Harry Potter - The Accidental Animagus

Chapter 11 - Wandless Magic

December 1986

Everyone was safely in bed, or at least was supposed to be. Yet a black and white kitten was lurking in the shadows of the living room, his gaze fixed on the Christmas tree. Harry had waited until all the lights had turned out before sneaking out of bed, easily descending the stairs without making noise on his four paws. He paused by Rowena, but she just squinted at him in annoyance for waking her and went back to sleep.

Harry took up watch from a hidden corner of the living room from which he had a good line of sight to the tree and the fireplace. His feline night vision gave him a clear view of the room that would have been practically invisible for a human. It was the perfect spot to see just what happened when Father Christmas's presents arrived.

He was sleepy, but he didn't have as long to wait as he feared. It wasn't even midnight when he heard someone stir, navigating carefully through the darkened house. They stepped over Rowena, but didn't even notice Harry's reflective green eyes at the far side of the room. Sure enough, several new presents soon appeared under the tree.

He knew it.

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February 1987

"You know, Harry's never really taken a proper holiday," Dan said. "We should go somewhere this summer."

"That sounds lovely," Emma replied. "Where were you thinking of?"

"Well, we haven't been to Spain since before Hermione was born."

"Fancy some summer sun on the beach?"

"I certainly wouldn't complain. And it would do Hermione some good to get out of the library for a while."

"Sounds good to me. We can run it by the kids when it's closer to-"

"Ahhh!"

"Hermione!" Dan and Emma yelled. They ran toward the scream to find their daughter standing on the sofa and pointing at the floor by the television.

"There's a mouse over there!"

It was then that they saw the little rodent poking around the carpet in the corner. But before they could react, Harry ran down the stairs.

"A mouse? I'll get it!"

"Harry, wait," Emma said, but Harry had already changed to cat form and ran after it. The mouse took off along the wall. Harry ran around the telly and tried to corner it by the side table, but it dodged. Soon, the kitten was weaving in and out around the legs of the furniture pursuing it, narrowly avoiding knocking over two lamps and a vase.

"Harry, stop!" Dan said.

The mouse took off toward the foyer with the kitten single-mindedly following it. He meowed for Rowena to help out, but the middle-aged cat only got out of the way and let the younger generation handle it.

A moment later, the family heard a crash and a yowl and ran into the kitchen, only to find a pleased-looking kitten dropping an unmoving mouse on the kitchen floor.

"Eww! Harry!" Hermione yelled in protest.

Harry changed back to human and said. "I told you I'd get it."