Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Bailey, her pups, and mate, and any alterations to the original storyline plot their presence creates to various readers amusement everywhere across the globe.

A Dog's Purpose Is Strange Magic 3 Chapter 21

Wait a minute.

Yes, there's a dementor down at the Quidditch Pitch, but it's not just one. There are dozens of them there just appearing in the fog and rain all over the stadium.

Bailey's hackles are immediately up as soon as she sees all these monstrosities surrounding her boy, intent on blatantly hurting him.

The nerve, the gall of them, festering their dark essence into what's supposed to be such a glorious event of the day is beyond despicable.

What tears it is when Harry tumbles from his broom high up and plummets toward the ground, knocked out cold.

This would end up haunting poor Bailey for a very long time.

Bailey yelps in alarm as she watches her boy fall. From that height, Harry will die instantly the very second, he crashes into the ground.

Fortunately, that's not going to be the case.

Out of nowhere, Dumbledore appears on the field. Wielding his wand, Dumbledore shouts a spell, the wording unintelligible because of the roaring thunder and rain. He slows Harry's descent and cushions his fall onto the pitch.

Bailey's relief is short-lived.

Locking onto their targeted victim, the dementors bolt down straight for Harry to feed off of him further.

Like hell Bailey is going to let that go down in front of her.

Baileys had enough.

A surge of fury seizes her.

Barking at his children to follow her, Bailey charges out onto the field at full speed. Bold, Ranger, Friendly, and Dreamer rush out there with their mother ready to defend her human. Even the normally submissive and timid Dreamer is getting her fangs out.

None of them permit the dementors to get even close to Harry's prone form.

Despite it not really affecting the dementors or doing any good, all five of them leap headlong into the nearest one and shove them away with their paws.

Dumbledore points his wand at the dementors and out from the tip of his wand shoots out a powerful silvery creature in the shape of a phoenix that darts over to the dementors. Whatever it is, this thing obviously is not something the dementors are a fan of. It's so powerful that it sends all the dementors bolting from the Quidditch pitch and off the grounds in general.

During this entire incident, Bailey, Bold, Friendly, Ranger, and Dreamer stand warily over Harry to act as shields.

With the danger now gone, they let Dumbledore approach to check Harry's condition.

A tense layer of suspense fills the air as everyone impatiently waits to hear what Harry's condition is.

Seconds go by and yet it feels like hours.

Much to everyone's relief, Harry isn't hurt, he's just knocked out.

Dumbledore promptly conjures up a stretcher to transport Harry to the Hospital Wing.

Bailey and her brood dutifully trail after them. Surprisingly the Gryffindor Quidditch Team along with Ron, Hermione, Seamus, Neville, and Dean, soon arrive.

Bailey learns later on that the reason for this is because at the same time Harry fell, Cedric had caught the Snitch and therefore won the game for Hufflepuff. This left the others open to accompany the group to the Hospital Wing.

Upon arrival, Madam Pomfrey ran a diagnostic spell over Harry and quickly gains results that he is just unconscious and exhausted. A single night of rest in the Hospital Wing along with a couple of standard potions shall do the trick on him.

Out of all five canines, Bailey and Dreamer are the only ones laid out on the bed with Harry to provide added warmth for his recovery. Dreamer is at the foot of the bed and Bailey is pressed up against his side with her head on his chest impatiently waiting for him to awaken on his own.

To be honest, Bailey has to seriously restrain herself from digging at the sheets and forcefully waking her boy up from the torment those blasted dementors wrought on him.

Leaving Harry in this sort of condition leaves a sinking feeling in her gut.

Thankfully, Bailey doesn't have to wait for very long.

Everyone else is hovering around the bed whispering in lowered voices about what went down at the pitch.

Apparently, none of them were being quiet enough because their chatter is exactly what rouses Harry from his impromptu slumber that had transpired from this.

Suddenly, Harry gasps with his eyes snapping open. That sound and the startled barks from Ranger and Friendly alert everyone else that he is awake.

"Harry," said Fred, looking extremely white underneath the mud. "How are you feeling?"

Sitting up, clutching his head, Harry groaned "What happened?"

Bailey has to shift so that Harry can rearrange himself properly, but she's determined not to get off the bed, carefully balancing on the edge.

"You fell off," said Fred. Must've been…what…fifty feet?"

"We thought you died," said Alicia, shakily.

Hermione made a small, squeaky noise, her eyes extremely bloodshot from how hard she'd been crying originally.

Dreamer whines, stretching out to nose and lick Hermione's hand to comfort her. Hermione smiles tearfully at Dreamer, hugging her neck in thanks.

Confused, Harry said "But the match. What happened? Are we doing a replay?"

An awkward silence is the answer Harry gets and that's all he needs to know as the worst thing.

Horrified, Harry said "We didn't lose?"

"Diggory got the Snitch," confirmed George, solemnly. "Just after you fell. He didn't realize what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a rematch. But they won fair and square. Even Wood admits it."

Bailey's got to hand it to Charmer. She's certainly chosen a good boy for her person. A young man with great moral integrity.

Slowly, Harry said "Where is Wood?"

"Still in the showers," said Fred, bleakly. "We think he's trying to drown himself."

Harry put his face to his knees, hands gripping his hair.

Bailey whines, pawing at Harry to lift his head.

Grabbing Harry's shoulder and shaking it roughly, Fred said "Come on, Harry, you've never missed the Snitch before."

"There had to be one time you didn't get it," said George.

Trying to see the positive behind the negative, Fred said "It's not over yet. We lost by a hundred points, right? So, if Hufflepuff loses to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin…"

"Hufflepuff will have to lose by at least two hundred points," said George, flatly.

"But if we beat Ravenclaw…," persisted Fred.

"No way, Ravenclaw is too good. But if Slytherin loses against Hufflepuff…," said Alicia.

Shaking his head, George said "It all depends on the points. A margin of a hundred either way…," said Fred.

During this whole conversation, Harry has been quiet as if he spaced out, in complete denial that they lost the match all because he fainted right out of the air.

Harry is beyond embarrassed and rightfully so. Something like this hasn't happened to him since Quirrell tried to unseat him at the debut game in 1st year. After that incident, he'd never once come close to falling from his Nimbus 2000. Not only did he faint in front of the whole school, but he cost Gryffindor the game by succumbing to the dementors.

Meanwhile, Madam Pomphrey emerges from her office in the Hospital Wing, drawn over by the ruckus from the cluster around the bed. Breaking it up, she only permits Ron and Hermione to remain. After three years, she knows better than to try and force Bailey or any of her offspring out of there. It would never work. Any of them would just sneak their way back inside whenever her back is turned around.

"Dumbledore was really angry," said Hermione, voice quaking from how unsettled she was. "I've never seen him like that before. He ran onto the field as you fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground. Then he whirled his wand at the dementors. Shot silver stuff at them. They left the stadium right away. He was furious that they'd come onto the grounds. We heard him yelling. Everyone did."

"Then he magicked you onto a stretcher," interjected Ron, face pale white. "And walked you up to the school with you floating on it. Everyone thought you were dead."

"That's not all either. When the dementors went after you, Bailey went ballistic. She, Bold, Friendly, Ranger, and Dreamer all attached the dementors to force them away from you," said Hermione. "Of course, the dogs didn't really affect the dementors too much, but it was still amazing."

Stroking the fur on her head in appreciation, Harry said "Thanks, Girl."

Bailey's eyes become half-lidded, wagging her tail in pleasure.

A sudden thought comes to Harry's mind, distracting him.

"Did someone get my Nimbus," he asked.

Ron and Hermione look quickly at each other in dread.

"What," said Harry, suspiciously, looking from one to the other.

Hesitantly, Hermione said "Well…when you fell off, it got blown away."

"And," pressed Harry, not willing to let this go.

"And it hit…it hit…Oh, Harry, it hit the Whomping Willow," said Hermione, shrilly.

If possible, Harry came close to turning green as his insides lurched.

Continuing where Hermione left off, Ron said "Well, you know the Whomping Willow. It doesn't like being hit."

"Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came around," admits Hermione, speaking in a very small voice, reaching down for a bag at her feet.

Bold ends up getting to it first, picking the bag up in his mouth and depositing it on the bed. Friendly even goes as far as to nudge it with his nose closer to Harry. The motion overturns the bag, turning it upside down and tipping a dozen pieces of splintered wood and twigs onto the bed. The only remains of what was left of Harry's prized and faithful broomstick.

But Harry's life isn't meant to end during this Quidditch match.

No, he has a long way to go for that.

Authors Note:

I hope you all like this one! I certainly did while writing it for your vast enjoyment! ;D

For those of you just starting out with my stuff there are other works on my profile that may catch your interest. I highly recommend you take a look as soon as the opportunity presents itself to you. Who knows, you may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.

Stay safe everyone. Especially with all of these crazy natural disasters occurring a lot lately due to global warming and climate change everywhere for sure. I swear it's like they're getting worse and worse all the time and it's like officials are simply just ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist entirely just to go on with their daily lives. Especially those in multi-million dollar companies that rely on certain elements of our planet that we rely on to naturally keep us safe instead of adapting and finding new safer ways to keep in business. There are so many options out there where they can adapt, but they just refuse to see it because all they care about is money. Climate change is altering so much faster than anyone can really keep track of.

So, in light of all this, it is important to live life to the fullest as much as anyone can.

I know I am. ;) See you guys next time.