Why a Black Cat?

         Black cats have many stereotypes and people throughout history have different feelings towards them.  In early Egyptian times black cats were idled and held at a very high prestige.  It was a very serious crime to kill a black cat during that time period.  When one died families would mourn the death of their pet and mummify them when buried.  However, black cats received a negative stereotype in Europe when witches started doing magic and spells and whatever witches do.  People believed that witches would transform into black cats, so they could roam without being detected.  This put a negative image on black cats and made people think they were bad luck. 

        I now have the question to why is there a black cat on the cover of the book.  All of the background on black cats does not seem to relate to the text in any strong way.  Cats were also not referenced that much in the book.  There was the part that mentioned that Consuelo would torture cats.  The only connection I can make goes off of the European stereotype of black cats being supernatural figures.  Since an aura is not really real, the black cat could symbolize an aura.  An aura cannot be seen just like a witch cannot be seen when it is a black cat.   I am not saying Consuelo is a witch, but she seems to represent a witch taking a different form.  Consuelo uses Aura to see the world just like a witch would use a cat to see the world.  Consuelo is unable to go out on her own and a witch cannot go out as themselves because they will be killed.