Celebwen Telcotnar: Sorry about the short chapter, but I found a place where I figured I could leave off.
Balrog: And why did you do that?
Celebwen Telcontar: Because it was a good stopping point! Anyways, please review people! Hedwig is a very smart owl!
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The train pulled into the station, and the children got off.
"Firs' years! Firs' years o'er 'ere!" a voice yelled. Harry and his friends looked up at a giant of a man, and Dudley squeaked.
"It's alright," Ron said. "That's Hagrid. Bill told me about him; he's great. Charlie says that he's always wanted a dragon, but that he never can have one because it'd burn down his house." Harry smothered a chuckle; Maggie would be flattered by this dragon lover.
:Hey, you young idiot!: a voice came hissing from the sky. Harry looked up, and the night-dark sky, covered with clouds, suddenly became as brightly illuminated as a sunset, the clouds gleaming pink and purple for a moment in the dragonfire. :Yes, you, Harry! How could you leave me like that! I should beat you with the flat of my tail! You need to stay where I can see you, you overenthusiastic kit!: Harry closed his eyes and banged his head into the heel of his hand. Harry knew how the Wizarding World felt about Parslemouth's, and so he couldn't reveal his gift here. Hagrid looked up with a look of pure adoration on his face. He stopped, and bellowed: "Tha's a Welsh Scarlet! Wha' a beau'y! I allus wan'ed a dragon!" Harry stared at the giant, who looked like he might cry. Harry knew the powerful hearing of dragons: they had the strongest ears in the animal kingdom, magical or not.
:Maggie: he whispered in Parseltongue, :Go. I'll meet you in the Forest later.:
:Harry, please? Let me speak to you at the least!:
:Go, you blasted overgrown lizard!: Harry retorted. In the commotion, Hedwig apparently decided to attack Ron. She did so, harrying at his hands until she was able to get hold of Scabbers. She then flew off, beating her wings with powerful muscles as Ron yelled in fury and pain. Maggie stared at the snowy owl, and then she flew off towards the forest, to Hagrid's displeasure. He moped for a few minutes, then led the First Years down towards the boats, Harry shaking his head.
"That was Maggie, wasn't it?" Dudley asked. Harry nodded.
"She thinks she needs to keep an eye on me all the time. I don't know how she's been keeping me in sight for the past few years since I met her, but she's been very careful to come to me if I am in danger. The one time she didn't come was when I was fighting Edward Kelly, and that was in Diagon Alley. She couldn't get there fast enough to help me, but hasn't let me out of her sight since. She obviously thinks I need constant protecting."
"Can you understand her?" Dudley asked. Ron, Anthony, Neville and Hermione stared at him. Harry nodded, and then got into a boat with Anthony. A girl with brown hair and a boy with olive skin got in with them, introducing themselves as Susan Bones and Blaize Zabini. Susan was relatively quiet the entire time.
Halfway through the ride, Harry heard a low sound coming from the bottom of the boat. He leaned close, and was rewarded with Trevor the toad leaping up into his face. He held a hand on Neville's pet, wondering where Hedwig was going with Scabbers. He was too big for her to eat on her own, and he was incredibly fat. Perhaps she was going to deliver him to his grandparents. Whatever she was doing, it wouldn't make Ron like him any more, and would probably make him like him even less.
Harry then kept his mind on the future of the year, and wondered at the things this year would bring.
The man sat at the scrubbed wooden table in the small shack he used as a home. He was unemployed; what company, Muggle or not, would take someone who couldn't show up on days of the month? His longest job, at a foul Muggle electronics place, was punctuated by the men calling him a girl because of his regular, monthly absences. Magical places found out that he was a werewolf, and he was immediately sacked.
He sighed, finishing the last of the food that was in the Muggle can of noodle loops and thin, watery, bad tasting tomato paste.
His musings were interrupted by a rapping on the window. He jumped up when he saw the owl sitting on his windowsill. Post! Who could have owled him? Did he get the janitorial job at Bubaxtons? He threw open the window, and the white owl soared in. In her talons was a rat. The lycanthrope looked at it. Maybe it would be able to be used as a meal in a couple days when he got desperate. Rats always reminded him of Wormtail, and he could never bring himself to eat one. Maybe the rat could be a pet.
He looked at it. Its right front paw was missing a toe. As Remus Lupin inhaled, a scent tickled his oversensitive nose. This rat didn't simply resemble Wormtail, he was Wormtail! Remus was overjoyed! One of his childhood friends was alive, and now he could stay with someone who could accept him!
The owl hooted savagely, clawing the rat's back and causing him to squeak in pain. Remus fired the Animagus Revelio spell at the rat, and Peter Pettigrew was laid out, naked, on the floor. Grime covered the Marauder, but no amount of grime could have covered the tattoo on his left forearm. Remus snarled in pain, disbelief, and shock. He pointed his wand directly at Pettigrew, and snarled the first curse that came to his mind. Boils and tentacles sprouted all over the Animagus' face, and Remus Lupin grabbed the rat, clearing up the disgusting facial features, then dressed him with a spell in a halter top and long pants. With a snarl, he pirouetted, Apparating into the British Ministry of Magic Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Amelia would know what to do! He realized that the white owl had come with him, and quickly wrote out a note for her master, thanking him for bringing a fugitive to justice, and then sent the owl on her way, marching his former friend down to the DMLE.
Celebwen Telcontar: Well, how was that?
Balrog: You're screwing around with the timeline, Celebwen. You can't do this!
Celebwen Telcontar: Of course I can. This is my story, so I can mess with the timeline as much as possible! So there! I'm just going to choose to let most of everything stay in the same timeline… I think.
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