Chapter 12 - For the love of Dogs Part 1

For years to come, young Harry would never be able to explain quite satisfactorily how he was able to survive his first end-of-year exams.

On one appendage, he was burning with questions about his mother and father. He had no idea who to ask or how to ask these questions. Books that he had read from the library were of no use to him either. Conjecture was all well and good, except when you wanted to know what your Mum's favorite color was. He also very much doubted that his Father really liked cleansing his wand after raids in a concoction of innocent souls and phoenix tears.

On another appendage, there stood General Granger. She kept hovering over him. Did she really have to throw it in his face that she was one-point-three inches taller than he? Sometimes she would ask him questions during their study period and he would get them wrong on purpose. He liked seeing her face turn puce. He missed that particular shade, as he often saw it on his Uncle Vernon. It was a lovely color, really. But no matter how lovely a puce Granger turned into, it was still a bother to him since he couldn't properly do research with her around. She scolded Ron for merely getting up to use the loo once. Apparently, "If you have time to pee, you have time to read".

On some other appendage, he still had his personal projects to consider. He wasn't giving up on them. He was currently at an impasse on his ghost product development. Sir Nicholas was gracious enough to ask him to continue the experiments the following year since, so far, he had only been able to bruise the ghost a bit. Not that anyone noticed. Ghost bruises, oddly enough, were silver-colored like their bodies. Harry had yet to slice anything ghost-like. He was also quite upset at the lack of progress between his favorite Professor and the Mer-Vamp. The former could be seen wasting away, depressed about their state of affairs, and the latter's scowl kept steadily getting harsher as time progressed. The two probably met an impasse between each other as well. Perhaps one, to state it delicately, didn't want to be topped?

On a completely different appendage, there were also his...shudder... examinations that he had to think about. These examinations were preceded by oodles and oodles of fun essays. General Granger rattled on for half an hour when she saw that he reduced a three-foot minimum length charms essay to three inches. She shut up when he presented her with a perfectly respectable "A" from Flitwick. It helped that his tiny professor wrote a note on the side stating that he 'had a talent of summarizing all relevant facts into a few statements'. Though, Flitwick did also request he make an effort to lengthen it a bit more next time. Thankfully, the examinations were nearly over. And while the written exams were quite tedious, he had a lot of fun during his practicals. They were tasked to make a pineapple tap dance across a desk in Charms. Harry's pineapple glided more than tap-danced. But the Professor also didn't spot the tap-dancing candlesticks on the ceiling. They were charged to turn a mouse into a snuffbox in Transfiguration. McGonagall took points off of him for still having fur and whiskers on his. He tried to explain to her that he had done this on purpose since he found the mouse to look cute. And hadn't she ever heard of themed snuffboxes? His just happened to have a mouse theme. Potions had them try to make a forgetfulness potion. He didn't know what happened but he just remembered blinking and suddenly the Mer-Vamp was once again breathing on him. He took one look at his professor, then one at his empty cauldron, before astonishingly declaring that it had actually worked. The Mer-Vamp was not amused.

And on his favorite appendage, he really missed Kirby. Ever since his run in with the law, he still had not been by to see his three-headed friend. He realized how odd it was that he was so fond of a friend for having three heads, while trying to decapitate the only head of another. He wondered if Kirby missed him. Oh, the price he would pay just to hear his friends affectionate growls from the door to the third-floor corridor. Instead, he heard the scrapping of quill on parchment as he participated in the mass delusion that one could prove one's worth by scoring high in something that confirmed knowledge and not understanding. Ah, the frivolities of the education system.

His very last exam, unfortunately, was also a written one. And to make matters worse, it was his History exam. History was the worst. Well, he was exaggerating. He quite liked History. For some reason, he found old wizards who invented self-stirring cauldrons, and thought it was a good idea to try to ask a sphinx on a date, were oddly relatable. However, he still had disagreed with the concept of examinations. He was really debating just handing in blank papers. But the thought of what General Granger might do to him if she found out gave him pause. That didn't stop him from grabbing a pie he had stolen from dinner the night before and throwing it at Wayne's face (discreetly, of course), when Binns pronounced the exam over.

In celebration of the first years surviving their end-of-year exams, the study group agreed to spend the rest of the day by the lake. And so, a group of ragtag Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors made their way to a tree situated by the lake. Okay, so there didn't seem to be anything ragtag about any of them. Well, except for Seamus who was still trying to turn his water into rum. The boy had even taken to taking a flask full of water around with him.

"Well, that was far easier than I thought it would be," Gen. Granger liked to go through their exams afterward. Harry never understood that. It wasn't like they could do anything about it now. But he also knew that if he interrupted her, he would get his ear talked-off and then have to endure her going through the exam anyway. Personally, he was happy for two reasons: that the exams were gone; and he need not worry about more until the end of the following year.

As the more nervous members of the study group surrounded their General, Harry spotted the Weasley twins with a friend of theirs by the lake. They seemed to be tickling the tentacles of the giant squid. He smiled at them fondly. There was something soothing about the way Granger prattled on. Add to it the effect of basically watching the Weasley twins and friend bond with the giant squid? It was art in motion for Harry. Granger's soothing voice as she tried to do her best not to offend the other first years when they asked her about their answers, Fred Weasley's hair flouncing in the wind as he jumped over one of the many tentacles of the giant squid, George Weasley's large smile, almost looking like he was laughing on mute, their friends beatific grin, almost as if he knew everything about the giant squid and how to make sure Fred wouldn't be dragged in and be drowned to death. And the best part, no more of his hated exams. Ah yes, so peaceful.

"Are you listening, Potter?" Granger nearly growled.

He turned to her, shook his head and just smiled. Even her glares seemed somewhat prettier today.

After watching the twins continue trying to play jump rope using the squids tentacles, he stood up and excused himself from the group. He missed Kirby and watching the twins play with the squid didn't help matters any. So if he needed to feign digestive distress while casting a flatulence charm on himself to visit all three adorable heads, then that's what he would do. He admired the way Thomas tried to wake Finnigan after Harry walked by the latter. Seamus was about to take a sip from his flask and thus had his mouth open. Poor boy didn't stand a chance. Harry discretely pocketed the flask with the intent of charming it before letting the Irish boy 'find' it later on.

Harry was practically skipping towards the castle, his eyes closed as he whistled a merry tune. The sun was shining, the exams were over, and he was about to play fetch with a previously thought to be mythological creature. He could just see it now, he would be hugging one of Kirby's heads while another growled playfully at him, he would be playing their usual games, then he would roll around on the Cerberus' belly until they would both be so comfortable that they fall asleep. Nothing could go-BAM!

"Oh! 'Arry! Jus' in time! Wan' to have a cup o' tea at me hut for a bi'?"

Harry was severely tempted to say no. But he did have a soft spot for the groundskeeper, and Hagrid had spoken to him about his previously unknown parents. He grudgingly accepted that he had to exchange an afternoon with his giant, hairy, and three-headed friend to one with his giant, hairy, and one-headed friend.

It turned out that what Hagrid really wanted to talk about was his previously owned pet dragon. Hagrid could not stop himself and had started a correspondence with Charlie Weasley about the well-being of his baby and to inquire whether the dragon was missing his 'Mummy'. Charlie Weasley, the good chap that he was, had replied with stories about the dragon that reduced the groundskeeper to tears. Harry then, literally, spent the next few hours being politely impressed as he was regaled by the stories the dragon handler had shared. All-in-all, Charlie Weasley had written 35 letters. And Hagrid was kind enough to read them out aloud to Harry. Every. Single. One of them. If there was one thing Harry had to hand to the elder Weasley, it was that the man had an astonishing attention to detail. He was particularly moved when Charlie told them of the first time Norbert had flayed a live chicken before devouring it, burning feathers and all. The words the dragon handler had used were quite poignant. And the descriptions of the smells that wafted from that burning carcass, why, Harry felt like he was actually there!

On any normal day, Harry would have honestly been quite glad to speak to Hagrid about his baby. Unfortunately for Hagrid, Harry was getting restless about his own baby. Well, a Cerberus as cute as Kirby counted. To Harry at least. And so, Harry allowed the groundskeeper to prattle on for another half hour before waving goodbye to the gentle giant, a rock cake in hand.

'Finally!' thought Harry, as he ran towards the castle. He pocketed the rock cake as he entered. He fiddled with it in his pocket as he started to whistle once again. It sounded oddly enough like the children's rhyme called 'A-Hunting We Will Go'. He started to skip again when he reached the staircases. Yup, there was nothing that was going to go between him and his Kirby, nothing at-

"And where do you think you're going?"

Harry tried to keep the scowl off his face as the caretaker ushered him towards the Great Hall. Apparently, Hagrid had kept him for so long that Dinner was about to begin. He took a seat beside Wayne and pouted as he scooped up a bit of everything onto his plate.

"More potatoes, Harry?" Wayne asked, his mouth full of the creamy side-dish.

Harry sighed as he accepted the dish, plopping a spoon full on his plate, then passing it on. His fellow 'puffs had all been so happy that exams were over that the table was rowdier than usual. He even spotted the usually-easy-going Cedric Diggory taking a swig from his goblet that Harry was sure was filled with something Seamus would enjoy. The keeper for his house's Quidditch team, Herbert Fleet, was also right beside Cedric. Fleet taking twice as many swigs as the seeker. He suddenly noticed that Wayne's mouth was moving despite it being at full capacity. He realized that the boy had been talking to him. Come to think of it, Wayne seemed a bit pink in the cheeks, he was grinning, and his eye lids looked heavy. He merely smiled and nodded at Wayne every time he thought he was being asked a question. He quickly finished the rest of his dinner, took a swig from his own goblet (which was thankfully just full of water), then proceeded with his 15-minute per table routine.

He approached the Ravenclaw table first. Surprisingly, or rather unsurprisingly, they were discussing the examinations and the probability that they would be graded on a curve. However, as Harry proceeded to tell them about General Granger, they decided that they would probably be better off preparing their parents from the get-go. It was true that Ravenclaw was know as the house of the intelligent, but it was also true that it was the house of the quirky. Many of the Ravenclaws were quite better at certain subjects more than others. Anthony Goldstein was pants at Charms, his color change charm didn't seem to work with any other color but blue and all its shades. But he could transfigure animals into furniture faster than anyone in their year. Harry tried not to mention that Anthony also seemed to like making frilly snuffboxes, as five out of the seven he had tried so far turned out to more or less look like a bunch of doilys had been draped on them.

Harry approached the Gryffindors next. He found he didn't need to tell Seamus about what the contents of Cedric Diggory's goblet was since the Weasley twins seemed to share what was within theirs. Seamus, Ron, and Dean seemed to be quite protective of what looked to be George's goblet. Harry didn't even think Seamus noticed his missing flask yet. And he was quite flattered when they asked if he wanted a sip. After spotting a passed-out Neville Longbottom on the floor, he graciously declined. After a good time chatting with the twins and garnering a promise for a formal introduction with the giant squid, Harry went towards the Slytherin table. They seemed more haughty than usual.

"Good evening, Malfoy." he greeted as he took the spot Gregory Goyle made for him.

"Evening, Potter. I trust you found the exams easy enough."

Harry shrugged. "I expect to be satisfied with whatever I get. I'm happy as long as I don't get a troll."

Malfoy sniggered. "No one interested in how well you do back home, I take it?"

Harry paused.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" he asked.

Malfoy's grin widened. "Dumbledore's not here."

Harry turned towards the head table and noticed that Malfoy was right, the headmaster seemed to be missing.

"It's a nice reprieve to have dinner and not be blinded by whatever color of robe he chooses to wear. Some nights his choices are so garish, I debate just taking my plate to the common room." Parkinson sighed. There was a general approval throughout the table.

Harry stayed with the Slytherins the full 15-minutes, talking about Crabbe and Goyle's chances of moving up to second year, before heading off back to the Hufflepuff table. He never really noticed that they didn't like the Headmaster. Oh well, you learn something new every day.

Dinner was finally winding down, many of the students who had fallen asleep were already being shaken awake. One Gryffindor girl was actually carried by their Quidditch Captain so that she could make it back to their common room. If there was a time to fade away, it would be now. He was just about to make himself invisible when a large hand grabbed his arm. Unfortunately for him, Cedric Diggory was sloshed and declared that he was to play Chess with him in the Common Room. The upperclassman apparently wanted to see if Harry had improved since Christmas. Playing chess against a drunken Cedric was quite harder than it was to play him sober. Cedric's moves were so erratic, and his drunken friend, Fleet's, insane advice didn't make it easier. Fortunately for Harry, Cedric was pissed enough that he snoozed out midway through their third game.

He was fed up with being interrupted so he decided to use his cloak this time. He made sure the common room was more or less empty of the conscious and sober, and he quickly disappeared under the familiar cloth. As soon as he was out of the common room, he phased through walls, flew up the stairs, and even discovered a new way to get the Charms corridor from the Kitchens. He flinched at every flicker of light, and grinned at every shadowed corridor. Stealth was his middle name and nothing was going to stop him now. Nothing. The third floor corridor was so close. It was just around another corner. He could practically smell the dog excrement. He removed his cloak and-

"Potter?"

He finally arrived at the familiar corridor after a run-in with Peeves. The poltergeist, at least, hadn't screamed his presence to the whole castle. The two chatted for a bit before he promised Peeves that they would do more collaborations throughout his years at Hogwarts. Harry pressed his ear against the door to the third floor corridor. He frowned when he did not hear a familiar growl behind the wood. Before investigating, however, he suddenly realized he was not sure if he had brought snacks for Kirby. How inconsiderate of him. He put his hand in his pocket and fished for its contents. He had, of all things, a baby bonnet, a grow-your-own-warts kit, non-exploding luminous balloons, Seamus' flask, and only two marshmallows. Those would have to do.

He quietly spelled the door open and crept inside. Kirby looked so adorable as the giant three-headed dog lay snoozing on the ground. Kirby seemed to slowly awaken however, since he could hear a few whimpers and saw him stretch his legs. One head turned to him and opened a bleary eye. Before he knew what had happened, he found himself flat on his back and covered in saliva.

"Ello, Kirby. I missed you too." he laughed as the three heads started fighting on who got to slobber on him next.

The dog was so excited to see him that he started bouncing about and wagging its tail. Harry caught sight of a discarded harp and promptly transfigured it into a giant rainbow-colored rubber ball. Harry had only arrived a few minutes before but he could already feel his spirits soar. He really should have come sooner. As Harry gave a mighty heave and threw the rubber ball, Kirby went off even before he could release it. He continued to play fetch with Kirby for a few minutes, petting the head that was able to give the ball back to him. He threw the ball again and it bounced on the floor, to the ceiling and then onto a wooden door on the floor. The rainbow colored ball then rolled away, Kirby chasing after it. Harry approached the wooden door and was surprised he never noticed it before. Then again, with how cute the three headed Cerberus was, he already knew why it never caught his attention before. His curiosity got the best of him and he turned just as soon as Kirby dropped a slobbery ball on his head. He pet the left-most head before turning back to the trap door.

"Let's explore."

Kirby barked in response.

"I've got to shrink you though, so you can come. Is that alright?"

Kirby barked again.

Harry grinned as he concentrated and suddenly Kirby started to lessen in size. The humongous Cerberus became so small that he fit in Harry's pocket. He cooed at the three-headed adorable-ness before having the bright idea of taking the baby bonnet out of his pocket. He quickly multiplied it and put it on every head.

"Who's the adorable three-headed dog? I know, I know!" he murmured as he rubbed its decidedly a lot smaller belly. Kirby's hind leg started kicking like crazy, which made Harry thankful for Kirby's current size. He'd be dead by now if the dog was its normal size.

Harry quickly threw the door open and smiled when he saw a black cavernous hole awaiting him.

Of course, he did what any curious 11-year old boy would do in that situation: he jumped.

Cold, damp air rushed passed him as he kept falling. He counted in his head, only a few seconds had gone by and he kept Kirby wrapped in his arms, when he finally landed with an 'oof'. His fall was stopped abruptly by something soft, and moving. Harry quickly conjured a light and stares in awe at a veritable cornucopia of creepers swimming around beneath him, and slowly starting to hug his legs. Harry smiled.

Harry placed Kirby the puppy into his pocket, which was really larger on the inside. He clapped his hands together before going off. He dived. He levitated. He dog-darnnit swam through the vines. He was laughing so hard his lungs were soon to protest. And at the end, he smiled as he saw the end product of his efforts.

He was wrong, it was not a cornucopia of vines. It was just two main plants. They were actually planted on opposite walls. And Harry had tangled them enough that they had formed a green, slimy, make-shift rope.

"Ready?"

Now he knew why the Weasley twins were having so much fun that afternoon. Jump rope was awesome!

Harry played a few rounds before he found that the rope-plant was starting to become longer and looser. It decidedly got harder to play jump rope with a loose rope. During his final round, he noticed a door at the far corner of the room. He made a beeline towards it and waved good bye to the plants before making his way through. He snapped his fingers before leaving though, and the knot he had created at the heart of the rope untangled.

At first, all he heard was the fluttering of wings. A lot of wings. When he finally caught sight of what lay beyond the door, his heart must have stopped. Hundreds, and he did mean hundreds of shiny and metallic keys were flying about in the air. Harry liked shiny things. He particularly liked metallic objects, as proven by his hanger wire Christmas gift and Snitch collection. But in all honesty, he was a bit overwhelmed by his desires as he stared at the sight. His mind was going to explode. He levitated himself into the crowd of keys, eyes lighting up. They flew around him, some tried to even play tag with him! Their little metallic bodies colliding with his as he flew about. This was paradise! He was sure of it!

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a large silver key with blue wings. Now, you are probably wondering why of all the keys in the room this one had caught his eye. It was because it was hurt. One of its blue wings was bent in an awkward way and it was struggling to keep aloft. He quickly flew towards it and snatched it. He landed safely on the ground and caressed it. One of the other keys must have bullied it. Harry didn't like bullies. It was coming with him. He looked around the room and spotted another door, this one had a silver handle. He made his way towards it. The key in his arms started to shudder. Harry looked at the silver sheen of the key and the silver hue of the handle. He slowly placed the key into the lock and he heard a distinct click when he turned it. No wonder this key was bullied! It was special!

He left the room right after healing the broken wing of the silver key and glaring at the others. He teleported the key to where he kept his Snitches. Those three were sure to get along.

The chamber he entered next was pitch black. Hogwarts seemed to really like the color black. Harry took one step forward and suddenly the whole chamber was illuminated. If it were even possible, the night was starting to get even better. In front of him was a giant chessboard.

"Can I play? Can I play? Can I play?!" he shouted as he ran towards the nearest King piece. It was black. He hated white. They were going to crush the white chess pieces! The figure looked towards him and nodded.

Harry looked around and sized up all the chess pieces. Almost directly in front of the Queen, a black pawn looked a little worse-for-wear. It had chips on its' body that even the other pawns did not. It looked like it had fought in an epic battle. He approached it and saluted.

"You are relieved from active-duty. God speed, soldier."

The pawn bowed then bounced away.

Harry stood up straight as he took it's place. He glared at the white pieces across the board.

And so it begun.

Young Harry Potter was, admittedly, new to the great game of chess. However, he was a fast learner. After Cedric Diggory had taught him to play, Harry had beaten every single other first year Hufflepuff twice. He even got to a stalemate with Diggory on more than one occasion. However, this game was the hardest he had ever played. Every time one of their men had fallen, the white pieces would brutally make sure it could no longer return to active duty. This made Harry mad.

To see a pawn travel as much as Harry throughout the board was different from the typical chess game. But Harry doled out as much violence as his team received. His most recent crowning glory came from taking the white knight. That guy was a right bastard in the way it trampled on the other pawns.

After a while, Harry realized that he was going to lose. He did not like to lose. Cedric Diggory taught him better. He-

It felt like a bolt of lightning went straight into his brain. Cedric Diggory. He had played against the older boy that very same night. It was damn near impossible to form a strategy against him. That was because the boy was sloshed. It was impossible to predict his movements. Their first game was honestly a sight to behold. Cedric wove such a random tapestry of moves and suddenly finished the game with the use of a castle. Harry could do the same.

And so it went. The battle was hard fought. It was random. The white pieces viciously destroyed the remaining pawns. He was on his own. He only had the King, a castle, two bishops, and a knight left. But the white pieces hadn't seen his master plan yet. They underestimated him since he was a pawn. They were currently nearing the edge of the black side of the board. They were starting to surround his King. He would show them.

They were all staring at the bishop a few blocks directly diagonal from their still stationary King. The white Queen turned towards it, slowly creeping forward. She raised a hard hand and back handed the bishop. It fell to the ground in rubble and dust. Harry gulped. But he was determined. He took a step forward and reached the very end of the board, on the white side. Almost as soon as his foot touched the square, he started to glow a pale blue. His robes changed. When it all faded, he turned to the King with a smirk on his face. The new Queen had arrived.

A few moments of cat and mouse happened next as the King realized it had nowhere to go and its troops were too spread out to help. Finally, a white crown fell to Harry's feet.

Harry bowed to all the pieces, after sending a bit of his magic to restore their stone bodies. He removed the black crown on his head and gave it to the pawn he had replaced. With another wave, he raced off towards the door at the other end of the chamber. With a puppy in his pocket and a spring in his step, he turned the door handle. He couldn't wait to see what else lay in store for him.

Authors Note:

Yeah. This was supposed to go on longer but I realized it got too long so I cut it short. Sorry about that.

This chapter is dedicated to my Beta-Reader lanya-celebrian! Read her fic on the story of the Marauders! It's awesome! Cheers!

Title: Till Death Do Us Part I

Summary: For the world to have its boy who lived, another boy had to die. Hogwarts, 1971.