Cat in a Tree
Harry was on his way back to the castle from the Quidditch pitch, when he caught a glimpse of grey fur. Not sure whether it had been only a trick of the light he stood and took a closer look. The edge of the forest was different shades of green mixed with the dark grey of the approaching night. He shook his head and continued to the castle.
After turning around a corner he spotted the potions master, who hurried over the lawn, robes billowing as ever, standing from time to time and looking around as if searching for something. So maybe it hadn´t been a trick of the light after all.
Harry hesitated. He´d rather avoid Snape if it was possible, but it was growing dark and if he had indeed seen what he thought he had seen... Slowly he approached the teacher.
"Excuse me, Sir."
Snape started. "What is it, Potter?" he spat. Was he indeed standing on tiptoe to look over Harry´s shoulder?
"Sir, uhm," Harry shifted from one foot on the other.
"What? I´m busy. If you´ve something to say, spit it out."
Harry only now realised that he had to admit overhearing Snape the other night to deliver his message.
Snape lost his patience and turned to go on with his search.
"Sir," Harry cried after him, "I´ve been wondering whether you are trying to solve a mystery."
Snape stood rooted to the spot. Slowly he turned around and strode back to Harry.
"What did you just say, Potter?" he asked in a cold voice, towering over his student.
Harry gulped. "I said, are you trying to solve a mystery. Sir."
"What gives you the idea?"
"You seemed to search for something."
"You´re not trying to blackmail me?" hissed Snape, "for this would be a stupid thing to do. I have no idea how you found out. Where is he?"
"Blackmail? No, Sir!" Harry was taken aback. "I just thought I saw a grey animal over there and then I saw you searching the lawn. I thought..."
Snape grabbed Harry´s robes. "A grey animal? Where?"
"Over there, near the forest."
Snape pushed Harry to the direction he had indicated. "Show me," he demanded.
"Let me carry my broomstick inside first."
"Broomstick?" Snape was upset, "I don´t care for your broomstick. We´re talking about a living creature. Show me where you saw him. And hurry, it´s getting dark."
Harry sighed. Obviously it wasn´t a good idea to upset Snape further, so he shouldered his broom and led the way to the edge of the forest where he thought to have glimpsed Snape´s cat earlier.
"I´m not sure," he pointed out, "but I thought I saw a grey cat over here."
Snape glared at Harry for a brief moment, then drew his wand and muttered a spell under his breath. The tip of the wand glowed green. "You´re right, he was here." Snape made ready to enter the forest. Before he did, he turned to Harry and murmured a quick "Thanks, Potter."
Was this desperation on the man´s face? Harry knew that he´d regret it later, but before Snape disappeared between the first trees he asked: "Do you need help, Sir?"
Snape turned hesitantly. The thought of taking Harry with him to search for Mystery clearly didn´t enthuse him. On the other hand it was growing dark. Convenience won over pride at last. "I´d be glad if you assisted me, Potter."
They entered the wood at a distance of about twenty feet from each other, wands lit.
"Is there a way I can call him, Sir? Last time I got the impression he´s rather attached with you, so how do I make him come to me?"
"The trick is not to call him by any foolish name. Just call him Mystery." Snape went at considerable speed.
As soon as they were into the forest far enough not to be heard by students on the lawn, Snape started a pattern of walking some steps and calling the cat by his name. Harry followed his lead and did so as well.
Soon they were surrounded by darkness. The light of their wands was like an oasis in the desert. From time to time they heard a rustling in the leaves on the ground. Harry hoped it wasn´t caused by some big and hungry creature. Snape however seemed to have new hopes with every sound only to have them scattered moments later when no ´Miaow!´ answered his call.
"Sir, it´s too dark in here," said Harry after what seemed like hours. "We have to continue this tomorrow."
"Nonsense, Potter," snarled Snape. "I can´t leave him in the forest alone. He´s too small."
"He´s a beast of prey, professor. A small one, but nevertheless. He´ll be OK."
"Are you sure?" Snape didn´t sound confident. In fact he didn´t sound like Snape at all. Harry would have been astounded hadn´t he been aware that Snape never acted like Snape when Mystery was concerned.
"Yes," he answered in what he hoped was a comforting voice. "Let´s go back to the castle. I´ll help you in the morning if you´d like me to."
"I´d be glad."
They turned and headed to where they thought the castle was. After they had walked for a while in silence side by side, Snape pointed out that they had lost their way.
"I´m confident I can find the way back by day," he said, "but at the moment..."
"So we do what?" Harry asked. The prospect of spending the night in the dark forest in Snape´s company wasn´t very intriguing.
"We look for a dry spot and settle down for the night," said the teacher. He steered for a big oak tree and pointed his wand at some stones near its trunk. They turned into cushions. Some flicks of Snape´s wand later there were also some blankets, a small camp fire and a kettle.
The professor sat down on one of the cushions and dragged a (black) blanket around his shoulders. Harry settled down on one of the other cushions after a gesture of invitation by Snape.
"Are you hungry?" asked Snape.
"I was on my way to supper after a quidditch session. I was planning triple helpings," grinned Harry. His rumbling stomach confirmed his words.
Snape waved his wand again and handed Harry a tray with bread and cheese. "I´m sorry. It´s not much. I´m not good at camping spells."
"I wasn´t aware there are camping spells." Harry bit into a piece of bread hungrily.
Snape sighed dramatically. "Potter, it´s amazing how little you understand magic, seeing how brilliantly you use it sometimes."
Harry stopped chewing. Had this been a compliment?
"There´s magic for every purpose in life," Snape went on, ignoring Harry´s surprise. "There are camping spells. Household spells. House building spells. Lion catching spells. Gift wrapping spells..."
"Are there no spells to keep your pet in your quarters?"
"There are. But Mystery seems to know some care escaping spells."
There was a short silence.
"How come you know about Mystery?"
"When he hid behind the statue in the Entrance Hall and you sent us to our dormitories I sneaked back down to see whether the cat was safe. I saw you take him back to your quarters. – Sorry. I didn´t mean to spy on you."
"Who else knows?"
"Nobody."
"Nobody?" Snape chuckled. It was a bitter sound. "You mean to tell me that you missed the opportunity to tell every student in Gryffindor house that I have a soft spot when it comes to my cat?" Clearly Snape didn´t believe a word.
"It seemed wrong to tell anybody," Harry said pensively. "I thought about it for a moment, I´ll admit that. But then I thought about Hedwig. Hedwig is my owl. I´d miss her badly if she was gone and I´d not want anybody to make fun about that."
"Thank you, Potter."
After his simple meal Harry lay on a heap of cushions and – being exhausted after the quidditch training – fell asleep. He was woken by the sound of hooves. He lifted his head a little and saw Snape in conversation with a group of centaurs.
"You lost a creature you´re keeping for your amusement!" cried one of the centaurs. "How dare you hope we´d aid your attempt to recapture it, and be it only by permitting you into our forest! You´ll leave immediately! And be assured it is only out of respect for Albus Dumbledore that we let you leave unhurt!"
Snape retreated a step. "Please allow us to stay until dawn. I have a student with me and he´s tired."
"One of your foals?" The centaurs gazed curiously towards the fire.
Harry lifted up on his elbow, then got up and stepped beside Snape. He inclined his head to the centaurs. "Good evening!" he greeted politely. "I hope the stars bode well for your herd."
"He´s well educated, your foal," said the tallest centaur to Snape. "Good evening to you, too, foal of Dumbledore´s herd," he turned to Harry. "You should not be here in the forest at this time of the night."
"We came to find a cat," Harry explained. "Out of concern, not to imprison it. It´s very small and we feared it may be in danger in the forest."
"Out of concern?" said the centaur. "Why didn´t you tell?"
Snape looked taken aback.
"Because," Harry said, "he´s a fighter for our herd. Concern for a cat doesn´t suit him well." He smirked. "At least he thinks so."
The centaurs smiled. "Concern for a fellow creature suits everyone. You may stay until the sun rises. When the new day dawns, you´ll return to the castle." The centaur leader pointed towards what seemingly was the direction home. Harry tried to memorize where he had pointed. The centaurs bowed and disappeared in the darkness.
"How come you know how to deal with centaurs?" asked Snape as they stepped back to the fire.
"I´ve met them when I was here with Hagrid. How come you stand up to centaurs to keep them from waking me?" Harry regretted the question immediately. Was Snape really blushing? He hadn´t meant to embarrass his teacher.
"Go back to sleep, Potter. It´s still some hours to dawn."
Snape woke Harry as soon as the forest was light enough to see some meters. They decided to have breakfast at the castle and set out where the centaur had pointed after Snape had transfigured their camp back to leaves and stones.
"I´m sorry we didn´t find him," said Harry when they approached the edge of the forest.
"I´ll continue the search," said Snape and before Harry could say anything, "you have to prepare for your lessons."
"I can help you in the afternoon," Harry offered. "That is, if you don´t find him before."
"Miaow!"
Snape stood rooted to the spot. The lament of the cat had reached them just when they were leaving the forest. Harry and Snape both looked around, but Mystery was nowhere to be seen.
"Mystery?" Snape called softly.
"Miaow!"
Finally Harry looked up. "There he is, professor!" he pointed up a birch tree where the grey cat was sitting on a branch. Mystery looked rather unhappy. Harry laughed.
"What is so funny, Potter?" Snape asked harshly.
"Sorry, but this is a muggle cliché situation. Lost cats are always found in trees, unable to get down on their own."
Snape looked up to Mystery pensively. "And how do muggles get the cats down usually?"
"They call the firemen. Sometimes, in funny films, they fell the tree."
"What will we do?"
Harry grinned and offered Snape his broomstick.
"I´m not a good flyer," Snape admitted.
"You did quite well in my first year," Harry pointed out. "I´d go up there for you, but I´m not sure he´d let me touch him."
Reluctantly Snape mounted the broom. He kicked off the ground and carefully hoovered up to the cat.
"Come here, Mystery," he whispered gently and stretched his arm as far as he could.
It worked. The cat followed its owners call and let himself be picked up.
Snape landed beside Harry and handed him the broomstick. "Thank you, Potter."
"You´re welcome, Sir."
"You´d better hurry now. It will be ten points from Gryffindor if you´re late for Potions."
"Yes, Sir." Harry shouldered the broom and hurried up to the castle. He grinned. He was sure Snape had sent him away to be able to celebrate his reunion with his pet in private. He was also sure that no points would be taken from Gryffindor this morning. But as this was about Snape, he was not going to try it out.
END OF THE STORY.
