Chapter Five - Intruder Alert
Later that night, when everything was dark and the Grangers were asleep, the front door clicked open. A man, dressed all in black and carrying a large bag and a knife, cautiously crept into the house. Almost shutting the door, but not letting the latch catch, he turned to search the house.
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Harry woke with a start, ears alert for any sign of what had shocked his consciousness from sleep. Next to him on the bed, Hermione slept peacefully, her arm draped across his furry side but not quite pinning him down to the mattress.
A soft creaking reached his sensitive ears, followed by a very quiet tapping.
There's someone downstairs, he determined. A quick flick of the ears and he realized that both Granger adults were still sound asleep. An intruder! he realized in alarm. A Death Eater?
Quietly, he slipped out from under Hermione's arm and padded over to the closed bedroom door. Ten seconds later, he discovered that neither paws nor jaws could turn the handle adequately. He took a deep breath and gathered all his Gryffindor courage, then concentrated on his human form.
As he made the tell-tale pop of Animagus transformation, Hermione made a small noise and moved as if she was going to sit up. Harry froze with his hand on the doorknob, holding his breath as he watched her anxiously. An eternity passed before she murmured and rolled over to face the wall, putting him out of her sight...but not out of her hearing, if she wasn't quite asleep. Deciding to take a chance, he twisted the doorknob and opened the door.
"Muh...Shadow?"
Hermione opened her eyes and sat up, blinking sleepily at the panther. Harry inwardly sighed in relief as she made no signs of having seen or heard him transfiguring himself for the second time. He stood attentively at the door, ears flat against his skull as he growled quietly, staring out at the staircase.
Hermione correctly interpreted his body language and came awake immediately. "There's someone here," she deduced in a whisper. Harry nodded, and she grabbed her wand from the bedside table as she slid off the bed. "Lead the way, Shadow."
Harry didn't want to take her into danger, but he knew she wouldn't stay behind if she felt threatened. Calling upon all his panther stealth, he crept down the stairs and towards the living room.
To his chagrin, Hermione charged right in and hit the light switch, flooding the room with light.
"What the...?" the intruder swore, shielding his eyes with his hand.
"Get out of my house," Hermione commanded, and Harry relaxed a fraction when he realized the intruder didn't appear to have a wand.
The man had apparently recovered enough to see her, and raised the knife in his hand. "Look, girlie, I'm not leaving until I get what I came for, so be a good little girl and don't try any funny business."
While the man spoke, Harry circled around behind the couch and took up a position behind the intruder. When the man took another step towards Hermione, proving that he was a Muggle - otherwise he'd know what Hermione was aiming at him - Harry made his move.
With a loud roar, he lunged at the man's back. The intruder spun around at the unexpected sound, and a look of pure surprise crossed his face as Harry tackled him to the floor. Growling menacingly, the Animagus sank his teeth into his victim's upraised arm, causing him to howl in agony. He planted his other massive paw on the man's chest, claws extended and digging into the black shirt.
"Get him, Shadow!" Hermione encouraged, still aiming her wand at the downed man.
The intruder lashed out with his other arm, and Harry felt something sear into his shoulder. Cursing mentally as the pain flared up, he ripped his claws through the man's free arm. The intruder bellowed and dropped the knife, which Harry slapped out of his reach. Both of them bled freely, and Harry decided to immobilize the intruder before he did something else.
The man let out a strangled cry as Harry dropped his full body weight onto the intruder, and nearly one hundred sixty pounds of big cat pinned him to the floor. Footsteps could be heard from the stairway as the man was finally rendered helpless.
Jacob and Charlotte appeared in the doorway and took surprisingly little time to take in what was happening. Charlotte went to dial the police, and Jacob moved closer to the whimpering intruder.
"Please," the man gasped, "get this thing off me!"
Jacob was silent for a moment, staring at the man who had dared invade his home. "Hold him, Shadow," he said at last. Harry growled in agreement, still holding onto the man's arm with his teeth.
Over the sound of his own growls and the intruder's wheezing breath, Harry could hear Charlotte on the phone in the kitchen. "There's a man in my living room; he broke in a few minutes ago with a knife and tried to rob us. My daughter and her pet panther managed to disarm him and they have him cornered now. Could you send somebody out to arrest him or something?" A pause. "Yes, my daughter has a panther. She's taking care of it over the summer for a friend." Pause. "Yes, I'm sure Charlie Weasley has a permit to- oh, you've heard of him, then." Another pause. "Ten minutes? I think we can keep him detained for that long, yes. Thank you."
The man looked desperate now. "Look, I think I got the wrong house or something. Just let me go and I'll pay for your...um...pet's treatment. Please, just let me go! Don't let the cops take me away..."
Harry relaxed his jaw a little as the man's scent radiated sincerity. He did not, however, let go of his arm of get off him. Jacob glanced at the intruder's weapon, which was lying at least ten feet away. "You realize that by coming here like this, you've committed three felonies?" he asked casually. "Breaking and Entering, Burglary, and Assault. If Shadow hadn't been here, would you have hurt my daughter? How could I let you go, when I know that someone else's daughter could be found murdered because I released you? No, you decided to do this, so you have to face the consequences."
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The cops were still taken somewhat aback when they arrived, and spent a good five minutes just staring at the panther. Finally, one of them stepped forward and handcuffed the intruder. He almost jumped back as the panther offered him the felon's other, much-chewed arm, but kept his composure long enough to finish restraining the man. Harry stood up and moved to where he wasn't blocking the cops from taking the intruder away, but could still tackle the man if he tried any funny business.
Harry shadowed the police and their captive all the way to the cop car, and once the intruder was finally locked in the back seat he returned to the house. Hermione immediately descended on him. "Oh Shadow, you're hurt!"
For a few moments, Harry had no idea what she meant and just stared at her blankly. She reached out and pressed against his shoulder, and he yowled as the pain suddenly hit him like a Mack truck. Hermione didn't show a trace of fear as she pressed harder to stem the bloodflow, and as she did he remembered the intruder stabbing him. "Mom, Dad, would one of you get something we can use as a bandage for Shadow? The burglar got him with the knife during the fight."
Charlotte reacted quickly and retrieved Hermione's Gryffindor scarf from the kitchen counter. Jacob helped Hermione tie it around Harry's wounded leg while Harry stayed absolutely still. "Does the vet's office treat exotic animals?" Charlotte asked as they worked.
"They'll probably do their best," Jacob mused. "I'm sure they don't specialize in it, at least, but he's just a housecat on a large scale. They won't be open for another few hours though...Shadow isn't about to bleed to death, so he should be okay until morning. Then we can get him checked out and fixed up. For now, let's just get the bleeding stopped and go back to bed."
Hermione led Harry back up the stairs to her room, keeping a close eye on him for any signs of a more severe injury to his shoulder. Harry did his best not to limp for her, but couldn't hide all signs of being injured from his observant friend. She directed him to a spot right alongside her bed, and he gratefully lay down and closed his eyes. What a night, he thought. I hope there's no more excitement like that for her this summer...that man was a Muggle, not a Death Eater, and he caused enough trouble by himself.
As though from across foggy waters, he heard Hermione whisper goodnight as she too lay down to sleep. Goodnight, 'Mione.
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A/N: As usual, thank you all for your reviews. I continue to be totally blown away at how popular this story is (currently coming in at 203 reviews and 10892 hits). Even on fanfiction.net, this story holds my personal record for most reviews, at a measly 61. Thank you all for being so generous with your reviews, I love you all.
Why didn't Hermione suspect that the panther was an Animagus after it ran to hide under the bed when she took off her shirt? Wouldn't that be odd to have a cat (large or small) do that? (asked by Chinthliss)
Remember, Hermione has been told that the panther is a magical creature and very intelligent, so she understands that it will react differently than Muggle animals.
Does Harry have his wand with him? If he does not, how can he fight off Death Eaters? (asked by PotterEvansBlack)
Harry does indeed have his wand - I explained the concept of Integration in chapter two. His wand is Integrated along with his clothes when he transfigures himself. However, as he is in the form of a large predator, he doesn't really need his wand to fight, unless in dire emergency.
Strange that the people in town didn't call the zoo or animal control about Harry. (stated by PJ)
The Order, or more specifically, Charlie and Remus, made sure to notify the police, animal control, and anyone else who might be called about it before taking Harry to the Granger household. As you can see in this chapter, Charlie has quite a reputation amongst the police, resulting from his years of being a dragon wrangler.
So are we going to see more of the two guys? That one who knew what Harry was; are you implying that he knows Harry's an Animagus? (asked by JayaMioneDurron)
No, they were just two random Muggles I needed to interrupt their reading session. And what I meant was that he knew Harry was a living panther, not a very realistic stuffed animal, as his friend arrogantly assumed. Neither of them knows about Animagi or wizards.
When you said she didn't notice it was Harry because love is blind, did you mean because she's in love with Harry? (asked by HurricaneCaitlin)
This IS an H/Hr site, is it not?
What were the two boys up to? Did Josh like Hermione, and Adrian was a friend of hers? (asked by Kalina Malia)
The boys were just up to no good, as teenage boys tend to do. Josh does not know Hermione and neither does Adrian, though I doubt they'll ever forget her now.
Esta bien! Tu escribes muy excelente, chica! Understand that? (asked by OceanAvenue213)
Muchas gracias, amigo!
Err, aren't there British laws against having exotic pets? (asked by trick of the light)
I honestly don't know; I'm not British. (I'm American, BTW.) I'd guess they have to have special permits to do so, however, and so the Order has taken care of that. If exotic pets are completely banned (which I doubt), then perhaps they put Muggle-repelling charms of a sort on him to prevent Muggles from thinking about calling the police or whatever.
There are usually rules about *animals* in public libraries, so Hermione's hair-splitting probably wouldn't have gotten her much. Mr. Atoz (Wow, man! Shades of Star Trek!) must have really liked her. (stated by Alorkin)
Actually in some libraries, they have cats (normal housecats) that live in the library itself, and visitors get to spend time with them if the cat permits it. Therefore, it seems logical to assume that a somewhat larger cat would also be welcome. Size matters not, after all. (And yes, Mr. Atoz is a blatant reference to Star Trek. :P)
This is one of the FUNNIEST fanfics I have read!! I am really excited to see what happens! Ever thought about a "tackle" fight between the two or a game of tag? (asked by Lorel)
I hadn't thought about it, but I'm afraid it just won't work in the context of the story, unless they're goofing off after she finds out. I'll think about it.
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