Narcissa and Lucius Discover Crookshanks
“Cissa,” Lucius asked, “have you noticed any orange fibres in the air as of late?”
“Not in the air, no. I have found orange fibres on my clothes. I just dismissed it as a new cleaning method the elves hadn’t worked out yet,” Narcissa replied.
“Ah!” Lucius exclaimed, plucking something off the settee. He held it out to Narcissa.
“Is that an orange fibre?” Narcissa asked.
“It appears so, shall we ask the elves if they know anything about it?”
“Let’s.”
“Mipsy!”
Mipsy appeared with a loud crack. She seemed to be on the verge of tears.
“Mipsy, what is the matter?” Narcissa asked, and Mipsy promptly burst into sobs.
“Mipsy and the elves have found orange fur everywhere. Mipsy is not knowing where it’s from! Mipsy has searched everywhere, it’s even on Mistress’s robes,” Mipsy cried. Lucius made to hide the orange fur he discovered, but was unsuccessful–Mipsy had spotted it. That strand made her cry even harder.
“Mipsy is trying and trying to clean, but it keeps appearing. Mipsy does not know what to do,” Mipsy said. Narcissa and Lucius shared a solemn glance, as both were at a loss for words. Mipsy began hiccuping. Narcissa offered Mipsy a paper tissue which she gratefully accepted.
“Mipsy,” Narcissa said, “Lucius and I shall do some investigating. Please tell the other elves that no elf is to clean any fur, excluding the fur from the bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens for the next two days. We must find where the fur is most concentrated.”
Mipsy nodded shakily, tears still running. She disapparated back to the elves’ quarters with a loud CRACK! Lucius sighed, sinking back into the settee that had somehow collected mor fur in the two minutes that Mipsy appeared. He looked at Narcissa and said, “I suppose we may begin by searching the halls. You take the East Wing and I’ll sweep the West Wing.”
Narcissa murmured her agreement.
—
As Lucius Malfoy walked through the West Wing, he caught sight of a fluffily tipped orange tail. The tail’s orange fluff was the exact shade as the fibre he had been seeing everywhere. The orange thing flicked, releasing another cloud of orange fur into the air before disappearing around a corner. Lucius increased his pace, his breath quickening from exertion, and his eyes trained on the growing trail of orange fur. He was jogging down the hall, speeding past the study, almost down to Draco’s corner of the Manor when suddenly, the trail tapered off.
Lucius’s eyes darted around. He scanned the ceiling, the chandelier, the suit of armor, and even resorted to questioning a portrait of his great great aunt whom he was terrified of for information. His great great aunt gave him nothing beyond a biting remark which left him quaking in his boots.
At last, after fifteen intense minutes hiding from his aunt’s gaze, he spied an orange leg and the same tail darting into Draco’s room. Draco’s room?What could Draco possibly be keeping? Lucius thought.
“Mipsy,” he called. CRACK!. “I believe I found the culprit, it is in Draco’s bedroom. Please enter and see what orange thing he is keeping.” Mipsy nodded and entered Draco’s room, exiting a short while later whilst levitating an orange cat. The cat looked an awful lot like a very squashy orange persian. However, its tail was distinctly that of a kneazle.
“Mipsy cannot believe Master Draco brought a cat into the Manor,” Mipsy said, shaking her head, “a persian, no wonder there’s so much fur.” Lucius nodded.
They brought the cat to Narcissa. Narcissa stared. She took the cat from Mipsy, conjured a cushion, and set the cat atop it. She asked Mipsy to ask a kitchen elf to bring the orange cat some liver and water. Then, she went about directing the other elves on cleaning the stray fur. She even requested that Mipsy fetch an elf from the Parkinson estate to groom the cat. Narcissa was very calm. Mipsy and Lucius could sense something horrible awaiting Draco.