It was cold when I first met my human; it was cold and wet and dark. I was hiding from the rain when he came down the alley. I thought he was going to hurt me like the other humans, but he didn't. This human just stood there; it was strange. Then he started to talk to me.
"What a pretty puppy you are! You must be cold." the human said as he tried to get closer. I began to growl, and he made a peculiar sound that I would later call laughter. "You're a feisty one, aren't you?" This human was strange; he did not retreat like other humans. Instead, he started to wave his hand around. Then I smelled it. It was one of the most delicious things I had ever smelled.
"Here, why don't you have a bite?" he said. I inched forward a bit to try to get some of the food in his hand. 'He's one of those' I thought, 'the ones that wave those sticks around and make things happen. Funny, I didn't see any sticks...he must be special then.'
I reached forward to get a bite and… oh my! It was just as delicious as it smelled; it was so tender and juicy and there was something on my back…. wait ..what? The strange human is rubbing my back; how odd. He gave me delicious meat though, so I guess I'll let it slide. Hmm... he started making that strange sound again.
"Would you like some more?" he asked. 'More? Yes I want more' I thought, wagging my tail. However, next thing I knew I was being picked up. It was a very frightening experience.
"Oh, you're a girl dog." he said and I snorted. 'Of course I'm a female! Honestly, these humans are so strange.' I didn't have much time to think on the stupidity of humans, however, because suddenly we started moving.
"Let's get you all cleaned up and fed. Does that sound good?" he says as if I have an option. 'Oh well. At least I'll get more food.' He carried me for some time before we stopped at a human home.
"Good evening, Mr. Graves. How are you?" Another human yelled from the building.
"I'm doing well, Mrs. Bernard. And you?" He replied with some degree of impatience.
"Lovely, is that a dog you've got there? It doesn't bark, does it?" the human sighed.
"I'm not sure, Mrs. Bernard, but if she does you'll be the first to know. I really must be getting inside to make dinner." he said in a rush. 'Humans are so strange. Why would they talk to someone they don't want to... Oh well.'
We go up several flights of stairs before he waves his hand in front of a door using his strange no-stick ability again. 'It smells rather nice in here' I thought 'much better than that alley.' When we entered into the human-house, he didn't put me down like I thought he would. Instead, he brought me to another stranger shinier room and put me down in a round thing. 'He's backing up now. He didn't do that before... I've got a bad feeling about this.'
The human started making gestures for me to stay put, which again was rather worrying.
"Now I'm gonna get you nice and clean and then I'm gonna get you something nice and juicy to eat." That actually sounded rather nice, but what did he mean by clean? 'I'm already nice; isn't that good enough?' I thought, cocking my head to the side.
And then IT happened. Water came falling from the ceiling and the human was putting squishy stuff into my fur and no matter how I struggled I could not escape. It was after I was drenched in water that I made my escape, but just as I made it out the door, the most pleasant sensation came over me. Where once I was cold and wet with sopping fur, I was now warm and dry with my fur fluffy once more. I flopped on the floor it felt so good, and then that strange noise was coming from the human again. I felt like I should be concerned, but I couldn't bring myself to feel anything at the moment. After a while, the nice feeling faded a bit and I notice the human was no longer in the room. Instead the human-house was being filled with a delicious aroma.
I followed the smell into yet another room. Only this one seemed to be filled with delicious smells. "Finally up, I see. Hungry?" asked the human, sitting at a wooden table. In response, I merely bark my agreement, my tail wagging like crazy.
The human places a bowl of meat on the ground, which I happily consume. Afterwards, the human gets a strange look on his face as though he smelled something especially foul.
"Cleaning and drying charms are all well and good, but they just can't seem to get rid of the smell of wet dog" he says, and honestly I feel rather offended. 'I smell just fine, thank you very much!' The human heads back into the water room and starts to shed his outer layers and … oh! It is a male; I wasn't sure. The human closes the door and I lay down for a bit. By the time he returns, I am rather tired. It had been a rather eventful day after all. The human climbs into a big puffy thing and lays down before he starts talking to me again.
"Tomorrow I'll have to fill out all the paperwork that comes with getting a dog and set up an appointment at the vet, but for now I should probably give you a name." he said, and I found myself curious. I'd never had a name before; I'd never needed one. 'A name sounds rather nice.' "Hmmm… how about… Selena?" he asks. I think for a moment before I decide Selena will do just fine and bark my approval. "I'm glad you like it. I'm Percival Graves. Nice to meet you." he says as I jump onto the large puffy thing; it's really quite comfortable. He grabs my paw and starts to shake it up and down. "We've got a long day tomorrow so I think it's time for sleep" he waves his hand and the light dies and the room is plunged into darkness.
It has been many years since that day, and I have learned many things about my human. I learned that he is a very important man who protects other stick waving humans, which he calls wizards. I learned when he took me to his office that he is the alpha of his pack and that everyone respects him. I like his pack; anytime I see them they give me treats, especially the one he calls Goldstein. Sometimes she hides when my Percy calls her; it's funny. Her sister always gives me some of her food when she visits. I think President is my favorite, besides my Percy of course. Anytime she stops by, she always scratches me behind the ear. Things have been pretty hectic lately. My Percy has been staying out working later and later; he says there's a dark wizard on the loose and he has to catch him, but that's okay. The old human lady brings me food and her pups take me for walks when my Percy is gone all day. I'm glad my Percy brought me home with him. I love my Percy.
It's late one night when my Percy arrives home with someone else with him. It's an older human with white fur on his face and head. That's strange because usually when my Percy brings home a potential mate, they are much younger. Then I notice they are arguing and my Percy is hurt. 'Who hurt my Percy?! My Percy's hands are tied! he doesn't want that man here!' I think as I start to growl and bark at this strange man. 'How dare he hurt my Percy!' I begin to charge the strange man when suddenly there is a flash of red and everything goes dark.
When I wake up, I am in bed and my Percy is leaving the torture room still wet from his nightly cleaning. At first I am relieved; it was all a dream and my Percy is safe. But something is wrong with my Percy. something is off; I'm not sure what it is, but I don't like it.
Throughout the next week, I become more and more convinced that there is something wrong. The human would take me work every other day as usual. He would do everything like usual, except this human is bringing other humans back to the house almost every night. They are talking about strange things. I learn the truth by the second week; this is not my Percy. This is another wizard wearing my Percy's face. It's when I am looking around the room that I think I find my Percy. I came across a small metal object. A "pocket watch" is what my Percy called it, but this one feels strange and it smells just like my Percy, and well if my Percy can make my toys small then perhaps the not-Percy could make my Percy small as well. Just as I grab the watch in my jaw, I collapse in pain.
It hurts; it hurts so much! When I look up, I see the not-Percy pointing his stick at me and everything BURNS and there is so much PAIN. As soon as the spell is lifted, I lunged after the human but before I can bite him my world goes dark once again.
When I wake, there are chains around my neck and the human is in the doorway looking at me.
"It's such a pity; you were useful for a while. Be good and I might let you out. After all, it would look strange if Percival Graves stopped bringing his precious mutt to the office." not-Percy says with a nasty smirk on his face.
He left me there locked in that closet for some time. I'm not sure how much time has passed, but I'm so hungry and so tired. I don't think I can last much longer.
It's two weeks later that I hear people in our home. I'm so tired; the not-Percy hasn't brought me food in several days. There's lots of shouting but… I know that voice… that's Goldstein and several other members of my Percy's pack! I start to bark as loud as I can until the door is opened and there is Goldstein.
"Oh God, Selena" she gasps, but there isn't time to worry about that. I have to help my Percy! I have to; he needs me! I keep barking louder and louder, struggling against my chains until the wood I am chained to splinters and breaks.
Goldstein jumps back as I race past her straight for my Percy. When I get to the room, there are several other members of my Percy's pack looking around, but they are looking in the wrong place. I immediately grab the pocketwatch. By now, Goldstein has caught up with me and I'm swinging the pocketwatch around as hard as I can, but it won't open. 'Perhaps Goldstein can open it.' I drop the watch on the carpet in front of Goldstein before I too fall to the ground. The room was spinning. The last thing I heard was Goldstein yelling to the others.
"She found him, Selena found Graves!" and everything went dark.
Goldstein was there when I woke up, although I'm not sure where 'there' is exactly. There are creatures all over the place, including one trying to grab at my collar. 'That won't do one bit,' I thought as I growled at the unsuspecting creature. Instead of running off like I thought it would, it simply plopped on its bottom and sulked. When I looked back at Goldstein, there was another human with her and, 'oh! He has food!'
The strange human starts to talk as I'm eating my food.
"Hi there, girl! We found your friend, , and he's recovering in the hospital right now." The human smiled. "It's all thanks to you, really. There was a charm on that pocket watch preventing anyone from noticing it. You're quite the hero aren't you, beautiful." 'I like this human.' "You were very weak when they brought you to me, so try to take things a bit slow for now until you recover." The human turned to Goldstein and continued to speak. "I think she should be fine in a couple days, but for now she needs rest" he says as he starts to scratch my back. 'I really like this human.'
"Alright. You take good care of her, Newt. It would kill Mr. Graves if anything happened to her." Goldstein responds, looking at her watch. "I have to go. Things at the office are crazy, and it's all hands on deck figuring out everything Grindelwald did while he was impersonating Mr. Graves." The human-Newt nodded in understanding. After she left, the Newt stopped scratching me and started talking again.
"How would you like to meet everyone? Hmm?" I followed him around the case, meeting all of his pups. He is a good mummy to his pups, although I think he spoils the niffler a bit too much. Over the next few days, I helped out the Newt with his pups as I gradually regained my strength. I watched over them when the Newt left this… place; I'm still not entirely sure where I am. The Niffler has taken to riding on my back and honestly, I can find it in me to knock him off. It is perhaps on the third or fourth day when the Newt attempts to bathe me.
"We need you nice and clean for today!" Newt smiles oh so optimistically, the fool. Only my Percy is allowed to bathe me. This should be fun.
Half an hour later, Newt is struggling to keep me in the bath outside the small building. The Newt has only just managed to put the soap in my fur when I hear them, the voices coming from the building. They seem a little strange, like they are underwater. So focused am I on the voices that the Newt finishes bathing me and is now rubbing my fur with a cloth.
"All done!" the Newt says triumphantly, but I'm no longer paying attention as I move closer to the building. 'I recognize those voices' I think as the Niffler climbs onto my back. 'That's Goldstein and…' I freeze. 'That's My Percy!' I run to the building as fast as I can with the Newt chasing after me. When I arrive, there is no one there at first. I am sad until I see a light at the top of a set of stairs. I charged up the stairs as fast as I could and the door flew open and when I was out… There he was, my Percy! I jumped onto the bed and started kissing his face. I was just so happy he was okay.
"Selena! Hows my girl, did that awful man hurt you?" I whined in confirmation. "Well he can't hurt you anymore, and I heard you rescued me. You know when I get out of here I'm gonna get you a nice juicy steak." 'Steak! Yes that sounds great! What are you doing? Why are you getting up? You are hurt; you must lie down.' I plop down on his chest, forcing him to lay back down.
"I get it! I get it! Rest first…. Why are you wet?" My Percy asks.
"Oh, that's my fault. I'm afraid she got rather messy in the Erumpent enclosure, so I decided to give her a bath. I had only just started drying her off when, I assume, she heard you talking to Tina." the Newt spoke rather quickly as if my Percy would bite him, but that makes no sense. My Percy doesn't bite; he's a good human. And what is a Tina?
"You managed to give her a bath? What's your secret?" Goldstein asked.
"Getting very, very, wet." the Newt replied.
My Percy started to laugh again. I think this frightened Goldstein.
"The best way to dry her off is a drying charm. She loves them." and with that, my Percy waved his hand and warmth and the fluff that I so loved began. Suddenly, all the humans laughed. Strange humans.
"What I would like to know is how you got the nurses to approve Selena's little visit?" my Percy asked.
"That was me. You see, it appears that Selena is a German Shepherd-Xolo mix. Xolos are known for their healing abilities, nothing big but her being here might help things along." the Newt answered as he started to scratch behind my ear. We should keep this human; he would make a good mate for my Percy. With that final thought I fell into a peaceful sleep, content to know that my Percy was safe.
