Closed The Fox and the Hound...? PV AJ MacAllister

Place: 2024 Summer Camp at London Quidditch Stadium
Date: Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Time: Early morning just after sunrise

A red fox with literally red fur that sported blonde and brown highlights made various noises to itself as it scurried around the London Quidditch Stadium in the snow that had been magically produced in order to create the wintery atmosphere. It didn't really seem like it knew what to make of itself; like it was a wild animal that had found itself trapped within the confines of a human-made structure and belonging there as little as the snow during the summer.

Since his first year at Hogwarts, Jack had dreaded making friends. He had learned better than to do so after his first instance of magic - or so he'd thought. But friends had a way of creeping up on you anyway, especially when you were a first year in a new school and as new as everyone else while looking to make your place in the world. Especially when you were someone as innately lonely as Jack.

Over the years, the redhead had managed to make some surprisingly strong bonds with classmates and schoolmates. He'd even learned about binding marks and formed a sort of pact with a young man a year older than him who his parents as adopted as his new older brother after his first year. Everything had been alright in the beginning, but then those friends slowly began to drift away and disappear - in some cases, literally. One had even died. And that new brother who Jack had grown so fond of had stopped attending Hogwarts a couple of years later so, even despite their ability to telepathically communicate and Jack's ability to know where his brother was at all times, they hardly saw each other anymore and gradually grew apart.

At one point, Jack had even been a part of a real love triangle in which no one had the same level of mutual affection for the other. So, in the end, none of the three involved had gotten what they'd wanted. Jack's crush had become cursed by a housemate of theirs who had turned out to be a hag in disguise, so the redhead had made a deal with her in his fourth year to undo any and all curses she had placed on said crush. That deal had involved bringing to life something he shouldn't have even against the warnings of the young women who had aided him in his quest. Nevertheless, he'd managed to achieve his goal and free his crush from the curses placed on them. And, nevertheless, that crush had left Hogwarts shortly after, leaving Jack with his old cloak, an empty dorm room, and an empty heart.

Despite having previously been passionately on top of his studies (while maintaining the appearance of being a slacker during class), the teen's heart just wasn't in school during most of his fifth year. Since he'd learned to become an animagus as soon as it'd been legally possible for him to - during the summer after his fourth year - he'd used a lot of his time in his newly-discovered fox form as an escape. He tried to free himself from the burdens of human emotions and the longing for human connection by running around as a carefree vulpine, hunting for prey, eating, sleeping, and occasionally causing mischief such as startling other students or 'borrowing' belongings.

No matter what he did, however, none of it was ever enough. Jack was left feeling like a shell of his former self. And though his original fear of making connections had been validated more than ever, he had nothing to rejoice about. All he could do was go around pretending to be as carefree and chaotic as his fox form suggested, supposedly freer than anyone who tied themselves down to other people. Too bad that freedom came at a very steep price - a price that might have included some portion of his sanity just to continue carrying on in the state that he was. Not that anyone needed to know.

On the second morning of summer camp, Jack had gotten up earlier than most in order to go out and explore the winter atmosphere of the stadium on his own. Having quickly shifted into fox form, he'd run around in the snow, yipping and making small, quiet noises absorbed by the white blanket that covered the ground while leaping and diving head-first into snow drifts on occasion. There were a few birds to chase and even some mice. But then he came across the dog.

Honestly, it looked more like a bear than a dog to him and at first he thought it must have been a bear. As he drew closer, however, he made out the fluffiness of the strange breed and the way its face seemed to sag sadly unlike any bear's he'd ever seen. Its fur consisted of white, black, and a variety of browns, but its eyes were startlingly blue. Jack's own hazel eyes began to shine in anticipation as he lowered himself to the ground...and took off.

The fox ran toward the dog at full speed until it got near enough to pounce, leaping upon the larger canine like it was a huge, furry trampoline with the aim of landing upon its back. If successful, the fox would have immediately begun to gnaw on the dog's closest ear, not biting hard but chewing as if the pair were just two kits from the same litter.

Jack may not have known what he was doing. He may not even have been able to tell if the dog was a real dog or another animagus. But even a lack of a desire to use the intelligence that he had once so highly prized could hardly suppress his fundamental desire to be playful and mischievous.

@Allister-Jameson MacAllister