~*~*~ Chapter Four ~*~*~

The Unexpected Gift

A hundred miles away at the moment Harry had discovered the ruin of his home, Ron had just arrived home, but he hadn't climbed into bed, but he'd crept down all the stairs, and went and sat down by the fire in a large chair. He huddled up into the corner of a sofa, arms round his knees. Why do things like this always happen to him? He knew Hermione was intelligent and that Harry was Brave, but him? He was good at chess, and that was it! How could he battle the forces of evil with only the use of a chessboard? Now he had to prove himself as a powerful and brave wizard, in front of a secret society. Sometimes he wished he had a normal life. He picked up his copy of "The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle", a least Martins adventures were fun and interesting. Harry, Hermione and Ron's usually ended up with him being knocked out, or having his leg broken, or his sister being kidnapped by an evil Lord. He had no idea what Dumbledore was talking about, Him – having extraordinary talents? And what was all that about a key? Ron sighed and drew the heavy blanket from the sofa up to his chin.

*

Hermione had been home for some time now, as soon as she had arrived home, she had gone to her small library of magical books hidden in the living room of her small semi-detached house. Apart from all the set-texts from school, Hermione had bought many others, for background reading. She had pulled a stack of likely looking books down from the shelves, and put them on the small kitchen table. She had been searching for over an hour and had found nothing on the order, maybe it really was a secret society. Not one book mentioned the Order of the Phoenix. In the end Hermione had even looked in Fantastic Beasts and where to find them, even though she had knew by heart what was written about phoenixes. Dispirited she put the books away, and climbed noiselessly up the stairs to her bedroom. It was very small and pink and her bed was positioned by the window. She climbed into bed and looked up into the moon, thinking about the tasks that lay ahead, and what Harry and Ron made of it all.

*

Ron was still sat in the chair, I was morning now and he was eating some toast thinking about nothing in particular, when the and knock at the front door. He was so surprised he sat their for a second, no-one ever came to their house the muggle-way, and he had a sneaking feeling that no muggles even knew where his house was, let alone where the front door. He got up and cautiously, checking before that no obvious magic was being used. In the doorway was a man dressed in a smart blue uniform.

'Good day sir' the man said in a pompous voice.

'Err...hello?' said Ron nervously.

'I'm here to deliver a package to Mr. Ronald Weasley' said the man in the same pompous voice.

'That's me' said Ron, wondering who would have been sending him a package by muggle mail.

'Don't worry son' he said chuckling at the look on Ron's face 'I'm with Scription Wizarding Post Office, I'm here to deliver a creature to you'

'But why did you have to come the muggle way?' Ron asked.

'Well the Department of Regulation of Magical Creatures says that no creature should be transported by floo powder, Apparation or on broomsticks. I had to bring it the muggle way' he said.

'Why?' asked Ron

'Oh too many accidents happen using Apparation, imagine being accidentally merged with the creature you were carrying! And some creatures have been known to explode when being transported using floo powder, so we have to bring them to you the muggle way' He said in a monotonous voice which told Ron that he had clearly been asked that question many times before.

'Just sign here...that's the ticket, now here's the letter that came with the creature. Thank you very much ' he said and handed Ron the small box with holes in the lid.

When Ron had said goodbye to the 'post-man' and walked into the kitchen and placed the box on the large scrubbed table, and opened the letter, it was from Hagrid.

Dear Ron

Hi how are you? I need to ask you a favour. In the box you should have is Cupio, I found him in some woods here in – where I am. He is a lovely creature, fiercely loyal and extremely loving. I am told it is a Taka, an extremely rare woodland creature. I'm not going to be back at Hogwarts until the middle of October. Now Cupio, he likes to eat sweets, I've heard Taka's have a need for sugar, so if you could just feed him on them he should be ok. He loves affection so make sure you stroke him and spend a bit of time with him.

I'm sorry to dump this on you, but where I'm going he would not be able to survive, he's quite young and has been abandoned by his parents. Please look after him for me, I trust you and knew straight away to leave him in your care.

See you in October, Thanks!

Hagrid

P.S. Could you give Harry this Birthday card and present for me? Have a nice holiday!

Ron laid down the letter and stared at the box, he felt a sense of pride that Hagrid could trust him with such an important task, and he also felt a sense on anticipation. Hagrid had a strange idea about creatures. What some people would call bloodthirsty monsters, Hagrid would call sweet, misunderstood animals. Ron vividly recalled the Blast-ended Skrewts from his last year at school.