Eric "Cat" Chant: In the first Chrestomanci book, Cat is a very lonely character, clinging to his older sister and, later, to Janet, and distrusting the adults of the Castle. In this book, we see that he has not only grown to like and trust the people of the Castle, but he forms many new friendships, both with characters older than himself (Jason the former bootboy and his wife, Irene), and characters of his own age (Marianne). He acquires a horse (Syracuse) whom he has an intimate friendship with, and a griffin (Klartch), although Klartch had been a mistake, hatched from an egg Marianne had given him.