It was a perfect, sunny morning when Honey and I trotted along the dirt path to Dogsmeade. The trail was crowded with every size and shape of dog….Gryffindogs, Hufflepups, Ravenpaws, and Slytherhounds were all enjoying the off-leash time and the long prance into the village. As expected, Hairy Pawter and Chase ran up to us and tried to make small bark, but Honey and I didn’t want to give away our plan, so we told them to run on ahead. As soon as we arrived in Dogsmeade, we headed straight for Honeydog’s…Our plan was to buy a bag of Every-Flavor Bones, then replace it all with kitty litter flavor. We were sure Hairy and Chase would come begging for treats, and boy would they get a surprise!
Once we had the kitty litter Every-Flavor Bones disguised in the bag, Honey and I pranced along the main thoroughfare enjoying the smells, wagging our tails, and just waiting for Hairy and Chase to come along looking for a snack. It turns out they were in Bingo’s Joke Shop buying who knows what. We ran into them as they trotted out of the shop, a secretive glimmer in their eyes.
Just as Honey and I thought, as soon as the boys saw us they barked, “Hey, is that a bag of Every-Flavor Bones?”
“Yep,” I said. Honey casually took one in her paw.
“Can we have some?” Honey’s plan couldn’t have been going better. They were certainly falling for it.
“Nope,” said Honey. “We have no intention of sharing.”
That really made the boys mad. Chase grabbed our bag and ran off with it in his mouth, Hairy running closely behind him. When they turned the corner, we pulled the real Every-Flavor Bones out of our backpack, and had a good howl. But we laughed even harder when we saw Hairy and Chase gulping from the large water bowls on the edge of town.
Honey and I were really pleased with ourselves. It was our first great Dogwart’s prank. But if I had known what was coming next, I might have thought twice. That evening, after enjoying a great spread in the kennel dining hall, Honey and I returned to the Ravenpaw common room. I was dog tired from the field trip, and couldn’t wait to curl up in my bed. But when we got to the portrait to give the password, everything had changed. Inside the gilded gold frame, a picture of me in a rocking chair replaced the usual white bull terrier with the spotted eye.
“Oh my Bark!” I was horrified.
“I wonder what the password is?” Honey wanted to get to bed too, and now we were stuck in the hallway. Pawtrait-me looked down on us with an amused half-smile. Finally, we figured the password out. (E-mail readers, to hear for yourself, make sure you’re in the blog, and click the play arrow.)
While Honey and I were stuck in the dark hallway, I bet Hairy Pawter and Chase were having a good laugh in front of the fire with the other Gryffindogs. And now I’ll have to be extra nice to them to get them to take my pawtrait down. Some days just don’t turn out how you expect.
Special thanks to Amy Neil for the Dogwart’s Pawtrait animation.