Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Harry Potter and co. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling and the publishers.
Mute Mutt
By: Jodelle
"Not everything is a mermaid
That dives into the water."
-Russian Proverb
Harry awoke to someone shaking him gently. His eyes snapped open to meet another pair of the same color. Although it was still dark out Lily was already dressed and was carrying a thick book under one arm.
Putting the book down on her bed Lily gestured for him to follow her into the bathroom. Opening the door carefully, afraid it would creak, they both shuffled into the spacious bathroom. Walking past the vanities they stopped by the shower stalls and Lily riffled through the cabinet full of toiletries just as she had last night.
Harry looked up at Lily expectantly until she pointed to the shower stall. If he'd been a boy he would have shrugged, showers were okay, so long as she didn't accidentally get soap in his eyes.
Whispering to him she explained that she refused to share a bed with a smelly or dirty dog. She didn't expect him to stay clean all the time seeing as she her self couldn't simply stay clean but that being the case he'd get a shower twice a day.
After letting him-self get scrubbed down Harry sat down patiently as Lily did the drying spell over him. Yawning tiredly Lily then led him into an empty corner of the bathroom.
A house elf squeaked in alarm when they caught site of it. House elf etiquette said they should never be seen unless called on. Stopping the elf before it could leave Lily started talking about getting food for Cappel.
Her dog had a good appetite but he didn't eat things she herself wouldn't eat. Several times Cappel had given her a look that said, why don't you eat it? Knowing now how picky he could be she had started giving him human food. The irony of this was that Harry, as a result from growing up with the Dursley's, would eat just about anything but drew the line at dog food as most of the things Lily had given him were disgusting.
Five minutes later there were several bowls filled with diced meat and vegetables. Harry tried a little of each and settled on a bowl filled with chopped hamburger dipped in gravy with rice.
Lily had thanked the house elf named Ditto before he popped away. Thinking she'd taken care of all Cappel's needs she said goodbye to him. The one thing she didn't know to provide for the curious creature was something to do during the day.
After using the restroom which for him was a self cleaning box filled with sand he followed the last person out as they left the dorm. Looking down into the crowd in the common room Harry thought twice about joining them. Getting trampled wasn't a goal of his.
Leaning over the edge of the stairs he stared with interest at a game where things were sparking and exploding. Remus and James were playing exploding snap as they waited on Sirius. Jumping in fright at a particularly large explosion Harry crossed the line that separated the stairs from the hallway. In an instant he was going down the slide the stairs had become. It might have been a fun experience if he hadn't come to a stop at Sirius's feet.
Feeling something bump into his leg Sirius looked down to see Cappel looking up at him. Grinning wickedly Sirius quickly scooped the puppy into his arms. The way he stared into Harry's eyes made the puppy-boy nervous.
When he started talking about charming him to be pink he wanted to growl. When he started to suggest giving him flees Cappel wanted to bite him. As he mentioned a plan to smother him in perfume Harry wanted to, running out of ideas, eat the boys homework regardless of that being clichéd.
The other Marauders looked up to see an irritated Cappel in Sirius's arms. Each thought that if the dog wasn't in such a tight grip he would have killed Sirius in some unusual way that might constitute as torture. It would be a strange day indeed if a ten pound puppy murdered their best friend.
"Padfoot, I really think you ought to put him down." Remus said trying to stand close enough to be heard but far enough away to escape if necessary. He was well read and knew that magical animals could turn quite violent despite their size. Alarmed by the angry look in the dogs eyes he remembered reading about the magical town of Yam whose inhabitants were killed by a gerbil on a rampage.
"Why? Do you really think this little mutt could hurt me?" Sirius said in a laughing tone. All the same he sat the small dog down. As Sirius was distracted Harry picked up the boys potion essay in his mouth before hopping off the couch and going to hide in a corner. The boy hopefully wouldn't notice that it was missing until the start of class, Harry thought, with satisfaction.
The Marauders left through the open portal. Had Harry not seen how the house elf's got in and out he might have been trapped. Leaving the potions essay out in the open so he wouldn't get blamed for its disappearance Harry went over to face the back of the Fat Lady's portrait.
With some difficulty Harry using a paw tapped the frame five times, then three times and five times again. The small opening appeared in the shape of a circle that he climbed through. Looking down the hall he felt a wave of excitement come over him. Not caring if he got lost he took off at a run without thinking to remember the way from which he'd come.
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Harry had stopped a short distance from the door that led outside panting as he tried to catch his breath. It was at this time when a very real threat appeared by the name of the three first year girls from the night before. The group consisting of Margot & the no name redhead and blond were staring at him.
There was a resounding, "Awwwwww!" Enough said that the scary group of girls had Harry running out on to the grounds. His fear had been so great that he'd done accidental magic by making the heavy door slam open so he could escape. He was already nearing the lakes waters as the girls stuck their heads out to try and spot him.
Disappointed the girls went back inside with the knowledge that they were already late to breakfast.
Harry was so tired from his exploration of the castle and run in with the scary girls he wanted to curl up to sleep but something stopped him. There was a giggle.
He heard water splashing. Having rolled over on his back and closing his eyes he could almost ignore the feeling that someone was watching him. Well he ignored it until he got drenched by a wave of water going over him.
Spluttering indignantly at someone splashing him Harry rounded on the creature in the lake. All he saw was a small pile of green hair floating on the surface of the water. Unsure if he could swim as a dog Harry backed away afraid the creature might try to drown him.
There was the sound of sloshing water and a little girl's face came out of the water. Reaching out to him with a webbed hand she looked apologetic. Although wary of her, Harry walked slowly over in her direction.
She gave a delighted laugh as she patted his nose as that was all she could reach. Pulling back she pointed down with a finger into the depths of the water. Frightened Harry shook his head in a very human way.
She sighed and it sounded like someone gargling water. Sinking down under the lakes surface to get a quick breath she reached out for him again. Her eyes seemed to say trust me. As he stared into her eyes unblinking as she put he hands on either side of his neck. It felt like someone pinched his hard on both places and he realized it was because he couldn't breath.
The girl looked hopeful but scared as if she hadn't done such a thing before as she pulled a frightened Harry into the water. The spell she'd used had given him gills so as he went under the water he was able to take gulps of air.
Laughing a stream of bubbles the girl watched. It took Harry a moment as doggy paddling didn't come quite naturally but then he realized it was like running under water.
Running after the girl he forgot his fear of the water.
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The day had been an interesting one as he'd gotten to explore the lake bottom. Not many people could say they'd seen the bottom of the lake, Harry thought, laughing about how afraid he'd been at first. He'd had the whole tour.
The girl had given him a long name which he had shortened to Ava as that was the only part a human could pronounce. He as a dog couldn't say her name at all although he made a great show out of trying to. She'd just laughed as though saying it didn't matter if he couldn't say it.
There was a great city at the very bottom. The walls of each building had the shiny coloring like what is on the inside of sea shells. He wisely didn't eat the food as he couldn't tell what it was.
Halfway though they'd played games of catch and hide & seek much like people on the surface did. In the end when they realized it was dark out an adult of her kind had swam him up to the surface and undone the spell before releasing him.
The merman smiled before making shooing gestures in the direction of the castle. How the he had know Harry had come from the castle Harry didn't know.
It was at this time when a bright light flashed in Harry's eyes. He blinked hard and sneezed a few times before getting used to breathing air. He realized he was looking up at Sirius and James.
James gave a sigh of relief. "Well, now that we've found him Lily can stop yelling in my ear about us abducting him."
Sirius looked flustered.
"If you hadn't threatened him this morning that third year wouldn't have been able to make this look like our fault Padfoot."
Sirius glared some before hanging his head. "Yeah, sorry Prongs.
As they headed back to the castle neither knew that this night would prove to be most interesting and in the morning they wouldn't know what to do other than panic.
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Authors Note: Yes, in the next chapter will be that chapter.
Chapter 6:
"Perhaps one has to be very old before one learns to be amused rather than shocked."
-Robert Browning