The Mutt who Lived
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am merely borrowing the characters to play with them.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, Dumbledore/Weasley bashing.
"Molly Noname won't be able to take the ladyship over the Prewitt family let alone the Prewitt seat on the Wizengamot, as there is still an acting Lord Prewitt," Arcturus explained. "Actually, he is not actively participating in the Wizengamot, as he wishes to remain unknown, but he always gives me his vote. Therefore, the seat is not available at this time."
"Excuse me, Arcturus, but who might that be?" James spoke up in surprise that Lily shared. "Until now, I believed that the last members of that family were Fabian and Gideon, and they've both been killed by Voldemort."
"I'm sorry, but as he is an Unspeakable, I can't disclose his identity," Arcturus replied in a firm voice. "Unspeakable Mento is in my team together with our colleague Raros. The Mini Unspeakables are probably going to belong to our team as well," he added, thoughtfully.
"Grandfather," Sirius spoke up, seemingly annoyed. "Please invite Mento and Raros to accompany you to the MAMA and reveal their identities to us. We'll readily swear a wizard's oath to not give them away to outsiders."
"I'll ask them," Arcturus promised.
"Excuse us for asking but…"
"… Will our younger siblings…"
"… have Noname as family name as well?" the seven-year-old Weasley twins enquired.
"No," Arthur replied in determination. "Everyone except for your mother is still a Weasley."
"Oh…"
"… That's good," the twins replied in obvious relief, causing Lily to smile at the two boys, who were both very gentle and were good friends with her trio.
HP
On Saturday morning, Arcturus gathered Harry, Neville, Susan, Draco, Hermione, Christa and Inu around himself to take them to the Unspeakables' office by Portkey.
"Please do not call me Arcturus under any circumstances," he instructed them. "I am Unspeakable Ra."
"Yes sir," six voices replied, accompanied by a confirming woof.
"We still need to think about Unspeakable names for all of you; however, for today, I suggest that you merely check out how it is to be an Unspeakable in training, and in exactly a week's time, you tell me if you wish to become an Unspeakable at all. The training is hard, and it will take place in your free time; so, it is no problem if you tell me that you don't want it," Arcturus informed them, donning his Unspeakable robes as he spoke.
'None of them will give up easily,' he thought, grinning under his robes, as he observed the expressions of pure determination on the young faces.
"We want it" came the unanimous response along with a firm woof.
"Let's go then, and don't forget that I am Unspeakable Ra or just Ra," the old wizard reminded them, before he made sure that everyone had a hand or a paw on the rope and activated the Portkey.
HP
When they arrived at the Unspeakables' office, Harry landed on the floor, still holding Inu firmly in his right arm. He felt very much reassured, when his familiar gently licked his face, before he freed himself from his strong grip. Harry quickly stood up from the floor, noticing in relief that most of his friends had ended up on the floor as well.
"Now, welcome to the Unspeakables' office," Ra greeted them. "This is our training room in its plain state," he continued, waving his hand around the large room that was completely void of anything except for the floor, "and this is Devil, our trainer. He is the only one who is not wearing robes. You – just like me – will wear robes everywhere with the exception of our team room. I belong to team 5, and you will, most likely, be assigned to my team. At least I hope so," he added.
"Devil is very strict, but he's good, and barely ever anyone manages to beat him in a duel," Ra continued.
Harry looked at Devil with respect. 'He looks very strict,' he thought, however, felt very much reassured, when Inu sniffed the man but seemed to have no problem with him. He even lightly waggled his tail.
"Do they have their own wands?" Devil addressed Ra, who shook his head.
"The doggy is the only one who has a proper wand. For the others, we still need to make them, as they only have children's wands, which they use in the primary school."
"How is that?" the trainer asked in apparent disbelief.
"He beat Dumbledore in a duel," Harry supplied, causing the trainer's eyes to widen in surprise.
"He's in the possession of the Elder wand," Ra added, and Devil stared at Inu in apparent disbelief.
"Respect, Doggy," he told the canine, who in return gently licked the trainer's right hand.
After a few minutes of talking with the trainer about their lessons, Ra introduced them to Croaker, the head Unspeakable, who was very friendly and confirmed that they were going to belong to team 5.
"Saturday next week, I want you to tell me if you really want to join us, and then you'll need to swear an oath on your magic to comply with our rules and keep everything that you learn here a secret," Croaker informed them.
"I can swear my oath right away," Harry replied.
"…. As we want to belong to the team in any case," Neville continued, and Inu nodded in confirmation.
The girls immediately agreed, and Croaker looked at Ra, 'probably in question,' Harry thought, however, was unable to see their expressions, as their faces were covered by their robes.
Ra let out a deep sigh. "I've known all of them since they were little tykes, and as a whole they mean trouble. Just trouble. But they know what they want."
"Still I can't make seven-year-olds swear on their magic," Croaker replied, uncertainly. He remained thoughtful for a moment, before he instructed the children how to swear their oaths.
Inu climbed on Harry's lap and placed his paw onto Harry's, as the children, who were sitting in a circle around a stool, on which a large book was sitting, placed their hands onto the book and made their oath.
"I swear to abide by the rules of the Unspeakables, try to act like a worthy Unspeakable and to keep all secrets I hear in the Unspeakables' office for myself," the children recited the harmless version of the usual Unspeakables' oath like Croaker had instructed them. Even Inu joined in, although his words sounded to everyone but Harry like a series of woofs.
As soon as they received their Unspeakable robes, Ra ushered them back into the training room, where Devil gave them their first lesson.
To Harry's surprise, the room was not plain at all anymore. It was as if they were in a forest, and Devil instructed them to hide behind trees, as he was going to try to take their wands away using the Expelliarmus spell.
"You don't have to hide if you're sure that you can take my wand from me or put up a shield charm," Devil added, grinning.
'He seems to deserve that name,' Harry thought, as he quickly left his hiding zone and dashed behind another tree, as the trainer came nearer. 'This is hell of a training.'
Inu, however, did not need a wand to cast magic. He did not even bring the Elder wand that was safe in their private rooms at the MAMA. When Devil tried to cast Expelliarmus at the canine, he was flung back through the air and thrown against a tree.
Harry observed the scene in horror, feeling certain that Inu would not be allowed to participate in their training anymore. However, Devil merely rose from the ground and nodded in Inu's direction.
"Well done, Doggy," he told him. "You're the first who managed to beat me in more than twenty-five years."
Then he continued the training session, as if nothing had happened.
Ten minutes later, all children had lost their wands to the trainer, and the forest changed into a foggy beach, on which the children had to find Devil to get their wands back. It was much fun, even if difficult.
All of a sudden, Inu stood in front of Harry, wanting to be picked up. 'Why?' Harry wondered but did the canine the favour and gently held him in his arm, only to realise that he was suddenly able to see the others' auras.
'His aura is dark green, while our friends' auras are still light green,' Inu informed him, telepathically, and Harry quickly headed towards the dark green aura, only to find himself face to face with Devil.
"Well done, Harry," the trainer commended him.
However, Harry shook his head and explained about the auras that he could see with Inu on his arm.
"That's interesting," Devil replied, thoughtfully. "It probably won't work for anyone else but for you, as you're bonded to Inu. His magic must be extremely strong for him to be able to share this ability with you, and it's an incredibly useful ability."
"You're the best," Harry whispered to Inu, gently cradling the dog close, before he placed him back onto the floor.
HP
Even if the training was hard and they were exhausted afterwards, the Mini Unspeakables thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and each of them decided that they wanted to continue.
"It's much more interesting than our classes," Draco said aloud, what the others thought, and they quickly agreed, when the children told Harry's extended family about their first day at the Unspeakables' office.
"Of course it was Inu who got special attention once again," Arcturus quipped, before he explained that the canine seemed to be able to see auras and could even share his ability with Harry.
"We need to think of Unspeakable names for all of us," Neville spoke up.
"But how are we supposed to do that?" Harry continued.
"Just choose a name you'd like," James advised them, "just like we once chose our Marauder names."
"I suggest calling Inu Flash," Sirius spoke up, pointing at the flash shaped scar on the canine's behind.
"Harry could be Doggy then," Remus quipped, smiling at the boy.
"I'd like that," Harry replied, as he helped himself to a ginger biscuit.
"I'll be Eagle then," Hermione offered.
"That's fitting," Emma agreed.
"Can I be Kitty then?" Susan enquired.
"Oh well, if you all want to choose animals as names, be my guest," Arcturus replied, smirking.
"I'll be Phoenix then," Christa spoke up, and Harry looked at the girl in apparent admiration.
'Good choice of an animal,' Lily thought.
"I'll be Toady," Neville decided.
"Draco, how about Unicorn?" Hermione suggested; however, Draco shook his head.
"I'm going to be Niffler," he stated, causing everyone to laugh; however, the boy seemed contented with his own choice.
"Are all of you sure about that?" Arcturus asked, and the seven, including Inu, nodded their heads in agreement. "Very well, I'll give your names to Croaker then," he added, seemingly happy with the outcome of their discussion.
"Are the Unspeakables going to teach them the Animagus transformation?" James spoke up with apparent interest, causing Lily to inwardly roll her eyes. 'James, they're only seven,' she thought in annoyance.
However, as could be expected, the children were all for it and began to pester Arcturus about the matter, who then promised to speak with Devil.
"Devil?" Amelia asked in apparent bewilderment.
"Our trainer, and yes, as all Unspeakables are Animagi, I'm sure he will teach the Minis. Perhaps not exactly at the age of seven though," Arcturus replied, before he gave Minerva a beseeching look.
"I believe that it's time for the Minis to go to bed," Minerva spoke up in a firm voice, and everyone agreed.
"Mum, can I stay in Hermione's room overnight?" Christa asked in apparent excitement.
"If that's all right with Emma and Lily?" Regina replied, questioningly.
'She should know by now that Christa is always welcome in our rooms,' Lily thought, before she voiced her agreement.
HP
The children said good night to the adults and headed upstairs.
Knowing that they were going to have a few minutes, before their parents would follow them to say good night, Harry quickly gathered the others in front of his, Neville's and Inu's room.
"We could ask Sirius…"
"… to teach us how to become Animagi," Neville completed his suggestion.
"Let's do that," Draco agreed.
"Do you know what animals you wish to become?" Hermione enquired.
"Are you going to become an eagle?" Harry asked, and the girl eagerly confirmed that that was exactly what she wanted.
"I'm not sure if we can choose our Animagi forms though," she added, thoughtfully.
"I don't remember the first time I changed into a dog, but I'm sure that I chose it. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't look just like Inu," Harry replied, pensively. "I still want to try to become a phoenix as well. I think Fawkes would like that."
Hearing the adults coming up the staircase, the children quickly decided to ask Sirius first thing in the morning and headed to their own rooms.
HP
Once they were in bed, however, the twins could not wait to receive answers to their questions.
"Mum, Dad…"
"… can we choose our own Animagi forms…"
"… and will Inu be able to become an Animagus too?" they enquired.
Their parents exchanged a look that Harry recognised as annoyance, before their father replied, pensively.
"First of all, I'm not sure about Inu. Does he want to become an Animagus at all, and which animal would he choose?" he returned the question.
=I'd like to become a phoenix like Fawkes and Harry,= Inu replied and Harry automatically translated.
"You can try," their mother spoke up. "I believe that the stronger your magic is, the greater the chance that you'll manage to become the animal you want. Since all three of you have exceptionally strong magic, it could be possible."
"What of our friends though…"
"… Is their magic not strong enough?" the twins asked in concern.
"I believe that they're all quite powerful as well, and the training with the Unspeakables will strengthen your magic further," their father replied in a firm voice, only to confirm, "Magic can be enhanced by training."
"Is the Weasley twins' magic strong enough?" Neville enquired.
"They'll want to become Animagi, too," Harry explained.
HP
First thing on Sunday morning, they asked the older twins if they wanted to become Animagi as well, and Fred and George immediately agreed.
"We want to become parrots…"
"… so that everyone will be able…"
"… to understand our babbling…"
"… without translation," the nine-year-olds replied, pleasantly.
"Let's ask Sirius to teach us," Harry decided in determination, deciding to head to his godfather's bedroom to ask him in private.
Needless to say, Neville and Inu accompanied their brother, and Sirius moaned in apparent annoyance, when two dogs and a seven-year-old boy entered his bedroom at seven o'clock on a Sunday morning, especially when the two canines jumped onto his bed in excitement.
=Sirius will you teach us how to become Animagi?= Harry enquired.
"Yeah, I'll teach you, but now leave and let me sleep," Sirius groaned, and the children decided to not further upset the Marauder at this time.
HP
It was in the morning of Christmas Eve, when the older students and teachers readied themselves for the annual Yule Ball, that Arthur Weasley received a letter from his son Percy.
"Percy asks if he could possibly attend the MAMA, as he is not happy at Hogwarts anymore. Apparently, his mother believes that it is his fault that she was cast out of the family," he informed his colleagues at lunchtime.
"Of course he can come," James replied, shaking his head in annoyance at Molly Noname.
"Inu will still have to evaluate him," Minerva added.
"Does he?" James enquired, "considering that he saved his life in the chamber?"
"That's true," Lily agreed. "He shouldn't have a problem with him."
"Of course," Minerva agreed and suggested to Arthur that Percy should just board the MAMA Express with everyone else on the 2nd of January.
Little could they know that Inu under no circumstances would have accepted the boy and his pet rat into the MAMA.
tbc...
Thank you so very much for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and what you expect from this story. Any ideas or opinions are welcome.
Next chapter: "The prophecy".