This is the attempted expansion of my one-shot Hermione's Cat. I managed to expand the earliest part of the one-shot, then my muse decided to teleport to another dimension, leaving me with two chapters and no way to continue.
I'm posting these in the hope that someone will decide to take up this story.

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Hermione's cat

Chapter One

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Boy peeped out through the air vent set in the door to his room under the stairs, staying back far enough that the light shining through wouldn't reflect off his eyes but so that he could still make out what was on the screen in the living room.

It was coming to the end of the programme and on the screen was a large, black jaguar looking after several smaller ones. Boy's eyes briefly filled with tears as he watched the cubs snuggle up to their mother.

Footsteps alerted him and he quickly (but silently) rolled himself up in the tattered sheet that served as his bedding, making sure that he was facing away from the door. The darkness of his cupboard briefly lifted as the door opened, then closed.

"The freak's asleep." Ver'on rumbled as the television was switched off. Another set of footsteps announced Tuni was leaving the living room and dust fell on Boy as the two went upstairs.

'I wish that I could be like those cats and have someone to snuggle up to like those kittens did.' Boy thought as his eyes closed. 'I really, really, really wish…'

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It is a little-known fact that almost every single magical spell has its roots in accidental magic.

The levitation charm was the result of an adult witch seeing her daughter playing with a wooden bird that she had made fly.
Knowing that such a thing was possible, the witch experimented, finally creating the Wingardium Leviosa spell that duplicated what her daughter did.

Colour changing charms, protective shields, flying brooms, all of them were created as ways of duplicating on purpose what children could do almost unthinkingly.

Even the Killing Curse was based on accidental magic, a young girl who protected herself from a rapist.

The Animagus Transformation was another such spell derived from accidental magic.
Due to the complexities of the spell, very few witches and wizards ever learned it, and none of them fully explored the possibilities, such as slightly modifying their base form.

But in the end, all magic boils down to a desire for something to happen, the determination to make it happen and the drive to achieve the end result.

A wish could fulfil those requirements.

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When the door was flung open by Tuni, Boy was roused from his sleep by a high-pitched scream. Startled, he dashed out of the cupboard, then came to a halt, looking at his reflection in the television.

He was a cat!

Tuni's screams grew louder and Harry heard the thud of Ver'on's feet hitting the floor. Making a quick decision, he ran to the back door and hurled himself onto the door handle, using his weight to pull it down and open the door. Landing on the ground, he ran out past the bins and through the hedge at the back, intent on escaping into the wider world. The brightness of the dawn came as a shock after the darkness of the cupboard, but Boy didn't let it phase him as he concentrated on running as far away from his former prison as he could, determined that he would never return.

He would find a new home where he could live.

Small fangs flashed in a feline grin as Boy fled over the fields, heading for the woodland so that he could hide from any who would try and send him back.

Unnoticed by him, the invisible protections that surrounded number 4 Privet Drive started to unravel, a process that no-one would notice for several days.

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Boy pounced, his jaws descending upon and breaking the neck of the squirrel. The animal didn't have enough time to even squeak before it died and Boy started chewing on it.

*Interessting. A large cat.*

Boy froze, then half-turned to find himself looking at a small snake. The snake was a dark green colour with a yellowish band of scales just behind its head and it looked at him thoughtfully.

*Who are you?*

The snake reared backwards, then slowly slid forwards.

*You sspeak! You sspeak the language of the ssnakess? How?*

Boy shrugged as he swallowed the last bit of the squirrel and licked the blood off his fangs. *I just do. Why?*

*A human who sspeakss iss called a parsselmouth.* The snake stated as it rose to look Boy in the eye. *I have never heard of a cat that can sspeak before.*

*Sorry…*

*Ssorry?* The snake repeated in amusement. *You do not need to be ssorry. It iss interessting. My name is Sssthsssth. May I know yourss?*

Boy frowned in thought. *I don't think I have one…*

*Really? Then until you do, I sshall call you Kitten. It meanss a ssmall, young cat.*

Boy blinked, then he twitched as Sssthsssth draped itself along his back. *What are you…?*

*You are warm and I am old and like the heat.* Sssthsssth laughed. *There iss a cave I know of where you can ssleep, one with a sstream nearby, a sstream that leadss to a pond filled with frogss. I sshall direct you."

Boy started trotting through the woods, his passenger hissing directions.

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In a drafty castle in Scotland, a man with a long beard and a broken nose frowned as a series of devices on one of his shelves slowly stopped moving. Rising from behind his desk, he moved over and prodded one with his wand, causing it to fall apart in a cloud of purple smoke.

"This is not good." He mused, then he strode to the fireplace and took a pinch of powder from a pot perched atop the mantelpiece. Kneeling down, he threw the powder into the fire and called out "Minerva McGonagall."

The flames flashed green and he leaned forwards to place his head into the flames.

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Minerva turned to look at the fireplace where a familiar head was watching her.

"Headmaster." She nodded in greetings. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes." Albus Dumbledore replied soberly. "A situation has arisen that I need to check out personally. While I am gone, you are in charge."

"Of course." Minerva said and the head vanished from her fireplace. "A situation? What situation?"

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Albus groaned as he straightened up, then he waved his wand over his robes, turning them into a purple suit. Once he had finished, he held out his hand and the bird that had been watching him from the perch in the corner of his office flew over to land on his fist.

"Well, my friend, it seems I need your services once more." Albus said with a fond smile. "I need to travel to Little Whinging, Fawkes, are you willing to carry me there?"

A chirp sounded and the office was briefly illuminated by a wash of flame.

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Dumbledore appeared in the deepening dusk and strode up the path towards Number 4 Privet Drive. Pausing outside the gate, he twitched his wand several times, then frowned.

"The protections are failing." He told Fawkes who was perched on his shoulder. "I don't know if I can repair them, but for Harry's sake, I will try. Homenum Reveleo."

The house seemed to glow as three silhouettes appeared on the wall and Albus' frown deepened.

"Only three muggles? That spell should have… oh, Merlin!"

Casting a silent Alohomora at the door, he stormed into the house, finding all three people in the living room, watching the television.

"What are you doing here?" Petunia gasped as Dumbledore stepped into the room and Dumbledore cast a spell to hold them all immobile.

"Where is Harry?" Dumbledore ground out. "What did you do to him?"

"He ran off and good riddance!" Vernon snapped angrily. "We never wanted him anyway!"

Dumbledore glared at him, using his Legilimency to examine his memories, then he paled.

"You kept him in the cupboard under the stairs!"

"It was too good for a freak like him!" Petunia whined. "He was a freak just like his mother!"

Dumbledore sagged as the enormity of his mistake crashed home on him, then he twitched as the protections finally lost coherancy and shattered.

"While he lived here, you were protected from those who would wish to harm you with magic." He said, disappointment filling his voice. "You drove him away and the protections have broken, protections that I cannot re-establish. Young Harry is important to our world and should he fail to be found, you can expect to be questioned about it. And when your treatment of him comes to light, you can expect to be punished. Severely. If you want to avoid that fate, I would suggest two things."

Dumbledore paused and all three Dursleys stared at him.

"W… what do you…" Petunia finally managed and Dumbledore smiled coldly.

"First, flee. Find a new home. You will be… in slightly less danger if you leave the country. And secondly… pray to whatever gods you believe in that young Harry is unharmed, for if he fails to come to Hogwarts, the entire Wizarding World will find out about your actions and will seek your blood."

Dumbledore glared at them.

"Literally."

With an exquisite sense of timing, Fawkes spread his wings and flame-jumped them back to his office where Dumbledore sagged against his desk.

"What have I done?" He whispered in anguish. "What have I done?"

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The renamed Kitten (formerly Boy) curled up around Sssthsssth happily. The old snake had led him to a cave large enough for him to stretch out in, but with an entrance small enough that it was easily concealed by the ferns growing above and to either side of it. The cave itself was rapidly warming up from his body heat and the dry leaves that covered the floor were a comfortable (albeit occasionally noisy) bed.

Sssthsssth gave a happy sigh as she concentrated on digesting the two frogs that Kitten had dug out from underneath a fallen branch by the edge of the pond even while Kitten pressed closer to her, the glorious heat from his body warming her tired bones, heat that somehow also formed an aura around her.

*Sssthssth, are you awake?*

*I am, little Kitten.* Sssthsssth answered drowsily. *What iss the problem?*

*Ummm, I need to… go.*

*Go? Go where?* Sssthsssth asked in confusion and Kitten shifted uncomfortably.

*Go. I feel like I'm gonna burst.*

Sssthssth frowned in thought, then suddenly realisation dawned.

*You need to pissss?* She asked and Kitten nodded. *Go outsside and find a tree. Aim at it and then come back here, you're nice and warm.*

Sssthsssth slithered away from Kitten, allowing him to rise to his paws and vanish into the night.

*Go.* She chuckled as she wound herself into a ball to preserve as much heat as possible, heat that wasn't fading as fast as she expected.

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Kitten looked round to see if anything was watching. Feeling self-conscious, he scurried over to the largest tree and reared up, placing his front paws on the bark. The pressure in his bowels suddenly lessened and Kitten heard the stream of liquid hit the tree. For a long moment, he simply remained motionless, then the flow finally ended and Kitten pushed away from the tree, turning to land on all fours. Glancing round again, he quickly re-entered the cave and curled up around Sssthssth.

*Goodnight, Sssthssth.*

*Goodnight Kitten. Pleassant dreamss.*

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Albus frowned at the large book that was open on his desk, then he looked at the only one of the devices monitoring Harry Potter that still worked. The whirling device indicated that Harry was happy, safe and in good health, but the book told a different story. Harry's name had faded almost into invisibility and Albus could think of only a few reasons for that.

One was that his name had been changed, but the Book would have placed his new name underneath the old one, with the ink migrating from the older name to the newer.

A second was that something had happened that reduced or removed Harry's magic, but the way that the device was spinning put paid to that notion, Harry's magical core was apparently growing in strength now that it was no longer being constrained by the need to help fuel the blood wards.

The third reason for a name to vanish was that the guardians of the child elected to not send them to Hogwarts, but Albus was Harry's Magical Guardian, so that reason obviously did not apply.

Other possible reasons such as curses, ancient promises, soul bonds and even amnesia flashed across Albus' mind, but none of them matched the circumstances displayed before him.

With a deep sigh, Albus closed the Book and carefully picked up the last of the monitoring devices. Cradling it gently, he returned it to the shelf, fussing over it as he checked, once again, that it was in perfect working order.

After all, so long as it continued to work, it showed that he still had a chance.

A chance to apologise and try to make amends for his actions.