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.

To Harry's relief, his three friends in Slytherin and apparently even Draco Malfoy had convinced their house-mates that Harry had not put his name into the goblet and was a victim of some kind of plot by one or more unknown persons.

Reassured by his friends' faith in him, Harry rose from his seat at breakfast and raised his wand.

"I swear on my magic that I did not put my name into the Goblet of Fire or asked anyone to do such a thing for me. I support Cedric Diggory as Hogwarts champion."

Everyone observed with apparent interest how he once more raised his wand. "Expecto Patronum!"

An instant later, a white dog, which clearly had Whisper's form, emerged from the tip of his wand and trotted through the Great Hall, closely followed by Whisper.

"That's amazing…"

"… now tell us…"

"… how did you do that?"

Harry smirked at the twins as he resumed his seat between Hermione and Neville.

"It's the Patronus charm. Professor Lupin taught us during the summer." Hermione beat Harry to a response.

From that time onwards, the whole school believed Harry, with a few exceptions, such as Ronald Weasley and his sister or Seamus Finnegan, one of Harry's roommates.

HP

It was a few days, before the first task was going to take place, when Whisper informed him that she had noticed three dragons at the far end of the Hogwarts grounds. 'The champions might have to fight dragons.'

'Oh Merlin, I'm glad that I chose to not participate,' Harry replied, before he made up his mind. 'I think I'm going to inform Cedric about it. Do you think that would be cheating?'

Whisper lightly shook her head. 'I saw the two foreign headmasters look at the dragons. They know and have surely told their champions, while Dumbledore probably hasn't.'

Harry nodded in understanding and right after dinner took Cedric aside. He led him into an empty classroom and cast a silencing charm at the door, before he informed the older boy of what Whisper had observed.

"We're going to have to fight dragons?" Cedric sounded horrified.

Harry let out a deep sigh. "Perhaps, you could summon your broom and outfly him," he suggested, knowing that his fellow Seeker was fairly fast on his broom.

"That's a wonderful idea, Harry. Thank you very much, also for the information, as I'm sure Dumbledore won't say a word about this, while Maxime and Karkaroff might have informed their champions."

"Good luck, Cedric," Harry said, warmly. "You can do it."

"Thanks Harry and Whisper." He leaned down to gently pet Whisper's fur, causing the canine to lick his hand.

HP

The day of the first task deemed bright and sunny albeit cold. Harry and his friends took their seats among the spectators to watch the spectacle.

'Thank Merlin I decided to not participate,' Harry thought, feeling very grateful towards his familiar, who had spent hours discussing the matter with Sirius, who apparently had even involved the Unspeakables in the question, before she had reassured him that he did not have to participate. 'I wonder who put my name in and why?' he thought, absentmindedly noticing that the third champion had just finished the task.

All of a sudden, Alastor Moody, who was sitting next to Professor McGonagall two rows in front of Harry and his friends, fell from his chair and remained on the ground, unmoving.

A huge commotion began, and in the end, Madam Pomfrey announced that the old Auror was dead.

"He must have put Harry's name into the goblet." Remus shook his head in disbelief.

"Is that really Moody?" Sirius shook his head. "Moody was my boss for many years, and he'd never do such a thing. Perhaps, he was under the Imperius curse, but in that case, the one who put him under the curse should have died though."

Professor Snape stepped over to him and showed him a small phial. "The antidote to the Polyjuice potion. Do you want me to spell it into his system?"

"Snape." Sirius sounded surprised. "Yes, please."

Everyone, who had been nearby and witnessed Alastor Moody collapse, observed in excitement how Snape spelled the potion into the man's system, causing his features to slowly change to a much younger man.

"Barty Crouch Junior." McGonagall was the first to speak up. "I thought he was dead."

"He is dead, Minerva." Pomfrey stated the obvious, causing her colleague to roll her eyes.

"Lila," Harry called his elf. "Could you please look for Alastor Moody and ask him to come here if he can?"

"Of course, Little Master Harry," Lila replied, causing Harry to sigh, while everyone else laughed.

It was less than a minute later that Lila returned and offered to take Pomfrey and McGonagall to the real Alastor Moody, who apparently was not able to simply come out onto the grounds.

HP

The following Saturday was a Hogsmeade day, and Harry and his friends eagerly walked down to the village with the intention to have their dates in the morning and spend the afternoon together.

"Perhaps, we should get a head start at buying Christmas presents," Daphne suggested, and Harry full-heartedly agreed.

"We could still go for a coffee first, couldn't we?" he replied, feeling fairly certain that he would find one or the other gift for his friends in the Treacherous Chocolate.

Harry had already decided to enlist Remus' and Sirius' help to purchase something such as a friendship ring for Daphne and ask her to become his girlfriend at the Yule Ball at the latest, so that he would only need presents for everyone else.

HP

The hot chocolate they enjoyed at the coffee shop was laced with cinnamon, and Christmas music was playing in the background. Harry felt very comfortable, and they talked about this and that, before a sudden thought crossed his mind.

'Whisper, do you think I could ask her now to become my girlfriend? The atmosphere here seems so fitting.'

'Go on. Do it,' his dog encouraged him from where she was lying on both their feet.

'I don't have a ring yet though.'

'You can go and buy one together.'

"Daphne?" Harry summoned his courage, while the girl looked at him in clear expectation. "Will you become my girlfriend?" Before she could do as much as reply, he added, "I'm sorry if that's not the proper way to ask a girl according to pureblood rules, and I don't even have a ring. Sorry."

To his horror, Daphne let out a deep sigh. "Harry, stop apologizing. Yes, I'd love to be your girlfriend. Thanking for asking." She leaned over and readily replied to the kiss that Harry initiated.

"Shall we go and look for a ring," Harry suggested, smiling, and Daphne happily agreed.

tbc tomorrow...

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