Harry Potter and the New Marauders (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Of Werewolves and Wands

IV

Of Werewolves & Wands

Ron and Hermione were married just before school took up that year, and Harry noticed once again that time seemed to be getting away from him.

Teddy continued to thrive and grow, although he was small for his age, and relieved everyone when he started walking near his second birthday. He was also reading Beedle the Bard by age three, and he began lessons with Professor McGonagall in their spare time to control his metamorphmagus abilities when he was four. Making his hair change color was no end of entertainment for him, as was changing features like his ears.

As Hermione had previously pointed out, Teddy also seemed to be almost on track, in his transformations into the wolf, with the growth rate of a normal canine puppy.

While Harry didn't know much about dogs, Hagrid did. "Actually, he's a bit on the puny side," Hagrid told them all one night, just as Teddy-the-puppy nipped at his gloved hand. "BAD TEDDY!" Hagrid admonished him. "We do not bite!" He then smacked Teddy's muzzle with a rolled-up newspaper. The puppy yelped, and managed to look shocked. "Firm hand, tha's all they need! Jus' like tamin' a stray, yeh know!" Hagrid informed them all.

"Now if we could just housebreak him," Andromeda sighed.

"We are not putting a collar and leash on him to take him out for a walk!" Harry declared, and that was the end of that! "Tha's just what the Daily Prophet is good for," he added, as the puppy piddled on one. "Good boy!" Harry congratulated him.

"Meet my grandson," Andromeda said dramatically, "The domesticated werewolf!" It wasn't funny, but they had to laugh. Teddy just barked excitedly and wagged his tail.

For his fourth birthday, Harry and Andromeda finally gave in and adopted the stray dog that had been hanging around forever. It was a dirty-white mongrel which Teddy named Argos, after Odysseus' faithful dog who waited twenty years for his master's return. Unfortunately, Argos seemed to be part wolfhound and Pyrenees, and grew to unbelievable size. Being white, he was also almost impossible to keep clean. But Argos was another playmate for Teddy, and as Hagrid declared, "All boys should have a dog." Harry was just thankful that Argos only had one head!

The werewolf changes each month were still painful for Teddy, but Harry put off telling him what the real problem was. Teddy thought it was all fun dreams about dogs, and Harry, unsure of how the boy would take it, didn't want to tell him. He was just grateful that there were no more close calls. Teddy just seemed to accept that he got sick a lot, and he never asked about it.

True to Greyback's words, though, there was a Blue Moon the July* when Teddy was six. Teddy began feeling ill around the end of June, and both full moons literally knocked him down. The changes seemed particularly painful, and he wasn't playful those nights; he just slept. He also didn't get out of bed for a week after each one, and Argos never left his side. Neither did Madame Pomfrey. By the time August arrived, Teddy looked - to Harry - not much better than Sirius Black had when he'd first met him.

"If it weren't for him being formally registered as a werewolf, I'd have admitted him to St. Mungo's," Madame Pomfrey told Harry.

"We may have to face that one day, but not today," Harry replied.

But if Teddy was one thing, it was resilient. He recovered, and with Greyback's advice and Hagrid's continuing help, Teddy seemed to be out of danger. Thankfully, there continued to be no sign of meanness in Teddy-the-wolf.

"It's all in how you raise them," Greyback reminded Harry, via Floo, and Harry believed him. After all, as an Auror, he'd seen how some people treated their werewolf relatives...