A Dog's Purpose Is Strange Magic Chapter 1
On the way to the boy's home at 4 Private Drive he saw fit to give his new dog a name as he carried her in his arms. That name is Bailey. He went over a couple of others before settling on that one. On the last one the newly named Bailey reacted yipping while licking his face and that was that. In the process she learned what her boys name was.
Harry Potter.
Bailey knew without a doubt that she'd found someone and a place to call home. Going by first impressions from Harry she assumed that the rest of his family would be just like him. Welcoming her into their family with open arms kind, caring, warm, and loving.
Nothing could've been further from the truth.
The Dursley's were not as Bailey expected them to be.
Mr. Vernon Dursley was a big, beefy man with blonde hair, a thick neck, and quite a large mustache on his face.
Mrs. Petunia Dursley was thin, bony, and short black of hair with curls.
Their son Dudley Dursley is ten years of age the same as her boy. But upon first glance you wouldn't initially think that since he was about two-three times the size as Harry was. Dudley certainly took after his father in many ways. He had a large pink face, not much neck, and black hair similar to his mothers, without the curl, neatly parted on his head.
All three of these individuals, Harry's aunt, uncle, and cousin, were very ill tempered and disagreeable in the face of well-mannered citizens in today's society.
It was a weekend so the whole family was at the house that day. The moment Harry brought a dog into the house the Dursley's nearly threw a fit. Aunt Petunia screamed at the sight of her in Harry's arms. Uncle Vernon had roared demanding that Harry throw the mutt out onto the street immediately. Usually Harry would've cringed shrinking back under one of his uncle's tirades, but this time he bravely stood his ground refusing to do so. Uncle Vernon became so furious he tried to grab Bailey, but Harry avoided his hands running to hide under the stairs in a cramped dark cupboard.
Whenever Harry was being punished unprecedentedly he'd be locked in there for days at a time without food or water. This time it was the other way around. Harry barricaded the door with whatever he had inside so none of his relatives could tear it open. Eventually Uncle Vernon gave up and walked away, but this was far from over.
For the next few days Harry stayed inside his cupboard determined his relatives wouldn't get their hands on Bailey. The only time he went out was at night when everyone else was asleep in their beds and opportunity's when they were the only two in the house. He snuck food and water from the kitchens enough to keep them alive and small portions so none of the Dursley's would discover anything missing and let Bailey outside in the backyard to do her business. Bailey may be a puppy, but she had a pretty strong bladder and figured out quickly that she was required to do her business outside.
Harry made it clear to her. Going to the bathroom outside good, inside bad. It didn't really make a lot of sense to her, but she did complied.
Harry's absence from outside the house didn't go unnoticed by other people in the district. A couple of days into this tense stand off the Dursley have got a knock on the front door. There was a truant officer and the school counselor from the place both Harry and Dudley went to for their education. Dudley had been attending his classes, but Harry hadn't been at school for nearly a week and they wanted to know why.
Recognizing the voice of the school counselor Harry exited the cupboard with Bailey where this person and the truant officer could see him. Neither of these people saw him leave the cupboard. The Dursley's made sure of that because they'd probably be arrested on charges of child neglect if they had.
The school counselor spotted the dog and asked about her. To save face the Dursley's said that Harry had found the dog one day when he was outside playing and wanted to keep it. When they told him no they reported that he was being completely unreasonable and refused to leave his room. They couldn't get him out. The Dursley's assumed these officials would've agreed with them about getting rid of the dog.
The school counselor had other ideas. To the contrary he voiced that a dog would be good for Harry. Familiar with young Harry Potters file the counselor knew the boys parents had died when he was a baby and in spite of the tragedy occurring when he was so small it must've left some lingering trauma. He made the suggestion to get Bailey certified as an emotional support animal firmly stating it would be good for him. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia absolutely loathed the idea, but they couldn't say no without drawing in suspicion. So with the greatest reluctance and a massive amount of scorn the Dursley's got Bailey checked out by a vet, micro chipped, and certified as a service animal.
A few days late Harry was back at school with Bailey at side wearing a brand new collar and a service animal vest.
The headmaster and school counselor notified the staff of this change so Harry wouldn't get problems about him taking a dog to school.
Harry was overjoyed. For once in his short life something was actually going on in his favor. Not only did he finally win out against the Dursley's at something, but he now had a pet and a friend all to call his very own. He threw himself right into the thick of it. Mixed in with his other numerous chores Harry singlehandedly took on Bailey's care and upkeep by himself, including training her. He feed her with his own food along with some dog food the Dursley's would buy occasionally to keep up appearances. Harry didn't care. He was just so happy to not be alone any longer. Slowly Harry's home situation improved. Not a lot, but it got to the point was more bearable than it previously was. It's all thanks to Bailey.
Bailey was even putting in an effort to get the Dursley's more accepting somewhat to make things easier for Harry. She quickly learned to get the newspaper and mail when it came on her own bringing it straight to Uncle Vernon. Uncle Vernon grumbled about her slobbering over it all anyhow. Nothing seemed to satisfy the man, but she continued to try.
All in all the Dursley's didn't really have much to complain about where it came to her excluding what they went through to get Bailey certified as an emotional support animal. Hell Dudley even tried to take her from Harry once, but a teacher saw him being rough with Bailey and had stern words with their parents about it. Needless to say Dudley soon left her alone once his parents scolded him about it not wanting to draw unwanted attention to them.
Each time the Dursley's would grumble about the inconvenience of getting Bailey groomed somewhere to keep up appearances the following day her body would then appear clean and well maintained. It was as if she'd already been taken to a dog grooming establishment when in actuality she hadn't been taken to one at all. This consistent peculiarity regularly left Harry dumbfounded scratching his head in confusion. He could never figure out how this came to be.
Then again a lot of strange things happened around her boy. Bailey never got bored with her boy because life was so interesting throughout the days she spent with him. There was one time when they were at school and Dudley's friends were chasing them around the premises to lay down a beating. One minute Harry and Bailey were running away and the next they were sitting on top of the chimney looming from the top of the schools rooftop.
Also, total strangers would come up to Harry from out of nowhere in total mystery. A tiny man in a violet top had bowed to Harry when they were out with Aunt Petunia food shopping, an old woman waved to him merrily on a bus, and a bald man in a purple coat shook his hand in the street.
Bailey didn't give any of these people a second thought. Not once had she sensed any kind of malicious intent radiating off of them so Bailey thought it best to leave them be. None of them were out to hurt her boy.
Plus they weren't nearly as bizarre as what she and Harry ordinarily contended with in comparison to the Dursley's.
For example sometimes Harry would be sent over to a woman called Mrs. Figg at times when the Dursley's wanted to go somewhere and not have them come along needing a babysitter. She was an old lady that lived two streets away. The woman was nice enough, but it was obvious to Bailey that her master didn't like it there and neither did she. The smell inside the old woman's house hurt Bailey's nose and the cats she owned always hissing in aggressive behavior displeased at her. The felines were no fun never wanting to play with her. So they'd be stuck there for hours with nothing to do. The one single thing that came out of this was that it got her boy out of the Dursley's oppressive atmosphere for a little while. Also, Mrs. Figg constantly went out of her way to be nice to the two of them even though it often ended up an epic failure.
In this Bailey was happy so she tolerated it for her master's sake.
Bailey would do anything so that Harry could be safe. That was her mission to protect him at all times. She'd never let anything bad happen to him no matter what. On cold nights in the cupboard Bailey was a constant source of warmth for Harry to snuggle up with. They were having so much fun together, but Harry still seemed sad. Bailey thought maybe the reason was the nightmares that plagued him along two people he spoke to her about a lot. His deceased mother and father. Each time he woke up from a particularly bad one she was there to comfort him turning herself into an anchor for him to hold on to. It helped that Bailey and Harry could relate to this. Bailey had her mother for such a short time and she didn't meet have a chance to meet her father when she was on the streets. Bailey missed her brothers and sisters, but knew in her heart that she wouldn't see them ever again.
It was just her and Harry. That's how she liked it. As long as they were together then everything would be okay.
Authors Note:
We're heading into the series now. Just so you are aware, my fabulous loyal readers, have fair warning. This will all be a mixture of the books and the movies. There's so much good stuff in both that at times you may find yourselves fully immersed in the adventure from all angles.
How did you guys like the use of Bailey as being an emotional support animal? Figured it would be the best way I could think of to stick it to the Dursley's. That way Bailey stays with Harry, she's well treated along the way and the Dursley's can't do anything about it.