Diagon Alley
When Harry woke it was around noon, the sun shining brightly through the slits in the curtains and pouring itself into the room. He blinked slowly, squinting against the light as he tried to remember where exactly he was. After a moment, it came to him all at once, remembering the evening he had just had with a low groan. His hands ran through his hair before rubbing at the sleep in his eyes and he sat up groggily to take in the room.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the new friend he had made the night before, and he smiled sleepily as his green met deep black. The dog was awake, still curled up in its makeshift blanket bed and staring at Harry calmly. Its tail started to thump slowly against the floor as it watched Harry swing his legs over the side of the bed, getting to his feet. He stood there for a moment, getting his balance back, before padding over to crouch down next the large dog, eyes wandering over its entirety. Now that he was rested and more awake, he wanted to make sure his friend was all right; guilt spiking through him that he hadn’t thought to check the night before. He couldn’t see any injuries or anything he would recognise as concerning, which he assumed was a good sign, but its fur looked grimy and there was certainly a smell coming from the animal.
Moving back to a standing position, Harry made his way to the bathroom that was attached to the room and poked his head in. He was pleased to see a large bath inside, and someone had left a small bucket under the sink. Nodding to himself, he glanced back at the dog with a grin.
“How do you fancy a quick bath?” he asked, making a motion with his hand for the animal to follow him in. It did so after a long pause, letting out another huffing sound as it pulled itself to its feet and followed Harry through, tail continuing to wag lazily behind it. The dog only took a moment to assess the room before placing its paws onto the side of the bath and heaving itself into the tub, much to Harry’s startled amusement.
Letting out a short laugh he moved to turn the taps on, making sure the water ran nice and warm before grabbing the bucket and placing it under the taps. Once it was half full he lifted it up with a small huff, and carefully began pouring water over the large creature’s back. After a couple of buckets, where Harry actively ignored the discoloured water that ran down the pipes, he grabbed one of the small shampoos from the side and started lathering it into the dog’s fur. He was sure it probably wasn’t the best thing to use on dog fur, but he didn’t have a lot of options at the moment.
The dog didn’t seem to mind however, shivering slightly under Harry’s gentle hands as the boy worked to lather the soap through all the fur he could. He was slightly concerned by the sheer skin and bones the dog was, his heart hurting as he once again realised how similar the pair of them were.
“We need to get some food into you,” he murmured absently, the dogs ear pricking up to listen before flopping down sadly at his next words. “You’re almost as skinny as me.”
When Harry was sure he could do no more, he went back to the bucket, rinsing the suds as thoroughly as he was able. Satisfied with his work, Harry turned off the taps before reaching for a towel only to let out a startled laugh as the dog shook, soaking him through.
“Ew! That’s gross!” he laughed, before throwing the towel over the dog’s head, who was looking much too pleased with itself and wagging its tail excitedly. He was still laughing as he started towel drying the wiggling animal in earnest, happy that his new friend seemed more relaxed now and really glad he’d brought the dog with him.
After a short time scrubbing he found himself sat, leaning over the side of the tub, with his arms wrapped around the dogs neck in a tight hug and his fingers curled into damp fur. He couldn’t quite believe how fast he had come to care for this animal. It made him feel safe, something about its presence alone bringing a peace to Harry that he wasn’t sure he had felt in a very long time, if ever.
Harry sniffled slightly, suddenly feeling rather vulnerable, and the dog made a quiet whine before licking him gently behind the ear. His grip tightened a moment before relaxing and he scrunched his face into the towel before taking a breath, the mixed smell of cheap shampoo and wet dog, before giving one last squeeze and pulling back. Then he gave a watery grin.
“I guess if you’re staying with me we should get you some stuff,” were his words as he moved to standing again. “And I should probably give you a name…”
The dog looked up at him with a cocked head and a pricked ear, as if considering his words as Harry thought. The teen tapped his finger against his lips as he looked the dog over again before sighing and giving a small shrug.
“Maybe I’ll find something interesting in a book,” he decided before turning and walking back into the main bedroom. He grabbed his trunk lid and opened it up before pulling out his school satchel and coin purse. “I wonder if they let dogs into Gringotts?”
His words were mostly to himself, but he did turn to eye the dog as he spoke. It was a very intelligent animal. It had shown him how to get to London after all.
The dog didn’t answer him, and he huffed a small laugh at himself for expecting it. He changed clothes quickly and made sure his hair, which had grown enough to cover his scar easily, was laying against his forehead before heading to the door. He made the follow me motion to the dog again as he opened it and stepped out into the corridor. The dog trotted out behind him, seeming more relaxed than he had been the night before.
They left the Leaky side by side, emerging onto the magical street looking very much like a pair that belonged together. Harry was slightly surprised when he realised no one was really paying them that much attention, aside from the occasional glance, before realising he was taking confidence from the animal beside him. He stood a little straighter, walked a little more purposefully. People were so used to his nervous posture in Diagon Alley that they just glanced straight over him, continuing their business as he continued his.
He relaxed even further, a grin spreading across his face. There was no reason for people to look at him if they thought he knew what he was doing. He was just another wizard on the street.
It was brilliant.
Gringotts, as it turned out, did allow dogs onto their carts. Or, at least, they did if you were valuable enough to them. He had certainly gained a distasteful curl of the lip, but one look at his vault key identification and they had waved him on without a word. Harry had shrugged at this; there was no need to look a gift horse in the mouth. He wasn’t entirely sure that the dog had enjoyed the experience, but it had been a smooth enough one none the less.
After grabbing a large pouchful of Galleons, Harry headed towards the Magical Menagerie to buy his new friend some supplies. A bell tinkled above the door as he pushed it open, poking his head inside to look around the rather cramped looking shop. The walls were filled with cages of all sizes, sporting all sorts of different animals, and there wasn’t a whole lot of room for anything else.
The pair squeezed themselves inside, Harry moving up the counter where a short witch with large red glasses turned her hazel eyes onto him curiously.
“Can I help you there young sir?” she asked, eyes moving from Harry, up to his scar then down to the large dog at his side. Harry gave her a small smile.
“I was wondering if you had anything for my friend here? I only found him recently and I don’t really know what he needs?”
The witch nodded, giving Harry a small smile back.
“Sure thing, I’ll grab you some essentials and then go through the rest with you,” was her reply as she stepped around the counter and led him further into the maze of cages that was the shop.
Harry followed her through the isles with the dog trotting quietly behind him. His eyes roamed over the various cages and vivarium’s, occasionally hearing the hissed parseltongue of the various snakes for sale. Hisses of please feed me the good rats today and this place is so boring brought a tiny smile to his face, though he pretended not to notice the relatively good natured snakes. It was nice to hear a snake hissing anything other than for its lust to kill, he admitted to himself.
They made it to the small section near the back where the dog section was, the witch running him through the options they had while giving Harry a couple of recommendations.
“We don’t really have a lot of dog stuff though,” she mused, a finger tapping her lips. “They’re not a very common pet to have in the magical world. You might find more luck for anything more specific in a muggle shop.”
Harry nodded at her thankfully, watching as she made her way back up to the counter before turning to look at the selection himself. He didn’t think there was much point in getting a lead, the dog seemed happy enough to stick close to him and he was pretty sure it was intelligent enough that it was unnecessary. The same could be said for the majority of the toys. His eyes flicked across the collars thoughtfully before landing on a burgundy red one made of soft leather, with gold buckles and tag, which he took slowly from the shelf and rolled around in his hands.
“What do you think of this?” he asked, looking down at the dog who was sat gazing up at him in interest. “It feels pretty nice and has a little tag we can add you’re name to when we think of one?”
He crouched slightly as he spoke before holding the collar out for sniffing. The dog did so cautiously before its tail wagged once and it gave Harry’s hand a quick lick. Harry smiled.
“Brilliant,” was his reply, before standing back up. “Do you want any toys or anything?”
In the end, Harry walked back to the counter with a couple of kinds of treats and food (including some owl treats for Hedwig), bowls, a rope toy, a ball, some actual dog shampoo/conditioner, and the collar. He was pretty happy with his haul, handing over the asked for Galleons without any issue.
“The tag on this just needs a tap of your wand to activate and will copy whatever word you have in your mind. It only works once though, so make sure you’re spelling it right!” the witch informed him as she packed his items into a paper bag. Harry thanked her with a smile, grabbing the bag and exiting the shop quickly.
Once outside he grabbed the collar out of the bag and fastened it comfortably around the dog’s neck. It made no protest, moving its head and neck to give him a better angle to do so. Harry grinned at him once it was attached before ruffling the fur of the dog’s head affectionately.
“You look so handsome!” he told the animal with a laugh before lifting himself back to his feet. The dog gave a soft, happy little bark and wagged its tail in response, preening under the compliment. Harry laughed again before looking around, trying to decide what he wanted to do next. He knew his new friend needed a name, and he wanted to make sure it was something special. Something that suited him perfectly.
His eyes turned towards Flourish and Blotts, remembering back to when he had been looking for Hedwig’s name and how he had used his schoolbooks to do so. Maybe there would be something there that would suit.
“Come on then,” he murmured as he glanced back down. “Let’s go find you a name.”
The dog trotted happily after him as he made his way to the book shop, the bell tinkling softly as he pushed open the door and looked around cautiously. Last time he had been here had been for Lockhart’s book signing and the event had somewhat scarred him. But he was pleased to see the shop relatively empty, with only a couple of witches and wizards mulling around the shelves. He took a deep breath and entered fully, holding the door open for the dog to walk through with him. There was no one at the counter, so he walked past it quickly and made his way towards the back of the shop.
It took about an hour or so of browsing, in which his friend had curled up in a sunspot in the corner to doze, before Harry found some books that he thought could be interesting. He had chuckled slightly when, after looking through one of the astronomy books, he had realised that there was a star called Sirius which was known as the dog star.
“it’s a shame it’s the name of that murderer or I would be tempted to call you Sirius Black,” Harry had told the dog in amusement, rising an eyebrow at the small start the dog had given before supressing a chuckle at the unimpressed look his friend then gave him. “No? All right.”
His searching had taken him to the divination section as well, where one of the book covers had shown a big black dog very similar to his new friend. It had the title Death Omens: What To Do When You Know The Worst Is Coming and he hummed slightly as he opened the book, searching for the correct page. Once he found it, he eyed the words in interest.
The Grim is a well-known omen of death that takes the shape of a large, black, menacing, spectral dog. It is reputed to bring about the demise of the person who encounters it. The Grim had earned infamy throughout the wizarding world and is considered to be one of the worst, if not the worst, omens around.
Harry pondered this for a moment before drawing his eyes back to his friend. It was obvious to him that the animal curled up in the corner was not an omen of death, at least to him it had been the opposite. It had saved him when he had been alone, friendless, on the streets and made sure he had gotten to safety. He was a protector. But something in Harry liked that idea that other people might see him as an omen of death, and that maybe that would make whomever it was who inevitably wanted to hurt him this year stay away from him. Having a death omen as a friend seemed like a pretty good protection to him.
A slow smile came to his face as he moved over to the dog, who opened one eye to look up as him as he approached but moved no further. If the animal had eyebrows, it would be raising one.
“What do you think of Grim?” he asked. “I can’t think of anything better then having the omen of death as my protector.”
The dog opened its other eye and raised its head from its paws as it looked up at him quietly. It seemed to think about the words, eyes flicking to the book and back before lifting its head even further to give Harry access to the nametag on its collar.
Harry grinned.
Grabbing his wand out of his pocket and, making sure to keep his eyes on the word in the book, tapped the nametag once. There was a moment of stillness before letters, written in the same burgundy of the leather, started to appear in front of his eyes. The tag quickly reading ‘Grim’. Putting his wand away, Harry took the tag in his hands to look at it properly, turning it over and realising in surprise that ‘If missing please return to Harry Potter’ was written on the back. He grinned again, before letting the tag fall back to its resting place on the dog’s chest.
“Its nice to meet you Grim,” he greeted jovially, holding out his hand and laughing slightly when Grim placed his paw in it to shake. He couldn’t remember feeling this at ease, this happy. He had a friend now, a companion and protector. Someone who would keep him safe.
He got back to his feet and placed the book back on its shelf before stretching his hands above his head.
“How about we get some ice cream?” he asked, grinning down at the dog as it got to its feet, stretching out its back as Harry had. “I think I saw a place a couple of doors down.”
And so they made their way out of the bookshop, a comfortable companionship between them. Just a boy and his dog.