Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 09

After they watched Harry get on the Knight Bus and leave, Jenna turned to face Sirius, both of them still in their animal forms.

       "This is goodbye then, I guess,"she said and with that, Jenna went forward and rubbed her head against him like all cats do.

      He then leaned slightly down, nudging her slowly with his stout. "Goodbye, Jenny."

      With that, Crookshanks turned on her paws and started running once again, hoping to get to Diagon Alley before sunrise.

      Even though she was running on all fours all night long without stopping to even catch her breath, it took her several hours to get to London. Although she did have to stop by the bus stations every once in a while, taking a look at the city's maps in her cat form.

      But at last, as the sun started to rise over the horizon, she approached the familiar street which led to Diagon Alley. Although she knew if she was to take the form of a human, she had to do it before going into the Alley.

       So looking left and right to check her surroundings, Jenna went to a dark corner in an empty alleyway and returned back to human shape, though she took the form of the first person that came to her mind, whom she was sure hadn't died in the war.

      Gwenog Jones.

      She couldn't go as herself, seeing as everyone thought that she was dead. She couldn't risk anyone finding out her secret. So she pulled her cloak's hood over her head and walked inside the Leaky Cauldron.

      Jenna walked through the back door and stood before the red brick wall. She then took out her wand and tapped it on one of the bricks. On cue, the bricks started to drift apart to reveal an archway into Diagon Alley.

       She walked through, looking around her as she went. The Alley was still empty, seeing as it was early in the morning and only the owners were awake and in their shops.

       Jenna felt a lurch in her stomach. She remembered how before their first year at Hogwarts she had come here with James and her parents to buy their school books and wands.

      Jenna felt overwhelmed as she walked across the alleyway, remembering the excitement she had when they had come here for the first time after receiving their Hogwarts letters.

      She passed Madam Malkin's robe shop, where they had first met Sirius, who had sent the needles flying toward customers.

       She came upon Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour and remembered the summer before their seventh year as she had sat there with Alice as her uncle gave them all free ice cream. Remembering how much her father loved this place.

       But Jenna finally came to a stop when she reached the Magical Menagerie, the shop for magical creatures. She hesitantly walked inside.

       There wasn't much room as every inch of it was covered with cages and the place was both smelly and noisy. Although to her great relief, the shop was empty of customers and only the witch who was the owner was inside.

        "What can I help you with?" the witch asked rather urgently, looking upon her.

       But the moment Jenna lowered her hood, the witch gave a small gasp. "It can't be — is it Gwenog Jones? Captain of Holyhead Harpies?"

       "She's captain of what now!?" Jenna exclaimed in disbelief, although she quickly tried to regain herself.

      She cleared her throat.

       "Yes, this is she."

        "Ooh, can I get an autograph!?" said the witch hopefully.

        "Er... yeah — sure..." Jenna said in Gwenog Jones' voice.

       With that, the witch went behind the counter immediately. "Where's that blasted quill when you need it?"

      Jenna rolled her eyes after what felt like hours and finally took out her wand, thinking, I really don't have time for this.

      She then raised her wand and pointed it at the witch. "Imperio!" she muttered and with that, the woman suddenly became extremely dazed.

        "Okay, now listen here," Jenna started after turning around quickly to make sure no one was near the shop.

       She had already used the curse on many occasions back when she was undercover as a Death Eater because she was forced to, so she found it easy to do it now. But at least this time she wasn't hurting anyone with it.

      Unless you wanted to count Pettigrew.

       "I'm going to transform into a cat. And I want you to sell me only to a Hogwarts student," she went on. "Tell them I'm a cat by the name of Crookshanks and tell them I've been here for ages, or anything else that can grab their pity. Understood?"

        The witch nodded slowly, in some sort of a trance.

       "Good," Jenna nodded. "Remember, only to a Hogwarts student. Nobody else. And no one can know."

       With that, Jenna withdrew her wand and placed it back in her robe. She then turned to look out of the shop one last time before she closed her eyes and focused, turning herself back into a fluffy ginger cat.

        "Come now, Crookshanks," said the witch after a short pause, walking forward and picking the cat up. "Let's see if we can finally find an owner for you today."

      And with that, she put Crookshanks in one of the cages, closing its door.