AN: I have some really good ideas for this story, provided I can stick to them.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter and still only own Lynx and the changes she makes.

Dumbledore's Daughter

01 | Demented

That was at the beginning of the summer.

Now, the summer was coming to a painfully hot close. The temperatures, well above ninety degrees, were too much for Nolan, who preferred colder climates, so he was at Mrs. Figg's, cooling down in her air-conditioned house.

On the other hand, perched in a naked tree, almost entirely unseen, a lynx watched Harry Potter with light brown eyes. Her soft, thick fur would've shined silvery grey, dense, black spots dotting it, if she had shown herself in the bright sun. Black ears pointed to the sky, long, furry tufts trailing off of the tips, listening for anything that could be off. Her paws, unlike her leopard friend, were large and padded, made specifically for walking in the snow, and long whiskers sprouted from her face.

She found it interesting really. There were a few Muggles out, but none of them noticed her hiding place. She was, after all, a huge cat not native to England; something that wouldn't go unnoticed.

Were Muggles naturally clueless? Or did they simply see what they wanted to see?

Of course, it wasn't just Muggles. Harry Potter had yet to notice her either, and he was a wizard!

In his defense, he was deep in thought, eyes focusing on something other than the dirt ground his head was looking down at.

She noticed he was like that a lot—staring off into space. The whole summer, he had walked around as if he was in a hazy dream. Lying in a bush below his window, she could always hear his nightmares at night, guessing what he was seeing: Cedric Diggory, lying on the ground, lifeless.

The old man had mentioned that Cedric's death had bothered Harry, but she hadn't thought it would leave him completely wrecked like this. She wondered idly if he blamed himself for it, like Dumbledore was afraid, but decided not to dwell on it.

Something in the distance caught her eye, and she looked to the left, watching as the pudgy, spoiled cousin walked past Harry.

Dudley was the boy's name… she thought. Even after all this time, she had a hard time remembering. It didn't matter much since the guy wasn't her favorite person in the world. In fact, with thick, blond hair and watery blue eyes, he was probably her least favorite person—excluding his parents.

She watched, annoyed, as he waddled down the road with a group of his dimwitted friends, oblivious to Harry's swinging.

Harry seemed to notice too, his eyes following them as they made their way towards Privet Drive. With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Harry removed himself from the playground and followed Dudley.

There weren't many places a giant lynx could hide, and since it wasn't exactly normal for one to be hanging around some small town in England, Lynx was forced to stay on her branch, eyes following the wandering Potter with more concentration.

She studied them, amused as Harry confronted Dudley, causing his face to turn red with rage, resembling his father to a T. A few more words were exchanged (why couldn't she get closer!? She had to hear what made Dudley turn paler than a ghost!) before Dudley said something that made both of them stop in their tracks. Harry was turned away from her, so she couldn't see his expression, but from the triumphant look Dudley held on his thick face, it wasn't anything good.

And that's where her amusement ended.

Something happened to the air around her. One minute, Harry had pointed his wand threateningly to the Muggle child and the next he and Dudley were frozen in place, the latter shivering uncontrollably. The high, muggy air had suddenly turned bitingly cold, even she, who was covered in a thick layer of fur that could withstand below zero temperatures, felt the effect.

Dementors.

There was no time to waste.

She stood up on her four massive paws and let an ear shattering roar bellow out, drawing attention to her hiding place. With a great leap, she jumped from her tree, nearly cracking the concrete, and headed towards the guys about to be ambushed by two seething dementors.

The closer she got, though, the colder she felt, eyesight ebbing away.

"Who's there!?" she heard Harry call out, strained from concentration.

She cursed her animal form. No matter how much she had tried in the past, she was never able to speak while transformed. Dumbledore had told her it would be pointless to learn, since she was rarely around people who knew she was actually human, so she had given up after three months of fruitless effort.

Now, however, she was deeply regretting it because without her voice, there was no charms she could voice to help them, and transforming into her human form would reveal herself to Harry, ruining whatever plan Dumbledore had.

Noting her eyesight would be of no use, she closed them, ears standing up in concentration, listening intently…

"C-cut it out!" Dudley whimpered somewhere down the road, but she vaguely heard it.

Listening… there's no way she'd hear their footsteps…

And then she heard it.

Apart from the three of them, there was something in the alleyway, something drawing rough, rattling breaths.

She let out a low growl, trying to distract the one closest to her as she heard Harry's palms smack against the concrete frantically. Though she couldn't see anything, she could hear the hoarse wheezing of the cloaked figure, mere feet from her and Harry. Another low growl escaped before she heard a frustrated and desperate, "Lumos!"

Something glowed near her rear paw, but she paid it no mind as she felt the dementor draw closer, her fur standing on end.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted, a small silver vapor shooting from the tip of his wand.

The vapor was enough to show her where he was, only a few centimeters from her, and she caught a glimpse of the dementor in front of him.

She pounced on it, baring her teeth.

It let out a hiss-like noise in response, slipping from under her and looming above her, it's faceless hood coming threateningly close.

She growled, letting another roar loose in hopes of signaling Mrs. Figg that something had happened.

There was another roar somewhere in the distance, and Lynx's ears perked up. She couldn't move her head away from the dementor to look at the other carnivore, though.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A gigantic silver stag erupted from the tip of Harry's wand, and she immediately dropped to the floor, getting out of its way. The stag, graceful and deadly, rushed to the dementor in front of her, its body engulfing the black-cloaked figure and throwing it backwards. Just when the stag went to charge again, the dementor swooped away, disappearing in the darkness.

"DUDLEY?" Harry's frantic voice carried as he rushed past her, not even stopping to send a brief glance in her direction.

She quickly regained herself and followed after him, ears listening.

It didn't take many steps—maybe a dozen or so—before she heard a deep, frightening growl rumbling in the back of someone's—or something's—throat. Harry must've heard it too because he froze mid-step, staring ahead at the white leopard.

Nolan had his head lowered to the ground, teeth bared menacingly. His icy eyes turned a cold glance at Lynx and Harry before returning back to the cloaked figure in front of him. With a fearless road, Nolan pounced, pinning the dementor where its shoulders would've been if it had been human.

Behind Nolan, curled in a helpless ball, was Dudley, his face covered by his thick fingers.

Harry brought the tip of his want to Nolan and, with a rushing sound, the silver stag came galloping past them, forcing itself through Nolan, who instinctively jumped back to the whimpering Dudley. With a whoosh, the dementor was thrown up from its lying position and into the air, dispersing into the darkness.

A warm breeze ruffled Lynx's fur, the stars, moon, and streetlights flooding her vision. She blinked several times, trying to adjust to the sudden return to light and heat, before Nolan rubbed her cheek affectionately, bringing her out of her daze.

She grunted, showing the worried feline she was alright, and turned to leave until—

"Don't put your wand away, idiot boy!" Mrs. Figg's shrill shriek filled the alleyway. "And you! Where do you think you're going!?"