Slytherin Army [HP]

1. I Meet a Toothless Walnut

To new readers - I really hope you enjoy this story! It follows canon, so if you decide to re-read HP, you can do so while imagining this book's events taking place at the same time ;)

To re-readers - Thank you! It's heart-warming that you find this interesting enough to want to experience it again. It'd be cool if you left comments on any new things you've noticed...

(Especially since I rewrite this book so dam often xD)

A grey cat had just popped into existence on the neighbour's lawn.

The shock made her loosen her grip on the binoculars she'd gotten for her eleventh birthday, and they nearly plummeted out her bedroom window before she caught them. "Mum!" she yelled, stumbling to the door. "Mum!"

A hand grabbed her collar before she made it to the stairs. "Mum's on the phone, Drew. What are you hollering about?"

"Ow, Darwin," she scowled at her older brother. "And nothing. It was nothing." She had suddenly realized that what she saw was impossible and likely a side-effect of bingeing the last season of Twin Peaks until 4 AM.

He let go, ignoring her savage punches. "You sure? You sounded excited. Or scared. I couldn't really tell."

"It's nothing," Drew decided to go back to spying. "I saw a cat, is all."

The door beside hers swung open, and her twin sister stood there in a Powerpuff Girls T-shirt and a paperback in hand. "Did I hear 'cat'?"

Drew wanted everyone to just leave her alone. "I didn't — never mind. I saw a cute tabby. That is it. I'm not crazy. Just go back to your rooms."

Instead of heeding her perfectly clear order, Aurora scampered to Drew's window and leaned out. "Oh my gosh, it's coming to our door!"

"Really?" Drew sprinted over, and sure enough, the feline was ambling up to their front porch. "Ari," she clutched her sister's shoulder. "our prayers have been answered."

"Time to get the cricket bat," Darwin joked, and Aurora whapped him with her book.

"Beat me to it," Drew grinned, and her sister smiled back. Cats were one of the few things they bonded over.

The doorbell rang, and the three of them froze.

"No," Aurora gasped, "no way. The button is four feet above the ground!"

"They're learning," their brother said, eyes wide with horror.

"I want it," Drew declared, and ran down the stairs, racing by her mother who had just put the landline down. "I'm getting the door I'm getting the door!"

Only when she flung it open, she was greeted by a spectacled woman who looked about sixty and as stern as a governess. She had a tight bun of dark hair and wore a modest loose emerald-green dress that did nothing but make her seem even taller.

"Oh," Drew said, trying to inconspicuously peer around the lady to find the cat. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Miss Getaway. May I come in?"

Drew jolted, not having expected the woman to know her name. She didn't look like any of the neighbours. "Well, can you tell me who you are first?"

"I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Her siblings had appeared beside her, and Darwin halted upon hearing her words. "You know," he muttered, "I asked for a cricket bat, not an old bat."

"Old bat?" McGonagall repeated, peering at him sternly through her square spectacles. "How about an old cat?"

And with that, she abruptly shrunk down. Her body, clothes, hair — everything — morphed into a grey tabby.