Malak Aboul Gheit is no stranger to suffering. To death. But she is neither a stranger to love.
The path of this young Egyptian witch as she joins Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy in 3rd year seemed uncertain, but she will soon be trapped i...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Malak Aboul Gheit was one of the few people that actually liked Hermione's cat. The animal reminded Malak of her own kneazle, who had died that fateful night of October 31st 1990.
Crookshanks was a very intelligent cat and a great pet to Hermione Granger. Her attitude towards Ron Weasley's rat however was terrible. The feline could not be in the same room as the rodent without jumping to kill the Weasley pet. Malak felt sorry for poor Scabbers — it was in the nature of any cat to hunt mice, but one would think that, at this point, the cat would have learned the lesson. Not at all.
Malak had a soft spot for Crookshanks. After the Christmas break, the cat had been her loyal companion all those nights in the Common Room, studying for the O.W.L.s and working on her potions.
So naturally, when Malak saw the cat wandering around the school grounds that April afternoon, getting dangerously close to the Womping Willow, the Egyptian witch decided to get her back to safety.
The cat, usually very friendly to her, did not appreciate being picked by Malak and hissed aggressively at her.
"Wow, easy Crookshanks" she reprimanded, dropping her.
As the cat touched the floor, she didn't run away as one would expect from an angry cat; she stayed there and stared at Malak. As if she was trying to say something to the Egyptian witch. Her eyes piercing her intensely.
"What do you need, kitty?" she questioned. The cat meowed loudly. She was indeed trying to say something.
Malak looked around, to make sure there was nobody close by. She remembered very clearly the warning of Proffessor McGonagall during her first Transfiguration class at Hogwarts. Animagus needed to be registered at the Ministry of Magic. And Malak was not registered.
They were dangerously close to the limits of the Forbidden Forest for other students to be around, but Malak did not want to be caught. Deciding that the coast was clear, she quickly transformed into her animagus, much to the cat's surprise.
Croockshanks wanted her to follow. And she did.
They headed towards the Womping Willow. Croockshanks touched a knot in the base of the tree, and indicated Malak it was safe to approach.
What a clever animal, the Egyptian witch thought.
She followed the feline through a dark, underground passage, much like the ones she and the twins had used way too many times to sneak out of the castle. Malak was unsure about where exactly it would lead them, but surely out of Hogwarts grounds.
Soon enough, they arrived to the basement of an old, abandoned wooden house, where the cat indicated once again for Malak to follow her. Every step the two animals took made the whole structure of the building cringe. The way up the stairs was particularly loud. Malak was sure it could collapse at any moment.
