Cats to the Rescue – Chapter 3

Due to Harry's sneezing and coughing it didn't take the other cats long to wake up as well.

"Oh my God, I drifted off to sleep as well," Felina said, rubbing her eyes with her right front paw, before she turned to Harry. "I think your potions have worn off. Let me transform back, and I'll give you more, although you'll have to drink them this time. None of us is able to spell them into your stomach like Poppy does."

With that, Felina transformed back to her human form. She carefully picked Harry up and carried him to the nearby sofa, reaching for a thermometer similar to the one Mrs. Figg had used earlier, and quickly took his temperature.

"Still 40.6," she stated, sighing as she placed the cold thing back and brought a small bowl near Harry's mouth.

Harry sniffed, shivering at the strange smell of the dark green liquid. However, the woman pressed the bowl against his mouth, causing him to automatically swallow the cold and badly smelling fluid.

"Well done, sweetie," Minerva commended him, only to replace the empty bowl with another one, filled with a light yellow liquid.

Harry obediently swallowed, noticing the effects immediately. 'That must be medicine like what Aunt Petunia always gave to Dudley when he was sick,' Harry mused, letting out a grateful "Miaow."

Harry suddenly felt very drowsy and barely noticed the woman placing him back next to the other two cats, before she changed back as well and sat right next to him.

"The marmalade cat is my colleague Herbifera, and the black one is Nero," she explained in a soft voice.

"Are you feeling a bit better?" the marmalade cat queried in an equally soft voice as Felina's.

"Much better. Thank you so much for the medicine," Harry replied, shocked at how hoarse his voice still sounded.

"Shouldn't his fever have come down a bit by now?" Felina asked worriedly, turning to the other two cats.

"No, it'll take a few days," the larger, black cat replied shortly and rose from his seat, striding from the room without making the faintest noise.

Harry followed the black cat's every movement in absolute amazement. "Nero is a magical lynx," Felina explained gently. "He can change his colour at free will, and he can move absolutely soundlessly."

An instant later, the lynx was back, carrying a towel in his mouth. "Uncurl for a moment," he softly admonished Harry, who automatically felt inclined to obey to the soft but strict voice.

"That might help to cool you down a bit," the lynx said as he carefully adjusted the towel to Harry's neck, causing the small cat to shiver badly.

'Feels good,' Harry mused, throwing the large cat a grateful look.

'Are these two real cats, or are they humans like Felina and me?' Harry pondered, while he tried to keep his eyes open and follow the other cats' conversation.

"Felina, what are you going to do with him?" the marmalade cat queried, absently cleaning her front paw's fur.

"As soon as he is back to health, I'll try to convince him to transform back once more, so Poppy can properly check on him. She suspects he might be abused."

"You don't believe that, do you?" the lynx scoffed. "He is Harry Potter, saviour of the wizarding world. How could he be abused?"

"His relatives are Muggles, and they're the worst kind of Muggles I've ever seen," Felina replied indignantly, leaving Harry to ponder about what he had heard.

'Saviour of the wizarding world? Muggles? They must be crazy. There's no such thing like magic or wizards.' He absentmindedly brought a paw to his achy head, fiercely rubbing his forehead.

"If he is indeed abused, we can't send him back there, and Albus will have to understand that," the lynx said matter-of-factly.

"Poppy told me she can only do a proper diagnostic check on him, if he is in his human form. In his cat form, she can merely diagnose acute illnesses," Felina replied worriedly. "However, when I talked to him about transforming back, he absolutely refused. He even told me he didn't want to be human anymore because cats were much kinder, and when I asked if I should transform him back, he panicked."

"You could always transform him back when he's asleep, couldn't you?" Nero enquired, causing Felina to throw him an exasperated glare.

"No, I can't. I owe it to his parents to be a person, whom he can trust. Lily was like a daughter to me and Harry like a grandchild. I often babysat him when he was a baby. If I did that to him, he'd never trust me again. I hope to be able to convince him to transform when he feels better.

"However, how do you plan to hide him from the Headmaster, considering it's unlikely Albus sees reason? I don't mind the boy being here as long as he is in his cat form, but once he is better and you convince him to transform back, he won't be able to stay with me anymore," the lynx said thoughtfully.

"Why not? You know Albus hardly ever comes here. He's not able to come through the cat flap, and if he stands in front of the entrance door or the fireplace, you can quickly send the boy into another room," Herbifera suggested gently, causing Nero to abruptly change his colour to an angry neon green.

'Herbifera sounds very nice,' Harry thought, 'and she has a funny colour. From their talking I guess they're all humans in cat forms. Can everyone change into cats? I'd love to see Dudley or Uncle Vernon as cats. They'd hardly fit through the cat flap.' The sudden thought of his uncle made Harry panic. 'Did they already notice I'm gone? They will be so angry,' he mused, suddenly feeling very hot.

"He's sweating badly," Nero, who was back to his normal black, said in obvious concern. He carefully stepped around the two cat ladies, snatching the cold towel from Harry's neck to carefully wipe his sweaty face. "Are you feeling worse?" he queried, giving the small cat a sharp look.

"No, I'm fine. Sorry," Harry replied, trying to relax under the large cat's breath.

"Don't make yourself upset, little one; otherwise, your fever will spike even more," the lynx said sternly, readjusting the towel to Harry's neck once more.

'He is very skilful,' Harry mused in amazement as he thanked the cat. 'I could never do such things with my mouth.'

HP

Harry woke up feeling a tingling sensation all over his body. He anxiously opened his eyes, noticing blazing sunshine coming through one of the huge windows, which he hadn't even seen the day before. Poppy was crouching in front of him, waving a stick at him.

"It's all right, Harry. Poppy is just checking on you," the marmalade cat told him in a gentle voice.

Felina had changed back into her Minerva form and was standing behind Poppy, while the black lynx was nowhere to be seen.

"What is she doing with the stick?" Harry croaked, unconsciously extending his claws.

"Harry, have your relatives ever told you about magic?" Herbifera asked softly.

"I know that it doesn't exist," Harry whispered, letting out a few harsh coughs and curled up as a shiver shook his small body.

"Harry, magic exists, and you're a wizard, just like all of us here are wizards and witches. That's why we're able to change into animals if we wish."

"We're... I'm a wizard?" Harry asked incredulously. "That can't be; I'm only Harry, a freak and an ungrateful burden to everyone."

"Who told you that?" a sharp voice asked, and Harry felt strangely happy to see the lynx graciously step back into the den.

"My relatives," Harry whispered, gratefully looking up to Poppy and Minerva when he felt the effects of the potion Poppy had just spelled into his stomach.

"Don't believe what your Muggle dunderheads of relatives say. You're neither a freak nor a burden to anyone," the large cat growled with an angry expression on his face.

"Exactly, you're a very sweet cat, and I'm sure as a little boy you'd be at least as sweet. I'm eager to get to know the human version of you," the marmalade cat added softly.

"Poppy told me she has to leave the castle for a week because her sister and her niece are both sick, and she has to look after them," Felina announced. "She gave me detailed instructions what to do with Harry."

Ignoring Nero's snort, she continued, "One of us has to stay with him at all times, and we have to check on him every few hours and make sure he gets his potions. If his fever exceeds forty-one degrees, we'll have to transform him back and give him a cold bath, since otherwise it would be life-threatening. So far, his condition hasn't improved, and he'll probably be sick for a few more days. Well, there's not much we can do for him."

Harry barely heard the conversation. Feeling too horrible to keep his eyes open, he had curled up tightly, snuggled against the marmalade cat, craving the warmth from her fur.

The lynx rose from his seat, stretching his limbs. "I'll do some research about cats," he declared thoughtfully.

"And I'll go and tell the Headmaster one of you is sick and I'm going to stay here with you for a few days," Felina spoke up, throwing Herbifera an enquiring look.

"It's all right. I'll stay here with Harry. Minerva, will you be back in time his potions wear off? Otherwise, he might be frightened, since he doesn't know me in my human form yet."

"Of course," Felina replied and transformed back, stepping into the fireplace.

HP

Harry remained very ill over the next few days. His whole body was sore, and his fever remained extremely high. Nevertheless, he was happier than he had ever felt in his life before. 'They are so nice. From their conversations, they must be school teachers, and I think Felina told me we were at a school on the day we arrived,' he mused. 'Right, the building we walked around was huge,' he remembered, wondering what kind of school it was and what the three cats were teaching.

One day, Harry was pulled out of sleep as he felt something attack him, pulling his ear. He woke up with a jolt and cracked his eyes open, only to jerk away in horror, noticing he couldn't see anything. The world around him was completely black. Harry couldn't even see the fireplace anymore. He let out a frightened yowl, extending his claws at the same time.


tbc...

Thank you so much for your many kind reviews! I really appreciate them!

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.