Chapter 8: Let Training Begin

Severus Snape laid in his bed one rather cold December night. He was not asleep; sleep was never easy for him, so he listen to the noises around him. The water from the lake, snoring portraits, birds taking to flight, and finally the sound that pleased him the most, the gentle snore of his puppy. He stole a glance at the sleeping canine, which had now started to look like a gangly thing comprised of mostly legs and ears.

His life had changed completely since Chaos had arrived. He was getting out more than he thought he ever would just by taking the little one out for his needed walks. He also had the sneaking suspicion that he also knew how many parents felt with toddlers. He was constantly scolding and shouting at his young charge. Phrases that usually came out of his mouth went from biting comments to students, to now "No!", "Out!", "Drop It!", "Stay!".

Christmas holidays had just begun so with that he promised himself to train the little canine. He had no idea how to train a dog but it couldn't be that difficult. Chaos' breeder said it was easy. Severus inwardly snorted at that, 'She has been around dogs a puppies for most of her life so of course she would say it is easy.' Finally sleep overcame Severus from his nightly musings.

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Severus was cold, well colder than normal, he shivered slightly in his sleep. He rolled over to try and grab the covers on his bed. At that moment, he bolted upright because they were gone. He looked around, scanning his surroundings, when he finally found his sheets doing an odd dance in the corner and making rather amusing noises. He padded over to the mass and pulled on the sheets. The sheets gave a tug back and growled. Snape, still being half asleep thought it was odd for sheets to dance, pull and growl.

His senses came back to him and then he gave an almighty tug. The sheets flew off, revealing huge ears and an innocent expression. The little pup lowered his head in submission, expecting to be scolded. Instead he was ignored. Snape tossed his sheets back on his back and walked into his office without so much as a backward glance at Chaos. Severus scanned his bookshelf and finding a very old text on training magical animals. He sat at his desk and began to read the tome, absorbing everything like a sponge.

After being ignored, Chaos trotted happily to look for his master. He found him sitting at his desk with a book open. He tilted his head to the side and continued on towards his person. He sat beside him and rested his head on his master's lap. A strong hand came down on his head and scratched behind his ears. Chaos closed his eyes in contentment.

Severus moved his dog's head from his lap after a few minutes and began to prepare for the day ahead. He changed into his usual robes but there was a small difference, there was a lead dangling from his hand. Severus found Chaos sitting where he had left him, half asleep with his head on his chair. Severus walked toward Chaos, waking the pup, and slipped the lead around his neck.

Chaos bounded happily for the door but was stopped mid-bounce by a quick tug by the leash. When Chaos had settled down, Severus began their little adventure. They started off in the dungeons and soon found themselves outside. Severus put Chaos in a sit and stepped back, before the word "stay" came out of his mouth Chaos was charging toward him. Severus tried something new because stay wasn't working. Severus lowered the leash in his hand and dropped to his knees. He called his litter charge over to him, the little charge took that as his cue to make a bolt for it. He bounded and ran happily over the grounds until a booming bark sounded from a window. Chaos skidded to a halt and looked around. Chaos began to run toward his owner when he heard paws tearing across the grounds. He turned on the burners and sped towards Severus.

Fang, the massive boarhound, continued his pursuit of the youngster. It had been a long time since he had some real canine company. Chaos made it over to his owner, however, Fang didn't notice the beings in front of him were stationary. Fang slammed into Severus and Chaos. Once he realized that he was on the Potions Master and the young pup, he shook himself off, sending drool flying in all directions. Chaos turned toward his fellow canine and looked him over. Fang bowed in front of the little one, then all thoughts of Chaos' training left from the youngster's head. Chaos and Fang played for all it was worth. They chased each other and wrestled all over the grounds.

Severus completely gave up with training and just glared at Fang who was covering his dog in drool.