an ordinary cat. All animals have…kind of a sixth sense. Animal instinct, you know. They can sense danger before we humans can," Shura explained. "If whatever our mystery creature can scare a powerful demon like Kuro, then you better keep your eyes peeled."

"Should you tell the Knights of the True Cross then?" asked Yukio.

"It's not a demon, so no," Shura answered grimly. "The True Cross isn't interested in anything magical. Demonic activity only, although with their alliance with the wizarding world now…"

"So what should we do?" asked Harry.

Shura looked at the scarred boy. "For now, nothing. For all you guys know, this could be a one-time thing. If it happens again, then I'll start looking into it. Until then, keep it on the downlow," she told him. "You don't want people to think you're schizophrenic now, do you?"

Ron frowned. "Schizo-wha…?"

Yukio rolled his eyes. "Again, I'll explain later."

Shura then pulled out a "Do Not Disturb" sign. "If you guys are done here, do me a favor and please put this on the outside of my door on your way out. I'm going to go back to bed and probably staying there until tomorrow," she said. She then shooed the children out.

Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party is next and we know what that means...

Not sure when the next chapter is gonna be.

I've figured out how Harry and the others are gonna meet the rest of the exwires! I just need to organize my thoughts before writing them down!

Do not let the coronavirus keep you from reviewing!