NOVEL NEXT Albus Dumbledore’s outfit choices are always top tier -Gura
I groaned as I awoke, shifting slightly in- wherever I was. I cracked my eyes open, only to wince and close them again. Slowly, I opened my eyes again to a brightly lit room. Windows covered the walls, letting natural light in, and the ceiling was arched. My brain immediately dissected how it worked and that it was vaguely similar to a groin vault, though with less brick and more fancy stuff. I tried sitting up, but a hand stopped my rise, pushing me back onto the bed.
“Don’t move; you’re still recovering,” an authoritative but comforting voice said. I followed the arm which held me down to the person behind it and found a woman. She looked old, but old in a good way. Her hair was grey, and she wore robes of white. She was doing something with something, my brain failed to figure out.
“Urrg,” I groaned, “What- what happened?” My own voice surprised me, it being higher than it normally was. Not to mention some sort of quality to it that just didn’t quite fit into what I thought my voice sounded like.
“The groundskeeper found you outside, beaten badly and lying in the rain. We can only assume what happened to you, but your injuries were extensive. Your tail had the most injuries on it, though, as it had several punctures, gashes, and what looked to be like bullet wounds. The tip of your tail fin was cut off, but thankfully I was able to reattach it.”
“My… tail?” I finally registered how uncomfortable it was lying down flat, and sat up immediately. A fish tail- that I controlled- waved into view, covered in bandages. I ran my tongue over my teeth- a habit that had appeared during college when I was nervous- and found they were all sharp- except for a few molars in the back, but they were also sharp. Suddenly, pieces clicked together. Dreading what I would find, I pulled a bit of my hair forward. It was white and had a blue streak in it. I realized who I am, and why my voice was so familiar to myself.
I was Gawr Gura. So, I did the only thing I knew what to do: “A.” And fainted.
The next time I awoke, it was to hushed voices talking nearby. I had, during my sleep, come to terms with the fact that I was Gawr Gura. I opened my eyes again, and it was still a brightly lit room, but it was now tinged with orange. Deciding to announce my wakefulness, I said, “Did anybody get the license plate of the truck that hit me? I wanna sue them so I can go to college with the money.” The voices stopped immediately, and footsteps approached my bed.
A man with the most impressive beard I’ve ever seen appeared in my field of vision, his eyes twinkling merrily and robes a disgusting shade of pink. Without any conscious input from me, I voiced those thoughts, adding on, “I love it.” The man’s eyes couldn’t have twinkled more if he tried.
The man, smiling, said, “I’m glad someone else likes my fashion sense. ‘Tis a shame nobody else shares the sentiment.” I nodded sagely, or as much as I could lying down. The man’s smile dimmed and took on a more apologetic tone. “Though, we should save the discussion of fashion for later. I wish to ask you some questions, if that would be alright?”
“I’m partially left, but yeah.” I said. The man smiled beneath his beard, eyes a-twinkle. “Side note: can I sit up? Lying down like this is uncomfortable with my tail.” The man glanced at the woman, who sighed but nodded. “Thanks,” I said, sitting up and facing the man. I criss-cross applesauce’d my legs and looked at him expectantly.
The man’s smile grew amused- did he ever stop smiling- and he asked, “What is your name?”
“Gawr Gura at your service~!” I sing-songed.
“When is your birthday?”
“Heck if I know,” I replied immediately. “What’s today?”
“July eighteenth, nineteen ninety-one.”
“Alright, that’s my birthday now. Happy birthday to meeee!”
Both of the man’s eyebrows raised. “How, old are you exactly?”
I shrugged. “I’ve no idea, probably a few thousand.” I don’t exactly know everything about Gura, but damn, if I ain’t gonna adopt her personality. Because, oh my gosh this is fun.
The man’s mouth open and closed a few times, processing it. I waited patiently as he flopped like a fish outta water. Wait, is that racist? That feels like it should be racist- but wait, I’m a shark now, so technically, it’s not racist if I say it. Dilemma resolved! Finally, he regained composure and asked me, “Do you know how you got here?”
“Nope. Woke up in this bed dazed and confused, and that’s all I can remember. Miss good old lady over here told me I was found with lots of injuries, so whatever happened to me might’ve been pretty bad.”
“It was. Well, question time over, then.” The man stood and held out his hand for me to shake. “I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Pleased to meet you.”
I took his hand in mine, and we shook. “I’m Gawr Gura, Shark!” I replied in kind, grinning.
“A shark, you say?”
“Yepperdoodles! Not entirely sure what type of shark, but I’m definitely a shark,” I confirmed, before adding in with a stage whisper, “My teeth and tail give it away.”
“I quite suppose they do,” Albus chuckled. “Now, I shan’t take up more of your time for resting and getting healed up, Miss Gura,”
“Gawr, actually. Gura’s my first name.”
“Ah. Then forgive me, please.”
“It’s fine. I say it in the Japanese format, with family name first because it rolls off the tongue better.”
“I see. In any case, then, Miss Gawr, I shall leave you to rest so that Madam Pomphrey doesn’t strangle me. Goodbye.”
“Byeee!” I drew out, waving my arm as he left. I flopped onto the bed sideways, letting my tail splay out. “What now?” I asked Madam Pomphrey.
“Now, you rest. You’re still not fully recovered yet, and I wish to retain you to make sure that you truly are recovering,” She replied, doing something.
I let out a sigh and let her do her thing, my mind turning to my new predicament. I am Gawr Gura. I am Gawr Gura in Harry Potter. This is, troubling, to say the least. I genuinely have no idea if it’s this body feeding me Gura’s personality, or if it was my own. I let out another sigh as my tail started flapping erratically on the bed in response to my uneasiness. That was another thing, I had a tail. I was in Gura’s body. While I like to say that I can roll with the punches, sometimes things happen that even I’m not really equipped to deal with. This was one of the things.
My thoughts continued circling in self-despair until I fell into an uneasy sleep.
