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.

If you don't like my stories, don't read them. I am only writing for my own fun and for those, who like reading my stories.


A.N. Still several of my kind readers who use to leave a review have not read the last chapter, but knowing that many people need distractions in these times, I post the next chapter now. Please leave a review to keep my muse motivated and go back to chapter 29, which I posted the day before yesterday, if you missed it. Enjoy :)


To the teachers' surprise, the seven Mini Unspeakables joined them for breakfast in the atrium.

"I thought you would be asleep," Lily quipped, as she came over to the first-years' table.

"No, we have Unspeakables' training," Neville replied, yawning, causing their mother to nod in understanding.

Harry tiredly ate some fruits, before he was alerted by Hermione's loud gasp that there was news in the Daily Prophet.

"Did you see the bear last night?" the girl spoke up in apparent excitement. "Here, it says the Circus of the Headless Lion, which is camping at the other side of Dragonsedge, is missing one of their three bears," she explained. "It's the spitting image of the bear that was on our Animagi party last night."

=I told you that he's not human,= Inu spoke up, quickly stealing a piece of bacon from Harry's plate.

"Yeah, Inu said that he wasn't human last night…"

"… but we thought that was a joke," Neville completed Harry's sentence.

"He was very friendly and even danced with us," Susan explained to their non-Animagi classmates.

"Don't you think that it would be job for a group of Mini Unspeakables to look for a lost bear?" James spoke up, as he approached their table.

The six children and Inu quickly rose from their chairs.

"That's right," Hermione was the first to speak.

"Let's go and look for him," Christa added in apparent determination, while Harry telepathically alerted Arcturus to their supposed whereabouts for the next few hours.

"May I accompany you?" Charlie Weasley, the head boy, spoke up, as he stepped over to their table. "I'm a bear Animagus."

HP

A stag, a bear, three dogs, a phoenix, an eagle, a cat and a niffler made their way back into the park, where they searched for the bear.

Harry was not surprised that it was Inu who finally found the large animal, fast asleep under an enormous bush.

'Of course, his nose is the best of all,' Harry thought, feeling very proud of his canine twin.

Knowing from the experience of the previous night that the bear was very sociable, the nine animals motioned the bear to follow them. Giggling and playing, they slowly made their way to Dragonsedge, for once walking around the small town instead of crossing it to not give the people roaming the main street a fright.

Charlie and the bear eagerly talked to each other, as they went; however, none of the others was able to understand bear talk.

Together, they led the bear to the Circus of the Headless Lion. Only James transformed into his human form and spoke with someone from the circus, who profusely thanked them for bringing the bear back.

"His name is Anton," he told them, "and he's still young."

"But he's very sociable, and it appears that he and our students had fun together," James replied, smiling.

"Are you an Animagus?" the circus employee asked Charlie, who gave the man a short nod.

Only two days later, James received a letter from the circus along with free tickets for the following Saturday evening show.

"There are enough tickets for the whole first-year class," James announced during lunch, receiving huge applause from the first-years.

HP

After giving out the tickets to the whole first-year class, James had still some tickets left and invited not only Charlie, who had helped them take the bear back, but also Ginny and her friend Luna, who was staying with her at the MAMA over the weekend, to join them at the circus on Saturday evening.

They had VIP seats in the first row, and Harry – with Inu sitting on his shoulder in his phoenix form, as dogs were not allowed in the circus – enjoyed himself greatly.

'The three bears are really cool, and they must be magical bears,' he thought in amazement, as he observed them jump high and juggle baskets filled to the brim with nuts without losing as much as one nut. While the older bears juggled five baskets each, the young bear, which Harry recognised as 'their' bear due to the slightly different colouring on his face, could only juggle three baskets. 'He's still practising,' he thought in amusement.

An hour into the show, a break was announced, and the circus manager added, "I'd like to ask our Animagi friends, who rescued our Anton the other day, to transform and join us in the ring."

"Dogs it is," Harry mumbled, only for his twins to hear, and waited until Inu had jumped from his shoulder, before he transformed into his dog form after the real canine.

To his surprise, Luna had perfected the transformation and joined the group in a phoenix form with a pastel plumage he had never seen before. 'It's a beautiful form, but what kind of phoenix is she?' he wondered, resolving to ask the girl later on.

The whole group had much fun playing, and Harry was almost sad, when the end of the break was announced. He let out a gasp upon realising that Charlie remained in his bear form, standing in the ring together with the three bears of the circus. During the next scene, the three bears played around their new companion, only involving him, where it was possible for him without prior practice. A few minutes later, Charlie transformed back into his human form, and the bears took turns to playfully hug him good-bye. He received huge applause, when he returned to his seat next to his younger sister.

"You were amazing," Harry heard Luna whisper to Charlie.

Only when they were on their way back to the school, Charlie told the group that he had received a job offer from the circus. "I think that I'm going to accept it and work together with the circus after my NEWTs," he added. "I wanted to do something with some kind of animals anyway, and at the circus, I have the opportunity to work with multiple species and even spend some time doing stunts with them in my Animagus form."

"I think we've all seen that the job fits you well," Ginny voiced what everyone else thought. "Remember that we need free tickets, whenever the circus comes to Dragonsedge."

Charlie laughed, promising, "And you'll get them."

Anton, the bear, and his circus remained the main topic among the first-years for several weeks, before the end of the year tests began and everyone engrossed themselves in their studies.

HP

At Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore and Molly Prewitt were relieved that with Daniel Maier, they had the first really good Defence Against the Dark Arts professor in decades. Daniel had begun to teach in January, and it seemed that he would still be able to continue after the summer holidays.

"Molly," Albus greeted the headmistress, as he entered her office, of which he still thought as his own. In fact, only Fawkes and Sopho, the Sorting Hat, were missing. Otherwise, Molly had not dared change anything, obviously knowing that he was still the active headmaster, just not officially.

"Albus," Molly greeted him, lowering her knitting needles to view him, questioningly.

"I've thought about how to improve Hogwarts' reputation," he told her, "and I've made a plan. Have you ever heard of the Triwizard Tournament?"

Molly scrunched her forehead in thought, however, did not come up with anything. 'Oh well, for a headmistress, she's shockingly uneducated,' he thought in annoyance, before he explained about the events of the past, which had been stopped due to the many deaths they had caused.

"I've decided to hold a Triwizard Tournament here at Hogwarts, provided that we find two other schools willing to participate."

"That sounds like a good idea," Molly replied, seemingly indifferent. "When do you plan to hold the tournament?"

Albus feigned remaining thoughtful for as long as a minute, in spite of the fact that he had already planned out all the details. "Maybe in two years' time," he replied, tentatively.

Molly's thoughts went haywire, and he knew exactly what was going to come.

"Oh by then, Ron will be a fourth year," she stated, eagerly. "Will he be able to participate?"

"No," Albus replied in a firm voice. "Only students from the age of seventeen onwards may participate. Due to the fact that it might be dangerous."

"Oh, all right," Molly agreed in apparent understanding. "Will you contact the other schools, or do you want me…"

"I will," Albus interrupted her. 'Before she comes up with a reason why she has to do it,' he thought, feeling extremely annoyed at the redhead, even if the loyalty charm, which he had cast at her during her time as a student and had re-cast it every five years, still worked well.

HP

During the school year, Brian usually stayed at Lestrange Manor and only joined Regina and her colleagues during the evenings, when the extended family sat together for tea. However, during the holidays, he often even joined them for mealtimes, especially as their children Christa and Jonathan were almost permanent residents at the school.

On the first day of the summer holidays, Brian addressed the extended family at breakfast.

"Is any of you interested in computer studies?"

"I am," Harry immediately replied without even having to consider the matter. He had already talked with Brian about computers, whenever he had the opportunity to speak with the Squib.

"Me too," Dorea uttered, quickly.

Brian nodded, seemingly contented. "Fact is that I'm quite far developing my Merlin Strawberry, but – as you know – I'm a Squib, and I need someone with magic to help me out with some charms for the WOS. Regina has already assisted some, but she's not really interested in computers.

"The WOS?" Christa asked, giving her father a questioning look.

"The Wizarding Operating System," Brian explained, smiling.

"I will also assist," Lily spoke up. "As a Charms mistress, I might be able to invent some useful charms, which the children can then cast for you."

"Thanks Mum," Harry replied, before he turned back to Brian. "I can only work on the computer project during the afternoons though, as we have Unspeakable training in the mornings."

"That's fine, Harry. Thank you very much," Brian replied, smiling.

HP

From that time onwards, Harry and Dorea travelled to Lestrange Manor every afternoon. At first, they were joined by Lily; however, after three weeks of intensely working on a charm, she managed to efficiently operate the computer by a charm instead of electricity. At the same time, Brian taught the two children everything about computers, the programs, which he had installed on his own, muggle PC, and specifically about the Merlin Strawberry, which was his own invention, derived from personal computers of the muggle world, however, specifically adapted to the needs of the magical world.

"Why Merlin Strawberry?" Dorea asked in apparent confusion, causing Brian to chuckle.

"It could be any other name," he explained, "but Merlin is in relation to the name patron of your school, to which I feel somehow affiliated, and Strawberry," he shrugged, "is because I like strawberries, and because I was just eating some, when I thought about the name. Do you like strawberries?"

Dorea and Harry nodded, eagerly.

"I like the name," Dorea stated, only to add, matter-of-factly, "That's why the computer looks like an overgrown strawberry."

"Yes. When I decided on the name, Regina changed the housing to this form, and the new computers are mere copies of my first one anyway," Brian admitted, causing Harry to smile.

Lily taught her children the charm, so that Harry and Dorea could work with Brian adapting the WOS 1.0 for him. Together, they installed a dozen of Brian's new computers and made them run on the WOS 1.0 by magic, making sure that the magic was taken from their surroundings within the manor and not from their own bodies.

Harry and Dorea found the computer extremely interesting, especially when Brian allowed them to play one of the games, which he had already installed with the help of his wife. Harry and Dorea chose 'The glibbery Snitch' and spent a few minutes trying to catch the Snitch using their right hands, before they tried out 'Gringotts cart race', which was much fun as well. Other games were 'Animal resuce' and 'The exploding cauldron'; however, Brian reminded them gently that the three of them had to work first and play later.

"Will they work at the MAMA the same way?" Dorea asked one day, causing Brian to smile.

"I hope so," he replied, letting out a small sigh. "Potter Manor should have as much magic as Lestrange Manor. Nevertheless, it would be a good idea if we took one computer with us tonight and just tried it out. I suppose that each of the professors would like to have one, once we teach them what they can do with it."

"I think so, too," Harry agreed, and Dorea nodded in apparent excitement.

"There's another thing that I'd like to do with them," Brian informed them. "The muggles have a thing called the internet. It's still not well known even among muggles. Anyway, I plan to invent a similar thing, the Wizardnet. It would be a method to connect the computers within the magical world for communication measures. It would at least partly replace Floo calls or communication by Patroni – provided that we get it to work."

"Let's try it out," Dorea said with apparent eagerness that made Harry look at his nine-year-old sister in amazement.

'She's going to be a brilliant witch just like Mum,' he thought, feeling very proud of the girl.

HP

When the three stepped into the fireplace to travel to the MAMA on time for dinner that evening, they took one of the overgrown strawberries as Dorea still called them with them as well as a monitor and a keyboard. It was white with red strawberries with the letters from A to Z and numbers from 1 to 0 on them as well as several green leaves that were decorated with various symbols and functions.

"This is our new Merlin Stawberry with WOS 1.0," Brian introduced the computer to the extended family, before Dorea showed everyone how to operate their newest toy.

"For several features, you can either press a combination of keys on the keyboard or simply point your wand at the screen and say a command," Harry added to his sister's explanations and showed the intrigued family how to play one of the pre-installed games – much to everyone's excitement.

"Brian," Arcturus spoke up, pensively, "first of all, you should patent the Merlin Strawberry WOS 1.0. I will help you file the patent with the Ministry of Magic."

"Absolutely," Amelia added in a firm voice.

"Thanks," Brian replied, smiling.

"And secondly," Arcturus continued, "what do we have to do to get at least five of these for the Unspeakables' office?"

"I'd love to have one as well," Amelia added, smirking.

Brian let out a deep sigh.

"I believe," Minerva spoke up, "that we should keep quiet about the matter for the time being. If information about this Merlin Strawberry leaks into the magical world, Brian, Harry and Dorea will have their hands full producing enough computers to please the whole magical worlds. They're going to have to install and charm thousands of these things. In a month's time, school is going to commence again, and Harry and Dorea won't have any more time to assist."

"That's true," Harry agreed, sighing.

"I fully agree with Minerva," Brian said in a firm voice. "I still need to continue developing software and the Wizardnet on top of it. I suggest that we only just place the ten devices we've made by now here at the MAMA for everyone to use here. Do you have a spare room, where we could put ten computers – just for the professors to use?" he enquired.

"No!" Harry and Dorea shouted, simultaneously. "We still want to continue researching, whenever we have time," Harry continued, indignantly.

"Yes, you can of course do that, but I believe that we should keep it within the extended family," James agreed. "If possible, Minerva and I'd like to have one in the head's office though. We can place it under a notice-me-not charm, so that no one but us will be able to see it."

"Oh yes please," Minerva added.

HP

However, when school began, Harry, Neville, Inu, Draco, Hermione, Christa and Susan took it upon themselves to help the new first-years adjust to the MAMA. As Inu was the fastest of all of them, Harry instructed him to lead the first-years from one classroom to the next between classes, feeling very proud, when the canine still managed to reach their own class on time. In the evenings, they helped the first-years with their homework and showed them around the school, so that Harry did not have much time to think about their computer project – much to Dorea's annoyance, which she voiced at every mealtime.

"I'm going to work on the computer with you on Saturday evening," Harry consoled his sister, just before Luna addressed him from behind. "Harry, can we have an Animagi night on Saturday? Christa told me all about it."

'Oh Merlin, I can't please them all,' Harry thought in annoyance, when he recalled Luna's intriguing phoenix form, which he had seen at their visit to the circus.

He stared at the girl in shock upon hearing her next words.

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: "Phoenixes and serpents".