Caelum Malfoy

**Caelum Abraxas Malfoy** (the first name is pronounced [ˈsiːləm]) is a contra-canonical wizard (presumably, although he's too young to use magic) mentioned in *The Prisoner*; he is the son of Draco Malfoy, conceived after Draco's aunt Bellatrix Lestrange raped him repeatedly in order to give Voldemort a worthy heir, but abandoned by her when born too early and with several birth defects. Instead of exposing him to the elements as she suggested, Draco brought him to St Mungo's, where he was treated for about four months, and then dropped out of seventh year to take care of him at Malfoy Manor.

His birthday is 12 February. When he was not quite eleven months old, the kidnapped Luna Lovegood was ordered to take care of him so that Draco could return to Voldemort's service, and she soon became "the closest thing he's ever had to a mummy".

## Medical issues

Caelum was born about two months early, with a hole in his heart and not-fully-developed lungs. He has genetic problems on both the fifth and the fifteenth chromosome, and cerebral palsy – whether these two facts are related is unclear; CP is generally caused by complications at birth, and is more common in prematurely born, but may also have genetic causes. According to an early assessment by the healers at St Mungo's, he would need assistance to walk and would always have issues with balance and coordination; he would have respiratory problems throughout his life; his eyesight would need correction at a fairly young age; and he would most likely never learn to talk.

However, by the time he was a year old, the part of his brain controlling mouth and tongue movements had healed more than expected, so that they thought he would be able to learn to talk and only have problems with speaking clearly – or possibly not even that. His motor skills, on the other hand, were worse than expected and they didn't think he would start walking for perhaps another full year, even with assistance. At the same time, his cognitive development was well off the scale, possibly genius level, as exemplified by the sign language he had started too use.

Due to his lungs not being fully developed at birth, he is unusually susceptible to respiratory infections, both in terms of how easily he catches them and in terms of how dangerous they are to him. To combat this, Draco has a healer on retainer, and he has a special oil, made by Snape, that eases breathing when massaged into the chest and back.

## Vocabulary

### Proto-words

* Duh: Draco (from "Daddy")
* Me: Luna (possibly from "Mummy", or from "me")
* Um: "Yummy!"
* Eff: Rinka, the house-elf primarily charged with his care

### Sign language

* Holding out both arms, opening and closing his hands: *Pick me up!*
* Holding a curved hand near the mouth, tipping it as if drinking from a cup: *I'm thirsty!*
* Wrapping his arms around himself: *I want my toy dragon!*

## Etymology

*Caelum* ("the Chisel"), also known as *Caelum Sculptorium* ("the Engravers' Chisel"), is a faint constellation in the southern sky. Naming children after stars and constellations is common in the Black family, including Draco himself as well as Bellatrix, her sister Andromeda Tonks, Sirius and Regulus Black and many others; the choice of a particularly unobtrusive constellation is presumably a reference to him being born small and sickly.

As Luna notes, there is another (unrelated) Latin word *caelum* meaning "heaven, sky, air", but given the constellation theme and Draco's reply, this is likely not relevant. The Gaelic reference she makes has so far not been confirmed.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *The Prisoner*, Chapter 16
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *The Prisoner*, Prologue
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 *The Prisoner*, Chapter 1
4. ↑ *The Prisoner*, Chapter 14
5. ↑ *The Prisoner*, Chapter 13
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Prisoner, Chapter 21
7. ↑ *The Prisoner*, Chapter 15
8. ↑ *The Prisoner*, Chapter 5
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Prisoner, Chapter 10
10. ↑ The Prisoner, Chapter 17
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 The Prisoner, Chapter 8