Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did I would rich and not writing fan fictions.
Chapter 2: Enter Spike: The Big Mean Bug
It had been several months since The-Boy-Who-Lived was relocated to his cousin Terrance Brutt's house and it was a good couple of months. Harry's 10th birthday was coming up in just a little while and Terrance, or Ter as his friends liked to call him, was taking Harry to the zoo today. Oddly enough the zoo kept having animals disappear every now and then but, the zoo was so popular that a monkey or parrot disappearing once a week wasn't that big of an issue. What Harry really wanted to see was the Bug House. They even had some new bugs that hadn't even been properly named yet!
Unfortunately they weren't allowed to bring Mittens with them as pets couldn't be brought into the zoo. But the big, now the size of a lynx, cat didn't seemed to really mind. Zoo Ho!!
Harry was somewhat disappointed; the main attraction, some new form of scorpion, had fallen to the zoo's curse and went missing. Oh sure, the other new bugs were cool, various new spiders and such. But lack of a scorpion the size of a small dog was depressing. Oh well, he could always play with Mittens to cheer himself up. As the car pulled back into their driveway neither person noticed a large black object fall off the bottom of the vehicle. A clicking, shiny black object.
Later that night Mittens was on the prowl. Something was foolish enough to eat a squirrel in her territory WITHOUT HER PERMISSION! That something was going to die. Click. Mittens paused and strained her hearing. Something large with a carapace was nearby. Click, clack. Very near. Click, clack, rustle. Wait a minute, that came from her human's den. Moving quickly, without so much as making a sound, the black Nundu cub approached Harry's room. There was the intruder, resting comfortably with HER HUMAN!! The shinny animal rose from its laying position and lifted its tail above its self in threatening manner, while spreading its large arms wide. The intruder even seemed to hiss. Mittens arched her back and growled. No one exerted dominance over her. Plain and simple. She was the alpha here!
"Wow!" both animals turned to the fully awake Harry, who seemed to have stars in his eyes. "Mittens, you got me a knew friend! Thank you!" Shortly both animals were having the life hugged out of them.
If the giant scorpion had the ability to show emotions it would have had a shocked expression on its face. The hairless monkeys always screamed whenever they saw him, and that would make him angry and he would then sting and eat them. The last one to "hug", was that what the monkeys called it?, him was that nice old one with the pointy hat and twig. Come to think of it this one had a similar feel to him. Hmm? Well, that furry thing he ate earlier was kind of tasty, maybe he'd stick around for a while. Besides it was nice and warm in here as opposed to the cold outside.
Mittens rolled her eyes, her master had the ability to get along with damn near anything, and that starry eye thing always got to her. Damn her human for his ability to look so cute! And double damn her inability to resist his cuteness! Sigh. She'd just have to make sure the fat, shinny, clicky thing knew its place. Beneath her.
The next morning Ter was out reading the news paper in the kitchen when his ward wandered in, fallowed by Mittens. That was part of the normal morning ritual that was breakfast but, just after Mittens came in an irregularity happened. A black scorpion the size of a welsh corgi, not including the tail or the claws, came in after Mittens, its clawed feet clicking on the tile as it went along.
"Harry, is that a giant scorpion?"
The boy in question turned to his guardian and beamed a huge smile, "Yeah! His name is Spike, Mittens brought him for me!" Harry went back to making his pets something to eat; dog kibble for Mittens(she turned her nose up at anything smaller), and old stake for Spike.
Ter blinked a few times, shrugged and then went back to his news paper. He had read somewhere that cats brought their owners "gifts" or something like that.
Outside, in the shadows across the street, stood something that hadn't been seen in nearly ten years; a Death Eater. The man had been watching the house for a few days and was confident that he would be able to avenge his lord. The DMLE(Department of Magical Law Enforcement) had done an excellent job of hiding Potter but, not as good a job as Dumbledore, but still good enough that it took him a few months to track the boy down. Soon Lord Voldemort would be avenged!
Standing tall the Death Eater marched forward, toward the house, a smirk on his hidden face.
It was quite a seen the Aurors came to. The front door of the Brutt house was partially destroyed, there were a few scraps of a dark robe and both residences weren't really sure what had happened. Apparently some one broke down the door, yelled that vengeance was at hand, then there was scream and a lowed crack noise. Next thing the Aurors were streaming in. From the sounds of things a dark wizard came in, hurt themselves and then aparated away. One Auror commented on the stupidity of dark wizards in general, cast a reparo charm on the front door, had Terrance sign a report and then left. Only when the cost was clear did Spike come out from under the coach. Mittens just seemed to appear out of thin air grooming herself.
In Malfoy Manor, in the private study of Lucius, there was a lowed crack and the lord of the manor appeared only to fall, clutching his left leg. A gaping wound near the knee had been his reward for his attempt on Potter. The creature wasn't any thing he had ever seen before, but it had to be magical, there was no other way a muggle bug could get that big. Casting every healing charm he knew, the blond man silently prayed he had begun working in time. You don't work around a potion master as long as he had without realizing the signs of poisoning. Not to mention that the damn thing had stung him, and that tail looked like it came from a Manticor. That settled it then, it was some form of Chimera. A mean Chimera. After stopping the bleeding Lucius finally fell to unconsciousness.
Spike had come to a few conclusion. He liked stinging monkeys that smelled bad. The small monkey that fed him was nice. He liked having the top of his cephalothorax scratched by said small monkey. He still didn't like lowed noises and no problems showing his displeasure at shrieking monkeys. And the big, black growling thing was scary. Very, very scary. All things considered, he liked his new home. Things were fairly quiet, he was given food, warmth, and attention. What more could a giant scorpion want? Nearly purring as Harry scratched him, Spike drifted off to sleep.
From her perch atop Harry's dresser Mittens watched her human and "Spike" with a critical eye. The clicker didn't seem to be a threat to her human. It made her human happy, that was good. Plus he had protected her human from the "corrupted" human. In her short life she had encountered several of them and the marks on their arms was were that smell came from. Bleck. Reminded her of a rotting snake she had found once. Hmm. She'd let the clicker stay for the time being, and if he proved to be a problem she could just eat him. He looked like he'd be crunchy. And she was a good kitty that liked crunchy food. Licking her chops at the thought of a crunchy meal, Mittens leaped across the room onto Harry's bed without so much as ruffling the blankets.
As Mittens curled up next to him Harry could only say one thing, "Best Birthday Ever." before falling asleep.
From his position, just outside Harry's room, Terrance smiled. He had considered telling the Aurors about Spike but seeing the big bug sleeping(he assumed it was sleeping as it didn't have eyelids or the ability to show facial expressions) next to Harry, with Mittens keeping a watchful eye, he believed he had made the correct decision in keeping the big bug's existence a secret for now.
In his office at Hogwarts, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore frowned. Things were not going as he had planned. Harry was supposed to be with the Dursleys so that when he came to Hogwarts he would be easily molded into the perfect weapon against Voldemort. Now the Dursleys were dead and there was no one to torment Harry. Don't get the old guy wrong, he didn't want Harry to suffer, but damn it, the boy needed to be properly brought into the magical world so that he would instantly like muggle-borns, lite families and the lite teachers while at the same time learning to hate dark pure bloods. Now the boy was with Terrance Brutt of all people. The man may not be magic but had a high enough understanding of the magical world to prepare Harry in a way that would cause Harry to actually keep an open mind. Most people thought the man was a bit of an air head but Albus knew calculating and intelligent eyes when he saw them. Not to mention the guy was one of maybe 60 people on the planet naturally immune to any form of mental manipulation. Damn it. Sirius Black was problem as well. Now free, it was only a matter of time before he was healed mentally and would, undoubtedly, want to see Harry right away. Black would be even less controllable now than he was ten years ago, and with Dumbledore being the one who pushed for him go without trial it would be impossible to get near him again. He'd just have to wait for Harry to come to Hogwarts in a year and try to influence the young lad directly. Popping a lemon drop into his mouth the old man considered his latest failed plan. He had allowed information regarding Harry's location to slip to Snape. He knew the man would wind up telling Lucius and that Lucius would make an attempt on the boy's life. Most likely Terrance would die or be injured before any Aurors could arrive bringing up the question of were to put Harry. Albus would then use this by bringing up that he had said Terrance wouldn't be able to provide proper protection for The-Boy-Who-Lived. He would subtly suggest the Weasleys and then BAM! He would have control of Harry's upbringing once again. Through the portraits, house elves and his floo monitoring charms he had learned of Severus and Lucius' conversation. Some animal had attacked Lucius before he could do more than knock down the door. From what he understood the thing had been some form of Chimera and had stung Lucius in the leg. The Death Eater had treated the wound as best he could before passing out from the poison and pain but the damage had been done. Lucius' cane was for more than show now. That was what the blond man had been flooing about, pain potions and anti poison potions. Odd, the reports he got from his contacts in the DMLE made no mention of any animals outside of a cat's litter box in the garage. This was even worse. The first pet the boy was supposed to get was an owl, of Dumbledore's choosing, with a tracking charm on it. The old man put his head in his hands and wondered what had caused things to go so wrong.
The cause of Dumbledore's problems was currently out for a midnight stroll when a net was dropped over her. Looking up the black feline regarded the fat, ugly, animal catcher and was reminded of the large, chewy one that her human used to stay with. Swelling up to the size of a small horse, Mittens belched out about 600 different plagues causing the fat human to die before he could even scream, though he did barf up his own intestines and his eyes melted. After gobbling up her midnight snack, Mittens shrank back to her lynx sized form and trotted off back to her human's den and his nice warm bed.
To Be Continued...
ANIMAL LIST!!
Name: Mittens
Species: Nundu
Nundu Description: An east African beast, widely thought of as the most dangerous one in the world. The Nundu is a giant leopard which moves in complete silence. Its breath causes such disease as to kill entire villages. It has yet to be subdued by fewer than one-hundred knowledgeable wizards working in unison.
Mittens' Description: Totally black fur. Amber yellow eyes. Feet look somewhat large on her body. Variable size; can be as small as a kitten or as large as a Clydesdale horse.
Name: Spike
Species: Unidentified scorpion species, magical in nature.
Description: Solid black shell with yellowish white joints. His poison is not exactly lethal but will cause great pain and necrosis(roting of the tissue). He will get bigger than a welsh corgi, I promise you. Despite the fact that he clicks as he walks he is really good at sneaking around, though not as good as Mittens.
I will have these at the end of chapters that introduces a new pet. They will only be on the new pets. If you want to know about a pet look up the chapter it was introduced in, with Mittens being the one exception as her description is here.