Cat-Like

PT: Yeah, well, I've noticed things like "grey," and "realised." I've revised those, because my US-style OpenOffice won't tolerate Canadian, UK, or Australian spelling :x God. If ZaraPotterCullen would like me to change it back to Canadian spelling, I'll do it. Fortunately, I have a UK version of Harry Potter 5 bought when I was in Canada, and an American version that's a hand-me-down from my cousin; I can consult those if I ever get confused. After this chapter, I'll be writing, so the writing style will change. I won't make it one of those angsty, complex things I usually love to write xD (Since I'm determined to write similarly to Harriet Beecher Stowe and Gregory Maguire -shot-)

Disclaimer: Please. I'm a dog owner. All the cats in my neighborhood are wild. Don't even consider.

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Chapter One

It was midnight. The full moon glowed brightly in the night sky. Harry Potter turned over in his blankets. He couldn't sleep, and he didn't know why.

Ron, who sleep in the bed beside his, could not sleep either. Ron shifted his position slightly, so he could see his friend's back.

Neville was staring up at the ceiling. He glanced at Harry's bed. Harry seemed to be awake to him.

Suddenly, a searing pain came from Harry's forehead. It spread into his whole body. Harry screamed and writhed uncomfortably. He thought he would burst from the pain. He felt something prickly coming out of his skin, and his ears were stretching up painfully. His nails lengthened to form claws, and his hair shortened a lot. Little did he know, Ron and Neville were experiencing the same thing. All three boys were blinded with pain.

As soon as it started, it stopped! Harry stood up panting, as if he had run a hundred laps around Hogwarts. He realized he was on four paws. How did this happen?! thought Harry. He noticed that his vision was no longer blurry. Then he examined himself. Harry was now a black tom with white paws.

Strangely, his screams had not woken up any of his roommates. When he looked where Ron slept, instead of Ron, there was a ginger tom with white tipped tail. "Ron?" meowed Harry.

"Harry?" meowed the ginger cat.

They looked at each other, bewildered. Then a brown tabby tom leaped from where Neville's bed. "Harry? Ron?" he mewed, looking uncertainly at them.

"Neville?" they both mewed. The three cats looked at each other. Neville saw that Harry had a white mark on his forehead, exactly the shape of his scar.

Then Ron spoke: "Let's go outside, or we'll be discovered!" Harry and Neville agreed. They snuck out the dormitory and into the common room. The warm fire had gone out already. Crookshanks was sleeping on a comfy armchair. They decided not to wake him, for fear of being clawed to death. They crept past him and through the portrait hole. Taking a secret passage, they managed to avoid Filch.

When they were in the castle grounds, they saw three she-cats already there. A ginger cat with white tipped tail like Ron, a light brown cat with a bushy tail, and a golden she-cat. They turned to look at the toms.

"Harry...?" murmured the light brown she-cat, when she saw them.

"Hermione?" said Harry, incredulously. The two groups of cats looked at each other in realization.

Just then, a smoky gray tom with white flecks ran out of the castle. "Help!" he yowled, desperately.

Mrs. Norris ran out a second later, chasing the tom. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Luna bared their teeth at Mrs. Norris. She shrieked and immediately turned tail and ran.

"Thanks!" panted the gray tom. Ginny peered closer at the tom. He had familiar gray eyes...

"Malfoy!" snarled Ginny. Draco looked at her, surprised.

"Weasley?" he meowed.

"Two of them," growled Ron, stepping forward.

Draco looked at each one of them, realizing who was who. "It wasn't you?" he asked.

"Wasn't us what?" mewed Luna.

Draco glared at her. "It wasn't you who turned me into a cat!" he said.

"Of course it wasn't, you son of a banshee!" grumbled Ginny. She continued, "The problem is how we change back!"

Hermione looked thoughtful. She said slowly, "You know, Crookshanks might be able to help."

"That mangy furball?!" exclaimed Draco.

Hermione hit him with her paw. "Never call him a mangy furball!" she snarled, baring her teeth.

Draco cowered slightly and nodded.

"Well? Are we going to meet Crookshanks or not?" meowed Ron, impatiently.

"Let's go, then. You too Malfoy!" growled Hermione.

The group of cats entered the school. They walked through the corridors, narrowly missing Mrs. Norris and Filch. Finally, they reached the Gryffindor common room. Draco, Neville, and Luna stayed outside the portrait hole, while the rest of the Gryffindors entered. Crookshanks was in the same place as before, peacefully sleeping.

Hermione jumped up and whispered "Crookshanks!"

Crookshanks opened his eyes sleepily. "Bluestar?" he meowed groggily. Hermione was very confused. Bluestar was a character she read in a book, in her first year!

"It's Hermione!" she mewed. "I'm a cat!"

Crookshanks sat bolt upright and stared at her. He looked at the rest of them. "Come! No one can see you like this! Follow me!" he said, urgently.

Crookshanks jumped from the chair onto the carpet. Without a word, he trotted through the portrait hole. The Gryffindor cats followed him, exchanging questioning looks. They met the other cats outside and they followed.

Crookshanks didn't stop even when they were at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They kept on going until they reached a hollow tree. Crookshanks looked around, as if he was expecting something to jump out at them. Then he ducked inside the hollow.

Suddenly, the first traces of dawn appeared. A bit of the sun peeked over the horizon, showering Hogwarts and the cats with light. Harry started to grow bigger, his fur thinned out, his claws became nails, and his vision became blurred again.

The other cats became human too. They looked at each other and a smile formed on all their faces.

Crookshanks poked his head out the hollow and gasped when he saw them. "You're human again!" he meowed. Surprisingly, they could still understand Crookshanks. Hermione bent down and picked him up.

"Come on Crookshanks, time to go back," she said.

The teenagers made their way back to the castle, each thinking of an excuse in case they were caught.