Cats to the Rescue

Chapter 1

Eight-year-old Harry slowly walked over to Mrs. Figg's house, glad to get away from his unkind relatives for the weekend but dreading having to listen to the old woman's talk about her cats, especially as he felt very unwell this morning. Since he had woken up on Friday morning, his throat had been sore, and by now his head was pounding badly and he felt hot and cold at the same time.

"Good morning, Harry," Mrs. Figg greeted him in her usual kind way. "Make yourself comfortable, sweetie, I just have to bandage Jilly's paw. She hurt her paw the other day."

"Kay, Mrs. Figg," Harry whispered, not daring to speak aloud as he had already noticed at school the day before that it hurt to raise his voice. He followed the old lady into the living room and observed in amazement how gently she bathed the cat's paw in a bowl filled with a light green liquid, before she carefully wrapped it in white gauze. All the time, she was speaking with the injured cat in a very soft and soothing voice. 'It must be great to be a cat,' he mused, absently rubbing his aching forehead.

He was pulled out of his reverie when Mrs. Figg straightened and walked to the kitchen, where she filled several small bowls with cat food, asking Harry to help her carry them out into the garden.

"Harry, I'm sorry, I just have to go to buy some more gauze for Jilly. You can play with the cats for a while if you want, or you can watch TV in the living room."

"Kay," Harry mumbled and tiredly sat on the grass, observing a dozen cats wolfing down their breakfast. Jilly was in their midst, but Harry realized the other cats were very careful around her, making enough space for her to access one of the bowls even with her thickly wrapped paw.

During the next hour, Harry watched the cats play and cuddle with each other, noticing that they approached Jilly very gently, apparently trying to not hurt her sore paw even more.

'I wish I was a cat, too,' Harry thought longingly as a violent shiver shook his small body. 'It's so cold here,' he noticed, just when a dragon came in his direction, beginning to breathe hot air at him.

Suddenly, his head exploded in pain, and his vision somehow changed. Everything seemed much bigger now, and different sounds and smells than before penetrated his mind.

'What's wrong with me?' he thought, terrified, glancing over to the other cats that were at eye level with him now.

"Look, a strange kitten," one of the cats pointed out to the others. It was an older, female cat with light grey fur and light green eyes, and she had a very gentle voice.

'She is very nice,' Harry thought, liking the friendly, old cat immediately. 'Does she mean me? Am I a cat?' he mused, noticing horrified that he seemed to be the centre of attention.

"He looks beautiful with his black fur and emerald eyes," Jilly replied, carefully continuing to lick her healthy paw.

"Yes, but he looks ill," the older cat said, slowly approaching Harry.

"He must be the small human boy, who sometimes visits Arabella. He was here, watching us eat earlier," an older marmalade cat threw in. "He seems to be able to transform like Felina."

"Oh right, like Felina," the first, grey cat replied thoughtfully. She stood in front of Harry, watching him in concern. "Are you a human and able to change into a cat?" she queried.

"I don't know. I mean... I'm a boy, but now I'm a cat? I've no idea what happened. Please don't breathe fire at me. It's too hot." Harry was shivering violently as he feverishly tried to comprehend what had happened.

"You're ill, little one, aren't you? Come with me and drink a bit of water; it'll make you feel better. I'm Teda by the way," the older cat lady explained, coaxing Harry to follow her to the edge of the house, where several bowls with drinking water were waiting for the cats to help themselves.

It took Harry a while to follow Teda, since it was more difficult than he had expected to walk on four legs. He stumbled every now and then, feeling utterly exhausted by the time they reached the water bowls.

'Oh, this is like a paradise,' Harry mused as he greedily drank some water, until Teda admonished him lightly. "Drink slowly, kitten. You don't want to drown."

Harry complied and slowly sipped the water until he felt completely full and a little bit cooler. "Come and rest right next to Jilly. She'll watch over you for a while," Teda offered gently, and Harry threw her a grateful look as he lay down on the grass, curling up right next to Jilly.

'Am I really a cat now?' Harry mused, noticing that it didn't help him feel better but that on the contrary his whole body was getting sore. He didn't notice the marmalade cat fetch a cloth, wet it in the water bowl, and adjust it to his neck. Only barely, he became aware of Mrs. Figg entering the garden, looking for him in his human form. However, he felt too miserable to show any reaction.

"Where is Harry?" the old lady queried aloud, searching the garden with her eyes in apparent concern.

Teda eventually made her way to the woman, leading her towards the spot, where Jilly and Harry were curled up in the grass together.

"Oh, a new kitten?" Mrs. Figg queried, throwing the small, black cat a concerned look, before she gently picked him up from the ground. "Oh my, you're burning up with fever, aren't you, little one?" she asked worriedly, taking in his glassy, green eyes, which she realised to have seen before.

"Harry?" she enquired sharply. "Are you Harry?"

Harry let out a small moan.

"How did you end up as a cat? You must be a natural Animagus, sweetie. But I'm afraid you're ill. Let me take you into the house and check on you," the old lady said softly and carried him into the living room, snatching an ear thermometer for animals out of a drawer in the hall on their way. She sat on the sofa, and Harry anxiously curled up tightly.

"Now, little one, nothing is going to happen with you," Teda's voice penetrated Harry's foggy mind. "Arabella is merely going to take your temperature so as to know if you need medicine to get better."

Harry slowly lifted his achy head, noticing that all the other cats had accompanied them inside and were sitting on the sofa right next to Mrs. Figg, who still held him on her lap. The old lady used the opportunity to stick the thermometer into his ear for a few seconds, letting out a gasp as she took it back.

"Harry, you have a very high fever. Can you transform into your human form, so I can easier help you?"

Harry anxiously shook his head, wincing as the small movement hurt.

"Very well then, hang in there for a moment. I'm going to call my friend," Mrs. Figg decided, carefully placing Harry on the sofa, where he curled up between Jilly and Teda, shivering violently at the loss of the woman's body warmth.

Mrs. Figg headed to the fireplace, shouting, "Minerva McGonagall's office, Hogwarts."

Harry in his cat form watched anxiously as a green dragon stepped out of the fireplace, breathing fire into the room.

"What's wrong, little one?" Teda asked in concern.

"A dragon," Harry croaked, pointing a paw towards the dragon that was listening to Mrs. Figg's explanation, before it turned into a grey cat like Teda.

"That's not a dragon but Felina. She is half human like you. She'll be able to help you," Teda informed him quietly. "Hello Felina," she turned to the new cat that approached the sofa and jumped up, crouching in front of Harry.

Harry noticed in surprise that all the other cats began to purr, happily greeting Felina. 'They seem to like her a lot. Isn't that strange? A woman, who can turn into a cat? And why can I do the same?' he thought in confusion.

"Hello, are you Harry?" Felina queried gently, causing Harry to slowly raise his head.

"Yes," he replied shyly.

"I'm Minerva. I'm a human like you," the cat informed him in a stern, but gentle voice, throwing him a piercing look from her green eyes. "Do you think you can change back into your human form?"

"No," Harry replied softly.

The cat let out a pensive, "Hmm," before she asked, "Do you want me to help you and change you back?"

'Change me back? I have no idea how I changed into a cat, but how can another cat change me back?' Harry mused in confusion. 'I don't want that though. I like it much more as a cat. The cats are so much nicer than humans.' He threw the older cat a terrified look and hurriedly shook his head, slightly beginning to panic.

"It's all right, little one. Don't panic," Teda threw in. "Felina only wants to help you, because you're sick."

"Exactly; I'd be better able to help you in your human form," Felina agreed, throwing Teda an appreciative glance.

Feeling too weak to discuss the matter with the other cat, Harry curled up again, laying his achy head on the ground.

"Harry, can you at least tell me what's wrong? Are you in pain?" Felina continued asking.

"I'm fine," Harry mumbled, knowing he wasn't allowed to complain.

"You're definitely not fine, sweetie; you're ill with a high fever, and if you don't tell me what's wrong, so I can try to help you, I'm afraid I have to transform you back into your human form," Felina threatened in a soft but firm voice.

"I don't want to be human anymore. Humans are not nice," Harry croaked, curling up tighter.

"Then you must tell me what's wrong, Harry," Felina insisted.

"Do you want to tell me, sweetie?" Teda queried softly. "I'm not human at all."

"It's nothing. Just my throat and head are a bit sore is all," Harry whispered, finding his head felt too heavy to lift as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them.

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.