A Doggy for Christmas - Advent's Calendar Story 2022
by Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

At breakfast the following morning, Harry should realise how right Whisper had been. Ron and Hermione had been given away by Draco Malfoy, and Professor McGonagall had taken 100 points from Gryffindor and assigned them a detention.

'Thanks for keeping me from going with them,' he thought to his familiar, feeling very grateful to the canine.

'You're welcome. Apparently, it's my job to keep you out of trouble,' Whisper replied, waggling her tail in apparent amusement.

A few weeks later, Whisper once again saved Harry from Professor McGonagall's wrath, when Ron and Hermione took the dragon to the Astronomy tower to hand it to Ron's brother Charlie.

While they were not discovered red handed, Harry's invisibility cloak was found, and McGonagall called him into her office first thing the following morning.

"Mr. Potter, have you been on the Astronomy tower last night?" Her mouth was stretched to a thin line.

"No, Professor," Harry replied, truthfully.

McGonagall handed him the invisibility cloak. "Is this yours?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, Professor."

"It was found half-way up the Astronomy tower. Nevertheless, you wish to tell me that you weren't on the tower last night?"

"I wasn't."

Whisper shook her head, so as to confirm Harry's statement.

"Did anyone borrow your invisibility cloak?"

"I don't know." Harry averted his eyes to the floor, following the pattern of a griffin on the carpet under the professor's desk.

"Malcolm!"

An instant later, a house-elf popped up in front of them.

"Malcolm, please fetch Miss Granger and Mr. Ronald Weasley to my office immediately."

"Whisper prevented me from joining the others," Harry admitted, somehow feeling the silence oppressing.

"Is that so? You're a really well-behaved doggy." McGonagall smiled at the canine, who stepped around the table and eagerly licked the old witch's hand. The professor's expression sobered the instant Ron and Hermione stepped into the office.

After a short greeting, she questioned the two first-years, who admitted to have been on the Astronomy tower last night and informed the professor of the reason. She assigned them detention with Mr. Filch and dismissed all three of them.

"Did you really have to give us away to McGonagall?" Ron asked on their way out of the office, causing Whisper to growl at him.

"Mr. Weasley!" McGonagall called him back. "Ten points from Gryffindor. Mr. Potter did not give you away at all; however, if anyone was out of bed recently, it has always been the two of you. Considering that we found Mr. Potter's invisibility cloak and he denied being on the Astronomy tower, which his familiar confirmed, it was not difficult to guess who the culprits were."

HP

A few weeks later, Hermione and Ron were serving their detention with Mr. Filch. However, one hour after curfew, they were still not back in the common room.

'They're late. Any detention should end around curfew at the latest,' Harry thought. "Whisper, I'm sorry, but I'm going to go and look for Ron and Hermione. They should have been back a long time ago," he decided and, to his relief, the canine agreed and swiftly followed him out of the common room.

They made their way down to Mr. Filch's office, however, became distracted, when they saw Professor Quirrell stand in the entrance hall.

"What are you doing here? It's after curfew," the professor addressed Harry, who realised in shock that the older wizard was not stuttering for once.

"I'm looking for my friends. They had detention with Mr. Filch and are not back yet," Harry explained, when his attention was suddenly diverted to the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor's turban.

"That's the boy!" a high-pitched voice shouted. "Kill him, before he kills me."

Harry stared at the man in shock. Before he knew what happened, Whisper began to attack Professor Quirrell. She bit him into his right leg, causing the man to cry out in pain and stumble onto the floor, letting go of his wand as he fell.

"Whisper, stop," Harry whispered in shock. "He's a professor."

However, instead of listening to him, the canine eagerly attacked the turban revealing the face of another human underneath. In front of not only Harry but also Ron and Hermione, who had just returned from their detention together with Hagrid, as well as Snape, who suddenly emerged from the shadows, she fervently bit the face in the back of Quirrell's head. When the canine finally retreated, a black cloud emerged and made its way towards the nearest wall. However, before it reached the wall, Snape raised his wand and captured the cloud in an orb. He then transfigured the orb into what seemed to be dragon dung, which he vanished with another flick of his wand.

Looking at the three first-years, he explained, "Apparently, Professor Quirrell was possessed by the spirit of the Dark Lord.

"The Dark Lord?" Hermione cast the teacher a questioning look. "Is that another expression for You-Know-Who?"

"Yes, Ms. Granger. Mr. Potter, you were lucky that your dog saved you, before Professor Quirrell or his guest were able to kill you. And now, go back to Gryffindor, all of you, before I remember to take house points."

"Professor, is Voldemort really gone now?" Harry enquired, feeling totally shocked by the unexpected event.

Snape shook his head. "That I don't know. Now, go to bed. The headmaster might call you into his office in the morning to question you if my explanation leaves any open questions."

"Yes, sir. Thank you for your help, sir," Harry replied, before he hugged Whisper close and thanked her for saving his life. From the corners of his eyes, he saw how Professor Snape levitated Quirrell in the direction of the hospital wing.

Together with one dog who was now considered a hero by them, the three first-years returned to their common room, before they spoke again.

"That was wicked." Ron was the first to find words.

"Absolutely. Well done, Whisper," Hermione agreed and gently hugged the canine. "Harry, what were you doing in the entrance hall anyway?"

"I was looking for you, because it was already an hour after curfew. What did you have to do for Filch?"

Ron let out something close to a growl. "He sent us to Hagrid."

"Hagrid took us into the forest. Someone is hurting the unicorns," Hermione explained. "He must have completely forgotten about curfew." Turning to Whisper, she asked, "How did you know that Quirrell was possessed by Who-Know-Who?"

Whisper's ears lay flat back and her so far relaxed features hardened as she conceded, =Somehow, I could feel some kind of presence at the back of his mind, and when he threatened to kill Harry, I just had to act.=

Harry swiftly translated, gently caressing the canine's ears.

"You're a hero, Whisper." Hermione stared at the dog in clear admiration. "That was very well done."

'You're the best,' Harry thought to his familiar, who let out a huge yawn in return.

tbc tomorrow...

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