TODAY IS MY 19TH BIRTHDAY, SO TO CELEBRATE, I AM POSTING 2 CHAPTERS INSTEAD OF ONE!
The Dog Slipped In
By Artemis The Artist
A.K.A. Sombra The Resurrection
Chapter 4
Rin woke up, shivering. Pushing herself up, she opened her eye to see a piece of chocolate being held in front of her. She followed the arm up, and found it to be a man with graying brown hair and tatty clothes.
"Eat, it will help." he said, and she reached up and grabbed the chocolate, taking a bite. It felt as if a warmth blossomed in her mouth, spreading out and making her head dizzy for a moment before settling down.
"What happened?" she asked, looking up at her mom who had bent over to help Rin up.
"That was a dementor. Their dark creatures that suck out peoples happiness, and no one without magic can see them. Very dangerous." she said, helping Rin to sit down on the seat. She felt the seat cushion sink next to her, and looked over to see Harry sitting next to her, holding his head as he chewed slowly on his own chocolate.
"Now, you all stay here while we go up and talk to the conductor, OK?" Stacy said, looking at them as the man exited, and she followed suit.
Rin leaned back and sighed. She didn't listen as the others talked, choosing instead to stare out the window as they rolled on by. She had never felt so cold in her life, and she recalled that as she fainted, she had heard a women, whispering to her in Japanese, "Hide in the cupboard, Rin. Don't come out for anything, OK? Not till the bad people are gone. Do you understand Rin, do you?"
_[4]_
He bit tightly onto the rope, pulling it towards him. The boy wanted to play tug of war, so Sirius complied. This kid was good.
He loved kids. He had played like this with Harry when he was born. But at a gentler level. Harry had only been a baby at the time.
When he had first woken up under the tree, there was a bowl of dog food sitting beside him.
He looked at it. Then up, to the smiling face of a 5 year old boy about 7 meters away.
He looked back at the dog food. He would have preferred human food.
But he was hungry. This food was good for his dog form. Specially made for dogs, even. And he would spend a lot of time in this body.
The boy was still smiling at him.
He stood up, walked over to the bowl, and took a bite. It wasn't horrible. Not good either. Better than Azkaban. He didn't realize he was this hungry.
The boy clapped his hands as Sirius continued eating, then ran away. He came back a few minutes later with a bowl of water. Now this, Sirius had no complaints towards. He drank greedily, lapping up the liquid as the boy came over to pet him.
Now they were playing with some dog toys the kid had brought out, and Sirius had his work cut out for him keeping up with the kid. The boy was fast, and strong for his age. And 12 years in a cell had done nothing to help Sirius's strength.
Sirius let go of the rope, the boy falling back and laughing as Sirius collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, panting like crazy. To bad dog's don't sweat. It was hot out, and his fur was doing nothing to fix the problem.
Sirius's ears perked. It sounded like a muggle car had just pulled up outside the house. A door opened, and someone who was previously inside was greeting someone outside. He had to go.
Sirius got up, licked the boy on the face as a , "Thank you", and trotted back over to the bowls, finishing up the food and water set out. He barked back to the boy, and trotted off into the trees. Once he was out of the line of sight, he looked back, and saw a women coming out and bending down to the boy, him furiously pointing to the trees. Sirius gave his best impression of a doggy smile, and continued on his way.
_[4]_
Rin hopped down from the train, looking around as her mom stepped down behind her. There were kids everywhere, all heading towards a drive, while a large, hairy man called over all their heads, "First years, First years follow me."
Their were trunks being unloaded, seemingly by themselves, on to carts, and being pushed up the same way as all the kids were going, which was the direction Rin's mother took now.
They hung to the back, making their way up as Stacy said, "The Headmaster principal guy said there will be some carriages to take us up there. And you won't be able to see the castle at first, hun, but you will right when we pull up, ok?"
Rin nodded, turning the corner around some trees to see-
They both halted to a stop, starring at the picture before them. The carriages were hooked up to winged horse creatures that looked to be dead, with leathery reptilian skin and shiny black eyes looking forward.
Rin gulped, and glanced at her mother, "What are those?"
"Threstles," Stacy whispered, "and only people who have seen death first hand can see them. They're actually very tame and gentle creatures, extremely friendly from what I hear, but don't stare to much cause it looks like we're some of the few who can see, OK?"
Rin nodded, and walked over to a carriage in back, opening the door and climbing in, followed by her mother. They were joined by a few other kids, all older then Rin, and the carriage door closed, the coach moving forward.
Rin rested her head against the glass, looking out at the empty rolling hills. It was after about a minute or so that Rin got the prickly feeling in her neck, like she forgot something. She turned to her mom to ask if they could go back and check there luggage, when she caught her moms look.
Stacy leaned over and whispered, "It's a spell to keep people from wandering on the grounds. It makes you feel like you forgot things, and need to go back. Don't worry, it should be over soon."
Rin sighed, and rested her head back down, trying to fight ever growing feelings inside her head.
Just when her head was starting to fervently pound, and she was about to scream in anger, it all stopped, and Rin opened her eyes. Looking out the window, she gasped.
On top of the humongous hill that was previously empty, was a huge castle, complete with towers and everything, lights twinkling from all the windows. There was a lake just below, and the sight of tiny little boats crossing it's waters caught her attention, before her gaze roamed around the rest of it.
She took in the edge of the forest and all the little details as the carriage came to a stop, and Rin looked up to see the door swing open. Rin followed her mom into the castle, and they made their way into the great hall.
Rin starred in awe at the ceiling, watching the clouds roll by across the dark sky. There were floating candles all around, and looking to the front of the room, Rin saw a podium with an owl decorating the front. Beside it was a stool with a tattered old hat sitting a top, and a long table behind, where the adults were sitting.
An old man with an enormous white beard sat in the middle, and he stood up smiling, greeting her mom, "Ah, Anastasia, glad to see you got here safety, and this must be your daughter."
He looked at Rin, and she held out her hand, "Rin Jones,"
The man shook her hand, "Albus Dumbledore. Now Rin, as your mother is a teacher, she will be eating up here with the staff. You, on the other hand, have a choice. Either stay up here with us, or go sit at ay table of your choosing."
"Thank you sir, ' she smiled, and turned to her mom, "I'm gonna find Harry, Ron, and Hermione, OK?"
"Sure Hun, just meet me up here after dinner so we can find our rooms."
"OK" Rin said, and and made her way back down towards the rest of the kids. She quickly saw the trio from the train, and made her way over.
_[4]_
Stacy turned to Dumbledore, and he motioned to a seat on the left of another teacher. She sat down, and looked over to see Professor Lupin sitting next to a grumpy looking man dressed in an all black outfit.
Lupin looked up, and smiled her way, and she smiled back as she leaned back, relaxing into the chair. She looked down at the kids tables, meeting the apprehensive faces of all the students starring at her.
The door burst open, and the students all quieted as the smaller first years poured in, led by a stern looking older women carrying a pointed tattered old hat and a stool.
She set the stool down at the front, and unrolled a long list on parchment. "Now when I call your name, you will come up here and sit while that hat sorts you into your proper house." she said, and turned to the list. Calling out the name of the first kid, Stacy watched in interest as one by one they stepped up and were sent to which table and house they belonged to.
After all the first years were sitting, Dumbledore stood and moved to the podium with his arms open wide. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as on of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast...
As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts express, our school is presently playing host to some of the dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business. They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises – or even invisibility cloaks." he added blandly. "It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and everyone of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new head boy and girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the dementors," he said.
Dumbledore paused again; he looked very seriously around the hall, and nobody moved or made a sound. "On a happier note," he continued, "I am pleased to welcome three new teachers to our ranks this year. You see, we have both our new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin, as well as a new muggle studies teacher, Professor Jones. She is joined by her own daughter Rin, who will not be taking classes, but none the less observing. Also, after the retirement of our previous Care of Magical Creatures teacher, I am excited to say the spot will be filled by none other then our very own Rubeus Hagrid." At this, the Gryffindor table erupted in applause, and Stacy clapped along politely, looking down to see who they were referring too. She easily saw the enormous man at the other end, blushing horribly as he looked around.
"So, without further ado, tuck in!" Dumbledore called, and food appeared everywhere. Stacy looked around her, and reached for the mashed potatoes next to her.