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

Sorting Teddy

VI

Sorting Teddy

Teddy remained in the baggage car with Argos the white wolf long after he'd convinced Freddie to go away. It was comforting, just sitting there with Argos, the owls, and the trunks. It even calmed his stomach. All the while, he and Argos just talked.

"You're hurt!" Teddy exclaimed.

Argos shook his head. "You should see the other wolf!" He joked. "It is nothing. Honestly."

"What are you?" Teddy then asked, biting his lip, "You are my dog, aren't you?"

"I am your dog as much as you are my boy," Argos informed him. "I am the one who watches over you. I am...," he thought for a bit, "Your Familiar?"

"A guardian animal, of sorts?" Teddy asked him, and Argos wagged his tail.

"I have been following you around since you were a baby," Argos then added, "Watching when you changed, when the moon came up. Then one day, your family took me in, as I knew they would."

"Are you a were-type-wolf, then?" Teddy asked, and Argos nodded.

"I am a wolf, a werewolf, a dog, whichever I choose to be," Argos nodded. "And one can see your worry," he went on, "If I were a threat to you, I could have eaten you LONG ago, you know! For a great Auror, your Godfather certainly missed me, didn't he?"

"He don't like strays, jus' like those other boys don't like me," Teddy sighed, realizing then just how scared he'd been when he'd thought Argos was gone.

"Uncle Harry warned you about this, remember? Maybe you will find another pack?"

Teddy wasn't sure about running around with a pack. It sounded like an awfully good idea, though, and it appealed to the canine side of his nature.

The door opened again; Teddy jumped, but it was only Freddie.

"You need to learn you use your ears and nose better," Argos suggested.

"Feel better yet?" Freddie asked, offering Teddy what was left of the candy and a clear, fizzy drink. Teddy accepted it gratefully. Freddie also gave his lunch, which Grandma Weasley had packed for him, to Argos. "It's corned beef," he warned him.

"I told you he was a good boy," Argos said, and Teddy translated it for Freddie. Freddie petted Argos, then cleaned them all off with a charm.

"It is a dirty job," Argos admitted, "When one is white!"

"Is he...still the same...Argos?" Freddie asked, and Argos nodded. "He understands English? Cool! Listen, Teddy," Freddie said, "Ciaran and Lee promised not to shoot you if you come back. I mean, well, Ciaran ate too many chocolate frogs and got sick, and I gave him one of your W-W pills. Then I reminded him who it was what paid for the lot," Freddie almost begged, but Teddy shook his head.

"Then they got to talkin' ‘bout their dads, too," Freddie went on, "And the war stories and all." He sighed. "Then Lee told us the wedding party story." Freddie paused, his ears going pink, "Lee's mouth is gonna get him in trouble, I tell ya! Anyway, the more they talked, the more they got to feelin' bad about it, and well...listen, they sounded pretty sincere?"

"You come with me, Argos," Teddy said, after he considered it for a while. It made him angrier than anything, though, them sending the message with Freddie instead of in person. And Teddy was determined that he wasn't going to cry again, just to give them something else to make fun of him for.

They were just heading for the door when it slid open to reveal a gang of four boys in new robes, none of them very friendly looking.

"I must have packed it up, so it'll be in here," one of them was saying. Then they spotted the boys and Argos. "What'r you freaks doing hiding in the baggage car?" A rather brutish one asked. He was large and somewhat plump, and his hair was cut in a crew fashion.