Drey made his way through the London Zoo, not a normal place to find the sharply dressed young man, in his pressed charcoal trousers, crisp white button up with sleeves rolled to the elbows and dark grey vest, however since the Agency he worked for was to have a charity event and photo shoot on the premises, he wanted to get a feel for the layout and flow.
At the completion of his walk-through with the zoo's director, his photo stylist and production manager, he found himself lingering. He wandered down the lanes and passes of the zoo, his eyes drifting from the animals in the cages to the zoo patrons. He found a smile tugging at the corners of his normally straight lips, it had been longer then he could recall since he had spent a day so frivolously. At the cage of a particularly noisy bird with a head of bushing hair-like feathers, an image from years passed came to mind, the image of a young Granger squeaking out answers in class. He found himself nearly snorting in amusement. This one thought filled his mind as he moved on through the park, now noticing similarities between the animals and his former friends and classmates. The preening cockatoo~ one Lavender Brown, the graceful alpaca~ Pansy, and the vacant looking black bear~ Greg. A touch of sadness came with the gorilla and thoughts of Vincent, pushing it aside as he moved on to the lion. Its' mouth gaping open in a lazy yawn~ Weazley.
What had brought on such thought; whether the sounds of the school children on outing or just childish whimsy, he could not say. Shaking his head at the oddity of it all, comparing people that he had not seen nor truly thought of in over 6 years to animals was not something he would do. Approaching the leopards' enclosure, he noticed the sad-looking shabby black panther. He watched as it turned from the group of schoolboys that were trying to get its attention, with what, if animals were given to such expression, Drey would have said was a dejected and resigned huff. The big cat had turned its face toward Drey, who now had a clear view of a pair of emerald eyes surrounded by pail circles of fur and a white tuft just off of center above its right eye. The similarity was uncanny and he could not stop himself from breathing out the name, though with considerably less venom then in the past.
"Potter" realizing that he had verbalized it with some volume when the big cat's eyes snapped up to him. Drey shuttered, being the focus of those eyes was unnerving. Add to that the comparison to his longtime rival only deepened the discomfort. He pushed his way on, intending to leave the panther and the emotions that connection had conjured behind; it was just a coincidence the cat looked up at that point. Walking the length of the cage to pass onto the next animal, Drey noticed the change in the children's calls around him. He could not help but turn back; the cat had risen and followed him to the end of its cage. Its eyes still trained on him, staring, as if hopeful; could cat eyes look hopeful? Drey shook himself and turned away, yet stopped short when a sound from the cat froze him in his tracks. His eyes wide as he looked back over his shoulder at the animal. It could not be. He was not extremely knowledgable on the typical sounds of panthers. But the 'mmm-ow' followed by a chuffing 'fffuu', did not seem normal. As well as the fact that it bore a striking resemblance to a name he had not used in nearly 5 years. But that was impossible. He stood transfixed unable to move as those emerald-green eyes locked on his own. Not until his vision of the panther was obscured by hoards of children, over excited at the cat's noises and movement, was he able to shake off the feeling. Fleeing while he could he quickly made his way out of the zoo.
Drey got as far as the front entrance before remembering he had left his case and notes in Mr. Hange, the Zoo Director's, office. Rolling his eyes at his own stupidity he turned back in exasperation and trudged back up to the zoo office.
"Oh Mr. Prince, I did not know you were still here." Mr. Hange offered cordially, "Was there something more I can do for you?"
"I just left my case, sorry to have interrupted."
"Not at all, just going over some transfer papers for some of our tenants. Since you are here why not come in and join me for tea. "
"Thank you." Drey considered declining but after the incident with the panther, he could use a calming cup of tea, dropping gracefully in to the chair across from the Director. He was only half aware of the Mr. Hange's movements as he prepared the tea at the sidebar; Drey so intently debating the possibility of it all in his mind. It was absurd, there was no way Harry Potter was a panther in the London Zoo. Drey was pulled from his contemplation as Mr. Hange handed him the cup.
"Thank you", Drey offered relaxing back into his chair a bit with his first sip of tea.
"Mr. Prince, is everything alright?"
"Fine now, thank you again."
"You may not know but I spent 25 years as a keeper before I took over as director. And in that line of work I relied greatly on being able to notice changes in body language. It could mean the difference between a near miss and ambulance call. That ability has flowed over beyond the animals in my care."
Drey tensed again realizing that Mr. Hange had noticed his discomfort. Leave it to Potter to throw off years of mastering hiding his emotion.
"If it is something in or about my zoo," Mr. Hange continued, "please let me know."
"No Sir nothing like that", Drey managed after a moment, "just a memory. Something that I try not to think about." It took some effort to stop the fidgeting that was threatening to overtake him. He focused instead on the cup in his hand as he fished about for something to turn the subject. Drey recalled Mr. Hange's comment about animal transfers. "Do the animals move in and out a lot?"
"We try not to have it happen too often. Just like with people, moving is difficult and stressful. However sometimes it is absolutely necessary. In most cases it is for the animal's health that they are moved. We have the top veterinary doctors on staff but sometimes that is just not enough. We can only hope a change in scenery will be the ticket that turns the corner on the animal's sufferings." He sighed despondently, "We have one case that we have been struggling with since we caught him on Charing Cross Road. No one knows how to help him."
"Caught? On Charing Cross in London?" Drey asked intrigued.
"Yes, we found Bolt dodging through the streets around Charing Cross, right here in London just over a year ago. It took us the better part of the day to collect him. That is partly where his name came from." Mr. Hange smiled at the memory, however the smile quickly faded. "When we did get him safely here, we ran some basic heath history test and found he had an extensive history of malnourishment, as well as evidence of extended periods of confinement. It is not uncommon, I am sorry to say, for people to think it exciting to have an exotic pet and then to not be able or willing to take care of it properly."
"Is that what happened to Bolt?" Drey asked.
"We can only assume. Though Bolt is unique, most animals in those situations develop a fear, great dislike and/or a crippling dependence on humans, Bolt has not. He seems to have developed apathy toward men, even while being highly aware of what is going on around him. A few of the handlers, swear he can understands them."
A strong suspicion crept back into Drey's mind. "What kind of animal is Bolt?"
"He is one of our black panthers."