Silent Paws

Scar

"Where exactly did you say you felt Lux' magic?" asked Hugo for the fifth time.

Severus gritted his teeth. "I am doubting your ability of remembering facts. Perhaps you ought to check whether or not you suffer from dementia."

Hugo raised a hand and knocked with his knuckles against his head. "I might have a screw lose somewhere, but I can assure you my memory is working just fine." He looked around the market, which was empty at this early time.

Severus had searched the day before the entire Diagon Alley and Nockturn Alley, knowing that if he only got close enough to Lux he would be able to sense her. But the Circus Arcanus had shields protecting it from Aurors and that made it extremely difficult. The short moment where he'd felt Lux' magic had told him she was near Carkitt Market, but now they'd reached a dead end.

"And how would a circus hide here?" Hugo pointed at the rows of tightly packed houses. "I don't see large tents fitting in here at all."

"There are smaller alleys and squares in between, hidden by magic," said Severus curtly and turned around, his eyes scanning the houses, "but you can only access them through certain entry points."

"Oh great. So there could be about a billion ways to find one of those secret squares, and we don't even know if that will be the right one."

Severus ignored Hugo and marched to the center of the large cobblestoned square. He cast a shield around Hugo and him to hide them from prying eyes.

"So what's the plan?" The old wizard shuffled to Severus' side, hitting the end of his cane against a cobblestone. "Stare at the houses? Ask people if they've seen an odd-looking cheetah?"

Severus gritted his teeth. "Why don't you make yourself useful, then?"

"What do you think I've been doing?" Hugo grinned, his eyes twinkling out of his wrinkled face. "While you were flirting with Shacklebolt, I rounded up some old friends."

"I was not flirting with her!" said Severus sharply and whirled around, making his robes billow around his legs. He glared at Hugo, who raised an eyebrow.

"I am very much tempted to turn you into a weasel," hissed Severus, "but-"

"You want to know what friends I'm speaking of." Hugo limped past him, eyeing the stones on the ground. He reached into his robes and pulled out a small niffler, the size of his hand. Holding it by the back of its neck, the wizard lowered it to the ground. The baby niffler had thick red fur and large eyes. Its flat nose twitched as it took in its surroundings, then it yawned sleepily.

"A niffler?" said Severus icily and crossed his arms. "You've brought a niffler?"

Hugo reached into his pocket and pulled out another black one.

"How are two nifflers-"

A third one leapt out of Hugo's robes. The wizard kept pulling out baby nifflers, as if he'd placed a charm on his robes to expand the pockets on the inside.

Severus fell silent as he stared at the fifteen baby nifflers, which were seated in a circle around Hugo's feet. To his surprise, they remained put. None of them darted away in search of golden treasures or jewels.

And lastly, Hugo pulled out six adult nifflers and placed them among the babies. Then he turned to Severus with a smirk. "You remember the four nifflers Mioha was friends with in her days?"

"How I could I forget them?" said Severus dryly.

"Mom always said they caused a lot of trouble while she taught at Hogwarts."

"And your point is-?" Severus crossed his arms, annoyed.

Hugo clacked the end of his cane against the ground. At once, all niffler eyes shot up to his face.
"Nifflers multiply fast. But they never forget a person who helped them before." He turned to Severus. "I searched for the nifflers that were descendants from Mioha's friends, and these are the ones I've found. They're probably their great-great-something children. When I told them about Lux' kidnapping, they offered to help."