Disclaimer: All together now… I don't own Harry Potter, it all belongs to J.K. Rowling
Shanks once again cursed the misfortune that was his life as he peered cautiously from beneath the bed where he had taken refuge. He winced as a book crashed off a wall and hit the floor scuddering to a halt only inches away from the edge of his shelter. Something else thudded against the wall behind him, dislodging a mirror with its vibrations, sending it crashing to the ground.
'Absolutely, bloody brilliant' he thought. That was all his owner, and by extension he, needed. Seven years of mishap, mayhem and misfortune. Why, oh why couldn't he live in the normal world where such things were of no consequence, where mere superstition didn't really hold true unless you truly believed it. But no, he had wound up in the magical realm where there were rules about this sort of thing and no exceptions made regardless of whether you dismissed the validity of a curse.
Curses, curses, at the end of the day his whole life boiled down to sodding curses. It was a curse that had got him stuck in his present feline form. It was a curse that was the cause of his owner's temporary descent into mindless violence. And it would be the breaking of his curse that would guide his waking actions for the foreseeable future.
He retreated back quickly to the centre of his refuge as more and more objects hit the walls and the floor. Banging on the door revealed that others had become aware of the situation in the room. He knew that they were not concerned for his welfare, only that of his mistress, but still saving her from herself in this case would protect him too.
The door burst open, splinters of wood flying everywhere, embedding into the floor, the wall and from the pained shrieks, his mistress. With care he moved forward to assess the damage. He was not concerned, he told himself sternly, Colm Shanks would never concern himself over a slip of a girl. And neither for that matter would any self respecting tomcat, a tiny voice in his mind added, which he rapidly shushed. It was starting to worry him how his animal instincts were beginning to take over his mind. He feared that if he continued in his present state for much longer it would slowly but surely push out the mind of the man that he had been. Well, not a man, a leprechaun. And not just any leprechaun, Prince of the West Counties leprechauns he had been. He supposed his annoying, and far less handsome, cousin now had that title. 'Well' he thought, 'hopefully I'll be regaining that title soon.'
However that all depended on breaking the curse he was under. And that in turn required the assistance of his human owner who, unfortunately, was currently lying flat on her back with rather nasty looking slivers of wood sticking out of her. It conjured to his mind a rather vivid image he had once seen on the fuzzy picture box in her family house from a film called Hellraiser.
Oh god, if she had turned into that all his plans would be ruined!
He padded over to her, taking care to avoid the sharp pieces of wood that were scattered over the floor. She was unconscious. He lifted his head up and deliberately threw an accusing stare at creature that had done this to her.
Behind wire-framed spectacles, green eyes widened in horror at the sight of the girl passed out on the floor. From behind him a ginger haired boy peered over his shoulder and dropped his jaw open.
"Crikes, Harry! You were only meant to open the door, not blast it to kingdom come!"
The clatter of rapidly approaching footsteps interrupted whatever was going to be said next. Two more figures appeared in the doorway. The elderly woman, who had just arrived, barely paused to take in the scene before rushing into the room to tend to the stricken child, uttering oaths and exclamations as she did so. The tall, slightly intimidating gentleman did not enter the room, though his eyes made a thorough sweep of the debris inside, before turning and settling on the two boys in front of him who had turned deathly pale in his presence.
Before either could utter a sound he pushed them out of the way as Hermione's levitated body moved out into the corridor followed by a grim-faced Professor McGonagall. Only after they had vanished out of sight did Professor Snape remove his arm from the boys, allowing them to move away from the wall.
Harry and Ron looked up into his eyes and saw gleaming fury. As one they both gulped.
Author's Notes:
Hi there and hello. More of this will be uploaded soon. If you read this and liked it, and even if you hated it, how 'bout letting me know by writing a review? Not asking for much, just a couple of lines. Go on… you know you want to!