Several weeks had passed since Crookshanks had given birth. Orville had spent this time trying to get to know the kitteneazles, which were about as friendly as their mother. He had also spent this time getting to know Emily, who was in fact quite friendly. As far as Orville was concerned, Emily was the best sort of friend a cowpig could have. Emily didn't think quite as highly of Orville, but she certainly didn't mind him either, and compared to the rest of the farm animals he was easily the least offensive.
Throughout these weeks, Ginny had been visiting regularly. Sometimes she let Orville out of his box to play for a while, because Xenophilius changed the spell so that any human could open the box, but on Lovegood's orders, she had to lock him back up afterward. Sometimes she just sat on a stool in the barn and talked to him. Whatever she did while she was there, she was glad she did it with Orville. Today, she was sitting and watching all the animals, listening to their conversations.
Since his arrival at the farm, Orville had grown quite fat. This isn't a bad thing for cowpigs; they like to be fat, and it's healthy for them. He'd gotten to eat all kinds of great cowpig food. It wasn't actually very good, but he hadn't tasted better in his short life, and so as far as he was concerned this was the best there was, and he had no qualms about saying so.
"Mm-mm-mm," he exclaimed between bites. "This breakfast is delicious."
"You would think so, wouldn't you?" said Crookshanks snidely.
"What do you mean?" asked Orville curiously.
"I mean you've never had fresh food," answered Crookshanks. "You wouldn't know good dining if you bit it in the butt."
"Butts? Are those good?"
"It's a damned idiom. Seriously, shut up."
"What's an idiom?"
"SHUT UP!"
Flynn decided to speak up. "An idiom, my mild-minded friend, is an expression, a saying that means something different than what it means."
"Oh," lied Orville.
"And I suppose you haven't figured out why Lovegood is fattening you up, either."
"You mean he's not doing it because he likes me?"
"Of course not, you buffoon. Why would a human like you?"
"I'm polite, and easy to talk to."
"Try again."
"Ginny likes me."
"Ginny also likes that Potter boy. She's not very bright, even by human standards. She probably only likes you because her fool heart sees a kindred spirit in you."
Ginny frowned. She was tempted to interject, but didn't want to give away her secret power of understanding magical creatures. Even Dumbledore didn't know she could do that, and even her own parents didn't know it, and she had no intention of revealing this secret, lest someone think it was a Death Eater power. Harry had gone through something similar with Parseltongue, and the idea frightened her.
"Okay, then, I give up," sighed Orville. "Why is Farmer Lovegood feeding me so much?"
"Because," began Flynn, "once you're good and big, you'll be cooked up and cut up into a Christmas ham and steak dinner. I assure you, Xenophilius is quite looking forward to it."
Orville laughed. "That won't happen. I'm a runt! I can't get big!"
"You can if you keep eating the way you have been."
Ginny gasped. Orville thought about what Flynn was saying, and the smile slowly faded from his face as he started to understand. And then he started trying to escape from the box.
"LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT!" he shrieked, as he headbutted the side of the invisible box.
Ginny was tempted to let him out herself, but all the ruckus had drawn Xenophilius outside; she couldn't help him escape while he was watching.
"Calm yourself, Orville," spoke a voice from above. Orville, in his panic, did a backflip, and during the brief moment that he was facing up, he could see that it was Emily talking.
"How can I be calm!?" yelled Orville. "They're gonna murder me in cold, delicious blood!"
"Because I have a plan," said Emily gently, without a hint of fear or freaking-out-ness in her voice."
Orville instantly felt relieved. "A plan? What is it?"
"I don't know yet. But I've got one, and I'll know what it is soon."
Crookshanks and Flynn could both tell that Emily did not have a plan, but were glad to hear the barn had become peaceful again. Orville wasn't as bright, so to him, what Emily had said made perfect sense.
Ginny was as unconvinced as the other animals, but she had faith that Emily would be able to think of something within a short time. Emily definitely seemed resourceful and honest, in spite of the lie. If Emily said not to worry, then one way or another she'd think of something to protect Orville.
But just in case, Ginny decided to spend the rest of the day with Orville. If there was even the tiniest chance he could become food, she wasn't going to waste any time away from him that she could possibly spare. The last thing she wanted was to visit one week, find him chopped up into juicy, delicious pork, and realize that she'd missed his last moments, and not gotten all the time with him that she could.
That night, Ginny walked back home over the hill, tears almost streaming down her face, but not quite. She held back her tears, trying her best not to cry too much. In fact, she did such a good job that she didn't cry at all. She got home safely, and went to sleep, not knowing how to feel. Meanwhile, back at the farm, Orville and the other animals also went to sleep, each dreaming of things they loved dearly, and Emily dreaming plans to save Orville's life. Fred and George dreamed of ideas for how to make everyone around them angry, and Harry dreamed he was shaking hands with Dumbledore after winning the house cup.
