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.
The seven eleven-year-old Mini Unspeakables were extremely excited. Today, they were finally going to be first-years.
The older twins as well as Charlie, the new head boy, and Bill, who had been the new Alchemy professor for a year now, had told them all about classes at the MAMA, and it sounded much more interesting than their primary school lessons had been.
Since the beginning of their lessons at the age of four, Harry, Neville, Draco, Susan, Hermione, Christa, Inu, Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, Hannah Abbot, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Mandy Brocklehorst, Su Li, Lavender Brown, Vanessa O'Neill, Millicent Bulstrode and Brigitte Burnham had been in a class together.
"I wonder if they're all going to come and if we get new students," Susan spoke up, when the seven Mini Unspeakables were huddled on Harry's and Neville's bed to make plans for the day.
"Granny Mina said…"
"… that everyone from our class was going to come back…"
"… and that we'll get fourteen new students in our class…"
"…. and that there would only be about a dozen students…"
"… going to attend their first year at Hogwarts," the twins supplied.
"We could go to King's Cross a little earlier and observe the sad crowd going to Hogwarts," Draco suggested, grinning.
"Oh, that's a brilliant idea," Susan immediately agreed. "Let's do that."
"Why not?" Christa agreed, smirking.
"But let's wear our school uniform…"
"… so that everyone knows that we belong to the MAMA," the twins added, causing everyone to cheer in anticipation.
"If the Hogwarts Express leaves at eleven, we need to be there at ten," Hermione reasoned. "Isn't that a bit early if our train only leaves at two o'clock in the afternoon?"
"Hermione, you're forgetting one thing," Harry replied, grinning.
"We can simply pop away, when the students board the train," Neville added.
"And then come back at about one o'clock." Hermione nodded in understanding.
"I can't wait to wear my school robes anyway," Christa voiced her excitement.
During their primary school time, they did not have to wear any kind of school clothes. However, that was going to change now that they were going to be first-years.
In contrary to the school uniform at Hogwarts, where the robes were black and the colour of the scarves depended on the house students were in, school robes at the MAMA were the same for everyone. The robes were of a dark purple colour, and the scarves had a yellow tone that matched the robes very well. The school's crest – a picture of Inu surrounded by small letters saying 'Where there's a will, there's a way' – was embroidered onto the top left part of the robes as well as in a tone in tone pattern all over the scarf.
Giggling and chuckling, the six human soon-to-be first years went to change into their new school clothes, wearing their Unspeakable robes on top of them.
"Mum…"
"… we're going to go to the Unspeakables' office," Harry and Neville informed Lily, before they popped away, making a short detour to the staff room of group 5. "That way, we didn't lie to Mum," Harry assured Neville, while they waited for the others to arrive.
"Now, Dog hero," Arcturus addressed Inu, "are you going to accompany these imbeciles to the platform hours too early, or are you going to have training with Devil and me?"
"It's all right, Inu. You can remain here. We'll be back in an hour," Harry reassured the canine, who nodded his head in understanding.
Usually, he never separated from his twin, however, knowing that Harry and his friends were not expected on the platform so early and could simply pop away if anyone wanted to harm them, made him choose training for once.
'It's probably going to be a special training for me as a doggy,' he thought to his twin.
'I think so, too, but you must tell me everything about it later on,' Harry thought back.
=Training please,= he replied to Arcturus, who nodded in understanding in spite of not being able to comprehend the barks.
"The six of you," Fabian addressed the children, "better remain under your Unspeakables robes and make yourselves invisible if you simply want to watch the scenes on the platform. There's no need to let anyone know about your presence at all."
"Oh, that's true," Hermione was the first to respond, even if she sounded disappointed, causing Harry to chuckle.
'The girls just can't wait to show off their new robes,' he thought in amusement, only to add, 'Just like Inu.'
"Inu, you better take off your robes before training," he warned the canine.
"They're not made for training," Neville added, quickly.
An instant later, small purple robes and a yellow scarf were flying across the room, landing in a heap on one of the chairs, before Inu dashed out of the room, closely followed by a smirking Unspeakable Ra.
HP
Even if the children had heard at the MAMA that the student population at Hogwarts had shrunken greatly, they were astonished to see only about seventy students on the platform.
'Oh Merlin, we have almost three hundred students,' Harry thought, knowing that there would be 35 of them in their class. Minerva and James had even considered separating the new first-year class into two classes, however, had decided to observe the first few weeks before deciding.
The only class, during which they would be separated from the beginning, was Potions. During the first week, Severus and Lily were going to teach the class together and closely observe the students. From the second week onwards, Severus was going to teach those who seemed to show a certain talent for brewing and would be able to proceed at a quicker pace, while Lily would teach the rest.
'Oh well, Potions is going to be a bit boring anyway,' Harry thought, knowing that he was very much advanced. During the summer holidays, Severus had suggested that he and the Weasley twins should take their Potions OWLs before Christmas, and the three students fully intended to do so. 'I hope he'll allow me to practise for the OWLs during class time,' he thought.
They observed the scenes on the platform for about ten minutes, before they decided unanimously to not waste more time but return to the Unspeakables' office and join Inu in his training.
HP
A few hours later, they were back on the platform to board the MAMA express, where the seven of them occupied a compartment for themselves.
During the train ride that took five hours, several of the other students came by to say hello, as everyone knew the permanent residents of the MAMA.
"Have you already set up your Quidditch team?" Oliver Wood, the captain of the fifth-years, enquired with apparent interest.
"Not yet…"
"… as we also have to give the new students a chance," Harry and Neville replied in determination.
"Oh well, as long as you're going to play Seeker, you will beat every other class," Oliver informed Harry, smirking.
"That we will," Draco assured the older student, grinning in apparent anticipation.
HP
A few hours later, they found themselves sitting at the first-years' table in the atrium, where Minerva introduced the new first-year students, who had not attended the primary school: "Kevin Entwhistle, Morag MacDougal, Roger Malone, Sally-Anne Perks, Oliver Rivers, Peter Runcorn, Sophie Roper, Emma Vane, Sally Smith, Stephen Cornfoot, Ernest Macmillan, Anthony Goldstein, Lisa Turpin and Blaise Zabini, welcome to the Merlin Academy for Magical Arts. Welcome back to our older students as well as the first-years, who have already attended the primary school," she added. "I ask all of you to assist the new first-years getting around the school during their first days here."
Harry and his friends nodded. They had already decided that Harry, Neville and Draco should take care of the boys who shared the dormitory with them, while Seamus, Dean and Theodore would take care for the boys in the other dormitory. Hermione, Christa and Susan had apparently made similar arrangements for the girls.
HP
At Hogwarts, the traditional Sorting Ceremony took place, and headmistress Molly Prewitt observed it with a combination of impatience and interest.
Albus carried the Sorting Hat into the Great Hall and motioned him to begin with the ceremony.
"For solely nine first-years, I am not going to sing," Sopho informed the deputy headmaster. "Begin to call the newbies already."
To Molly's disappointment, Albus did not even tell the impertinent Hat off, but simply began to read the first name from his list. "Fay Dunbar."
When Fay was sorted into Gryffindor, Molly held her head high. 'Ronald is going to be sorted there as well,' she thought, contentedly. Unfortunately, her son, who was still carrying her former husband's name, was the last of the nine first-years to be sorted and was only called to the front, after Parvati Patil had also been sorted into Gryffindor, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Wayne Hopkins and Megan Jones into Hufflepuff, Michael Corner and Padma Patil into Ravenclaw and Pansy Parkinson had become a despicable Slytherin.
HP
Ronald stumbled forward to the stool and sat down. 'It's about time,' he thought, when Dumbledore placed the Hat onto his head. 'Now, I just hope it's going to put me into Gryffindor quickly. I'm hungry.'
Suddenly, a faint voice penetrated his mind. 'Oh, what a pity, as it's not going to be quick. I simply don't know what to do with you, because you don't really fit into any house.'
"I'm a Gryffindor. That's clear, because my parents and all the Weasleys have been Gryffindors before," Ronald protested, loudly.
'No, you don't possess the courage to be a Gryffindor, you're too lazy to be a Ravenclaw, not loyal enough for a Hufflepuff. I think it's going to be…'
"Slytherin," the Hat shouted into the hall, before the small opening above his brim bent to a small smirk.
"You can't do that," Ronald protested, loudly, seeing the shock written in his mother's and sister's faces from the corners of his eyes.
"I can and I already did," the Hat replied in a cold voice, before he asked the headmaster to take him back into the headmaster's office.
"It's the headmistress' office," Dumbledore gently corrected the Hat that let out a scoff, causing Ron to stare after the old wizard in shock.
"Sit at your house table, child," Professor Figg, the teacher for Muggle Studies, instructed him, and Ronald grudgingly made his way over to the Slytherin table, wondering what would happen if he simply sat with the Gryffindors.
'Too bad that my older brothers all have left for Dad's school. Otherwise, they'd surely be able to help me,' he thought, as he took the empty seat next to Pansy Parkinson.
HP
'Thank Merlin Granny Mina put the three of us and Inu as well as Hermione, Christa and Susan together,' Harry thought, gratefully, when he entered the dormitory together with his siblings. Even if his mother had assured the trio that they could come home and stay in their own room overnight, whenever they wanted, he had no intention of overusing this privilege, which the other students did not have.
'Our new classmates seem to be nice,' Harry thought, letting out a relieved sigh, when he let himself sink into his new bed with Inu cuddling against his stomach.
HP
When Harry and his siblings, friends and classmates attended their first morning class with great anticipation and excitement, Molly Prewitt was sitting in her office glaring at the Sorting Hat.
"You stupid old piece of cloth," she shouted, almost regretting that she could not send a Hat a Howler, "how dare you sort my son into the house of the evils? He's a Gryffindor through and through," she added.
"Headmistress, please behave yourself," Phineas Nigellus Black spoke up from his portrait in a sharp voice. "My house is not an evil house. I rather suspect that your son isn't even worthy enough of Slytherin house."
The Hat merely nodded in the direction of Phineas, however, simply chose to ignore her, causing Molly to see red.
Raising her wand, she pointed it at the Sorting Hat, shouting, "Incendio."
A mere instant later, a bright flash filled the room; however, it did not come from the Hat.
Fawkes, Albus' former familiar, arrived, carefully picked up the Hat with his feet and flashed away in another bright flash, leaving her to stare at the empty spot on the shelf in shock.
"You're a stupid bitch," Phineas scolded her, sounding extremely angry.
HP
The first-years' first Transfiguration class was almost over, when Fawkes suddenly flashed into the classroom, carrying Hogwarts' Sorting Hat. Putting down the Hat onto Inu's head, he made himself comfortable on Harry's shoulder.
James, who was just giving out homework to the first-years, interrupted himself and stared at the phoenix in disbelief.
"Fawkes," he addressed the phoenix, "what does this mean? Why did you bring the Sorting Hat from Hogwarts here and above all placed it on Inu's head?"
Fawkes fluffed his feathers in apparent anger. #Because Molly Stupid tried to incendio the Hat, who called me for help. As he's a good and long-time friend of mine, I brought him here to bond with the dog hero. Harry, please translate,# he added.
=The Hat bonded to me,= Inu added to Harry's translation. =He's a bit big though, and I can't see anything.=
"Wait until tomorrow, then your father may shrink me to fit for you," the Hat finally spoke up. "Before that, I still have an errand to do in my usual size."
Apparently realising that the students were eagerly following the conversation that was taking place in the second row, James turned to the Hat. "Sopho, are you going to abandon Hogwarts?"
"Yes," the Hat confirmed, "at least as long as the school is being lead by idiots."
"I understand," James replied, nodding in understanding. "Oh well, you're always welcome here."
"Thanks," Sopho replied, smirking. "In fact, Fawkes invited me and suggested for me to bond to Inu."
=Sopho,= Inu addressed the Hat, pushing it out of his eyes with an impatient flick of his left front paw, =What is the errand you've got to do, before Harry may shrink you to fit me?=
"Ah, Dog hero, that's for me to know and for you to find out tomorrow at the earliest," Sopho replied, grinning.
HP
Ginny Weasley was finally asleep after a series of temper tantrums from her mother about her adored big brother's Sorting into Slytherin that had lasted the whole day.
All of a sudden, however, she was wakened abruptly by her mother's screaming.
'Mum is screaming, but it's not only Mum. There are two voices,' she thought in confusion, as she hurriedly scrambled out of her bed and ran into the adjacent bedroom, where her mother was supposed to be asleep.
Taking in the scene in front of her, her concern quickly turned into absolute annoyance.
A phoenix was sitting on the wardrobe, seemingly laughing his head off, while the Sorting Hat was perched on her mother's head, screaming at her. Her mother seemed trying to get the Hat off her head in vain, screaming as well.
'Oh Merlin, why is Mum such an idiot?' she thought, horrified. 'Bad enough that Ron is in Slytherin, but it's just a house. Did Mum really have to try to set the Hat on fire? The Hat is an old artefact, and it's obvious that it would be more powerful than her.'
Trusting the Hat to not outright kill her mother, especially since the phoenix on top of the wardrobe was laughing, she merely shouted at her mother, "Mum, you're an idiot," before leaving the room in a huff. Not caring that she was dressed only in her pyjamas, she ran through the empty halls of Hogwarts, as quickly as her bare feet could carry her.
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: "Ginny Weasley".