In the dank dungeon halls, Felinus’s growl didn’t echo so much as it was absorbed by the humid air. He sniffed furiously at the seam between wall and floor, following the coppery scent of hidden pipes. The modified push-broom he’d been using to sweep up lay abandoned in the center of the hall.

Technically speaking, Felinus wasn’t supposed to be working yet. He was to be introduced to the position proper tomorrow morning, or possibly later in the week, and take up his duties from there. Yet, as cozy as the Caretaker’s quarters were, they were too enclosed to satisfy his lion’s heart, so he’d taken to his sweeping as an excuse to wander the halls.

That’s when he’d caught the scent. Oh, it was well-masked in the copper and stone, but somewhere something must have cracked, exposing the beast within. Cold-blooded and thick-skinned, its air warm with the blood of all the rats and mice he hadn’t seen within the castle walls. It was unmistakable.

“Snake,” Felinus growled, sniffing all the more furiously as he picked up speed. “Where is it? Where are you hiding, you slithering, spineless slimy little SNAKE!?”

The last word burst into a half-roar as he bounded around the corner, half-expecting his prey to be there waiting for him. Instead, Felinus found himself leaping towards a young boy, an olive-skinned first-year in Slytherin robes. Startled by the student’s appearance, Felinus changed direction in mid-lunge, his claws skittering as he slid across the stones.

He missed the first-year by a foot and slid into the opposite wall, his shoulders taking most of the blow. He remained where he’d landed, his body pressed against the floor, panting heavily as he reigned in the animal instincts he had allowed to roam unchecked. When he glanced up again he was surprised to find that the boy had remained. Felinus took a deep, calming breath before next he spoke.

“My apologies. Did I scare you?”

Rico had a little off time on his hands so he decided to go for a little stroll and explore the castle. As he sauntered out of the Slytherin corridor, he was not expecting an enormous jungle cat to leap out of no where and almost squash him, Rico was a big kid, but not big enough to lift a lion off his chest. The large feline slid against the wall as Rico jumped back and pressed himself against the wall opposite. The young Slytherin stared at the beast, in awe, breathing shallow, quick breaths.

Then, the lion spoke, which was also unexpected.

“My apologies. Did I scare you?”

It sounded exactly like a lion would sound like if a real lion were to speak, but this was also a magical boarding school where the paintings on the walls also spoke, so Rico wasn't too surprised. He peeled himself off the wall. "Yeah, uh, no, I mean... Hola." Rico said with a little wave, defaulting to his Spanish to make up for his lack of articulacy. "Just a little startled, I think I'll be able to sleep tonight."

Rico took a step closer to the lion, it really was a lion, with the claws, the mane, and the teeth, not forgetting the tail. "I don't think I've seen you around before... Are you a regular dungeon dweller?" Rico asked, not having a better question to ask. If there was going to be a lion in the dungeon from now on, he would at least be able to warn people.

Felnius pawed at his muzzle, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to hide his embarrassment. To think, not even his first day on the job and he'd nearly landed on a student! He would have to be more careful from now on. With his tail twitching nervously behind him, he began to circle the boy, checking him over from every angle, occasionally drawing close enough to brush the boy's side, just to make sure.

"'Dungeon dweller'?" Felinus chuckled, brushing the question off with a shrug of his shoulder. "Nonsense, cub. It'd be a dreadful place for a lion. Much too damp and chilly, I'd be liable to catch cold. But I suppose I shall be around more often now..."

Satisfied that the boy was indeed uninjured, Felinus settled a few feet away from the boy, sitting with his back straight and his head held high. "I am Felinus Woodward, the new caretaker. My contract technically begins on Monday, which is when I am to be presented properly to the student, but there's a certain...issue...that I wanted to look into before the hour grew too late."

But there was no need to pester the boy with his suspicions of dungeon-invading snakes. Felinas flicked his ears back and forth, listening to every echo that rattled down the halls, then leaned a bit closer for a better look at his conversation partner. "And you are...?" Without waiting for an answer, he sniffed at the boy's chest. "Slytherin, obviously. First year. Deeply entrenched with hippogriffs, that's quite interesting. And...ah, yes. You belong to that tomcat. Taco, was it?"

Rico tensed as the Lion began to circle. The fur of the feline's coat was warm and coarse against his slacks."Oh, so you're the interesting caretaker the older students keep talking about, huh?" Rico followed the lion with his eyes, until the cat sat, and Rico relaxed. "What kind of problem? Can I help in anyway?" Rico said, thinking about the lack of... thumb the new caretaker had.

Rico smirked as the lion sniffed. "My name is Rico Posada. And you can get all of that just by smelling?" Rico said, looking at his shirt, there was cat fur on his sleeve, but perhaps because he was so used to the smell of hippogriff, it didn't even register in his nose. "My dad raises hippogriffs on our estate, and yeah, Taco's my cat, clever little gatito, isn't he?"
Rico said, putting his hands in his pockets. He felt a little better around the lion knowing they had a mutual friend.

"Very clever," Felinus agreed, his chest rumbling with a low purr. He'd not been yet able to meet all the little house-cats that lived in Hogwarts, but he intended to do so soon. They were to share this territory, after all. That made them a sort of pride. "A fine hunter and a proud father. Though I'd suggest you get that part taken care of sooner rather than later. He won't thank you for it, but it's better than leaving too many stray mouths running about, yes?"

Their repertoire established, Felinus's mind slipped back to the 'problem' at hand. He sniffed the air, trying again to catch the foreign scent, but it was too faint now and too far. The snake had gotten away.

Felinus growled, deep in his throat, careful to keep his gaze off to boy so it was clear that he was not the one being threatened. "Snake..." he muttered, half to himself. "That's the problem. There's a snake in these halls, one who should not be here, one that should not be."

His dark eyes flickered to the boy, growing softer but no less stern. "Posada...your housemates. Have any of them seemed to be...hiding anything, lately?"

"My sister is getting them all good homes, she and her roommate are working on finding the right person for each of them." Rico said, watching curiously as the caretaker sniffed the air, Rico looked around for anything out of place, but the dungeons was as wet and dank as ever. "Snake? There's a lot of mice and things down here, it would make sense for a snake to be close to prey." Rico looked at the walls an the ceiling. He wasn't ever afraid of snakes, he wasn't afraid of animals, he respected them, gave them their space.

"I like snakes, I just like animals in general, actually." Rico said, "I'm kinda into music too." He didn't know why he was telling the lion all of this, but he was always more comfortable around animals than people anyways, but this one was different, an animal, that could talk, it had probably been some transfiguration accident. Rico turned his head as the lion spoke again.

"Ummm.... I don't think so, but, Blossom has a clip-" Rico decided to shut up right then and there, no one knew about the Whomping Willow clipping from Halloween and he decided he wasn't going to spill the beans now. "Well, it's Slytherin, everyone is hiding something, except me, I don't have any secrets." Rico put his hands further into his pockets, satisfied with his save.