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Harry awoke the next morning feeling well rested, if a little sore. His face felt like it needed to be washed and he could do with a good massage but other than that he was great. He turned his head to the side a few centimeters to read his clock. 4:30. Damn, he was up early. He wasn't scheduled to do anything until 5:45, and even then all he had to do was feed his animals. The tigers would be easy to work with since all he had to do was give them 25lbs of meat and let them sleep it off. The wolves (they were still in his care because everyone else refused to work with them) would be more troublesome. Whenever he was with them they would always try and lick his face or get him to scratch their bellies. Sure, it doesn't sound bad at first but they all do it at the same time, so he has half of them jumping on his top half while the other ones are butting against his legs and practically waiting for him to step on them. Then he had to feed them. Again, this doesn't sound so bad. Yeah, well imagine 15 hungry timber wolves all going at the same two cows (pre-killed) at the same time. It wasn't pretty. They didn't all eat at the same time, of course…that would be barbaric. They fought amongst themselves to see who would get the choicest meat. So he would have to act the role of the alpha-male and chase them all away until only his second-in-command (the alpha-female) was still at the meat, then she would eat and regulate any fights. He was really just there for moral support.

You are all wondering why he would even bother going through all the hassle of separating them, right? Yes, its true that packs in the wild always fight over the meat because that's just the way nature works. Darwin's Theory and all that jazz. Well that just didn't fly here at A&P's. Wolves can get seriously hurt doing stuff like that. Besides, if he didn't do something to remind them that he was alpha-male everyday one of the young male upstarts might just get it in their heads to start a fight with him for dominance, and Harry was pretty sure that in a fight between him (4ft 60lbs) and a full grown timber wolf (3ft-ish 130lbs) the wolf would win. Then again, he was pretty handy with knives… he had thrown knives for a little bit and you tend to get good fast when someone else's well being is on the line. He would probably get his ass handed to him (literally) in a real knife fight, but a few quick swipes in a few sensitive areas would be all he needed for a wolf, or a tiger, though he would hesitate to use anything on his charges.

Harry smiled slightly as he stretched the last few kinks out of his back and shoulders. There was no way he was going to go back to sleep now so he might as well wake someone else up. Misery loves company. Heconsidered briefly on walking over to Natalie and Mathew's tent then thought better of it and started cooking himself breakfast. He mentally ran through his long list of friends and came up empty. All of them had things they needed to do to keep A&P's running smoothly. He sighed and resigned himself to his fate; he would have to train with Kina today. He disliked training with her. She was jumpy and excitable and she hardly ever listened to directions that weren't enforced. He hated being tough on her but she needed to be useful to stay. He was lucky they even allowed her to sleep with him in his trailer. It was a bit unorthodox now that he thought about it. Why put a scrawny kid like him with the natural anomaly that was Kina. She was several sizes to large for her species and still had room to grow (if the loose skin around her neck and chest were anything to go by). She was just as, if not more, powerful than his alpha-female and she was very protective of him. Which isn't strange per se, but she took it to extremes that could get both of them in trouble. She wasn't even full grown yet. He figured she would be all grown up by September if she kept growing at the rate she was now.

Harry let out a longwinded sigh and let go of his train of thought. It wouldn't do to get frustrated with her before he even started. By the time he came to this conclusion he had already finished making, eating, and cleaning up after his breakfast. There were a few strips of bacon left over so he walked over to tangle of sheets and fur that was his pet and friend. After finding which end was which he dangled a piece of the delicious meat product in front of her nose and waited. Arctic wolves had a very good sense of smell. Harry assumed it was because their naturally habitat was a frozen wasteland, but he wasn't concerned enough to look into it.

If the need ever arose he could just go to a search engine and look it up. Of course that would mean going into whatever town they were at presently and finding the library then talking to the librarian and what not. He really wasn't a people person, so that plan wasn't exactly appetizing.

He forced himself to let his thought go again and nudged Kina's side.
"Wake up, you and I need to work on our routine."

There was a low growling sound and then the bacon in his hand was gone. He smiled in spite of himself and started getting dressed. Kina would be up shortly to bug him for more food. She would give him the puppy eyes she could still do despite her eyes being a chilling yellow and he couldn't help but spoil her. She was just so damn cute! Besides, he would probably never have kids, so a wolf at age 11 was just as good. Arctic wolves lasted 7 or 8 years in the harsh conditions of the wild so he figured he would be able to squeeze at least 15 out of her. Then again they never really did well in captivity…Harry forced himself, once again, to stop thinking and finish tying his shoes.

"Kina!"

He spoke her name sharply to let her know he was assuming command and turned to open the door for her. She had always preferred to precede him. He didn't really know why and had never bothered to learn. It was just one of the quirks that made up her personality. Today was slightly different than usual thought because as soon as he opened the door she shot out and jumped at something by his window. There was a squawk and some growls and a few wing beats then everything was silent. Kina was abnormal in that way to. She wouldn't growl or howl to scare her prey, she just kills them. Even during the take down she was near silent.

He went to investigate and was surprised to see a large barn owl clutched in her jaws. Quite a few of its feathers were strewn about them on the ground and Harry could clearly tell that one of its wings was broken. He walked forward and told Kina to drop it. She was serious when she felt it was needed and this, apparently, was one of those times. He crouched down and inspected what was left of the poor beast. Its chest had collapsed under the force of his wolf's jaws he could see a few ribs poking out here and there. The wing that was broken was where Kina had first made contact. The owl must have spooked when he opened the door and had tried to take off but Kina was faster and had latched on to the closesed apendage. His eyes followed the dysfunctional wing down to the bloodied talons. He glanced up at Kina curiouslyand found her sitting obediently (and protectively) to his right waiting for a verdict. She had a few scratches on her muzzle and several deep gashes on her legs and chest that needed to be looked at but she was largely unharmed.Harry whistled in appreciation. Kina was definitely a natural born fighter. She had the owl in her mouth and while it was trying to land a hit on her neck she used her feet and chest as a shield. Then again, she had always been careful to keep her head low, never giving a full view of her neck.

There was something odd about her face but he let it go and let his eyes wander back over to the owl and finally noticed the letter clutched in its beak. Oh, duh. There was no damage to her eyes. Owls were strong, silent, powerful predators and shouldn't be taken lightly just because they were birds. Their beaks were formidable weapons and Kina could have been blinded. Harry shook his head and reminded himself that Kina was perfectly capable of defending herself.

He gently pried the letter out of the animal's death grip and checked the poor thing for any signs of sickness or poisons before giving Kina the OK to enjoy her kill. He watched for a moment to make sure she wasn't eating any feathers then examined the letter.

The envelope was made of thick yellow parchment that was crumpled and folded slightly from the fight. He turned it over and saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms with several animals surrounding the letter 'H'. He flipped it back over and raised his eyebrows slightly as the green ink that used to say something about him and private drive erased itself and rewrote into his current address. He couldn't help but pinch himself. He was a natural skeptic and was a big fan of sarcasm so when something like this came along his first reaction was to think that he was dreaming. Nope, that hurt…damn this is weird.

He pursed his lips and made a short high whistle. Kina jumped away from her meal and was at his side in an instant. She snuffed at the letter for a few seconds then went back to her food. Harry smiled wryly. The danger must be gone if she was acting insubordinate again. After thinking about the pros and cons for a few seconds he ripped open the seal and felt his eyebrows inching up despite his efforts.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted

at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please

find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no

later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

Was this a joke? Supreme mugwump? Hogwarts? He flipped to the second page and felt his eye start to twitch. Robes, standard book of spells, beginners guide to transfiguration, cauldrons. A wand? They expected him to believe all this? He snorted again crumpled the already brutalized letter into a ball then threw it in the trash bin next to his trailer.

Harry was slightly annoyed. Who did these people think they were? He already had a great tutor who traveled around with him and he had been skipped several grades up already. He didn't need to go to some boarding school. Besides, they said cat owl or toad. That means he wouldn't be able to take Kina or Sher Kan (he was completely ignoring the fact that no boarding school anywhere would welcome a tiger and wolf into its midst). That and the fact that it said it was a school of witchcraft and wizardry. There was no such thing. Even if there was, he was loath to go to this place. They were presumptuous and full of themselves if they thought he would trip all over himself trying to get there. He snorted. No, quite the opposite.

He nodded to himself then called Kina to follow him. It would be in his best interest to tell the boss about the owl before he found out through the grapevine. Rumors just made everything worse.

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