The Cat

Chapter One

Severus Snape, the Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was a cat. Well, sort of. He had become an unregistered animagus, so he could spy easier for Dumbledore. His form was a black cat. And the first thing Dumbledore makes him do after transforming? Check on the Potter boy. Wonderful.

Severus slunk down Privet Drive, silent as a shadow, heading for number four. Just as he rounded a corner, he stopped short.

Bellatrix Lestrange was staring up at the house. 

Severus approached Bellatrix, meowing, trying to distract her, and possibly figure out what she was doing here.

Bellatrix whirled at the sounds, and when she saw Severus, sneered. 

"Stupid cat." she snapped. Without warning, her foot flew towards him, connecting with his skull, and Severus knew no more. Sneering, Bellatrix kicked the cat away from her, not caring where it landed. 

oOXOo

"Get out there!" Vernon Dursley threw his nephew out the front door. "I don't want to see you again until there isn't a single weed in that garden!" 

Getting up, Harry glared at the closed door, before sighing and turning to the garden. He had barely knelt down and plunged his hands into the masses of green before he felt something... strange. Something that would not normally be found in a flower garden. 

Something soft, silky. Something like fur, or hair. 

Harry gently brushed the plants aside to reveal a black cat. It's head seemed to be bleeding, and it was either asleep or unconscious. 

The front door opened, and Harry hastened to appear to be weeding.

"We're going out." Vernon shouted at him. "When we get back, there'd better not be a single weed in that garden!" 

Harry remained bent over the plants, listening, until the sound of the Dursley's car was inaudible. Then he straightened, looked around, and studied the cat some more. 

It was obviously injured. And although Harry cringed at the thought of what would happen if Uncle Vernon found it, Harry knew that he couldn't leave the creature out in the garden to die. So he picked it up and carried it into the house.