Cats to the Rescue – Chapter 2
Harry didn't notice Felina jump from the sofa and transform into an older lady like Mrs. Figg.
"Harry told me he couldn't change back, and when I offered to transform him, he panicked and told me, he wanted to remain a cat, because humans weren't nice. He didn't speak with me after that, but he told Teda his head and throat was sore. Apart from the bad cold or whatever is ailing him, is he a normal child?"
"I have the impression he is very unhappy, and his family doesn't treat him well. However, Minerva, his fever is much too high for a cold. I bet he has the flu or something like that," Mrs. Figg replied thoughtfully.
"Well, then I'll go and fetch Poppy. She'll know what to do. She has cast diagnostic spells on me in my feline form before," Minerva decided and turned back to the fireplace.
HP
When Harry's mind slowly returned to awareness, he saw two elder women standing in front of him. One of them was waving a stick at him, before she sighed and spoke quietly with the other woman and Mrs. Figg.
"Harry has the Muggle flu, and my diagnostic spell showed me various smaller injuries ailing him. If you don't want all of your cats to catch the flu, I should take him with me to Hogwarts."
"What about the Dursleys?" the other woman threw in. "You can't just take the kid away. His aunt will want to care for him, if he is so ill."
Mrs. Figg let out a snort. "They don't care at all. Petunia always calls him a freak and complains how much of a burden he is. She'd be glad if you took him away. I'm sure she wouldn't even bother asking about him."
"But Albus..."
"Minnie, he is very ill with more than forty degrees of fever. I don't care what Albus says, and as long as he is in his cat form, Albus won't even know," the first lady interrupted the other impatiently.
"Okay, Poppy," the Minerva lady agreed and turned to Harry, causing him to curl up in a tight ball. "Don't worry, sweetie. Everything will be all right," she said softly as she gently picked him up and cradled him close to her chest.
Harry heard the two women thank Mrs. Figg, before he felt as if everything was turning around. 'What is happening with me?' he thought, but before he could open his eyes in fright, Minerva began to speak to him in a very soft, soothing voice.
"Relax, sweetie, we live in a huge school, which you are going to attend in a few years' time. Your parents were once my students too. We'll take you there, and my friend Poppy will make you all better."
'School?' Harry thought in confusion but listened in awe when the woman spoke about his parents. Suddenly, he felt himself being lowered onto something very soft but began to shiver violently at the loss of Minerva's body warmth. Anxiously opening his eyes, he found himself on a white pillow on the floor of a very huge room.
"It's cold, isn't it?" the other lady said gently and covered him with a warm blanket.
Feeling too miserable to let out any sound of gratefulness, Harry merely blinked once, glad when the lady seemed to understand.
"You're welcome, sweetie. I'm Poppy, by the way. I'm going to check on you once more to be sure I give you the correct potions, all right? I won't hurt you. If I ask you something, I want you to blink once for yes and twice for no. Do you understand me?"
Harry weakly blinked once, but immediately curled up tightly when he saw Poppy draw a long stick. 'That's like in my dream with the green light,' he mused, panicking until he felt a paw gently rub his back and heard a cat's voice next to him.
"It's all right, Poppy will make you better quickly. She won't hurt you. Hang in there for a moment."
'The Minerva lady is the Felina cat again,' Harry realised. 'Will I be able to change back and forth as well? At the moment, I prefer to be a cat though. Everyone is so nice to me.'
"Yes, he has the Muggle flu as well as some minor injuries, which are not urgent," Poppy brought him out of his reverie. "It would be easier if he was human, but if he prefers to stay in his cat form he may do so. I'm relatively sure the flu potion will work for cats too. Fortunately, Severus has just brewed a batch for me, knowing that always some of the students living in a Muggle environment bring the Muggle flu to Hogwarts at the beginning of the school year."
"Harry, are you willing to change back into your human form, or do you want to remain a cat for the time being?" the Felina cat queried softly, causing Harry to curl up tighter.
"The cat form it is then, I guess. That's all right, sweetie. I'll transform back now to speak with Poppy."
With that, he felt the grey cat leave the large pillow, and a few seconds later he heard her speak with Poppy. "He seems to prefer his cat form for the moment. What are we going to do?"
"How about taking him to the lynx's den?" Poppy enquired as she, unbeknownst to Harry, spelled the potion for the Muggle flu and a fever reducer into the small cat's system.
'Oh, feels good,' Harry thought, suddenly feeling much cooler and not so drowsy anymore. "Thank you," he croaked, unaware of the fact that the two ladies merely heard a "miaow."
"I believe that's a good idea, Poppy. That way, we can take turns looking after him and keeping him company. Do we need any preventive potion for the flu?"
"No, I don't think so. I'm quite sure the normal teachers' immunization shot covers the Muggle flu as well. I'll come by to check on him again after dinner."
"All right, Poppy, thank you."
With that Harry felt himself being picked up and lazily opened his eyes, he saw it was Minerva, who carefully carried him, crossing the large room towards the door.
'How did we come here?' Harry pondered in confusion as Minerva stepped out into a corridor with huge paintings on the walls.
'Oh no! The people in the pictures move,' Harry thought frightened, although deep in his mind he had the impression as if he had seen such things before. Nestling deep into the woman's green clothing, he allowed himself to be carried through an immensely large and thick door out into what seemed to be a park.
"Are you all right, little one?" Minerva asked gently as a violent shiver shook his small body.
"Miaow."
"Hang in for a moment; we'll soon be there," Minerva replied and carried him for what seemed to be an infinite time along a never-ending wall and through a small a garden, until they came to a halt in front of a door that contained a cat flap. "I'm going to transform into my feline form now. Please follow me through the flap." She gently placed him on the ground and, seeing he struggled to stand up on his four legs, she carefully lifted him so he came to stand on his paws.
Harry let out a grateful, "Thank you," and followed the grey cat through the cat flap into a very small corridor.
'Where are we?' Harry mused anxiously but instinctively knew he could trust the older cat.
Apparently becoming aware of the fact that he was dead on his feet, Felina stopped abruptly and transformed back into her human form, before she picked him up from the floor and gently carried him into a huge room that was built around an enormous fireplace.
"This is our cat's den," Minerva explained, smiling as she put Harry down on the soft, black ground at one side of the fireplace. "Stay here and rest; we'll join you in a few minutes."
Harry tiredly lay down, gratefully noticing that Minerva moved a few pillows, placing them behind himself, so he could make himself comfortable. "I don't think you'll get cold here though," she said softly, before she straightened and strode away through a nearby door.
Harry couldn't help feeling a bit anxious remaining all on his own in an unknown place and unconsciously extended his claws, but the medicine Poppy had given him earlier made him so tired that his eyes drooped and he drifted off to sleep, before he could even further take in his surroundings.
HP
By the time Harry woke up, he felt absolutely horrible. 'I felt so much better earlier. Was that only a dream?' he pondered as he lazily opened his eyes, only to close them again immediately and blink a few times. 'What's that? Where am I?' he mused, frightened, seeing not only the grey cat curled up on a pillow next to him but also a marmalade cat as well as a huge, black cat sleeping on the soft ground in front of the fireplace.
tbc...
Thank you so much for your kind reviews! I appreciate them very much as they inspire my stubborn muse to write ;-)
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.