I've recently dove deep into the rabbit hole of HarryxDaphne, and this is just something fun I came up with. I might create more stories with the pairing, but seeing as this is my first exclusive Harry Potter FF, I've decided to go for something a bit more fun and lighthearted.
Hope you enjoy Harry (and Daphne) as an animagus. His hijinks and fun will be hopefully quite entertaining.
Also, my cat onomatopoeias might be a bit suspect. Gimme a break, I don't exactly have a template for how to write cat noises. All I hope is that the cuteness is displayed and you may or may not smile at some of the adorableness.
The cuteness may overstay its welcome towards the end, but to be honest I couldn't stop myself. Enjoy.
"We'll go over what an Animagus is and how the process works in your sixth years, but until then and even after, you all will be learning the simpler intricacies of Transfiguration." Professor Mcgonagall stood perfectly straight, only a few feet in front of the rows of desks in front of her. "How to perform it as well as the infinite possibilities of its application are fundamental to both your graduation as well as many careers you may enter, so I hope you all take this class as seriously as any other."
After her rendition of the opening monologue that she gave her newest first year students every year, Professor Mcgonagall gave one of the warmer and more welcoming smiles they'd ever see from her.
"Yes, Ms. Jordan?" Professor Mcgonagall kindly nodded towards the dark-skinned girl in the front. The similarities between the girl and the recently graduated Lee Jordan were striking. The Headmistress could've groaned at the potential headaches she'd receive from her in the future.
She could only be thankful there wouldn't be any more Weasleys in the future. Or - she shivered - any Potters. One was enough, thank you.
"Could you tell us when you became an Animagus?" The girl asked. Professor Mcgonagall was accustomed to questions such as this, and didn't have any qualms with giving an honest answer. It was one of the prouder things she'd accomplished over her long, fruitful career.
"I actually became an Animagus when I was in my last year here at Hogwarts." Professor Mcgonagall said proudly, a sincere smile evolving from her kind one. "However, I caution that this is not an easy feat. Only a handful of registered Animagi have ever existed in our country, and even when I became one, I was under the careful supervision of Headmaster Dumbledore, who was the Transfiguration professor at the time."
"Mrow?"
Mcgonagall stilled, a questioning look invading her usually poker-faced persona.
"Mrow?" The sound came a little louder, yet still quite low. The professor turned around in an attempt to locate what had created the noise, and had she been a few decades younger, might've jumped back in surprise when a gray ball of fluff leaped gracefully onto her desk. "Prrrupp!"
"Oh! Is the Headmaster an Animagus too!?" This comment sent the rest of the class into a chitter, all of the students excitedly chatting about two of the staff at Hogwarts being accomplished Animagi. Sadly, this wasn't the truth.
"I'm afraid you're incorrect, Mr. Dowl." Mcgonagall said, although her tone and tilted gaze gave away her continued confusion.
"Oh! I heard Mr. Filch has a cat! Is that his?" The student sounded less impressed, even slightly disappointed at the fact that this wasn't their headmaster. By the relative silence among the rest of the students, everyone else agreed that this wasn't as cool as their Headmaster also being able to transform into a cat.
"Mrrrrr." The cat bristled and wagged its tail. It sounded and looked offended at the mere comparison to Mrs. Norris.
"Incorrect again." The Professor cleared her throat and raked her eyes across the cat, which had been eyeing the students carefully. If Mcgongall wasn't mistaken, she would say the cat was smiling. "I don't recognize this being. However…"
"Wraoo?" The cat looked up to stare right into Mcgonagall's eyes, its front teeth showing in what Mcgongall would classify as an amused grin.
The cat was rather fluffy, and the professor would say it looked similar to an American Shorthair. While Professor Mcgonagall was a related species in the British Shorthair, the cat in front of her was slightly different. It was colored a light gray, with dark stripes lining its fur and a thick tail behind it.
However, the eyes were what she was focusing on.
Those bright, emerald green eyes that stared amusedly right into her very soul. It seemed to be waiting for her.
During her extensive study before she dared attempt to become an Animagus herself, one of the aspects of the process she discovered was that some physical features the human possessed transferred over during the transformation. One example was Peter Pettigrew's finger missing in both his human and rat form.
The most common example of this aspect, however, was the transfer of eye color.
"Mr. Potter…" Professor Mcgonagall sighed and shook her head. "Tell me you didn't."
The cat yipped happily and bounced off the professor's desk, landing at her feet and rubbing against her leg. Helplessly, with many of her students cooing at the cat behind her, Mcgonagall reluctantly bent down to scratch the cat between its ears. The shorthair purred contentedly, gleaming up at her the whole time.
After a moment of bliss, the cat bounded quickly to the door and started scratching furiously at the dark wood. Without prompting, a student quickly opened the door - allowing the cat to dart out of the classroom - and returned to their seat.
Silence reigned the classroom after the door creaked to a close.
Inwardly, Mcgonagall was… a mixture of emotions. But predominantly, she found she was oddly proud of her student. She might go so far to question him later on his process. Perhaps Ms. Granger had helped him? If she had, was she also now an animagus? She had no doubt that Mr. Potter was competent in transfiguration, his father after all had been a prodigy in the subject. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if he had received aid, and if so, from who…
"You should've seen her face! It was priceless!" Harry exclaimed, hunched over the table in a fit of laughter.
"I'm sure." Daphne Greengrass smiled demurely, amused at the state the boy in front of her was in.
"Oh, if Professor Mcgonagall reacts like that, imagine what we can do to others!"
"Maybe you should go annoy Madam Pince. I'm sure she'd appreciate it." Daphne rolled her eyes and turned the brunt of her attention back to the book in front of her.
"I don't think that woman would know fun if it hit her in the face," Harry scrunched his nose. Daphne's lips twitched. He glanced at the book and parchment in front of Daphne and groaned. "Sometimes, I swear you're worse than Hermione."
"Is that a compliment?"
"Daph, it's literally the first day! What homework could you possibly have been assigned?"
"Might I remind you that we have NEWTS before the year's up?"
"Now you really sound like Hermione." Harry sighed and slumped into the back of his chair. Despite the serious mood of his girlfriend, his good mood couldn't be entirely put out. There was just so much he could do!
Becoming an Animagus over the summer, while tedious and difficult, was as fruitful as he'd expected, and more. Going in, he'd had no idea what form he'd take, but becoming a cat - while disappointing at first - had so many possibilities.
"How're your parents?" Harry asked.
"Good." Daphne sent him a quick smile before looking back down at her book. "Although, I think they're a little concerned we're gonna get caught."
"Well, they're probably right to be worried." Harry grinned. "There's a good chance I'll spend more of this year being a cat than an actual human."
"Really?" Daphne stared flatly. "You do realize we're still in school, right? As in, we're graduating this year?"
"Of course." Harry nodded. "But I have you, and Hermione if you get tired of helping me."
"And you have yourself." Daphne pointed out. "You're not stupid, just lazy."
"Would a lazy person spend the whole summer before his last year at Hogwarts becoming an Animagus?" Harry frowned.
"No. A lazy person would use that excuse to not do any work once the summer's over." Daphne raised an eyebrow.
"Touché." Harry responded after a moment.
"Also, my parents wanted to ask if you'd like to stay over the holidays." Daphne said after a minute of silence.
Harry sighed, "Daph, the summer was fun and it made more sense cause I'd rather jump off a cliff than stay another minute with the Dursleys. But for the holidays… I've always stayed at Hogwarts."
"If you think you'd be intruding, you'd be wrong." Daphne bit the inside of her cheek. "You know they already view you as one of their own. I think they'd be insulted if you refused."
Harry stared at her, and once he felt like her stance would be unmoving, he reluctantly nodded.
"Splendid." Daphne said. "Now, if you'd be so kind, leave me to my studies."
"Nope." Harry immediately answered, swinging his feet from under the table into her lap. Daphne wasted no time in shoving them off.
"Don't you have anything else to do?"
"Nope." Harry repeated. A lightbulb went off in his head (albeit said lightbulb might've been decidedly dim), and he glanced around the library to check the surrounding area. The table they occupied was tucked in an out-of-the-way, secluded corner in the library, and even though he'd cast privacy charms as soon as they'd sat down, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Seeing that nobody was around, with a mischievous smirk, he quickly ducked under the desk.
"Harry, what in Merlin are you doing?" Daphne asked, not bothering to look up from her work. "You better not be doing anything perverted."
Half expecting her skirt to be pulled up or something equally inappropriate (had that happened, her complaints might've been just slightly half-hearted), Daphne was surprised when a questioning purr sounded from her feet.
"Mrow?"
Daphne sighed, but couldn't help the smile that settled on her usually expressionless face. Where Harry had disappeared, a gray cat came out, rubbing against her legs from under the table and purring deeply.
"You're a pain in my arse, you know that?" Daphne said with a hint of fondness. Harry meowed and bound up onto her lap and took one more leap onto the desk. Daphne couldn't help but glide her hand against his fur, eliciting a predictable pur of content. "I suppose you aren't going to leave me here in peace?"
"Mrrrr!" Harry shook his head and licked her hand.
"Fine, I suppose I can lay off the homework for now." Daphne said, closing the book she'd been reading and storing away her parchment and quill. It would be okay to leave her things here. The secluded table they occupied was rarely visited by anyone else, and she'd come back for her belongings soon enough.
Glancing around in a similar fashion to Harry, Daphne smiled once she saw nobody and shifted on the spot. Smoothly, Daphne Greengrass transformed before Harry's eyes into a Siberian cat with snow white fur.
When they had chosen to become Animagi together, they'd never dreamed they'd be the same species. One could imagine the pleasant surprise both felt when they realized that not only were they the same species, but they could talk to each other when they were both in their animal forms as well.
"Well?" Daphne meowed at him and batted at him with her paw. Harry yowled playfully and dashed away. "What did you have in mind?"
Harry purred happily and tackled her to the ground, sending them both off the desk and careening into the foot of a random bookshelf. Daphne would've been annoyed or hurt if it wasn't so damn fun.
"Sun's out right now. Why don't we just mess around next to the lake?" Harry suggested. Daphne could've sighed in exasperation. Of course he had no plans whatsoever to do anything with more sustenance. Still, she couldn't deny it was a nice day outside.
"I wouldn't be opposed to that."
Being a cat was fun.
Harry couldn't ascertain whether that was his cat brain talking or his regular human-sized one, but to be honest he didn't care.
A cat was so useful in so many ways that he hadn't even explored yet. He was smaller, and therefore could fit through smaller cracks and passageways. He was more discreet, as only the most observant of people would realize that not only was he not an actual cat, but was actually the Boy-Who-Lived.
And, he could get cuddles!
Who didn't like being cuddled?
One of the main downsides was the hairballs, though. He had the odd urge to lick his fur in a way to groom himself and sometimes that led to hairballs being choked out. Sometimes, he even regurgitated said hairballs when he was back in his human form.
Eh, in the long run, it didn't matter.
Sure, maybe he had cravings for fish at times. Yes, he noticed his eyesight at night was even worse when in his human form due to the increased ability to see at night as well as a wider visual field when he was a gray ball of fur. Perhaps he found himself forgetting he had two legs instead of four and there wasn't a tail on his backside.
But… it didn't matter. Probably all side-effects of being a cat too much.
It was too fun.
There was so much mischief to be caused. So many snuggles to have. So many belly scratches and head pats and adorable coos.
It was addicting, he'd admit it.
And, perhaps he fed on the fact that people didn't know it was him.
"Awww!" Harry perked up from his place curled on the armrest of one of the Gryffindor common room chairs. "Must be someone's new kitty! Look how adorable he is!"
Harry perked up even more at the word "adorable". Lavender Brown crouched down to his eye level, her big brown eyes boring into him.
"Mrowww?" Harry meowed with a smile. Well, a smile to him. He still wasn't entirely sure what his smile looked like.
"Awwww." Lavender cooed once more, choosing to plop down into the cushioned chair and scoop him into her lap. "Look at how adorable he is, Ron!"
"How do you know it's a he?" Ron asked, sitting down into the adjacent chair.
"Female intuition."
"That's absolute rubbish."
Harry agreed. Yet, Lavender was right, so he'd give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Whose do you reckon he is?" Lavender asked, scratching that wonderful place between his ears and studying his coat of fur. Harry couldn't help the excited purr that escaped him.
"Fuck if I know, Lav." Ron stretched out his arms and let out a groan. "Where the hell's Harry? I've been wanting to talk to him about some new quidditch strategies and I haven't seen him since last night's feast."
"Maybe he's with his girlfriend." Lavender suggested. "I heard that he spent the whole summer with her."
"Where'd you hear that?" Ron asked. Lavender sent him a look, and the ginger sighed. "Right, my apologies, gossip queen."
"Thank you." Lavender said sincerely.
"I still don't know what he sees in her." Ron sighed, lounging further in his chair and raking a hand through his fairly long hair. "I guess she looks half decent - nowhere near as good as you, though, love - but… I mean… she's a Slytherin."
Harry hissed at that, leaping out of the soft grip of Lavender and leaping to the other chair. Landing on the armrest, Harry clawed at his friend, making sure his sharp claws were retracted into his paw.
"Oi!" Ron flinched back and put his arms up to protect his head. Unimpressed, Harry continued to rain down annoying little strikes, batting at his arms and oftentimes penetrating his futile defense to hit him in the face. Once he felt like he'd sufficiently learned his lesson, he gave him a light scratch to the chest through his sweater and hopped back to Lavender's armrest.
Harry meowed boredly before he decided to curl up and close his eyes. With his face hidden by his fluffy tail, Harry smiled at Lavender's lilting laughter, obviously amused at the outburst from the cat.
"That hurt!" Ron complained, attempting to compose himself.
"I'm sure it did." Lavender responded cheekily. She gave Harry one more scratch before she slouched into the deepest depths of her armchair (Harry'd been in that chair more than enough to say it was way too comfy). "I thought you liked Daphne."
Ron chuckled sheepishly and scratched the rear of his neck, "Eh, she's not bad. Kinda stiff, but not bad-"
"Mhmm." Lavender pursed her lips and nodded.
"-for a Slytherin." Ron added. Harry could've laughed if he wasn't feeling so sleepy. From the smile he could hear in his voice, he knew his friend was just having a laugh. Ron and Daphne didn't quite get along as well as Hermione and Daphne, but he'd take anything he could get.
Drowning out their conversation as well as all the other warm chatter in the Gryffindor common room, Harry slowly allowed his breathing to become regular.
His back rose rhythmically and his tail occasionally flicked unconsciously.
As he fell into a deep slumber, he was comforted by the thoughts of balls of yarn and the possibilities of feline mischief.
His prey was sitting alone, nobody else in sight.
Her leg bounced up and down with her eyes downcast.
She was distracted, focused on her own priorities.
It was time to strike.
With a quickness that should've been impossible, he pounced.
"Eeep!" His prey yelped in surprise. Perfect.
"Mrrrup?"
"Huh?"
Hermione cleared her throat in an attempt to cover up from the cry of fear she had just released. It was futile, Harry already knew he had succeeded, there was no point in trying to hide the fact.
The girl looked around with wide eyes. Harry could've groaned in exasperation. Of course the first thing she thinks about is if Madam Pince is coming to kick her out of the library. She should be focusing her attention on the cat in front of her instead of any potential librarian. Although, Harry would admit, said potential librarian was admittedly scary.
"Shoo!" Hermione hissed quietly, gesturing with her hand in an attempt to ward off the cat. Harry wasn't deterred. His cuteness would win her over. And if he destressed her from her much-too-obvious worrying about NEWTS that were basically a whole year away, then he wouldn't complain.
"Mrow." Harry prowled forward from where he sat at the edge of Hermione's desk, unfettered at the girl's reactionary indignant scoffs when he stepped uncaringly on her book and parchment.
"Go away!" Hermione hissed once more, although this attempt was much more half-hearted. Good. She was becoming resigned to the fact that he wasn't budging. He would expect no less from someone so intelligent.
Harry circled around Hermione's small desk as if he was searching for something when in reality he knew exactly what he was going to do. With a prompt air of finality, he stepped so that all four of his paws were on Hermione's opened textbook, and then plopped down on it.
"Mrow." Harry stared unblinkingly at Hermione. This was all too funny. There was a good chance that she would eventually find out on her own that this random cat was actually her best friend, but for now, Harry would stay content with the knowledge that he knew something Hermione didn't.
Hermione quickly reached out and picked Harry up only to set him down on the floor next to her.
"Now leave!" Hermione whispered again.
"Mrow." Harry stared at her for just a moment before leaping up into her lap, only to use it as a springboard and jump once more back onto the desk. Once again, he marked his territory and sat down on the open book.
Hermione sighed in resignation and slid the book to the center of the desk, pushing Harry with it. Weeeee! Harry could've had Hermione do that all day and he'd be way too happy about it. It was like a mini amusement ride. Kind of.
"You're not going anywhere, are you?" Hermione asked, folding her arms on the desk and leaning so that her chin was slotted in the middle. Harry had to resist the urge to shake his head, for it would be all too easy if he showed human tendencies in his cat form. Instead, he settled for quickly leaning forward to lick the tip of her nose.
Hermione squeaked and flinched back at the wetness, but quickly recovered and with another noise of exasperation and leaned forward again to begin petting him.
"You have very pretty eyes." Hermione muttered, her hand rhythmically gliding across the back of his fur. Harry purred and meowed at the compliment. If he wasn't so content with his current state, his heart might've been beating out of his chest at Hermione's observation. It would do no good for her to figure him out and ruin all the fun within the first 30 seconds.
Harry shook off her petting and rolled over with his belly up. Staring imploringly back at Hermione, he was pleased to hear a light giggle come out of the girl. Without any hesitation, she began to scratch his upturned belly, eliciting uncontrollable different cat noises that portrayed mind-numbing pleasure. Boy, belly rubs were the bane of everything evil. If he could get a belly-rub a day, all would be right with the world.
Voldemort would probably give up being a sociopathic maniac if he got a belly rub. Snape would stop being a git if someone gave him a belly rub. Mcgonagall would probably smile more if she got one(idea for later). Mrs. Norris wouldn't be a bitch of a cat if someone gave her one.
Simply put, this was the peak of his very existence.
And all the while, Hermione seemed to be happily and subconsciously pleasing him without any care in the world. Perhaps he was giving himself too much credit, but a certain amount of stress seemed to be lifted from her shoulders. From his experience, dogs and cats and owls and everything in between were great at showing compassion and easing any possible burdens. They were like little therapists wrapped in fur.
After his itch had been sufficiently scratch (and maybe even a few minutes after that), Harry meowed to get Hermione's attention and leaped back to the fur. Maybe it was a figment of his imagination, but the girl looked slightly disappointed that he was leaving so early. That wouldn't do.
Harry bound to her side and butted his head into her leg.
"Huh?" Hermione asked, looking down at him. She blinked. He blinked. He butt his head into her leg once more and flicked his tail around in anticipation.
Hermione didn't seem to be getting the idea.
Harry meowed at her explicitly and lightly pawed at her leg before swiftly darting along the carpet towards the exit of the library. Before he could round the corner and leave the dreaded bookshelves, he turned around to meow once more at the girl.
This time, it seemed she understood. Still, she hesitated, but one more pleading noise from Harry seemed to convince her to pack up her things, sling her back over her shoulder, and allow herself to be led by the strange feline.
They made their way out of the library, Harry stopping every once in a while to wait while Hermione caught up. After they exited the hellhole, Harry began leading her outside the castle, weaving between students and meowing as loud as he could to attract her attention when she might've lost him. The strange looks Hermione received didn't seem to deter her, for she was far too curious to where she was being led.
Eventually, Harry made his way to the Entrance Hall, and lead Hermione out of the great doors and into the outside world.
"Well, this is slightly disappointing." Hermione murmured, putting her arm up to shield the sunlight that had immediately hit her square in the face.
"Mrrrrow!" Harry yowled at her in annoyance and resorted to batting at her leg once more to get the point across. After a surprised yelp from her, Harry began to lead her again, out across the courtyard and through the scattered students who loitered at the school's entrance.
It didn't take long, but the path to get there was winding and small, requiring Hermione to push through some bushes and branches here and there. For Harry, the path was much easier. Being a cat was so cool.
Eventually, they exited out a thickness of bushes and Harry meowed in happiness at the sight before him.
When he and Daphne had explored the grounds as cats a few days ago, they'd accidentally come across this place.
It was secluded, out of the way and isolated from the thrum of students that otherwise occupied all other nooks and crannies of Hogwarts.
It was located on the shore of the Great Lake, the view stunning and the environment itself quite cozy. The sparkling blue water and the edge of Hogwarts' castle featured, and while some noises of students in the distance could be heard, they were faint and almost inaudible.
As for the place itself, there was a large oak tree with a wooden swing hanging from a sturdy branch. A bundle of blankets that seemed to be charmed to stay forever in pristine condition were laid at the base of the tree and a few pillows with the same charm were thrown on top.
Harry wouldn't be surprised if the Marauders had been the ones to create this tiny little spot.
Herimone gasped in awe at the view once she fully exited the wild excess of wilderness.
"Wow." Hermione breathed out. "This is wonderful!"
"Mrow." Told you so. Well, didn't actually tell you so, but, you know… whatever.
"How did you find this?" Hermione asked, as if she actually expected the cat to answer her. To be fair, she had Crookshanks as a pet, and that cat was scary smart. Harry wouldn't be surprised if the ginger feline had figured out how to scratch out her answers with her claws.
Instead of answering, Harry chose to patter over to the pile of blankets and meow at Hermione. Inspecting the area, he found the ideal spot for him to rest and curled up in a ball.
It was a brilliant day for England, with few clouds and a beaming sun. It wasn't too chilly, nor was it too hot. A good day for a nap in the shade of a tree.
Hermione, however, didn't think a nap was appropriate. She instead chose to lay down next to him and start reading a book. After taking a peek, he noted that it looked like a fictional novel.
All he wanted was for the girl to relax as much as possible, so if reading fiction was her happy place other than studying, Harry was happy with it. He wouldn't complain. After all, he was able to curl up and take a nap in the warm shade on the shore of a lake next to one of his best friends.
He was lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right time to strike.
He'd been waiting for what felt like hours, but he knew he had to be patient. There would be an opening, he just knew it.
The havoc he could wreak once he found his opening would be fantastically satisfying.
Oh, poor Draco had no idea what was about to occur.
Of course, neither did Harry.
He hadn't thought very much past the part where his brain realized he could do some shit to mess with Draco. Nothing too crazy, but something he could do in his cat form that would annoy the ever-living crap out of him.
He'd been sitting in the darkness behind a statue of armor for hours, and instead of thinking of what sort of chaos he exactly was going to enact, he'd been fully focused on his initial goal of finding an opening to go through the Slytherin common room's entrance. He'd started a few hours after dinner and here he was, probably almost midnight if not already past it.
His cat brain wasn't the smartest, apparently.
Maybe he would shit in his bed. Or pee on his pillow. He could scratch up his trunk or put holes in all his clothes. There were too many possibilities, it was too hard to choose!
Merlin, he really was quite stupid in his cat form. There weren't supposed to be any intelligence or personality side-effects when in one's animagus form. Perhaps Harry was just an otherworldly amount of stupid. He could also just be extremely unlucky. Murphy's law and all that.
"Hullo?" A timid, light voice reached out, echoing slightly off the dark, dungeon walls.
"Prrruppp?" Harry mewled back, peaking out of his position behind the suit of armor to stare up at a girl in green robes looking curiously down at him. Harry noted the dark, brown hair that cascaded down her shoulders to her waist and the loosened green tie that hung from her collar. He knew this girl, he was sure of it. His addled cat-brain was just too stupid to remember her name.
"Are you lost?" The girl asked softly, crouching down to be closer to his height.
"Mrow." Harry slinked around her crouched form, delighting in the feather-light touch of her hand gliding along his back and leaning into her contact.
"Well, you're very pretty." The girl remarked cheerily, whispering to herself. In her crouched position next to the suit of armor, the girl looked around carefully, probably in search of any of her housemates.
"Prrrrr." Harry hummed appreciably as the girl scratched between his ears.
"My name's Astoria." The girl said softly still. Ah, that made sense. Astoria Greengrass, younger sister of Daphne Greengrass. Hopefully Daphne wouldn't castrate him or anything equally disabling for deceiving "Would you wanna come with me inside my dorm? I think I have some leftover yarn that you could play with."
Harry meowed happily at that, and apparently the noise he made was so outrageous that Astoria giggled at his reaction. Astoria excitedly beckoned for him to follow and practically bounced toward the Slytherin common room's entrance. The small girl's attitude was contagious - as always - and Harry couldn't help being quite excited himself as they bounded through the entrance, past the common room's inhabitants and into Astoria's dorm.
Harry still didn't understand why Slytherins were allowed individual rooms whereas Gryffindor had shared dorms. Perhaps it was the sense of camaraderie Gryffindors were supposed to have as opposed to the individuality Slytherin house cultivated.
Still, he wasn't complaining, because apparently his feline brain was much too excited at the prospect of playing with a ball of yarn. He had no idea what he was even going to do once he saw it. Unwind it until the yarn was just in a messy pile? Bat it around and play some odd sort of catch with Astoria?
"Let me see here." Astoria muttered to herself as she rummaged around in her trunk. After only a few moments, she made a noise of satisfaction. "Here we go. I even have three for you to play with!"
Harry leapt onto the velvet, dark green sheets of Astoria's soft bed and the girl rolled three different colored balls of yarn right next to him. Balls of baby pink, navy blue, and blood red stared at him, and Harry quite literally couldn't help himself.
Instantly, he pounced, his small paws batting rapidly and randomly at the yarn. His eyes wide and narrowed at the same time, he clawed and scratched and meowed happily, rolling around with the colored balls.
With his initial wish of annoying Draco Malfoy completely forgotten, he immersed himself in the distractingly pleasant activity of doing fuckall with a trio of balls.
His life had truly devolved into… something . He wasn't complaining.
Thankfully, he was able to hold back his inner desire to gnaw at the yarn, saving himself from some quite disgusting regurgitations of fuzzy yarn balls.
Astoria, from her spot on the bed a few feet away from Harry, seemed to be having a great amount of fun as well. She flipped between simply watching Harry play by himself and batting the balls between the two of them. The whole time, a sort of peaceful smile rested on her face and softened her features.
Harry understood. He knew the kind of effect that a cat or dog or any type of domestic pet could have on a person. The serotonin and oxytocin one received when interacting with an excitable puppy or cuddling cat was practically life-changing in the stress it could relieve.
Perhaps that was his duty as a cat animagus. It's practically what he'd been doing so far. Just try to relieve the most stress possible for everyone he could help.
After a few hours, when it was most assuredly past the appropriate time to go to sleep, Harry found himself curled up in the arms of Astoria, the little girl lying down underneath her soft sheets and softly breathing in an effort to fall asleep.
Harry hadn't interacted too much with the girl in prior years, but she was Daphne's sister, and during the summer they'd interacted with banter and sarcasm and a sort of friendship that had formed much too quickly.
Now, he felt a sort of kinship with Astoria. He didn't know what compelled her to invite a random, albeit extremely handsome cat into her dorm, but he could tell from the way her shoulders sagged that she'd been extremely stressed recently. Whether it was O.W.L's or something else entirely, he didn't care.
All he cared about was that as Astoria's breathing became rhythmic and she entered a hopefully comfortable sleep, an elegant smile graced her face and softened her features.
Harry fell asleep with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, not worried about any nightmares and completely forgetful of why he'd gone into the dungeons in the first place.
Harry woke up to a very scary sight.
He'd flicked his eyes open, drowsiness still very much present, and let loose a great yawn.
And then he saw it.
Two sapphire blue orbs stared at him, mere inches away from his face.
Harry practically squawked in surprise and hastily scampered back, finding his way under the sheets of the bed and attempting to seek refuge in the warm, soft cave he created.
His place of residence was promptly ripped apart, the sheets being violently thrown off of him. There was no place to run. Nowhere to hide. The predator had found him, trapped him, even.
"Mrow." Harry meowed softly, making his eyes wide as possible and curling up in an attempt to gain sympathy. All it did was cause the one preying on him to increase the scrutiny present in their gaze.
"It's okay, kitty." Astoria called from beside his predator. "Daphne won't hurt you."
Despite the reassurance, Harry didn't move a muscle. Neither did Daphne.
"I think." Astoria said, a little meekly.
"Oh no, Astoria." Daphne said reassuringly, although her stony expression betrayed her soft words. "I won't hurt him. It is a him, isn't it?"
"I mean, I didn't check, but I'm pretty sure he is." Astoria answered. Harry resisted the urge to nod. Realizing he only had one route of any semblance of safety, he darted across the bed and leaped through the air, landing in Astoria's arms and eliciting a surprised huff from the girl. "I like him. Can I keep him?"
Without a second of hesitation, "No." Daphne didn't spare a glance at her sister, still glaring at the bundle of fur within her arms.
"Why not?" Astoria asked. This time, due to the depressive tone of her voice, Daphne did take the time to look at her sister, and her expression instantly softened.
"Tori…" Daphne trailed off, voice gentle and soft like it always was when she was talking with her younger sibling. Well, like it was when they weren't arguing or bantering. "You just… you can't."
Astoria frowned sadly and looked down at Harry. Seeing the downtrodden look in the girl's eyes, it seemed both Harry and Daphne had a soft spot for the girl.
"How about this…" Daphne said, rubbing Astoria on the back while Harry licked at her forearm. "I'm sure I'll be able to convince mom and dad you're old enough, and during the winter holidays we can go down to Diagon Alley and find you a cat."
Instantly, Astoria's eyes widened and her expression brightened. "Really? You'll do that!?"
"Of course." Daphne said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders in a side hug. "As long as you promise to take care of it, I think a cat would be good for you. Who knows, if you introduce your pet to this little guy, he might come to visit sometimes." Daphne rubbed Harry's head affectionately, but when he looked up at her, the message was clear.
If you don't play with Astoria every once in a while, I will personally make sure your wand is snapped.
Or, something along those lines. He wasn't telepathic, after all.
With Astoria's mood lifted, the three of them made their way out of Astoria's dorm (with Harry still curled up in the girl's arms), but on their way through the common room, Harry had an epiphany.
Spurred by the slicked blonde hair of Draco Malfoy peeking over the back of a green velvet couch, he perked up in remembrance of why he'd inserted himself behind enemy lines in the first place.
Harry leaped out of Astoria's loose grasp and - after bumping his head against the girl's leg and meowing a goodbye - bounded off in the hopeful direction of the boys' dorms.
"I'll see you in the Great Hall, Tori." Harry heard Daphne's fading, resigned sigh as he scampered out the common room and entered the dark halls that lead to the - conveniently labeled - entrances to the dorms.
Thankfully, most people had already left their dorms and there were only a scant few roaming the halls between the dorms. Quickly scanning the doors he passed, Harry was pleasantly surprised to find that Draco's room was found easily.
Now what.
Just on a whim, Harry leaped up and attempted to turn the doorknob.
Nothing. Didn't budge. Not an inch.
He could scratch the door a shit ton.
If he couldn't open the door and couldn't get inside to fuck up anything else Draco owned…
Yeah, he was gonna fuck up his door.
And that's exactly what he did. He just sat himself at the base of Draco's door, pushed up onto his two back haunches, then started the reign of terror.
Thank god his claws were so desensitized. Would've been a shame to only get a few scratches in and then have to leave because his paws hurt so much. As it was, however, he was able to scratch so deep the charcoal polish gave way to a light pine wood.
"You really are the most idiotic person I know."
Harry immediately turned his head around, but continued to scratch at the door. His task was much too important to be interrupted, after all.
"How did you not expect there to be protections on his dorm?" Daphne asked, walking up to besides Harry and crouching to raise an eyebrow at him. Harry just shrugged and continued to scratch at the door. "Is this why you came here?"
"Mrow." Harry affirmed.
"Merlin, you're an idiot." Daphne sighed and shook her head. She fished out her wand from her robes and tapped the door, lighting up a column of etchings that had been previously hidden in the wood. "You're lucky I'm so good with runes."
Harry stopped his scratching and watched as Daphne stared at the door in front of them. After a minute or so of inspecting the runes, she took out a small, sharp knife from a pocket and started carefully etching her own symbols into the wood.
After another few minutes of etching, a satisfied and proud looking Daphne Greengrass promptly turned the doorknob and shoved the door open.
"Not to mention the fact that I hate dear Draco as much as you do."
Harry wanted to protest that he didn't hate Draco. He merely was annoyed by the boy enough to subtly make his life as difficult as possible. Hate was just an exaggeration.
Still, Harry was too distracted to say anything. Mostly due to the fact that he was currently a cat. But… also because he had an overwhelming urge to pounce onto his mate.
Mate… was a strange word. Probably the inner feline talking. Hopefully. If he started to use the word "mate" when referring to Daphne on an everyday basis, there was a problem.
"Well." Daphne said, shifting her gaze from Draco's room to Harry, who stared curiously back at her. Her proud smile morphed into something… predatory. Downright evil. "What first?"
"Have you finished the Charms paper due on Saturday?" Hermione asked.
"I still have four inches I have to write." Daphne responded. She pursed her lips in slight frustration. "You'd think Flitwick would give us a little less homework with the holidays coming up."
"At least the actual writing's pretty easy." Harry said, his head resting against his hand as he stared down at his Defense homework. "Snape's a dick. I still have absolutely no clue what would happen if Grindylows evolved to be able to travel over land. Why would he even assign an essay on that!?"
"Professor Snape, Harry." Hermione corrected automatically. Unlike in previous years, the bushy-haired girl smirked as she said this. Harry rolled his eyes. "It's honestly not too hard. Just take a look at their habits and you'll have your answer."
"Ughhh." Harry groaned. "Not to sound too much like Ron, but can't you just do it?"
"Harry, I'm Head Girl," she said as if it answered everything. Harry blinked at her. It was useless.
"I guess I'll get a book on Grindylows." Harry relented. Hermione nodded appreciably and Daphne snickered. Having two friends who were among the top 5 in your class would make you work a little harder too.
After roaming the bookshelves for a few minutes, Harry found a book on water-dwelling creatures and a skim through the chapter log showed that he'd find some info on the creature he was looking for. Nodding to himself, he made his way back to the table and quite violently slid back into his seat.
"You ever talk to your parents about getting your sister that cat?" Harry asked offhandedly, setting his book on the table and flipping through the contents to find the section on Grindylows.
"Yup." Daphne nodded. "My parents mentioned that they need to visit Gringotts soon anyways, so while they meet with the goblins, I'll take Tori to find a suitable pet."
"I still feel a little bad." Harry said sheepishly and rubbed his neck. "I really didn't mean to let it go that far. I kinda just got carried away."
"I noticed." Daphne deadpanned.
"Astoria's getting a cat?" Hermione asked. Daphne nodded in affirmation. "Hmm, maybe I can introduce them to Crookshanks. I think he gets lonely when you guys can't play with him."
Harry froze.
From the corner of his vision, he could see Daphne tense up as well.
Maybe if he didn't move, Hermione wouldn't see him. That's how it worked, right?
"Excuse me?" Daphne asked, clearing her throat. Hermione looked up from her homework and paused the scribbling of her quill. She smiled.
"You didn't think I didn't realize, did you?" Hermione asked. "You didn't exactly make an effort to conceal it."
"What the fuck!?" Harry burst out, thankful for the privacy charms they'd erected earlier. Pince would've been on his ass in an instant. "When in the Merlin's man tits did you find out? Why didn't you say anything?"
"I don't think Merlin would appreciate that." Hermione commented. She chuckled, and that chuckle evolved into a full-on burst of giggles. "Harry, you do realize you have the same color eyes, right? Curling up in my lap and letting me get a close look isn't exactly discreet."
"Harry! You blithering fucking idiot!" Daphne threw her hands up and slumped into the back of her chair. She sighed, resigned. "Whatever. I suppose you would've found out at some point."
"Of course." Hermione nodded. After a pause, she smiled again. "Also, you quite literally have a small lightning bolt of light fur imprinted in the middle of your forehead."
Daphne promptly clobbered him on the back of the head.