Chapter 71: Naming the cat 

"Wait a moment, Mr. Minister!" said Harry hastily, "What about my punishment?"

"Punishment?" Fudge blinked, as if he had just remembered.

"I broke the law!" Harry said, "A law restricting the use of magic by minors!"

"Oh, dear boy, we won't punish you for such a trivial matter!" Fogo shook his teacup impatiently, "It was an incident, we don't send people to Azkaban just for puffing up their aunts!"

These words confused Harry a little, they didn't fit at all with his previous dealings with the Ministry of Magic.

"Last year I received a formal warning when a house elf turned Dally into a pig tail at my aunt's house!" Harry frowned, "The Ministry of Magic said that if I did any more magic there, Hogwarts would expel me!"

It was an excellent question, Ivan was happy to see Fudge a little embarrassed.

Fudge said a little embarrassed, "Things often change, Harry! With the current circumstances, we must consider your..... well, surely you don't want to be expelled, do you?"

"Of course not," Harry replied hastily.

At Harry's words, Fudge smiled broadly and called Tom, the landlord, and told him to get Harry a room he told him repeatedly that in Diagon Alley for the next two weeks, especially not to go into Muggle London.

Then he put on his robe and was ready to leave.

Then, Harry asked at that moment, "Mr. Minister, have you heard the news about Sirius Black?"

At Harry's words, Fudge's fingers twitched.

"Oh, you've heard! Well, it's only a matter of time before we catch him. The Dementors of Azkaban have never failed before and this time they're furious," Fudge said in a slightly shaky voice.

"So goodbye, dear Harry." Fudge shook Harry's hand.

Harry was quick to ask if he could sign the consent form for his visit to Hogsmeade, and Fudge looked uncomfortable.

He turned Harry away, with a most unnatural expression on his face, Ivan watched him silently wipe some cold sweat from his brow as he turned and left.

When Ivan and Harry finished their pastries, they followed Tom up a beautifully constructed wooden staircase and came to a door with a brass plaque with the number eleven on the door, which Tom opened. There was a large, comfortable-looking bed, some shiny oak furniture, a fire crackling in the fireplace, and Hedwig, who had disappeared earlier, standing on top of the closet.

"Hedwig!" exclaimed Harry, "There you are, did you send that letter to Ivan? what did he say?"

He stopped immediately, he realized that the letter he had hastily written to Ivan when he left the Dursleys was tied intact on Hedwig's lap and had not been opened.

Harry was suddenly a little worried, Hedwig couldn't find Ivan, had some sort of accident happened?

As he stood there, a little perplexed, Hedwig flew over to the black cat that had been following him.

Ivan had just jumped onto the bed when he saw Hedwig watching him, her amber eyes full of wariness, and then she seemed to see through his disguise and cooed a couple of times, coming over to greet him affectionately and handing him the parchment on his foot.

It was strange for a cat to be reading a letter.

Harry sat on the bed as he stared absently at Ivan.

He couldn't believe that he had only been away from Privet Drive for a few hours, that so much had happened, that he hadn't been expelled, and that he had two whole weeks away from the Dursleys.

But why didn't Ivan write to him, or go abroad like Hermione and Ron? Was that why Hedwig couldn't deliver the letter to him?

And the sudden appearance of the black cat with a similar appearance to Ivan.

Harry turned around and reached out to hug the cat, who immediately avoided him, looking at him with a disgruntled expression. Harry had never met a cat that had such human expressions, what a strange creature.

Then it occurred to him that he didn't know what the cat's name was, and if he was going to keep it, shouldn't he name it?

Harry thought of many names as he slowly drifted off to sleep. The next day when Harry woke up, he felt something on him, opened his eyes and saw that it was Ivan. This startled him and he immediately lost sleep.

"Ivan, Ivan, wake up!" Harry shook the sleeping Ivan, "When did you get here, did you see the letter I wrote to you and.... how did you get into my room?

"Good morning, Harry!", Ivan rubbed his eyes, he was now back to his original form, his mana had been fully restored, and had even increased considerably.

Seeing Harry staring at him, he was quick to tell him what had happened, how he had become an Animagus and how he had been attacked by a black dog in the street. One thing he didn't say, however, was that the big black dog that had chased him the night before was actually Sirius Black.

"You say the black cat was your animagus form? No wonder I thought it looked a bit odd," Harry said, "A normal cat doesn't eat chocolate or cakes, does it?"

"Yes," Ivan nodded as he turned into a black cat again.

"I should have known, you're just like Professor McGonagall, what was the name of the spell?" said Harry as he looked at Ivan enviously.

"Animagus!" said Ivan, "And I expect you to help me keep it a secret."

Harry nodded and said confused, "No problem, but, how did you do it? Professor McGonagall said it was a very complex and dangerous spell."

"Tom and Salazar Slytherin helped me a bit," Ivan said as he sat down, "And if you want to learn it I can teach it to you, but the main problem is the mana buildup, so if there are no accidents, you'll probably be able to learn this spell in a few years."

Next, Ivan and Harry talked some more about Animagi.

After the two went down to breakfast, he called Dobby, the house elf.

Then the two people went down to breakfast, and later he called Dobby the house elf.

Not having found Ivan all night, Dobby looked terrified, his fingers were bandaged and he looked like he had been punished so much that he cried in front of the two of them for quite a while, much to Ivan's dismay.

He then went outside and called his mother to tell her that he would be staying in Diagon Alley for the next two weeks until school started and not to worry. As expected, Mrs. Mason gave Ivan a good scolding and only reluctantly agreed to his request.