It's a Dog's Life
Chapter 1
Harry had returned from Hogwarts for his summer holidays at the Dursleys a few weeks ago. Every night, he was watching Cedric die in his sleep, over and over again, and he felt very depressed by reliving the events, which had happened at the graveyard a few weeks ago, so frequently. The fact that Dumbledore had obviously forbidden his friends to write anything substantial in their letters, about where they were and what they were doing, didn't help either.
One morning, Harry was just making toast for the Dursleys when Dudley arrived in the kitchen. "Hey, Potter, what is it you're always talking about in your dreams? Whom did you kill? And who is Cedric?" his cousin asked with great amusement, causing Harry to throw him a terrified look.
'Oh no! If I only could hide and make myself invisible,' Harry thought, angered beyond belief, and unconsciously let out a huge amount of rare magic. 'What happened?' he mused anxiously, as he felt his vision change completely and his cousin let out a loud squeal. Everything looked so big and high now. Unable to comprehend what had happened, Harry dashed out of the back door into the garden, tripping over his own feet several times, before he scrambled under one of the bushes at the far end of the garden and turned his eyes to get a glimpse at himself.
'I am... a... DOG?' Harry thought in disbelief, looking at the short black fur that had replaced his human skin. 'How did I do that, and will I be able to transform back? Am I an Animagus now?' Harry decided to make his way back into the house and closely examine his predicament as soon as the Dursleys had left the kitchen.
He didn't have to wait long, since his aunt planned to go on a shopping trip to London together with her son and was in a hurry. "Oh no, that can't be, Dudley. Harry can't change into a dog. Maybe you're delirious. Are you feeling well?" She worriedly felt his forehead, before she nodded, apparently convinced that her son was all right.
Harry watched from a shadow behind the rubbish bin, chuckling inwardly. 'If you only knew how right he is this time.' He intended to head into his room and try to transform back; however, a shopping trip to London would be a good opportunity to get away from Little Whinging. 'As a dog, I can easily run around London. I pocketed my wand and the map before I went down to make breakfast, so if I'm able to transform back into my human form, I'll have my wand with me.'
Making a quick decision, he dashed back out through the back door and the garden into the garage, still finding it difficult to run on four feet. Approaching Vernon's car, he couldn't believe his luck. Just like so often, Dudley hadn't properly closed his door, and Harry could easily push it open. He tried to jump into the car, succeeding at the fifth painful attempt, and hid under the front passenger's seat, curling up and making himself as small as possible.
It didn't take long before the Dursleys boarded the car and drove to London. The monotone sound of the engine and Dudley's endless whining made Harry very sleepy, and he drifted off into a rare, undisturbed slumber. By the time he woke up, everything was quiet around him, and he hesitantly scrambled out from under the seat. Jumping onto the seat, he looked out of the window, noticing the car was parked in a parking area. 'Probably that of Uncle Vernon's company,' he mused as he tried to open the door with his right front paw. It took him an infinite amount of time, but finally he realised that it wasn't possible and instead pushed the button to open the window, glad that it worked even if the engine was off. He squeezed himself through the window and fell onto the ground.
'Thank God I know how to get to Diagon Alley from here,' Harry thought as he walked down the street, still stumbling every now and then due to the problem of having four legs instead of two. When he reached a small park, he decided to get some rest. 'I have to think about what to do now, and maybe I can try to transform back. Perhaps I should go to Diagon Alley and buy my new school books and clothes and try to get to Hogwarts afterwards. At Hogwarts, it'll always be possible to nick some food, and it'll be easy to hide in the castle,' he mused and tried to transform back behind a huge bush.
'Thank God. And my wand is still in my jeans pocket,' he thought, sighing in relief. 'Now, how do I transform back into the dog form?' Harry tried to concentrate on the dog he had been a few minutes ago, surprised that it worked immediately. 'Apparently, I'm an Animagus. That's strange. I thought one had to try for years, before being able to transform into an animal. At least that's what McGonagall told us. Oh well, let's go shopping.'
Harry walked to the Leaky Cauldron and slipped through the open wall into Diagon Alley, choosing a small side street right behind Madam Malkins' shop to transform back into his human form, deciding he had to go to Madam Malkins first as he felt very uncomfortable and self-conscious in Dudley's old Muggle clothes.
The kind witch merely threw him a pitying look and queried, "Is everything all right, Mr. Potter?"
"Yes, of course," Harry replied in a small voice, before he asked hesitantly, "Madam Malkins, would it be possible for you to take the money straight from my Gringotts account? I don't want to go to the bank in my current attire."
"Of course, my boy. Don't worry about that. I suggest you buy a pair of jeans and a T-shirt additionally to your school clothes, so you could change into something proper immediately. It'll take me an hour to have your school clothes ready," the witch replied gently.
"That's a good idea," Harry agreed and allowed Madam Malkin to choose fitting every day clothes for him.
"Here, sweetie, go and change," he was told and complied, changing into a pair of dark blue jeans and a well fitting green T-shirt, exactly matching the colour of his eyes. The front of the T-shirt was covered with the pattern of a golden Snitch as well as a writing in white letters, saying, 'Seek me,' and a similar writing in the back stated, 'I'm gone.'
Properly dressed now, Harry went to Gringotts to retrieve some money, before he bought his new school books and the potions ingredients needed for his fifth school year. Finally, he entered the bag shop, determined to buy a new trunk. He took his time to ask the shopkeeper about the magical trunks containing several departments that changed into rooms, pondering how much money he could reasonably spend on a trunk. 'I need one that opens on my magical signature, so I can access it even in my dog's form,' Harry mused when the shopkeeper brought another trunk that was nearly colourless and looked a bit like his Invisibility Cloak.
"This is something really special," he explained. "This trunk fulfils the same requirements as the one you were just looking at, having three different compartments with one of them changing into a small apartment, but it can be charmed to stay invisible to anyone except for the owner. Just like the other one, you can shrink, enlarge, and open it from the in- and outside just with a touch, since it recognizes your magical signature." He waved his wand at the trunk, causing Harry to gasp in delight.
"I take this one," Harry decided immediately. "I also need a new school bag." He quickly chose a book bag, which was charmed to remain feather light, and advised the shop keeper, "Please take the money from the Potter vault." He put all his shopping items into the main compartment of his new trunk and left the shop, feeling very content with his shopping as he returned to Madam Malkins'.
Half an hour later, Harry decided he had spent enough time and money in Diagon Alley. 'I wouldn't want to meet any of the Hogwarts teachers, so I better leave in my dog form,' he thought, heading to a small side street to Knockturn Alley to transform back.
Harry spent the night in his dog form in Hide park, noticing that he could sleep much better in his dog form, because he didn't have his usual nightmares about the events in the graveyard a few weeks ago. He woke up early in the morning, when other dogs visited the park, pulling him out of his sleep with their howls and their smell.
Suddenly, Harry felt very hungry. 'Strange,' he mused, 'it's not as if the Dursleys had fed me each day. Oh well, I'm a dog now. Maybe dogs need more food or get hungry more easily than humans. What am I going to do now?' He stretched his short legs and, sensing a young white coloured dog lady nearby, he spent some time running around the park with her, until the person that accompanied her led her out of the park.
tbc...
I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them.
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.