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.


"Why Harry, I'm a fairy phoenix," Luna said, pleasantly, giving him a dreamy look.

'Is she able to read my thoughts?' Harry thought, horrified, while some part of his mind screamed, 'Her smile is very pretty.'

"I saw your form at the circus," he managed to voice a reply, as soon as he recovered from his shock. "It's beautiful."

"So do you have time for me on Saturday afternoon then?" Dorea asked, indignantly.

"Yes dear, as soon as I'm back from the Unspeakables' training," Harry promised, inwardly sighing.

"You'll be able to transform soon, too," Luna said to Dorea in a soothing voice, smiling at her.

"I really hope so," the younger girl breathed, returning the smile.

"And the Wizardnet will be brilliant, once you combine the MAMA and PAPA," Luna added, pleasantly, before she turned around and left, causing Harry and Dorea to stare at each other in shock.

"Papa?" Dorea mouthed, wide-eyed.

Harry shook his head wondering why Luna knew about their plans for a Wizardnet, before he recalled that his mother had said something about Luna being a Seer.

"Harry," Dorea changed the topic, just when Harry was about to leave the atrium, "will people despise me because of my Animagus form?"

Harry stared at his sister in shock. "And why would they do such a thing?" he enquired. "An Aesculapian serpent is a beautiful form, and you'll be able to assist Mum and Uncle Severus just like Iro does."

"But Uncle Sirius told me once that people despise snakes and Parselmouths as well," Dorea admitted, hesitantly, causing Harry's eyes to narrow in anger.

"Nonsense," he said in a soothing voice. "Sirius only said so, because he always despised Slytherins at Hogwarts, and they're associated with snakes. People will see how pretty you are, and you're much more useful in your Animagus form than Sirius or I are as dogs."

"You're a phoenix Animagus as well," Dorea reminded him, smiling. "And phoenixes are not only useful, but also recognised as such."

"Oh well, that's that," Harry admitted, "but don't worry. You're doing great, sis," he replied, before he told his sister good-bye and hurried back to the common room after his classmates.

HP

Arthur Weasley retired to his private quarters to think for a little while before heading to the parlour for some quality time with the extended family.

He re-read the letter, which he had received from Charlie that very morning. While he was lucky enough to have his oldest son as a colleague at the MAMA, Charlie had accepted a position at the Circus of the Headless Lion right after his NEWTs. While the circus had made Dragonsedge its home spot, it used to travel all over Britain, especially during the warm summer months, and Arthur could not help missing his always bright son.

'At least he seems to be extremely happy,' he thought, smiling, as he carefully folded the parchment to read it again later on. 'And they'll return to Dragonsedge before Christmas at the latest. Last year, they remained here for weeks from before Christmas.'

'I'm becoming sentimental,' he scolded himself, when his thoughts wandered to his former wife. 'I can't understand why I felt sorry for her,' he thought in confusion. 'How could I even think that it would be a good idea for her to come here and teach at the MAMA? Oh well, it was Christmas at that time, and she gave hand-knitted sweaters to all our children,' he recalled. 'Thank Merlin Lily spoke out firmly against her.'

"Dad," Bill's shouting brought him back to reality. "Let's go and have some tea."

"Coming," Arthur called back and followed his older son out of their rooms, gladly dismissing any thoughts about his former wife.

HP

'This is too frustrating,' Dorea thought, as she sat on the sofa between her mother and Aunt Narcissa, absentmindedly following the adults' conversation about their first Merlin Strawberry, while she intensely tried to transform into her Animagus form.

Granny, Mum, Dad and Harry had told her many times that her Animagus form was much more difficult to achieve than everyone else's. While others could change their left hands, then their right hands, their complete arms, their legs, their body and their head consecutively, a serpent did not have various limbs like all the other animals. It consisted of one single limb, into which she had to transform at once. She had already toyed with the idea of changing her attempted Animagus form to some canine form; however, being a Parselmouth, she had become good friends with Iro and wanted to become a comrade to her mother's familiar.

All of a sudden, a strange feeling shook her body, and while she heard someone scream in apparent panic, her vision expanded greatly. She instinctively slithered down onto the floor, where Iro quickly joined her.

"You did it. You're an Aesssculapian ssserpent," the snake informed her, making Dorea finally realise what had happened.

'I did it,' she thought in amazement, feeling incredibly happy, as she curiously tried to view her own body.

"My, aren't you a beautiful serpent," Granny Minerva said in clear admiration.

"Well done, Dorea," her mother added, smiling, as she held a quickly conjured hand-mirror in front of her, so that she could finally admire the entire of her form.

'Dark blue with a rainbow-coloured pattern, just as I wanted it,' Dorea realised in excitement, letting out a few hisses, which everyone just had to understand as absolute happiness.

"Come, let'sss head into the park for a little while," Iro invited her and, seeing her mother nod in approval, Dorea quickly followed the fellow serpent for a tour through the large park of the school, where they were quickly joined by a couple of garden snakes that admired her colours.

'And I'm going to participate in the Animagi night on Saturday,' Dorea thought, happily, when she transformed back into her human form hours later. 'I'm not going to miss out on them anymore.'

HP

Needless to say that the two colourful serpents attracted much attention at the Animagi night, as most students were unaware of the fact that Lily Potter was keeping an Aesculapian serpent at the school as her familiar.

#That's Dorea. She managed the transformation,# Luna blurted out, fluffing her back feathers in apparent contentedness, which caused everyone to turn their attention to her beautiful phoenix form.

#Who are you, and what kind of phoenix are you?# Hermione trilled, giving the new phoenix a piercing look.

#I'm Luna, and I'm a fairy phoenix,# Luna replied, spreading a feeling of happiness in her surroundings, as she took off and flashed away.

#I suddenly feel happy,# Hermione voiced what everyone else hovering nearby thought. #Was that Luna's doing?#

#Apparently,# Harry agreed. #While Christa's flashes are accompanied by pieces of ice…#

#...and yours with water,# Fawkes interrupted him, quickly.

#... Luna's seems to cause happiness,# Harry continued, ignoring his mouthy familiar. #Is that even possible?# he asked, incredulously.

#Of course,# Fawkes confirmed, smugly. #That nestling is special.#

#That's amazing,# Hermione trilled, before she took off and flew after Luna.

HP

It was a few weeks later that Minerva suddenly let out a gasp upon reading a letter, which the house-elves had distributed together with all the other mail that had arrived that day at lunchtime.

"Idiot!" she blurted out with her face scrunched in apparent anger.

"Minerva? Who's an idiot?" Lily enquired, incredulously, shaking her head in surprise at her mentor.

"Dumbledore," Minerva replied, shortly. "He sent me a letter inviting the MAMA to participate in a Triwizard Tournament, which he plans to hold at Hogwarts in two years' time."

"What is the Triwizard Tournament?" Dorea asked, frowning.

"That's a very old event, isn't it?" James spoke up.

"It is," Remus was the first to reply. "It took place from about the thirteenth to the eighteenth century, but it was discontinued because of the enormous mortality rate if I remember correctly," the former werewolf added, pensively.

"Dumbledore wants to revive it and said he wanted to invite us before talking to some other schools," Minerva explained, sighing.

"No thanks," James replied in a firm voice.

"My opinion exactly," Minerva agreed, casting her deputy headmaster a small smile.

"Definitely not," Sirius added, and Lily full-heartedly agreed with the overall opinion.

"Very well. I'll send him my letter of refusal tomorrow," Minerva decided, conclusively.

"He must be desperate to resort to such measures," Arthur spoke up, shaking his head in apparent annoyance.

"What other schools are there that might participate?" Lily asked, thoughtfully.

"Ah, there are lots," James replied. "It depends on whether he wants it to be a European contest or a world-wide one. I suppose that the nearest and biggest schools he could invite would be Durmstrang in Bulgaria, the Kilian's School for Magic in Germany or Beauxbatons in France."

Minerva nodded, grimly. "Oh well, I wish them much fun," she replied, her voice laced with sarcasm that made Sirius laugh aloud.

"I wonder what Hogwarts thinks about this," Lily said, pensively. "So far, she didn't say anything."

"We'll ask her on Sunday," James replied, reassuringly.

HP

On Sunday morning, Lily, James and Dorea headed to Hogwarts, who greeted them with apparent enthusiasm as usual.

"Thank you so much for coming to visit an old lady," she addressed the three, as soon as they entered the parlour. "Thanks Dorea for coming. I'm glad that you're still coming. I miss Harry so much."

"Well Hogwarts, Harry is a second-year, and we can't simply take him out of the school on Sundays," Lily explained, sighing. 'It's not as if I wasn't missing Harry, Neville and Inu, too,' she thought. "I'll ask him to visit you though, whenever he can get away due to being a Mini Unspeakable," she promised the old castle.

"That's all I can ask for," Hogwarts replied in a soft voice. "Thank you, Lily."

"Hogwarts," James spoke up, questioningly, "what do you think of Dumbledore's plan to hold a Triwizard Tournament here at the school?"

Hogwarts remained quiet for a moment, before she let out a small chuckle and replied, "I'm sure that I'm going to have much fun observing what's going to happen. I just hope that it's not going to be too dangerous. People have died in that thing, even here at the school."

James nodded, grimly. "I suppose that there's nothing that we can do to prevent him from holding the tournament, is there?"

"I'm afraid not, dears," Hogwarts replied, calmly.

"Sorry, Hogwarts, but I need to go and show Amaterasu my Animagus form," Dorea spoke up. "I'll see you next Sunday."

"Bye dear and congrats for managing the Animagus transformation," Hogwarts replied, only to add, "I look forward to seeing it as well."

With that, Lily also said good-bye to the castle and accompanied her excited daughter to Salazar's chamber to visit her familiar.

Needless to say that Amaterasu was delighted upon seeing the Aesculapian serpent, even if it was much smaller than herself.

"One day, you mussst come and visssit during the school holidaysss," she instructed the young witch. "Then we can slither out onto the groundsss together."

"I'll do that," Dorea promised, sincerely, and Lily nodded her approval, knowing that Hogwarts would see to it that nothing happened to her daughter in whatever form.

HP

Every Sunday morning, Harry, Neville, Hermione, Christa – and recently Luna as well – taught their classmates along with some of the first-years and a few older students the Animagus transformation in the second-years' common room.

"Dorea is late today," Hermione spoke up, and Harry followed her gaze to the time display on the wall. "Oh right, she already managed the transformation," she recalled, nodding in confirmation.

Everyone nodded in understanding. They were already used to the fact that Dorea, who had participated in their practice in spite of not being a first-year yet, was always late, because she visited Hogwarts together with her parents right after breakfast.

"Her form is beautiful," Luna spoke up, wearing a dreamy expression.

"But yours is the best, as you can make others happy with it," Harry said in a soft voice, causing the first-year to smile, happily.

"I've something to discuss with you all," Hermione suddenly said in a firm voice. "Now that many of us have managed the Animagus transformation, and yes, we'll continue practising with the others," she added quickly, glancing at those, who were still trying to change their limbs, "why don't we try to practise dancing, for example?"

The following silence was interrupted by Luna's chuckle. "Why Hermione, are you going to attend the Yule Ball this year?" she asked, wearing an innocent expression.

A collective gasp followed her announcement, and Hermione could not help blushing.

"Someone asked me to attend together with him, and I said yes, but I don't have a clue how to dance. I know that my parents could teach me, but I'm not exactly free to run home at every opportunity," she added, letting out a deep sigh.

Everyone nodded in understanding. They all knew the Grangers, as Emma was still the librarian, while Dan was teaching Muggle Studies.

"I could teach you," Luna said, airily. "My Mum taught me, when I was still a little girl. We just need some music."

"I'll ask Professor Hooch," Harry offered. "Even if she's not our teacher of the year anymore, she'll surely help us."

"Are you all in?" Hermione asked, wearing a hopeful expression.

"Of course," Draco replied, gently. "Even if we'd be interested to know who in the world invited you to the Yule Ball."

"Draco!" Neville lightly scolded the boy.

"What?" Draco shrugged. "It has to be at least a fifth-year, and for them, we're still small children, isn't that right?"

"Boys," Daphne spoke up in clear exasperation. "You're all children compared to us."

'I also wonder who invited her,' Harry thought, however, knew better than to put pressure onto the girl. 'If she doesn't want us to know, she won't tell us anyway,' he thought, having known Hermione since she had been three years old. 'Thank Merlin we still have three more years, before we have to invite a girl to accompany us to the Ball,' he thought in relief, wondering whom he would invite if he had to do this now, only to realise that it was not really a question. 'I just hope that no one invites her before I do,' he thought, unknowingly smiling.

"Harry, what's so funny?" Susan enquired.

"Ah, nothing really," Harry replied, inwardly groaning, as he felt himself blush.

To his relief, Rolanda Hooch chose that moment to enter the common room in response to his Patronus.

"Professor, we wish to have Dancing classes, and Luna has offered to teach us, but we need some music for this purpose," Hermione blurted out, and everyone nodded their agreement.

The professor listened to their plan with apparent amusement and offered to not only provide the music but also assist Luna in teaching them all, and they decided to practise Dancing right after their Animagus lesson.

"Sunday mornings in the second-years' common room it is," Rolanda confirmed before leaving the common room in apparent amusement.

HP

Lily looked up in surprise, when Rolanda informed the extended family that she was going to give the second-years Dancing lessons on Sundays.

"The second-years?" Minerva asked in apparent disbelief.

"I hope that was not my sons' idea," Lily spoke up, her thoughts going haywire. 'I don't think they're interested in girls yet,' she thought. 'They probably haven't even noticed the looks, which they receive from one or the other girl yet.'

"Probably not," Sirius quipped. "One of the sixth-years came to me to ask how to invite a second-year for the Yule Ball."

"What?" Alice and Narcissa blurted out, simultaneously.

"Who might that be?" James enquired, giving his best friend a questioning look.

"Sorry, but that I can't disclose to you at this time," Sirius replied, grinning as he seemed to recall the conversation with one of his sixth-years.

'Oh Merlin, Sirius would be one of the last persons, to whom I'd confide in such matters,' Lily thought, shaking her head in annoyance at the carefree Marauder, who was the professor responsible for the sixth-years. 'At least I know that my boys would come to me with such questions,' she thought, feeling contented with her boys' future choices, of which she had seen several visions. 'Of course, things might still change,' she thought, however, not feeling worried about it at the moment.

tbc...

Thank you so very much for the few but 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. My muse really appreicates the feedback.

Next chapter: "The Yule Ball".