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.
"James, come with me," Lily blurted out in shock, pulling her mobile phone out of her robe pocket to phone Harry in spite of being in the atrium, where mobile phones were forbidden. "Harry, Hogwarts requests that you, Dad and I come over immediately," she informed him, shortly.
A moment later, the three of them headed to the entrance hall to use the closest fireplace to floo to the castle, closely followed by Inu and Lucy.
=I am coming, too,= Inu woofed.
=Me too,= Lucy echoed in apparent determination.
"Hogwarts requested James, Harry and me," Lily replied, feeling extremely worried what might have made the castle contact her. 'The last time was when Percy was in Salazar's chamber with Voldemort's Horcrux,' she recalled.
=I don't care,= Inu replied in a firm voice, before he transformed into his phoenix form and flashed away with Lucy holding on to his tail feathers.
Lily was not surprised to say the least upon finding the two canines waiting for them in the living room of the founders' quarters. Together, they stepped into the Parlour.
"Thank you so much for coming," Hogwarts addressed them, before they even had the chance to greet her. "Something happened tonight."
The five of them listened in surprise, when the castle told them about a ceremony for the Triwizard Tournament, in which the so-called Goblet of Fire, a magical artefact, chose the champions for the tournament.
"The goblet was supposed to choose one participant from each school, namely Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang," Hogwarts continued, "however, when I already thought the ceremony was over, it spit out Harry's name."
"My name?" Harry blurted out in apparent shock, matching everyone else's expressions. "I'm not going to participate."
"Minerva told Dumbledore that the MAMA was not going to participate," Lily spoke up in horror.
"I believe that an unbreakable contract is made between the goblet and a participant, once a name comes out of the goblet," Hogwarts said, pensively. "In Harry's case, however, it will probably be between the person who added his name and the goblet. I am not sure, however. You better ask the Unspeakables."
"I'll do that," Harry replied in a firm voice.
=We're going to destroy that goblet,= Inu announced, and Harry quickly translated.
"Try," Hogwarts encouraged him. "I don't know if that'll work. Can you connect your pees with an intention?"
=Of course,= Inu confirmed in apparent determination.
"Very well…"
While Hogwarts advised the two canines what to do, Lily's thoughts went haywire. 'We need to close Hogwarts as soon as possible, before Dumbledore does anymore nonsense and tries to pull my sons into it,' she decided, resolving to discuss the matter with her colleagues, as soon as they were back at the MAMA.
She was brought back to reality, when Inu and Lucy dashed out of the Parlour.
"Lily, let me go," James told her. "You and Harry remain here."
"No, please let me go," Lily replied in anger at the acting headmaster, official deputy headmaster of Hogwarts. "The two of you return to the MAMA please."
"I think that would be the best," Hogwarts confirmed, and Lily sighed in relief upon realising that James and Harry complied.
She quickly transformed into her Animagus form and made her way to the Great Hall, in which the students were still gathered for their Halloween dinner.
'Where are the doggies?' she thought, frantically letting her eyes wander around the Great Hall, only to realise that the two of them were peeing against the Goblet of Fire with apparent fervour.
Just when the two canines finished their business, the Goblet of Fire was torn from its anchors, as the floor of the Great Hall around the goblet shook as if hit by an extremely pointed earthquake. She stared at the scene in shock that intensified, when the old and supposed to be indestructible artefact exploded into small wooden pieces that spread all over the Great Hall. To her amazement, no one was hit by the pieces, as they all vanished into thin air, before they could hurt anyone.
'That's Hogwarts' doing,' Lily thought in amazement. She absentmindedly noticed how Inu transformed into his phoenix form and instinctively grabbed his tail feathers together with Lucy, only to be whisked away from the ensuing chaos in the Great Hall instantly.
A moment later, they arrived at the Parlour, where Hogwarts immediately commended the doggies.
"That was very well done, Inu and Lucy," the castle told them before informing Lily that she had instructed them to force the intent of destroying the goblet into their pees using their strong magic.
"Thank you very much, Hogwarts, Inu and Lucy," Lily replied, gratefully.
"I suppose that the magical contracts should have been destroyed, but you better ask the Unspeakables," Hogwarts repeated her earlier advice, and Lily nodded in understanding.
After a few more minutes of talking to the castle, Inu flashed the three of them home to the MAMA, where Lily showed her memory to the extended family that was gathered in the parlour waiting for them.
HP
Harry inwardly sighed in relief, when Inu flashed into the room with his mother and Lucy in tow. 'Thank Merlin they're safe,' he thought, as he watched his mother's memory in amazement. 'Inu and Lucy are too cool,' he thought, feeling very proud of his canines.
"May I call my colleagues Croaker, Raros and Mento?" Arcturus spoke up. "I have my opinion about this magical contract, but I'd like to hear their input as well."
"Sure," was the unison reply from various members of the family, and Harry quickly headed to the entrance hall to accompany their incoming guests to the parlour.
Once again, they watched the memory, before everyone looked at the Unspeakables in clear expectation.
Croaker was the first to voice his opinion. "Harry won't have to participate in any case. He won't lose his magic, neither his life, as he wasn't the one to initiate the magical contract," the head of the Unspeakables explained. "If at all, the person who put his name into the goblet will lose either his magic or even his life."
"Thanks Croaker, that's good to know," Harry replied, feeling absolutely relieved by the Unspeakable's statement. 'Croaker wouldn't say so if he wasn't absolutely certain,' he thought, having known the Unspeakable, who was not only very responsible but also extremely careful, for years.
"What about the three champions?" his father enquired.
Croaker shook his head, admitting, "I'm not sure."
"You better allow the Triwizard Tournament to take place, before you close Hogwarts," Arcturus spoke up. "You wouldn't want to kill three young people in the worst case."
"That's true," his father replied, sighing, before he turned to his mother. "Lily, Harry, is it all right for you if we don't act immediately but just inform everyone that Hogwarts will be closed at the end of the school year?"
"I think that's a good idea," his mother agreed. "We also have to consider the students who have already begun their school year at Hogwarts."
"What's going to become of Hogwarts then?" Remus spoke up, giving his father a questioning look.
"I already have an idea," James replied, smirking, and began to explain his plan.
However, Harry became distracted, when his mother asked him, "Harry, could you quickly flash to Hogwarts' parlour and inform her that Dumbledore's school will be closed at the end of the school year and we're going to take over in some form?"
"Sure," Harry replied, transformed into his phoenix form and flashed to inform the kind old castle, knowing from his mother's tales that Hogwarts would be very happy about it.
HP
In the morning, the events at Hogwarts covered the front page of the Daily Prophet.
'Manipulation and fiasco at the choice of the champions at Hogwarts,' the headline informed the readers.
'During the Halloween feast at Hogwarts, the Goblet of Fire was supposed to choose three champions for the Triwizard Tournament. However, after choosing Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff seventh-year student and son of the Potions professor Amos Diggory for Hogwarts, Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons and Viktor Krum for Durmstrang, it spat out a fourth name, that of Harry Potter of the MAMA. We all know fourteen-year-old Harry Potter and his sister Dorea as the inventors of the mobile phone for our world. This reporter knows Harry Potter as a very modest, young man, who is not likely to have any ambitions to participate in a tournament made for students from the age of seventeen onwards. The question remains who put the boy's name into the Goblet of Fire.
The professors were still discussing this act of manipulation, as the MAMA had already declined their participation in the tournament as early as two years ago, when chaos ensued.
According to witnesses, two small dogs – one of them is said to possibly be the Mutt who Lived – dashed into the Great Hall and peed against the Goblet of Fire. Years ago, we have already witnessed how strong the magic of the Mutt who Lived is, when he vanquished You-Know-Who and remained unscathed. The destruction of this old, magical artefact shows us that his magic tops that of the most powerful wizards and witches alive.
We will keep you updated on the Triwizard Tournament, which according to headmistress Molly Prewitt will still take place as planned.'
HP
A few days later, right after the last afternoon class, James, Lily and Harry headed to the Department of Education at the Ministry of Magic to speak with Griselda Marchbanks about Hogwarts.
"As the owners of Hogwarts," James began to speak, placing an official looking document from Gringotts as proof that they were the sole heirs of the founders of Hogwarts and as such the owners of the castle, "and as consequence of Albus Dumbledore's and Molly Prewitt's actions, we have decided to close the school at the end of the current school year."
Griselda Marchbanks quietly listened to their explanation, before she replied, "I fully understand, and I must say that I find it amazing how long you have waited to perform this step. I shall accept your decision, especially as your own school's record is more than remarkable. I shall inform and dissolve the Board of Governors as well as the headmistress and deputy headmaster of Hogwarts," she informed them, smiling.
"Thank you, Mrs. Marchbanks," James replied in a firm voice.
"Is there anything else that we need to do?" Lily enquired.
"No dear," Marchbanks reassured her, gently. "Do you have any plans what to do with the old castle?"
"Yes," James replied and informed the old witch about his plans, which he had already discussed with his colleagues of the extended family in detail.
"A wonderful idea, and I promise you now that I'll fully support you in this matter," the witch replied and immediately registered the data that James gave her, issuing a parchment of confirmation as they spoke.
"When are you going to inform the Board and the school?" Lily enquired, only to add, "I'd just like to know when it would be all right to speak with the Daily Prophet."
"I'll send the three owls later today, and perhaps you could give them a week's time to inform the parents, even if I don't suppose that they'll do such a thing at the present time."
"They'll wait until shortly before the holidays I suppose," James added, grimly. "Thank Merlin we have the house-elves accept all our mail, a system which we've set up specifically against Howlers from Molly Prewitt years ago."
The old witch chuckled and wished them good luck, before they took their leave and returned to the MAMA.
"That went well," Lily said, as they headed to the atrium right on time for dinner.
"I think that we opened her eyes concerning Dumbledore years ago, when we set up the MAMA," James added, seemingly contented.
HP
During the first half of Harry's fourth year, Harry and Dorea had intensely worked on setting up the Wizardnet. Unbeknownst to their extended family and of course everyone else apart from Brian, they had managed to efficiently connect the computers, which they used for their tests, to each other. They had equipped a so far empty room in the Potters' private quarters with three Merlin Strawberry computers for test purposes.
Receiving confirmation from Brian that everything was absolutely correct, they decided to give each adult of the extended family a Merlin Strawberry with Wizarding Operating System WOS 2.0 with integrated Wizardnet for Christmas.
"Once that's done, we can finally begin to make the homepage for the MAMA and show it to everyone," Dorea blurted out in apparent eagerness, which Harry could only understand all too well.
"Let's see to it that we have the page up and running by Christmas," he replied, grinning in anticipation. "With Flitwick as our head of the year, it'll be easy to get away from the common room in the evenings," he added, thoughtfully. "He'll be thrilled if I tell him that they'll all get their own Merlin Strawberry PC for Christmas."
"Ah, Poppy won't even notice, as she's busy in the evenings anyway," Dorea added, grinning, before she warned him, "Tell Flitwick to not talk about it though. We don't want anyone else to know in advance."
"Will do," Harry promised.
Two days before Christmas, they had the main page for the school running and decided to give each of the professors a voucher for a specific page for their subject in addition to the Merlin Strawberry for Christmas.
HP
In the morning of Christmas Eve, the Daily Prophet reported about the closure of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry in June, 1995. James and Lily had agreed on the measure, so that parents could discuss the matter with their children during the Christmas holidays – in case Dumbledore and Prewitt had not informed them already.
"According to Hogwarts, they haven't done anything so far," Lily told her colleagues, when the topic was brought up by the post in the Daily Prophet. "She also told me, by the way, that Molly Prewitt is teaching Transfiguration again and has been doing so ever after the first task of the Triwizard Tournament."
A collective gasp followed her explanation.
"Perhaps, he's lost his magic, when Harry didn't participate in the first task, considering that it was probably him who put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire," James replied, coolly.
"Well, then it would be his own fault," Minerva said, shaking her head in apparent annoyance.
Suddenly, Hermione approached the high table. "Mum, are you ready soon? You must help me get ready for the Yule Ball," the girl said in clear excitement, causing everyone to laugh.
"Oh Merlin, it's only half past nine in the morning," Minerva stated in apparent annoyance.
"How many hours do you need to get ready?" Sirius added, grinning.
"Well, she's going to be a beautiful partner for Percy," Arthur spoke up, smiling at Hermione, who returned an eager smile.
'Percy and her really seem to like each other,' Lily thought in amusement.
The twins' older brother, who had taken his NEWTs during the summer, was now working as Andromeda's apprentice in Law, while at the same time attending a course at a muggle university. He was still living at the MAMA together with his father and siblings and was supposed to replace Andromeda as the professor for Law after taking his mastery exam in two and a half years' time.
She was brought back to reality, when the other fourth-year girls approached the high table asking for assistance for the traditional ball of the now fourth-years, which was going to unofficially take place in the atrium again. 'Harry and Neville are still going to take Luna and Christa. I wonder if they're going to attend the official Yule ball in the same constellations next year,' she thought in amusement, feeling very contented with her sons' choices.
HP
At one of Lily's regular visits to Hogwarts to speak with the castle before paying Amaterasu a visit, the castle informed her, "Lily, I believe that Albus Dumbledore must have lost his magic. The other time, it was just temporary because of some prank, but this time, I think that it must be different. He's not doing as much as the slightest bit of magic anymore."
"Well, then we know that it was him who entered Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire and that he lost his magic because of the binding contract he created," Lily replied, matter-of-factly. "Good for him that the school in its current form is going to close at the end of the school year anyway."
HP
"Mum, Dad, when are you going to announce to the public what we're going to do with Hogwarts?" Harry asked one day during the Easter holidays.
James let out a long sigh. "Perhaps sometime during the summer holidays," he replied, shrugging. "There are still many things to consider, and the preparations will last throughout the next school year anyway."
"First of all, we have to see to it that all professors leave the castle," Lily added. "We've sent out letters to all professors asking them to clear their classrooms and personal quarters and leave Hogwarts by June 30."
HP
Hogwarts was still in full swing, however, when something happened that distracted everyone's attention for the time being.
On a sunny at the end of May, the Dragonsedge day took place, and most students from third year onwards, went to the small town for the day. Harry and his best friends, however, spent the warm Saturday afternoon on the shore of the sea studying for their end of year tests. Inu and Lucy as well as Sirius, who was chaperoning in his canine form, were cuddled against each other next to them, and Harry could not help chuckling upon hearing Lucy slightly snore, as they slept.
A short while later, Sirius motioned Inu and Lucy to go for a swim, and the three dogs dashed into the shallow sea, splashing water everywhere in apparent delight.
'Soon, I'm going to join them,' Harry thought to himself. 'I just need to finish this.'
All of a sudden, however, a middle-aged man, coming seemingly out of nowhere, stepped over to Harry and threw an old shoe right into his lap. Before he knew what happened, he felt a distinctive pull behind his navel and was whisked away.
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: "Preparations".