Ch12 Summer Shenanigans
Molly Weasley was walking along the High Street of Ottery St. Catchpole, which consisted of a post office, library, half a dozen shops, police station and a fire station. She had her two youngest children along with her, both putting up a terrible fuss. Not that this was unusual, but what was unusual was that both Ron and Ginny agreed on something. A feat that hadn't occurred in nearly four years and nearly always ended badly for the receiving party.
"But Mum! I promised Harry he'd be able to come over! It's not like he's a stranger, I've known the bloke for the whole year. He's even in Gryffindor!" Ron sputtered.
"Be that as it may Ron, you've only been home two days and I think it best if we just have some family time before we go inviting strangers to live with us for the summer," Mrs. Weasley responded tersely. Ron had been at her most vocally for the past two days to allow Harry to come spend the summer with them. She wasn't at all sure. He seemed like such an odd boy really, and she didn't know him at all apart from their first disastrous meeting last summer. She was also rather uncomfortable with the idea of a boy writing so prolifically with her only daughter who seemed equally enamoured with him. She hoped meeting Harry wouldn't be too much of a shock for Ginny as she vividly remembered the 'wedding' that Ginny had with her pet Kneazle she had named Harry. Ginny had been enamoured with the boy since she was old enough to understand the stories about the Boy-Who-Lived and meeting him in person had the potential to go very badly.
"Please, Mum!" Ginny begged. "If Ron knows him he can't be too bad! I promised he'd be able to come over, too!"
"And when perchance would you have done that, Ginerva?" Mrs. Weasley said annoyed. She didn't like her children promising things without her permission.
"Mum! We're pen pals! You know with Harry Potter! THE Harry Potter."
"GInny he isn't an object he's a boy. Treat him appropriately."
"MUM! Come on... Please!" Ginny whined, turning the sad puppy eyes on her mother.
"Well we'll see. Now what do you want for dinner dears?" Molly said trying to divert the conversation while peering intently at a basket of sprouts.
"Hey! Get him! Stop the little freak. Come back here!" Shouts of teenage outrage poured from the direction of the post office as around the building came a mob of barely teen boys that Ron knew as the local 'gang' of bullies and outpacing them handily came a very, very... naked... Harry. Scratched from head to toe, it looked like the Boy-In-The-Buff had run through a bramble patch prior to treating the town to an eyeful. Molly was shocked... and somewhere in the part of her mind that hadn't shut down she registered that a song was blaring from a stereo the fire fighters had playing while washing the fire appliances.
centeriHere he comes, look at that, look at that Oh, yes, they call him the Streak
There he goes, look at that, look at that
And he ain't wearin' no clothes
Look at that, look at that
Fastest thing on two feet
Look at that, look at that
He's just as proud as he can be
Of his anatomy
He goin' give us a peek/center/i
Ohhh... The irony. "Hi Ron, Hi Ginny, Hi Mum Weasley!" With that the green-eyed flash was gone, barely escaping the mob of older boys on his tail. Ron stood shocked and then retroactively jammed his hand over his sister's eyes.
"Ron, gerroff!"
" Ginny this is no sight for a kid!" Ron said authoritatively
"Ron, you're a kid, too!"
"Am not I'm a whole year older than you!"
"Children stop it!" their mother snapped. "You are not going to fight and I seriously doubt that Harry will be coming anywhere near the house this or any other summer!"
Ron shook his head. Sometimes his mother could be so thick. "Mum, it's not like you have much of a choice."
"Ronald Weasley!" She shouted. He scrambled to explain himself.
"No, really Mum. Harry told us he was staying with Auntie Arabella and Uncle Sebastian."
Molly exhaled sharply. She'd been over there just before the children came home to drop off dinner and see her relatives. They hadn't said anything then. She'd need to go confirm it soon. In the meantime, dinner still needed to be prepared and she'd have to work quickly to have it ready when her darling husband returned.
Elsewhere, dinner was being contemplated as well. Harry had eluded his pursuers and changed back to his regular Kneazleness and was currently stalking a rabbit with Merlin. He hoped his brother didn't jump the gun. The orange and white striped Kneazle always was one for being premature.
Eyes fixed and muscles taut Harry slinked forward. The only movement was the gliding of his paws through the tall grass as he silently made his way closer. Being down wind he was able to get within a metre of his prey. He crouched low and in his peripheral vision he could make out his brother doing the same. Harry would go first; Merlin would follow in case he missed, but Harry never missed. Springing swiftly the rabbit never had a chance, the terrified animal's squeals were quickly ended as his sharp teeth punctured the rabbit's throat. Father had always taught them not to let the prey suffer. It was enough that they gave their lives so that Kneazles may live, it wasn't right to play with them like a common house pet. Merlin sauntered over and between the two of them they devoured the rabbit. Rabbit from home still tasted better than rabbits in Scotland. Perhaps it was regional?
"Treats! Come on loves, Treats!" Arabella's high-pitched voice came warbling out from the back porch. The entire Pride knew better than to be late for that! Harry was a little saddened that four of his older siblings were no longer with them. One had gone off to find a mate of his own, one had been killed by a local now-dead dog, and two were hit by cars. Father was most upset about them. Rowenna and Godric were two of the best hunters they had and it had been hard on everyone for a few days, but mostly it was the unnaturalness of it all. They were philosophical about dogs, and going off on one's own to find a mate was a commendable activity, but cars held a special fear for all felines, especially when the drivers intended to hit them.
It warmed his heart to see that three of Mum's kittens from last summer had made it and likely would reach adulthood. Since they were still considered kittens they were given front of the treat line. Then Mum and Father, the older brothers and sisters and finally Harry and his litter mates followed. When he rubbed against Arabella's leg her only reply was, "Not until you're human, Harry. I want to hear all about this year." Harry begrudgingly transformed and sauntered in amongst several of his siblings and a wide eyed Arabella.
"Harry! Where are your clothes?" She asked having finally regained her voice.
"Oh, those. Well, some of the boys in town were throwing rocks at one of the tabbies over by Mrs. Davidson's house and I couldn't stop them being me so I switched to two legs and thrashed one of them and the other five chased me. My clothes got caught on some bramble bushes and bippity boppity boop I was naked and running through town."
Arabella moaned. "Most of the town saw you, I suppose."
"I should think so; I did run into Ron, Ginny and Mum Weasley too," Harry said brightly. "Do you have any more of those loincloths for me? I might be needing some more."
"Harry, please for my sake and Sebastian's, please put on something respectable." Grumbling Harry went upstairs to find something hot and restrictive to put on.
"Boy's got too much fight in him for his own good sometimes. Seeing him reminds me of his mother though. So much passion and fight in such a little package," Sebastian commented from the doorway.
"What are we going to do with him? Molly's been over here and telling me he's been writing to her daughter, little Ginny, all during the school year. Molly already doesn't like the boy because of his incident last year."
"Nothing for it, Bells," Sebastian replied using her nickname from when they were kids. "Some things a boy has to learn on his own. One of those is not to run naked through the town in front of his friend's parents. Important lesson that. Wish I'd learned that earlier." He grinned.
"My dear brother, I do believe that you were rather intoxicated and quite a bit older." Arabella replied exasperatedly.
"Around twenty I should say. It gave both Mary and her mother something to look at," he said with a wink that turned into a sudden fit of sadness.
"Sebastian, are you ok? Is it about Mary?"
"I still miss her, Bells. I do. Twelve years she's been gone and I still wake up thinking she should be there," he said, wiping away unshed tears. A loud bounding down the stairs alerted them to Harry's oncoming presence. The boy was usually so quiet, they were glad for the warning.
"Is this acceptable, Arabella?" Harry asked petulantly.
"Yes dear. Now come into the sitting room and tell us about your year. I hear Miss Weasley was receiving letters all through the term. Not a single one for your old caretaker, eh?"
"Sorry, Arabella. I thought you might be too busy with the rest of the family."
"Harry, the minute I'm too busy for you they'll be singing at my funeral. You are still one of my kittens after all," she said affectionately as she scratched behind Harry's ears. He let out a deep rumble in his chest that could almost be mistaken as a purr. "Now come on in to the sitting room and tell us all about this year. I hear you've had quite an adventure." Settling on to the sofa Harry kneaded the plush fabric for a good thirty seconds. Arabella was happy that the boy had finally taken to sitting properly. Perhaps there was hope for him yet.
Harry, for his part, spun a tale of discovery, friendship, danger and ultimately death. He left out only the numbers of detentions and the fact that he didn't attend more than four or five History of Magic lessons the entire year by his count. With each minute his story went from unique, to wild, to wholly unbelievable. After thirty minutes both Arabella and Sebastian were staring at him with dumbfounded looks of incredulity on their faces.
"So please let me understand Harry. You made friends, likely passed all your lessons, became the youngest Seeker in a century, fought and killed a mountain troll, befriended a unicorn herd, smuggled a dragon out of the country, and managed to fight and defeat a vessel of the most evil wizard this century all before your twelfth birthday?" Arabella finally asked.
"We also won the Quidditch Cup," Harry said brightly as he popped another treat in his mouth savoring the delectable combination of liver and cheese. That's really what this world needed was a never ending treat bag. It would be much more useful than any old stone for gold.
"Harry m'boy if you were anyone else I'd have told you to shove off halfway through, but I think you're telling the truth and it scares me to no end. What was Dumbledore thinking? He had to have known what that professor was! If not at first then surely at some point the man had to have shown the signs! Dammit, I hope Albus isn't losing his edge."
Sebastian's rant was cut short when a loud rapping on the door was heard and Arabella rose stiffly, displacing several of her Kneazles, to go see who would be calling on them this afternoon. "Molly! So good to see you, do come in. Something I can get for you?"
"No, thank you Auntie, but I did come to check on something rather important."
"Oh? Something we can help you with, Molly?"
"Yes, you see, Ron had said that Harry Potter was living with you now and I do believe I saw him running rather indecently through the town this afternoon. I thought I would check and let you know at the same time if it turned out to be true."
"Yes, we know and yes, he is. It seems he had a bit of a confrontation with some of the in town boys and his clothes were sacrificed to a bramble bush somewhere. He's better now, but I do apologise for any ermmm... damage to your sensibilities."
"Oh... Well then." This was clearly not the reaction Molly was expecting from her aunt. There was no passion or fire behind her words, merely a kind of slow acceptance. She felt something rub past her legs and when she looked down there was a medium sized Kneazle doing the figure eight around her ankles. Rubbing face, side and tail as though to mark completely that this was one of his. She bent down and picked up the feline and looked intently at his green eyes. There was something familiar there; she just couldn't place what it was. The rest of him was as black as coal except for the curious white patch above his eye, shaped almost like a lightning bolt.
"What did you name this one?" Molly asked.
"Harry." Arabella replied.
"As in Harry Potter?"
"Well, yes, all my Kneazles are named after famous witches and wizards. There is hardly one more famous than Harry except possibly Merlin."
"Auntie, I shouldn't think... What does the real Harry think of his namesake here?"
"Oh, they're quite close as I understand it. Practically inseparable most times," Sebastian said with a twinkle in his eye. Harry made a mental not to make sure no copyright laws were broken when Sebastian stole the twinkle from the Headmaster. Better to make sure no eyes were broken either.
Squirming enough to voice his demands Harry was gently set down on the floor where he left the adults to discuss his human self in privacy. He had much more important things to attend to and approaching the speed of sound Harry hit the kitty door and was gone over the fields towards his second home and his Human.
Her delighted squeals were music to his furry ears and his tail was held high like a drum major conducting a fine parade. When your human wants to see you as much as she obviously did, Kneazle pride called for only one course of action, strut... Harry strutted over to his red-haired pet like the cock of the walk. "Harry! I'm so glad you came back! Mum said you'd gotten hit by a car, but I knew you were much too clever for any of that. Where were you? Oh never mind, we've got the whole summer together. Can I tell you a secret?"
"Merow?"
"Hehe, of course I can." She giggled. "I'm friends with Harry Potter! The Harry Potter! You remember the one from the story books I used to read you. He'll be coming over to see me, well, Ron and me this summer. I'm sure of it. Then you'll finally get to meet your namesake! I'm so excited," the young girl gushed as she picked Harry up and rolled back on her bed, settling him across her chest. Lord this was a long Kneazle. He must've grown when she hadn't seen him she was sure of it!
"Prrrrttt! Merowwowow." Harry intoned, followed by a deep unending rumble. It was best to be in the tender ministrations of his human. She always knew where to scratch and not to pet too hard and she almost always had a special treat lying around for him. That's why she was allowed to pick him up and swing him around and why he didn't get too terribly upset when she dressed him up in clothes and pretended to marry him. It was just part of the symbiotic Kneazle-pet relationship.
"Oh, I don't know, Harry. I suppose he's brave and handsome and I bet he has the most beautiful green eyes. I've only seen him the once. We wrote to each other all this year and he told me all the things he was doing. Like being the Seeker for Gryffindor, youngest in a century! Can you imagine? He and Ron even beat a mountain troll!" she said with wonder then continued in a conspiratorial whisper. "Don't tell anyone, but Harry even told me that they smuggled a dragon out of the Astronomy Tower to some of Charlie's friends. He said they got caught, though, and lost loads of points. I hope he didn't get in too much trouble. He even said he'd take me to meet with the unicorns next year! Isn't that exciting! I've never seen a unicorn before. Oh, I can't wait to see him. I'm so anxious!"
Harry at this point had righted himself enough to comfortingly ram his head into her hand and let her know everything was going to be ok. "I know it will be all right. That doesn't stop a girl from being nervous, though. What if he doesn't like me after all?" Harry's eyes locked with hers. That was exceedingly unlikely.
oOo
"But MUM!" Ginny whined.
"I said I'd think about it young lady and that is the best you're going to get. I'm not at all sure about this young man even if he is Ron's friend! Where did the Kneazle come from?"
"Mum, Harry's been with me for nearly nine years now. We've gone everywhere. This is just the first time you've allowed him in the kitchen. I think he came from Auntie Arabella's house."
"Well, it's best he not be in the house. He could have fleas or worms. I won't have it getting you sick." A low growl emanated from Harry's chest that seemed to reverberate throughout the otherwise quiet kitchen. The twins were in their room doing god knows what, Ron was sleeping and Ginny was sure Percy was somewhere doing something important.
"Mum, it's been three weeks and we haven't heard from him! You haven't even let me go to Aunt Arabella's! It's not fair!"
"Young lady it is high time you learned the world in its infinite wisdom is not fair. Until I have a more favourable impression of the boy you will NOT be cavorting about with him unsupervised."
"Mum, if you don't meet him you can't get to know him!" Ginny responded, her temper flaring to match her mother's. "Beside that he's Ron's friend too! Are you going to punish him as well! Right, Ron?" she exclaimed at a recently woken Ron who had just made the trip down the stairs. However, instead of responding, he turned around and hurried quickly back to the safety of his room and away from the inevitable fight of two equally matched Weasley women. Ginny merely muttered something that sounded like 'coward'.
Mrs. Weasley was not to be dissuaded by logic, however, and began a tirade against indecency in society, Harry's general proclivity for a lack of clothes and culminated with the ever popular 'you'll understand when you have children of your own!' Throughout, Harry's finely tuned Kneazle senses picked up the emotional distress of his Human. While his logical human side of his brain told him he would be better off to beat feet up the stairs and spend the day curled up in a sunbeam, but Harry's Kneazleness wouldn't allow that kind of dishonour. Fortunately, the feral snarl he let loose cut through Molly's rant ending whatever else she had to say on the subject of public nudity and pre-teens prematurely. Staring down at the Kneazle in front of her, despite her superior size and magical potential, she still felt rather like a gazelle on the receiving end of a lion's maw.
"Fine, he can come over tomorrow for one hour! If he's not on his best behaviour or I see him in less than full dress... family or no that boy will wish he'd never set foot in my house. Now just get that blasted Kneazle out of here!" Sensing the win Harry sprinted out of the kitchen by way of the table and an open window making sure to put on paw through the crust of a bramble pie just for good measure, and to ensure he had something tasty for the walk home.
iDear Harry, I know this seems silly with you living not two miles away, but Mum won't let me come over and talk to you even with Auntie Arabella there. Mum says you can come over, but only for a bit. Let me know if you want to. I told Ron I'd ask for both of us. Mum is 'worried' about you being a bad influence on us or something. I don't know, it doesn't make sense to me. Send back a reply with Errol, please!
Sincerely, Ginny/i
Ten minutes later Ginny was reading the note that Harry sent.
iOf Course. Silly Mum. /i
Sincerely, Harry
The hour the Boy-Who-Lived spent in The Burrow was so confusing it nearly blew Mrs. Weasley's head to bits. He was polite, but strangely informal, energetic but slow moving with the occasional bout of hyperactive explosiveness. His protectiveness of her daughter was strange. He walked half a pace behind her and to her left always. His eyes never stopped moving and she suspected if he had ears they'd be twitching the way his head kept cocking to the side.
Molly had thought to herself perhaps that was simply what he did with new people or even her family, but much to her dismay he only seemed to display these tendencies with Ginny. She observed him wrestling with Ron, giving the twins a hard time and helping all of her younger children hassle Percy just shy of causing real problems. It was like he'd been living here for years and she'd never noticed. When it came to Ginny though… he was caring, protective and seemingly understood her better than her own mother! Now there was some of this to be expected. After all, they did spend the entire spring term writing letters back and forth. The familiarity of the boy with her house, though, was exceedingly unnerving. If they were five years older she would be convinced that he'd been having romantic trysts with her daughter on the kitchen table. She smiled involuntarily at several choice memories of her, a seventeen year old Arthur, and a very different kitchen table.
There was nothing more that Molly could do, she realized. Harry had, all things considered, been as well behaved as she could expect any of her own children to be. She realized this wasn't setting the bar all that high, but he refrained from profanity, crude jokes and kept all his clothes on. What more could a mother ask for in her son's friends?
Unfortunately, this brought around a second train of thought. Harry the strange-child-who-lived-and-was-adopted-by-family… (whew what a mouthful!) was not merely Ron's friend, but seemed equally connected to Ginny. That did worry Molly. It simply didn't seem natural for a boy his age to want to spend all his time hanging around his best mate's younger sister.
Much to her chagrin, Ginny seemed equally enamoured with The-Boy-Who-Lived. Molly had known that her daughter had a fantasy crush on Harry Potter for years. The idea, if not the reality, of the actual person had been her childhood crush. Molly had allowed Ginny's letters back and forth with the boy because she hoped it would break the childhood fantasy if she saw he was a real person, but the depth of understanding (one no eleven-year-old boy should possess) merely heightened the interest. So much so that Ginny had gotten so excited she accidentally put her elbow in the butter while asking him if he'd like anything to eat. Harry had politely refused, calmly pointed out her current predicament and merely taken to munching on what Mrs. Weasley had thought was a bag of cat treats.
However, as Ron put it so easily, she had better get used to the idea of Harry being around in some fashion. Not only did he seem to be friends with two of her children and not totally unacquainted with another three, but he was living less than two miles away. She supposed he would be around for some time.
oOo
The summer was passing satisfactorily, Harry decided. He was catching mice and playing with his siblings. He'd been visiting The Burrow regularly on both two legs and four, flying when on two and sneaking through the house to steal sweets for Ginny when on four. He learned more about chess from Ron and wondered what the twins were up to. Harry thought it odd he hadn't seen Ron's rat all summer, but perhaps that was due to his renewed four-legged activities at The Burrow.
It was a fine evening just before supper as Harry sauntered over to the burrow with his tail held high. He'd helped Agrippa chase a dog away from the corn crib this morning, but the dog had been naturally skittish which prevented its untimely demise. All was right with the world.
Jumping up on the kitchen windowsill he peered in and saw the typical scene, except no Ginny. "Dear, if you're looking for her I've sent her into town to pick up some juice for dinner. You'll have to come back later. Merlin! Look at me talking to a cat like he can understand me." Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.
Disgruntled, Harry jumped off the window sill and began to follow Ginny's scent trail into town. Not too difficult as fresh as it was. Sauntering forward Harry enjoyed the scent of fear from the local dogs. They had learned the large kitties that occasionally flaunted themselves through town were not to be trifled with.
Harry's acute triangular ears heard an acute disturbance around the next corner. Likely Mrs. Kay arguing with the butcher again, but the magical signature… GINNY! Was all he could think. Sprinting around the corner was the stuff of any Kneazle's nightmares. There were three of the local 'gang' and they were standing in a semi-circle in front of a crying Ginny. She was sitting on the ground with a broken bottle of lemonade slowly spilling out around her.
The boys were laughing, laughing at HIS human and her tears. Nothing was quite so heart-wrenching as that moment and it filled Harry with a deep inner hate. He didn't remember transforming, and he didn't remember picking up the piece of pipe poking out of the garbage can. Harry's only memories even years later were of leading a distraught Ginny home. She never saw him transforming into a human, and she never questioned where he came from, but he could feel the question right behind her eyes.
"Ginny, dear!" Molly exclaimed as they walked slowly in the door. Ginny had a black eye that was puffy and red and her dress was torn a little. Her lip was leaking a slow trickle of blood. Although not totally needed, Harry was helping her in the door to maintain contact and assure himself his human was still in one piece if nothing else. Harry didn't look much better, as though both were on the receiving end of some rather nasty attention.
"What happened?"
"Mum…" Ginny sniffled. "Some of the big boys in the town cornered me when I was buying juice and they kind of roughed me up." It was apparent she was valiantly holding back tears.
"Those boys! They're a menace like their older brothers. Bill had a few run-ins with them years ago. I'd hoped their parents had learned better discipline. I'll have to go talk to their parents I suppose. Those boys can't be allowed to run amok."
"Not necessary, Mum Weasley," Harry replied. A proud if slightly vindictive smirk crossed the boy's face.
"Of course it's necessary, Harry! We can't have them doing this to younger children. It's simply not right!" Her fury was beginning to build now, a dangerous sight for anyone who knew Molly Weasley.
"Oh, they won't be doing anything for awhile. I took care of them." Molly swore she heard him mutter "No one hurts my human and gets away with it."
"What do you mean 'took care' of them?"
"I thrashed them black and blue, Mum Weasley. I doubt they'll be moving much in the next few days let alone hassling human kittens." The significance of his statement dawned on Molly just as not two miles away a policeman was calling on Arabella Figg.
"Mrs. Figg? I'm Sergeant Gilbert from the Catchpole Police Station. Is a Mister… Potter here today?"
"No, I'm afraid he's out at the moment," Arabella replied cautiously. Their house didn't have any Muggle Repelling charms like The Burrow, due to the emphatically less magical nature of the dwelling. Sometimes she wondered if that was such a good thing though. "Is everything alright?"
"I'm afraid not, Mrs. Figg. Young Mr. Potter was believed to be involved in an incident earlier today and we need to question him. Three boys are in hospital today and we need to find out how."
"Oh dear… Well, if we see him again, we'll be sure to let you know."
"Thank you, Mrs. Figg. How are the cats coming along then?"
"Oh quite well, Officer. Growing like weeds. They had another litter last summer. We're very excited."
"Glad to hear it. Good day then."
After the officer shut the door, a very tired-looking Sebastian walked around the corner. "Harry's in trouble again eh? No surprise there. Looks like I'm going to have to have a talk with him. We won't always be able to protect him. I'll fetch him home."
Ten minutes later after coaxing and threatening a very harried-looking Harry away from an equally distraught Ginny and flooing him home they were firmly entrenched in two very comfortable arm chairs.
"Harry," Sebastian began in the best impersonation of his father he could muster. "What happened today in town? The police were looking around for you and they said you were involved in an… altercation. Care to tell me about that?"
"Of course! Well, I went over to The Burrow to find Ginny, but Mum Weasley told me she was out at the shops. So I scented her there and when I got there, some of the boys that chased me a few days ago were laughing at her. They'd hurt her! Really hurt her Sebastian! I just got so angry."
"Then what?" He prodded gently.
"I don't really remember. I just sort of blanked out. I think I was human and I remember hitting them with something. It's all just so difficult to remember."
"Hmmm… Let me tell you what did happen, Harry. At least according to some other people who were there, you attacked three boys with a pipe."
"Oh, well that clears that up. Always a nuisance when I can't remember who I did what to."
"They're in hospital, Harry," Sebastian intoned. He was clearly worried about the lack of emotional response from his charge.
"Good. Then they won't be hurting Ginny any more. Can I go hunting now?"
"No!" Sebastian stated firmly. "Harry, I'm not your Father on four legs or two but Arabella and I've consented to taking you into our house so I bear a burden to help you become the best person you can be."
"Kneazle."
"Excuse me?"
"The best Kneazle I can be."
"And that, son, is the crux of the matter. Firstly you don't need me to help you be a good Kneazle. Kneazles are good all on their own. Secondly you aren't just a Kneazle any longer. You bear an allegiance to two worlds."
"Sebastian, I am a Kneazle trapped in a human body. Mum and Father took me in and raised me and I thank you for being there to help me but I don't need help being a better person." Harry spat the word.
"Ah, Harry, but are you simply a Kneazle?"
"Of course."
"How many of your brothers and sisters can do magic Harry?"
"Well, none, you know that."
"And can you do magic with a wand and without?"
"Yes, I did well in most of my subjects."
"Ahh subjects. Do Kneazles study?"
"We learn with Mum and Father and the older Pride members. You know all this Sebastian. I know Arabella told you all of this. She even wrote it down for you."
"So you can read, then?"
"YES! What's the point?"
"The point is, Harry, you can read, do magic and have a far greater predilection for learning than any other Kneazle I've ever met. You have so many… human characteristics, wouldn't you agree? I'm not saying you are any less a Kneazle, but perhaps you are more than just a four-legged protector of we poor humans. You've been granted a chance for great things I think. Don't waste your gift, Isis wouldn't like it."
Harry drew a sharp gasp at her name. "And you think she granted me this… ability to better help my Pride?"
"No, Harry, I think you've been given a gift to help everyone. Your two-legged side and your furry side must merge and then you'll be one of the most powerful wizards ever. You helped the unicorns without a second thought. Would a Kneazle have risked himself alone for that? The others risked themselves because you are one of them and you gave your support, but not purely for the sake of helping another. You told me the forest belongs to the Kneazle, and all creatures within were part of their protection. Does that apply to the Grindylow or the Acromantula? No, and you know it. They risked themselves for you and you risked because you love. You have an awesome capacity for self-sacrifice and love that is definitely human Harry. However, you have an equal capacity for darkness, an equal human trait."
"I don't understand what this has to do with anything, Sebastian!" Harry was getting frustrated and when he was frustrated… things tended to go badly.
"Just this, if you accept that you are part human, which you most certainly are, then you accept the fact that you can do so much more than you've ever dreamed to help not only your Pride but Kneazles, humans and magical animals everywhere. However, you need to remain vigilant against succumbing to the traits of human darkness and evil. I know what you thought you did was right today, but let me ask. Was Ginny truly hurt? Were they going to kill her? Did they have large teeth and see her for dinner?"
"Well, no… I don't think so."
"Then why did you nearly kill them? Believe me Harry if they hadn't been so much larger than you that very well could have happened. Would a Kneazle kill for no reason?"
"Certainly not! I wasn't intending to kill them… I don't think. They hurt my human!"
"Harry, whether you intended to or not, the fact is you almost did. This is the darkness within yourself you need to be vigilant with my boy. Not everything need be settled with maximum force. In fact sometimes it is far better to settle it without any at all. And you certainly can't simply go around killing everything that upsets you, Harry."
"I told you, they hurt my human."
"Nothing a few days rest won't cure. What they may have wounded irreparably was your ego, a dangerous thing for a Kneazle to have. Wouldn't you agree? When you start going hunting thinking no dog can touch you that sounds like a recipe for trouble"
"Yes, sir…" Harry hung his head because it was true. "I don't understand. You said it is better to settle things without force. When? Dogs don't learn by running away!"
"I never said they did. But when your Father stares a stray tom down and fluffs his fur and growls in a way that gives me shivers… That tom runs off, doesn't he?" Harry nodded. "Did he need to kill the tom? Risk injuring himself? If he fought every two bit tomcat that came into the area he might be truly injured when something that needed his attention was there. Fighting isn't always the answer, please remember that."
Harry nodded dumbfounded. It made sense. Is that what the nearsighted purple clad Kneazle molester was trying to tell him all along? Why didn't he just say so! Dumb humans, well not all of them. Sometimes he was almost proud to be related to them. Related yeah, that had to be it. He wasn't a true human. Related…
And chanting this motto to himself, Harry sauntered off to work out some cerebral frustrations through the good old-fashioned sport of mouse hunting.
AN: UPDATE MAN! Strikes earlier than anticipated. I hate waiting to post almost as much as you hate waiting to read. I'm about five or so chapters ahead now so I thought this would be a good time. I was planning for April but I'm getting the hang of this faster than anticipated. So question of the AN a poll of sorts. Would you be interested in reading an American Harry story? I intend it to be a Romance/Comedy adventure. Focusing both on cannon story line but also on the amazing differences (as I see them) between two very similar countries. Just a question. Never fear this will continue to receive updates. This plot bug is rolling about. As usual this would likely be a Harry/Ginny story because let's face it she's awesome.