Puppy in Hiding
by Healer Pomfrey
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
"Hey, can you understand me?" Harry asked in his parrot form. "What does the potion do?"
The twins exchanged a glance, sighing simultaneously.
"Yes we can understand you..."
"... and the potion is harmless..."
"... It just makes people dance instead of walking," the twins admitted, before they suddenly remembered what had caused the accident.
"How come you're able to transform into other animals?..."
"... Is the dog form your real form?"
"Um, well, not exactly," Harry said in a small voice, not wanting to lie to the nice twins. "But let's leave it at that, please. Yes, I'm a dog." With that he changed back into his puppy form.
=This is very annoying,= Bang informed him, trying to make a few steps forward on his small feed that were unable to properly move forward as usual.
Before Harry could even try to walk, the door to the Potions classroom opened with a loud bang, and the tall Potions professor crossed the room in a fast speed.
"What do you think you're doing here?" he hissed at the twins, who immediately began to apologize.
"Sorry Professor..."
"... we merely brewed a small prank potion..."
"... for our House mates," the twins explained, dancing around the table while they hurriedly cleaned up their work space.
"Stop this dancing immediately," the professor sneered, before he seemed to have understood. "Don't tell me you were so stupid and let yourself being hit by the potion."
"Yes sir..."
"... sorry sir," Fred and George replied, trying to keep their feet's movement under control - in vain.
'This is too funny,' Harry thought. 'I think I'm going to fly back to Gryffindor though.'
"Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention here tomorrow evening for the unauthorized and unsupervised brewing in the Potions classroom," Snape hissed at the twins and threw them out. "Don't forget your waggling tails with ears," he sneered, "before they end up in a cauldron."
"No no," the twins replied, and while Fred grabbed Flash, George reached for Bang, and the puppies felt themselves being carried out of the classroom in a fast dance rhythm.
=That was funny,= Harry whispered to Bang, who immediately agreed and made a sad face, when Harry announced that he was going to change back into a bird in order to not have to walk.
"You know you're unfair..."
"... It was your fault that the potion exploded all over us..."
"... because you shocked us by your transformation," the twins said, reproachfully.
"Oh okay, sorry," the parrot replied, before Harry changed back into his puppy form. Together with the twins and his puppy friend, he danced all the way back to Gryffindor, where he let himself sink into his puppy bed in exhaustion.
HP
In the morning, the group of four danced to the Defence classroom. Harry sighed in relief, when he let himself sink next to Bang on the floor under the twins' table. Since the first day of classes, he had noticed that Bang had much more energy to run up and down the vast staircases than himself. 'Probably because I'm not a real dog,' he mused, 'and our legs are so small.' After having to dance all the way to the Great Hall and then to the Defence classroom, he felt utterly exhausted. 'I can't wait for the potion to wear off tonight,' he mused, absentmindedly licking Bang's right forepaw.
All of a sudden, his head exploded in pain, just when the Defence professor walked around their table to the teacher's table. 'That hurts,' he thought, miserably. One could not say that he was not used to pain. Often enough had Uncle Vernon hurt him; however, it was the first time for him to experience pain in his puppy form. Unfortunately, he found no relief from his headache before the end of the class.
"Come on quickly, we have to take you for a wee-wee before the next class commences," Fred told the puppies, causing Bang to happily jump around the boys. "Flash, come quickly," Fred called his pet, however, realised in concern that the puppy only followed in a very slow speed.
"Maybe we should skip History of Magic and take Flash to Hagrid. He knows a bit about dogs. Maybe Flash is ill," George said, thoughtfully, when they stepped out onto the grounds, so that the puppies could relieve themselves.
"Yeah, let's do that," Fred agreed and picked up Flash, who gratefully licked his face.
George resolved to carry Bang as well, and a few minutes later, they arrived at Hagrid's hut.
'The grounds are gorgeous,' Harry mused. 'I'm so glad to be able to live at Hogwarts. I really like it here. Everyone is so friendly, and the classes are very interesting. Maybe apart from Defence. Transfiguration and Charms are the best. Potions might be good if I could watch them brewing, but I'm sure the professor would have a fit if we didn't remain under the table. I like it when they have a theory lesson. It's really interesting, and I'd like to learn more. Maybe I should change into my human form from time to time and read the school books or borrow some books from the library. Would the twins keep my secret if I told them that I was human?' he wondered.
HP
Hagrid spent a few minutes cuddling with the cute puppies, who both tried to lick his face at the same time, before he handed Bang back to George in order to check on Flash.
"I can' fin' anythin' wrong with the lad," he said, finally. "But maybe it would be better if ye let Professor Snape check on'em with a spell. He'd also be able to give ye the right potion if the lad needs any."
Giving the half-giant a terrified look, Harry jumped from his lap and ran towards the door, hiding in a small opening between the door and the next shelf.
"It's all right, Flash. We won't take you to Snape," Fred said in a soothing voice, cradling the small dog close, once he had managed to take him out of the small gap.
Once again carrying the puppies, the twins thanked Hagrid and returned to the castle.
"Don't you like Professor Snape?..."
"... Isn't he the nicest professor at Hogwarts?" they asked in their singsong.
Their voices somehow sounded annoying to Harry, who still had a headache, and he let out a small growl.
The remaining of the day passed uneventfully, although the twins occasionally looked at Flash in concern. However, by now, Harry's headache was gone, and he thoroughly enjoyed the Transfiguration class, in which the third-years had to transfigure plush cats into live cats and stun them before changing them back.
HP
After dinner, the four danced to the dungeons, feeling very annoyed that the potion still had to wear off.
The Potions Master greeted them in what seemed to be an even fouler mood than usual. He handed the twins two toothbrushes and ordered them, "Clean the classroom with these. Give me your wands. You'll find detergent cleaners and anything else you might require in the ingredients cupboard." With that the professor retired to his desk to grade some homework while supervising the twins' detention.
Fred and George handed over their wands and readied themselves to commence with their work. They led the puppies into the ingredients cupboard and instructed them to stay there, relieved that both puppies had learned to obey to their instructions.
While Bang drifted off to sleep very soon, Harry watched the twins clean the Potions classroom. 'How boring,' he mused. 'He should make them study instead of assigning such stupid and boring tasks.' Suddenly, he felt the urge to relieve himself, but knowing that he could not disturb the twins under the professor's watchful eyes, he decided to take care of business in one corner of the ingredients cupboard.
Unfortunately, the ingredients cupboard was still waiting for a student's detention to be cleaned, and the remants of an already dried potion found itself on the floor, just where the puppy relieved himself.
Harry observed, terrified, how his small, yellowish puddle grew bigger, while its colour turned pink as it interacted with something invisible. 'It's getting huge, and it stinks,' he realised, before he automatically took a few steps backwards, almost stumbling over Bang. Unfortunately, Bang jerked awake in shock and equally quickly dodged Flash, ending up bumping into a nearby shelf.
Due to the impact, several dozen potions phials crashed to the floor.
'Oh no, the Potions professor will use our limbs as potions ingredients like he threatened before,' Harry thought, horrified, as he - together with Bang - fled from the cupboard and hid under a shelf in the classroom.
tbc...
Thank you so much for your many kind comments. I am sorry for making some of you worry. No, I am fine, just a bit busy at the moment. Thus the small chapters...