AN: Still yet more just revision.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Not likely to change there either.
Kindness of Strangers
THE CRITICS
Harry glanced worriedly at his godfather. He no longer seemed to be feeling well and the cause didn't seem to have been the dementors. True they had shaken him up, but they certainly weren't the cause of the dog's current behavior. It was as if he'd eaten something that didn't agree with him. "Hermione? Is chocolate bad for dogs?" He looked at her questioningly. It had to have been the chocolate. It was all Sirius had eaten in his canine form that day.
"Yes it is, why? You didn't give Snuffles any did you?" she stared at him accusingly.
"The Professor told me to!" Harry held his hands up in front of him defensively. He hadn't known! He'd never had a dog before and Marge's didn't count. He had never paid attention to their diet. But Sirius wasn't a real dog, did that mean it was alright or was it still bad for him?
Hermione scoffed at the teacher's idiocy before trying to reassure the panicked Harry. "Listen, he probably didn't have too much, so he should just have an upset stomach for a while. He'll be okay though. I promise," she smiled calmly willing Harry to believe her. It was doubtful that the animal had had enough to truly cause any harm. The most that would happen was that Snuffles would throw up the chocolate and start feeling better once it was out of his system.
"I guess the Professor isn't all that familiar with dogs," Ron murmured, he too worrying about his friend's pet. "Hopefully he knows the Defense Against the Dark Arts material better than he knows his animals. Wonder if he'll be as bad as the other two," he sniggered to himself recalling the last two 'teachers' they'd had for that particular class. A rumor was starting to spread that the position was cursed. So far they'd had essentially He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and a pretty faced airhead for teachers. He wondered what this year would bring.
Harry nodded, crouching down to the dog's eye level. "You okay? Is the chocolate disagreeing with you?" he asked softly, his voice full of concern.
The cold wet nose nudged Harry's cheek trying to indicate that he was alright.
Harry framed the canine's face with his hands as he stared into the silvery grey depths of the beast's eyes. "You just putting on a show?" he mouthed, not wanting to be overheard even by his friends.
Sirius nudged him again indicating an affirmative answer, however, he whimpered for show. He truly felt fine, but he had studied up enough on dogs to have learned along the way what sorts of food were bad for them. He assumed the magic within him was what protected him from being taken ill by the sweet food while he was in his canine form.
"Hopefully he'll be alright soon for his test. I wouldn't want him to fail just because a teacher got him sick. That wouldn't be right," Hermione scratched the top of Sirius' head, thinking up a good way to phrase her argument just on the off chance that the teachers attempted to do just that.
/\/\
"Mr. Potter, I expect to see you and your dog in my office after the feast. Do not keep me waiting. Miss Granger, I wish to speak with you as well," McGonagall's voice rang clearly over the heads of the other students around him as she passed on her way to collect the stool and hat for the sorting of the new first years.
Sirius sat obediently at Harry's side, resting his head on the boy's thigh, both begging to be fed and keeping up the ruse that he was still slightly under the weather due to the chocolate. Harry filled his plate once the feast began, feeding pieces to his godfather in between his own bites of food. Both were determined that Sirius would put on his best behavior proving to the teachers that it would not be a liability to allow the dog to remain with him.
Up at the head table, Dumbledore smiled. It seemed Harry had been right. Snuffles appeared to be beautifully trained. The few dogs he'd seen prior would have jumped up at the table and helped themselves, yet Snuffles chose to sit calmly, seemingly confident that he would not go unnoticed by his master. And true to Harry's word, he was in perfect health, better in fact than he had seen Harry look at past opening feasts. It looked as if he had been eating well and he was pleased to see that. He was reluctant to admit that he was uncomfortable not knowing where Harry had been for the past few weeks, but it looked as if wherever it had been, Harry had enjoyed himself and managed to take care of himself properly. It eased his mind to believe that if he himself could not find Harry, that perhaps Black and Voldemort would not be capable of it either.
Further down the table, Professor Lupin watched the pair critically. He would have sworn that the dog was his old friend, Sirius Black. Yet, if that were true, why was Harry safe? Black had broken out to chase after Harry. He shook his head. It was impossible. They might have been able to fool the Headmaster years ago, but the same trick could not work a second time. Could it? He'd try speaking to Harry on the issue, perhaps warn him not to trust the dog so implicitly. He would then speak to the Headmaster, if his suspicions about the dog were appearing to be true.
For now, he'd have to keep his suspicions to himself, lest he inadvertently spook Black and cause him to do something rash, harming Harry in the process. He still refused to believe that it was possible for the dog to truly be Sirius, but it was better to be safe than sorry. If it were to turn out to be Sirius, he wondered what the game was. Why was he doing this to Harry? Why not just dispose of him? If it were true that the two had been together for over two weeks now, he was positive that in that time there would have been ample opportunities for him to make his move. So what was he up to?
He shook his head, forcing himself to return to the moment. He'd warn Harry and keep an eye on the canine. Until he showed some sign, he had no proof or reason to believe that the dog was possibly his old friend given the facts thus far. The dog was protecting the boy, and hopefully, he would continue to do so and no problem would arise.
He smiled, shaking his head ruefully as he watched the students' reactions to the dog. Some ignored him, recognizing him for a normal dog. Remus assumed that most of the students simply ignoring the dog were from Muggle families. One Hufflepuff girl had fainted and had been taken to the medical wing. A few students had screamed upon seeing the beast for the first time, but now most were simply whispering apprehensively to their friends, casting nervous glances the beast's way.
Once the feast was over, Harry and Hermione separated themselves from the rest of the Gryffindors and made their way to their Head of House's office. Hermione went in first to discuss her schedule and he was left to wait just outside the door. He idly pet the soft black fur at his side, tentatively placing his other hand in his pocket reassuring himself that both his and his godfather's wands were safe. He knew he wouldn't need them, but if he were to lose Sirius' there would be a lot of explaining to do.
"Come in, Mr. Potter," Minerva called as she allowed Miss Granger to exit and return to the tower. She wished Harry good luck and offered Snuffles a hug before hurrying off down the corridor.
Harry slowly entered, Sirius trotting along at his side obviously feeling much better after his incident with the chocolate.
"Well, Mr. Potter, sit please. I do not know how long this will take," she gestured to a chair across from her while Harry closed the door behind him. She nodded when he did as was asked of him. She was slightly surprised when Snuffles sat as well next to Harry's left on the floor. "How long did you say that you've had... Snuffles, was it?" she inquired, hoping to put them both at ease.
"Yes, Professor. I've had him for nearly three weeks now. I found him in the pound. I was looking for something to keep an ear out for me after I heard that Black was after me," Harry replied confidently as if the story really were the truth. "I had just left the Dursleys and didn't feel too safe by myself especially since I'm not allowed to do magic on the holidays. I wasn't going to return to the Dursleys, so it seemed like a good idea at the time and I kinda got attached to him," he reached down scratching his godfather's head as he offered his professor a tremulous smile.
She wanted to ask why he had left his family and where he had been staying since then, but knew that wasn't the reason the boy was before her now. She also had the feeling that he would not give her the information she wanted even if she had bothered to ask. He was keeping his secrets, but he was willing to talk about the dog. She nodded, deciding that the answer was acceptable enough for the time being. "Is he trained?"
"I really don't know. They never said, and I never thought to ask. He's been really good for me though, so I think he had to have been," he looked down at Sirius, almost curiously as he watched the dog. To Minerva it looked as if the boy were simply wondering about the life the dog had had before he'd claimed him.
"Does he follow all of your commands?"
"Yes, so far he has," Harry nodded, looking back up at his Head of House.
"Hmm, would you mind if I gave him a few simple commands?"
"Isn't that why we're here?" Harry looked confused. He had expected her to issue commands to test his godfather. He couldn't imagine any other way to test him. He was surprised to find that she had asked for permission.
The Deputy Headmistress offered a smile, not at all surprised that Harry would be confused by her actions. It wasn't often that people treated him as an equal. Merlin knew that his family hated him, and the Headmaster manipulated him horrendously. She doubted that he was ever asked for permission for any of the things that involved him. "Yes, Mr. Potter, it is. All right then. Snuffles," she smiled when the dog immediately swiveled its head around to look at her instead of Harry. "Lay down."
Sirius immediately lowered his front half down slowly, looking up at the professor expectantly once he had completed his task and awaited another.
She nodded her approval, "Up." Sirius clamored to his feet once again, standing next to Harry, tail wagging. "Come," she waited for the dog to start moving before issuing the command to "halt" when he was halfway in between her and Harry. "Very good. Now come." She fed him a small treat that she had conjured up once Snuffles had reached her, obediently sat in front of her and barked on command. "You may return to your master," she smiled rather pleased. Potter seemed to have chosen his friend well.
"Wait. One last command," she called out just as Sirius was again approaching Harry. "Attack."
Snuffles looked over his shoulder back at her, doing his best to look puzzled. He then turned his head back up to Harry, as if asking for clarification of the order, pretending not to understand the word at all.
She nodded her approval. "Good. I was afraid that it might have been possible that he had been trained to attack on command. I'm glad to see that is not the case. Snuffles has passed. You may return to the dormitories, Mr. Potter," she waved the two out, plucking a spare piece of parchment from her desk and scrawling a note to Dumbledore informing him of the dog's obedience and permission to stay.
--
Harry found his best friends awaiting his return, sitting impatiently in the common room. Once they saw him enter however, they immediately clamored over to his side. "Well? Does he get to stay?" Ron asked expectantly as Harry led Padfoot further into the Gryffindor common room.
"Of course he does! Otherwise Harry would have come in alone," Hermione clucked, shaking her head slightly. Men were so dense sometimes. She crouched down to give Snuffles a hug, grinning up at Harry. "I knew he could do it!" She beamed at Sirius, babbling at him in a babyish voice as she ruffled his hair.
Harry winced at the tone, instantly feeling bad for Sirius. It was one thing to speak like that to a dog or to an actual baby, but to speak that way to a full grown man? He wondered if it grated on his godfather's ears as much as it did his own. Probably more, he thought, after all, Sirius's hearing was probably better in his canine form.
Harry yawned, trying to cover the gesture with his hand. Sirius however caught sight of it and let out a yawn of his own in agreement. He was more than ready for bed. The incident with the dementors had worn him out more than he would have liked to admit. He suspected that Peter was hiding, that the rat knew why he had broken out, and why he was now at Hogwarts with Harry. He wouldn't be able to hide forever.
Snuffles licked Hermione's cheek in farewell before turning around and trotting up to the boys' dormitories. He hadn't wanted to upset the girl by completely brushing her off, and last that he knew dogs did that to people. Yes, he thought she was rather annoying, but she was a friend of Harry's, and therefore he could not do anything that might set her off. He waited a few steps up for his godson to follow after he had said his own good nights and together they made their way to Harry's bed.
Sirius hopped up onto it, walking around in a circle before settling down comfortably in a corner as Harry changed into his pajamas. Harry ruffled the fur on top of his godfather's head, whispering a soft good night before he too made himself comfortable and drifted off.
TBC…
