Chapter 2: Getting a Job
Harry Potter looked up at the building in front of him. Bright painted letters along the top of the building said,
"NS Veterinarium"
And over the door hung a sign, saying "Closed for Maintenance"
This was the place where the advert had told him to come to apply for the job. Securing the Confundus Ring around his finger, and making sure that his wand was secure in his sleeve just in case, he knocked on the door.
A frazzled looking elderly bearded man in a white doctor's coat opened the door.
"What the heck do you want?" he said in a gruff voice.
"I'm here because of the advert in th-"
"You're here for the job!?" the man exclaimed, perking up.
"Yeah."
"The lads from construction are here in the main hall, so why don't you just go down the side alley and come in through the back door?
"How will I know which one is the back door?"
"There will be a door with a large neon sign that says 'back door' over it."
"So I go into that one?"
"No. That's the gay strip club. You need to go into the one after that. Just let yourself in. The first door to the right is my office. I'll be with you in just a minute."
Nodding, Harry walked into the side alley, and entered the door after the one that had 'Back Door' in neon letters above it. Entering the man's office, he sat down on one of the chairs. The entire office was strewn with papers. A potion kit was set up in one of the corners, and the walls had posters on them.
A minute later, the man entered the office and sat down on his chair.
"Newt Scamander." he said, offering his hand.
Harry's eyes widened as he shook his hand and said, "Pleasure to meet you Mr. Scamander. Can you tell me a little more about the job? Your advert was a bit . . . lacking in details."
"Ah yes. Easy stuff to explain. I'll supply you with funds for portkeys and lodging while you travel where I tell you to go and do what I tell you to do. You don't get any extra pay other than that. Simple."
Harry had another question, "No offense meant Mr. Scamander, but that was rather vague too. What exactly is it that you will tell me to do?"
"All in good time young man," Mr. Scamander said, picking up a quill and one of the parchments scattered across the table. "But first, if its fine with you, let's fill up your internship form eh? You didn't tell me your name did you?"
Harry floundered for a second, "Er . . . Dobby"
"Dobby what?"
"Dobby . . . " Harry scrambled for a surname, "Dobby Buckbeaks"
"Doesn't sound like a pureblood name. Muggleborn?"
"Half and half sir" Harry said, rather proud of himself for having saved that situation.
"Good. You seem like the athletic type too. It'll be useful for the job. Now, I'm asking for the final time here Dobby. Are you sure you want this job? It can be dangerous."
"I think I do sir. I just want to have a fun summer and travel the world."
"Very well then. Sign here Dobby" the older man said, handing him the internship form, which was an A4 size parchment with only one line on it.
Dobby Buckbeaks is an unpaid intern at NS Veterinarium
Signature: _
"It isn't some sort of magical contract is it?" Harry asked nervously.
"Magical contract!?" Scamander exclaimed, "What do you think I run here? A gold mine? I treat animals and sell books for a living. Those things cost over ten thousand galleons each!"
Nodding, Harry signed Dobby Buckbeaks in the blank space. Scamander took the parchment and rolled it up before he stuffed it into one of his many drawers.
"Good. Welcome to NS Veterinarium and all that. Now let's talk about the details of your job."
"Of course Mr. Scamander." Harry said, eager to know what his new job would entail. He didn't have a problem with not getting a salary, since he had his Malfoy gold now to blow off. Something fun and unexpected was what he wanted to experience. And from what he'd seen until now, this job was perfect for it.
"Please, we're colleagues now. Call me Mandy."
Harry's left eye suddenly developed a twitch, " . . . Will do Mandy."
"Well then Dobby," Scamander said, "Let me tell you this first. Despite the fact that hundreds of magical creatures have been discovered by wizards, thousands more remain in anonymity, undiscovered by wizardkind. Your job, is that of an explorer. You have to go to places where I send you, follow leads and rumors, do some detective work, and find and record the existence and behaviour of magical creatures."
"And how will I do that?" Harry asked, quite intrigued, "Do I just send you letters by owl or something?"
"Of course not. You use these" Scamander said before he dipped his hand into another one of his desk drawers and pulled out a thick looking hand-held journal and a mirror.
Scamander handed them both to Harry.
"What are these?" Harry asked, looking it over.
"That journal is called the BeastLog. It contains information on all known magical animals, and lots and lots of empty pages. Its basically like a handheld encyclopedia. Its now your job to fill its pages with all the new creatures you discover. It has never ending pages, so don't worry about running out of space to write in."
Harry stared at the BeastLog, quite impressed. "And the mirror?"
"Standard two way mirror, which you can use to communicate with me. You can ask advice, ask stuff about what creatures you're facing and so on. Only use it in emergencies though. Cross country calls are cruelly expensive."
"So when I discover a new creature, I just write about it?"
"Indeed. Pictures are appreciated, but not really necessary."
"Got it then. I'll be sure to buy a camera just in case. So when do I start?"
"Whenever you want! You could start now if you wish."
"Then I think I'll do that."
"That's great then. Let me call a friend in the Ministry to whip up your first portkey. Usually takes a long time to get portkeys in the ministry, but the guy owes me a few favours, so he should get it done pretty quick." Scamander said as he went over to the fireplace and threw some floo powder in it.
He spoke in whispers into the fire for a few moments, before he turned to Harry and said, "He'll have your portkey ready in a few , your first mission, is to investigate the rumours of a large creature in the Lake Como in Italy. You'll be heading to Milan, from where you can head over by broom. You do have a broom right?"
"Oh yeah" Harry assured, patting his pocket, where his shrunken trunk containing his Firebolt was.
"Good. Its your first assignment, so be careful, and do your research before you jump into the lake and try to find it. Mingle with the locals, learn their tales and stories. Find out as much about the creature as you can,by looking through local literature and stuff before you try to find it. Understand?"
"Got it" Harry said, pocketing the BeastLog and the mirror.
"Then all we've left to do is wait for the portkey" Scamander said. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" Scamander called out.
A young woman, brown haired, and looking like she was in her twenties, peeked in from the door with a black Kneazle in her hand.
"Sorry to disturb you Healer Scamander, but Mrs Queef really wanted her kneazle neutered and checked up today, and she won't leave until we do it. Jean Beauregard has handled the neutering but I'd really appreciate it if you checked him up quick. Oh and he had a few thunder-porcupine quills in her face when she came in."
"I'll handle it Joyce," Scamander said, moving to take the kneazle from her hands. Harry winced as he saw the kneazle dig its claws and teeth into his hands.
"Thanks a bunch" Joyce said before leaving and closing the door behind her.
"Well he seems a bit pissed off doesn't he?" Harry dryly remarked as he watched Newt pull out his wand, cast a Stupefy at the kneazle and then dislodge its teeth from his hand before healing the wounds.
"Ah well," Scamander replied, "I'd be a little stand-offish too if I came in with a face full of electrified porcupine quills and then woke up to find my nards gone."
"Valid point" Harry said, before he quieted down and let Scamander do his job. He looked around the office as Scamander did the Kneazle's checkup.
Parchment . . . lamp . . . more parchment . . . glass box . . . even more parchment. Wait a minute!
He noticed a small glass box peeking out from under a sheaf of parchment. Standing up, he made his way over and removed the sheaf of paper, only to find, to his surprise, a small, brilliantly shiny orange and black coloured coral snake in a glass box.
"§What is your name?§"Harry quietly hissed at the snake. There was no reply. The snake only looked at him for a second before going back to what could Harry only assume was contemplating its existence.
Curious, he turned to Scamander.
"Is this snake yours?" he asked the man.
"Butpleg? He's a medical snake. Belongs to the hospital. He does colonoscopies."
"What!?" Harry's voice reached a new level of pitch.
"You know . . ." Scamander said, oblivious to Harry's shock. "He goes in from the back door, sees what's in there, then we copy out his memories and see what's wrong and what we can do for the patient. He does a lot of animals. Mostly horse types though. Unicorns, Abraxans, Pegasi and the like."
Harry looked at the small coiled up snake, wondering what horrors that little creature must have seen in the rectal tracts of those horses. Deciding that he had to do something about it, Harry said, "Can I have him? Having some company on the trip would be great"
"Sure. Take him. He's not poisonous any more though, since we removed his poison glands when he started here. He's getting a bit too old for the job anyways." the elder man said.
Harry slowly opened the lid and offered his hand to the snake. "§Come on Butpleg. Let's get you out of here§" he quietly said.
The snake considered Harry for a second before it slowly climbed up his hand and coiled itself up around his wrist.
With a whoosh, the fireplace suddenly lit up and turned green. Scamander quickly cleaned his hands with a wave of his wand, left the Kneazle, and went to the fireplace to talk to whoever was calling.
A moment later, he looked up from the fireplace and handed Harry a broken quill and a piece of paper. Harry looked at what was written on it.
Nifflertits
"That's the portkey activation word. When you're ready, just grab onto the quill and say it, and you'll be off."
"So this is it then. Thanks for all the help . . . Mandy"
"You're welcome lad. Have fun out there."
"I will" Harry said as he grabbed the quill, and said, "Nifflertits"
He felt the familiar feeling, as though a hook just behind his navel, and he had been suddenly jerked forward. His feet left the ground, and he disappeared from the office in a howl of wind and swirling color.
It was almost sundown that day by the time Albus Dumbledore finished up with all the paperwork of his reinstatement and returned to his office in Hogwarts.
The sheer number off absolutely useless, random and totally out of context bills that the Dark sympathising Wizengamot members were pushing in was absolutely mind boggling.
Albus knew why they were doing it of course. It was so that he wouldn't have time to pass legislation to act against the Death Eaters. And so far, their tactic had been moderately successful.
Letting Fawkes fly back to his perch and rest, Albus sat down at his desk to sign off on the Hogwarts bills before going off to sleep.
A small piece of parchment suddenly caught his eye. It must have been delivered while he was at the ministry. It wasn't anything to look at, but it was the handwriting that caught his attention.
That messy chicken scrawl was without a doubt, Harry Potter's writing.
Picking it up, he read what it said,
Dear Professor,
Toodles
Sincerely,
Harry
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Albus suddenly started noticing things that he hadn't noticed before in his exhausted state.
There were few white feathers strewn across the floor, and the only owl with white feathers that he knew was Harry Potter. Furthermore, the fireplace was smoking and sparking, indicating that someone had tried to floo call him several times.
Swiftly moving towards the fireplace, he quickly checked to see who had flooed him.
It was Arabella Figg.
He quickly lit the fire and floo called the woman.
"Albus! Thank goodness you're here! I kept calling because was worried when I noticed that the Dursleys didn't have Harry with him when they returned from the station. Albus I'm worried about the boy." Arabella said, looking very distressed.
"Its going to be alright. Stand back Arabella. I'm coming through."
A second later, he emerged from the Fireplace in Arabella Figg's house, assured her that he was looking into what had happened to Harry, and quickly headed to Number 4 Privet Drive.
It was the lanky form of Petunia Dursley who opened the door, in her nightdress.
"What are you doing here!?" she hissed, her eyes sweeping across the neighbourhood, making sure no one was watching.
"Hello Mrs. Dursley. We've corresponded of course, but I'm afraid today calls for a personal meeting. Will you not invite me in?" Albus said calmly.
No doubt struggling to slam her fist into his face, Petunia opened the door and let him in.
Sitting down at the Dursley's couch and conjuring some tea, turning Petunia's face redder than a tomato. "Will Mr. Dursley not be joining us?"
That set her off.
"He's asleep! Tired! We spent an hour trying to find the boy at the station! Is it not decent manners to tell us if you're going to keep the bastard for the whole summer!? How are we supposed to . . ."
Dumbledore tuned the woman's rant out and withdrew into his thoughts. He had gotten the information he had come for from that single line.
This news was reassuring in a way because it meant that Harry hadn't been kidnapped by the Death Eaters.
But it also could mean that Harry's distrust in him had reached a point where he wasn't willing to trust him enough to stay in his protection. And that was more troubling than anything else.
Now, Albus Dumbledore was a very fit man for his age. He had a very good bone and muscle density, his heart was well-functioning, and his reflexes were better than ever.
But old age hadn't left him untouched. After he had reached the age of 105, he had started to develop problems in his digestive system. More specifically his large intestine.
So whenever he got very nervous or stressed, his body would involuntarily let out a burst of flatulence. It was a very simple disease, and a very easy one to deal with. Just a potion every day and it was all dealt with.
But today was different. Dragged up by the Wizengamot paperwork, and now Harry going missing, he'd forgotten to take his potion.
Albus Dumbledore, with some dread, realised that when he felt a large fart forming in his lower abdomen.
A single sweat formed in his brow as he tried to think of how not to embarrass himself in front of Petunia Dursley of all people.
An idea formed in his mind to deal with this situation of crisis, and he hastily started implementing it. He shuffled along the sofa a bit, and spread his bumcheeks apart, making sure his fart would pass through unobstructed by his buttocks.
The fart came a second later, and floofed into the fabric of his underwear without a single sound, leaving Dumbledore feeling quietly victorious. He had truly triumphed over the fart.
Mentally patting himself on the back, he turned his attention back to Petunia, who had finally reached the conclusion of her ranting and raving about how they had spent all of fifteen minutes searching through the platform.
"Ah yes, Mrs. Dursley. I'd really like to apologise for not letting you know about Harry not coming here this summer. Truly my mistake. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to the school. Good night to you" he said, and quickly left the house.
It was better to not let the Dursleys know about Harry being missing. If any death eater somehow found them after the blood wards failed, the Dursleys would tell them that Harry was with the Order, and it would throw Voldemort off Harry's scent for at least some time.
Meanwhile, he had to somehow find Harry, stay ahead of the Death Eaters, convince Horace to come back and get the anti Death Eater bills passed, all by himself!
He let out a sigh of frustration. This was turning out to be a very bad day.
Harry Potter was gone. And he had absolutely no idea where.
Is Dobby Buckbeaks a bad name? Yep. Does iknow some of you will not like Harry using 'Dobby Buckbeaks' as his name, but its for a relevant plot point. I promise.
I decided to take the 'wizards use animals for their work' to a bit of an extreme. Owls for mail, snakes for colonoscopies. Next Chapter, Mission #1: Milan, Italy.
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