As usual, I do not own harry potter or zootopia.
Chapter 3. Meeting new mammals
The bar was a simple affair, a large row of stools that wrapped around the counter with individual tables surrounding it. Looking around, Harry took note of the diversity of the gathered crowd. A large TV screen was turned onto the local news, where a moose was giving a report on increased traffic accidents in the Sahara district. Sirius and Sam had invited a few of their friends, most of whom were gawking at the large, unfamiliar panther squirming around in his seat.
"Guys, I want to introduce you to my godson Harry, He came into town a few days ago and needs a friendly welcoming." Sirius said as he patted harry on the back. "Harry, this is George, Martha, and Rick and Kayla." He said, pointing at an elephant, shrew, armadillo, and lynx. The group waved at him before continuing their sidebar conversation. Sirius leaned forward to whisper into harry's ear. "they know that were are from a different dimension, but not that we were human."
Harry nodded at that, having to explain that you were a species that doesn't exist was a lot harder than just pretending to be a panther your whole life. Grabbing his beer, harry took a swig, noting that it was very thick. Looking up, he saw a large group of meerkats walk into the bar and head towards the back, where a fox was sitting. Giving it no thought, Harry turned his head back to the conversation that was playing out between Sirius and Kayla.
"I keep telling you that if you keep buying for just medium sized animals, its going to hurt your bottom line," sirius said, slurring his words a bit. "You need to expand a bit to bring in new customers." Kayla nodded, before taking a drink.
"Ok it sounds like good advice, I will," what she was going to say next was lost to harry as the meerkats started raising their voices. Looking behind him, Harry saw the group surrounding the fox, yelling at him to leave the bar. Harry's 'saving people thing' reared its head, and he found himself walking towards the group.
"You stupid fox! We don't want your kind around here," the leader of the group said with a thick southern zootopia drawl. As harry came in, the group took notice. "Ah, you might be able to help us, we were just telling this fox that he needs to leave." Harry shook his head, noting that there were bigots in this world to. The lead meerkat actually reminded him of Malfoy in his younger days, acting superior and rubbing peoples status in their faces.
"The only problem I see here is a group interrupting some poor guys drink," Harry said as he casually looked at his paw with claws extended. In the dark atmosphere of the bar, the light shown off of the claws, almost in a threatening manner. The meerkat grew incensed, and began to turn red.
"He is just a dirty fox, why are you sticking up for him. The bastard has probably swindled the money for his drink." Harry felt a rush of anger, and stepped close to the meerkat. Leaning down to get eye to eye with the mammal, his voice came softly, but with an edge that promised pain.
"I have had a rough few days, and I dont need my night ruined by a group of punks like you. So scram!" The meerkat shook with fear, gazing into the green eyes that promised suffering if he didn't comply.
"Ok sir, we apologize and will be on our way." The leader said before he and his group bolted out the front door of the bar. Looking at their departure, Harry nodded with satisfaction before turning his head towards the fox.
"You didn't have to do that, I could have handled it," the fox said as he took a sip of his blue drink. Harry shook his head before sitting down next to him.
"Yeah, but people like him piss me off, reminds me of a slimy ferret I went to school with." Harry said as he held out a paw towards the fox. "I'm harry, nice to meet you." The fox looked at the offered paw for a second before grabbing it with his own.
"Nice to meet you, I am Nick." He said before giving a sly grin. Harry grunted before taking a drink. "So you wouldn't happen to be the same Harry that dropped out of the sky the other day would you?" Nick asked, his eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Yeah, but how did you know that?" Harry asked, intrigued that a stranger knew about his impromptu entrance into this world. Nick laughed before taking a drink.
"You hear a lot in this city, besides, I had an uncle that arrived in the same way. Great guy, who had a lot of interesting stories to tell. I was always interested to hear the ones about Hogwarts myself." The fox had timed his statement to coincide with the panthers drinking. A coughing fit ensued as harry spit out the drink in his mouth.
"You know about Hogwarts?" Harry exclaimed as he looked at the fox.
"Yeah, my uncle would tell me stories all the time about what you wizards and witches would get into. He seemed pretty bummed when he told me that you lose your magic when you come across the veil." Harry nodded at that, it had been a shocking surprise to grab his wand and not feel the connection he once took for granted.
"It will take some getting use to, right now I am just trying to survive." Harry said. Nick nodded.
"Yeah, well just remember that if you need anything, feel free to hit me up," the fox said as he gave Harry a number scratched on a bar napkin. "I owe you one for giving me a hand back there."
Harry nodded at that, before shaking the foxes paw again. "Okay Nick, I will see you around," Harry said as he stood up and made his way back to the table. Seeing that the group was enjoyably inebriated, he shook his head.
"Hey pup! I just realized that now that you know your form, we need to give you a name!" sirius exclaimed. Harry looked puzzled for a minute, before it dawned on him. A Marauders nickname. Excitement grew in his stomach as he looked at the dog expectantly. Sirius had an inquisitive look on his face, before it lit up in realization. "I got it! Midnight!" harry looked at him with a questioning face. "Because they say nothing good ever comes after midnight!"
"Padfoot."
"Yeah, Midnight?"
"Shut up."
The night carried on with little excitement, as the group decided to part ways. Getting back to the house harry watched as sirius fumbled for the keys, sam giggling the whole time. Once they were inside, harry made his way to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Laying on the bed, he tried to drift off to sleep.
'oh sirius, you're so playful tonight,' the voice of sam echoed through the walls. Gripping his pillow around his head and cursing his now excellent hearing, harry tried to block out the sound of the activities occurring in the next room.
Sleep had not come easily for the panther, and the next morning he found himself sitting at the kitchen table with his third cup of coffee. Seeing the folded newspaper from yesterday, Harry opened it up and looked at the job listings. He had never been one to live off of someone elses dime, and staying with Sirius his whole life did not sound appealing. As he looked at the job listings, he took note that the police department was looking for animals to join.
'Can't be any worse than being an auror,' harry thought as he took a sip of coffee. He shelved the idea for later, before standing up. As he was making his way back to his room, he saw the door to padfoots bedroom open, and Sam step out.
"Oh Harry, I didn't think anyone else was up," sam said, she was dressed already, and looked well rested. 'At least one of us is', harry thought. "Why dont you get ready, and I will take you Clothes shopping, those clothes just don't look good on you." Harry nodded before going into his bathroom to freshen up.
A few minutes later saw the two driving down the road towards the local shopping mall. The music on the radio was a pop song, played by an artist named Gazelle. It was a silly stage name in Harry's opinion, as he tried to imagine someone from his world named human playing music. Chuckling at the thought, he looked at sam.
"So how long have you and sirius been together?" Harry asked as they flew down the road in her convertible.
"Oh, its been about 2 years now, he needed my help with getting a house, and despite his horrible attempts at flirting, I came to love the old dog." Harry laughed at that, after hearing so many stories from remus about how padfoot was, it didn't shock him that he would hit on anything.
"So you are a real estate agent?" hearing her confirmation, he began to ask questions about the average income, and cost of living.
"It just varies based on what region of the city you live in, I recommend that you check out the Rain forest district, its more habitable for your species." harry looked shocked for a second that she knew what he was thinking. "Harry darling, I know that you are an adult, and its clear that you want to find your own way. Don t worry, I will sit down with the old dog and break the news to him." Harry looked at sam with appreciation in his eyes.
They pulled in to the massive shopping mall and Sam looked over at him. "now I expect you to be on your best behavior, and don't hesitate to try on anything that catches your fancy." with that, they got out of the car and made their way into the mall. A feeling of dread coming over harry as they came closer.
That was the day that he came to fear the young wolf. And develop a strong distaste of shopping in general.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
And there we have it, chapter 4. for anyone wondering, this story takes place a month before the events of Zootopia.
Don't forget to send me a review!
