Golden eyes stared out of the cage with indifference. They had found an odd archway that had grabbed him without warning, and if the last thing he heard was correct, had also grabbed the Pack and Chesa.

Many had come to claim him as a 'pet' of sorts, or had tried to separate the pack, but all those efforts were in vain as Kiba had nearly ripped their greedy hands off.

He wasn't about to let these...humans...separate the pack.

Another human came to the cage, and looked in. He had the deepest emerald green Kiba had ever seen.

"Kid, if you want a wolf you'll have to pay fifty galleons. Though I have to warn ya, that white one is more trouble than he's worth," spat the shopkeeper.

The kid, however, wasn't interested in just one wolf.

"How much for the whole set?"

"You must be out of your mind! There's no way a brat like you could handle five wolves, let alone kept them fed!"

"I have more than enough money to keep them fed. Now how much?"

"A thousand!" said the owner greedily.

"Five hundred for the pack," he replied coolly.

"Deal!"

Five hundred and he got rid of that damn white wolf that kept trying to maul him. He would have gone as low as two just to be rid of the lot. The boy handed over a large bag of coins, and the owner asked where he wanted him to drop the wolves off.

Letting a pack of grown wolves loose, one of which had no issues with attacking humans, in the middle of a crowded street was something even the greedy owner wasn't stupid enough to do.

The boy told him the room number at the nearby pub, and the man promised to have the cage full of wolves delivered discreetly to it before the night was out.

Kiba had no idea who the boy was, only that he had bought them as a pack. So long as he didn't try to separate them, he might let the kid keep his hands.

Kiba awoke to find...the boy who had bought them arguing with an owl?

"Come on Hedwig, you know I could never replace you! They just looked so miserable in that cage that I had to do something!"

The owl barked at him, and the boy spoke again. Clearly he had some sort of ability if he understood that bird...or he had far too much free time on his hands. It was better than learning the kid was crazy.

"No, I'm not stupid enough to let them loose in the castle. I was going to bring them with me to the school and let them go free in the forest. I'm sure they would be happier living in there anyway, and the white one could probably keep the Acromantula population down."

The owl gave him a shrewd look, apparently appeased by this answer.

The boy looked at his owl and said "Now can I let them out? They couldn't possibly cause much trouble in this room so long as I keep the door locked."

The owl barked in confirmation before putting her head under her wing, clearly stating 'On your own head be it!'

The kid went to the door and locked it firmly, before he headed to the cage.

"It can't be good to have all of you cramped inside that cage, expansion charms or not. I'll let you all out inside the room so long as none of you try to maul me like the man said you did to the others. Fair?"

Toboe barked in agreement. They were all eager to get out of this uncomfortable cage.

He undid the lock, keeping clear of the opening in case Kiba tried to take a bite out of him, and all five wolves walked out.

The kid had a silly grin on his face when Toboe whined and put his head under the boy's hand for a much needed ear scratch, which he did. The five of them took their time to stretch for the first time in a month, having been stuck in that cage since their capture.

The jerk hadn't even been nice enough to add an expansion charm to make it bigger.

In less than five minutes, the five wolves, Kiba, Toboe, Tsume, Hige and Blue had all situated themselves calmly around the room. Tsume had claimed the bed, having jumped onto it to take a long nap, Hige, Blue and Toboe were getting scratches from the boy who had rescued them from that annoying shop keeper who had locked them in a constricting cage, and Kiba? Well, he was sitting next to the owl watching the boy who had no problems with being in a room full of wolves who could easily kill and eat him.

Not that they would, mind you. Doing so would definitely end with either their deaths or being in that damn cage again only to be sold away to the highest bidder. Besides the kid wasn't freaking out and didn't mind giving them some attention. So Kiba spent the next hour watching this boy interact with his pack while trying to figure out what to do next.

Tsume was more interested in being able to sleep and stretch out (something he had been unable to do to his increased irritation) for the first time in a month.

Eventually they drifted off into a proper sleep, some on the bed, some on the floor.

The kid didn't mind sharing the bed, so there was room enough for two wolves considering his tiny frame.

Oddly enough, the ones who shared the bed were Tsume (he refused to let anyone steal his new spot) and Toboe (who had attached himself rather firmly to the one who let them out of the cage).

The next morning lead to a rather amusing incident. Namely the fact that Toboe had, during some point in the night, turned into his human disguise.

Apparently the boy had seen the bangles that Toboe always wore and put two and two together. He didn't raise a fuss, but rather went to the bathroom and went back to sleep.

Which was why Kiba allowed Toboe to become human for a while to learn more about the one who freed them from the cage.

What little Toboe learned from the boy had most of the pack ready to rip his family into chunks of meat. The boy had been nothing but kind to them, and hadn't overreacted to the fact Toboe could disguise himself as a human like most would.

And after a day of being in the kid's company, Kiba could honestly say that the boy was for lack of a better word...comforting to be around. His magic wasn't hostile, or wary, but open and accepting.

Which was why he decided to do a wait-and-see approach with the boy. If he believed the kid to be worth their time, he would change into his human disguise and talk to the boy directly. If not, well they would part ways once they reached this school, as the boy had already promised to let them leave in the forest, where they could be free to do whatever they wanted.

A week into being with the boy, Kiba surprised them all by taking his human disguise to talk to Harry directly.

With that, all five of them switched to their human disguise.

"Are you all animagi?" he asked.

"No. We aren't wizards. We are wolves who developed the ability to hide as humans out of necessity," said Kiba.

"How'd you end up in the cage then?" asked Harry.

"We fell through some sort of archway, and by the time we were able to make sense of where we were, that man captured us and threw us all in the same cage. We were stuck in that thing for a month," said Kiba sourly.

"Thanks for getting us out of that by the way!" said Toboe. Harry grinned at the youngest wolf-turned-human.

"The question I have is why did you chose now to talk to him?" asked Tsume, looking at Kiba.

"I figured we could trust him to a point," said Kiba bluntly.

After seeing how the boy interacted with them, Kiba had the odd feeling Harry's animal form was that of a wolf...one that was desperately in need of a real pack to run with.

If that was the case, Kiba had no issues with the boy joining them. At the very least it would give Toboe someone to play with. He was the youngest of their pack, next to Blue who was the only half-wolf among them, as well as being the only female.

And with that, Harry learned about their quest to find a place called Paradise. Chesa, who had come through the archway with them, had disappeared for some reason and they had little chances of finding her at this point.

When Harry left the room, Toboe and Blue had joined him, staying at a safe distance.

He came back a few hours later with a new trunk. Seeing Kiba's raised eyebrow, he quickly explained.

"This trunk has several rooms added to it, and I figured that if you wanted to join me to the school it would be easier hiding in here rather that deal with the hustle and bustle of the platform. Plus this way you could stretch without scaring the humans. It has a feature that connects all the rooms, so you can all have your own space," said Harry.

Plus it meant he wouldn't have to worry about anyone stealing from his trunk like last year.

Once they got used to the trunk itself, it took little time before they each claimed a room for them to sleep in. Harry's trust fund was hit harder that day than the previous two years he was aware of it. Eventually the goblins just gave him the magical equivalent of a muggle debit card, and they quit having to hit the bank.

It had the added benefit of allowing Harry to leave his original key in the trust vault and having it set to his signature. The goblins approved of the security measure.

By the time Hogwarts rolled around, the trunk had become more of a home than a trunk.

In Toboe's "room" there was a nice carpet and couch for him to crash, as well as several toys. Blue had a peaceful cottage theme to hers, Hige had the fridge and a small bed. Tsume had the most comfortable bed of the lot, as well as a weapon's room. Kiba had a veritable greenhouse (there had been quite a bit of tricky spellwork involved in that, and the cashier had let Harry have it for free once the owner realized how they could expand on the rather profitable idea) that was set to play sounds for nature.

Harry had a bed, dresser, bookshelf and potions lab. This was because none of the wolves were going to put up with the smell of a brewing potion if they could help it.

Once the trunk was ready, they immediately crashed in there and Harry threw the cage into an unused portion of 'his' room.

Harry was half-asleep in the compartment, as Hige kept kicking him for some reason (they had opted to take shifts on who got the bed) so he was sleepy.

Which was why he didn't know anything was wrong until he fell face-first into the carpeting.

"Hwa? What's going on?" yawned Harry.

"I don't know. The train suddenly stopped," said Hermione.

Harry felt a sudden chill. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Guys, I don't think we should stay in the open like this. Something bad is about to happen," said Harry.

His instincts screamed at him to hide, to get out of the open.

"Well where are we supposed to hide?" snapped Ron. He was irritated because of the cold feeling. Harry dragged his trunk down carefully...he didn't want to annoy Kiba because of a thump.

"Harry, there isn't enough room in your trunk for us to hide," said Hermione. Now she was becoming testy.

"It's a special trunk. I didn't want a repeat of last year so I bought a new one with special features. It has multiple rooms and we can open it once we feel the train moving again."

"I've heard of trunks like that," said Ron.

"So let's wait in here until whatever is coming leaves. Oh, and do me a favor and try not to scream. I already have a headache and I don't want someone screaming in my ear," said Harry absentmindedly.

"Why would we scream?" asked Hermione suspiciously.

"No reason."

Harry was the first to jump in the trunk, followed by Hermione and Ron. Harry counted to ten before he covered their mouths.

Kiba was waiting for them and he looked rather anxious thanks to whatever was outside the train. The only problem being that Kiba was currently in wolf form to better maul whatever was outside.

"I told you before, I have a headache. Hey Kiba. We're hiding in here until the train starts to move again," said Harry yawning.

Kiba calmed down somewhat, before he nodded towards Toboe's area.

"Harry...why is there a wolf in your trunk?" asked Hermione. She had that tone of voice, the one she only used when someone was doing something monumentally idiotic.

"I don't have a wolf in my trunk," said Harry.

"Then what..." started Ron.

"I have an entire pack of wolves in my trunk. Some idiot had them in a cage too small for them and I planned to let them free in the Forbidden Forest where they would at least be able to run around without having to deal with any more humans," continued Harry.

"Harry..." growled Hermione.

"Hermione, I've let them out of their cage, and thanks to Hedwig they haven't bothered me once. Like I said, I'll let them out once we get to the station so they can head to the forest."

"How many are in here," asked Hermione pinching the bridge of her nose. It was going to be one of those years.

"Five. Kiba, the white one you've already met, Toboe, who's tawny, Hige, the brown one with the collar, Blue, the only female, and Tsume, the one with the scar on his chest."

"You gave them names?" said Hermione with a whine.

"Nope. They came with names."

"Harry..."

"Hermione relax. So long as you leave them alone they'll leave you alone...well except Toboe. He's a bit of a lapdog and Blue is only half wolf," said Harry.

He went into Toboe's area and immediately crashed on the couch. Toboe and Blue curled up next to it.

When the trunk started rumbling, Hermione and Ron left it, assuming the train had restarted. They weren't going near those wolves.

McGonagall blinked, as she realized that Harry wasn't with Hermione or Ron.

"Where is Mr. Potter?" she asked.

"Knowing him, still in his trunk," said Hermione sourly. She had tried to go back in to wake him up for the feast, but she had run into Tsume and thought the better of it.

It took a moment for McGonagall to figure out what she meant.

"He has one of those multiple room trunks, doesn't he?" she said.

They nodded.

"I'll go get him," said McGonagall. Chances were the elves had already taken the trunk up to the room.

This wasn't the first time a student had fallen asleep in a multi-room trunk, and since the standard protocol was to take the trunks to the room once all the students were off the train, that meant she simply had to hit the trunk itself with a spell all heads of house knew.

Sure enough, there was the trunk. She hit it with the alarm spell, and two minutes later Harry popped out.

"We at the school already?" he yawned.

"Yes. And for future reference Mr. Potter, I would recommend leaving an alarm clock in your rooms so I don't have to come back to wake you up. That spell can go much higher in tone," said McGonagall.

"Give me a minute..." said Harry. He quickly straightened up and put on his robes, and headed back down with McGonagall. He was still yawning though.

Harry stole several meat items off the table to give to the wolves later, and once he got to his dorm (barely paying any attention to the announcements) he doled them out to the pack. After that he went straight to sleep on his bed and didn't wake up until sunrise.