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.
As there were no other new students apart from Percy Weasley in the middle of the school year, only James, Inu and Arthur went to the station to greet the students and accompany them back to the MAMA, while their colleagues remained at the school.
Apparently, Percy had already made friends on the train with Oliver Wood, the Quidditch captain of the first-years, and he seemed outright happy to be able to attend the MAMA from now on.
"I think Mum is slowly going crazy, and she does everything that Dumbledore wants," he told his father, who nodded in apparent understanding.
"I'm glad that you found your way here," he told his son, and even if Arthur barely ever showed any emotion, James thought that he seemed outright happy.
As usual, Inu ran through the crowd greeting the students he liked and examining if there was anything out of the normal; however, he seemed happy by the time they arrived at the school.
Only when they reached the entrance hall, Percy suddenly blurted out, "My rat. Have you seen Scabbers?"
"No," Oliver replied in apparent confusion. "I know that you still had it, when we got off the train. It was looking out of your robe pocket."
"Oh well, he'll hopefully find me later on," Percy replied, shaking his head in apparent annoyance. "He often goes for walks. He did that at Hogwarts, too."
'I can't believe that people get rats as familiars,' James thought in annoyance, as he listened to the two first-years' conversation, when he walked into the atrium behind them. 'They're absolutely disgusting. Just like Peter was,' a small voice added from the back of his mind.
HP
A few days later, Molly Noname strode into the Ministry of Magic and demanded to speak to the Minister of Magic.
"Minister Bones is busy right now, and you don't have an appointment," Miranda Miller informed her, eyeing the red-haired witch in annoyance. 'I so understand why Arthur separated from her,' she thought.
Unfortunately, the witch began to scream at her that, as the headmistress of Hogwarts, she was very well entitled to see the minister, when she was able to get away from the school – be it with our without appointment.
While Miranda was still pondering how to react, Amelia opened her door.
"What's the matter here?" she asked in a strict voice, of which Miranda was glad that Amelia had so far never used it towards her.
"Miss Noname wishes to speak with you," she informed her boss, who stared at the redhead in apparent surprise.
"Molly," she said in a voice that was void of any emotion.
"Amelia, you must help me," the witch pleaded. "I went to Gringotts to accept the ladyship of the Prewitt family; however, the goblins told me that I couldn't do that. There was already someone holding the title. But when I asked who it was, they said they couldn't tell me. And I know for a fact that my whole family is dead."
Amelia nodded in apparent understanding.
"Can you help me? I wish to gain the ladyship, and I also want to take my rightful seat on the Wizengamot," Molly informed the minister.
"For the Wizengamot, you'll have to speak with Lord Greengrass," Amelia replied, dismissively; "however, to occupy your seat, it has to be vacant, and you'll need the title." She remained pensive for a moment, and Miranda was glad that the redhead waited quietly, before the minister continued, decisively. "I'm sorry to say this, Molly, but if the person who is the head of the Prewitt family, does not consider it necessary to inform you about it, then there's nothing that Lord Greengrass or I could do about it, because it is a family matter of the Prewitts."
Miranda efficiently managed to hide a chuckle, when the redhead's face took on a colour that matched her hair.
"I suggest that you try sending a letter to Lord Prewitt and ask to be reinstalled into the Prewitt family. Whoever the lord is, he probably won't deny you a family name," the minister added.
Molly glared at Amelia and left without a further word.
"Is there a Lord Prewitt at all?" Miranda whispered to Amelia, who nodded in confirmation.
"Yes, there is, but since he's an Unspeakable, I can't disclose his name to anyone, not even to you, my dear," her boss replied, smiling.
Miranda nodded in understanding.
HP
The soul took in its surroundings with contentedness. 'That worked well,' it thought, as it floated around the park. 'Now I only need to possess someone and take over the body. The question is whom to possess, considering that I'm going to look like them in the future.'
HP
Harry groaned in annoyance. "This just doesn't work," he complained to Neville, who let out a deep sigh, expressing his shared disappointment about the matter.
"It's annoying," Hermione confirmed. But remember that Sirius told us it took them three years to become Animagi."
"And they were older than us," Susan added.
"I just wished we could do it sooner," Draco spoke up, sighing.
"Why don't we go and play Quidditch?" Christa suggested. "Just a little over three years and we're going to be first-years. Let's practise, so that we manage to get the Quidditch cup seven years in a row."
"A brilliant idea…"
"… Let's go," Harry and Neville agreed, ignoring Inu's light growl and indignant expression.
"I'm surprised that you want to become a phoenix Animagus," Christa addressed the canine, "considering how much you dislike flying."
Inu looked up at her, indifferently. =That will probably change when I'm a bird,= he woofed back, and Harry quickly translated.
"Hopefully," Christa replied, chuckling, causing the group to laugh at the canine, who dashed ahead towards the park.
HP
Too soon for the trio's liking, school let out and the older students left for the summer holidays.
'As much as they annoy me, as we barely have any private space apart from our own rooms anymore, some of them are really nice,' Harry thought, as he said good-bye to Nymphadora Tonks, who had just finished her third year together with Charlie and insisted that they call her Tonks instead of Nymphadora.
"I'll try to convince my mother to visit Aunt Narcissa some time and bring me with her," Tonks said, almost as if she had been able to read his thoughts.
"That would be great," Neville replied, grinning.
"We're going to have much fun during the holidays," Harry added.
"At least you're going to have each other and Charlie and his siblings," Tonks replied, letting out a deep sigh. "I'm going to be all alone with my parents, who will have to work all day anyway."
"I thought that Aunt Drommy was going to teach Law here," Draco spoke up, giving his cousin a questioning look.
"Really?" Tonks asked, her eyes widening with surprise and excitement.
Draco shrugged. "At least Mum said she'd try to convince her."
"Oh, I'll gladly contribute to the convincing," Tonks replied, pleasantly, her hair changing from a dull green to a pleasant orange colour.
HP
In the evening of the first day of the holidays, a huge party took place at Lestrange Manor, to which Regina had invited the permanent residents of the MAMA. She had finished her OWLs, and even if she had not received her results yet, she knew that she had managed to pass every single subject and was incredibly happy about it. Just two years ago, she had still believed to be a Squib, and now, she was a proud member of an NEWT class at the Merlin Academy for Magical Arts.
"Thank you all so much for coming and for helping me with my infantile steps though the magical world," she greeted everyone, smiling broadly.
"You're more than welcome, dear," Minerva replied, smiling, "and we thank you very much for the invitation."
Harry and the other Mini Unspeakables enjoyed themselves greatly exploring the manor together with Dorea, the Weasley twins and the redheads' older brothers.
HP
"I don't really like Percy," Harry said to his brothers, once they were back in their bedroom late in the evening.
"Yeah, he's a bit stuck-up," Neville immediately agreed.
Inu, who was busily cleaning his right front paw, interrupted what he was doing to comment, =His rat is extremely strange though, but I didn't get close enough to it to properly examine it.=
"In what way strange?" Neville enquired, once Harry had translated Inu's woofs for his brother.
=I don't know,= Inu replied, simply, as he proceeded to lick his left front paw.
"Oh well, rats are disgusting…" Neville decided.
"… and should better be used as potions ingredients anyway," Harry added, before he climbed into bed, gently lifting the covers for Inu to slip under and cuddle against his stomach.
HP
During the summer holidays, the Mini Unspeakables became very busy. In the mornings, they had training with Devil, before they spent the afternoons assisting the professors of the MAMA with their research and tasks.
HP
While the Mini Unspeakables were training at the ministry, Narcissa, Regina and some of the staff who were not busy with either research or the preparation of classes entertained five-year-old Dorea, three-year-old Charlus and Regulus and two-year-old Jonathan.
Bill intensely studied with Nicholas Flamel, as the old wizard wished to retire and saw a worthy successor in Bill once he would have taken his NEWTs in two years' time.
His brother Charlie spent the whole summer holidays training with the Welsh Dragons, a professional Quidditch team that had its training facilities right on the other side of Dragonsedge.
Percy, who had just only finished his first year at the MAMA, assisted Andromeda Black, the new professor for Law, with her lesson plan and the preparations for her classroom.
When Andromeda's daughter Tonks heard about the Mini Unspeakables' training with the Unspeakables, she was all for it and begged Arcturus to take her on as an Unspekable in training as well.
Having known the girl as a diligent student with the rare ability of a metamorphmagus, Minerva managed to convince the man, who had secretly become her fiancé, to give young Nymphadora the opportunity.
HP
It was on July 31, when the extended family celebrated the trio's birthday, that Raros and Mento agreed to accompany Ra and the Mini Unspeakables to the MAMA.
"Are you sure that it's safe with all the little ones running around?" Tonks asked in concern, causing Mento to laugh at the fourteen-year-old, who had recently joined their team.
"Don't worry, little one," he said in a soothing voice. "Don't forget that we're trained Unspeakables."
Raros nodded, before he explained, "We're going to cast a charm over the whole group of attendees of the party that will make them unable to reveal our identities to anyone not in attention."
"Constant vigilance, as Moody uses to say," Arcturus added, smirking.
The Mini Unspeakables laughed in understanding, as everyone knew the grumpy head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who was still a frequent guest at the MAMA, even if James and Sirius had left the Auror contingent years ago.
HP
As usual, Inu sniffed all presents, before he allowed Harry and Neville near them let alone open them. Nevertheless, among their presents was one gift, which Harry would have preferred to not receive.
When he unwrapped the gift, which was wrapped in dark blue paper with twinkling moons and stars, he pulled out the book 'Hogwarts: A History'.
As his parents knew him to be the owner of Hogwarts, they had suggested for him to read this book, as soon as he could read well enough, and he and his siblings and friends all knew the book by heart.
'Why would anyone give that to me now?' he wondered and curiously lifted the cover, only to realise that it was slightly different from the self-updating copy, which he owned. It ended with Voldemort's attack in Godric's Hollow.
'How strange. I wonder who gave it to me and why,' he thought, when a small parchment fell out of the book. Curiously unfolding it, he realised that it was a letter.
'Dear Harry,
you must know that there is a prophecy, which was made a year before you were born, involving Voldemort and either you or Neville Longbottom. However, considering that Voldemort chose to attack you and your parents and not Neville and his parents, you are now the target of the prophecy. Your parents are aware of it. Please ask them to tell you the exact content of it. In short, Voldemort will come back and you are the one who has to vanquish him for good. Moreover, your dog wears the symbol of the attack, the scar on his behind. He will have to die, before you can defeat Voldemort. If you have questions or need help, I will always be there for you. You only need to ask.
Yours sincerely
Albus Dumbledore
Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts'
Harry stared at the letter in bewilderment, before he handed it to his mother. "Mum, tell me that this isn't true," he blurted out, horrified.
"Dumbledore! I'm going to kill him!" Sirius blurted out after reading the letter over Lily's shoulder. Before anyone could stop him, he transformed into his canine form and dashed away.
When everyone, who ran after him, reached the entrance hall, they could only see Sirius, who was back in his human form, floo away with Inu nestled between his feet.
"Inu!" Harry shouted, indignantly, staring at the fireplace in irritation.
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: "Family matters".