CH 9

Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter

Harry had been quite excited to begin shopping for his new school year.

The list of items had been long, but it was quite easy to obtain a several things from Owl Order especially from other countries like getting a couple pairs of fur-lined boots called Mukluks from northern Canada. He'd shopped around with several catalogues and had liked the look of them. He even obtained an Inuit parka along with several large bear pelts which had been recommended on the list of things to be acquired for added use to their personal bedding. Actually the school list only mentioned furs, so he interpreted that to mean from a large creature with lots of it.

The list also permitted them to bring along a bonded house-elf if they had one in order to take care of their everyday essentials. The students were encouraged to find a familiar before going to the school and the list had recommended a few creatures, but did not limit the child on the type of creature that they could bring. It was a method to teach them early responsibility for magical animal care, but it also left the choice in the hands of the child which was how a true magical familiar was supposed to be found.

"Let's see now," Harry said as he looked at his list. He ticked off nearly everything that he'd ordered via owl post which had mostly been his clothing including standard issue over robes in the dark red colour that looked like dried blood. He'd made a small list of things that he needed to shop for personally like his personal owl, art supplies, parchment, more ball-pens and coloured ink for them, his wand, personal potions supplies, etc…

He already notified the school that he'd prefer to make his own medicinal potions as he'd become an accredited and licensed potion brewer due to his high N.E.W.T. score. To which the school had written back stating that anyone that had passed an O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. in potions or any other subject could do whatever they liked in that subject matter.

Those that were accredited Brewers or had a Potioneer classification were appointed a room in the school to make personal potions without supervision. They understood his reluctance to further his study in potions while he had the chance to study other fields of magic before choosing a career path during his fifth, sixth or seventh year of magical schooling.

As for books he knew that Diagon Alley would not be the place to find the books on the Durmstrang list so he asked his Godfather where else they could go to get them. "Sirius," Harry called to the man who'd been studying a few of the rules governing the members of Hogwarts Board of Governors. "Where can I go to get my school books?"

"Hm," the man noised and looked up to see his godson standing in the doorway. "They need to be in Russian, German or Bulgarian right?" He asked and received a nod. "Well then, I think we should take a couple of days off and take a trip by train to the Russian Federation or some of the Baltic Countries. There are two large shopping districts there and a few smaller places in strips of buildings or in smaller towns or villages that cater to magical folk behind a muggle façade."

"Sounds like a good plan," Remus said as he walked into the room. "You need to visit the Outfitter ladies too before we travel anywhere though." He looked pointedly at Harry.

Harry nodded and said, "I know. I promised them I'd drop by the first week of August to double check the remaining owlets. I'm thinking that one of them may become my personal owl."

"What are you going to do with the ones left over," Sirius asked.

"Do you need any," Harry returned.

"Could do with a few owls around here," Sirius said as he looked around the new and improved Grimmauld Place. He was still in awe of his godson's gumption to remodel the place as well as commandeer the entirety of the Black Family Estate away from Lucius Malfoy's purview and all in a completely legal fashion too. "A lot of correspondence will be exchanged now that I have a future goal to keep you in the country, so-to-speak. That means that I'd best get my act together and make sure that certain changes happen where they're supposed to happen, yeah?"

"Ah-ha," Harry laughed in fun at the man before asking. "Do you want a personal one or just a couple of generic post owls?"

"A few of generic post owls," Sirius told him. He wasn't one to spend time on post owls. He knew that one may get attached to a family member, but that had never happened to him. If he needed an owl while he lived at home, one had always shown up and his mail would get delivered. It was just the way he'd been brought up. Although he knew that some families obtained a grand looking owl to prove their prominent status which he'd always thought was load of owl crap to begin with.

Harry exchanged a rolled eye look with Remus since neither of them could never get Sirius to agree that a personal owl was necessary. "All right then," the pre-teen said. "I'll see what I can do. There are a few available with that follow or live with that kind of sentiment, but you'll have to promise to allow them to return to the breeding grounds whenever they want or need to."

"Sure, sure, get me a few in different sizes," Sirius said as he jotted down a few of the necessary steps needed to travel to another magical jurisdiction. "Your international magical and muggle passports are up to date, I hope."

"Yes Uncle," Harry answered absentmindedly as he browsed the catalogue of owls from his Outfitter job. He ticked off a couple of the ones that had refused placement and the ladies were expecting him there to review the late bloomers and to see if the reserve area required maintenance before the next season approached for the later breeding types.

He had to do a bit of maintenance for the trees or local paths too. That was required from time to time, but they were never done while the owls were nesting. It was just a bit of autumn pruning here and there as well as clearing out some but not all of the fallen debris as that usually provided owls with nesting materials too.

"Yes Uncle," Sirius mimicked and Remus snorted at his friend's next comment. "He sounds like such an obedient and dutiful nephew."

Harry looked up with eyes sparking with mischief. "Shouldn't I be dutiful?"

"Yes," Sirius coughed. "Yes, yes you should, so you'll go to Hogwarts right? Save me all of this international paperwork?"

"Absolutely not," Harry huffed and returned his nose to the owl listings. He found a couple of types that might suit his godfather's immediate needs for general correspondence owls, but he looked into a couple of the larger ones as requested too. He stood up and then headed to the area of the house that was part of his family type chores.

The owlery was his to work in, clean up and ensure that the owls were properly provided for. He loved seeing to the owls and they were such chatty things that he quite liked to listen to them, not that the men had caught on to that interesting fact about their adopted nephew. All they heard were owl hoots and had assumed that the owls liked their nephew and made noise whenever he was in their presence.

"You really should stop asking him that," Remus stated after the boy had left the room. "It may make the broom fall from your sky if he suddenly chooses to complete his full magical education elsewhere without ever attending Hogwarts."

"I know," Sirius said. He put his elbow on his desk with a huff and placed his head in hand, leaning heavily enough to flop over, down onto his now extended arm. "It's going to take a lot of work to reverse the tailspin our society is in, especially in regards to the standard of magical education we currently have. The reason we have such seemingly good results society wise has to do with the WEA and pretty much nothing to do with Hogwarts at all. I can see why Lucius Malfoy's always complaining about the quality of education in the letters he sends as a way of prepping me to attend the School Board Meetings."

"Well they'll only take place every five weeks," Remus said. "I'm just glad that I'm not there."

"You should be there," Sirius muttered.

"Dark creatures cannot be part of the voting process related to a human's educational standards," Remus replied. "They think that just because I should be classed as a creature that I have no brains to understand the muck up they'd done to our society's children and their education."

"Yes, well," Sirius paused and sat up when Harry had returned with another book in his hand. The boy was still trying to translate some ancient runic language of Gobbledegook.

"They did muck it up," Harry replied, having heard part of the conversation. He looked up at both men with a smile and said, "I'm glad that you're both serious about making changes or at the very least in making others see that changes are very much needed."

"Speaking of school," Sirius coughed. "I've received a letter from Headmaster Dumbledore." Harry just looked at him blinking with a confused expression.

"What does he want," Remus asked.

"He asks that I visit the school this summer and that I bring Harry along with me," the dark-haired, blue-eyed man replied. "I think that he's trying to sell you that Hogwarts would be a better option." He held up his hand when his godson opened his mouth to protest. "Pax Harry I'm not going to force you to go there. We'll just continue to make our plans and carry them all out before I take you there for any reason. I don't want to break your trust in me."

Harry sighed in relief and then said, "Write to him and say that according to their criteria it was too late for me to give them any sort of positive reply. I've already sent full tuition payment to my chosen school and will not be diverted from my current choice. It's not sound business. Just thank him for the invitation, but that we'll be out of country for the rest of summer and will not be able to tour his school. If he presses just tell him that we'll see what happens during the time for Yule Break."

"I remember shopping with my parents for one of my older cousins that had been accepted to go to Durmstrang," Sirius told them. "They made quite a holiday of it and it did take quite a while to get everything needed. At least once you have the all items you'll need you won't need to look for them again, should you choose to return to that school. All they ever needed was to replace worn out items and update their school library by adding mandatory course books for the higher levels."

"That's true," Remus observed. "It's best to get everything you need, but we should have fun while doing that. What do you say to making a bit of adventure out of it?"

"How," Harry perked up at the idea of an adventure.

"Make a quest of it, find the right stores with the right devices," Remus said. "Your fishing and animal skinning kit will require you to hunt down the stores and get ideas of things you'll need in a basic personal kit." He paused and then asked, "Have you experimented with muggle metals yet, some of their knives and tools may just be what you need?"

"Hm," Harry paused and then he lit up. "I'll go ask the Gabris ladies. They've traveled the world quite a bit and may know of someplace to get those things. Besides I have to go there for at least five days before we travel."

"It's a plan then," Sirius said. "I remember most of the towns we used to visit and I know we have a map somewhere in the library that contains the magical shopping arcades in some of the more foreign nations. I'll start by getting you that map and you can use it when you ask the ladies about their travels or for any ideas they may have."

"Thank you Sirius," Harry said and received a nod.

Harry - James - Potter

A week later Harry was reviewing his list of supplies including the names of the towns they needed to visit in order to obtain his items. He looked the list over and noted that a wand was not on the list of supplies, but he could only suppose that some students of Durmstrang had already obtained their wands long before they ever received an invitation to go to that school.

"It doesn't list a wand, but there are a couple of good shops in Russia for that sort of thing," Jonquil said. "Let's see, there's the Osinkova's in Moscow on one of the main streets, quite like Olivander's in Diagon Ally though, catering to the common wands with simple cores. Kalpita's Wand Kreacja, that one's run by a sweet Polish couple, very friendly and knowledgeable. They're old fashioned, but will make your wand on the spot and they're located on the border town between Finland and Russia, near St. Petersburg, I believe."

"Don't forget about that quaint one just outside of Sangar," Iris mentioned. "They do the same, but are more eccentric there. They actually make you walk through a grove of trees to find your personalized wand wood and there's a local mine nearby in case the core needed turns out to be precious metal or magical gem."

"That does sound more interesting than purchasing something pre-made in a shop," Harry said as he made notes of the names of the wand makers.

"You might even be lucky enough to cross the Asian border there," Iris commented. "But I don't know how far you want to go to get your first wand made. First wands don't really last all that long because magic grows and changes with you as you age."

"It'll need to be strong enough for what I need it to do," Harry told them. "Any other place I should consider visiting. Do you know of a good place that sells skinning tools, knives and such?"

The two ladies exchanged a glance and both said, "Rendao's in Chengdu!"

Harry's eyebrows rose, but he quickly wrote down the name of the place and location. It was explained that the shop there specialized in muggle tools that could cross into the magical world and actually be slightly stronger, more durable than something made specifically in the magical world. They had long history of centuries of craftsmen creating beautiful blades for all kinds of purposes, but if the Boy-Who-Lived needed a proper skinning kit then that was the only place to go.

"Thank you," he said. He looked at them and asked, "Do I need to make an appointment to visit their shop or some kind of recommendation?"

"Actually," Iris began.

"We have a business card that you can use," Jonquil said. Iris looked at her and received a shrug, plus an explanation, "We're allowed to give them away as we see fit and it's up to the owner to consider making the sale or allowing someone to enter their shop. Show the card at the door and you'll know if you'll be permitted to enter."

"True enough," Iris replied and then looked to Harry. "The owners there are very particular. Just be honest about who you are and why you need such tools. They may just have what you need and then some. Be prepared to pay though."

"Understood and thank you," Harry said. He finished making the last of his shopping notes and picked up the supply basket he needed to carry the tools needed to wander through the Owl Reserve. "I'll just check up on the last of that Snowy Owl's owlets and tag them properly."

"I don't think that they're pure Snowy Owl," Jonquil commented.

Iris nodded and said, "I think the female bred with a Northern Hawk Owl."

"That'll be evident in the owlets' plumage," Harry said. "I'll make notes on their colours and which ones have a magical aura. I'll tag those with our bands. The camera's ready to take pictures and they should be calm at this time of day. The non-magical ones I'll tag with the muggle conservationist tracking bracelets." He muttered, "It's a good thing that those last in a magical environment."

"Made by squibs," Iris muttered back at him, earning a sheepish grin.

"You should have enough," Jonquil nodded. "We've requested enough colour coded bands for the rest of this year's crop of newborn owls."

"Right then," Harry said and walked out of the door to go check up on one of the few breeding owls that still remained in the reserve.

It seemed like some of the snowy owls had liked the reserve and had visited the place for the past three years. It was pretty much the same with the rest that they considered their regular owls. He noticed that some never returned, but he wondered if that had been by choice or by deliberate malicious acts on the part of Iris' family that still tried to make the ladies fail in their business ventures.

A young white and black owl landed on his shoulder. It looked like a female Snowy Owl mixed with Northern Hawk Owl. Her face was framed with the black border of the Northern. Most of her wings and back were standard white with a few black spots of the Snowy ancestry. Her breast and front body feathers had that ribbed look of a hawk which was characteristic of Northern Hawk Owl. She had a two-tone beak with the sharp down curve of the Northern while her large, furry feet and claws came from her Snowy half.

She was still growing, but he knew that she would achieve a size just between the two breeds or more at the size of the smallest Snowy Owl and largest version of the Northern Hawk Owl. Her vocal sounds were similar to the Northern full of purrs and similar sounding to a hawk's 'Kiiiiiirrl' or the excited 'kwikikikikikik'. She also had a few low tones that sounded like dog barks which were characteristic of her Snowy heritage.

Harry looked her in the eye, smiled and said, (…Hello Hedwig…) He smiled, (…I wondered when you'd show up…)

(…What are you talking about?...) The owl said. (…I've felt that you were my human from my time in the shell, did you not feel the same?...)

(…My apologies, but I do not have that same kind of sense…) Harry said. (…I did know that you were around, but I was not certain on when I'd be able to find you. I knew that you'd find me though and I'm quite glad that you're here now…)

She settled down on his shoulder, nipped at his ear gently and groomed his dark hair. (…What happens now and why are you calling me Hedwig? Strange name, Hedwig, what does it mean?...)

(…Refuge in Battle…) Harry answered as he noted the number of her siblings still in the nest, not ready to fly away yet. Their dual nature battled out whether they'd leave to become loner owls or remain together in a family grouping. These were the strangest hybrids yet as they each made too many different sounds due to the vocal cords given them by their sire which Hedwig had confirmed was a Northern Hawk Owl.

(…Hedwig is also the name of a human Saint…) Harry explained after he finished making his notes on the remaining owlets and having banded their legs properly as either muggle or magical owl. He took pictures of all of them. Owls, no matter the breed like getting their pictures taken and they posed to the series he needed from each of the magical ones to add to the reserves breeding records.

(…I like the battle reference…) Hedwig said. (…I'll keep the name. It sounds good when it's properly pronounced…) She twisted her head and looked at him. (…Are we going to see a lot of battles?...)

(…Chances are…) Harry replied with a nod. (…There are people always about willing to hurt others and I know that I'll be in the middle of a bit of that. Don't know that we'll see any outright war, but you never know how the end will truly happen…)

(…You already know one ending…) Hedwig observed. He turned to look at her sharply, almost as if his neck had a similar owl-like ability to twist all the way around. (…Oh don't look at me like that. Some of us can just tell and there's been gossip among the elders that a human Striparole is a very rare creature. They're even rarer than someone who's a Parseltongue. Lucky me to find that my partner is the rarest human of them all, since I already know that you are both…)

"How do you know that," Harry squeaked his question, in normal English.

(…Your magic does not lie…) Hedwig explained. (…When you cast your spells on the shells, some of us have been permitted to hear you talking to the forest creatures. Sometimes you spoke in your native tongue and other times you hissed at them. That's when I chose you since I somehow knew that you'd need someone like me…)

"Thank you for choosing me," Harry said with his head bowed in honour of the choice his owl had made. It was also interesting to learn that their efforts at casting magic on the eggs were working. He just didn't realize how much the creatures inside their eggs would know about the one casting spells on them.

(…You'll have to tell the ladies that one of their workers is not fit for this forest, although I haven't sensed him here for the past few weeks…) She said.

"All workers have left to return home and prepare for their extended winter studies at a school," Harry explained. "That situation may have to wait until next summer."

"Harry, who are you talking to," Iris asked, as she stepped out of their house. "Oh my, isn't she a beauty?" Hedwig made a few soft noises that charmed the older woman. "Jo come and see! An owl has chosen our Harry."

"Really," Jonquil said as she stepped out of the house wiping her hands on the worn utility apron that she always wore. "Well look at that. It's about damn time."

Harry rubbed the back of his neck with his hand as he gave the basket of supplies back to the ladies, complete with leftover tags, proper images with accompanying notes. "There are about four magical ones like her in the nest and three are regular muggle birds," he told them. "The four are probably going to stick around and I think that two will want to be added to the catalogue, but I know that two are definitely going to strike out on their own."

"How can you get that kind of information from just observing them," Jonquil asked. Then she shook her head and held up her hand. "Never mind that, you're uncles are here and waiting for you."

"Is Sirius baking pies again," Harry asked with a grin. The ladies shared mischievous looks which made him laugh. He looked to his owl and said, "Hedwig, head off to No. 12 Grimmauld Place, the elf in charge of owls will look after you when you get there. His name is Pepper. We can see about finding you a travel cage if you like, along with some other items like a personal perch." Hedwig let out a series of purr-like sounds agreeing to his plan before she took off, magically seeking her partner's current residence.

"Cookies today," Jonquil replied with a chuckle. She enjoyed the way Harry interacted with the owls of the reserve. Some days she could swear that they understood him and that he understood them too.

The ladies had met Remus long ago and recently they'd been subject to Sirius' presence whenever Harry was at the reserve. They ladies made pies seasonally and the ex-convict had been a sucker for them and whatever berry tarts they'd made.

He'd been technically stealing them every time he visited, until the ladies had caught him at it. The old joker had eaten them like a dog with his human face in the pie pan, licking the bottom for the sweet crumble crust. He'd been beaten with Jonquil's large wooden spoon and then made to learn how to bake his own pies to pay them back.

Remus and Harry had enjoyed watching Sirius Black learning to bake pies at the hands of the harsh task-mistress of that particular kitchen. The man had adamantly promised to never do such a thing again. To which the ladies had changed the wording so that whenever they made pies he was invited to work in their kitchen with them for pie as payment.

Sirius had immediately agreed. So now whenever he visited them, he had to help in the kitchen to earn his treats. He knew that they were milking his watering mouth and craven pie stomach, but he didn't mind since it allowed him to check up on how his godson was doing at the work he loved.

"Really Sirius," Harry huffed.

Remus was sitting in an out of the way corner reading one of the ladies reference books that they'd permitted him to borrow whenever he visited. He grinned and looked up at his honorary nephew, saying, "He filched a handful of just baked cookies without asking."

Harry noticed the plate of chocolate ones by the werewolf's elbow. "I see that he's not alone."

"Oh I asked first," Remus said. "That earned me a spot of tea too." The boy snorted and then chuckled as his godfather came from the kitchen with a frilly apron, hair dusty from flour and other cooking powders.

"I was going to return to finish packing," Harry crossed his arms.

"Couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some baked goods for traveling," Sirius told him with a dusty, white flour hug that covered the front of Harry's shirt.

"Sirius," Harry tried to shove him away and only received a tighter squeeze that made him squeak before he was finally released. He huffed, shook his head and then laughed along with everyone too. "All right then," he said. "I have the list of places to go and a couple I'd like to see first."

"Ladies, thank you for the cookies and pies," Sirius said with a bow as he scooped up the travel basket that had been prepared for them. He stepped towards the Floo after he received hugs, kisses and wishes for a safe trip before he flamed away. He was followed by Remus until Harry was the only one that had remained behind.

"Jonquil," he hugged the lady. "Iris," he returned her hug and received a gentle pat to his head. "Um, come next summer we might have to discuss one of your employees."

Jonquil looked at him and then said, "Not you, I take it."

"No," Harry said. "I'm not sure which one it is, but I get the feeling that something may happen next year."

"We'll see about that when the time comes," Iris said. "Now off you go and enjoy school." She paused and then said, "You are going to Durmstrang aren't you? The size of that list is one that I remember."

"Yes," Harry nodded.

"How on earth did you get in there," Jonquil asked in a shocked tone. "They don't accept muggleborns."

"Technically I'm not a muggleborn," Harry said. "I came from a fully magical mother and father which means that I'm actually a pureblood," he wrinkled his nose at that expression. He'd already explained this to Sirius and Remus. "I have a feeling that I'll be defending that point of view again and again if anyone found out about my mother being a muggleborn."

"You're probably right," Iris said. "Don't forget to mention your school when you visit Rendao's. They'll make sure that you have the proper items for your education there."

"Why are you going there," Jonquil asked.

"More course options," Harry replied honestly. "They have a lot more course options than Hogwarts does at the moment. I won't mind going there for a year or two. I'm hoping to alternate between the schools until I reach year four. I have a feeling that by then Hogwarts will be back up to proper International Standards, if it's not then I'll finish at Durmstrang."

"I hope that Durmstrang will allow it," Iris said.

"Oh, I believe that they will," Harry replied cryptically, but didn't elaborate.

He gave them a final hug and left to join his uncles back at Grimmauld Place where they planned to finish their packing before beginning their travels. He grinned at the thought of taking one of his trains to the eastern countries and he hoped that he could bring back travel souvenirs for the ladies, his goblin friends and his management team.

He had developed an excellent working relationship with all of them and they'd given him similar gifts throughout their years of working with him whenever they had travelled and returned. He suspected that they all felt that he'd needed that acknowledgement, something that told him he was not alone or something of that nature. The gestures had been appreciated.

Harry - James - Potter - Harry - James - Potter

TBC...