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.

Harry and Daphne headed back in the direction of the Hogsmeade main street with Whisper running ahead as usual. However, while she usually looked back every now and then, she suddenly turned right into a small side street.

"Whisper, come back. We're going straight on here," Harry said, loud enough for the canine to hear.

However, Whisper did not react but chose to chase a cat along the street. Daphne and Harry exchanged a look of exasperation, before Daphne finally began to chuckle. "She's really cute. We still have the whole day though, so it doesn't really matter."

When they followed the canine, holding hands and feeling very happy at the idea of being girlfriend and boyfriend, they suddenly passed in front of a small jeweller.

"Let's take a look," Harry suggested.

"Perhaps, it's better than that on the main street if they can keep up a shop here, but it might be expensive," Daphne warned him, however, swiftly followed him and Whisper inside.

A very old wizard approached them. "May I help you?"

Harry nodded. "Yes sir. Thank you, sir. My friend has just agreed to become my girlfriend, and…" He slowly trailed off.

"Ah, congratulations are in order then. How about a pair of friendship rings? I can equip them with a telepathic charm if you wish, so that you'll be able to communicate telepathically."

Harry cast Daphne a questioning look and seeing her smile replied, "Yes please."

After skimming a whole drawer with all kinds of friendship rings, they decided on a simple silver ring with a pattern of two dogs that were playing with each other, and Harry asked for the telepathic charm, before he told the shop owner to take the money from the Potter vault.

Once outside the shop, Harry slid the smaller of the rings onto Daphne's ring finger, where it adjusted itself to the correct size.

"Let me." Daphne smiled, as she took the small box out of his hand and put his ring onto his finger. 'Thank you so much, Harry. They're beautiful,' she then thought to him.

'This really works,' Harry thought back in amazement. 'That's totally cool.'

HP

By the time they had to head to the Three Broomsticks to meet with their friends for lunch, Harry had managed to buy all the presents for his friends and family.

He was just about to enter the Three Broomsticks after Whisper and Daphne, when he felt someone bump into him. An instant later, he sensed a pull behind his navel and was whisked away from Hogsmeade.

'What's that?' he thought in confusion. It did not take long, before his vision cleared again, and he glanced around with a combination of curiosity and panic, only to realise that he found himself at what seemed to be a cemetery. He was together with the wizard, who had to have abducted him, a small, fat man, who gave Harry the impression of a rat. He inwardly shuddered in disgust.

'Harry, where are you? What happened?'

'Harry, where are you? Are you all right?'

Daphne's and Whisper's thoughts reached him, just when the man took his wand from him and magically bound him to a large tomb stone.

'Someone abducted me to a cemetery,' Harry thought back to his girlfriend and his familiar. 'Thank Merlin I can communicate with them, so at least Daphne can call for help,' he thought in relief.

The man walked away and began to busy himself with a black cauldron that was put up in front of one of the graves.

'Tom Riddle,' Harry deciphered the inscription of the stone on the grave. 'Wasn't that Voldemort's real name?' he recalled what Hermione had once told him. 'Why does he even have a grave? I thought they hadn't found his body, after I vanquished him,' he wondered.

He tried in vain to free himself from the magical chains that bound him and, while unwilling to care what the man was doing with the cauldron, he observed with a combination of interest and disgust how he took something out of the open grave and enchanted something sounding like the bone of the father would resurrect his son. He then cut off his own hand, stating that he'd willingly give his hand to revive his master. All of a sudden, he approached Harry with a knife and cut a piece out of his arm, which he also added to the cauldron, stating that his blood was unwillingly going to help his foe.

'What the heck?' Harry thought, horrified, as he cradled his injured arm to his chest.

Suddenly, he heard the mental thoughts coming from Whisper and Daphne. 'Can you describe the cemetery?'

'Where exactly are you? Are you all right?'

'I'm not. I'm on the cemetery with the grave of Tom Riddle. Can you call for help?' Harry urgently thought back to his girlfriend and his familiar.

'Hold on, Harry. We get help.' 'Was that Daphne or Whisper?' Harry wondered. He was not sure. 'I still have to get used to Daphne thinking to me,' he thought, when his attention was returned to the cauldron in front of him.

The man, who was brewing the potion or whatever it was he was concocting, suddenly picked up a small bundle, wrapped into black cloth. Harry had not even noticed it until then. He unwrapped a tiny, baby-like body and carefully lowered it into the cauldron.

'What is going on?' Harry thought, frightened. 'I just hope Daphne contacted any of the professors and help will arrive soon.'

He observed in shock how an adult person stepped out of the cauldron. 'That must be Voldemort,' he realised in horror.

The man stretched as if to get used to his unexploited body, before he turned to the man, who had resurrected him.

"Peter Pettigrew, my faithful servant," he greeted him. "Give me my wand."

'Pettigrew?' Harry's eyes narrowed. 'Wasn't that the man who gave mum and dad away to Voldemort and blamed Sirius for everything?' He eyed the man with a combination of disgust and hatred.

Pettigrew bowed deeply. "Here, my Lord."

Voldemort accepted his wand from Pettigrew and rewarded the traitor by giving him a silver hand as replacement for the one he had sacrificed for the ritual. He then called his Death Eaters, who slowly began to pop up next to Voldemort, while Harry was still waiting for help to arrive.

Suddenly, Voldemort waved his wand in his direction and freed him from the robes. "I will kill you now, but at least, it shall be in a fair position. Stand before me, Harry Potter."

Harry eyed the man in surprise, when he ordered Pettigrew to return his wand to him.

Harry readied himself to duel Voldemort, just when Whisper popped up beside him.

'Where did she come from?' Harry wondered in shock that only intensified, when Voldemort cast the killing curse in his direction. Fortunately, he managed to dodge the curse and was just about to retaliate, when his attention was once more diverted to his canine familiar.

tbc tomorrow...

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