The dungeon bat's neko

returning home

Harry Potter ran through the barrier to reach the scarlet train that would take him home. Not his sorry excuse of a home that he went to over the summer to be used as a slave and punching bag to the residence; but to his true home, where he has friends and people to protect him.

However, he was terrified of whether that would end this year. Whether he would still have those friends and protectors, whether Hogwarts would still feel like his true home by the end of his 5th year. Over the summer, Harry came into a creature inheritance- an excruciatingly painful process. Because of all the screams it caused, Harry ended up getting the worst beating in his whole life from his 'Uncle'. He discovered that he was a neko; causing him to have 2 soft, fluffy ears on the top of his head and a matching tail that was often wrapped around his waist or thigh for comfort. Because of his new... appendages, he had to use his invisibility cloak to get onto the platform so that he didn't alert any muggles.

He got onto the platform and slowly removed the cloak, watching as hundreds of sets of eyes traveled to look at him. Many had their mouths open and eyes wide, others were whispering to one another, laughing every-so-often. Harry felt utterly ashamed so he hung his head and ran onto the train. He quickly found an empty compartment, locked the door and slid down the wall next to it, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them securely while letting the waterfall of tears that had been built up fall, staining his cheeks and making his green eyes shine brightly. He felt the train pull out of the station and tried to calm himself, knowing that the few wanderers that couldn't find a compartment would poke their heads in to see if there was a spare seat anywhere.

What he didn't expect however, was for one of his professors to poke their head in.