A Dog's Purpose Is Strange Magic Chapter 13
The last month of the summer until the new school term started was an unpleasant one. Well for the Dursleys at least. By no means was it fun for Harry and Bailey, but for once things were actually kind of bearable.
Terrified and furious of what Harry might do to them now that he had a wand at his disposal the Dursleys made a point to never be in the same room as Harry. Then at times like during meals when it became inevitable for the entire family to sit together the Dursleys basically ignored him and Bailey. In fact the very moment Dudley finished his food he ran as fast as his fat legs could out of the vicinity.
There were benefits to the Dursleys indifference towards them. No one was telling Harry to do any manual labor anymore. To put it simply he and Bailey were left to their own devices. Mostly Harry and Bailey stayed in his room other than going on regular walks around the neighborhood, eat, drink, and go to the bathroom to relieve themselves.
Harry occupied his time by reading the books he'd gotten in order to immerse himself in this new world of magic. It's from one of these books that Harry picked out a name for his new owl.
Hedwig.
Bailey is hard put to admit it, but the snowy owl was a welcome addition to their merry little band.
Bailey and Hedwig eventually reached an understanding between each other. That initial first meeting was behind them now though it was still a little tense at times between them. Luckily they found ways around it. Like Bailey was kind of to share some of her food with Hedwig when she was unable to go out and hunt for herself. In return Hedwig acted more accommodating. The snowy owl didn't try to hit or nip at her anymore whenever the dog came near. She tolerated it, but just barely.
They were at peace, but this tranquility came with a price.
As the days passed narrowing down ever closer to when he would have to leave Harry became more anxious. He hoped all the time that an owl would come carrying a letter from Hagrid that said he had permission to take Bailey with him to school. With each day that went by without a letter Harry was beginning to lose all hope now dreading when he had to go and leave Bailey behind. He knew the very moment he was forced to do so the Dursleys would get rid of her and he'd never see his best friend again. This became a regular nightmare that kept him awake at night replacing the old one far more terrifying.
Then on the final week salvation arrived.
One morning a letter arrived by owl containing information pertained to Harry and Bailey written in Hagrid's hand. The news he had to share was beyond good, it was fantastic!
Hagrid wrote that the Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore had given him permission to bring Bailey to school with him. The reason for Bailey being his service animal was one of the factors that fit into this, but the main one was something else entirely. Judging by the pieces of information Hagrid had provided to Dumbledore about their relationship the Headmaster came to the conclusion that Bailey is, also, Harry's familiar. And since she would be so crucial to his magical development then she had to come along for the ride.
Harry had no clue what a familiar is or why it would be so important to his own magic. So he immediately searched for the name in his schoolbooks.
Familiars are enchanted creatures who follow and guide new witches and wizards to protect them while they learn the craft. While they are often cats other animals like dogs, rabbits, horses, owls, and snakes can be categorized as familiars as well. Familiars are naturally attuned to the seasons, phases of the moon, and can be helpful in teaching the young novice a heightened awareness of their environment.
When Harry had read this he looked down at Bailey in suspicion, asking "Hey, is there something you haven't been telling me?"
Bailey's face appeared quite comical as she looked at Harry in confusion. If she'd been human Bailey would've shrugged at him.
Bailey found it hard to believe that she's what witches and wizards called a familiar. All Bailey knew when she was born that she had been just an ordinary stray dog until Harry found her. But now that she thought about it maybe their meeting was fate instead of chance. It could've been, she didn't know.
Personally Harry didn't really care if Bailey was his familiar or not. He was grateful for it if she is, but that wasn't the main thing on his mind at present. Right now he was just so relieved he wouldn't be leaving her to the horrible mercy of the Dursleys.
Speaking of which with the threat of losing Bailey now out of the way there was one last thing to take care of.
Harry and Bailey couldn't get to Kings Cross station with all of his supplies by themselves. Harry was going to have to resort to asking the Dursleys for a ride.
So on the last day in the month of August a whole day before Harry had to leave he finally worked up the nerve to talk to them. He found the three of them in the living room watching a quiz show so he thought this was the perfect moment.
"Uncle Vernon," said Harry, announcing himself in the doorway. When Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening he continued on with his request. "I need a ride tomorrow to go to Hogwarts. Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"
Harry took the following grunt as his answer.
"Thank you," said Harry, politely.
"Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they," mocked Uncle Vernon.
Dudley started to laugh a little, but a low growl from Bailey silenced him rather quickly.
"Where is this school anyway," said Uncle Vernon.
"I don't know," said Harry, honestly, pulling out the ticket Hagrid provided from his pocket.
"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarter at eleven o'clock," said Harry.
At the mention of the platform number Bailey caught Aunt Petunia give a start. But it was barely noticeable to where only she saw it though she was oblivious to the reason why.
"Platform what," asked Aunt Petunia, attempting to cover it up.
"Nine and three-quarters," repeated Harry.
"Don't talk rubbish," snapped Uncle Vernon, scowling. "There is no platform nine and three-quarters."
"It's on my ticket," insisted Harry.
"Barking," scoffed Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."
"Why are you going to London," inquired Harry.
"Taking Dudley to the hospital," grumbled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy talk removed before he goes to Smeltings."
And that settled that.
Authors Note:
Ding! Ding! Ding! Those of you who went with the option of Hagrid sending a letter with Dumbledore's answer and with her thought to be a wizard familiar is on top!
Also where it comes to this world's version of a familiar look into the show called Charmed in reference to a cat called Kit. For those of you who've seen the show you probably already know who I'm talking about.
For those of you who are wondering why the service dog prospect is such a problem in the magical community here's the reason why. The magical and Muggle worlds are close together, but at the same time separate. The two communities have a separate brand of laws and given how some witches and wizards respond in confusion to stuff in the Muggle world my analysis is they wouldn't have much of a clue what a service animal would be. Yes, the Muggleborns would know, but there isn't much there. It's a new aspect for them the same as magic is brand new to Harry and Bailey.